24. Marius

Chapter 24

Marius

A s fast as he could, Marius set the crown on his own head and got between Tahlia and Durniad. Magic shivered down his back and along his jaw. The cooling sensation traveled along his throat and into his chest.

Durniad's smug look had fallen and his eyes looked ready to pop from his meaty head.

"You see the one who should wear the crown wearing it now," Marius said, not knowing what in the hells he was doing, but desperate to escape with Tahlia. He had been ordered to avoid bloodshed if possible. But with Durniad flanked by four large guards, the crown was the only way they could leave without a great deal of damage and a high body count.

Tahlia's hand found Marius's back, and he was glad he wore no tunic because he could easily feel that her fingers didn't shake. She wasn't afraid of the power he held at the moment. His mate truly trusted him.

Durniad blinked quickly, then he and his guards stepped aside.

Marius started down the labyrinth with Tahlia behind him.

"This is great!" Tahlia whispered. "Oooh, tell me to do something. I want to see how it feels."

"This isn't a game, Lady Tahlia."

"Aw, come on, Commander. Make me run or say the alphabet backwards."

"Your ankle is injured."

"Actually, it's good now. My ribs and head aren't great, but I'm fine. Do the alphabet one. Wait. I know I'm not capable of that. What if I explode when you order me to try?"

"You are far too excited about the prospect."

"It's fascinating!"

"Spontaneous combustion would compromise our mission."

"You're so Marius, you know that?"

He frowned. "Why would I be anything else?"

A shrieking shattered Marius's thoughts.

They whirled to see the siren dragging herself through her portal behind them.

Tahlia swore in a Fara-like manner—some curse involving monkeys and testes. Marius agreed with the sentiment if not the communication style.

The siren had lost an arm. Her watery flesh had gone blood red. She looked like a true nightmare now, her jeweled eyes gone cloudy and her mouth ripped at one side.

"I will have my revenge." She rushed them—moving faster than anything Marius had ever witnessed—and snatched Tahlia's belt.

Marius's body went tight with battle readiness. The siren wavered on her feet. The surge of activity had depleted her somewhat. She was weakened.

The siren hauled Tahlia backward, the creature's arm laced around Tahlia's neck. Opening her mouth of coral and shark teeth, the siren prepared to bite down on Tahlia's shoulder. Panic threaded through Marius's every bone, tendon, and muscle.

"Get off me!" Tahlia snarled, grabbed the siren's arm, maneuvered her hips, and slammed the siren onto the floor. "Ugh. Your skin feels so bizarre." She shook water from her hands and grimaced.

The creature howled and slowly raised herself back up.

Tahlia drew her two daggers and slashed at the siren's gut, but the creature evaded her and hissed.

"Leave. Go back to the sea," Marius demanded.

"That crown has no power over me," the siren whispered.

Her power must have been diminished by her injuries because her voice didn't seem to affect Tahlia or him at all.

The siren lashed out with her fingers. Each watery digit ended with a claw made of some dark coral that leaked a foul, green substance that would poison Tahlia if she made contact. Marius knew that somehow. The scent of the stuff made the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

A rushing sounded. Tahlia glanced at him, keeping a blade between her and the siren.

What was that sound?

The siren's arm became a small torrent of rushing water, and the siren encircled Tahlia's neck, choking her and pulling her close.

"Stop!" Marius lunged forward with his dagger outstretched, but he couldn't do anything without further threatening Tahlia's safety.

Tahlia was choking, her eyes panicked and her cheeks red. A shout sounded behind the siren and Tahlia. Durniad tore Tahlia from the injured siren's arms.

"Get me that crown, siren, and you get your revenge," Durniad said.

"You want to release her," Marius ordered. The crown's power shivered down his spine and throat.

Gaze going blank, Durniad did so, but the siren's entire body turned into a rushing wave and drove Marius to the ground. He leapt up again, but the crown was gone from his drenched head.

The siren reformed. Tahlia slashed the siren's waist. Water gushed from the wound. The creature hissed and snared Tahlia's hair. Shouting in pain, Tahlia dropped her blade. The siren yanked Tahlia out of Marius's reach. He froze. The siren's abilities were an unknown. He had to stall and figure this out. Tahlia's face said she too was trying to work out a strategy here.

"Why are you working with him?" Marius asked the siren, truly baffled.

"His great-grandsire killed my mother's enemy. My mother created that crown and I owe him a blood debt."

Damn. Marius couldn't twist that to their benefit.

With a cocky laugh, Durniad placed the crown on his head. "Drop all your weapons," he ordered Marius.

To keep up their ruse that they were human, Marius dropped his daggers while the siren dragged Tahlia toward the portal. Marius could not, would not, permit the siren to take her. His body hummed with rage.

"Take me," Tahlia said, her tone casual. "I'll call up my ocean pals to rip your face off the second we hit the water."

"Not if I bind your hands so you can't make runes," the siren said.

Tahlia laughed. "That's what you think. I'm not the creature you think I am."

The warped grin on the siren's injured face fell, and Durniad frowned, his brow furrowing with confusion.

A tingling zipped along Marius's ears, jaw, and down his whole body. He watched as Tahlia's ears grew back into their regular pointed shape and her irises returned to their slitted, Fae form. He touched his ear, and yes, the Witch's potion had reached the end of its time limit.

The siren hissed and shoved Tahlia to the ground. Her cheek hit the ground hard and she groaned, immediately trying to pull herself back up.

"Stay on the ground, woman," Durniad said, not realizing she was part Fae. Would the amount of Fae blood she had be enough?

The siren fled through her portal. The shimmering opening fizzled like water on a hot stone and then it disappeared entirely.

"I don't know what your backstory is with the siren," Durniad said, "but I don't care. I think I'm ready for some entertainment. My grand plan takes off very soon, so I don't have all day."

Tahlia glanced at Marius and remained on the ground as if the crown did hold sway over her body. Was she faking like him?

Marius was a living storm of indecision. Durniad hadn't yet noticed Marius's ears and eyes. Should he attack Durniad and his men in hopes of grabbing the crown and releasing Tahlia? Or should he keep still in case Durniad truly did control Tahlia? The makeshift king could order her to ram her own head into the wall and end herself.

Swallowing the bitter taste of fear on the back of his tongue, Marius stared at Tahlia. He hoped for a wink only he would see or some other indication. But Tahlia remained still. Her gaze stayed on him, but her look told him absolutely nothing.

"King Durniad!" one of the human's guards rushed toward Tahlia.

Marius started toward him, fuming.

"Stay," Durniad ordered.

Marius held himself back as the guard moved Tahlia's hair away from her ear.

"What is it?" Durniad spat as he studied Marius with a look that said he was deciding how to torture him.

"Her ears. She's Fae." The guard lifted his head and eyed Marius. "Him too."

Durniad stepped forward, getting closer to Tahlia, who lay between him and Marius. "Hmm. Now why would the Fae be involved here? And how is my crown controlling them if their blood isn't human?" His delighted grin made Marius's skin crawl. "Perhaps I should rework my grand plan and make it even grander."

He set his foot on Tahlia's lower back and she grunted, likely her ribs paining her. Gods, Marius was going to kill Durniad very, very slowly when the right moment came. He savored the thought of it.

"Maybe they're half-breeds like Syonia," the guard said.

"Ah." Durniad clicked his tongue. "That would explain it. Let's test this out, shall we?"

Marius growled.

"Oooh, you are protective of her. She is your friend? No, I think she is more than that. Don't Fae mate for life?"

"They mate casually, but they mate in another way for life," the guard said, his distaste for Fae apparent in his sneer.

The feeling was mutual. Marius felt another growl building in the back of his throat.

"That's what my Veilbury cousin told me anyway," the guard said.

Durniad nodded at his knowledgeable guard. He removed his foot from Tahlia's back. "Stand, half-breed."

She did so with odd, jerky movements. So she was actually controlled by Durniad. The magic of the crown obviously wasn't as overpowering on her as it was on the full-blooded humans. Marius weighed his ideas and how that could help them. He had to get her out of here before Durniad did something truly terrible. Marius knew he could take the guards and Durniad, but while Durniad had the crown, Tahlia was in serious danger. He didn't dare attack. Not yet anyway.

Ragewing, if there is any way you can hear me, please let me know. We are in a tight spot and I might have to throw caution to the wind and ask you to charge in for a rescue.

There was no response. Damn the distance between them.

What could he do? Marius ground his teeth and bared his fangs. Durniad glanced his way and paled slightly as he adjusted his crown.

"Easy now," Durniad said to Marius. "Don't go feral on me." He faced Tahlia.

Marius could only think to stall the madman, to give himself some time to come up with a plan.

"King Durniad," Marius said, "why do you want this crown? Why this elaborate protection? What do you want of life?"

"Such big questions from an intruder. Listen, no one else has the stones to take what we, the people of Midhampton, need. We were the first human city to have art and high-level architecture on the continent. The first to begin trade with the east and north. We deserve to thrive and use this gift Fate has set in our laps. I do this for my people." He fisted his hand and pounded it once against his barrel-like chest. "I was born to be their king and to bring them back to the top of the world. There will be no starving in our streets. No mistreated children or people worked to death. We will be as fat as pigs and as wealthy as our kings of old. We will be the center of civilization again and all will come to us for advice and to raise their level of living."

"No one could fault you for lack of confidence," Tahlia muttered.

"Do not speak, either of you. Unless I demand it."

Marius acted at not being able to say another word, opening his mouth and pretending no sound would come.

Durniad eyed Tahlia with a detached look. "Break one of your fingers," he commanded.

Marius's stomach dropped. His entire mind focused on murder. He would bleed this man dry.

Tahlia's lips pressed tightly together. She gripped her left pinkie finger and Marius held his breath.