Surely one turn cannot be so great a task.” As if slapped, she closed her eyes, and a look of such utter pain twisted her features that he feared she was ailing. Horrified at the thought, he took a step towards her, his hand moving to clasp her arm, when she opened her eyes and quickly stepped back. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I have to go.” No, no, no! She was drifting away, being swallowed up by the crowd. “Good-bye, William.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Will stared at the spot where the woman in red had been. Every instinct he possessed howled at the wrongness of her absenc.
From the center of his heart, pain spread. It filled him up then spilled outward. He fancied he might find his blood pooling on the waxed parquet floor beneath his feet. But there was non.
No, he simply stood alon.
Without her. Absently, he stroked his thumb over his platinum ring as their strange conversation played within his head, flickering over and over like a child’s zoetrop.
Her eyes meeting his gaze without flinching. Her scent, motor oil and metal and lilacs. Her smile reluctant and hard won. Her blood, rich, savory. Blood. Delicious and flowing down his throat. Will’s canines throbbed. Her voice saying his nam.
As no other had done save his mum. She’d called him William. She always called him that. Or Thorn.
“William Thorne, you are an utter beast.” Will gave a violent start. Why was he still here? His legs propelled him forward before he even had the thought to mov.
And then he was striding, weaving through the crush of people, heedless of anything but getting to her. She was gon.
His gait quickened. Out of the house, down the front driv.
The scent of lilacs and metal hung in the air like a tracer. He drew it in, his pace turning into a jog. Then a run. Faster. Faster. He needed to find her. His life depended on it. Out on the street, people danced, laughing and singing, enjoying the fair weather. May Day. Or the drunken end of it. Brilliant. Will shoved past a Jack in the Green, the brittle foliage on the man’s costume scraping Will’s cheek. Still Will rushed onward, leaving behind a band of dancing chimney sweeps and three foxed May Queens. But no sign of a red dress. Frantic, he sped on, following her scent. Not knowing how he could, but smelling it as clear as a bell. His body ached, his lungs burned with effort. Useless, tiresome human body. He hated it. Hated its weakness, when he needed to be fleet of foot and strong. He turned a corner, and the edifice of Victoria Station loomed in the distanc.
And he knew she’d gone insid.
Bugger. Her scent took him to an outbound train platform. There, against the soaring arches of steel and glass, was a flash of red skirts. She was headed for a train. She would be lost to him. Again. He could not move fast enough, could not get to her in tim.
Desperation, want, need, rushed up from his chest. “Holly!” he shouted without thought, his feet flying over the hard ground. The crimson bustle of her skirts swayed with her quick steps. And his soul cried out in wrongness that she should be apart from him. “Evernight!” Holly couldn’t stay. She couldn’t look at William and not have him. So she ran. Her corset pinched her side, her legs ached. She ran through Victoria Station, down to the ticket booth. She would go home to Ireland. To her parents. She missed her family. She needed arms to hold her. Ticket purchased and in hand, Holly wove through the slower moving passengers, heading out to the platforms. She could not stand still; it gave her too much time to think. Ahead of her, the train waited to take her away, a dark, snaking beast, hissing white steam from its valv.
“Holly!” She nearly stumbled at the sound of his voice, the desperate pitch of it. So quickly had she been moving that she took three more steps before she could slow. “Evernight!” Sweet pain lanced through her heart. Panting, she stopped, her skirts swaying, even as footsteps pounded up behind her. He’d been running like a fiend, for he skidded to a halt as she turned around. Not three feet away, William Thorne stood before her, sweat darkening his temples, his chest heaving as he fought for breath. She struggled to calm her own. They stood facing each other, he with a pained expression as he panted, and she likely looking the sam.
His rapid breath slowly eased, and he straightened, his gaze never leaving hers. “Sodding useless human body,” he said in his dark Northern voic.
“I don’t know how you stand it.” A half-sob, half-choked laugh broke from her. And his mouth trembled, caught, it seemed, between a smile and a frown. He stared at her for a beat of silence, and then an anguished sound left him. “Holly.” His voice broke, and his body moved. Two strides and he had her. His warm palms cupped her cheeks, and then his lips covered hers. He wasn’t polite about it, or careful. He devoured her mouth, plundering deep. And it felt so bloody good, like sweet relief and home, that Holly sobbed. He swallowed the sound down, licking it up with the lap of his tongu.
She wound her arms about his neck, pressing closer to the familiar heat of his body. Time and a sea of people passed them by as they kissed. Until she was dizzy with need and happiness. Slowly, taking little nips as he went, Will pulled back. With a broad sigh, he rested his forehead upon hers, his hands still cupping her face as though he’d never let go. “Holly,” he whispered. “Petal mine.” “You remember.” Her voice cracked. “Everything.” Soft kisses peppered her face, the scent and texture of him surrounding her. “William.” Clutching his shoulders, she kissed him back. On his jaw, the warm crook of his neck, the tip of his sharp nos.
“Man of my heart.” Impatient fingers plucked at the satin ribbon around her neck. “Let me see my mark, love.” The ribbon slithered away, and he let out a satisfied sigh before tenderly pressing his lips to the thorn-shaped mark that had never faded. “I was lost. So lost without you.” Exhaustion washed through her. She rested her head upon his shoulder and let him hold her. “You are my joy,” she told him. “And you are my lodestone,” he said. “I will always come back to you.” He smiled. And she smiled. Until the scent of earth and moss invaded her happy sanctuary. He too caught the scent, for he stiffened and his nostrils flared. Around them, silence fell, the once-crowded train platform now deserted. As if struck, Will lurched, doubling up on a sharp hiss before falling to his knees. Holly cried out, sinking to his side as he convulsed. “Will?” The scent of earth grew thicker, and a fog rolled in, filling up the cavernous iron canopy that made up the depot. Will remained hunched over, his body trembling. “Talk to me,” she insisted, trying to ignore the tendrils of fog that tickled her neck. “Oh my,” said a feminine voic.
“It appears Will Thorne has regained his memory.” Mab sauntered out from the billowing fog, a vision in green satin and white bows. Her rosebud lips pursed. “Looking a bit worse for wear, isn’t he?” “Shut up,” Holly snapped, her hand still upon Will’s shoulder. Mab stared at Will. “You are not supposed to be here.” “You have no control over where I go,” Will said between gasps. “What are you doing to him?” Holly snarled. Mab ignored her. “We had a bargain, Mr. Thorne.” “And we kept it. There was nothing in it about me remembering Holly on my own.” Mab sneered. “How I hate when you demons wiggle by on a technicality.” Again Will writhed, doubling up as though trying to hold his guts in. “Stop!” Holly’s cry was sharp and strong enough that Mab paused. “I want another bargain,” she told Mab, knowing a fae could not resist the temptation. “Oh?” Mab said. “Request?” “Leave William alone.” Holly lifted her chin. “Name your terms.” Will made a gurgle of protest. Gently, Holly touched his cold cheek, and Will’s gaze held hers. “Stay down,” she said in a low voic.
“This is my fight.” His nostrils flared, the expression on his face shifting towards stubborn refusal. But then he gave an almost imperceptible nod. Love, gratitude, and protectiveness flooded her and gave her strength. This man. He knew her. He was her partner in all things. And she would not lose him again. In a single move, Holly rose and spun to face Mab. “Now dear girl,” Mab said with a patronizing smile, “no male is worth such upset. Do the sensible thing and never become attached to one.” “As you did not become attached to Aidan? So desperate for his affections that you forced a man who did not desire you into your bed.” Mab’s eyes flared dark purple fire as she sneered. “He was being unreasonabl. As are you.” The fae stiffened as Holly’s fists clenched. “Do not,” Mab suggested, “make threatening gestures towards me, young on.
You shall not like the consequences.” Holly smiled then. This fae believed her to be a rational creature, ruled by logic. Perhaps onc.
But not today. “As you dared to threaten William?” Holly stalked forward. “You dared lay a finger on him, after we played your game?” “His very presence here insults m.
I am Mab. I shall not be made to look a fool by a lowly sanguis turned even lower human.” Her expression turned mulish. “And I cannot say I am pleased by your lack of gratitude for the gift I bestowed to you.” Ah, yes, her “gift.” As soon as William had left her, Mab had informed Holly that, because of her kinship and the trials she had to face by being stuck with the sanguis, Holly could have the gift of immortality. It had been the height of cruelty, to make Will a human while forcing Holly to live an eternity without him. Holly had said as much, and Mab, in a fit of pique, had made the gift irreversibl.
The bitch. Holly’s anger burned hotter now. “If it’s gratitude you’re wanting, pray look elsewher.
Only a fool would desire a ‘gift’ from you.” Mab’s nostrils flared. She cuffed Holly on the face, sending her to her knees. A roar rang out, and Will staggered to his feet and grabbed the fae about the throat. Though human, Will was not weak. He shook her like a rag before tossing her far. But Mab landed upon light feet. And she laughed. “I see lessons are in order.” She snapped her fingers, and Holly heard the sickening crack of Will’s arm bon.
Instantly, Will’s body went rigid, a scream pushing through his clenched teeth. Mab snapped again, and Will toppled, his legs bent at unnatural angles.
Chapter Thirty-Five
No more!” Holly shouted, stalking towards Mab. With a bored expression, the fae lifted a hand and sent a wave of power through the air. Holly tumbled back, skidding until she stopped at the edge of the train platform. And Will, human and vulnerable, flopped about on the ground as Mab continued to break his bones one by on.
Rage, blind and all-encompassing, lit through Holly. She welcomed it, letting it fuel her. Looming behind her was a great, black steam engin.
The massive iron locomotive began to shake upon the track, the sound of metal groaning then tearing with a series of sharp screeches. Holly narrowed her focus, and the iron panels along the engine ripped fre.
They flew through the air and landed before Will, clanging as they formed a wall around him. Higher and higher, blocking him from Mab and her power. Struggling to her feet, Holly pulled more iron. A violent rattle sounded around the platform, ominous and strained. Mab glanced about, taking in the wrought-iron fence dividing the wide platform that lay between two tracks. The iron posts began to quiver. And her gaze narrowed. Iron was quite deadly to the fae, and they both knew it. “You would not dare.” Holly flicked her wrists. The iron spears on the fence flew through the air in a blur. Mab screamed as they slammed into her, throwing her back and impaling her upon the stone wall of the station’s entranc.
Breathing through her teeth, Mab hissed at Holly. “Insolent little—” Another sliver of iron caught the fae in the neck, going in deep enough to cut off her words but not yet her head. Holly stopped before the woman. Mab snarled, unable to move against the iron spears. The metal was doing its work, leaching into her body, poisoning her blood and weakening her. “You ought to have chosen a safer place to launch your attack,” Holly advised. “Or did you assume that I would not fight back? That I would cower and fear you?” Mab’s expression promised retribution and pain. “Now you listen to me,” Holly said with quiet conviction. “You will never touch William Thorne, nor any of his kith and kin, again. You will never contact me or interfere with my life, either directly or indirectly, again.” The fae uttered a noise that might have been a snort before glaring back at Holly. Holly stared into those ancient eyes without fear. “You may have more power, and perhaps one day, you’ll have the luck to catch me unawar.
But you do not have my resolv.
You come between me and mine again, and I will slice you into ribbons so slowly, it will take agonizing hours for this mortal shell you now wear to di.
And when I am done, I’ll send you back without another thought for you. I’ll do it over and over. I will not stop defending what is mine.” Mab bared her teeth. She could not respond, however, not with the iron bar lodged in her throat. Holly didn’t flinch or blink. “Am I clear?” Resentful capitulation filled Mab’s eyes. Holly waved her hand, and the iron shards sliced through the fae’s flesh like it was suet. On a garbled cry, the fae’s head fell off, her body breaking apart in a mess of limbs and gore before it sizzled and bubbled an instant later. Before the iron finished falling to the ground, her remains were nothing more than a pile of ash. Holly turned heel and ran back to Will, flinging the iron panels aside with a flick of her wrist. Will lay on his side, shaking. “William.” Her knees hit the pavement, and she reached for him, half frightened to touch him and cause more pain. White streaks shot down from the crown of his head, growing thicker and thicker, until the brown was gon.