Kiss of the Rose (30 page)

“And I do not appreciate being mauled. Get your hands off me.”

“Considering what you have done to her, Ellis, I should be pounding you into a pulp.”

“I did nothing she did not want.” Christopher groaned as Rhys shoved him hard against the wall.“Ask her yourself.”

“I know what happened. I also know that she has been foolish enough to fall in love with you, so why in God’s name would she tell you that she wanted me?”

“I swear she chose you over me, now release me.”

“Ah.” Rhys stepped back as if Christopher suddenly made sense. “That’s women’s logic for you. She can’t have you, so she’ll take me instead.”

“That is not my problem anymore— it is yours. I’m quite happy to leave her in your capable hands.” Christopher cursed as he twisted one of the silver buttons so hard it came off and bounced along the oak floorboards.

Rhys bent to pick up the button. “You’re lying, but I’m not a fool. If you won’t fight for her, I’ll take her and keep her safe.” He paused for a moment as if expecting Christopher to refute his claims and then continued. “How are we to complete our mission if you and Rosalind will not speak to each other?”

Christopher fixed him with his most intimidating stare. “You don’t need me anymore. The Vampire used me to get at Rosalind through our bond. Rosalind can communicate with the Vampire perfectly well without me.”

Rhys looked puzzled. “Rosalind didn’t tell me anything of this.”

“It transpired when we were in the Vampire’s thrall.” Christopher stalked across the room, held the door open, and looked pointedly at Rhys.

“Is this why you refuse to talk to Rosalind, then? You feel slighted, excluded, scorned?”

“I will feel anything you like if you will just get out of my bedchamber.”

Rhys held his gaze. “I never thought you a coward, Sir Christopher.”

“I’m not a coward. I’ve just become unnecessary.Ask Rosalind. She’ll agree with me.”

Rhys smiled and Christopher fought a sudden desire to drag Rhys back into the room and shove his fist right into the man’s face.“Why do you think I am here, Druid slayer? Rosalind told me to come.”

“You said she wasn’t speaking to me.”

Rhys shrugged. “That doesn’t mean she isn’t speaking to me. She wants to catch this Vampire, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her aim. You share a unique bond with her that could save us all. Are you as stalwart a fighter as she?”

Christopher sucked in a harried breath. “Damn you both. I want this Vampire dead.”

Rhys handed him back the silver button from his jerkin. “Then we will see you tonight in the king’s bed chamber.”

“What?”

“You wish to catch the Vampire, don’t you?” Rhys bowed and headed out of the door. “I will see you later, my friend.”

Rosalind paced nervously around the king’s private audience chamber, her attention fixed on the door. The walls of the king’s inner sanctum were covered with colorful tapestries depicting the fall of Eden, which deadened the sound of her footsteps and kept the room far warmer than most of the palace.

“Sir Christopher will come. I promise you.”

She halted and glared at Rhys, who lounged at his ease in the window seat. “Why should he?”

“Because he wants to finish this as much as you do.”

Rosalind huffed out a breath.“I suppose he can’t wait to see the back of me.”

“He has cause.”

“What do you mean?”

Rhys shrugged. “He said you chose me.”

“I…” Rosalind stared at Rhys and shook her head. “What is the point? The man is as stubborn as a donkey.”

“Rather like you, then.”

Rosalind narrowed her eyes at him. “I would’ve thought you’d be more pleased to be ‘chosen.’ ”

“My, you’re conceited, aren’t you?” Rhys’s smile grew serious.

“So you don’t want me either?” Rosalind flung up her hands. “Good! Because I am tired of dealing with men. I really don’t need any of you!”

“That’s the spirit, my lady. Keep that up and we’ll all be wishing you to the devil very shortly.”

Rosalind scowled at Rhys, but he pointed at the door. “I think I hear the Druid slayer.”

She swung around to face the door and tried to compose her features. Christopher came in without knocking. He wore his habitual black garb and a smile that was as false as paste jewelry. He bowed with exquisite precision.

“Good evening, my lady. Master Williams.”

Rosalind nodded at him.“Good evening. It is good of you to join us.”

“It’s always a pleasure, my lady. How could you doubt it?”

His smile was flirtatious, his mind completely closed to her. She was reminded of when they first met and she’d thought him a frivolous fool with no substance. She knew better now, but it didn’t mean she could regain his trust. She doubted he’d willingly lay himself open to hurt more than once.

She took a deep breath. “I need your help.”

He raised a supercilious eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“I wish to convince the Vampire that I will do her bidding and kill the king.”

“And how do you intend to do that?” Christopher strolled across to a chair by the fire and sat down. One long leg crossed over the other.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult.” She managed a smile. “She knows what I did to you. She believes I sacrificed you for Rhys. All you have to do is summon her in your mind and tell her that I am willing to kill the king if she will help me get you back.You can even laugh about my chances of success. I’m sure you’ll enjoy that.”

Christopher went still.“You want me to tell the Vampire you are going to murder the king.”

She opened her eyes wide at him. “Yes. It’s quite simple.”

“You expect me to convince her I hate you so much that I would deliberately betray you? And that you care enough about me to even consider such an exchange?”

Rosalind struggled not to flinch at his harsh assessment. “That is hardly the point, is it? You just have to convince her I am willing to slaughter the king.”

“And what happens when she realizes that you have no intention of murdering the king at all, and turns her power on you?”

Rosalind met his skeptical gaze. “By then it will be too late. I’ll already have killed her.”

Christopher stood up and paced the floorboards, his expression thunderous. “This is ridiculous. How are you even going to be sure that the Vampire is physically present?”

Rhys cleared his throat and Christopher swung around to glare at him. “Because after we alert the king to our plans and clear the guards, we’ll make it easy for the Vampire to follow Rosalind in.”

“Why can’t we simply surround the queen’s quarters and kill her there, then?” Christopher asked. “This seems far too dangerous and too complicated.”

Rosalind forced out the words.“Because the Vampire likes games. If she thinks I have capitulated to her will, she will want to gloat in person. And she will enjoy the challenge of getting into the king’s quarters to watch the king suffer and die by my hand.”

Christopher exhaled. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to like it, Sir Christopher. You merely have to play your part,” Rosalind snapped. “Are you willing to do this, or not?”

He faced her, his blue eyes intense.“I’ll do it, but only because I wish to fulfill my pledge and see this Vampire dead.”

Rosalind held his gaze.“Now you know how I felt the other night.” She swallowed hard. “I’ll wait here until I hear from Elias. Then Rhys will come to you and ask you to summon the Vampire. Meanwhile, I’ll make sure the king knows I will be sneaking into his bedchamber, apparently with the intent to execute him.”

“What if the Vampire decides to kill the king herself?”

Rhys laughed. “It won’t be the king in that bed. It’ll be me.”

Rosalind smiled at Rhys. “That will certainly make things a little less dangerous. While you wait in the bed, Sir Christopher and Elias can track the Vampire’s progress and make sure she arrives to see me perform the terrible deed.”

Rhys bowed at them both and headed for the door. “I’ll go and find Elias and report back.”

Rosalind found herself alone with Christopher and turned away to the fire on the pretext of warming her hands.

“Do you want me to stay with you until Rhys gets back?”

“That isn’t necessary, sir.” She didn’t dare look at him, couldn’t bear to see the coldness in his gaze. “You probably have far better things to do.”

She gasped as he gripped her arm and spun her around to face him. “Rosalind, I’m aware that you aren’t telling me the whole truth, but at the moment, I’m damned if I can separate the facts from the lies.”

She stared at his black velvet doublet and neat silveredged ruff.“I’m not going to beg. Either help us or don’t.” She raised her eyes to his face. If he stood any chance of convincing the Vampire that he was truly done with her, she needed him to remain angry. “Mayhap I should try to contact the Vampire by myself, after all.”

“Don’t play with me. I said I would do it and I will.”A muscle flicked in his jaw. “I’ve made my peace with my confessor. I should be the one to kill the Vampire. After all, unlike you, I have no one who cares what happens to me. No family to mourn me, no lover waiting patiently in the background to claim me.”

Rosalind desperately wanted to reach out and comfort him, but it would not do. She struggled to sound unaffected.“Your part is to communicate with the Vampire. I cannot trust you to do more. The blood ties you share might make you unwilling or unable to actually kill her.”

He jerked away from her as if she’d slapped him.“No one is as capable of killing as you, Vampire slayer.” He schooled his expression and bowed. “Until tonight, my lady.”

She didn’t bother to reply and he left the chamber. Rosalind found a chair and abruptly sat down, her head cradled in her hands. Deceiving Christopher was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. She had no idea if she was going to survive the night, and she had wanted more than anything to tell Christopher she loved him.

Christopher made his way to the queen’s receiving room and settled himself in the corner of the music room with his lute on his knee. It was getting late and the chamber was already bathed in candlelight. The queen looked tired and distracted, her attention drifting between her ladies’ conversation and her rosary beads. Christopher studied the circle of women who surrounded the queen. If the Vampire was truly one of them, she should receive his message all too clearly.

Strumming the lute in a minor key, he closed his eyes and began to dismantle some of the wall he’d built so painstakingly in his mind. He allowed cracks to open up, bricks to be displaced, until the darkness encroached on the light and on his deepest feelings. Of course, to complete the trap, he had to allow Rosalind back into his mind as well, and that was far harder than dealing with the Vampire’s desires. Ever since he’d shut Rosalind out, he’d felt incomplete—as if she had made off with the better half of his soul.

Like a fisherman tickling a trout, he played out his lure, tantalized the Vampire with thoughts of Rosalind’s plan to kill the king, her determination to do it now, to finish it now, to force Christopher back to her. He showed the Vampire a final image of Rosalind inside the king’s private apartments, creeping toward the royal bedchamber.

As the Vampire’s excitement grew, he struggled not to react to the waves of triumph and bloodlust that saturated her thoughts and forced all common sense out of his head.When he found himself licking his lips and picturing the bloodied corpse of the king, he forced his eyes open and laid the lute down. He didn’t wait to see if the Vampire followed him but hurried from the room without asking the queen’s permission. From the frenzy of vicious enjoyment and anticipation in his mind, he knew the Vampire would take the bait. Rosalind was correct about the Vampire’s overwhelming arrogance. Now all he could do was try to prevent a catastrophe. He wished he had the strength of will to destroy the Vampire before she ever reached the king’s privy chamber, but he feared Rosalind was right. He wouldn’t be able to kill her while she still inhabited his mind and influenced his thoughts.

In the hallway outside the queen’s rooms, Christopher pressed himself back against the wall as a black-cloaked figure flew past him. He tensed as a hand grabbed his shoulder, and spun around to face Elias, whose silver eyes gleamed with anticipation.

“Sir Christopher.” Elias nodded in the direction the woman had taken. “That was Lady Celia Del Alonso; apparently she is related to your mother’s Vampire mate. She has been with Queen Katherine since the queen was born.”

“Is there no way to dispose of her now, before she even reaches the king?”

“She’s stronger than I, and you are her blood kin, so I doubt it.” Elias grimaced.“I suggest we follow the original plan. I know a back way to the king’s apartments.We can get there before the Vampire.”

Christopher nodded and followed Elias into the shadows and through a series of corridors and passageways that brought them to a solid stone wall. Elias pointed to a crack of light in the center. “There’s a peephole here and below it the mechanism to open the secret door.”

“Where are you going?” Christopher hissed.

“I’m going to cut off her exit from the rear.” Elias’s fanged smile was deadly. “She will not escape us again.” He bowed to Christopher and left him the burning torch. “Good luck.”

“And to you.”

Christopher strained to see through the peephole. He could just make out a large form in the bed topped with a hint of auburn hair. Rhys— at least he hoped it was. Beyond that was the door to the elaborate golden chamber. There was no sign of Rosalind. He assumed she would be waiting on word of the Vampire’s arrival to proceed.

He sent her a quick warning and hoped she understood it. The Vampire should be close now. He daren’t seek her in his mind; his defenses were too weak. With a blink, he cleared his vision and saw the door open. His hand closed on the metal ring that operated the secret panel. Rosalind appeared, her expression determined, her dagger held high in her hand.

She advanced toward the bed, and Christopher held his breath. She wore her boy’s clothes, her hair tied back from her face in a single braid. Was Rosalind aware that the Vampire had appeared in the doorway behind her? A wave of dark compulsion flooded through him, and he saw Rosalind falter.Would she be overcome with the desire to kill? Did the Vampire have that much control over her?