At the doorway, two elves waited. Stoic and still, they didn't say anything. Beautiful and statuesque like her mother, they towered over her. Their marble-like faces and mystical locks of silver seemed inanimate until they finally moved. They closed the door behind Eleanor and their black cloaks billowed. A coveted color among elven sorcerers.

"Ohhh, look at you, child." Erick's mother, Marilyn, came from the window, a smile on her fair face. "You've grown up so lovely." She reached out to lift Eleanor's chin. The scent of cinnamon and vanilla wafted up from her slender wrist where gold bracelets jingled.

Eleanor tried not to flinch. She let the woman do what she would as Eleanor gazed past at the bright and contrasting colored fabrics draped over the few pieces of furniture. It reminded her of a circus her father had taken her to once. Sort of cheerful.

"You should have been my daughter." She stroked Eleanor's hair. "If only I'd had a girl." The smile fell from Marilyn's pale lips.

If only. The thought of Erick in a dress lifted Eleanor's spirits a little. Lace, definitely. Pink with little bows.

"You've been crying, child. Ohhh." Marilyn's mouth puckered. "I warned you about men. They only have one good use. Some of them. Beyond that, they're all scum."

Her long, golden hair and bright purple skirts whipped about when she turned and motioned for Eleanor to follow. "I felt you use my spells last night and some new ones."

"That's why I'm here. I need more to escape through snow." Eleanor trailed her to the small kitchen where heat emanated from the oven.

"I know, child. We all want to be free." At the little red table, Marilyn poured two cups from a garishly bright, chipped teapot. "Sit down. Have something warm to drink. I'm afraid the cookies won't be ready in time but the tea should be just right."

Would Marilyn poison her? Eleanor glanced back at the elves who silently watched them. She couldn't feel their thoughts and they wouldn't let her in. How did Phil get them to talk?

"They don't approve of our kind," Marilyn murmured.

Hundreds of years ago, elves hunted hybrids until Ceres nearly exterminated the elven race in retribution. Racism still lingered, though Eleanor had only felt it from Erick and her father. Ignorant jerks.

"Just ignore them." Marilyn sat down and handed Eleanor a cup.

Dark, nearly black fluid filled it to the brim. What looked like tiny burnt leaves floated on top. Strange. Steam rose with an awful stench from the swirling surface. Careful not to spill, she set the cup on the table and sat across from Erick's mother.

Marilyn leaned forward like a young woman ready to gossip about men. Though she looked Eleanor's age, Marilyn had to be at least fifty. "Have you ever seen a wizard?"

"Yes." One of Ceres' husbands. A handsome man who looked more like a warrior than a magic sort.

"Sexy, aren't they?" Marilyn's upper lip curled up in a disturbingly lustful expression. "They believe that in order to grow stronger, you have to break. That's why they're so thick with muscle. They tear it with weights, then repair thicker, over and over again. I could watch wizards train all day, every day." She grinned, green eyes twinkling. She pushed her long hair back and tucked it behind her pointed ears. "It's the same with magic and the mechanisms that keep us warm. You break, then heal stronger, over and over."

"I need something quick. Is there a spell to keep warm?" "Drink your tea for now. It's delightfully hot."

Eleanor brought the red and green cup to her mouth to pretend to drink. "Mmm." She shielded the edge of the cup to hide her lie. Earth, it smelled like compost and left a gross sticky feeling on her lips. Eleanor hastily wiped it away but it wouldn't come off. It tingled then burned. Oh, no. What was this? She looked to Marilyn, hoping to read her. But thick shields blocked the woman's mind.

"It's good for you. Drink up." Marilyn smiled sweetly. "What's in it?"

"Tea leaves. Very special tea leaves. I've saved them for over thirty years. They never did me much good but maybe they'll help you."

The elves darted toward her. "Drink it, child."

Eleanor gulped it down. It burned her tongue and blistered the roof of her mouth. Grit felt like glass in her throat but she swallowed every last drop before an elf tore the cup from her hands. They smashed the teapot on the floor.

Her blood seemed to boil and her heart shook her chest. Boils split her skin, oozing and stinging. Eleanor screamed and the sound echoed in her mind. What had she done? Earth, it was poison.

Chapter Nineteen.

December 27, 9544 AR

Valetta, Biston

He would give up everything for her. His cursed crown, his crumbling kingdom, his life, just like that damned wizard had foretold. If he could just find his lover. Reiley's men couldn't have gone far, not with an army. They'd probably backtracked the same way they'd come. He could just follow the tracks.

Erick slid another scabbard on his belt and buckled it. Two swords and three daggers. That was it. Against an entire army. How many were there?

He sagged onto his bed and hunched over. There had to be a way to save Violet rather than die trying. His death would only relieve his guilt. Wouldn't do her much good.

The wizard had said he needed to turn his present card upside down. What the hell did that mean? What aid stood behind him unseen?

Earth, he hoped his lover was safe, that he wasn't too late. If that bastard had hurt her, had touched her... Erick squeezed his eyes shut, unable to finish the thought. Nude. She'd been nude when they took her. His gut wrenched and his neck burned.

He couldn't defeat an army alone but he knew someone who could.

Shit. Was the demon the aid he couldn't see? Was that who the wizard meant? The demon would kill him as soon as lay eyes on him but there was no one else with that kind of power. Not in Biston.

Light faded from the setting sun outside. The castle had finally defrosted from Violet's spell. By now, the Porteran troops had probably made camp.

He had to hurry if he was going to catch up. Erick bolted up and stormed out the door, determination in his step, fear rolling his gut. Maybe the demon would listen. Time could have softened her. Motherly love might have defrosted in her icy heart.

Warnings in the back of his mind argued otherwise but he rushed down stairways and through halls. There was no other way.

At the base of the tower, a young maid's eyes widened at his approach just before she scurried off. Probably there on a dare. Everyone avoided this part of the castle. The demon's whispers normally sounded loudest here. Her cold words always sent shivers down Erick's spine.

He ascended the spiraling staircase and each footstep echoed. The sound chipped away at the hardened ball of memories he'd buried inside. She'd locked him here in this tower with spells. She'd twisted his thoughts to see monsters in the dark. Growls had been his lullabies and tears his mother's kisses.

Five years. She'd only had him for five years. And they were so long ago. His palms shouldn't sweat. Blood shouldn't pound behind his eyes.

Elves guarded her now. They stopped her spells. She couldn't hurt him anymore. She couldn't toss him through the plastic-barred windows from the top of the tower.

At the last step of the staircase, in near darkness, he knocked and his heart jolted. Breath held, he waited. An eternity seemed to pass before the door finally opened.

The smell of cookies and something revolting spilled out to make him gag. Just as he remembered the strange concoctions she'd forced him to eat.

Two elves, pale as winter snow, taller than any human, stepped aside for him. "Your Majesty." Their heads slightly nodded. The calm on their ageless faces should reassure him but it didn't.

Beyond, the demon crouched to wipe up a spill that looked like runny mud. The same golden hair, hid her face and pointed ears. Beyond, blood-red curtains hid her bed, as if something waited there, ready to jump out.

"What do you want?" she snapped but didn't look at him.

Erick's tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. "Mother." The word choked out like sand in his throat.

She finally turned. Blood trickled from a cut on her lip.

Erick winced. He couldn't block the memory that flicked up. His lungs emptied at the image of his father looming over her, fists falling. Helpless, too small, Erick couldn't stop it. Earth, he didn't want to remember. Bile rose from his gut and he swallowed it back.

"You look just like him."

"I'm not." Erick would never strike a woman. "No? Do you treat your fated any better?"

"I love her." He forced his eyes open to meet the demon's painful gaze. "She's why I'm here." He'd never have come otherwise. He hadn't planned to see his mother again. Not unless she escaped and stood over him with a knife again.

His mother stood up. "That was a long time ago. I couldn't do it. But I wanted to," she said darkly. Her voice broke. "I could have chased you. I could have hunted you down. But I didn't. And now look at what you've become."

Her insults shouldn't sting. He'd heard them all before. He'd failed to measure up to her expectations as a child. Why would now be any different?

"Just like your father. I knew you would be. It's in your blood. A Duran."

He normally worried about her blood in his veins but today he needed the magic if he had any. Erick swallowed arguments that swelled his throat. "My fated is in danger. I need spells to break an army's minds if I can." To hell with the Western River. He glanced over his shoulder at the elves who shook their heads in warning.

They'd try to stop him. But maybe the cold had weakened them enough for Erick to escape past.

"You only need the strength to break into one mind. To see through seeing eyes. No spells. But you're too late. She's already gone. You lost her. Or rather, you threw her away. She's better off."

"They stole her." And Reiley would pay.

His mother's mouth opened and manic laughter poured out. Ten years in the tower had made her stranger than before.

"Please." He yelled over his mother, "She trusted me to protect her. Please. I've never asked you for anything. I just need this one motherly act, for her, not for me. Mother." His chest felt as if it would burst. Earth, if his mother refused...

"You won't like what you find." A wicked smile smoothed her bleeding lips. "Give me Biston and I'll give you the strength you need."

Warnings hissed through his head. He didn't want the cursed crown but could he sentence his countrymen to her tortures? Her tyrannical rule had murdered countless innocent men. Would it be wrong to condemn thousands for one beloved?

In his hesitation, the demon's smile fell and her gaze shifted to the door. "For my freedom then," she blurted. "Set me free and I'll give you what you need. Now or never." Eyes wide and shimmering, she repeated, "Now or never."

Without her elven guards, there'd be no one to stop her. At night, he'd fear she waited in the shadows. She'd wreak havoc on anyone she stumbled across.

But Violet needed him.

Shame closed his throat and squeezed his gut. He couldn't answer. How could he? It was wrong and selfish.

"Now or never. Time is running out." "Yes."

As soon as the word slipped out, she fell on him. Claws dug into his face and she knocked him to the floor. Her mind crashed against his and crushed his every thought. Every sensation crumbled in her grip until only pain squeezed through her fingers. It coursed through his throbbing nerves. His limbs thrashed but he couldn't break free.

He couldn't breathe. His throat spasmed, straining to open. Light flashed all around him and everything halted.

She'd stolen control of his body. She'd tricked him.

The elves did nothing.

Footsteps pounded in the distance in time with his struggling heart. Phil. The clicks grew louder up the stairs. Oh, no.

Erick shoved against her restraints but couldn't unlock his jaw. He couldn't warn Phil. Not even a thought slipped out from her hold.

The door crashed open.

Phil stumbled into the room. "Marilyn. Stop." He seized her shoulders, as if he could somehow win.

Run, Erick tried to scream at him.

But Phil tugged on the demon. "Please, my love. We agreed."

What? Not Phil. Erick's lungs seemed to collapse, empty. The room faded and the floor shook.

"I swear I'm making him a good man. Let go."

"He asked me to," she grunted and squeezed tighter.

Light burned deeper into his raw mind and flashed until color faded from the room. Everything disappeared.

"Erick."

Cold iron bit into Erick's wrists. He hung from the chains, limp and groggy. Stone scraped his back as he straightened up. Earth, what the hell happened?

He stared into darkness and gagged.

A rancid stench made his stomach churn. It reminded him of his mother's strengthening potions. She used to sneak the awful stuff into his food. But this couldn't be her tower. His bare feet, ass and back didn't slip against smooth plastic.

Rough grit and shards of rock cut into the bottom of his feet. The dungeon?

Shit. Rage boiled in his chest and steamed out as curses. Erick jerked against the heavy chains but it was no use. He couldn't break the iron links nor the two thick dungeon doors. Trapped. Imprisoned below his own kingdom. She'd stolen it.

This wasn't part of the agreement.

Why the hell had he gone to the demon? He knew she hated him. Of course she'd double cross him.

He was no use to Violet here. He'd have been better off dying fighting an army in a futile attempt to save her, his Violet. Instead of rotting here for his mother's tortures.

How fucking stupid could he be?