Kissed by a Dark Prince (Volume 1) (33 page)

Vail hadn’t gone mad because of the bond. He had gone mad because of the things Kordula had done to him, and the longer Kordula was gone from the room, the more sane he began to look. Did her power over him weaken as the distance between them grew?

“Have you ever gone against Kordula’s wishes?” Olivia’s gut said that he had, and he had paid dearly every time he had tried to do something not on her agenda.

He nodded again and pain filled his eyes, and he dropped his gaze to his knees and shuddered.

Olivia had talked to Loren about Vail during their time together, wanting to know what had driven his brother to go to war with him. Loren had spoken about how Vail seemed to change before his eyes during their fights, and was almost sane one moment and then completely crazed the next. Were those changes in him because he was fighting Kordula’s hold over him? Was he trying to resist her commands and not harm his brother?

It was a possibility, and if her speculation was right and Vail was under Kordula’s command, then he wasn’t fighting against his brother, he was fighting on the same side.

Someone moved in the room behind her and she tensed. Vail tensed too and moved away from her, scooting back a few inches, as if he feared Kordula finding him close to her. He frantically pressed his hand to the ruined section of parquet and glared at it. The wood bowed and creaked, and began to repair itself.

Olivia’s heart went out to him. She had seen the demons and fae that Archangel held in a containment facility, and had seen how scared they had been whenever they felt one of their captors would discover they had done something bad and would punish them. Vail feared Kordula would see the scratched floorboards and become suspicious, and she would make him talk somehow.

Olivia didn’t want to imagine how.

Vail threw a desperate look at her and then jerked around, his gaze darting to different points around the room but constantly flickering back to the door Kordula had exited through.

Kordula had tricked Vail and bound him to her, and had probably commanded him to do the terrible things that Loren had spoken to her about. He had been under her spell for forty-two centuries, and God only knew what Kordula had made him do in all that time, and how she might have used him in order to break his mind. He was broken. She could see it in his eyes now as he panicked, fearing the return of the sorceress and her retribution.

“Are you going to kill me?” Olivia whispered, afraid to know the answer to that question but needing to ask it.

Vail’s purple gaze shifted back to her and he shook his head with considerable effort.

“Will Kordula?” That question hung in the air between them for what seemed like forever before he finally nodded.

A sorrowful look entered his eyes and he settled his hands on his thighs, his shoulders sagging again. He mouthed something and she didn’t know what he said, not only because she couldn’t read lips, but because she could tell he was speaking his own native tongue. It was a strange language, with mouth movements far different from English.

“Loren will fight you,” Olivia said and the harrowed edge returned to his gaze, and then he nodded very slowly.

He reached forwards and scratched into the floor.

Kill me
.

Olivia’s gaze leaped back to his, her eyes enormous as she stared into his and realised the true depth of his pain and his suffering. The corners of his lips tilted up into something akin to a smile, but it held only hurt and hope.

He wanted to die.

Something terrible dawned on Olivia.

“Was it Kordula’s plan to bring Loren to me and have us bond?” She instinctively reached for Vail and caught his wrist before he could withdraw, holding his fingers poised above the words he had etched into the floor.

He stared into her eyes, blinked once and shook his head.

Her stomach turned, her insides flipping with it.

Vail had brought Loren to her, his fated female, not because he had wanted to weaken his brother, but because he knew that Loren had been seeking his female for so long, and he would need her now to fill the void Vail would leave.

Because he was going to get himself killed somehow.

He wanted death as an end to his suffering.

The doors opened and Vail scrambled backwards, purple gaze flicking between Kordula as she entered and the words he had scratched into the floor.

Kordula raised an eyebrow at his behaviour, came to them and looked down at the words. She scowled at Vail.

“I command you not to communicate with her and this is what you do?” Black and red ribbons twirled around her hands and she raised them. “On your feet.”

Vail rose as ordered, his movements jerky, telling Olivia that he hadn’t been given a choice. Kordula was using her power to force him to do as she bid, controlling him. He cast a fearful look down at Olivia and then his demeanour changed, losing the sorrowful and haunted edge, and gaining a dark and violent one.

His lips peeled back off his fangs and he growled at Kordula, the pointed tips of his ears extending and his eyes flashing dangerously.

“You dare attempt to protect her?” Kordula was on Vail in a heartbeat, her slender hand closing around the front of his throat. She easily lifted him off the floor despite the vast difference in their height and build. The ribbons of black and red that curled around her arms all rushed at Vail and burrowed into his flesh. He threw his head back and cried out, the sound so harrowing that Olivia covered her ears, unable to bear hearing it because she knew that Kordula would turn that incredible power on her before long.

Vail thrashed and snarled, clawing at Kordula’s arms and spilling her blood. It rolled down her bare forearms to her elbows and dripped onto the floor. It turned black and writhed before Olivia’s eyes, like a living thing.

“You will return to Archangel and we will finish this. Do you understand?” Kordula tightened her grip on Vail’s throat, the last of the ribbons crept into his flesh and his struggling ceased. He stared at her, docile and calm, his purple eyes hazy and unfocused.

Kordula set him down, caressed his cheek and placed two fingers under his chin. She caught it with her thumb and lowered his head, so he was looking at her. The redheaded witch rubbed her body against the full length of his and kissed him. Vail didn’t move but his eyes lost their calm edge and darkened. The pointed tips of his ears flared back and Olivia knew it wasn’t because he felt lust and desire.

It was because he felt rage.

Vail was locked in his body as Kordula kissed him and worked her body against his, and Olivia had a dark urge to stand up and lash out at the bitch. She almost went through with the ridiculously stupid idea that would end in a very swift death when Kordula ran her hand down Vail’s stomach and cupped his groin, fondling him.

“Play nice, my love, and I will reward you later.” Kordula kissed across his cheek and curled against him, and looked down at Olivia, her arms draped around his shoulders. Vail continued to stare forwards, motionless, the only sign he was alive the dark edge to his eyes, the hunger to maim and kill.

Not his brother, but the witch-bitch draped all over him like a lover.

Kordula pressed her cheek against Vail’s and ran her fingers down his other one. “Now go, my love, and end your brother.”

Darkness flickered across Vail’s expression, that same black emotion curling through Olivia’s veins in response to Kordula’s order. He tried to shake his head, and then his demeanour changed again, turning feral and savage. He growled, flashing enormous fangs, and the points of his ears flattened against the sides of his head, and then he was stepping back from Kordula.

Violet and pale blue light traced over his black armour, growing in speed as he stared at Kordula with hunger for violence in his eyes.

“Go.” Kordula pointed at him.

Vail disappeared.

Olivia kept very still, suddenly aware that she had just lost her one unlikely ally and was now alone with a psychotic witch hell bent on making Loren suffer for what he had done to her.

“I don’t know why you want me—” Olivia started but Kordula whipped around to face her and cut her off.

“Save it, sweet thing. I know you belong to Loren. His fated one. Vail had some nerve throwing you two together. I had wanted to do things peacefully and merely capture you and take you down to see Loren.” Kordula moved to tower over her again and made a noise of disgust as she eyed the words Vail had scrawled on the parquet, her lip curling and her pale blue eyes turning glacial. “Vail’s disobedience might have changed the plan but the objective and the outcome remains the same.”

“What plan is that?” Olivia said casually and Kordula tossed her a wicked smile.

“You think I have lived this long, come this far, to tell you my plan like one of those villain clichés?” Kordula laughed, the sound raking down Olivia’s spine, and dark ribbons swept over her arms again, fluttering upwards towards her shoulders. “You will not live to foil it, and neither will Vail if he dares to go against me again.”

“I wasn’t calling you a walking cliché.” Although it had crossed her mind. The woman looked and acted as though she was going for the wicked witch or evil sorceress of the year award. “I just can’t understand what drives a talented, beautiful woman to go to war with the elves.”

Kordula eyed her with suspicion and then moved past Olivia to one of the antique wooden armchairs that formed a crescent with a couch around the fireplace and settled herself on the padded dark blue seat.

Perhaps flattery really could get you everywhere and playing on Kordula’s desire to be adored and obeyed was the way to sneak through her defences and discover what she was up to.

If Olivia could find out, then she might be able to find a way to tell Loren. Their connection was fuzzy now but it might grow clearer if Vail led Loren to her. She still wasn’t sure how the link worked or if it could be used to communicate with Loren in some way.

Kordula crossed her legs, revealing a long split up the side of her black dress and flashing a lot of pale toned thigh. It probably hadn’t taken the witch much effort to convince Vail to let her close enough to him to cast her spell on him and ensure he was firmly under it. Most men in this world and the other one would probably throw themselves at the feet of such a beautiful woman.

She had used that beauty to gain Vail as an ally and had gone to war with his brother. Why? What did Kordula hope to gain? Only two possibilities came to Olivia. Either Kordula wanted revenge for something, or she wanted to gain power.

Olivia had read that many warlocks and witches born with darker magic were easily seduced by the power it gave them, strength far superior to neutral witches and even those who bore light magic.

“Did you ever love Vail?” Olivia couldn’t hold that one in. She had thought Loren’s brother insane and evil, but now that she knew he was a puppet belonging to the woman before her, she almost felt sorry for him.

Kordula laughed again, giving Olivia the answer to her question. She hadn’t.

“Princess Kordula has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” She leaned back into the armchair and smiled down at Olivia. “You must admit that you were rather enchanted that your elf was a prince, in control of a whole kingdom, were you not?”

Olivia couldn’t deny it, because it was partly true, but she hadn’t desired Loren purely because he was a prince and ruled a kingdom. That hadn’t mattered to her heart. It had only mattered to her head. She had been enchanted by the thought that a prince desired her, but she had moved past such shallow feelings when she had discovered the man behind the title, and how wonderful he was.

Kordula hadn’t moved past it at all. That was clear. She had done as many women in Olivia’s world did, seeking to gain power by capturing the heart of a male who had power. She had targeted Vail, and Vail had believed her to be his ki’ara and had fallen for her trick.

“Why Vail? Why not one of the demon kings?” Olivia glared at Kordula, hiding none of her hatred. She despised this woman and all who sought to sleep their way into power, using their beauty as a weapon to enslave a man.

Kordula’s smile faded, her pale blue eyes turning frosty once more. “Loren did not tell you of Vail’s prediction? It was well known in Hell, and I heard of it when I was a young girl, living in squalor in an adjoining kingdom. Prince Vail had been told that his fated female was a sorceress.”

Olivia frowned. Kordula had played on that, using it to her advantage. Luring Vail into her trap.

“I grew up in a wretched land, with little food and even less light. It was rotten and festering, and I saw my chance to elevate myself to a position I deserved.” Kordula curled her lip again, the disgust in her voice telling Olivia just how much she had hated where she had grown up. Still, Olivia wouldn’t accept it as an excuse to use a man, to drive him insane and torture him.

Olivia stood on trembling legs and clenched her fists at her side. “You could have done something about it.”

Kordula smiled, her red lips curving slowly. “I did... I ventured to the edge of the realm where I knew Vail to be with his army and threw myself on his mercy. He took one look at me, a filthy, starving, wretch, and turned his back on me. I cursed him and used the last of my strength to hit him with a spell that sent him flying through a score of his men. When I came around, Vail was tending to me.”

And the evil edge to her smile told Olivia that she had known she had succeeded. But Kordula’s desire had been gaining power, not just gaining a male and a war. Something must have gone wrong, and Olivia had a feeling she knew what had happened.

“Vail wrecked your plan... you asked him to do something that sent him mad and he attacked his own people to stop it from happening. He made an enemy of himself in order to protect Loren and stop you from seizing power over his country.”

Kordula shot to her feet, the air around her darkening and crackling with red bolts of energy. Her lips twisted into a sneer and her eyes bled into crimson. “He ruined everything!”

The witch launched her hand forwards and a bolt of red energy struck Olivia hard in her chest. Heat ricocheted through her body and she flew across the room and slammed into the wall. A cry of pain ripped from her lips, lightning arcing across her back and burning through her bones, and she dropped to the floor, hitting the parquet hard.