His hand was warm, but insistent on my chin. I lifted it to allow him to see the small cut on my neck. He tsked over it, tearing off a bit of his shirt to tie a makeshift bandage around my neck. I waited until he was done before screaming, "Why the hell didn't you kill him centuries ago?"
He sat back, frowning that my question had been presented as a bellow. "I had no reason to kill him until he abducted Damian. And once you became involved, the matter was made more complicated. I knew he would use you against me as he had used Damian. Until I knew the two of you were safe, I could not strike him. Sebastian alone had returned—I had to make sure that Saer had not found Damian before I allowed you to enter the museum."
I pushed him back, kicking my legs until they were Saer-free, accepting the hand Adrian offered to get me to my feet. Adrian's explanation made sense, but still… "It's over. I can't believe it's over. I walk in here, you're playing Adrian-the-pincushion one minute, and whammo! the next you lop off Saer's head and it's over." I shook my head, reeled to the side, and decided as Adrian grabbed me and pulled me up against his chest that head-shaking was going to be off my list of approved activities for the next few days. "No. It can't be over. It can't end this easily."
Hasi, you seem to have some difficulty accepting the finality of Saer's death. Did you hurt your head when he struck you? Are you feeling sleepy or sick to your stomach ? Do you see two of me?
I disengaged myself from him so I could give him a really quality frown. "I am not witless, if that's what you're implying, and don't deny you are, because I can read you like a billboard! I cracked my head on the wall, but other than a bruise, I'm fine. I just can't believe that after all this buildup, it's over with one swoop of a sword. I've seen lots and lots of vampire movies, and none of them ever end this easily. No. Something is wrong. He's going to come back to life or something. Vampires always do. Look at Dracula—he was always reforming himself from scattered dust or a blob of blood or a cursed ring…"
I looked down to my hand as I spoke, shrieking when I discovered the ring was gone. "Where is it? Where's my ring? Help me find it!"
Nell, there is no need—
"Eeek!" I screamed, kicking aside Saer's lifeless legs to pluck the three pieces of shattered ring from under him. "It's broken! Oh, God, I broke the ring! Now what are we going to do?"
"We no longer need it, Nell. Saer is dead. Damian is safe. Sebastian is not a threat to us. We do not need the ring."
"Yes, we do," I whispered, looking up from where the shards lay in my hand. Tears formed and swelled over my lashes as I looked at him, looked at his blood-soaked shirt. Saer had carefully picked spots on Adrian's body that would cause maximum agony while guaranteeing that his natural restorative powers would keep him from dying. Already the bleeding had slowed to a sluggish dribble, his body beginning the healing process. I touched the cold wetness of his shirt, my fingertip on the apex of a curved red line. "We need the ring to charm your curse."
He looked at me, his eyes filled with sad acceptance. I have lived almost five centuries bearing the curse, Hasi. If I must live longer bound to Asmodeus, so be it.
I slipped into his arms, wrapping him in all the love and light and joy he brought me. Inside him, the darkness was still there. His soul was still missing, but at least I knew I could fill the emptiness. But for how long would that be enough? If you are still bound to him, will he not continue to make you do things? Bad things? To your own people?
He didn't answer for the longest time, just held me, our beings merged together so our strength was shared. Yes, I will still have to answer his call. But he cannot destroy you. He knows that your death will mean my own.
I'm not worried about him killing me, I answered, nuzzling the sweet spot behind his ear. I'm worried about what his demands will do to your soul.
It is almost mine, Hasi. You have reclaimed it for me. It is within my grasp.
"No, it's not," I said, pulling away from him, wiping the tears that wetted my cheeks. "We both know what I'm going to have to do, Adrian. I know you've avoided thinking about it, but there is no other way. We can't have a life together if you are still the Betrayer. I love you, but I will not stand for you spending the rest of our lives causing death and sadness to your own people. I have to do what I meant all along to do with the ring—I have to charm the curse."
"You will not put yourself at risk for me. You were right in that the ring protected you before, Hasi. To try to charm without it—"
"I know what it means," I said, moving around him to face the small ivory statue that sat on the purple and black altar cloth. "But there is no other choice. Either I lift the curse, or… well, I'm just not going to think about that."
Adrian grabbed my arm, pulling me back to him, his eyes lightening as his anger seeped out. "And what if you fail? What if you have another stroke, Nell? Am I so horrible that you would rather risk permanent injury or even death to spending your life with me? Am I that much of a monster to you?"
Monster? No, I answered, stroking a lock of hair off his brow. Look in my heart, my love. Do you see anything there but the most profound feelings of adoration for you? I love you with everything I am, Adrian. But you know as well as I that our life together will be tainted if you are not freed from your bondage. I don't want to do this. I'm frightened of what may happen if I try to charm without the ring protecting me. I don't want to have another stroke.
Then do not try it, he commanded, holding me so tight I could scarcely breathe. I cannot tolerate even the thought of you coming to harm on my behalf. We will find a way to avoid Asmodeus. We will seek help from those learned in demon lore. There is no need for you to fear the future.
I drank in his essence for one last moment before stepping back. "I'm more frightened of what will happen to us if I do not do this. No"—I put my palm on the cold wetness of his shirt, holding him back—"this is my decision. I have to do this. So rather than spending the next half hour arguing with me about it, why don't you just pretend we've already hashed it out and I won?"
He opened his mouth to protest, but instead acknowledged that I was determined to go forward with my plan. Grudgingly he gave me a gift—his support. "We will face this together, Hasi. Always together."
I faced Adrian, his hands on me as we stood before the statue, our hearts as tightly bound as our minds. The statue sat inanimate on the table, but from the corner of my eye I could see snakes of power emanating from it, flickering and twisting as if they were alive.
Ready? I asked Adrian, raising my hand to touch the starting point of the curse bound to his chest.
I love you, Hasi, he answered, his eyes so full of the proof of his declaration that I almost wavered in my determination to end his torment once and for all. Instead I pressed my finger to the beginning of the curse, jerking back as my arm immediately went numb from cold.
"Heed me, Asmodeus, lord of darkness, master of night." The cold crept up my arm to my shoulder, toward my head. A sudden warmth stopped the flow as Adrian's hand on my neck kept the cold from freezing my brain.
My finger swept around the first of six knots that made up the curse, untangling it as I spoke. "By my blood, I turn this hex placed upon the man before you. By my bones, your power does now take flight."
Pain and rage crackled along my skin as I moved through the second knot, my hand shaking so hard with cold and fear that I had a hard time keeping my finger on the curse. "By my heart, I disperse your will through and through."