Entwined Realms Volume One(73)

There was nothing Terak wanted more than to feel flesh shred beneath his claws, but long training kept him still. This was the most the acolyte had offered all day. There would be time for vengeance later. Now there were only answers to be found. “Not so worthless. You have been unstoppable in your quest for her. Why should only necromancers possess that type of power?”

For the first time, a gleam of intelligent cunning peeked out from behind the madness. “You don’t even know her secret.”

“I know you want her so badly you go against the Guild to collect her. What else do I need to know to realize her worth?” Only when the words were spoken did Terak realize their truth. He had been so focused on the necromancers and the new knowledge of their ultimate plan he never considered all the other avenues where danger now lurked. She was a prize of great worth. His stomach wrenched hard at all the ways she could be now used to further various interests.

“Our source never indicated you felt this way.”

Source?

Betrayal.

A gargoyle was in league with this evil, feeding them information. Who? In exchange for what? He pushed the bitter burn away to think on later. To the acolyte he said, “I am Mennak. I am answerable to no one, and your master is pitiable if he does not know even that about my kind.”

The acolyte made no reaction to the offense. Instead, his mad smile gleamed brighter. “Only time will tell us if your words are true, gargoyle. We should like to see you prove them.”

And a gut-deep realization spread through Terak that he would get no more from the acolyte, no matter the methods he used.

Malek waited outside the thick cell doors. “Does anyone else know he is here?” Terak asked once he cleared the prison. Malek had been the one to find the acolyte, and had come straight to Terak.

“No, just as you ordered.”

“You heard what the creature insinuated?” Terak wanted his second-in-command to gainsay him, to tell him he was wrong in thinking one of their kind turned on them.

Instead, Malek nodded. “I wish I did not believe it, but it makes sense.”

Terak placed a hand on his shoulder. “At this moment, I trust only you. Keep watch on the grounds. With the capture of the acolyte, the necromancer may try to force a meeting with the betrayer.”

Terak headed for his chambers, but was waylaid by Krikus. “There is an issue with the human woman,” the old councilor said without preamble.

Cold, sick fear spread through his stomach. “Is she hurt?” and even he could hear the terror the tone held.

“She was captured by the Guild. We do not know where they hold her.”

A powerful relief hit so hard he was dizzy, and he almost embarrassed himself with the need to lean against the wall. Instead, he forced his legs to stiffen and hold his weight upright.

His first instinct was to pursue her, to gather warriors and fight. But even if he knew where she was held, he could not leave. His Clan was in danger, and he needed to find the threat within. With the Guild she was safe.

Later, the Guild would pay for taking her. Now, they were the best option to keep her protected.

To Krikus, Terak said, “Send out our scouts to be on the lookout for her. As soon as she is found, they are to send word. We will take her back…

…by battle if necessary.”

*

“You would betray me, Valry?”

She had arrived to her meeting with the accursed vampire with her shoulders squared and her head high, but now, as she saw Terak step from behind several rocks and Malek at his side, her body hunched over, losing her usual arrogance.

She reached out, beseeching. “This is not betrayal. I would never betray you. Everything I have done was so our people can become great again.” She motioned to the vampire who was still several feet away. “He is here to offer a bargain.”

“Which means you do not believe us great now, under my leadership and the leadership of my father. If that is the case, I wonder then why you would not betray me.”

“You are a great leader, but you are blinded by a utopian vision of living in this world as equals among the other races, but they will never accept us. We must always live separate, and they must know our strength so they will never come against us!”

It should hurt more, the female with whom he had once meant to mate aligning herself with a man with the blood-red eyes, a mark of a true vampire and necromancer. It should tear at his chest, drive him to howl at the moon and claw the dirt around him.

And he did feel that, but for another female. Larissa was apart from him and the ache in his chest would not abate. He could not lean over and pull her toward him. He could not see her little chin lifting as she fought him or those blue eyes laughing and inviting him to share in her joy. All he could not do was tearing at him, pulling him apart at the seams.