Ryanne and her three warlock escorts walked in on Autumn’s colorful tirade. From what little she’d heard, Ryanne could guess the anger was mainly directed at her missing sister. Spring’s mournful expression and the pained, sickly look on Nash’s face also spoke of the dire situation.
Knox took his wife aside and, in a low voice, asked, “What happened?”
Spring shot Ryanne an apologetic glance. “Rylee escaped, but not before sealing the cursed necklace around Nash’s neck.”
Ryanne slowly spun to look at Nash, who sat at Alastair’s desk, his head resting in his hands. As if he sensed her regard, he lifted his head. The bleakness in his eyes nearly destroyed her. Never once in the two years she’d known him had she seen that look on his face. Her heart plummeted, and she rushed across the room to his side. When she would have embraced him, he held up a hand.
“No. It’s alive. This necklace is somehow alive. I can’t take the risk that it will sting you,” he said hoarsely.
“Oh, Nash,” she whispered, shoving down a sob. Even knowing her sister was responsible, she needed him to tell her it was a mistake. “Please tell me Rylee didn’t knowingly do this to you. Please.”
His grim look confirmed her worst fear.
“Why would she do such a thing?” she asked, dismayed.
Nash closed his eyes and pressed his lips together. One of his hands rose as if to touch his chest, but he balled it into a fist and slowly lowered it to his side.
She dropped her eyes to the base of his throat and blinked twice to clear her vision and to make sure what she saw was real. Even as she watched, the jeweled scorpion shifted and dug deeper into his skin.
“Ohmygod!”
Spring approached and laid a hand on Ryanne’s shoulder. “I was about to go back to my workshop and find him something for the pain.”
“Thank you,” Ryanne said tearfully. “I…” There were no words. Nothing she could say to take away the horror of her sister’s actions to one of the Thorne’s own. How could Rylee have done this? And Nash, oh, dear God, poor Nash. He was showing remarkable control now, but soon enough, he’d be writhing in pain.
She checked the top of the desk for the journal and saw nothing. “Where’s the journal? I’m almost positive I remember reading that there was a way to remove it from a person’s neck. Where’s the book?” Her tone had turned shrill, and she started opening and slamming drawers in her panic.
“Ryanne, stop.” Spring gripped her hands. “Rylee took the book, too. But it wouldn’t matter if she hadn’t. She cast a spell on the necklace to seal it in place and to accelerate its merging with his body.”
“I don’t understand. I can’t… I…” Sobs shook Ryanne, and she slid down the wall to sit on the floor.
“Leave us for a little bit, please.” Nash’s voice was coated in suffering, and yet he urged the others to go as he knelt beside her to offer comfort. “Babe, I need you to listen to me.” He sucked in a breath and groaned. It took several heartbeats before he could continue. “None of this is your fault.” His second long pause had Ryanne reaching for his hand. Although her fingers felt close to breaking under the pressure of his squeeze, she refused to make a sound. If he could endure the agony of the scorpion necklace, she could damned well tolerate his painful grip.
“I’m so sorry.” The catch in her words said exactly how much.
“Victor’s revenge on… my father,” he panted. “It was never… about you.”
“But he used my sister as his tool for that revenge. That is on me.”
“No.”
A low rumble started just as the floor shifted beneath her. Ryanne released an involuntary scream.
“Sorry. Me.” Nash gritted his teeth and fell back into the wall. “You need… to… go. Can’t hold… back… the magic.”
Knox appeared and shoved the desk aside and hauled Ryanne to her feet. “We have to get out. Now!”
“No!” She violently shook her head. “I won’t leave him!”
He gripped her chin and forced her gaze away from Nash. “Listen to me. We have to leave. He’s an earth elemental, and he’s only holding back for you. Soon he won’t be able to. This whole place is going to sink into the earth. Do you understand what I’m telling you? You’ll be buried alive.”
Despite his steel-like grip, she inched her head sideways to stare down into Nash’s tortured forest-green eyes. The truth was written there for her to see.
“I don’t care,” she choked out. “I’m not leaving him to die alone. I can’t.”
“He won’t be alone, child. I’ll be with him.”
She whipped her head around to stare at Alastair.
“He’s my son, and he’s suffering because of me.”
As Nash’s father moved forward, the ground beneath them rolled. Everyone scrambled to stay upright.
“Get her out of here, Knox. My niece and Ryker, too.”
“I’m not leaving, Mr. Thorne.”
Where Ryanne got the backbone to stand up to this powerful man, she didn’t know. Or maybe she did. Maybe love had infused her spine with steel. Either way, if they tried to drag her away, they wouldn’t have to worry about the earthquakes Nash was causing because Ryanne would burn this stinking building down around their ears.
Alastair regarded her with exasperation clearly stamped on his features. “Fine.” He met Knox’s concerned gaze and nodded. “She stays with me and my son. The rest of you clear out.”
As Autumn, Ryker, and Knox gathered together to teleport, Alastair had one last request. “Tell Rorie I love her. And Ryker, make sure that sonofabitch pays for this.” A violent sneeze took Alastair, and he quickly clenched his hand.
The trio disappeared right as Spring returned. The floor buckled again, and Ryanne slammed into the ground, her knees coming in hard contact with the marble.
“I’ve arrived just in time,” Spring said to no one in particular. She rushed to Nash and measured out a spoonful of liquid from the jar she carried. “Here, cousin. This should help with the pain.” After a second helping, she placed the container on the desktop. “Where’s Knox?”
“I made him take the others to safety. Nash was creating earthquakes,” Alastair informed her.
“That man of mine is never around when I need him,” she complained good-naturedly. She checked Nash’s pulse and lifted one of his closed lids. “He’s out. I think that medication should last for a while. I doubled the dose.”
Ryanne cradled Nash’s head in her lap, careful to stay as far away from the necklace as possible. “What did you give him?”
“It has an opium base. He’s going to be in LaLa Land for a good bit of time. Hopefully, long enough for us to surgically extract that necklace. Aunt GiGi should be right behind me. She needed to collect her bag of tricks and my other sister.”
“Do you really think you can remove it?”
“I’m not sure. If we can reverse the magical spell your sister used, we might be able to. Did either of you get a chance to read the journal?” The before Rylee took it was implied, or so it seemed to Ryanne who was feeling exceedingly guilty for her twin’s actions.
Alastair gave a short nod and checked his son’s pulse before parting the shirt. The ruby and silver scorpion’s tail rippled, and the wicked point swiveled toward his hand. “In the journal, it states you must stroke the back of the scorpion three times in rapid succession. The trick is not to get stung. Otherwise, it’s lights out.”
“I didn’t make it that far into the journal. Will it release its grip either way?” Ryanne asked. Was it her imagination or did Nash look grayer than normal? “I mean, if I stroke it and get stung, will the clasp still open?”
“It never stated as much.” As Ryanne reached for the necklace, Alastair caught her hand. “No, child. I know my son; Nash would prefer to perish rather than have you hurt.”
“I have to try.”
“I’ll do it. If it strikes me, it won’t matter much.”
“That’s not true, Uncle,” Spring protested. “You are loved by one and all. There isn’t a one of us who wouldn’t miss you.”
“You’d miss those trips I finance,” he teased with a wink. “Where are you and that young man off to next? Rome?”
She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “That’s why you need to stick around. Who else gives me a limitless credit card for my travels?”
That same cheek flushed with pleasure but immediately paled when Nash arched his back and moaned.
“We can’t wait for my sister,” Alastair stated grimly. “We’re out of time.”