Page 17 of Shadow's Heart

He tensed to vault over the table?—

“Look at you two,” a female said as she sauntered onto the balcony. “The very picture of brotherly love.”

Kristoff inhaled for control, because Nïx the Ever-Knowing had just waltzed into Lothaire’s mystically protected kingdom.

The oldest Valkyrie and most powerful oracle alive carried a fluttering bat and a satchel that was bigger than she was. Fresh blood covered her. She was barefoot, her mane of tangled hair sticking out on end. As she gazed fondly at Lothaire and Kristoff, her amber eyes flickered silver with emotion—and more than a touch of madness.

Lothaire raised his brows at her appearance. “What have you gotten into now, Phenïx?”

“Havoc,” she breathed, “wrought with a cheery smile and a Garfield plushie. Everything for the coming LoreWar this Accession.” Grunting with effort, she hoisted her bag and dumped what looked like a massive heart onto the chess table.Thump. “That needs to air out.” The heart sparked with tiny flames and appeared iridescent in the lamplight.

When its weight collapsed the table, she shrugged and addressed the bat: “Bertil, do not let me forget that organ. The fate of all the worlds depends on it.”

Bertil screeched, then proceeded to suck blood from her drenched T-shirt. It read:Total Eclipse.

“Where did you get the heart, Valkyrie?” Lothaire asked, as if inquiring about a new accessory. “Looks like a dragon’s to me.”

“We stole it, during a rumble at a drive-in. Backed by allies, I struck a decisive blow to our enemy the Møriør. Everyone says I’m too loopy to be an effective leader. Everyone says I’m past my prime, but I showed th—oh my gods, Lothaire, what is a giant heart doing on this balcony? Yuck! Isn’t that a health-code violation? You need to throw it away.”

Lothaire gazed at her with surprising tenderness. “We’ll get you cleaned up and rested, Phenïx,” he crooned. “It must be naptime.”

“Naptime? Who has time?Whatis time? The one-eyed sorcerer waits for no soothsayer. I have no time for time.”

Kristoff grated, “Your sister Furie is certainly out of it.” This Valkyrie must know where she was. Yet Nïx had once told Kristoff thathewas meant to find and save her.

Now that Demestriu had been eliminated by an unlikely assassin, Kristoff’s only leads were this crazed Valkyrie or his equally crazed half brother.

She frowned at Kristoff, her gaze gone distant. “I’m sure I saw Furie just a minute ago. Surely.”

When he parted his lips to grill her, Lothaire snapped, “Not now, Gravewalker.”

Nïx blinked back to the present. “I can’t stay long. I’m only here for a quick delivery”—she pulled from her back pocket a leather-bound journal that reeked of witchcraft—“of stolen goods.”

Eight

Nightside

Mina gaped as the sorcerer blasted into the air atop a jet of water. She’d just been marveling that they’d survived the fire field—and that the triumphant glint in his eyes was weirdly arousing—thengeyser.

When he came crashing down onto hard stone, the impact knocked the breath from him; she swore residual opium smoke puffed from his lungs.

He spat steaming water. More sloshed from his leather pants and sluiced from his hair, cascading over blistered skin.

She gave a laugh. “You stunk so bad, even Nightside took exception!” The geyser had scalded him clean of that dissolute smell, and he no longer sweated out drugs. She detected a thread of his innate scent, and it was . . . nice.

His lowering expression made her laugh again. As he maneuvered himself to sit against a boulder, gusts of wind whipped across the rise, wicking away the moisture from his abused skin.

He’d be out of commission for a while, but not enough for her to take his head without a sword. Pity. Which meant she should concentrate on her escape.

Time was running out for Mina. She recalled her temptation to bite his jugular—clearly the plague’s work. It was already influencing her behavior, eroding her logic.

And that wasn’t her only concern. Once Mirceo discovered Lothaire had sent her away from Dacia and lost her, he might attack the much stronger king. Then Lothaire would relish the chance to do to Mirceo what he’d done to her uncle Viktor: beat him beyond recognition.

If Mirceo somehow kept his cool and realized where she was, he might provoke a Gaoler capture by appearing in front of a mass of humans. Or worse, his thoughts could turn to a perilous alternative, a ring that granted wishes. For a price.

If anyone was going to use that wishgiver, it’d be Mina.I’ve got to get free of Nightside and save my brother from himself.

Mind on the task ahead, she investigated the area. High ledges and stacks of seared boulders surrounded them, with only one outlet, a natural path.

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