Haven 3: Forgotten Sins (12 page)

Now that he looked back on it, there really hadn’t been enough time for Phillip to abduct four men and carry them away without either Nicholas or Jonas noticing. Part of him damned himself for an idiot, but a larger part was just grateful that they’d never made it inside the hangar like Jonas had originally planned.

“We’re sure this is the place?” Kieran asked from the front passenger seat.

“This is the place Galen dreamed about,” Varik answered. “He even described the remains of the plane.” He pointed through the windshield and out toward the charred wreckage.

They’d divided into three SUVs, and Nicholas currently rode with Varik, Kieran, and Demos. The Murphys were in the vehicle behind them with four of the Trinity Pack Enforcers bringing up the rear.

Nicholas had wanted to kiss the beta, Blair, when he insisted that Ridley stay behind and deter Jonas from following them.

It wouldn’t spell good tidings for their relationship, but Nicholas couldn’t stand the thought of purposely dragging his mate to what was sure to be his death. If they survived this, he had a lot of groveling do, and he could only hope that Jonas would forgive him for his deception.

Varik drove past the plane and turned off the asphalt, driving them out through the high grass as they bumped along the uneven ground.

“Where are we going?” Nicholas looked over his shoulder toward the aircraft hangar and frowned. “I thought they were back there.”

“Aslan and Galen both mentioned something about a cemetery,” Varik answered casually as though this sort of thing happened every day. “Ridley said there was a graveyard about a mile west of the airstrip. It’s for pack only so there’s no actual road to it. Usually they walk the caskets from the landing strip.”

“An entire mile?” Kieran asked with some shock in his voice.

Varik shrugged. “He says it’s a way to honor the dead, especially those who have died defending the pack. I’m not saying I get it, but to each their own.”

Nicholas shrugged it off as well. He’d always found shifters a bit strange, but some of their traditions were nice in a way. The mention of a cemetery sent a chill down his spine, though. Not only could nothing good come from this, but having his brother in a cemetery with the Book of the Banished could prove to be downright catastrophic.

He really needed to shake himself out of his funk of thinking they were all going to perish. Nothing was ever accomplished without a positive attitude—or some shit like that. All he really knew was that he was walking into the unknown, and now there was a virtual valley of the dead involved.

They rolled along in silence for another few minutes before Varik pulled up beside an old wooden fence and killed the engine. “Well, this is it.”

Moonbeams illuminated the graveyard, shining on tombstones of all shapes and sizes as they stood guard over the deceased like eternal sentinels. To complete the utterly creepy cliché, thick clouds rolled across the night sky and a thin fog settled over the ground near the base of the headstones.

Headlights flared behind them, and two more vehicles came into view, stopping just behind them. Easing his door open and trying to make as little noise as possible, Nicholas slid out of the backseat and stared out over the cemetery. The quiet pressed in on him like a palpable force. “It’s too quiet.”

“Listen.” Demos held his hand up, silencing the others as they shuffled over to gather around them. “Do you hear that?” Nicholas cocked his head to the side and lifted his ear to the sky.

He didn’t hear anything at first, but then the wind picked up, carrying a muffled voice with it. The longer he listened, the louder and more distinct it became until it seemed to be all around them, swirling with the fog and surrounding them.

“
Spiritus mortuorum ego advoca te. Return to consorti mea lux.

Spiritus mortuorum ego advoca te.
” The chanted words made his blood run cold, especially spoken in a voice he hadn’t heard in more than three years.

“What’s he saying?” Kieran whispered in Nicholas’s ear.

“He’s summoning the spirits of the dead to return his mate.” The fog began to thicken as it rolled over the ground, concealing everything below Nicholas’s knees.

“Don’t be shy, brother!” Phillip called to him from somewhere amongst the mass of headstones. “I’ve been waiting for you!”

Pulling up behind the last SUV parked alongside the old wooden fence, Jonas had his door open before Ridley had even come to a complete stop. His energy was draining swiftly, so he didn’t dare trying to jump out of the vehicle like he normally would. Though his body felt frail and useless, a fire burned inside him, propelling him forward to stand by his mate.

The fog lapped at his calves and around his knees, billowing up around him with each step he took. As he and Ridley approached, a dozen sets of eyes turned in their direction, but Jonas searched for only one. Nicholas stood a couple of steps ahead of the rest with his chest almost touching the fence.

When their eyes met, Nicholas let out a sharp gasp that Jonas could hear, even over the roar of the wind. The closer he traveled toward his mate, the harder and more ferocious the wind blew around him, fighting him as though desperate to keep him from Nicholas.

“Why?” Nicholas shouted.

“We’re in this together,” Jonas croaked in answer. Even his voice sounded feeble, but he pushed on, battling the wind as he trudged toward his mate.

All at once, everything stilled and became eerily quiet. Jonas paused in his forward trek and craned his neck, looking for any signs of trouble. Ridley caressed his arm and gave him a sad smile as he slipped past him to join the others.

“And now you’re both here,” came a deep, husky voice.

Jonas snapped his attention toward his mate and cried out when it felt as though he’d shattered his spine. Standing just on the other side of the fence was the one person he’d never thought to see again if he lived forever.

Phillip looked no different than he had the last time Jonas had laid eyes on him. The moonlight glinted off his dark hair, giving it a bluish tinge that only made him appear more handsome. They weren’t twins, but no one could deny the familial ties between Phillip and Nicholas.

“What are you doing to him?” Nicholas snarled at his brother but made no attempt to touch him. “Stop this!”

“A life for a life, brother,” Phillip answered easily. “Your mate for mine.”

Jonas shuffled forward, each step sending electric shocks of pain coursing through his body. He didn’t stop until he stood beside Nicholas, though. When he was close enough to touch his mate, he reached out and took Nicholas’s hand, squeezing it with as much strength as he could. “Do you still love me now that I’m all old and disgusting?”

He’d meant it as a joke, but tears welled up in Nicholas’s eyes, shining in the moonlight that caressed his face. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “I will always love you.”

“Oh, gag me,” Phillip interrupted with a sneer. “I’ve waited a long, long time for this.” He looked over Nicholas’s shoulder toward the group at his back and waved his hand in their direction. “
Manere
.” There were loud growls and roars as the twelve men were flung backward and pinned by some invisible force to the sides of the SUVs.

Phillip smirked evilly and turned to walk back through the fog.

“Come.”

Jonas started forward, but Nicholas stopped him with a gentle tug.

“Stay here.” He caressed the side of Jonas’s face and gulped audibly.

“Please, don’t do this.”

“We’re in this together,” Jonas repeated. “I’m not letting you go alone.” He wasn’t fooling himself. He knew he couldn’t fight Phillip and win. Hell, at the rate his body was shutting down, he probably couldn’t fight a kitten and win. For better or worse, he’d be by Nicholas’s side until the end, though. “I’ll be honest and tell you that I feel like shit, so do you think we can argue about this later?” As he stared up into Nicholas’s glistening eyes, he knew that Nicholas understood as well as he did that there wouldn’t be a later.

He wasn’t going to walk away from this, but at least he’d chosen an appropriate venue to die. Cutting out the middle man, so to speak.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Nicholas grabbed the top of the fence and launched himself over it before turning to help Jonas over as well. Then a strong arm wrapped around his waist, and Nicholas held him up as they walked amongst the gravestones in the direction Phillip had disappeared.

It seemed to take an extraordinary amount of time, but eventually Nicholas stopped and pulled Jonas to a halt beside him. “Let them go,” he demanded, jerking his head to the side.

Jonas followed Nicholas’s gaze. His low growl turned to a violent coughing fit, and by the time it ended, he found himself kneeling on the ground with his mate crouched in front of him.

“I’m fine,” he assured his lover before returning his attention to the four men tied to individual headstones. Their heads lolled on their shoulders, and they were obviously unconscious. Studying them carefully, Jonas noticed a few cuts and bruises, but nothing of immediate concern. “I think they’re okay.”

“They’re completely fine,” Phillip agreed, “for now. I needed bait. Now that they’ve served their purpose, I don’t really have any use for them.” He closed his eyes and lifted his arms toward the sky as he began chanting words that Jonas couldn’t comprehend. “
Spiritus
mortuorum ego advoca te. Return to consorti mea lux. Spiritus
mortuorum ego advoca te.
”

Over and over he recited the words, and though Jonas didn’t know what they meant, he could feel the life slipping out of him. “
Vita
vitae. Mors mortis. Revertetur quod abiit. Spiritus mortuorum ego
advoca te.
”

When the pain started, Jonas clenched his withered hands into fists and doubled over, crying out in agony. His insides boiled, his bones bent and creaked, and his muscles spasmed until he thought his entire body would break apart into a million pieces.

“Life of life. Death of death. Return what is mine. Spirits of the dead, I summon thee!” Phillip grew louder with each repetition, alternately switching between English and the language Jonas didn’t understand.

“I guess he doesn’t want me to be confused,” Jonas choked out as another blast of pain gripped his body. Slumping over to his side, he curled into a fetal position and panted heavily as the fog licked at his clammy skin.

“Stop this!” Nicholas shouted from beside Jonas. He caressed Jonas’s face and stroked his lank and lifeless hair. “You’re killing him. Please, Phillip! I love him.”

“And I loved Andre!” Phillip shouted vehemently. “You took him from me. It should have been you that died in that pond!” As his heart rate slowed, the pain began to subside, leaving only exhaustion. “It’s not so bad,” he whispered hoarsely to his mate.

“Death isn’t scary, Nicholas.” His eyelids grew heavy, and he struggled to make his lips form the words he wanted to say. “I love you, and I’ll always be with you. Don’t forget me.” With his last bit of energy, he slid his hand across the dew-covered grass and placed it over Nicholas’s.

“Jonas, don’t do this. Open your eyes.” Nicholas shook him roughly and his breath hitched twice. “Don’t fucking leave me.

Phillip, stop this!”

“Don’t forget me,” Jonas repeated in a tired whisper. He sucked in a shuddering breath and let it out on a slow exhale as everything vanished, and he floated away into a peaceful, endless sleep.

* * * *

As Nicholas watched his mate take his last breath on this earth, an all-consuming rage enveloped him. There was nothing he could do for Jonas now, and there would be plenty of time to grieve for the man he loved—an eternity of it.

Just then, however, the only thing in his heart was hate, and the only thought drifting through the red haze of his mind was inflicting as much pain on his brother as possible. Phillip’s death would not be quick or painless. Nicholas would make sure he suffered, drawing out the torture until the resurrected vampire begged for death.

“You can’t beat me,” Phillip said cockily. “It’s over. I will have my Andre back, and you will lament in agony as I have for the last two centuries.”

Rising slowly, Nicholas turned to face his brother head on and squared his shoulders. “You can’t bring him back, Phillip. Andre is gone, and he’s not coming back.”

Phillip laughed harshly before he began chanting again.

“The spell isn’t meant for those who have moved on. You can’t recall someone from the other side.”

“Shut up! You’re lying!”

Some of Nicholas’s rage melted away, replaced by pity for the brother he’d idolized for years. “Only the souls trapped in Purgatory, those with unsettled debts, can be called back.” He took a step closer to Phillip and spoke softly. “Andre isn’t coming back.”

“Silence!” Phillip roared, and Nicholas felt his lips clamp together as though someone had slapped a hand over his mouth. Faster and with a slight growl in his voice, Phillip began chanting again.

“
Revertetur quod abiit
. Return what is mine!” That was wrong, though. Phillip wasn’t asking for the return of something that belonged to him. He was calling back all things that had passed. Once Nicholas figured that much out, it didn’t take long for him to realize that all hell was about to break loose.

The wind whipped and howled, blowing Nicholas’s hair around his face. The clouds over his head darkened and churned, coming together to blot out the moon, while a loud, terrifying wail ripped through the night, closely followed by several other distinctly different, murmuring voices.

Nicholas might not be able to speak, but Phillip hadn’t frozen him in place as he’d done the others. Taking several running steps, he launched himself at his brother, tackling him to the ground hard enough that Nicholas’s teeth clacked together upon impact.

Phillip growled and tried to shove him off, and his break in concentration lifted Nicholas’s curse of silence. “Stop this! You’re going to kill us all, you idiot! You have no idea what you’re doing.” Even as he spoke the words, Nicholas knew it was too late. The wind battered against them brutally, and the temperature dropped to bone-numbing cold in the span of seconds. The ground began to tremble, and the wails and murmurs increased in volume as the fog churned around them.