Beloved Forever Part 21

"It is my right."

She shook her head as he read her thoughts, wondering how she could block him out.

He laughed. "You can't."

I can try. She winced as his fingers reflexively tightened. "Can't you just leave him alone?"

Koss blinked, and his eyes clouded. He hesitated, but finally shook his head. "No. Of all who belong to me, none have been so well loved as Nicholas." His brow furrowed, and a hint of anger crept into his eyes. "None has betrayed me as he did. He has to be punished."

"Hasn't it been long enough?" Michael interjected angrily. "You've tortured him for nearly eight hundred years."

Koss shrugged as he looked at the priest. "It can never be enough. It won't cease until he returns to me." His eyes narrowed as his gaze s.h.i.+fted back to Emily. "I could even share him with you, if he would come home where he belongs." He leaned closer, pressing his lips to her ear. "He could share you too."

The puckered flesh of his scar touched her cheek, causing her to squirm away. Emily stiffened as Koss nipped her earlobe. "Don't touch me."

"Just think of it. One big, happy family, my dear." His chuckle was a low, oily sound that slithered down her spine. "You're beautiful. Erin had a fey, childlike quality about her, but not you." Koss's other hand cupped her breast, and he pinched forcefully. "Your beauty is ageless." He sn.i.g.g.e.red. "Of course, it will never mature now, will it?"

She closed her eyes and tried to endure his a.s.sault on her body and senses, knowing he wouldn't stop until he had finished. She was determined to ignore him, though bile burned a path up her throat as her mind insisted on plying her with disturbing images of the three of them in various pa.s.sionate embraces, surely transmitted from Koss's mind to hers.

She cried out when Koss jerked her to her feet as he stood up. Despite her vow to block him out, she asked, "What are you doing?" There was a sharp edge of panic to her voice.

He lifted and carried her to the communion table, where the woman was splas.h.i.+ng holy water on the candles burning there. Once she extinguished them, she swept her arm across the altar and knocked everything to the floor.

Emily knew there was more to the woman's actions than a hatred of religious symbols. She screamed and kicked out with her feet as Koss dropped her onto the wet slab.

"It's time to consecrate the altar, dear Emily." Koss licked his lips. "It's overdue for a virgin sacrifice." "No," she screamed as loudly as she could, praying someone on the street would hear her and burst into the church to investigate.

The woman laughed. "Make all the noise you want. Koss has s.h.i.+elded this place. Your precious Nicholas will be lucky to break through the barrier in time to save your life, let alone your innocence."

"Nina," he snapped. "You speak too freely."

She bowed her head and backed away. Her posture suggested she was chastened, but her eyes glowed with excitement. She watched avidly as Koss tore open Emily's s.h.i.+rt.

"How cozy, wearing your lover's s.h.i.+rt." Koss quirked a brow. "But then, he isn't your lover yet, is he?

How does he find the willpower to resist your nubile young body?" He chuckled.

If she had thought it would do any good, Emily would have pleaded for him not to touch her, but knew he had no pity. The best she could do was stoically endure whatever he did to her, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

It was easier to think than do when he ripped off her bra, causing the elastic to bite into her skin before it broke. She took a deep breath and tried to pretend his hands didn't cup her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and twist her nipples viciously. It won't be so bad, she repeated repeatedly to herself. Nicholas would arrive in time to save her.

If he didn't?

She refused to let her thoughts go down the road. She would survive whatever he did to her.

An image of Koss licking the blood from the sword he used to murder Erin insisted on invading her mind, and she whimpered quietly.

She took a deep breath, trying to console herself with the thought of Nicholas not resting until he found her again. Dying now would only mean a temporary separation. That thought didn't bring her much comfort as Koss bent his head to lick her nipple.

"Don't be a robot. Cry for me, Emily." His fang penetrated the sensitive peak. "Let Nicholas hear your pain."

Emily gritted her teeth and shook her head. She closed her eyes and focused on the pain of lying on her bound arms, enabling her to block out the agony of what he did to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She struggled to recall happy memories of her marriage to Nicholas when she was Erin. She must have slipped away, because when she opened her eyes again, her pants were off, though she still wore her underwear. She didn't know what had brought her back to awareness until she heard the steady hum of Michael repeating a prayer. Shame burned in her when she realized the holy man would bear witness to her defilement.

"Koss!"

Her eyes widened at the sound of Nicholas's voice thundering from the nave and realized his presence was what had brought her back to the present. She made a low sound of relief in her throat, earning a cuffing from Koss for her optimism.

He pressed his face against hers, and his expression was one of rage. "Do you think he can save you?He can only do what I allow him to."

"You're wrong." Emily forced herself to meet his gaze without flinching. She expected to see evidence of insanity, but he appeared collected and rational. She didn't give voice to her terror, but it was more frightening to realize he acted of his own volition, and no demons of his mind controlled him.

He didn't bother to refute her as he stood up, withdrawing from her. He appeared jovial when he turned to Nicholas. "Welcome to our gathering, dear Nicholas." He swept out his arms to encompa.s.s those a.s.sembled around him. "We've been waiting for you."

"Emily?" Nicholas's voice shook with anger, but there seemed to be a thread of fear underlying it. "Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Michael?"

"I'm fine, boy."

Nicholas nodded, and he walked toward them. He moved with his innate grace, but there was a predatory gleam in his eyes, and he seemed to have the pent-up tension of a pacing tiger trapped in a cage. He stopped a few feet from Koss, facing him with his head held high. His dark eyes burned with rage. "This ends tonight, Koss."

Koss shook his head. "No. It never ends. Not until you return to me. Tonight is just a game." He licked his lip, and he glanced briefly at Emily. "You've interrupted the pre-game show, but the main event awaits."

Nicholas stiffened. "What is it you want from me?"

"You know the answer to that. Accept your place."

He tossed his head, causing his ponytail to swing freely. "I belong to no one, and I won't be your slave."

"Then be my equal." There was almost a hint of pleading in his voice.

Emily frowned as she eased into a sitting position. She froze when she felt the sharp tip of a blade against her throat. Her eyes widened as she locked eyes with Nina.

Nicholas crossed him arms. "Release them. This is between us."

Koss seemed to hesitate. "Will you come back to me?"

"No. Never."

His shoulders sagged, and he shook his head. "If you won't give me what I want, I can't relent. They remain in my possession."

Nicholas's eyes narrowed as they rested briefly on his father before moving to Emily.

She gasped at the pain she saw reflected there, sensing he was close to giving in to whatever Kosswanted of him. "No," she mouthed, wincing when Nina jabbed her with the point of the dagger. Blood trickled down her neck, and the wound burned like fire.

"You don't own any of us, Koss. Michael is free, as is Emily." His words held special significance when he met her eyes and said, "She has no master."

Koss threw back his head and laughed. "How naive you are, Nicholas. It was one of your most endearing qualities." His voice hardened. "I have only to utter one word, and they both die." With a flick of his wrist, the dark-haired man walked to Michael, pressing a sword against the base of his brain where it met the spinal column. "Shall I paralyze the man you hold in such esteem? Just a flick of Juarez's wrist would be enough to mangle the cord. The injury might be permanent for as long as he remained alive...however long that might be," he added silkily.

Nicholas held his silence, but his eyes were wide with apprehension.

Koss sighed. "Very well. I had forgotten how little joy you take in games, unless of your own devising,"

he said with evident bitterness, before shrugging. "We shall dispense with the pleasantries. Here are the terms of the game."

Emily saw Nicholas stiffen, as did Michael. She was aware of her own sharply indrawn breath and the fear that swept through her.

"You will choose one who may leave with you tonight." Koss glanced at the priest, and then met Emily's eyes. He smiled unpleasantly. "The other will be my possession, to use as I see fit." He turned back to Nicholas. "I will toy with them until their cries of agony cease to amuse me. Then I will kill whomever you leave behind."

Nicholas shook his head. "I won't choose."

Koss shrugged. "In that case, they'll both die now. Nina, Juarez, kill them."

Emily cried out as Nina nicked her again with the dagger. She heard Michael's stifled cry, but was unable to turn to look at him.

"Wait," Nicholas demanded. "Fine, I'll choose."

Koss chuckled. "I thought you would see it my way. Who shall be my plaything? Shall I torture the priest until he renounces his G.o.d?" He paused, turning once more to eye Emily. "Or shall I defile your love in a thousand different ways? I'll have her begging for me by the time I'm finished." His voice dropped to a husky whisper. "She'll die from the pleasure and the pain."

Nicholas looked ill, and there was the sheen of sweat on his forehead. "I pick myself."

Koss frowned. "What?"

"I choose to let Emily and Michael leave, and I'll take their place. You can torture me to death, and I won't fight you."

The other man flinched. "Unacceptable. You must choose the priest or the girl."

"Nicholas." Emily twisted her neck, deepening the cut from the dagger, to look at Michael. Something in his tone alerted her to what he planned. She wanted to plead with him, but her tongue remained frozen.

Koss and Nicholas eyed him just as intently. "You can't volunteer, old man," Koss said.

"You didn't choose this. Remember that, son." With a lunge, Michael threw himself back on the sword pressing against his spinal column. His momentum caused the sword to penetrate all the way through his throat, severing his spinal column instantly. Death, rather than paralysis, was the outcome of his actions.

His body slumped forward, held up only by Juarez's hold on the sword.

Koss shouted his anger as he rushed toward the priest, wrenching the sword from Juarez and jerking it from the priest's body. He shook Michael, but there was no life remaining in the body. He tossed aside the corpse and turned his baleful glare on Emily. "That wasn't in the rules, Nicholas. You'll lose them both now." He turned back to him. "You'll watch it all, as I kill her slowly."

Nicholas lunged forward. "I'll never let you touch her."

"How will you stop me?" He jerked Nicholas against him. "You aren't strong enough, and she is too new, too weak, to help you. You're alone."

"That's not quite true," Nicholas said. As he spoke, an arrow fired from the balcony, penetrating Juarez's heart. He pulled away from Koss's hold as his minion fell to the floor of the church.

Emily pushed away from Nina with a burst of strength. To her surprise, the woman didn't try to restrain her. Instead, she rushed to her fallen companion and turned him over. A wail of anguish broke from her.

"He's dead, Koss."

Koss shook his head. "How can that be? It was only an arrow."

"Tipped with the venom of the beaked sea snake," a voice said from the shadows of the balcony. "A single drop is lethal to humans. With the amount saturated into that arrow, his lungs seized, and he suffocated instantly."

Nina stiffened at the voice, as did Koss. Emily didn't pause to seek him out. She coaxed a burst of speed from her shaking legs and sought the safety of Nicholas's side. She was past Koss before he realized she had slipped away.

"I have plenty more," the voice said calmly. "Your heart is in my sights, Koss."

Emily's eyes widened when she realized Koss was frightened, although he made a good show of hiding his fear behind bravado. "Brannon, show yourself, and I might let you live to walk away."

"I don't think so. I'll remain right where I am until Nicholas and Emily have fled to safety."

Emily realized Nicholas was tugging on her bound arms and fell into step with him. Koss seemed to have trouble splitting his attention between them and the threat in the balcony. "You'll never leave here alive, dhampir," he hissed. "Already, Chadwick hunts you. He will find you."

The laugh that came from the shadows caused Emily to pause in mid-step. She s.h.i.+vered at the cruel sound, wondering if this person really was on their side. A gasp escaped her when a bundle fell from thebalcony and landed with a thud on the tile floor. She barely bit back a scream when she realized it was the body of the blond-haired man.

"Two down..." The voice trailed off.

Koss hurried forward, pulling Nina from the floor and pressing her against him. "Now what will you do?

Will you murder your wife to kill me too?"

Emily missed the conclusion of the melodrama as Nicholas lifted her over his shoulder and ran from the church. As he moved, he tore loose the ropes around her wrist, freeing her arms. He didn't stop running until they were at the Forester, and he put her inside with haste rather than gentleness. Then he was behind the wheel quickly, and they sped away from the church.

She turned her head to look at him, alarmed by his color and the suppressed tears in his eyes. She reached out to touch his leg. "Nicholas-"

"Not now," he snapped. As he spoke, he briefly squeezed her hand. His voice cracked when he spoke again. "I can't talk...not yet. Let me get through this first."

Emily held his hand in a tight grip and subsided into silence. She could sense the low hum of his grief in the back of her mind and knew he was close to losing control. She was shaky as well, and tears burned at the back of her eyes. She turned to stare out her window at the night, wondering if it could possibly match the blackness in Koss's soul. Upon remembering his touch, she s.h.i.+vered.

Nicholas's fingers tightened gently. "You're safe now."

She bit back the instinctive question at the tip of her tongue: For how long? Instead, Emily put her head against the window, allowing the cool condensation on the gla.s.s to seep into her flushed cheeks.

How could she have ever imagined Nicholas was evil? He had the potential for evil, and he wasn't a saint, but he could never match the malevolence in Koss. She s.h.i.+vered again, unable to rid her mind of the images of the night. She bit back a cry when the sounds of the three devouring Tremont replayed through her mind. Did Nicholas know? She opened her mouth to ask.

"I found him," he said before she could speak. "I arrived at the warehouse to find everything in order.

Immediately, I realized he had tricked me. On my way back to the apartment, I called Brannon." He took a deep breath. "There wasn't much left of Tremont when we found him."

She licked her lips, trying to keep her mind from supplying probable images of his battered body. "What did you do with him?" Nicholas was silent for so long she began to wonder if he had heard her question.

She wondered if she should ask again, or was his silence his answer? Was it better not to know?

"There wasn't a lot of time, Emily. We won't be returning to the apartment any time soon, if ever. I couldn't leave the evidence there..." He trailed off, and a tear streaked down his cheek. "He deserved better."

She stroked his hand with her thumb.

"I put him in the furnace in the bas.e.m.e.nt, along with the rags we used to wipe off the blood Koss used to leave his message." His voice turned icy. "He wrote 'St. Peter's' on the wallpaper with Tremont's blood, using a little heart in place of the apostrophe." His voice broke again, and he drifted back intosilence.