StoneHardPassion (13 page)

Vidar didn’t bother to reply, just rolled to a crouch, never
taking his gaze off the other man. He was poised to spring again when a crazed,
ugly laugh wheezed from Mahmud’s heaving chest.

“When I think about it, I’ll just wait. Why exert myself
when the sun is rising behind me?” With another laugh he stepped aside,
revealing the roseate sky beyond the glass. “What a dilemma, troll. Stay and
try to rescue the bitch princess or save yourself. I’ll be interested to see
what you choose.”

There was no choice—not really. Once the sun’s full rays
touched his skin, he’d be turned to stone, like his mother had been. Vidar
swallowed against the sour fear rising in his throat. At least his death would
come from a place of love, not hate and the need to possess. And, if he had his
way, it wouldn’t be in vain.

Mahmud turned his head briefly to glance out the window and
Vidar dove behind the couch, his hands pushed as far underneath it as they
could go, toward where he’d seen the bottle land. Mahmud cursed, appearing
beside him just as the tips of his fingers found a cool, rounded shape. Pain
slammed into his chest as the jinn fired a spell, but Vidar closed his hand
around the bottle, dragging it toward him, turning it.

Ahh!

With the last of his strength he pushed up, willing his body
to ignore the agony trying to force it to stillness, drawing on his love for
Jasmina, the thought that she would never again be at risk.

The stopper clutched in his fist, he thrust his hand up
above the back of the couch and into the first shaft of sunlight bursting
through the window.

Cold fire enveloped his hand, as the sensation of flesh, of
being a part of his body, disappeared under the intensity of the encroaching
stone. Lowering his hand, Vidar looked at the gray mass, felt nothing but satisfaction
as he saw just a tiny gleam of green showing between his fingers. Encased in
the safety of his hand, the stopper could never be used again.

Mahmud roared with outrage, reached out to clutch Vidar’s
wrist. Bending close, his face twisted with fury, he said, “I’ll wait until the
rest of you turns to stone. Then I’ll take great pleasure in smashing your hand
to get that stopper.”

“You’ll never touch him again.”

Jasmina’s low-voiced threat had both men’s heads jerking up.
Mahmud tried to cast, but she already had him, her magic flashing out so swift
and strong Vidar felt it peel Mahmud’s hand from his wrist. The male jinn’s
face grew red and he clutched at his throat. His lips opened, but no sound came
from them. Jasmina strode closer and Mahmud held out his hands, as though
trying to keep her away.

“You’re going to die now, Mahmud. Not for what you did to
me, but for hurting the man I love.”

Shocked, Vidar saw Mahmud’s feet leave the ground, his legs
kicking as the breath, and the life, was squeezed from his body. His eyes
rolled back in his head and, with one final, violent twitch, he went limp.

Jasmina was already turning aside when the body hit the
ground. Without a word she flew to Vidar, hugged him close. And as he closed
his eyes with relief, her magic enveloped him, took him home.

Chapter Thirteen

“Damn it, Vidar. Oh, by the stars. What have you done?”
Jasmina couldn’t stop shaking, crying with reaction. She’d transported them
back to his kitchen and, now crouched together on the floor, had him clasped in
the tightest embrace she could manage. His hand lay across his lap. The
beautiful, strong fingers that only hours before had touched her with such
tenderness were now fisted, turned to hard, gray rock.

“I had to be sure you’d be safe.” His head rested against
her shoulder and he was trembling slightly too, but his voice was low and calm.
“You said only a father or husband could get a bottle enchanted to trap a
woman. No one will be able to use this stopper against you again, and another
can’t be made.”

“It’s not worth your hand, Vidar.” She choked on the words,
horrified that he’d sacrificed so much. Reaching down, she gently slipped her
palm under his fist, cradling it, even as she shivered to feel the chill
seeping from the stone. “
I’m
not worth it.”

His head came up. There were little lines bracketing his
mouth and scoring the skin between his brows. He was obviously in pain, and
Jasmina’s heart ached to see the signs of it.

“You’re worth everything, Jazz. Whatever I have I’d give up
to keep you safe.”

The clear, sweet love in his eyes stilled her weeping, for
she could see something else behind his gaze, and it filled her with terror.

“It’s just your hand, Vidar.” She searched his face, saw the
shadow that passed over his features at her words. “It is just your hand, isn’t
it?”

He didn’t reply. With fumbling, desperate fingers she tried
to unbutton his cuff, cursed as the button eluded all attempts to force it
through the hole. Giving up, she used her magic to dispose of his shirt and
vest.

It was painful to see the flesh of his muscular forearm
fading into stone at his wrist, but Jasmina released a great gasp of relief
that it didn’t go any higher. It would be difficult for him to get used to only
having one usable hand, but at least he was still alive, still with her…

As she watched the line of demarcation moved, slid slowly up
his arm, and the first of his tattooed runes faded to gray and disappeared.

“Oh fuck. No!”

She screamed it, unwilling to believe what she’d seen, even
as her heart broke.

“It’s okay, Jazz.” He pulled her close, spoke into her hair.
“I mean it. It’s okay.”

“How can you say that, Vidar?” Sudden hope made her
lightheaded. “Will it stop? Is that as far as it’ll go?”

“No, darling.” There was no regret in his voice. Nothing but
calm acceptance. “It’ll keep going.”

“No.” She moaned it, started rocking, not wanting to
believe. “There must be some way to stop it. Don’t your people have shamans,
healers? They probably deal with this kind of thing all the time. We could find
one…”

“No.” His tone was unequivocal. “Sweetheart, they’ve tried
to figure it out for centuries, can’t even discover why the sun affects us this
way, much less find a cure. Once the process starts, there’s no way to reverse
it.”

Anger roared through her.

What was the use of her magic, all the vaulted magic of
faie, if it couldn’t be used to save Vidar?

She pulled away from his arms. Getting to her feet, she
glared down at him. “Fuck that shit. We’ll go to the Troll Circle, ask for help
there. Or to Eldmar. My brother will do whatever he can to help you. He already
likes you, and when he hears what you did for me…”

But Vidar was shaking his head. And now she could see the
misery behind his calm façade. “Please don’t.”

“Don’t what, troll?” There was no way to control her rage,
or the agony destroying her as surely as the stone was overtaking him. “Don’t
be angry? Don’t fight or be frightened?”
Don’t wonder how I’m going to
survive without you, now that I’ve grown to love you more than life itself?

“Don’t make this harder than it already is.” His pain
matched hers, and exacerbated it. “Do you think I want to leave you, that it
isn’t breaking my heart too?” Vidar took a deep breath, the shuddering
expansion of his chest highlighting his distress, and shadows darkened his eyes.
“I just want—need—to spend this time with you, holding you. I can do this with
dignity, Jasmina, if you help me.”

His words struck like a blade slicing her to the soul, but
they also steadied her. He needed her care, not histrionics. Needed her to be
strong, not weak and wailing, no matter how she wanted to roll into a ball and
die too.

She fell to her knees beside him again, held him close.
Vidar laid his head against her breast, and she wove the fingers of one hand
through his hair, trying to get herself under control. Beneath the other hand
his heart beat so strong and sure she couldn’t imagine it turning to stone,
stopping. Tears threatened again, and she pushed the thought away, along with
her own selfish fears and pain. What she needed to do now was tend to him, make
him comfortable.

He shivered slightly, even though the fire crackled in the
grate nearby, and she realized his chest felt cool beneath her fingers too. She
considered adding some more wood to the fire, then thought of something even better.

“Hold on to me, darling.”

With a swirl of magic, she removed their clothing and
transported them into what she thought of as his goddess pool, knowing it was
one of his favorite places. Hopefully the warmth of the water would make what
was happening more bearable for him.

Vidar sighed and, closing his eyes, sank down until the
water came almost to his shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Anything.” She forced the word out, humbled that he’d show
gratitude for something so simple, when it was because of her he faced a slow,
cold death. “Anything you need, tell me and I’ll do it.”

He reached for her, pulled her across his lap in the water.
“You’re all I could ever want, Jazz. All I need.”

So simple, those words, and yet more powerful than any she’d
ever heard before, because she knew they were true. It made her earlier doubts
about his feelings seem petty and ridiculous. And excruciating to think about,
since it was those doubts that made her run from him. If she hadn’t fled, he
wouldn’t be dying.

Looping one arm around his neck, she traced each of his
features with the trembling fingers of her other hand, committing the shapes
and textures to memory. Inhaled deeply, taking his distinctive, glorious scent
deep into her lungs, knowing after this day each time she walked in the woods
his memory would haunt her.

“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you—never will love
this way again.” She whispered it to him, needing him to believe. “And no one
has ever loved me as you do. You’ll be with me, always.”

He opened his eyes, and the emotion in them wrung her heart.
“There is a part of me that hopes you never find anyone else, that you long for
me until the end of your life. But that’s selfish, and I know it. Be happy for
me, please, Jazz? Promise me you’ll love again and be as happy as we have been
these past days.”

She didn’t try to stop her tears, even when a rumble of
distress rose in his throat, and he leaned in to kiss them away.

“I can’t promise that. I won’t promise it.” Each touch of
his lips on her cheeks was like a brand, despite the chill of his mouth. Time
was running out, and she needed to make sure he understood the profundity of
her feelings. She couldn’t let him go before he knew. “You’ve made me
understand love, feel more than I thought I was capable of. In you I found what
I was looking for the entire time I roamed—home, belonging, a reason for being.
Tonight I realized it didn’t matter where we came from, what we are or had done
before we met. All I wanted was the chance to love you, be with you forever.” A
sob broke through and she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the pain back to
manageable levels. “If you hadn’t been willing to try, I would have begged you
for the chance to make it work.”

“There would have been no need to beg,
kelema
, my
heart.” He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth, his hand tenderly
caressing her back and then rising to her nape. The slight rasp of his palm
against her skin was heartbreakingly familiar and precious. “I was at your
apartment to ask you to come back to me, to stay with me forever. I would have
begged too, if you wanted me to. Meeting you set me free, and I thank Freyja
for you, for the love I experienced. I wouldn’t change anything, not one moment
of knowing you.”

He sank deeper into the water, closed his eyes, and she knew
it was so she wouldn’t see how high the stone had climbed up his arm and how
much it hurt. Not wanting to acknowledge time slipping away, she tightened her
hold on his neck, as though doing so could somehow keep him with her a little
longer. Leaning back so as to see his face, she said, “I thank her too, Vidar.
Your goddess gave us the greatest gift she could when your loyalty sent you to
the Café.”

He nodded, but didn’t reply. The muscle in his cheek jumped
rhythmically a few times then stopped, as though he’d forced himself to
unclench his teeth. The pain must be becoming unbearable, and Jasmina almost
screamed with agony as she saw the first tinge of gray rising along his
shoulder.

Please, Freyja, take away his pain. He’s been your
faithful servant. Don’t make him hurt anymore.

The prayer came to mind unbidden. With her belief in Fate
she should be resigned to letting Vidar’s destiny run its course, but her heart
couldn’t bear to see him in pain, slowly dying before her eyes. He believed the
goddess had shown special interest in him, watched over and protected him from
when he was young. Perhaps she could be appealed to one more time.

Freyja, I beseech you on his behalf, for it would never
occur to him to do it for himself. Help him, please!

Perhaps that wasn’t enough, she thought, as Vidar’s lips
thinned and a low moan rumbled in his throat. What did she know of the ways of
the gods? Perhaps they needed tribute? With an offer of sacrifice, would Freyja
listen?

Goddess, take me instead. Give me his pain, this
affliction of stone. This wouldn’t have happened if not for me. He is so much
more worthy to live than I am. I gladly offer my life for his. Save him,
please, Freyja.

“All I needed was for someone to ask.”

At the sound of the low, melodious voice, Vidar’s eyes flew
open. For a long moment he simply stared, but then adoration transformed his
face, smoothing the lines of pain, putting new life into his features.

“My goddess.” He tried to move, but although he gripped the
side of the pool and heaved, his body barely budged, the stone side too heavy
to lift with one arm. Falling back into the water, he had tears of frustration
and shame gleaming in his eyes. “Forgive me for not showing the proper
respect.”

Jasmina didn’t turn to look at the goddess. All she needed
to see was whether Freyja would accept her sacrifice and save Vidar—if the gray
creeping toward his neck disappeared.

“Vidar Jarlsen, you are one of my own, with a spirit and
heart so pure and true it gladdens me to be in your presence. Your courage and
strength, your life lived in service of my name, is respect enough.”

“You honor me, goddess, both with your praise and for being
here with me at the end of my life.” Vidar closed his eyes for a moment. His
hand, beneath the water, found Jasmina’s and he linked his fingers with hers.
When his eyelids lifted there was both hope and sadness in the beautiful,
shadowed gaze. “Have you come to take me to Fólkvangr?”

“Not yet, Vidar.” There was a soft, loving tone in the
goddess’s voice. “There is a place awaiting you on my field of warriors, but
this is not your time.”

Magic, powerful and glorious, filled the air around them and
turned the walls, even the water, to deep amber. For a moment Jasmina couldn’t
decide whether Vidar’s skin had returned to its normal hue, or if the change
she saw was only a reflection from the goddess’s light.

Vidar’s arm, previously hard and immovable, brushed soft
against her thigh, and a violent wave of relief flowed through Jasmina’s veins.

Turning, she blinked away tears of joy to be able to look up
at the goddess and caught her breath at the unfathomable light in Freyja’s
light-blue eyes. Fear gripped her, but Jasmina drew strength from the knowledge
that Vidar would live on, even if she couldn’t.

“Thank you, Freyja, for answering my prayer.” Pushing away
from Vidar’s body, avoiding his restraining fingers, she faced the other woman.
“I’m ready.”

“Ready for what?” Vidar moved so swiftly Jasmina couldn’t
evade his hands and she was spun about in the water so he could see her face.
The grip of his fingers on her shoulders was frantic, almost painful. “What did
you promise the goddess, Jasmina?”

She touched his cheek, and smiled. “My life for yours, my
love. And it’s the best bargain I’ve ever struck.”

“No!” His roar of outrage echoed deafeningly through the
chamber and fear, unlike any she’d ever seen before, twisted his face. “Freyja,
no. Don’t do it, I beseech you. Give it back to me. I did it gladly, to save
her. Don’t take her, please.”

“Be still, my children.” The goddess’s magic changed tenor,
became softer, the light changing to a beautiful, soothing golden hue. “I
understand love better than you may think, and even more so can appreciate the
urge to give all for the one who holds your heart. Such fidelity is pleasing to
me, beyond any sacrifice offered.”

Vidar’s fingers loosened, and Jasmina could turn and look
fully at the smiling goddess again. Whatever words she would have said stuck in
her throat, trapped by the fullness of her heart. The goddess nodded, as though
in acknowledgement of the gratitude too enormous to be articulated.

“Jasmina Binaar, I will ask one thing of you.”