No wind whistled through the trees. The only sound now was the slap of liquid on sand.
Then tension. A crack of the atmosphere. A hint of power that had Sam turning toward a rock cliff farther down the beach. He sharpened his focus and loped into a run, his senses wide open for any danger. Fire flowed along his arms, and in this place, the flames didn’t burn. They rode with him, gleefully flaring orange with a deeper blue hue.
He reached the cliffs and looked up. They rose so high he couldn’t see where they ended in the night sky. Or the day sky if this was all there was.
The skin at his nape prickled, and he paused, turning toward the vast almost-ocean. A glimmer caught his eye. Something shiny. He stepped closer to the liquid, his toes sinking in the goo.
Mist spread out in front of him, just a few yards from shore. He looked down to see a wide, flat rock floating in the liquid. Shrugging, he stepped gingerly on it, watching the flames brighten on his arms. Huh. He looked around, spotted another rock, and followed the path into the mist. Every time he stepped onto a new rock, the fire brightened, filling him with more power.
Nothing hurt. For the first time in a while, not an inch of his body hurt.
He reached a platform of rock and stepped onto it, walking along its length, going with instinct that he didn’t want to fall into the goo. The mist parted, swirling around him without affecting the flames. Now they danced down his legs and wound around his toes, tingling but not burning.
What was this place?
He reached the end of the platform, and the mist cleared. A figure stood on a shoreline about twenty-five yards away across the liquid.
His head went back, and his shoulders straightened. A growl erupted, coming straight from the animal deep inside him. “Ulric,” he said, eying the distance between them. If he could just get across the water, he could… What? What could he do? The bastard was immortal, untouchable from the outside. Only the right ritual could destroy him.
Ulric stood with his legs braced, scars covering his ancient face, his white hair glowing in the meager light. Then he cast a look to Sam’s right.
Sam slowly followed his gaze, catching sight of another platform, this one holding a tall blonde with stunning light eyes.
Her red lips slowly curved. “Sam Kyllwood. Now that makes sense.”
He rocked back. Shit. He’d seen pictures of her. “Yvonne.” Ulric’s fated mate. His Intended. For now. “This isn’t a dream.” Damn it to fuck.
Ulric stepped closer to the muck, his body vibrating, his eyes a pure, deep amethyst. “Come closer,” he whispered.
So even the Big Bad was afraid of the goo. Good to know. Sam cut a look at Yvonne. “Come here often?”
She smiled and clapped her hands together. “I’m brought in every full moon. The timing is probably a coincidence but maybe not? Anyway, so good to meet you, Kyllwood. You’re the Keeper. God, we’ve wondered. This totally makes sense.” The human woman was supposedly a brilliant scientist who’d been with the Kurjans and the Cyst for years, holding herself pure for Ulric’s return.
Sam flashed his teeth and hid his anger. Nobody was supposed to know he was the Keeper. “You’re getting a little long in the tooth, lady. Who’s the next Intended? Has she already been found?” It was a rotten thing to say, but Yvonne had tried to kill more than one of his friends’ mates over the years.
Surprisingly, it was Ulric who answered him, his voice deep with ancient power. “The time is coming soon. I feel it. I’m almost free of this prison world, and what a ritual we’ll have. Unfortunately, you’re not the prophesied Keeper. You won’t be there.”
“You know, that’s the dumbest name I’ve ever heard,” Sam drawled, ignoring the threat. “Keeper? Seriously?”
Flames lit up behind Ulric, somehow glittering in his eyes. Which was impossible, but hey. There it was. “You’re a child, Keeper. Such a child.”
Age wise, compared to the thousand-plus-year-old immortal, probably. “Yet I’m the one who’s going to end you.”
Yvonne wore a long white dress with diamonds sparkling everywhere. It hugged her perfect figure and looked mystical and mysterious. Yet her gaze was sharp. “You can’t even save yourself, Sam. Have any problems with fire lately?”
Ah, damn it. “Nope. Why?”
She smiled. “The circle is calling to you. Don’t you feel it?” She shook her head. “It’s only going to get worse, but I can help you. Only me.”
“How’s that?” Sam kept them both within sight, knowing the female would like nothing better than to slice off his head.
Her voice lowered to a purr. “Find me and find out. Until you do, the fire will burn and the dimensions will drag you between time. Might even tear you apart, and then Fate would have to find another Keeper. Maybe that pretty woman who shot so well earlier today. Saw the video—that was some impressive power.”
“She died,” Sam said flatly.
Yvonne’s tinkly giggle was out of place in the hollowed-out world. “No. Honor McDoval is very much alive. Did you think we wouldn’t be able to identify her? Oh, we’re making plans now.”
“You’ll fail,” Sam said darkly.
Yvonne stepped closer to the edge of her platform, causing Ulric to tense on the shore. “You could always mate her. Though…the fire will burn her up in a way I wish I could see.” She angled her head. “Any cute little demon mating mark?”
Sam calculated the distance between them. It’d be tough, but he might be able to leap to her platform with a full run.
“I didn’t think so,” she murmured, her voice echoing all around them. “Can’t get it up for her, huh? Too bad. It would’ve been fun to see that much flame.” She waved a hand in the murky air. “Not that it matters. Ulric is correct. You won’t live long enough to perform the duties of the Keeper. Even you must know that.”
Sam turned and strode to the far end of his platform.
“Where are you going?” Yvonne called. “We’re not done.”
He flipped around and ran full bore across the platform, ducking his head and pushing off at the end.
Yvonne screamed and turned to run.
Sam landed, his toes touching her platform. He burst forward, tucking and rolling before coming up to rush the woman. In a split second, she disappeared. Sam windmilled to a stop before plunging off the other end of the rock. He breathed out and fire licked along his lips.
Ulric sighed, the sound slithering over the ocean. “I can’t let you kill her. Not yet, anyway. She’s good at her job.”
Sam partially turned. “Her job?”