Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

first place?”
    “Oh, aye. She found out she was my mate, though I’d lied about it.”
    Lachlain rubbed the back of his neck. He’d done just the same with Emma. Mates that were
other
didn’t often find the news welcome. “How’d she find out?”
    “I’d made the twins vow no’ to tell anyone about her. But when they thought they were about to war with the Valkyrie to retrieve me and cover your incursion, theygave an order that Lousha could no’ be hurt. Upon pain of death, she was to be spared. I appreciated the foresight, but the clan quickly figured it out.”
    “Where do you think she is?”
    Garreth said, “I have some leads.”
    “Nïx?”
    “Aye.”
    Nucking Futs Nïx. Lachlain owed everything to that soothsayer. She was the one who’d coaxed Emma to go to Paris in the first place. If Emma hadn’t been there, then Lachlain never would’ve had the strength to escape the vampires—who’d imprisoned and tortured him for over a century….
    Tamping down those memories, Lachlain said, “Before you go, I wanted to pass on some advice. Emma told me that to win your mate, you have to accept Regin. The two are thick as thieves. Always have been. Since they were children.”
    “So calling Regin a glowing bluidy freak dinna help my cause? On top of the lie? Christ, I’ve bollixed this up.”
    “But you said she’s no’ immune to you. You can win her.”
    With a firm nod, Garreth said, “Aye, then, I will. I’m off.” He hugged Lachlain, clapping him on the back. “It’s good to have you back, brother.”
    When they finally broke apart, Lachlain was choked up, clearing his throat. “Right, then.”
    Garreth stared down at his beer, muttering, “Got something in my eye.” Turning to go, he said, “Take care of our queen.”
    “You just be careful.” The two brothers had always been protective of each other, so Lachlain was uneasy that Garreth had no one to watch his back. “And stay out of trouble.” Garreth was a hell of a fighter, but on occasion, he needed a wingman.
    Over his shoulder, Garreth said, “Doona worry. Mark my words, I’ll have her back in two weeks.”

SEVENTEEN

    One year later, the Northlands
Possibly the mountains of Thrymheim Hold,
but probably not
    Is this a bad time?” Nïx asked cheerily.
    “You are fully aware that this is a damned bad time,” Lucia said. “Currently I’m suspended from a mountain ledge, four thousand feet in the air.” She hung on to a rock cleft with the tips of her fingers—of one hand. The other she’d used to click on her sat-phone earpiece.
    Sometimes Lucia wished satellite phones
didn’t
work everywhere on earth.
    “You sound awful,” Nïx observed. “Have you been taking your Flintstones?”
    Lucia’s muscles burned. She hadn’t slept in days.
The games
, it seemed, would not
end
. And Lucia was in a grueling fourth-quarter situation—with a team mate lost. “Nïx, did you call for a reason?”
    “Are you any closer to finding Thrymheim?”
    Lucia had relinquished her lofty goal of locating a dieumort and killing Cruach—now she’d be satisfied ifshe could merely keep him jailed for another five hundred years.
    She needed Skathi, or more accurately, she needed one of Skathi’s arrows, but Lucia couldn’t even locate the goddess. “If it’s not at the top of this peak, then this range is a bust.”
    Lucia had been so sure this was Godsbellow Mountain. Now she grew increasingly doubtful. She vaguely remembered an ever-ascending path to the peak. She could find no path. So she was climbing. “Don’t suppose you’ll finally tell me where the temple is?”
    “I thought if a Skathian was pure of heart, she could always find her way back to the goddess.”
    Pure of heart?
Not in the least.
Though Lucia and MacRieve had never shared more than those two nights together, she couldn’t stop thinking about him, lusting for him. Whenever she touched herself, it was his body she fantasized about. “I’ll find my way back, Nïx. One way or another.”
Push on, Lucia!
What choice did she have? She leapt for another handhold.
    “Well, actually, that’s why I’m calling. Now, I know your to-do list is varied and important. Finding Skathi, preparing for your five-hundred-yearly confrontation with the revolting Cruach, the epitome of pure evil, et cetera.”
    Speak of the devil—literally.
Though the Broken Bloody One was a hideous abomination, he could disguise himself with a face so beautiful…
it made me