Sebastian swallowed. "We've faced all of those. Each one but for the fire."
"This would explain the uproar around Val Hall. Myst is secretive about coven business, but I've gathered that they are searching for Kaderin."
"No wonder she doesn't want them to know where she is." Sebastian ran an unsteady hand over his face. "Nïx predicted Kaderin's death before the next full moon. When is the next full moon?"
Nikolai's voice was grave. "Tonight."
Once she got out of the bath and threw on a robe, she found Sebastian sitting on the couch. He seemed in such deep thought, she almost felt awkward interrupting him. Kaderin shook it off. The scroll could update at any minute. She longed to experience him one more time, before she forgot him -
She hissed in a breath. Well, that pang freaking hurt.
"Bastian?"
Though she'd only been away from him for fifteen minutes, he stared at her as if he were seeing a ghost. Then without a word, he stood and crossed to her. He curled his finger under her chin and treated her to a kiss that was at once tender and passionate, making her melt.
When he drew back, she gazed up and found his eyes flickering over her, searching, she knew, for any hint of how he could bring her more pleasure. All he wanted was her happiness. She understood now. He would never turn - never change. She had, though.
She was falling for a vampire.
Looping her arms around his neck, she murmured, "I want you to make love to me." She'd clearly shocked him. "I want there to be more between us."
"Why now?" He had to clear his throat to continue. "What makes you say this tonight? Is it gratitude because of the box?"
She caught his eyes. "No. It's because you're not what I feared you'd be. And I finally see that you never will be. You're different."
He exhaled a breath. "What am I, then?"
Tonight, you were a hero. "You're a good man. You're good to me." She leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Bastian, I want to be good to you, too."
He shuddered, pulling her close against him, molding her body against his. The merest brush of his lips against hers built into a slanting feast.
She was lost in the sensation -
Did he just trace me?
Cold metal clenched her wrist. Her eyes widened when she found herself in her bed. She fought him, but he forced her other wrist up to be chained as well.
"What in the hell are you doing?" she cried.
"I'm making sure you can't leave."
"Sebastian, you're alarming me, and I don't understand why. I was going to make love to you - "
"One last toss before you die?" he bit out.
She glanced away and exhaled. "How did you find out about the premonition?"
"Dreamed it. Why didn't you tell me you were fated to die in this competition before the full moon? Tonight?"
"Damn you, let me free! Nïx's prediction could be wrong - "
"Though she never is," he said.
"She hasn't been in the past," Kaderin said. "Besides, whether she is or isn't is incidental. If I don't win that prize, I'll be dead in a month anyway."
"What does that mean?"
"I have to be there tonight." Her chained arm seemed to ache where Furie had broken it so long ago. "It's my destiny to go, and I'll meet it head on."
"It's your destiny to die. And I won't allow that. You will stay here, and I will win the competition for you."
"How, Sebastian? I'm the finalist! I have to be there."
"I will go to Riora. And ask her to let me compete in your stead."
"Even if you can take my place, how will you get to the prize before Bowen does? Unless you've figured out a way for vampires to trace directly to map coordinates, you can only trace to me or to places you've already been. Odds are, you won't have been there."
"Nikolai has offered to secure transportation, a plane - "
"Look, let's compromise," she said hastily, seeing how unyielding he was. "You could help me. We could work together."
He picked up the scroll. She could tell it had updated, because his expression grew menacing. "Work together by going to the pit of the Fyre Serpénte tonight?" He gave a bitter laugh, then shoved the script at her face. "You will never go to a place known in the Lore as 'where immortals go to die' on the night you're fated to die!"
She memorized the coordinates before he took it away. "This isn't your call to make!" Kaderin had never doubted that her sacrifice could bring her sisters back, and he wanted to rob her of that. If she could save them and end this guilt... then she longed to die for it. "You're ignoring my wishes and my beliefs as though they were insane. It's galling to someone like me."
"Because they are insane! Goddamn it, tell me why you want this so badly!"
"Fine. Let me go, and I will. You asked me what you could do to make me trust you, and this is your chance. This is the test. Free me, and I'll tell you everything. No secrets between us. We'll work as a team."
He stabbed his fingers through his thick hair. "No. I can't let you go. Nïx predicted we'd face a fire, and she predicted that you would die. You know where the task is. Do you wish to die? If you go tonight, it's suicide - "
"You are going to talk to me about suicide? Oh, that's rich!"
"I had nothing to live for. But now we both do!" He knelt on the bed and clutched her nape. "I won't let you die!"
"Damn you!" she cried. "Sometimes living isn't everything!"
Her words made his lips part. "No. I used to believe that." He stood unsteadily. "Now I know I was wrong." Before he traced away, he rasped, "If you love something, you protect it ruthlessly. No matter what occurs."
After he'd gone, she lay for some time, sorting through what had just happened. He'd chained her down, intending to prevent her from bravely meeting her fate.
She'd meant what she said. If he'd freed her, she would have told him everything. She would have joined him. But she wouldn't trust his judgment when he refused to afford her the same faith.
Too bad whatever plane Sebastian was heading for could never get to those coordinates faster than the Augusta 109 helicopter she had on call.
And too bad the chains were only protected against vampires. She popped them open with ease.
Chapter 22
37
Yélsérk, Hungary, the pit of the Fyre Serpénte
Day 30
Prize: The Sworne Blade of Honorius, to win
I need your help," Sebastian had said to Nikolai after learning that tonight was the full moon. That was all it had taken to arrange every step of transportation.