Chills & Thrills Paranormal Boxed Set (71 page)

As if emphasizing her words, the pulse surged, then
vanished. The cave was plunged into darkness.

"I don't want to go to Quakahla," Shala said,
unmoved by the gate's disappearance. "I never did. And if Lily can't go
with us, I truly don't want to live there."

Although loathing to speak the words he feared, Tony knew he
still must say them. "She might not be alive, Shala."

"No, she isn't dead. I sense it, Papa, and that's why
we must wait."

She ran back to Riva and looked up at her pleadingly.
"Stay with us, Grandmother. We'll live here. This is a wonderful world
too, and we could go outside. Lily might take us to the Disney lands."

Her eyes as sorrowful as they were the day Tajaya's battered
body was carried into the village square, Riva bent over and kissed Shala's
forehead. "I can't, Shala. The Dawn People need me. New shamans must be
trained. Traditions must be passed along. There is no one else to do it."

"But I love you, Grandmother."

"And I love you, little one. But sometimes duty must
win out over love."

The gate resumed pulsing. Tony looked at his determined
daughter, then back to Riva.

"You've had your own doubts about Quakahla, Tony,"
she said. "The time for choosing has come."

Tony stood and met Riva's understanding eyes. Parting from
her would leave a hole in their lives. But her warning brought back
Quetzalcoatl's message during the tribunal.

Yes, the time for choosing had come.

* * *

The moon was bright, undimmed by the thunderheads and
pouring rain — a yellow harvest moon that looked as if someone had taken a
perfectly curved nibble from its edge. Lily crept through the woods beneath its
light.

The gemstone at her neck had come alive again, delivering
toxic surges to Sebastian's body. He'd staggered several hundred yards before
falling to his knees. Taking advantage of his weakness, Lily had ripped the
knife from the sheath at her waist and driven it into his belly. Freed, she'd
turned and fled.

While in Sebastian's grip, she'd heard Shala call her
father's name, knew they were by now safely at the gate. She still could join
them. The dark moon had not yet passed.

But . . .

Sebastian's injuries weren't fatal. She'd missed the vital
spot. He'd shapeshift, heal, and come back to plague mankind. This was her last
chance to stop him.

She hadn't fared too well herself. While reeling from his
shock, his claws had shredded her plastic cape, leaving deep gashes on her
arms. They stung and oozed blood, which the rain diluted and rushed down her
hands. She ignored the cuts, knowing they would heal almost instantly. But
nothing could heal the werewolf
 
blight
except her actions.

She listened intently. Between claps of thunder she heard
the soft snap of twigs beneath a heavy weight. She followed the sounds, pausing
when the sky roared again. Then a moan came.
 
Holding her knife aloft, she moved stealthily
forward.

The earth shook from thunder, the sky filled with a burst of
light. Sebastian laid beneath a tree, half man, half wolf. His hands were over
his stomach, blood seeped between his clawed fingers. His silver coat was
scorched, matted with mud and leaves.

"It seems your magic hinders my alchemizing, my
dear," he rasped. "Have you come to finish your handiwork?"

Slowly moving closer, knees flexed, legs spread, she swung
the knife before her. "You'll make no more monsters like me, Sebastian.
Your rule has ended."

"Ah, Lily . . . how magnificent you are. As fierce in
your mortal state as you were as a Lupine." He sighed. His pointed ears
and facial hair disappeared. The man she'd met in Paris emerged, but now the
ice blue eyes were faded and sad. "I have missed you,

Lily . . . none go to the opera with me since you have been
gone."

She sensed his sincerity, but didn't trust it. His mood
would change like mercury when his wounds were gone. She continued forward,
keeping her eye on the small, vulnerable spot beneath his sternum. One sharp
stab would slice his aorta. Death would come quickly.

"You brought elegance and grace to the Lupine
race," he gasped. "A humanity, if you will. None can take your
place."

A flood of yearning overcame Lily — Sebastian's yearning. A
cry for enduring love, for kindness and gentleness, for integrity, for the
humanity he spoke of. This was what he'd valued in her. Not her devotion to
Lupine Law, not her ability to keep the betas and omegas in hand, but for the
remnants of simple human emotions she'd somehow retained.

And she remembered the irresistible tug of the hunger, knew
it drove Sebastian just as it had driven her. None had been able to withstand
it except Morgan Wilder. None.

"I loved you, Lily." He sighed. His hands regained
their human form. The flow of blood from the wound was easing. This was her
last chance. She mustn't hesitate.

A tear spilled from his eye. "Even now I love you . . .
fool that I am."

Waves of compassion assailed her. Fighting them off, she
lifted the knife and moved closer, but each footstep she took seemed heavier
than the one before.

Pausing, she watched in morbid fascination as the lone tear
streaked down Sebastian's mud-smeared mortal face.

"Lily . . ." He spoke so softly she barely heard
it.

She let out a choked cry, horrified to realize she was
backing away, then spun and took off through the forest. Somewhere she lost a
sandal. She let it fly and kept on running. Tears streamed down her face,
dogging her breath, but still she ran. Out of the woods, through the village
square, toward the cave, the gate of light that would take her to another
better world. But, God save her, she'd left a monster alive in this one, and
that omission would haunt her the rest of her days.

When she reached the sharp rocks inside the narrow canyon,
she stopped running, but her sobs remained. Her shoulders shook badly, her foot
ached, and she barely maintained her balance as she crossed the unsteady field
of stone.

Only when she reached the mouth of the cave did she look at
the sky. The rain had stopped. The clouds were moving off. And above shone the
moon, large and round, as bright as a globe-shaped lantern.

On the far wall of the cave a faint light pulsed, vanished,
and pulsed again. An image only marginally brighter than the light appeared
within the pulse. "Star Dancer," Lily cried ecstatically.

"Call me Riva," the High Shaman replied.
"You've done well, White Wolf Woman, and have earned that right."

Lily rushed forward. When she reached the wall the light was
gone. The cave was plunged into darkness. "Wait!"

"It's too late, Lily," Riva said thinly from the
other side. "The dark moon has passed on."

"No, oh no!" Wrapping her arms around herself,
Lily sank to the floor, too numb to weep or wail. Now and then a lightning
flash came through the mouth of the cave, a cruel reminder of how she'd missed
the only light she cherished, the one that would take her to her loved ones.

How would they fare in paradise? Would Shala be bereft that
Lily had failed to join them? Would Tony be overcome with grief? Or would they
forget about her in time? Except, of course, when the legends were told.

She'd never wanted to be a legend. Never wanted to be a
werewolf queen. Since her earliest memories she'd yearned to be an ordinary
person, with loving and ordinary parents. To marry an ordinary man and raise
ordinary children. Why hadn't she remembered this before succumbing to
Sebastian's seductive promises? Why hadn't she remembered before it was too
late?

She lowered her head to her hands and rocked back and forth
on the hard dirt floor in the darkness, trying to endure her pain.

Rocks shuffled near the mouth of the cave, but she paid them
no heed. Her misery was far too great to wonder what was out there. Then
something touched her shoulder. She brushed at it absently, thinking it was an
insect, and her hand connected with warm flesh.

She jerked up her head.

Tony stood before her, Shala in his arms. Lily stared at
them, frozen in place for the time it took to take one long breath. Then she
sprang to her feet. New tears flowing, she threw her arms around them, hugging
them, kissing them. Tony pushed back the hood of her rain cape, stroked her
hair. Shala hung onto her fiercely, also crying.

"How? Why?" she gulped between sobs. "I
thought—"

"We've been searching all over for you, Lily,"
Tony said, his voice crackling with emotion. "We'd given up hope."

"You didn't even know if I was still alive! And you've
come back too late to cross to Quakahla." Their sacrifice was almost more
than she could bear.

"We couldn't leave without you." Tony still
stroked her hair, as if confirming she was truly in his arms again.

Lily nestled deeper into his shoulder and ran a hand down
Shala's arm, seeking the same confirmation. They stood in the shelter of the
cave for a long time, not moving, not talking. The faint glow of moonlight came
through the entrance of the cave. Only the drip-drip-drip of water from the
stone walls kept the silence from being complete.

A clatter outside broke them apart. They listened warily.
More rocks clattered.

"The wolf that ran away," Tony said.

She realized he thought she'd killed Sebastian.
"No," she whispered, filled with shame. "I– I couldn't do it,
Tony. Sebastian is still alive."

He put a hand under her chin, leveling his gaze at her as if
trying to gauge her reason. Then he nodded in understanding and put Shala on
the ground. Inching closer to the entrance, he gestured for the two of them to
stay put. Lily paid him no attention. Telling Shala not to move, she scooted
along the wall until she reached Tony's side. He made a hissing sound of
disapproval, but took her hand anyway, and they both cautiously peered out of
the cave.

Sebastian stood on the rocky ground, staring up at the moon,
his silver coat rippling in the gentle post-rain breeze. Philippe cowered at
his feet in wolf form. Raising his arms, Sebastian started shouting at the sky
in the Lupine tongue. He cursed the moon, the dark forces, his every word heavy
with outrage and sorrow.

"What is he saying?" Tony asked.

"He thinks I went to Quakahla."

"Then let's not clear up his misunderstanding."

He gave her a nudge and they slunk back to Shala. Lily saw
him place a finger over Shala's lips, saw her nod. The mouth of the cave grew
dimmer. The moon was sinking. Eventually Sebastian stopped bellowing.

Soon after that, they again heard the rattle of disturbed
stones.

"Let's wait till dawn," Lily said, "just to
make sure they're gone."

Tony agreed. Shala fell asleep across Lily's lap, and as
time passed, she felt sure enough Sebastian was gone that she dared speak.

"I should have killed him," she said regretfully.

"He was your kinsman, Lily. That couldn't be easy to
forget."

"I won't fail the next time." Her words came out
clipped and decisive.

Tony nodded, believing her.

"But what of you? You've missed a chance to live in
paradise."

"The spirits have been guiding me on a different
path," he replied, then told her of Quetzakoatl's message during her
inquisition. He ended by saying, "I've been ignoring my misgivings for
some time, but when I thought you were lost, my choice became clear."

"You chose me over Quakahla?"

"Yes, Lily, I love you." He leaned forward and put
a soft kiss on her lips. "There'd be no life for me without you, no matter
where I was."

She nodded. "I love you, too, and didn't know how I'd
survive living here without you."

"Don't forget you'd miss me," Shala piped up.
"You love me, too."

They all laughed and Tony swept Shala up and into his arms.
"That's for sure," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek. "With
us, there's plenty of love to go around."

     
* * *

They awoke to sunlight spilling through the mouth of the
cave. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, the air was cool and fresh. And
when they stepped outside, Lily found a world so clean and pure, she was sure
nothing evil could survive. With Tony and Shala she crossed the jagged path
that led back to the village, moving slowly because of the missing sandal.

Then she spotted a tuft of silver fur caught between two
rocks. She lingered, staring down at it. Shala continued to lithely leap across
the rocky ground, but Tony stopped and squeezed her hand.

"Will you go after Sebastian?" he asked.

"In time, I suppose." She met his clear golden
eyes, took in the gentle waves of his dark hair, then glanced at Shala.
Everything she needed was right here. "In time."

"When that time comes, I'll be with you."

"I hoped you'd say that."

Then, leaving the hair and all its memories behind, they
went on toward the village. A ghost town greeted them. The gates to the empty
pens lay on the ground, ripped loose in the storm. The longhouse door was open,
the building stripped of everything that mattered.

It seemed so sad to Lily. A tribe that lived here secretly
for a thousand years was gone forever. Then she saw Beryl's body not far from
the hearth where Kessa had cooked each morning. Tugging Tony's hand, she led
him toward it.

Beryl was in human form, the gaping wounds he'd received
from Ravenheart still very much in evidence, but the cruel sneer had left his
face and he now seemed at peace. Not far away, Arlan Ravenheart also lay dead,
his oddly cocked head the only evidence of his injury.

"We'll build a pyre for them before we leave,"
Tony said, "and scatter their ashes in the river."