Chapter Sixteen
Nero paced back and forth in the master suite of his new home. Apparently he did quite well for himself. But this level of comfort was new, this level of detail in his Challenger life was unexpected. He had a feeling he knew why there was so much different this time around. He had a feeling he knew what it was all about. It was Adelaide.
The Nightmare Queen.
He’d never beheld such an astonishing soul. He hadn’t had time to delve as deeply as the Nightmare in him wanted, but what little he’d scraped from the surface of her being was wondrous. She was filled to the brim with experience, with lessons learned, and with a kind empathy that was the rare aftermath of those lessons. Most became bitter, closed off, intolerant and impatient. But not Adelaide. She was just the opposite.
She was well and truly a good person. That was a rare enough.
But what she did, she did despite the pain she’d experienced in her own life, and she did it not because she believed she would be rewarded for her efforts after death. She was not at all religious; he’d been able to glean that much. She did it because it was the right thing to do in this life – because people and animals needed help. Period.
The combination of kind empathy and of unrewarded selflessness resulted in a steadfast moral compass that Nero had scarcely encountered in his existence. She was stunning.
And right now, she was off somewhere with the king, and no doubt the smarmy bastard was making headway with her. Hesperos – rather Nicholas - had always been very, very good in that department.
“Well, I suppose he is your sovereign for a reason.”
Nero spun. He was supposed to be alone in the room, and he’d heard no one approach. A weapon formed in the thin air around him, spinning and sharp and edged with powdered rubies that reflected the night lights like solid blood. It shot across the room and would have struck the intruder - but the intruder flicked his wrist, and the blade angled wide to strike the wall beside him instead. It embedded inches deep and stuck, and Nero faced the newcomer with a flashing narrowed gaze.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asked. His accented words slipped through the air and into the shadows, laced with the magic of a rising Nightmare.
“I’m someone who can help you, Nero Crowley. We have something in common.”
Nero studied the man who’d somehow, impossibly, made it into his office on the thirty-seventh floor of a business high-rise, slipping past security in the middle of the night. Obviously he wasn’t human. Failing all that, the dagger the stranger had magically flung into the wall would have been ample proof.
But Nero could tell just by the way the man felt. He felt like a hole in space, like a vacuous emptiness that sucked good into it and spat it out as something rotten and insipid. Outwardly, the stranger appeared a completely normal brown-haired man in a three-piece cage and expensive watch. But Nightmares were very, very good at seeing past all of that.
“I highly doubt it,” said Nero with finality.
The stranger chuckled. “Honestly Challenger, your bitterness is seeping through your pores. You’re so filled with envy and frustration, it’s changing you. And you damn well know it.”
Nero’s gaze didn’t alter and it didn’t waver. But the stranger was striking a cord. That, Nero could feel for sure.
“You never answered my question,” he said. “Who,” he repeated slowly and with punctuating beats, “the - fuck - are - you?”
“Name’s not important,” the stranger said, walking toward him. As he drew nearer, the air grew thicker. Nero’s Nightmare rose inside him and prepared to fight. “What is important is that I come with an offer that,” he stopped and touched his chin, “how’s it go? Oh - an offer you can’t refuse.”
Nero didn’t laugh. He simply didn’t find it amusing. In fact, the stranger’s presence was grating. “You have nothing I want. You can’t even answer a simple question,” he smirked, shaking his head, his smile hard. “And there’s nothing I require anyway.”
“But I think there is,” said the stranger softly, all attempts at saber rattling clearly ineffective with him. “You’re up against a new foe, Challenger. He’s different this time, and you know it.” He continued to come toward him. Nero held his ground, standing calmly where he’d turned beside the windows.
“And now there’s the girl - the queen - to consider as well.” the stranger went on. “To say nothing of the fact that this is your last time around.” He stopped and cocked his head to one side. A light from beyond the windows caught his eyes, and something unnatural and unnerving flashed there. “This is your last chance. And that terrifies you.”
Nero studied the intruder very carefully. He was good at that. The room was quiet. Neither of them spoke for some time. And then Nero lifted his chin, and his own gaze flashed. “The truth is, you are the one who’s terrified,” he said calmly. And this time, he stepped forward.
The stranger’s head moved, just a little. But Nero caught the difference in his eyes. “It’s the only reason you would risk engaging me. Here, in the middle of the night, and on my turf,” he continued, taking another casual step toward him. “I am the one who can feel your fear.” He continued to study him, this time allowing the Nightmare inside to sniff it all out like a wolf at the door. “You’re weak, aren’t you? Something isn’t going your way, you’re tired of trying, tired of losing, and you’re feeling desperate. Am I getting close?”
The stranger swallowed. Nero caught the movement in the man’s throat. And he knew he had him.
“So why don’t you come clean and tell me who you are and what the hell you want?”
The stranger seemed to consider Nero as carefully as Nero was considering him. After a protracted moment of silence, the stranger put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “Very well. Normally I simply possess the body I need to get the job done, but you’re right about the weakness. So I’m going to be level with you, Nero.” He spoke as if they were friends, talking about the weather or the latest sports news. “The woman I love is unconscious in the Land of the Dead. She has been since her bastard brother-in-law put her there. I need the power of a queen - yes, one of the Thirteen Queens - to bring her back to life. You want a queen,” he went on. “I want a queen. We want the same thing, if for different purposes.”
Now the stranger took the final step between them and effectively closed the distance. He and Nero stood head to head, toe to toe.
“I think you’re the man who can help me and I’m the man who can help you. No harm will come to Adelaide Lane. Join with me and I can assure that you win her over. We can both get what we want.”