“Colorado,” he said. “Middle of nowhere. It’s a place I come to when I need to get away.” Which had happened quite often during the last three months. Though he’d never brought another person here. “Are you all right?” He’d been rough with her.
“Yes.” She stretched against him. “I don’t feel immortal.”
“It takes some time, and I’m not sure you will feel different. Well, until you hurt yourself and learn to heal.”
She put her cold feet on his thigh, wiggling her ass as she did so. “It felt like you put your mark on my right butt cheek.”
He nodded and kissed the back of her neck. “Part on your cheek and part on your lower back.” He had a large hand.
“I wanted it in my center back. Why did you put it there?”
“It’s where I wanted it.” He licked down her neck to her shoulder, and when he found his bite, she shivered. “Which, I believe, is how we firmly established our relationship would go.” At least until he could save Quade and then make the world much safer for her.
She shook her head, and her thick hair caught on the pillow. “An agreement made during duress doesn’t count.”
“You came five times. That can hardly be qualified as duress.” Yeah, he knew what she meant. That didn’t change their reality. “Our lives are dangerous. The second they aren’t, you can go back to being as independent as you want.” So long as she stayed safe. It really wasn’t much to ask. Or rather, demand. “There are consequences to mating, and I spelled them out clearly to you.”
He couldn’t see her, but he’d bet his left nut she rolled her eyes.
“I can see this is a discussion for another day,” she said. “For now, tell me about Ulric. What did he do that was so bad?”
It was before Ivar’s time, when his older brother had helped to create the Seven. But he knew the stories. “Ulric is a Cyst who killed a hundred Enhanced women and took their blood. There was a ceremony, one probably really screwing with the physical laws of the world, and he fused his entire body. Can’t be killed from outside.”
“Like you?” she asked.
“No. I can be beheaded,” he reminded her. “Our torsos are fused like his whole body. So the only way to kill him is to do it from within. With the blood of his victims.”
She shook her head. “That’s crazy.”
“Reality often is,” he murmured. “One of the victims was a powerful witch who managed to first infuse her triplets with a drug that’d kill him if their blood was combined. They were the first Keys. Whenever one dies, another one takes her place.” He kissed her neck again, enjoying her soft gasp. “Grace is one of the Keys, as is Mercy. We haven’t found the third.”
She swallowed audibly. “Isn’t it possible that Ulric has reformed? A million lifetimes in hell will do that to a monster.”
“Actually, hell creates more monsters.” Ivar tried to find the right words. “The Cyst have been preparing for Ulric’s return for years. Fusing his body was only the first half of his ritual; the second part remains unfinished. If he completes the other half, he’ll have the ability to kill all Enhanced women. Every single one of them.”
She was quiet for several moments. “Like me?”
“Yes. Like you. Even mated ones.” He held her tighter, needing her to understand the danger she was in. “The Seven have diaries and notes on the rituals as well as the science involved. You’re welcome to all of it.” He knew she’d be eager to study the problem and figure it all out. That was good. Somebody needed to and rather soon.
She nodded. “Another scientific investigation to pursue. I can’t believe how many there are.”
He flattened his palm across her upper chest, feeling her heart beat. Strong and steady. Beneath his touch, it revved up. “You now have eternity to pursue each and every one. At least you will, shortly.” He didn’t know how long it would take for her chromosomal pairs to increase. The current theory was that everyone was different, which made sense.
“How much time are we talking?” she asked.
“Anywhere between a couple of days and a week, last I heard,” he said. “You can talk to the queen. She’s a geneticist and has been studying the issue for quite a while.”
“All right.” Promise turned in the bed to face him. “Last night was indescribable.”