Karen Chance - Claimed by Shadow

The only thing that saved me from falling was that I was already sitting down. Tomas was about to be executed and might already be under torture? I sat blinking at Billy as my brain tried to comprehend it, and whatever showed on my face he didn't like. His grin faded and he started shaking his head violently.

"No. No way are you doing this! He deserves this, Cass, you know he does. He betrayed you-hell, he almost got you killed! For once, fate is taking a problem off our hands gratis. Let's smile, say thank you and stay the hell out of it!”

My face felt numb. I wondered vaguely whether that was due to the night breeze or to horror. I was betting on horror. "I can't.”

"Yes, you can." Billy flickered like a candle flame in his agitation. "It's easy. We walk into MAGIC's nice, quiet halls, make our way to the portal and pass through. That's it, that's all. No biggie.”

"Yes biggie." I stood up, wobbling a little, and Pritkin caught my arm. As usual he wasn't gentle, but this time that was a plus. I barely kept my balance even with his iron grip. "Very much biggie.”

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" Pritkin was talking, but I barely heard him. All I could hear was Tomas' voice raised in agony, all I could see was him tied down like an animal, waiting for Jack.

If I closed my eyes, I could see a different scene. It was Tomas in the kitchen of our Atlanta apartment, frowning in puzzlement at the stove. It hadn't cooked the brownies he'd intended as breakfast for me, possibly because he hadn't known to turn the thing on. He'd been wearing one of my aprons, the one that said does not cook well with others, over the smiley face pajama bottoms I'd bought to keep him from sleeping in the altogether. We'd had separate bedrooms, but just the thought of Tomas down the hall wearing only his skin had been keeping me up nights. I'd explained how the range operated and we'd eaten the whole pan of brownies before I went off to work, resulting in a sugar buzz that lasted most of the day.

That was the first time I'd let myself begin to hope that he might become a permanent fixture in my life. He'd already been my best friend for six of the happiest months I'd ever known. Against all odds, I'd actually started to create a more or less normal existence. I'd liked my sunny apartment, my wonderfully predictable job at a travel agency and my gorgeous roommate. Tomas had been a dream come true-handsome, considerate, strong, yet vulnerable enough to make me want to take care of him.

I should have remembered the old phrase about something that looks too good to be true, but I'd been too busy enjoying the gift fate had dropped in my lap. What followed had proven that the gift had been more of a curse, and the normal life only a mirage. All those rosy dreams had come crashing down around my head, leaving scars that hadn't even scabbed over, much less healed. I realized with a jolt that the brownie incident had been only a few weeks ago. That seemed impossible; it had to have been at least a decade.

Pritkin was shaking me, but I barely noticed. I opened my eyes, but it was Jack's pale face and crazed expression I saw. The Consul's favorite torturer loved his work, and he was very, very good at it. He'd probably had plenty of firsthand instruction from Augusta. I'd seen him in action on one very memorable occasion, and no way could I leave Tomas in his hands. No matter what he'd done; no matter how furious I was with him. There was no freaking way.

It looked like I got to be the knight on the white horse after all. Only never in my wildest dreams had I planned on the odds being quite this bad. There was such a thing as a heroic challenge and then there was suicide, and I had no doubt into which category this fit. If Tomas' death was being made into a public show, most of MAGIC would be there: vamps, mages, weres, maybe even a few Fey. And somehow we not only had to get past them and snatch him from under the Consul's nose; we also had to battle our way to the portal afterward. It was worse than a nightmare. It was insane.

"We have a problem," I told Pritkin, choking back an absurd urge to giggle at the understatement.

His eyes narrowed to pale slits. "What problem?" Since he forced the words past clenched teeth, it looked like he'd already figured out that he was going to hate this. That was good; it saved time.

"Billy says the halls are almost empty because everyone's in the vampire area. They're executing someone tonight, and it's drawn quite a crowd.”

"Executing who?" Pritkin's icy green eyes stared into mine and I smiled weakly, remembering the last time he and Tomas met. To say that they weren't pals was missing the mark a bit. People don't generally try to behead their friends.

"Um, well, actually…" I sighed. "It's Tomas.”

I couldn't keep myself from wincing slightly, but Pritkin barely reacted, other than to look slightly relieved. "Good. Then this should be simpler than I'd anticipated." He noticed my expression and his frown returned. "Why does this constitute a problem?”

I swallowed. I'd have preferred a little more time to lead up to it, like a year or two, but I couldn't afford to stall. Every second that passed was dangerous for Tomas. Jack liked to play with his victims before finishing them off, and no one would be happy with a short show. But it had been dark for well over an hour. Jack could do a lot of damage in that time.

I looked at Pritkin and worked up a smile. It didn't seem to help, and I gave it up. "Because we, uh, sort of have to rescue him.”

Pritkin looked as if he was trying to determine whether I was genuinely crazy, or just temporarily insane. "Do you remember what that place contains?" he asked in a savage undertone, gesturing at the dark outline of MAGIC. "If we had every war mage in the corps, it wouldn't be enough!”

Billy was nodding violently behind Pritkin's head. "Listen to the mage, Cass. He's talking sense.”

I didn't even try to persuade Billy to do something for Tomas. He'd never liked him, even before the betrayal, which because of our arrangement he viewed as an attack on himself as well as on me. I glanced at Mac but didn't see much in the way of encouragement. He seemed like a fairly sympathetic guy, but he was also Pritkin's friend, not to mention that there was no love lost between mages and vamps. They tolerated each other, but they didn't risk their necks for each other.

I sighed. "If none of you want to help, then wait here. I'll manage without you." Tomas was not dying tonight.

"He tried to kill you!" Pritkin had apparently decided to reason with me.

"Actually, he tried to kill you. He thought he was helping me; he's just not that bright sometimes.”

Pritkin moved, but Mac was suddenly there, a hand on his friend's chest. "Throwing her over your shoulder isn't going to help, John," he said quietly. "I don't know what this vampire is to her, but if we let him die I think we can kiss the Pythia's help goodbye.”

"She is not Pythia yet," Pritkin said, teeth clenched so tight that I don't know how he got the words out. "She's a foolish child who-”

I started down the incline, wondering if I really had gone mad, but within seconds a Pritkin-shaped bulk appeared in front of me, blocking my way. "Why are you doing this?" he demanded, looking genuinely confused. "Tell me you're not in love with him-that you're not about to risk our lives because of some vampire's seduction techniques!”

I paused. I wasn't sure what to call the stew of emotions Tomas inspired, but I didn't think it was love. "He was my friend," I said, trying to explain so Pritkin would understand- which was difficult since I wasn't sure I did. "He betrayed me, but in his own warped view of things he thought he was helping me. He endangered my life, but he also saved it. I guess we're sort of even.”