Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,81
out of here before night falls.” Darius cast a worried glance at the ruins above them. “We don’t want to be here when the sun goes down.”
It was only as they were on board and coasting away that Darius looked at Riella and then Titan. “How?”
“How what?” she asked.
“You know what. How did you survive the waters? Too much of it absorbed by the skin and the heart stops.” He snapped his fingers.
Riella had a sad smile. “Because I have a metal heart. When I was very young, my father discovered I had a congenital heart defect that would see me dead before I reached my teens. He arranged the attack that tore my arm and then used the excuse of repairing my limb to have me spirited away to his lab, where I emerged better than ever. Only somehow the queen found out that not only was my arm not real, but my heart wasn’t either. That was when she had my father killed.”
“You knew the waters wouldn’t stop your heart.” Darius frowned. “And the baby?”
“Won’t show a heartbeat until a few more weeks.”
Titan stared down at his chest. “Wait a second…Does that mean?”
Her lips twisted. “I might have forgotten to mention that, along with your limbs, you also received a metal heart.”
“But why? Why not tell me?”
“Because then you would have thought of it, and we all know how well that worked.” She rolled her eyes.
“No wonder you both dove in. You knew you were immune to the waters…” Darius shook his head in disbelief.
Riella wasn’t done. “I hoped I was. And he never suspected.” She gave him a look that was exasperated and happy all at once. “I can’t believe you jumped in after me.”
“I’ll follow you anywhere, princess.”
“And what if I wanted to return to the Marsh Kingdom and keep my promise to the king?”
He shrugged. “Then I guess I better find something I’m useful at if I’m going to provide for my family.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Darius gagged. “Take it elsewhere.”
They took it to the cabin, where they took turns sponging the residue left by the waters off each other. The feel of her slick, moist skin enough to make him realize he’d almost lost her.
He hugged her close. Skin to skin.
“Next time warn me before you do something like that.”
“Why? So you can stop me?”
He shook as he chuckled. “Maybe. But mostly so my damned heart doesn’t stop again.”
“Please, you’ll die of many things, but heart failure isn’t one of them.”
“How about I rephrase that. Without you, I don’t want to live.” He held her closer and brought his lips to hers as he whispered. “I love you.”
And with the wicked queen dead, they might actually get to have a life.
Epilogue
The return trip saw them dropped at the mouth of the Styx River well before the Sapphire Port where a village perched, eking out an existence fishing the waters and selling to the city. They spent a night on solid land, which Titan claimed he’d never leave again, in a room paid for with a fix she did on a broken oven. The following day they hired a guide and transportation to the Marshland’s city, their fare covered by Titan, who, during the night, left with the village men without disturbing her and returned with them, lugging the body of a giant eel.
“How?” she asked.
He’d just smiled and said, “You’re not the only one with skills, princess.”
Alfred cleared his throat, even though he had no throat to clear. “It was teamwork, right, son?”
She rolled her eyes, but as funny as she found his interaction with Alfred, she loved it, too. She liked to think this was how her father might have been had he lived. Had he not died for saving her life.
It took less time than expected to return to the Marsh City. Titan appeared surprised no one arrested them upon their arrival. On the contrary, they ended up with their own suite at the castle. The king’s gift to them for, as he said, “Handling a diplomatic issue for me.”
With the Emerald queen gone and the kingdom in chaos, he could now worry less about the mountain border and more about Sapphire. Because he was convinced that king was behind the attacks on the outer hamlets of the marsh.
With all the metal parts she could ask for, and a forge for making new ones, she started work on creating a communication system that wouldn’t be at the mercy of the electromagnetic issues still plaguing this area of the planet. She also upgraded the machinery for the city’s hospital. The first item being an ultrasound so she could see for herself that her adventure hadn’t harmed the baby. The little person inside her appeared healthy and whole.
“Perfect,” Titan declared.
“As if there was any doubt,” was Alfred’s snotty addition.
The day after seeing their daughter on the screen, Titan volunteered to work in the king’s personal guard because, as he said, “Best way to ensure she’s safe is to have a hand in our defense.”
Little did he know Riella was starting to work on those systems, too. Because now that she’d found someone who loved her in spite of her twisted metal heart, she would do anything to protect him. Her child. And everyone else she decided to call friend and family.
“She’s smiling again,” Alfred announced as they entered her workshop.
“Looks like she’s plotting world domination to me,” Titan declared, dropping a kiss on her head.
“Not the world, just this continent.” Because giving up the Emerald crown didn’t mean one day her daughter couldn’t be queen.
Lying awake in his bed, he knew better than to move. He kept his breathing even. Listening, and waiting.
It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to kill him in his sleep. He had the scars to prove it, not that anyone knew. Roark hadn’t told a soul about the assassination attempts, mostly because he wasn’t sure who kept sending them. He’d been so sure it had to be the Emerald queen, who bristled at the upstart who demanded his kingdom receive recognition and respect. But the queen had been dead a few weeks now.
And this was the third attempt.
Titan would be pissed. He’d taken the last one quite personally given he’d put in extra measures to prevent it.
The whisper of something sliding across stone indicated it neared. A faint smell, as if something had crawled from the river outside, let him know how they’d made it into his city. The rivers that kept it clean and provided transport also made his castle vulnerable.
Just as he readied himself to fight, there was a squeal then the stench of something dying. And dying fast.
“Illumen.” He barked the word he used to focus energy into light and saw a slim figure standing over a rapidly decaying heap.
The figure held a pair of daggers and stared at the melting lump until it was but a spot on the floor. The same each time. The enemy appearing of the fleshly world, only death turned it into less than nothing.
The person who’d killed it turned. “He finally awakens.” A piercing gaze in a face more striking than beautiful met his. Her cheekbones were sharp, her nose straight, and her chin pointed. But her lips were full and mocking.
“Who are you?” he queried.
“Name is Casey. I was hired by Titan to be the new bodyguard.”
Someone is trying to kill the Marshland king and his heir, meaning it’s up to Casey to him safe. But who will guard her heart? Catastrophic Attraction is next.
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