Immortals After Dark 03 - No Rest for the Wicked

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.

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.
    “I can go with you,” Nikolai had offered. “Myst is at Val Hall today.” His tone grew low. “They couldn’t find Kaderin, and they all are... gathering.”
    “You need to be there if Myst returns. Besides, it’s just me against the Scot and he’s weakened. I can handle this.”
    Just after Sebastian had chained Kaderin up, he’d traced to Riora’s temple. She was surprisingly indifferent about Sebastian competing in Kaderin’s stead. In fact, she was more put out that he would no longer be her knight, and hers alone. But she’d agreed.
    When he’d traced back to London, a car had been waiting outside the flat to take him to a private airport. Then there was a jet to Hungary. It was still dark when Sebastian landed a mere two and a half hours later...
    The truck that would take him to the pit had just arrived, earlier than scheduled, so Sebastian decided to take five minutes to check on Kaderin. He would reassure her that Riora had agreed to him competing—and convince her that he could do this.
    He traced to London. To find the bed was empty and the chains broken. She was gone...
    When he traced directly to her, he appeared at the edge of a chamber of fire.
    The cavern that housed it was as large as an auditorium, and in the center was a roiling pit of lava. Fire wisped into the air, dissipating into black smoke. Rocks crumbled down the sides into the lava, bubbling up smaller and smaller until they disappeared.
    Where in the hell is she?
    Stretched above the pit was a metal cable as thin as filament that was embedded into a sheer rock face. He couldn’t see where it would lead—
    Kaderin appeared from the other side of the chamber, wasting no time, hopping up to the side of the pit, testing the cable with a pointed toe. When she saw him nearing, her eyes narrowed with fury. “Get the hell away from me! Enough! I need this, Bastian. I have to have it.”
    Palms raised, he said slowly, “Let me get it for you.”
    “I’ve won the Hie five times before. I can do this!” She hurried onto the wire—it burned her shoes.
    “Goddamn it, I’ll trace you.”
    “To where?” she said over her shoulder. “The rock’s solid. It may be that you have to walk the cable to spy out another entrance below or scan for it in the ceiling.” She paused and quirked an eyebrow. “Walking this won’t be a problem.”
    He traced to her, determined to take her from this place, but she dodged him, sending him back to the same spot empty-handed.
    “Bloody stop it!” she shrieked, charging farther out on the wire. “I can walk this blind! On my hands!” In an instant, he traced once more, but again she ducked, eluding him.
    A lash of fire whipped up just behind her. Even with her speed, she scarcely escaped it—and him, as he traced once more. No key was this valuable—not worth the life of an immortal.
    Something bubbled up from the lava beneath her.
    A true monster, a being of fire shaped like a giant snake. The Fyre Serpénte. The main part of its body lay beneath the surface of the lava,