Kresley Cole - No Rest for the Wicked

"That equals the life of my mate."

"I've the same on my mind," Sebastian bit out.

"The Valkyrie died?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Not for long."

Bowen must have seen something in his expression. He had the advantage, and yet he offered, "We could share it, vampire. The key works twice."

Blood everywhere. Weak. Kaderin had asked something of him. Finally given him a chance to help her... "I need both of those times for her." Can't raise my right arm over my heart. My left arm is trapped. But the blade had powers MacRieve likely didn't know of.

According to Riora, it never missed.

The knife he held was nowhere near the Lykae's whip hand, but Sebastian concentrated on his intention to cut him at the wrist and made the merest motion toward the end, all he could manage with that wasted arm.

Suddenly, his arm shot up. The blade rose as if of its own accord and flashed reflected firelight as it struck.

Blood spurted. The Scot's severed hand dropped. Freed from the whip, Sebastian traced the distance across the pit.

"I will fucking kill you for this, vampire," the Lykae bellowed with rage. "I will eat your goddamned heart!"

Sebastian steeled himself for the jaunt to Riora's temple. But he couldn't leave. Leaving made Kaderin's death real. Stay sane. This key has to work.

From the now unseen cave: "Mark me. So help me God, I will hunt you and the Valkyrie over the earth—"

Sebastian disappeared to the sound of the Lykae's roar—not of pain but of loss.

When Sebastian returned to the temple, Riora greeted him once again with Scribe in tow. "You have won, Sebastian. The first vampire to do so. Congratulations."

"This is for her. Always for her." His body wouldn't stop shuddering.

"Then sign the book of winners, and take your prize."

When Scribe handed him the book, he actually looked as though he respected Sebastian.

Kaderin's dead. Sign the book. Stay sane.

He saw his Bride's proud signature on every line above his own, so far back the lettering had changed. Over time, her handwriting had become harder, more angular. Stay sane. He signed his name with his left hand in shaking letters, stamping the page in blood.

Riora handed him a metallic key. He gripped it so hard it dug into his palm. "Tell me this works."

"It works, Sebastian. Though you may end up cursing it."

"How can you say that?"

"You know why Kaderin sought the key?" Riora asked.

He nodded slowly. "She wants her sisters back."

"If you give her the second turn of the key, she will return for her sisters and never see their deaths. She will be spared one thousand years of guilt and nothingness and instead enjoy contentment with her family."

"I want this!"

"Yet in this case, Kaderin will never be driven to journey out of her way to kill you. She will have her sisters"—Riora's eyes bored into his much as they had that first night—"but you will not have her."

He'd experienced Kaderin's memories of their deaths, of collecting her sisters from the battlefield. Burying their heads, their bodies, then clawing at her hair and skin.

If he could save her from that... to spare her a millennium of guilt?

As a mortal, he'd been a knight with no one to whom to pledge his sword. He'd claimed Kaderin for his own, and that meant protecting all she held dear. He lowered his head. "She will have her sisters." The flames flared as if to punctuate his words.

"Very well. The key unlocks a door for approximately ten minutes. It allows you to go back and to be in the same time as a previous self."

"How will the key know where to open?"

"In the end, the key is a facilitator," she explained. "You hold a tool of unspeakable power, Sebastian. Hold it out in your palm, and it will know what you must have and act to that end. But I warn you, if you get stuck in the past when the door closes, one version of you will fade, ceasing to be."

He saw Scribe in the background, his pale, waxen face showing his sorrow. He gave Sebastian a nod of encouragement.

Riora murmured, "Bring her forward, vampire."

He gave her a pained bow. "Goddess."

Kaderin made her way through the darkened tunnel.

She knew she was close to the Fyre Serpénte's chamber, could hear the echoing space just ahead. She also knew that if Bowen wasn't already here, he'd be right behind her.

As would Sebastian.

Her ear twitched at a sound like a sucked-in breath. Not Bowen? She whirled around, and her eyes narrowed with fury. Sebastian. "Get the hell away from me! Enough! I need this, Bastian. I have to have it."

She trailed off at her first close look at him. His arm was shattered, his face blistered on one side. His shirt had been white but was now slashed and wet with crimson. Her lips parted. What could have happened to him since he'd left her in chains?

Recalling that hardened her resolve. She was so close. She didn't have time to ask. If he'd had his way, she'd still be fettered to a bed.

But, gods, had she ever seen a being in such turmoil? His eyes were fully black and seemed to glint with moisture. His hands shook. Blood dripped freely, though he seemed unaware of it.

"I thought you were gone," he rasped. "Kaderin, we have to leave this place."

"What are you talking about?"

"Take my hand." He stretched out his left hand, palm up.

"Go to hell," she snapped. "Conveniently, it's located just up the tunnel."

He rocked on his feet, and his head lolled forward. He was fighting to stay conscious?

As if fearing he soon wouldn't be able to, he snatched her wrist—and traced her before she could resist. He took her away from the prize, to Riora's temple.

Kaderin shrieked in fury, the sound echoing throughout. The dome skylight began to crack, the thick sound ominous, like a fracture splintering out over a frozen pond.

Sebastian cupped her face with one hand. "No, Katja. Ah, God, let me see you."

"Have you lost your mind?" she cried, shoving him away. "How could you do this? I have to get back! Bowen was right behind me—"

"Must tell you something." He shook his head. His face was so pale.

"There's no time!"

"The key has been won—"

"Bowen!" Lightning fired all around them. Tears filled her eyes. "He took it? No... no!" she screamed, exploding the skylight.

With his good hand, Sebastian yanked her close, hunching over her, covering her with his body. As the glass rained down, he murmured against her hair, "We won it."

Her breaths were ragged. "I-I don't understand," she finally said once the glass had fallen.

"Katja, you... died."

She pulled back. Tears streamed down her face. "What did you say?"

"You died. Fifteen minutes after the moment from which I just took you." At her dumbstruck expression, he bit out an explanation detailing the scene, the difficulties, the incredible power of the fire. He explained her choice.

She swayed, and he caught her with his good hand. "I asked you to come back for me? I told you about my sisters?"

"Yes. I had no idea this was what you sought. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I would have tonight! And before that, I just... couldn't." She bit her lip. "I let go?" When he nodded, she said, "I must have recognized something. Seen something that made me trust you completely." Her brows drew together. "Bastian, I didn't just trust you with my life." She caught his eyes. "I trusted you with my sisters' lives as well."

He said quietly, "I was humbled by it."

Riora suddenly appeared, perched on the edge of her altar, with a visibly emotional Scribe following, stepping on snapping glass.

"I had an interesting conversation with my champion," Riora began. "And he proved possible yet another impossibility. I alerted the vampire to the fact that once you got your hot little hands on the key, he would lose you forever. History would be changed. The future would buckle and grind to fit the past. You would never have found him, because you wouldn't have suffered the death of your sisters. And a vampire chose to relinquish his Bride rather than have her suffer that horror and guilt. To spare you pain, he chose to give you the key, even believing he would lose you forever."