Lorelai’s back arced, and then she fell forward onto his lap, her body shaking uncontrollably.
He no longer had the words to tell her he was sorry. That she deserved better. That she should let go of his hands and leave him behind.
She was saying something, her lips moving though her words were mere breaths.
Time to finish this, Irina said. We have more people to kill, Kolvanismir. Gabril Busche needs to learn what his betrayal will cost him. Kill the princess and let’s be on our way.
His heart thundered its agreement with this plan.
Hurt. Punish. Kill.
He was a predator. They were his prey.
He was fire, blood, and death.
Lorelai slowly pulled herself up until she was eye to eye with him. He snarled.
She leaned close and pressed her lips to his.
Magic shot out of her and surrounded him, cutting off the bonds of the curse and sending the pain that had been flowing into her back into Kol. Before he could move, she yanked her hands from his and pressed them on either side of his face. Pulling back from his mouth, she whispered, “Nakh`rashk. Scatter the queen’s magic.”
Irina shrieked in fury as Lorelai’s magic surged into Kol’s mind, found the thick curtain that obscured his thoughts from hers, and tore it to pieces.
Irina’s cold voice said, She can’t get rid of me. The best she can do is hear your thoughts as I turn you into the predator you were meant to be.
He had a brief moment of clarity, and he knew.
Lorelai might be able to tear through the curtain in his mind, but she couldn’t break the collar. She didn’t hold his human heart hostage. And she didn’t control him.
Irina did.
Even now, his talons were out, his chest heating with his dragon’s fire. He wanted to hurt, punish, and kill. He wanted it with a desperate hunger that roared through him until he felt like he’d never be satisfied.
With Irina in his head, it wasn’t a question of if he’d become a killer, it was a question of when.
The only choice left to make in the last moments of his self-control was whether he’d kill Lorelai or go after Gabril’s family instead.
Kol, no. Lorelai’s voice was full of horror as he pushed her away from him and turned toward the entrance to the cave.
Irina laughed as he dove into the water and began moving toward the capital.
THIRTY-SIX
LORELAI’S LEGS FELT too weak to hold her as she stumbled to the edge of the cave and peered into the thick sheet of water, still shaking from the remnants of the pain Irina had sent into her through her connection to Kol. She couldn’t see Kol, but she could sense his thoughts—fragmented, full of agony, and poisoned by the presence of Irina in his head.
It didn’t make sense. If Irina had so much power over Kol, why hadn’t she used it weeks ago when she’d first taken his heart? Why let Lorelai heal him and create a bond with her magic?
Kol sent her an image of the vicious whispers of his collar. Of the way Irina’s control over him felt far more powerful than it had before.
Lorelai sent back an image of her pursuing him as he raced to the capital with the speed of his dragon, and then ignored his instant objection as she tightened the laces on her boots. Just a few hours ago, she’d felt triumphant. Certain that she’d weakened Irina’s heart to the point of ruin and that confronting her at the castle was a battle Lorelai could win.
Now, Lorelai had lost the battle for Kol, had lost an ally who could help her fight with fire, and was separated from Gabril while Kol raced to kill Gabril’s family. She had no time to plan, no time to gather information and figure out how to swing the odds back into her favor. She had to act swiftly, or Irina would win the war before Lorelai even arrived at the battlefield.
Standing at the edge of the cave, droplets of frigid water misting her skin, she called up Gabril’s face. The shape of his mind. The way he’d erected a barrier between his thoughts and hers.
Hours ago, Lorelai wouldn’t have dreamed of destroying the wall he’d put up to keep his thoughts private from hers. But now she didn’t have the luxury of asking permission or of hoping her magic was strong enough to do what she needed. If Irina could break into any mind she’d already bonded with, then so could Lorelai. She just had to want it. And right now, she wanted it with a desperation that burned through her body with every breath.
Clenching her fists, she thought of Gabril and felt her power tingle down her arms. She imagined tendrils of power leaving her body and seeking him out in the Hinderlinde.
“Nakhgor. Find the one I seek.” Power burst from her palms, parted the waterfall, and blazed a path toward the forest.
Seconds later, she felt Gabril’s mind, still steadfastly keeping her out. “Pros`odit,” she said, and the wall in his mind cracked.
Gabril, don’t block me out. We’re in trouble, and I need your help.
There was a flash of shock, an instant of resistance, and then his calm, stoic voice said, Where are you? How can I help?
I’m in a cave under the waterfall to the west but—
I’m coming.