Valteri awakened with a start, his throat every bit as tight as it’d been back when chains had held him securely to a church altar while he’d been bound like an animal and tortured for the pleasure of those who were no better than the monster they accused him of being. The Latin words of the priest rang in his ears as if even now the priest was trying to exorcize the devil from him.
Fury raged through his veins as he felt that shame and degradation all over again.
Instinctively, he ran his hand through his hair, searching for the cross that had been branded into the back of his head. Only when he found the jagged scar hidden by his hair did he realize he’d been dreaming a vague memory of days long ago. Though his feelings might feel fresh, the events were buried.
They were a long, long time ago.
How he wished they were only imagined nightmares. But there was no denying what they’d done to the innocent child he’d once been. That young boy had died a horrible death, and been reborn the monster they’d proclaimed him. One who lacked mercy and humanity.
He’d become like them. The worst of all things.
And with that came the sharp, brutal anger that swept over him, and he had a difficult time remembering that he’d ever been so young, so vulnerable.
So unprotected.
How could anyone ever do such a thing to another person? Never mind a child so helpless?
Bastards all!
Valteri took a deep breath to calm himself.
Brother Jerome had died years ago. Not by his hand as it should have been, but he was dead nonetheless. Yet the old bugger was never quite dead enough.
Never was he far from his thoughts or sight.
One piece of monk’s robe or sheared head would bring it all back to him. Just as the sound of an a capella chant or the sight of a monastery wall. ’Twas enough to turn him Viking and make him want to burn them all to the ground whenever he passed a monastery.
These nightmares should have faded, along with the passing of the bastard priest, and yet they lurked in the farthest reaches of his mind, waiting for his sleep or some chance encounter before they dared make their presence known. Cowardly memories that always attacked him when he was least expecting it.
Damn them!
Why would they not leave him be? He could battle his memories easily enough while awake, but at night, under the cover of darkness and sleep, they attacked and left him sorely battered. Beleaguered to the end of his reason.
Just as they assaulted him whenever he least expected it. A sight or scent that came out of nowhere.
Valteri growled in frustration.
A sudden soft sigh startled him from his thoughts.
Frowning in confusion, Valteri turned to see the gentle form asleep in his bed.
What the bloody hell?
Horror filled him.
Over and over, memories shredded his soul. Impossible ones that couldn’t have happened.
Completely naked, he staggered from the bed as denial screamed out from the farthest reaches of his soul.
Surely he wasn’t that stupid!
Yet there was no denying what he saw or the images that played out in his head of him and Ariel the night before. Of what they’d done …
Of what he’d done to her.
Nay! I wouldn’t have slept with an innocent maid! I know better!
His gut contracted violently at the sight of Ariel peacefully resting in his bed. At the sight of the bloodstained sheets wrapped around her pale, bare hips.
There was no denying that.
How could I have tainted someone so pure, so giving? What was I thinking?
Why was I so selfish?
His mind whirled with images of her soft caresses, her body molding to his. Even now, his loins burned for her and his insides raged like an inferno.
I should have cut off my prick at puberty!
Valteri rubbed at his temples as he damned himself a thousand times over. For one moment of his own reprieve, he’d condemned her to a lifetime of mockery and shame. His very soul screamed against his actions.
How could he have done this?
Was I drunk?
Wanting to beat his own ass, Valteri reached for his breeches and pulled them on. He poured water into a small basin beside the bed, and cursed his foul life before he began washing himself. She’d given him more than anyone and how had he repaid her?
He’d damaged her eternally.
I’m such an ass!
As he splashed his face with water, a new, sudden terror struck him even harder. What if his seed had taken root?
She could have my child.…
Valteri clutched at the basin, the edges cutting sharply into his palms as his self-hatred climbed all over him. Why had he not left her when he’d had the chance?
His oath to William or not, he should have fled this godforsaken country.
What is wrong with me? Clenching his teeth, he knew he had only one course of action, and that was even more reprehensible than what he’d already done.
Yet what choice did he have?
Make her a whore or the wife of God’s abomination. Either way, she was ruined. No one would ever look at her the same way again or be welcoming to her.
Life as she knew it would never be the same. No one would ever treat her like a lady again.
Even now he could hear Brother Jerome’s voice ringing in his ears. “The angels wept at your birth. In the name of God, we must save your blackened soul.”
Could Jerome have been right after all? Was he really some monster put on this earth for no other purpose than to seek innocent blood?
Ariel’s blood.
Growling at his own stupidity over the thought of buying into the monk’s insanity, Valteri knocked the basin from the table. Water hit the wall and splashed against his face and chest and still his anger grew.
Ariel awoke with a startled gasp. For a full minute, she couldn’t place what had awakened her.
Until she remembered the night before.
Valteri had carried her to bed.…
Heat stung her cheeks as she remembered the way she’d broken down and confessed that she was afraid of Belial. That there were still large portions of her memories that were missing.
One minute he’d been comforting her and the next …
She still wasn’t sure how it’d happened. But there was no denying this memory. The heat of his kisses.
The feel of him inside her.
I’m a maiden no more.…
She should be horrified. And yet something inside her felt that this wasn’t wrong. That she should be tied to Valteri.
It made no logical sense whatsoever. She was the first to admit it.
He was the only solid thing in her life. The only thing she felt that she could rely on.
Depend on.
How could she feel guilt or shame over that?
Yet she could tell by his expression that he felt both. That he stared at her, waiting for her to curse him over something that was as much her fault as his.
She had willingly gone to his bed.
And she’d do it again.
“You startled me.” She clutched the blankets to cover her naked body.
Valteri looked away as another wave of desire devoured his will until he couldn’t move for fear of what he might do.
Because he knew exactly what he wanted to do again and again with her until they were both sweaty and spent.
“Milady, I…” Valteri hesitated.
What could he say? He was cursed and bastard born while she was the noblest of all creatures? That he should never have touched her?
They both knew the truth. No words would rectify what he’d so callously taken, nor would they remove the seed he may have planted. Of all men, he knew the wounds given by people’s hostile tongues. The cost of one moment’s thoughtless actions because his own father couldn’t keep his prick in his breeches.
A lifetime of misery bought for want of one second of restraint.
The thought of so gentle a woman bearing his mother’s scars tore through him. How could he put her through an even worse nightmare than what his own mother had endured?
I’m such a selfish ass.
She wrapped the sheet around herself and moved from the bed.
He stood immobile, wanting her comfort, and terrified of what receiving it could cost him.
What it would cost her.
The morning light played against her skin, lighting her hair, and stealing his breath. It surrounded her like a halo. For a moment, he could almost believe in love.
In the goodness of men.
But it was all a lie and he knew it.
People were savage. They didn’t care about anyone other than themselves.
Ariel wasn’t sure what to say to him. Words seemed so trivial now.
Useless, really.
She saw the war inside him that told him to run and the courage that kept his feet nailed to the floor in front of her. How could a man so incredibly strong and noble be afraid of someone as weak as she was?
Yet there was no denying it.
What had they done to him with their cruelty? He was unable to accept even a moment of peace.
A single act of kindness.
“I regret nothing,” she whispered.
He winced, then met her gaze with a steeled, stoic glare. “I regret it all.”
Those words stung her like a slap across her face.
Ariel started to respond when the door crashed open behind him.
She stepped back with a gasp at the same time Valteri turned toward her brother with a murderous growl.
“Do my eyes deceive me?” Belial arched a brow at them. His gaze went from Valteri to her and back again.
He curled his lips into a sneer. “What hoary game be this? The benefactor demanding his tribute?”
She recoiled again at the insult.
Valteri grabbed him by the throat, then kicked the door closed. “Are you trying to ruin your sister’s reputation?”
Belial raked her with a look of utter contempt as he struggled to remove Valteri’s hand from his throat. “How could you?”
Ariel lifted her chin against her brother’s scathing glare and refused to shirk. “’Tis no concern of yours.”
She refused to make any apologies to anyone.
Especially her brother.
Valteri shoved her brother against the wall, his entire body tense. “You will lower your voice,” he growled so low that his tone came out like thunder. “And if you ever lay hand to her, I will tear the offending member from your body and beat you with it. Understood?” The sneer on his lips was as unrepentant as she was.
Belial narrowed his gaze. “I demand restitution. You’ve made a whore of my sister and I will not stand for her to be mocked for your wanton lust.”
A shadow darkened Valteri’s eyes as he released her brother. He looked at her and she saw all the sadness that burned inside him.
Her chest tightened in fear that he’d abandon her to this scandal.
Instead, he nodded. “I’ll have a marriage contract drawn up anon.”
Shock poured over her as she looked from Valteri’s stoic face to Belial’s smug satisfaction. Don’t sound so enthusiastic about it.
Honestly, she was offended.
A part of her was tempted to tell them both to shove it up their hindquarters, but she knew better than to be so stupid. Once word of this spread …
And she was sure her brother would make sure that it did …
She’d be ruined. What Valteri offered her was beyond kind and decent.
He was doing the noble thing.
Even if the tone of his voice equated marrying her to the same level as mucking out a pigsty.
Valteri raked her brother with a warning glare. “No one is to know of this morning. I’ll not have her shamed for what I’ve done. Speak one word and so help me, I will rip out your tongue and serve it to you.”
Smug satisfaction glowed in Belial’s eyes.
And struck a familiar memory.
Only it wasn’t of him.
It was a wolf. A white wolf …
Why?
Belial straightened his tunic with a pert tug. “I won’t have this marriage made in secrecy. For my sister’s sake, I want a banquet and full fanfare.”
Valteri’s jaw tensed. She expected him to resist, or refuse.
But after a momentary pause, he nodded. “I’d have it no other way. She’ll be my wife before all.”
A malicious smile curled Belial’s lips that sent a winter frost against her spine.
“Then her future is now your concern. I charge you take care lest you harm her more than you already have.”
Those strange words hung between them. She knew Belial had a hidden meaning, but she couldn’t think of what it might be.
There’s something you need to remember.…
“I’ll make sure the priest is notified.” Belial laughed before he left them.
Valteri sighed heavily as he faced her. “I didn’t ask you before, milady, but I do so now. Do you wish for marriage … with me?”
She would laugh at the dread tone except she was sure it would offend him. He was such a contradiction of insecure arrogance.
Of cocksure uncertainty.
When it came to her brother and other men … of his place in this world, Valteri never flinched or faltered.
Whenever he drew near her, he was unsure of himself. It was so charming and sweet.
And it sent a wave of tenderness through her. She might not know everything yet, but she trusted him.
“Aye, Lord Valteri. There’s no other I would have.”
Heated fire sparked in his mismatched gaze. “Then you, milady, are a fool.”
His sudden fury surprised her. “I don’t understand.”
With angry jerks, he pulled his tunic over his head. “You’ve tied your fate to a man who’s damned.” He let out a sound of disgust. “I’ll send a messenger to my brother to let him know of this. The hall and lands shall be yours to control so long as you finish and maintain the castle I’ve started. I’ve a few lands in Normandy that will also be yours.”
Was he saying what she heard? Fear took root inside her. “You speak as if you’re planning a will.”
Turning his back, he retrieved his mail hauberk from the floor. “I won’t be staying here much longer. I’ve other duties abroad.”
“And you’ll have a wife, here.”
“Ariel—”
“Valteri,” she shot back, interrupting him. “You cannot run from this. From us. We are tied together now.”
Anger darkened his gaze. “Was that your plan last night?”
“What? How could you say that?” Furious, she pushed him toward the door. “Begone with you! You’re no better than my brother!”
Valteri was seething as he reached for the door.
Until he heard her whispered words.
“I’m not a whore.”
Closing his eyes, he told himself to just keep walking. Let her hate me.
But the tears in her voice …
Damn it.
He let go and turned back toward her as she pulled her kirtle over her body. “I am well aware of the fact that you are the farthest thing from a whore that has ever existed, lady. Only a woman as noble as you would bring me to the noose of marriage. Believe me, Ariel. I’d sooner be gutted and hanged with my own entrails than do this.”
“Then why are you doing it?”
“Because I won’t see a lady made a whore because of me. But by marrying me, you will be tainted. I just don’t know which will be worse.”
“And if the choice is mine?”
He scoffed. “You don’t have a choice, and we both know it. This is war, lady. A Saxon maid who takes a Norman into her bed is a traitor to her people. Even if I wasn’t devil spawn, they would hate you for what you’ve done.” Dropping his armor, he closed the distance between them and cupped her cheek in his hand. “You’ve no idea the horrors I’ve seen. What people will do to each other. They have slit the nostrils of maids for lesser crimes. Scarred their faces.”
“Yet you would abandon me?”
With a ragged breath, he shook his head. “Nay. I cannot.” Pulling her against his chest, he held her close. “It seems that we’re both damned no matter what we do.”
Two days later, Ariel glanced about the hall, her heart hanging heavier than the weight of the earth on Atlas’s shoulders.
Never had she seen so many dour faces.
True to his promise to Belial, Valteri had drawn up the marriage contract and they had all signed it.
Wace had planned their wedding feast, but no one was festive. Not even the dogs appeared happy as they nosed about for scraps.
The poor musicians kept starting songs, only to stop when no one responded or danced.
They’d have been better off playing a dirge. It certainly would have been more befitting of everyone’s somber mood.
“Milord?” Yet again, she tried to take Valteri’s mind off the fact that no one approved of their marriage.
He looked up from his trencher, his gaze as empty as the hollow cheers they’d received when they first entered the hall. “Aye, milady?”
She opened her mouth to speak, only to close it as Belial leaned forward with his goblet. “’Twould seem our people have indeed found common ground. Neither Norman nor Saxon has cause for celebrating.”
In that moment, she wanted to slap him. Winking as if he knew what she was thinking, Belial stood and motioned for the befuddled musicians to stop. “Good friends, I wish to bless our happy couple with a toast.”
“I’ll not drink to them,” a belligerent voice rang out.
Belial cocked a finely arched brow and slowly lowered his goblet to the table.
In the crowd, she saw a Saxon man struggling against his companions, who were trying to shush him.
“Nay, I’ll not be silent.” He shoved against them.
Valteri’s grip tightened on the knife he held.
Ariel sucked her breath in as she saw a perfect image in her mind of her husband driving that blade straight into the fool’s heart.
“This is an evil deed. How can I give my blessing when one of our fairest Saxon maids is sacrificed to a Norman dog. Nay,” he sneered, stumbling against the corner of the table. “Not even a Norman dog, but worse. A bastard demon spawned straight from hell! One of—”
“Enough!” Ariel shouted, rising from her seat. “’Tis my husband you address, sirrah, and the only evil I see here this night is that brought by foul rumors and ignorance.”
The drunkard looked at her as if she’d slapped him, but she didn’t care. She refused to sit by and allow a decent man to be slandered by a fool.
Slowly, Valteri moved his chair back and stood. He scanned the hall and his bland acceptance of the man’s words tore at her soul. “Whoever calls this man friend should take him home.”
When no one stood to offer aid, Valteri shook his head. With a disgusted sigh, he looked at her, his gaze awash with emotions she couldn’t define. How she wished she could make him forget what he’d just heard. And all the other such stupidity that had been hurled at him.
It wasn’t right that anyone should be so insulted in his own home.
During his own wedding feast.
And for what? Baseless fears and superstitions?
Over a war their own people had started when they’d failed to hand the throne to his brother as King Edward had promised?
While she despised war and all it entailed, she knew William wouldn’t have come here had Harold Godwinson not usurped the throne after Edward’s death.
Sadly, Valteri didn’t want to be here any more than they wanted him in their lands.
Rather than face them as a heartless conqueror who demanded tribute and blood, Valteri had shown restraint and patience whenever he dealt with them.
Even her own brother …
Valteri cleared his throat. “Have no fear of me. I’ll not hold his words against him nor will I punish those who help him to his bed. Go in peace.” That said, he tucked his knife into his belt and left.
She swept them all with a shaming scowl. “He is your lord, and these are his lands. You would all do well to remember that.”
Furious at their behavior, Ariel followed after her husband. She caught up to him just outside the main doors. “Valteri?”
Valteri ground his teeth as he felt her gentle touch on his arm. No one had ever before defended him and he wasn’t sure how to respond. “You should go inside before you catch a chill.”
She shook her head and he ached to pull her back into their chambers and make love to her for the rest of eternity.
But that was only a dream.
No one would accept their marriage.
Ever.
Everyone’s reaction tonight had proven it. If he had an ounce of decency, he’d slit his own throat and allow her to find another husband to stand by her side.
But he wasn’t decent.
Ariel tightened her hand on his arm and he allowed her to turn him until he faced her. “Ignore the imbecile. He was drunk. He knew not—”
“He knew.”
There was no excuse to be made.
People were assholes.
Thunder clapped over their heads. Though the rain had been a steady drizzle most of the day, the night threatened a volatile storm.
Valteri glanced up at the dark, eerie clouds. “Go inside where ’tis safe.”
“I belong with you now.”
A bitterness filled his eyes that tightened her throat even more as she feared he’d pull away from her. “Only a fool would want to belong in my cursed life.”
Her grip tightened on his arm. “It’s not just your life I’m after, Valteri. It’s your heart I want most.”
Valteri let out a bitter laugh. “Haven’t you heard? No heart exists inside me. ’Tis said Lucifer himself ate my heart to ensure I’d never feel love or compassion … for anyone.”
“Valteri—”
“No more words, Ariel,” he interrupted, moving away from her. “I beg you return inside before I taint you further and the others decide there’s no difference between us.”
She wanted to argue with him more than she’d ever wanted anything, yet she knew he was past listening. This had been rough on him and he needed distance from it.
Tomorrow, she’d work on winning him over.
Tonight …
She let out a sigh as she watched him sidestep the puddles, his spine more rigid, unyielding, and unscalable than a distant mountain range.
Wishing she knew how to reach him, she lowered her gaze to the ground. The shimmering depths of the puddles called to her and she moved to stand next to the one just outside the hall’s door. The drizzle caused the reflection of the rushlights to distort in their puddles. And as she watched, an image emerged.
“Please spare me! I don’t want to die!”
Ariel recoiled at the sharp shriek inside her head. Images tore through her. Demons surging forward. A knight clinging to her in mortal terror as she …
As she …
“Please!” she cried out, placing her clenched fists over her temples in an effort to recapture the vague memory. “What are you trying to tell me?”
“’Tis late and you should be inside, dear sister.”
Ariel whirled around at the sudden voice behind her, her heart hammering in panic. Belial stood a few feet away, his face masked by shadows. For an instant, his eyes appeared red, but as soon as she blinked, they faded into the darkness.
Was that real?
Or imagined?
“Who are you?” she whispered. “Really?”
Pressing his lips into a tight line, he walked a small circle around her, his hands clasped behind his back. “You know me, little sister. We are kin, you and I. I’ve been in your life for as long as you can remember.”
A chill went down her spine at his sinister smile.
He stopped in front of her and tilted her chin until their gazes met. The coldness of his eyes made her flinch. “We are brother and sister. Cut from the very same cloth.”
Though her mind raged with images of them together as children and adults, her heart denied it all.
It just didn’t seem right.
Deep inside her, she knew there was much more to their relationship than just kinship.
He’s lying.
She couldn’t shake that inner voice or feeling. His presence slithered over her skin and made her cringe.
“Now come inside before you face another storm. One you’re not prepared to deal with.”
Don’t trust him.
Every part of her screamed that out loud. He wasn’t what he seemed and his emotions weren’t sincere. Yet even so, she had no reason to deny him. So, she allowed Belial to take her hand and lead her back inside.
Hours later, Ariel sat inside her chambers, listening to the raging storm. Each hour that passed, she was certain Valteri would return. Yet each one came and went while she waited, until she knew he had no intention of joining her.
I’m married and alone.
That reality haunted her.
More than that, it made her heart ache. And it gave her just a smidgeon of what Valteri must deal with every single day.
How did he stand it?
People weren’t meant to be alone. They needed each other. An image of two parents came to her mind. Yet it left her hollow.
Then she saw a man.…
Unbelievably tall, with dark hair. Silvery, swirling eyes and a crooked smile.
That memory filled her with warmth. It felt real, even though she had no idea who he was. He seemed like family.
Not Belial and not the people she kept seeing as her returned memories.
“Why can’t I figure this out?”
Why had he touched her if he was so opposed to marriage? To being tied down by a single woman?
Nothing made sense.
Cecile stretched beneath her touch. Ariel smiled at the small kitten and continued to stroke Cecile’s soft underbelly.
As she lay on the bed, her mind replayed haunting images of the night before. Of Valteri taking her in his arms, his hard body sliding against hers, his hands seeking out the most intimate parts of her body.
Yet something inside didn’t quite accept the reality she remembered. Instead of crystal clarity, the images were as blurry as the rushlight in the puddle.
The only real feeling was the need she had to find him and be by his side. To comfort him.
But with that desire came a tiny voice that warned against seeking Valteri and claiming him the way she wanted.
Why? What was wrong with seeking one’s husband? She belonged to him and he to her.
Still, the voice persisted.
Ariel shook her head in an effort to clear it. Maybe she was insane.
Go to him.
Startled by the unexpected voice, she glanced to Cecile as if the strange sound could have come from the tiny animal. “I have lost my mind.”
Placing her goblet on the bedside table, Ariel snuggled down into the fur-lined covers. She closed her eyes, determined to think no more on the matter. It was late and past time for her to sleep.
Besides, she was exhausted from the strain of all the people sitting in judgment. People who knew nothing of her or Valteri.
She wanted this day ended and a better one to begin.
Those thoughts lulled her to sleep.
“Save him!”
Ariel sat up with a startled gasp. This time, there was no mistaking the voice she’d heard.
It’d been sharp and male. A fierce, commanding sound that urged her to action.
For the first time since she’d awakened and seen Valteri standing over her, Ariel knew what she had to do.
No more. He’d been cast out to the storm for far too long. No one deserved the life that had been forced on him.
She must save him from the destructive path he walked. Show him that he belonged in the world of the living. The two of them had been joined, and so long as breath filled her lungs, she must not give up on him.
On them.
Her heart hammering in uncertain fear of his reaction, she left the bed and dressed, her hands trembling and fumbling with the material. Would Valteri ever welcome her, or would he forever pull away, out of her reach?
Either way, she had no choice other than to try.
As she searched the hall, she ran through her mind all the possible places he could be, and settled on the stable. With the ferocity of the storm, she doubted he’d seek his pallet in the garden.
Nay, he’d be sheltered this night.
If not in her arms, then he’d be with the only creature alive that he fully trusted.
His horse.
Valteri came awake with a start. He glanced about the stable, looking for the cause of his dream, but only his horse, Ganille, met his eager gaze.
Snorting, Ganille pawed at him as if urging him to move over.
“Stop, or I’ll feed you bitter vetch.”
This time, the snort sounded more like a rude dismissal. Sadly, his horse paid him as much heed as his squire.
I should beat them both.
But he’d never lay an angry hand on anyone or anything unless they struck first. Having been so abused, he’d never carry that forward.
He rolled over, his thoughts turning to Ariel. No doubt she was in his bed.
Alone.
Like him.
Meanwhile, rain pelted against the sides of the stable and a few of the horses nickered and bucked nervously, fighting the ropes that held them inside.
The stench of damp hay and horse shit offended him, causing his nose to twitch in disgust. How he hated stables and the memories they brought.
All the times he’d been mocked.
You’re shite, boy. It’s all you’ll ever be.
No matter how many battles he won or men he defeated, he could never silence those mocking voices. Any more than he could erase the sight of people sneering and jeering at him over a birth defect he loathed as much as they did.
Yet where else would filth like him sleep? He felt no more at home inside the keep than he did here.
In truth, he’d never felt wanted anywhere.
Except in Ariel’s bed.
Growling at himself in frustration, Valteri draped his arm over his eyes in an effort to forget it all, and listened to the sounds of distant thunder.
But still his thoughts churned on against his will to quiet them.
Go to her.…
I’m not that big of a bastard.
No matter how much he might want to rise from his pallet and seek out his wife, he wouldn’t do it.
He’d done her enough harm. She deserved better. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to remember the dour, unaccepting faces of his people. They would forever ridicule his union, and eventually that ridicule would spill onto his precious wife.
He’d be damned before he’d ever cause her that type of pain.
“Well, what a strange place to find a bridal groom.”
Fury flared inside him as Valteri shot to his feet. With a sneer on his face, Belial stood at the entrance of the stall, leaning against one post. He set the lantern in his hand down before him. “I would have thought after the eagerness with which you took Ariel’s virginity that you’d be on her this night like a wolf to a deer.”
“Don’t you dare say such to me!” Valteri was disgusted. “She’s a lady and my wife, and I’ll not have her name bandied about as if she were a trollop.”
Belial laughed, a bitter, unholy sound.
There was something insidious about this beast. Deep-rooted and foul.
“’Tis a pity you don’t defend yourself with the same vigor.”
Valteri arched a brow at the bastard’s audacity.
And his stupidity.
Valteri raked him with a less-than-impressed grimace. “I assure you that I can fend for myself well enough.”
“Can you now?”
For just the tiny beat of a heart, Valteri swore ’twas Brother Jerome’s voice he’d heard.
Not Belial’s.
But when he spoke again, the tone and malice were all his and they set fire to Valteri’s temper. “I don’t see a fierce warrior before me, but rather a scared little boy who allows a drunken fool to mock him before the whole of his people. A little boy who cowers from his own wife. What? Afraid she’ll mock you as well? Or are you just incapable of pleasuring her?”
Growling with rage, Valteri charged his tormentor, catching Belial about the waist. They stumbled back against the stable wall.
“So the cat does have claws.” Belial let out a sinister laugh. “Come, Valteri the Godless, son of Lucifer, kill me and claim your true right. Even now your wife waits, her loins hungry for your body. Would you deny her your seed?”
Valteri reached for Belial’s throat, determined to squeeze the life out of his repugnant body. But as his hands closed around the slender neck, Belial’s eyes darkened to a deep, vibrant red.
Shocked by that sight, Valteri let go instinctively, and Belial’s eyes immediately turned blue again.
What the hell?
Literally.
Belial broke his grip and moved away. “Nay, you’re no coward. You have fought long and hard to get what you want.… Or have you?”
Rubbing his neck, he turned to face Valteri. “Tell me, godless one, what do you truly seek?”
Right now, he’d settle for Belial’s head on a platter and his lifeless body in a pool at his feet.
Yet …
He couldn’t get rid of the image he’d seen. Those red, unholy eyes.
Just who or what was he dealing with?
Unsure, Valteri stared at him, giving him due space as he tried to find a logical reason for the trick his eyes had played.
Surely it’d been the flame of the lantern that reflected the red light, or mayhap some trick of his mind.
Aye, that must be it.
I don’t believe in demons.
Other than those inner ones that constantly plagued him during silent moments.
Or men who pretended to be good while plotting the foulest of deeds against others for no reason or cause.
And while he might not know what had caused Belial’s eyes to shift color, one thing stood certain—he’d be damned long before he confided in the man before him. “What do you care?”
A slow smile curved his lips. “Since you married my sister, I have a vested interest in your future.”
With a stupidity that defied belief, he picked the braid off of Valteri’s shoulder and dropped it to trail down his back. “I saw the careful instructions written in the marriage contract. How you left all your property to her in the event of your death.” He leaned in closer to whisper in Valteri’s ear. “Is that what you seek? Is death the dream that haunts your sleep?”
Valteri tensed at hearing his fondest desire put into words. Aye, he longed for death, had done so since the day he’d slid from his mother’s womb and not had the good sense to strangle himself with her umbilical cord. Every time he went into battle, he did so hoping someone’s blade would at last end his pain.
Belial pulled a dagger from his belt and held it beneath Valteri’s chin.
Without flinching, Valteri studied the shining blade. A golden dragon head protruded above Belial’s fist.
Raising his gaze, he noted the emptiness of Belial’s eyes.
Soulless.
There was no emotion there of any kind. He was as ruthless a killer as Valteri.
One corner of Belial’s mouth turned up into a regretful smile. “Nay, I cannot kill you, but you could kill yourself. Tell me why a man who wants nothing more than death has never heeded its call?”
Valteri refused to answer this question. He refused to admit aloud that he had never given up hope that one day his life might change, that mayhap he would someday find a place where he belonged.
A place where no one mocked him.
That in the end, he was just too damn stubborn and stupid to quit.
For that stupid, treacherous hope, he would never end his own life. He would trust in the same cruel fate that had delivered him into such a brutal life to alleviate him of its burden one way or another.
In due time.
Belial smirked. “Do you fear damnation more?”
Valteri’s gaze narrowed. “I fear nothing.”
“Then here, take my dagger and end all you have suffered.”
Knocking Belial’s arm aside, Valteri sneered at him. “You think little of your own life to seek me out with your simpkin wit. Begone now before I yield to the desire I have to end your life.”
The mocking smile did little to ease his anger. Nor did the curt bow. “As you wish, milord.”
Then, as quickly as Belial had appeared, he left.
Outside, Belial smiled at the rain that didn’t drench him. Nay, the rain, unlike mortal fools, knew better than to evoke his wrath.
How he enjoyed toying with them. ’Twas indeed a shame he couldn’t end their pitiful lives. That he could only tempt them to do it for him.
Oh, to have the heady power of life and death. But the actual giving and taking of life belonged solely to other creatures.
A hand touched his shoulder.
He whirled about to face the old crone, Mildred. Lucky her that he recognized her wrinkled face before he’d ripped out her heart.
“Why did you tempt him to die?” she asked in her screechy voice that sent painful stabs all the length of his hated human body. “She must fall in love with him first, and then she must watch as his life drains away. If the Norman dog kills himself before she falls to her desire, you cannot claim her soul and we might have to wait years before she finds another man to love.”
Putrid, hot anger ran through him. He’d never liked being questioned. It reminded him of too many nights spent in his master’s company. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Then explain it to my human wit.”
Why could he never once find an intelligent accomplice? One who could understand the nuances of subtle manipulation.
All of mankind was too stupid to live. The sooner his demonic brethren wiped them from this earth, the better for all.
Belial took a deep breath, his head throbbing from the strain of his anger and human form. Soon he’d have to leave and restore his strength. And the dark ones knew he needed every ounce of strength to deal with imbecilic humans.
Facing her, he allowed his full venom to enter his voice, turning it into its true echoing, demonic form. “I knew Valteri would never kill himself. I was merely reminding him of that fact.”
He smiled, cruelly relishing her fear and his coming triumph. “All these years past, he has lived solely on hope, and now that hope has a name. And her name is Ariel. Trust me, crone, she is his undoing.”
And both of them were the key to his rise on the other side.…