"I've instructed my cousins to do whatever it takes to save you should I fall. Three Dacians have vowed to protect you eternally. And, Bride, there's little three Dacians can't do if they actually unite in a cause."

His precautions stunned her, but her flare of hope quickly died. She didn't see how they could circumvent the blood contract of the tournament. "Raum will be compelled to hand over my medallion."

"And he will-in a bank of mist where anything can get lost. Should my kinsmen fail to seize your freedom, they'll trace Gourlav to a hell plane and slaughter him. They'd do it now if he wasn't protected."

Not to be wed to a monster? Could she actually remove one worry from the mountain of them?

Great. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to save her childhood love-as well as this vampire who'd invaded her thoughts, her very life.

Who'd given her this gift.

She must've looked stunned, because he grated, "When I said I'd protect you, female, I meant it. I'll do it from the godsdamned grave if I have to."

Such . . . devotion. Yet she couldn't understand how he could feel so strongly for her in such a short period of time. "You've only known me for a week."

"Time enough to know we're connected."

"Because I'm your fated, mystical Bride."

"Yes, you brought me back to life," he said wryly, "an event that shouldn't be discounted so easily. But we're connected by more than that. I felt you, long before I first saw you."

"What are you talking about?"

"At the very time you were attacked, I was roused from sleep. My chest ached with the need to protect . . . something." He raked his fingers through his hair. "It was an unformed, chaotic urge, but, gods, it was strong. I thought I'd go mad from it. Had I been out in the world, I could have sensed you better, could have found you sooner. It was my fault you were vulnerable to those four. That's why I was so determined to discover who they were-to right the wrong I did to you."

"It wasn't your fault-it was solely mine," she insisted. "I went to the mortal plane without guards. I told myself if I didn't use sorcery, I'd be hidden from their kind. But I used it unconsciously. They tracked me by it."

"I should have been there to watch your back!" he insisted. "After a millennium awaiting you in Dacia, I should have known my Bride would be out in the world. Zeii mea, I felt something that day."

"Do Dacians have a sense like that?"

"We've abilities unknown to most. But I believe that you called for your male, your protector. That night, you called for me."

My male. Why did that sound so totally right to her? Had she somehow reached out to this vampire? If Daciano was in fact hers. . . .

Then she remembered their present circumstances. "Even if we do share some bond, it won't matter!" The vampire's in it to win it. But that was just it: he couldn't win. No matter what, they could never be together. "Tomorrow, you're probably going to . . . die."

"How would that make you feel, Bettina?"

Another tear slid down her face.

He pulled her into his arms. "You would mourn me?"

"Yes!" she said in exasperation. "But just because I don't want you to die doesn't mean I'm not confused about everything. Tonight was a shock, and I don't know how to react."

"I see. You need a break from all this, a night to recharge." I wish! "Here. I have a surprise for you."

Chapter 35

"I don't like surprises." She raised her chin. "Such as when heads tumble out in front of me."

In a gruff tone, he admitted, "I thought I'd have time to prepare you for the sight. I didn't want to frighten you."

"I happen to frighten very easily."

"Forgive me. For now, I've little else to give you."

She softly said, "Because you abandoned your kingdom for me."

"A worthwhile sacrifice. Now, can you trust me that this will be a pleasant surprise?"

"I don't . . . oh, very well."

"Close your eyes." When she reluctantly did, he traced her . . .

To her favorite place in all of Abaddon-her folly in the great rain forest.

She was about to ask how he knew about it, but remembered that he probably knew everything about her now.

And he still wants me.

She sighed, gazing around. Located near the marsh's edge, the structure consisted of a marble base with ten columns, each carved to look like a different type of basilisk.

Above, over a net of gold filament, a dome of vines grew in a tightly knit riot of green. More vines stretched between the columns to fashion walls. Oversize blossoms fanned out intermittently, bold circles of vivid yellow.

My folly. Compared to Rune, the rain forest was ablaze with color. How she'd missed this place!

The vampire had slain her enemies, had taken pains to protect her from Gourlav, and now had given her this.

Then she noticed that he'd already been here, bringing furs from his tent as well as wine and food for her.

"A picnic?" She raised her brows at him. "You expect me to believe you don't plan to seduce me? You've gone and set up all those precautions to protect me from Gourlav, and yet you're not confident enough to have sex with me?"

In a husky voice he said, "Do you desire me to do so this night?"

"No!" If circumstances were different . . . maybe? "You just keep telling me you don't intend to have sex with me."

"Not by choice-I fantasize about it without cease!" He leaned down to rasp at her ear, "How I'll prepare your sweet little body to receive me, how I'll ease you into lovemaking so you crave me as much as I do you." As she shivered from his words, he pulled back with a sexy curl of his lips. "In any event, I said I wouldn't seduce you fully. Though up to a point is still in play."

Flustered, she reached for a mask that wasn't there, then backed away from him to stroll the perimeter. She surveyed all the pie blossoms, named so because each bloom was as big as a pie, its scent as sweet. As she ran her fingertips along damp marble, registering the sensation, the vampire said nothing. But his gaze followed her every move.

A guy who likes you wants to watch you all the time. Daciano stared at her-as if there was nothing else to behold.

"If you do win this tournament, vampire, you'll be king of this plane," she said. "Don't you care to see any of it? This is probably the prettiest place in Abaddon." And there was a natural phenomenon that took place on nights like this. Before the rain comes the clear. Soon a break would open in the fog bank, revealing a breathtaking scene above.

He joined her. "I want you to show it to me."

She waved a hand around. "Look on."

"I see a swamp. The flora is visually appealing, the air muggy, the trees gigantic. But I now know there's so much more. I want to see it as you do."

She nibbled her bottom lip. "I see . . . function. Nothing is static. I see the growth patterns in a line of vine: bursts of it each rainy season. Those broad leaves toward the ground are much fuller to catch the snippets of sunlight that filter through." He looked so interested, she found herself saying, "In a few minutes, if you go to the glade just there and look up, you'll see a unique sight. It's beautiful."

"You will show it to me."

Her? Walking into that clearing? In the center of all those towering moonraker trees? She nearly snorted. Not going to happen, vampire. Even with Daciano here, she couldn't tolerate that risk.

But wasn't this folly also flanked with those trees?

Where Vrekeners were wont to perch.

She looked at the closest tree, a massive wooden tower looming beside her. Next to it, she felt as tiny as an ant. As powerless as one.

Her breaths began to shallow as her gaze followed the trunk up and up-until it disappeared into the ghostly fog above. That oh-so-familiar seed of anxiety grew.

There could be a colony of Vrekeners up there, and she'd never see them.

But they could see her. . . .

Trehan saw the exact moment panic quickened inside her. Her body shot still even as her heart began to race.

"Easy, love." He was at her side in an instant, hands covering her shoulders.

Her eyes were wide and locked on a nearby tree, her breaths hitching.

"Look at me, Bett. Look at me!" He cupped her paling cheeks, making her face him. "Breathe. Inhale, exhale."

She squeezed her eyes shut, gripping his shoulders, digging her nails into the muscle. "I'm supposed to take breathing advice . . . from someone who didn't use his lungs . . . for centuries?"

"Nothing can ever touch you when you're with me," he said in a comforting tone, placing his palms over her back. She seemed so frail as she gasped for air, her shoulder blades so fragile beneath his callused palms. My delicate little Bride. His hands felt too large and rough against her, but when he rubbed her back, it seemed to soothe her.

"I-I want to return to my spire." Finally she opened her eyes.

He gazed down at her, studying her expression. She's trying to get control. He could wrap her in mist, but he didn't believe she needed it. She appeared to be tamping down the worst of her panic. "I don't think that's what you want me to do."

"Why on earth not?" Her voice was shrill, even as her breaths were steadying.

"You're reining this back in. You're beating it."

"I can beat it-back in my rooms!"

"Those Vrekeners stole more than your ability, they stole your enjoyment of this place. You can reclaim it tonight."

Her heart sped up again. "This is some kind of test? Some kind of catharsis? You'll help me past my fear? No, thanks! I don't have to do this now. One day I'll get my power back, and then I'll be cured."

"You're more than just power."

"So says the male that has so much of it!" She fretted her bottom lip. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do. I-I don't want to be like this-cowards don't want to be cowards. But I also never wanted to be the type of female who needs a male to be strong."

"Fitting. Because I never wanted to be the type of vampire who can think of nothing but his Bride. In any case, you don't need me to be strong. You simply need me here for this first step-which is that way." He pointed to the three stairs leading out of the folly into the glade.

"What can possibly make you think I'm capable of this? Why do you have so much faith in me?"

"I'd ask you why you have so little," he said. "Bett, you're teaching me how to see the world; the least I can do is help you see yourself. I've delved far into your mind. Deep down you know you're remarkably intelligent; you've considered that your talents are unequaled; you suspect that I find you the most exquisite creature ever fashioned. You are; they are; I do."

Before she could reply, Trehan said simply, "Greatness resides in you. Power or not, you can become empowered."

The vampire's words were like a bell pinging in her brain, reminding her of Morgana's cryptic comment: "The greatest thing about having power is the mere having of power. Use the latter well, and you'll never have to use the former."

Bettina had figured that her godmother was advising, "Fake it till you make it." Or "Perception is reality."

All at once, the real meaning clicked. Power is where you find it, where you seize it, how you wield it.

Bettina finally understood. As Daciano pointed out, the Vrekeners had robbed her of this folly; she could steal it back from them.

She might not be able to get her ability back, but she could still be empowered.

It's where you seize it!

This was a fantastic revelation. . . . But I'm still not going out into that glade.

She backed away from Daciano, away from his big, warm hands. "Greatness? Are you joking? I can't do this. Vrekeners could be teeming in the trees, and I would never see them." Until it was too late.

"They could very well be."

"Wh-what was that?" Chills raced over her.

With a confident nod, he said, "There could be twenty or thirty of them. Perhaps more."

"What?"

"It's possible that a dozen more have landed since we've been discussing this."

"Why are you telling me this?" she cried.

"Because you're still going to walk out there."

"The hell I am!"

"If I told you none were here, would you believe me?"

How to explain this? "I would believe you. But my mind wouldn't . . . it wouldn't register it."

"Then accept that they are here. Now, what do you think would happen if our foes lie in wait?"

"They'll attack!"

"And then?" His voice went lower, silky with menace. "Come, Bettina, you know what comes next."

"You'd fight them?"

"I would do to them-what I did to the four." He leaned his shoulder against a carved basilisk column; at that moment he looked far more terrifying than any dragon. "You'll have a ring of bodies around you, more heads than you could ever fit in a sack. I'll let you pick which Vrekener to spare-for torture."

That shouldn't sound so utterly appealing.

"You're in a prime position, dragă."

"I . . . am?"

"If there are no Vrekeners, then you'll walk out there and reclaim this place from your enemies. If they are here-which I'm hoping for-you'll get to witness firsthand what happens to those who think to harm my female. Win-win; either way makes for a memorable picnic," he said dryly, his lips curling.

She stunned herself when she almost smiled in return. Maybe the connection that continued to grow between her and Daciano didn't leave any room for emptiness-or for fear.

She gazed out at the murky glade and back. Before the rain comes the clear. "Vampire, we could go together."

A sharp shake of his head. "You go alone."

She shoved a braid out of her face. "Oh, come on!" This mouse simply wasn't prepared to scurry into a clearing surrounded by trees, beneath a concealing fog.