bedeviled & beyond 07 - beset & bewildered by Sam Cheever Page B

quiet.”
    The air behind Astis glittered and Astra and Dialle shimmered into the room. The expression of disgust Astra threw in the witch’s direction made me feel better. Apparently I wasn’t the only one in the room who wanted to feed the woman to the gargoyles.
    Dialle gave me a smile. “Your color is better.”
    “That’s because she’s trying to keep from throttling me in front of the witch,” Slayer said on a laugh.
    I ignored him, realizing that nothing I said or did would keep him from being an ass. I’d get my revenge later. When I was on my feet again and he least expected it. The thought made me smile. “Maybe I could throttle Slayer until I heal,” I offered hopefully.
    The men chuckled. Astra seemed to be considering it.
    “Kidding, Astra.”
    “No,” she lifted a small finger. “The idea has merit.”
    Slayer shook his head.
    Dialle took Astra’s hand and kissed the tip of the finger. “We spoke to Torre. He told us what he thinks happened.”
    I inclined my head, panic setting in. “Did he give you a fix?” Please God he didn’t tell them what he’d told me...
    Astra shook her head. “We told him we were certain Astis could heal you.”
    “That’s unfortunate,” the witch said happily. “Because I cannot.”
    The room fell into shocked silence. The temperature in the room rose to suffocating levels and Astra’s aura turned from silver to charcoal gray. When she took a step toward Astis, Dialle grabbed her hand. “Clarify, witch or I’ll send you to the fairy mound for pleasuring,” the king threatened softly.
    While that didn’t sound particularly terrifying, the threat seemed to work on Astis. Her smile fell away and she turned a hostile gaze on me. “She has a corrupted mating mark. It is slowly poisoning her to death.”
    “Holy fried pixies,” Astra muttered. She turned an accusatory look to me. “I can’t believe you let him mark you in the first place. His magic’s not nearly powerful enough to overcome yours.”
    “How in Hades would I know that, Astra?” I glared right back at her, neither of us willing to give in to the other.
    Slayer finally cleared his throat, distracting us. “You can’t fix that ?” he asked the Supreme High Witch.
    Astis shook her head, clearly happy with her inability. “There are only two ways to fix a corrupted mating mark.”
    I panicked. There was no way I could let her tell them what Torre had told me. “I don’t...!” I stopped as her words sunk in. “Two ways?”
    “Yes. The Prince can either recreate the mark, strengthening it so it will work this time...”
    “Absolutely not!” Slayer and Astra said at the same time.
    Though he seemed less certain than the others, Dialle agreed. “A second failure would be too dangerous.”
    “Or you can take her to the necromancer,” Astis continued.
    I really didn’t like the sound of that. But it was an option I hadn’t known I’d had so the least I could do was pursue it. “What necromancer? How can he or she help?”
    “She’d never survive the journey,” Dialle said, frowning.
    “I don’t know anything about this necromancer,” Astra said, “But it sounds dangerous.”
    “She rules the dead in the frozen environs,” Dialle explained. “Her kingdom consists of a narrow band of land, mostly mountainous, that is adjacent to the Hell dimension. It’s very difficult to reach her lair and, once there, it’s even more difficult to negotiate with her.”
    “Why?” I asked.
    “She is the most evil creature in the dark world. She cares for nothing or no one except herself and her ghouls. To get her to help we’ll have to promise her something she values highly.”
    “What does she value?”
    “Pain and sorrow,” Slayer said.
    I looked at Slayer, wondering why it sounded like he spoke from experience. What I saw on his face scared the crap out of me. He was pale, his gaze bright and his jaw taut. He looked terrified. I made my tone as gentle as I could.