Immortals After Dark 07 - Kiss of a Demon King

lover.
    "Mainly," she said, "I saw that you are . . . lonely." And his loneliness had called to her-which mystified Sabine, only adding to her general state of vexation. Last night, when she'd imagined the pain Rydstrom would feel to have his arms hacked off, she'd been so consumed with something that she hadn't even heard Hettiah approaching to attack. Feelings made people stupid, vulnerable.
    And more, she'd been embarrassed by what Rydstrom had seen at court. She'd never forget the revolted look on his face when he'd surveyed what used to be his.
    For some reason, she didn't want him to think that just because she lived here, she was like them.
    Just because I don't flinch doesn't mean I'm blind.
    "You had no right to be in my head!" He twisted in the bed, his lips thinned in obvious pain.
    "And then you made me dream of..."
    "Dream of what, Rydstrom?" She'd missed it. "I bade you to dream of what you needed most.
    I'd meant healing. Did your mind supply other particulars?"

    His expression grew closed. "It's none of your con-cern."
    She let that drop. For now. "I've also seen that you want to take me over to your side. That would be quite a coup. One thing though-I'm not likely to align myself against the most powerful sorcerer ever to live."
    "I saw your power. You're stronger than he is."
    "Don't play to my considerable vanity, demon." She examined her nails. "It will gain you nothing." "Ally with me and seek asylum within our army."
    "Asylum? Where? In your castle? Oh, I forgot, you haven't one. At least with Omort, I'm kept protected from your kind."
    "Become my kind, and no one will ever hurt you again."
    She sat at the foot of the bed. "That's the difference between me and you. I won't try to convert you. Do I like that you never lie and esteem things like valor? Of course not. But I don't try to rid you of those traits. Why does your kind forever seek to change ours?" That was'what she hated most about them-not their odd,
    counter-intuitive beliefs per se, but that they would force them on others.
    "Because we live more contented lives. We have loyalty, fidelity, honor-"
    "All three are overrated. The only chance you have to demonstrate any of them is to deny yourself some-thing or someone that you desire."
    "Then in the same vein, what about your loyalty to Omort? Have you been tempted to align with his
    enemies?"
    "Never," she lied. She was constantly tempted to betray him. Even more so now that he was cracking under the pressure of the uprising rebels, the vampires waiting at the castle walls to strike at sundown, the taunting of a foolish Valkyrie.
    The idea of Sabine with a demon.... But in truth, Sabine could have been steadfast to Omort.
    She recalled when he'd first come to find her. He'd seemed gallant as he'd saved her and Lanthe from an attack by ignorant humans. When he'd brought them to live in a plane with no humans or Vrekeners, the sisters had finally felt safe, protected in Tornin. Until the first time Omort had laid his hand on
    Sabine's thigh.
    Of course, they hadn't believed he was their half brother simply because he'd said so. But they had known that their mother, Elisabet, had committed some sin that made the noble family of Deie Sorceri disown her. Some transgression had made her feel so unworthy that Sabine and Lanthe's worthless father had seemed a good catch.
    From Omort they'd learned that Elisabet had been the Vessel of her own time-and she'd given birth to an ultimate evil- him. . . .
    Rydstrom interrupted her thoughts. "Omort can't fight off" the alliance the Valkyrie Nix is forming. Not
    alone."

    "Ah, yes, your Vertas. That's what Nix called it."
    "You're talking to her?"
    "Corresponding more like. She's utterly unhinged, by the way. You'd trust a madwoman to lead your army?"
    "There's a method to her madness," he said dryly, but she caught the undertone of respect in his voice.
    Luckily, Sabine didn't want his respect, so she wasn't jealous of the Valkyrie. She could earn his respect any time she wanted- if she wanted.
    "Besides, Omort won't be alone, demon. You saw members of his army." Members that they would be losing if Omort didn't get control of himself soon. "This Accession should be a good one."
    "And it doesn't bother you that we'll be on opposing
    sides."
    "You act as though we haven't always been." "Maybe so, but we will not be any longer." "Then you'll have to join the Pravus, because I plan to be on the winning side." Yet for the first time, she wondered.