Wicked Abyss (Immortals After Dark #17) - Kresley Cole Page 0,107

her dolls. She was miserably lonely, already knowing that she needed more love than her precious dolls could give her. She heard a male’s deep voice from a distance, and she gave a cry. It’s him! My betrothed has come to see me!

Sian could feel the love she had for that male.

His instincts warned that he didn’t want to see whatever might follow. He told himself to get out of her thoughts.

Who was her betrothed? Damn it, who?

The dream began to speed up even more, her memories bombarding him. They arose from all different times in her life, in no order.

One face stood out among many. A male. Blond and tall. Handsome.

Wait, was that . . . N?x in one of her memories?

Calliope must be experiencing imaginary scenes. She’d told him that she didn’t know the Valkyrie.

But how could Calliope dream what N?x looked and sounded like unless those two were acquainted?

Why would his mate lie unless . . . ? He gazed down at her sleeping face. Lila, I beg: please don’t have betrayed me. He could not have waited all this time only to be deceived again.

No, no, no. This wasn’t possible. I must be sure. . . .

Just as he delved into her dreams again, he placed that blond male.

Calliope’s betrothed, the one she adored, was . . . the king of the fey.

FIFTY-ONE

Lie-la. How fitting a name.

As Sian sprinted through the farthest reaches of Pandemonia, winds gusted around him. Boiling rain hissed against fire tornadoes, and quakes devoured terrain.

Calliope’s dream had been just as chaotic, but he’d managed to piece together many of her secrets. . . .

He turned toward the shore, running for what felt like days. His mind was more disordered than when he’d learned of his mate’s death—more disordered than when he’d learned another male had impregnated and killed her.

The crimson haze had returned, coloring the entire world.

When he reached the Mercury Sea, the depths were murky, like his thoughts. Eddies swirled and huge breakers crashed, just as the truth had crashed upon him, pulverizing his idyll with his mate.

She was still a princess. Still a liar and a spy. Only Calliope spoke Sian’s tongue! She was not only King Saetth’s fiancée; she was his godsdamned cousin, part of the line Rune had vowed to stamp out.

One M?ri?r’s mate was another one’s prey. And N?x and Saetth had delivered her into Sian’s home like a ticking bomb.

Calliope had vowed to Saetth, “I won’t rest until I discover a way to hurt Abyssian Infernas. I’ll figure out what his weaknesses are and how to exploit them. I’ll do anything I can to destroy him.”

Anything for Saetth, the male she adored. She considered him the epitome of masculine perfection and saw him as her ideal match. Socially, royally, sexually. All she’d ever wanted was to be his queen and have children with him.

I will gut that fuck so slowly.

Mist from the waves sprayed Sian’s face, reminding him of his own appearance. He pictured his recent reflection, ashamed that he’d believed a female like her could want him.

How she must have inwardly laughed at him! How he should be laughing now. Her fiancé had betrayed her. On this very night, the king of the fey would select a new bride.

In both of her lives, Sian’s mate had fooled him. He recalled the day of Kari’s surprise wedding, finally giving free rein to that harrowing memory.

She’d stood upon the dais, so lovely she’d stolen his breath. . . .

With zero emotion, she said, “I am marrying my fiancé because I want him. I have loved him since I was a little girl.”

Sian’s stomach lurched as if it’d been punched. “Do not do this, Kari. You love me!” Hadn’t she told him as much? The tender regard I feel for you . . .

“I do not—and could never—love an animal with horns.” She returned her attention to her reflection.

He gaped in disbelief. But their kiss . . . the way she’d responded . . . their plans . . .

Adjusting a lock of her shining hair, she asked, “Can I make it any plainer, prince of beasts?”

Guards entered, but he was too stunned to fight as they forced him outside.

Frantic to stop the wedding, Sian raced back to his quarters to determine his next move. Replaying her words again and again, he realized what he had to do.

With grim resolve, he collected his battle-ax. He took it into the forest she loved so much. Sweating, eyes watering, he

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