“We never made a commitment to each other,” he finally said. When lightning flashed again, he scrubbed his palm over his mouth. “You simply informed me that you’d be staying here. And I haven’t kissed a woman in three hundred goddamned years.”
“Then why didn’t you do more with them?”
He exhaled wearily. “They left me cold—”
“Cold?” she cried, a hysterical note to her voice. “I’m so glad I made you swear not to tell anyone anything about me, not that they won’t all know now. I hope you put money against us in Loa’s betting book.”
“We aren’t wed.” His own ire spiked. “I made you no promises. You have no call to be angry with me.”
“I’m angry because you’ve finally seen what’s been just before you all along. But you’ve seen it too late.”
“Too late? Again, I only kissed them. I came here tonight, to be with you, even though I had those women begging me for more.”
Begging him? Was he that good a kisser? She shook herself— she’d never know. “And yet you chose to come here and be with me, a female who can’t give you more. I find that difficult to believe!”
“Believe it, ice queen. You’ve broken me—I want no other!”
“And that makes you broken?” She gave a cry. “Gods, I am so sick of you!”
“Sick of me? When I admit that I chose you above others? Your timing is ridiculous.”
“Because I don’t buy this! If you think you’re broken, then you’re going to want to get fixed. Not to wallow in your brokenness. Trust me, I know this!” Sad, sad Daniela…
“So now you’ve got me all figured out, when you’ve known me for a couple of weeks? Ah, that’s right, I’m merely a manwhore and nothing more.”
“I’ve only known you a short while, but I know men. I’ve witnessed the entire spans of their lives. You’re not a man who won’t deign to commit. You’re a coward who’s afraid to.”
“Coward?” Though he sneered the word, Danii saw a flicker of some emotion in his eyes. She’d hit a nerve.
“A selfish coward! You expect me to just be waiting here, standing by for whenever you decide you want more from me?”
“You are just waiting here, Valkyrie.”
At that, she began building ice in her palm, and he eyed it with contempt. “Leave here, vampire. And don’t come back!”
“This is my house!”
“Does this look like your house any longer?” A gust of flurries blew in the window to punctuate her words.
“Fine. Have it! Consider it a gift for a couple of pleasurable nights.”
With a bitter curse, Murdoch traced from the lodge. He returned to his meeting place in case Rurik showed—
And found himself surrounded by beings.
They looked like demons, but they had red eyes like fallen vampires. They were immense and carried medieval weapons, cudgels and maces.
Behind them stood Ivo, his bald head gleaming. Just five years ago, they’d met on a battlefield. Finally, I’ve found this prick.
“We seek the halfling,” Ivo said. “If you have information about her, we might spare your life.”
Halfling? “I wouldn’t tell you anything, even if I knew what you were talking about.”
In a bored tone, Ivo commanded, “Then kill him.”
Murdoch drew his sword in a flash, swung it at the closest demon. The male laughed as he easily dodged the blow.
The speed was inconceivable. You can’t fight these beings. Just as he’d been told.
Before Murdoch could retreat, they were upon him, preventing him from tracing. A cudgel caught him across the face, tearing and crushing at the same time. Blood sprayed.
A blow to his leg bludgeoned his femur, sending him to his knees. Another shattered his arm.
The strength… monstrous. A studded mace hit him directly in the chest, embedding in his sternum. Can’t breathe, can’t…
Against his will, his blood-drenched eyes closed. Realization dawned. I’m about to die. And all he could think about was how he wanted to see Daniela just one last time.
Ivo ordered, “Take his head—”
A roar sounded. Murdoch struggled just to crack open his lids. Rurik and Lukyan, here? They must’ve been trailing Ivo earlier.
As the two charged into the fight, Murdoch tried to warn them, but couldn’t speak. Jaw not working?
Rurik went fully berserk, wildly swinging his battle hammer. Lukyan wielded his two swords, looking as if he hungered for death— and planned to take with him as many as possible.
But when Rurik received a hit that felled even his giant frame, Lukyan muttered, “Fuck this.” Then he traced away.
CHAPTER 27
I’m going to miss it here. But Danii knew she couldn’t stay.
She’d be relinquishing the vampire’s gift for two nights of pleasure.
How could she even be surprised that he’d remained away? After all, he was probably busy mugging with mortals in back alleys. Which left Danii to be the Forbearer’s forsaken one.
She reminded herself yet again that she’d dodged a bullet with Murdoch. This could have been much worse. Anything between them could never have worked out. If she threw all in with him and then got jilted, people would ask, “What was she thinking, to make a grab at a rake like that? With no warm bed to offer him?”
She sighed. Damn it, she’d liked him—and she’d liked it here.
The pressure to carve had continued to grow within her, as if she were nearing some goal and gaining momentum. It was satisfying to her, and brought into stark relief exactly how little in her life had contented her before.
Her mother had told Danii that she descended from the line of the Winter Queens, but Danii had never felt a connection to that ancestry. She felt more Valkyrie than ice fey. Of course, she didn’t fit in with the Valkyrie either. Sad, sad Daniela.
Were these symbols the very first tie to her heritage? Why was she only now seeing them?
Didn’t matter. Her time here had ended.
If she remained, she’d get too attached to the lodge. The longer she stayed, the longer she’d want to. And she could just see Murdoch bringing another woman here in a few years and finding Danii still inside, putzing around in her nightgown, muttering, “Oh, hai. Don’t mind me.”
Danii had determined and finally accepted that Murdoch equaled misery. Unfortunately, she’d concluded this after she’d begun falling for him.
Time to leave.
Now I just need to find a ride.
“You should see the other guy,” Murdoch grated from his bed.
Nikolai had already been pale when he traced into the room at Mount Oblak. Seeing Murdoch like this made even more blood drain from his face.
He knew how bad he looked. A metal brace was screwed into his leg to stabilize his crushed femur. One arm was immobilized in a cast, and bandages swathed more of his body than not. His face was lacerated from the corner of his mouth to his ear, held together only by stitches. All in all, he was lucky to be alive.
No. Not lucky.
Murdoch and Rurik lived only because Lukyan had returned directly with a full battle contingent. It turned out that Lukyan didn’t like to merely fight—he liked to win.
Nikolai finally found his voice. “What has happened to you?”
“I was about to ask you the same. My God, Nikolai, you look worse than I do.” His brother was always so stoical, always sure of his actions.
So what the hell was going on?
Nikolai’s eyes grew dark before he glanced away. “We’ll talk of my problems later. Who did this to you?”