“I think he’s decided to spare me for now,” Kristoff said. “There’s a relationship of sorts. Bad blood connects us.” He laughed without humor.
“Bad blood?” Munro had just asked the question when two scents reached him.
Decomposition. And Kereny’s fear . . .
FIFTY-THREE
“Who’s there?” Ren called, drawing her blade.
No answer came.
She entered the dimly lit living area. As her years of hunting experience took over, the fog of alcohol burned away, and her senses sharpened.
The balcony doors were open. A beautiful woman with long black hair and green eyes stood beside the railing. Her white strapless dress complemented her smooth, dark skin and enviable figure. A golden collar circled her neck, and fine gold dust sprinkled her shoulders and hair.
Yet when Ren blinked, the female looked as if she were decaying, covered in rotted cloth. Another blink, and she was lovely once more.
So this was Dorada, the regenerating mummy. Had Lothaire somehow contacted her? Or, as Loa had warned, had the sorceress found them first?
A foul smell drew Ren’s gaze away from the woman. Red eyes became visible in the shadows of the room.
Wendigos.
The disgusting creatures had long, emaciated faces and gray skin with patches of slimy hair. Their yellow fangs gleamed in the low lantern light. Just as Ellie had described, they wore garments that seemed to be made of human flesh.
There were four of them. Strange, Loa had told Ren to expect many more.
One scratch from their knifelike claws and Ren would join their number. She gripped her blade, debating her options. Normally she would attack, doing whatever it took to eliminate her target. If she succeeded, she could free good immortals like Loa from that sorceress’s thrall, weakening the forces of evil. She could change the course of the Night War.
Yet Ren hesitated. The odds of her emerging unscathed were long; Munro would be destroyed if anything happened to her.
The sorceress held up a simple gold band, a smile curving her lips.
Both were entrancing. Ren murmured, “That’s the Ring of Sums.”
“I am here in a peaceful capacity.” Dorada’s voice was strange, as if the words didn’t match the movements of her lips. “Where is your immortal mate?”
“He’ll be back soon,” Ren said, studying these enemies for her best move. “How did you know we were here?”
“I can sense who yearns for my ring. Your mate yearns for it as few others do, and he is good. I will bargain with him.”
“What will you ask of Munro?”
Dorada’s eyes flashed from olive green to pale cream and back as she breezily said, “Who
knows?”
“Uh-huh.” Dorada had a look about her, the same one Ren might have when she was about to take down someone in a shell game. The sorceress was up to no good. Ren’s misgivings had been confirmed.
Yet the ring called to her. Shouldn’t she become immortal for Munro? If they were two halves of a greater whole, then how could he live on after her death? By becoming immortal, she could safeguard his very life! If she was stronger, she could protect him as well. Ren would do anything to protect him.
Such a dangerous word.
She wrenched her gaze from the ring. “We don’t want your cursed wishgiver!” She spied an opening to strike—
The villa door burst open. Munro rushed inside, out of breath. His beast was half-risen, but he kept it leashed. The Wendigos snarled as he shoved Ren behind him. “You all right?”
“I’m fine.”
To Dorada, he bit out, “Are your henchmen trained?” A Wendigo could infect even an immortal.
“They obey my wishes.” Dorada held up her ring again. The gold glimmered seductively. “Just as this will obey yours.”
Munro too had to tear his gaze from the ring. He faced Ren and softly said, “Kereny . . .” Care-nay.
She whispered, “Don’t do it.” She might understand him better after learning about his son, but he still needed to trust her judgment in this. “Believe me when I tell you: not with her.”
He exhaled. “We canna be together as we are.”
She clutched her chest against the sharp ache there. Had she fallen for him after so little time?
“My lass, one of us will have to change.”
At that moment, she realized Munro did in fact own her heart. Because he’d just broken it.
Munro’s plans for the ring had been evolving, but he’d thought he would have more time to consider this decision!
Dorada raised her free hand. Above her palm appeared a large bound book. “Sign my ledger and the ring will be yours for tonight.”
—BE WARY OF MAGICS!— His Instinct was screaming, his beast roiling. But the power of the ring beckoned.
So many things he could wish for. No more fear. No more worry. No chance of hurting Kereny himself. “What will you want from me?”
Dorada shrugged. “I rarely know what I will ask before I ask it.”
“She’s lying!” Kereny cried. “She came here for a reason. She knows what she wants, and she’s not telling us, which means you would never sign up if you found out what you’d lose.”
Munro narrowed his eyes at the sorceress.
Dorada said simply, “At some time in the future, I will contact you about your debt. Besides, what wouldn’t you do to make her immortal?”
Voice filled with urgency, Kereny said, “I am asking you to trust my experience. I can read people, and I’m telling you, she has an agenda.”
Dorada murmured, “If you would rather think things over, I can leave. Never to return.”
“I’ll sign it,” he said.
Kereny gasped. “Munro, no!”
The sorceress floated the book and a dripping quill toward him. “To make a mark in these pages is as good as a vow to the Lore. Once you’re granted so much as a single wish, fate will enforce my bidding.”
“I understand,” Munro said, accepting the yoke he’d now wear. In time, he’d figure out a way to take the sorceress down. He’d have to. He used the quill to sign his name in the ledger, then both disappeared. The plain gold band appeared on his ring finger. He flinched when magic flowed from it.
Dorada smiled with encouragement. “Turn it and make a wish.” That smile set his fangs on edge.