Martyr (36 page)

“Leanna,” he said. He didn't flinch back. There was no point—he wouldn't get an inch away from her. He had thought, coming in, that maybe he had some sort of divine purpose, that he'd be able to walk right up to the bitch and kill her without breaking a sweat. He had the runes.

But the runes hadn't saved him so far. They'd just help him walk straight into her clutches.

Leanna nodded.

“I take it this means you have killed him,” she said.

It took a moment for it to click. Of course. “Matthias,” he said. “Yeah, I killed him.”
To be fair, he killed himself
.

“Pity,” she said. There was nothing in her flat blue eyes to hint at any such emotion. “He was my favorite of pets.” She looked back to the man still lounging a few feet away. “We'll have to find a suitable replacement. Perhaps one a little less arrogant.”

Justin nodded.

“What have you done with him?” Tenn asked.

“With whom?” Leanna said, turning her attention back to him. There was a hint of a grin at the corner of her mouth.

“You know who. Jarrett.”

For half a heartbeat, he worried her eyes would glaze over, that she'd admit to not knowing what he was talking about. Then that little grin widened.

“Ah, yes,” she said. “Of course. You're here for your lover.”

“Where is he?” Tenn hissed. He was inches away from one of the Kin; he knew he wasn't in any condition to make demands. He didn't care.

“Alive,” Leanna said. “For now.”

“I want to see him,” Tenn said. His teeth grit together.

“Be careful what you ask for,” Leanna said, though she was looking at Justin. He stepped forward. “Justin, take our guest to his room. He has surely had a long journey. I want to make sure he's comfortable.”

Justin nodded and stepped over to Tenn, throwing him over his shoulder fireman-style. Tenn wanted to map the place out, but all he could see was the floor and he was too drained to fight for a better view. Concrete, then the jolt of bounding up wooden stairs. A door opened, and Tenn was hit with a blast of warm air that smelled like cinnamon and fir as they went down a maze of white-carpeted hallways. He closed his eyes briefly. How long had he been unconscious in the basement? How long until sunrise and the twins started their attack? How the hell was he going to fight his way to Jarrett—and fight their way out—when he could barely move his head without being struck with pain?

They halted, and he heard the
click
of a door opening. All thoughts of fighting and escape were knocked from his head, along with the wind in his lungs, when Justin threw him to the ground. Tenn moaned.

“Don't be such a pussy,” Justin said. He kicked Tenn in the side. Then he knelt down. “After all, you don't want to fuck up your heroic entrance.”

He grabbed Tenn's chin and forced his face to the side.

The room was white and dimly lit. And there, in the shadows, in a clean linen shirt and trousers, was Jarrett.

“I'll let you two lovebirds reconnect,” he said.

Then Justin stood and left, the lock clicking into place behind him.

Jarrett's eyes were closed. He didn't register the noise of the door slamming. Tenn crawled over, his muscles screaming nearly as loudly as the hammer of his heart. Jarrett's arms were twisted behind his back, his legs bound with rope in front of him, and his hair hung limp over a pale face. There were bruises under his eyes and a gag wrapped around his mouth. Tenn was crying before he even reached him. Jarrett was so still. So, so still. He reached out and put a hand to Jarrett's face. The skin was warm. He gently removed the gag, swept the strands of hair behind Jarrett's ear. More bruises. Jarrett didn't move. When his chest rose, Tenn gave a small cry of relief.

“Jarrett,” he whispered. He brushed his forehead, touched his lips. Jarrett remained as still as the dead. “Please,” he whispered. His words were salty with tears. “Please be okay.”

He opened to Earth and tried to heal his lover's wounds.

Tenn gasped.

The force of it hit like a blow to the gut. The moment he pressed the magic to Jarrett's body, something took hold. A hunger so great, a void so vast, Tenn felt himself nearly swallowed by the pull. Earth screamed. He fell back, stared at his hands as though burnt. Then he looked at Jarrett.
Really
looked.

The sallow skin, the bruises that had nothing to do with being beaten. Jarrett hadn't been attacked. His Sphere of Earth had been tapped.

The breath caught in Tenn's lungs as he stared at his love, the man who was supposed to be everything—home, safety, salvation. The man who was only minutes away from turning into a kraven.

Earth was dying in Jarrett's pelvis. It had been drained to the point of exhaustion, well past the point of replenishing itself. If it was pulled just a little bit more, it would implode and start the horrific process of turning Jarrett. But that hunger…that was more than Tenn's magic could fill.

He stared at Jarrett and felt a horrible vise clench at his heart.

He was going to have to watch Jarrett die.

Again.

The door opened behind him, but he was too stricken to even turn around. The door closed with a click. Tenn could feel the intruder's presence but wouldn't look. He couldn't tear his eyes off Jarrett. He reached out, touched Jarrett's shoulder. He didn't let go.
Maybe if I just give him a little. If I try
.

“This one, he has been such a charming guest. So polite.” Leanna. Tenn heard her step closer to them. “He's been waiting so long for you to arrive. Imagine his delight when we heard the wall crumble! We knew who it was, of course. And so, I had him specially
prepared
for your arrival.”

“You did this to him,” Tenn said. The vice tightened, but a new emotion tinged his hopelessness—rage.

“In a sense,” Leanna said. “My necromancers have been practicing for
ages
to perfect it. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to pause the draining process right on the tip of conversion? Even the tiniest amount too much, and he would be nothing but a mindless kraven right now.” The swish of fabric, and he saw her kneeling beside him from the corner of his eye. “You should be honored. I did all of this for you.”

Tenn's gut churned. He spared her glance.

“Why?” The word sounded so small. But in the face of this, he didn't feel strong. He didn't know why he'd ever thought he could save anyone.

“Because,” she said, “You are special. And I had to make sure you were the one before continuing.”

“What?”

She placed something in his free hand. It was warm and heavy, and it seemed to press against his heart like oil. He glanced down. It was a stone, smooth and black, inscribed with tiny marks that caught the light like quicksilver.

Tenn tried to let go, but she clenched his fingers around it. He felt bones grind.

“You know what this is, don't you?” she asked. “You've seen this before.”

He didn't answer. He couldn't move. He couldn't look away from Jarrett as a slow realization dawned. It took everything he had to push the thought away.

“But I would bet there's something you don't know,” she said. She turned his face to hers with her free hand.

Before he could ask what the hell she was talking about, she opened to Earth again.

He saw and felt her filter energy into the stone clasped in their hands. But that was it. The runes didn't glow. The stone didn't shiver with energy. She closed off to Earth and let go of his hand, settling back on her heels.

“As you see,” she said, her voice tinged with bitterness, “although those are the words of the Dark Lady, one must be fully
alive
to use them.” She glanced out the window. “For some reason, the runes won't activate for the Kin, even though we wield the Spheres like any of our…minions.” She nearly spat the word. “It's the only reason we put up with those idiots in the first place.”

Why the hell is she telling me this?

Leanna looked back to him, and there was something in her eyes that made him wonder if she could read his thoughts.

“That is where you come in.”

“I don't—”

“You don't understand. Yes, I'm well aware.” She gestured to the stone. “Why do you think there are only six Kin? Why do you think we've settled for creating lesser bastards since the Dark Lady died?”

Tenn shook his head. Jarrett was dying in front of him. He didn't have time for this. He should be healing Jarrett, not listening to this madwoman rant.

“Because she used special runes to bestow our abilities to use magic, but she took those secrets to her grave. No one has been able to access that language. Until you came along.”

That made him look at her. His heart did a flip. Did she truly think he'd…

“So this is your dilemma,” she said. She stood. “Jarrett is well beyond healing, as I'm sure you've already discovered. He will die very soon unless you do something to change it. The stone in your hand will push your lover over the edge and turn him into a kraven. He will lose his mind and every inch of beauty in that well-defined body. The runes are too inadequate to do anything else. But if you are truly able to read the Dark Lady's language, if you can communicate with the gods, then you will be able to change that. You could turn him into one such as I—immortal, powerful, beautiful. And entirely in control of his Sphere's hunger. You could grant him that gift. You'd have your future again.”

She leaned down and whispered in his ear.

“Or he will die within the hour. The choice is yours.”

Then she left, locking the door behind her.

39

Tenn
had mentally prepared himself for many things. He'd prepared to blow the house down, to face off against Leanna. He'd prepared to die in here, so long as Jarrett got out safe.

Nothing could have prepared him for this.

Leanna locking the door behind him brought it all crashing down. The scene had been too horrible to take in. It felt like some awful dream. But now reality was dawning.

He dropped the stone and pressed closer to Jarrett. He placed his hands on Jarrett's cool cheeks, bit back the tears that were forcing themselves to the surface. He had to save him. He had to heal him. There had to be a way. There
had
to.

“I've come too far,” he heard himself say. “I can't lose you. Not now. Not again.” The last word came out as a sob.

He opened to Earth and gently, gently, pressed the power to Jarrett's skin. Maybe if he took it in doses…

Again, the power snapped from his fingertips. He let go of the Sphere as Jarrett's starving center tried to suck him dry. Tenn closed his eyes and knew Leanna hadn't been lying. Jarrett was going to die; no amount of power in the world could replenish what had been stolen from him. And there was nothing Tenn could do about it.

Almost against his wishes, he looked to the stone that had rolled to Jarrett's hip.

Or is there?

He knew how to use the stone. Just a little bit of magic and the runes would activate, would start drawing out Jarrett's magic, just like Cassandra had demonstrated not even a week ago. The memory made his head swim. How things had changed.

If Leanna was telling the truth, maybe he
could
do it. Maybe he could alter the runes and turn Jarrett into… into what? A Kin? Some sort of bastardized kraven? Rumor was not even the Dark Lady could create an Earth Howl that kept its sanity. Earth was a hungry, mindless Sphere.

And what if he managed?

He looked at Jarrett. He traced the curve of Jarrett's jaw with his fingers, delicately, not wanting to hurt the bruises that marred his gaunt face. The scars seemed to stick out even more now, made him look more battle-hardened. He looked older. Too old.

Tenn tried to imagine his world anew. A different future, where Jarrett was still alive but not quite human. He looked just like before, acted just like before, only now, every night, they didn't sit down to dinner, didn't drink wine before the fire while reading books. Jarrett would be out hunting. And Tenn would have to ignore the blood on his lover's clothes, would have to train himself never to ask what or whom Jarrett had had for supper.

It would be possible, that future.
He could feed off necromancers or maybe even cattle or kravens or… anything
. They could still be together. It wouldn't be any different from now, right? They still had to kill to survive. Jarrett would be in control of his urges. He'd be like the Kin, like Tomás. He'd still be the man Tenn loved. Only different.

There were tears in his eyes. They blurred Jarrett's sharp features, but Tenn didn't wipe them away. Barely a day ago, Tenn had thought Jarrett was dead. Gone. Seeing him had ripped that open, left Tenn bleeding in the gutter of memory. For those brief, few hours, the spark had flickered—a reason to wake up in the morning, a reminder that there was more to life than killing and magic. There was love. There was the hope that love would always make everything better.

Only this time, it wouldn't. The man he loved would die no matter what. But maybe, if he really
was
chosen or important, he could have a semblance of Jarrett back. He could save him. Part of him.

Tenn was shaking as he leaned in and kissed Jarrett on the lips. He closed his eyes, wove his fingers gently through Jarrett's hair, and prayed his love could feel this. Jarrett needed to know he had fought for him. He had found him. He hadn't given up. In the end, Jarrett needed to know that Tenn had tried everything he could to save him. Even this.

Against his wishes, Water opened and flooded between them.

In the space of a heartbeat, his reality shattered.

“You have to let me go,” Jarrett said
.

The room was dark, so dark, but somehow, Tenn could see Jarrett clearly, like he carried his own light. They stood in the darkness together, hands linked. Jarrett was tall and proud, his face warm and golden. Glowing. No sign of the damage Leanna had wrought. He looked whole. Tenn sobbed in relief and fell into his arms. Tears rained unchecked on Jarrett's shoulder
.