Shadowdance(118)

And then they both collapsed. For a moment Jack simply panted, his body half slung on top of her, then he gathered her close and tucked her snugly against his side. “I knew we’d be like that together,” he whispered on an unsteady breath.

Mary stretched against him, luxuriating in the soreness along her limbs and the feel of him still deep inside her. “Had I known,” she said, running a hand over his sweaty back, “I’d have insisted we shag the moment we met.”

He grunted, and she squeezed the hard swell of his shoulder. “Jack,” she whispered. “Let’s do it again. Now.”

Surprise rippled through him, which did delicious things to his muscles. And as if answering her, his cock twitched against her sex, growing thick once more. He eased himself up to peer down at her, and a wide, cocksure grin erupted over his mouth. She’d never seen that particular smile, but she liked it.

“Again?” His voice was a rumbling rasp. And that lovely grin grew wider, and his cock pulsed. A light laugh left him. “Oh, angel, just let anyone bloody try and stop me.”





Chapter Thirty-One





One more adjustment and it would be finished. Closing her eyes, Holly ran her hand over the heart, feeling for any weak spots in the design. Her fingertips reached an area that felt dark and unsteady. There. Taking a breath, she let her power go. The metal heated to searing hot, but did not burn her. Concentrating on what she wanted the device to do, Holly held on. The metal quivered, then rearranged itself. Another moment and her invention was cool once more. And complete.

Holly opened her eyes and picked her creation up. Despite her disgust with this place, pride in what she’d accomplished surged forth. It was a thing of beauty, developed using a wax casting method, backbreaking hours of work, and the power no one else knew she wielded.

At her elbow was the working diary of her predecessor. The mere thought that another had been here before her filled Holly with icy terror. But his notes fascinated. The man, Pierce, had been a clockmaker. At first he’d attempted to create new hearts, but when they failed he’d tried his hand at repairing stolen GIM hearts.

With a shiver Holly remembered the ruined remains of Mr. Pierce and the damaged clockwork heart she’d taken from his corpse to examine. Though his notes did not say, Holly did not think he had volunteered to have the very heart he’d fixed placed in his chest.

Would the same fate be forced upon her? Tentatively she lifted the heart a little higher. It glowed in the low light, a pale sheen that appeared silver, but was platinum. Rare and incredibly strong, platinum had the distinction of being the one metal that supernatural bodies did not adversely react to.

That had been the key. That bastard was putting steel or gold hearts into shifters and sanguis. Both metals poisoned their victims, creating a change that was catastrophic. As if gaining a mind of its own, the metal would take over the body, weaving its way into the fabric of the immortal’s flesh, causing intense pain, mental instability, and, eventually, a complete body failure.

The endless line of failures had not pleased the madman holding her here. Peace in this hell only came when Master—how she hated that name—had consumed a few drops of the glimmering blood from the vial he kept close to him at all times. To his glee, one drink had closed a few of the smaller sores on his face. Talent’s blood, if his rantings were to be believed.

Holly had hoped that would be the end of it, but she’d been ordered to create a heart that worked. Her guts cramped at the thought. Because if she didn’t find a way, she was dead.

Holly had put all her skill into the creation, for she realized that success would ultimately destroy him. Holly simply needed to make a heart that would work. Once Master put one into himself, she would use the electric prod against him and stop his heart. Not a very strong plan, granted, but it was all she had.

The door to her cell slammed open, and a man strode in. With shining hair, firm skin, and a gleam in his eye, her captor fairly beamed at her. Rising from his back were a pair of wings covered with glossy black feathers. One dropped to the floor as he came forward.

“Happy day, Miss Evernight,” he said. “My body is whole once more.” He gave a wry little laugh. He glanced at the platinum heart on her worktable. “Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“It is marvelous.” Gently he touched the smooth arch of the heart’s outer surface, and Holly had the mad urge to snatch it from him. But she held still as he lifted the device up to the light. “Platinum, is it?”

Holly knew he wanted an explanation. He always wanted to hear her methods. “I believe previous failures were due to the type of metal used. Platinum ought to be benign to immortals.”