Immortal Dreams (45 page)

“I don’t hear anything.”

“You sure? They’re everywhere,” she said, aghast that he couldn’t hear them.
Maybe I’m losing it, having some kind of a breakdown,
Sarah thought. She gripped his arm tightly. “Oh gosh, Frank. There’s something wrong...with my brain.”

“No, I think you’re all right. There is something off in this place though,” said Frank. “We’d better high-tail it out of here...like NOW!”

“What about Jules? We can’t just leave him behind, Frank. I couldn’t do that to Mia, not after all she risked to help me.”

A slow growl echoed through the air.

Sarah froze. “Wh-what was that? And please tell me you heard it too.”

“Yeah, I heard it all right. Sounded like some kind of wild animal.” Frank’s hand tightened around hers. “Let’s get out of here!”

“But Jules is—”

A deep growl rumbled from the vegetation. Sarah glanced up just as a black wolf, the size of a lion, lurched through the ferns toward her. Sarah staggered back against the wagon, gasping. Eyes blazing, body tensed, the furry beast bared his teeth. She suddenly felt like she was playing Little Red Riding Hood in virtual 3D—complete with dark forest, hooded cloak, and the big, bad wolf with real sharp teeth to eat her with. She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. “Back up slowly...very slow,” she whispered, hoping Frank could hear her. Her hands were clammy, and she had a death-grip on him, even though she knew he would be just as helpless against the wild animal as she was.

The wolf snarled, its top lip quivering over razor-sharp teeth. The horses stood on their hind legs, neighing in terror.

As Sarah looked feverishly for an escape route, she noticed that the fog had mysteriously lifted, and hundreds of wolves surrounded the wagon. “There are so, so many! Wh-where did they all come from?” she muttered, afraid to speak too loudly and set them off.

“Have you ever seen a pack this big?” asked Frank, taking another step back. He pointed the tranquilizer gun directly at the front wolf.

“Never!”

The largest wolf inched closer. It lifted its muzzle to the morning sky and let out a primal howl. The others followed its lead. The bloodcurdling noise sent shivers through Sarah’s body.

“Get back on the wagon,” Frank said. “I’m sure the horses can outrun them.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

A voice thundered inside Sarah’s head. “Leave, and we will tear you to shreds.”

She yanked Frank’s arm, showing him she meant business. “No, Frank, change of plans. We need to stay put.”

“Are you crazy, Sarah? I’m not gonna stand here and become a snack for those—

“Frank! If we move, they’ll kill us.”

“Now’s not the time to freeze up on me, Sarah. Now get on the wagon and let’s go!”

She took a steadying breath. “No, I mean it. I heard them, Frank, crazy as that sounds. They said if we leave, they’ll rip us to shreds.”

“What? Maybe you are losing it, Sarah.”

She slowly met Frank’s gaze. “Listen, I’m going to try and reason with them.”

“But they’re wolves!” he shot back.

“I think this pack’s intelligent. Maybe they’re the shape-shifters Jules warned us about.”

“It sounds absolutely crazy...but then again, this whole thing is insane. I suppose if you’re hearing voices, maybe they’re trying to talk to you telepathically.”

Sarah gazed into the black eyes of the alpha male, or so she assumed. “We mean no harm. We were being chased. Our lives were in danger, and we had nowhere else to go. We beg you for sanctuary.”

Frank nudged her. “No, Sarah, not sanctuary. Ask for safe passage.”

She bowed deeply. “We throw ourselves at your mercy and ask for safe passage.” She felt like an idiot.
I’m standing here talking to a pack of wolves, begging for protection and mercy? I wonder if there’s a padded cell in that dungeon back there. Maybe they should call in the royal shrink.

The image of the wolf flickered like a television transmission that was about to be interrupted, and a light formed where the animal’s chest was, spreading across its shaggy fur until it morphed into the nearby leaves and passed on to the other animals. Sarah blinked against the glaring brightness and raised a shaky hand to cover her eyes, but her curious nature wouldn’t allow her to avert her gaze completely. The image flickered more, shifting and elongating, until it burst into thousands of particles. In that instant, every wolf turned into a person.

Sarah’s heart trembled at the sight of a tall, copper-skinned man dressed from head to toe in jet black. He looked like an Indian from an old Western movie with his black and white feathered headdress, heavily outlined eyes, his strong jaw, and the stripes and spots painted on his face. Sarah took a deep breath and glanced at Frank. “What the heck?”

Ignoring Frank, the black-eyed man flipped his long hair over his shoulders and spoke to Sarah in a cool voice. “You know the rules. I can only promise you a quick death.” With lightning speed, he knocked the gun from Frank’s hands.

“No!” Frank yelled. “Don’t you understand? We’re not from here. We don’t know the rules.”

Never taking his eyes off Sarah, the man snarled, “They were communicated to you at the edge of the forest, yet you insisted on breaking them and crossing our border.”

“If you heard all of that, then you know my situation,” Sarah said.

The man ran a long, needle-sharp fingernail across her face and down her throat, making her gasp. A tad more pressure, and he could slice right through her skin. “I only know you’re being pursued. I don’t care by whom...or why.”

A woman dressed in the same black leather outfit with more feathers than a Las Vegas showgirl marched forward, holding a gold dagger to Jules’s throat.

Sarah put her arm around Jules. He sucked in air like he’d just run a marathon. “Yes,” she said. “He is with us, and he did try to warn us.”

The alpha male touched Jules’s forehead, then Frank’s, and finally hers. “You’re all marked for death.”

Jules dropped to his knees, and Frank clenched his fists.

Maybe Jules had a good point about not setting foot in the forest, but what else were we supposed to do? Let the knights drag us back to face the jilted king’s wrath?
He was a powerful ruler and wouldn’t forgive her for such an act of treason. Besides that, his reputation was at stake; if he didn’t punish her, he’d appear weak, and no king could afford that.

The shape-shifter whipped out a dagger and held it to Jules’s neck. “You’ll be the first to go, since you were the one who gave in like a weakling, knowing the rules, and drove them into the forest.”

Jules gasped.

Sarah gripped his arm and pulled. “Let him go! I made him come in here. If you must punish someone, kill me. He’s done nothing wrong.”

“That can be easily arranged.” Lunging forward, he gripped her throat and squeezed, his nails digging into her soft flesh.

Sarah struggled to take a trembling breath.

The shape-shifter held a cold blade against her throat. “This will teach you humans not to trespass on my territory.”

Sarah gasped as much as she could, her heart drumming in her chest. A burning sensation—hot, deep, and piercing—spread across the fingers of her left hand and quickly intensified. She touched the ring, grunting as she collapsed. “My hand! It’s on fire. Get this thing off me.”

“Sarah, are you okay?” Frank’s voice seemed to come from far away.

She strained her eyes to catch a glimpse of him, but she couldn’t think further than the piercing pain. “Get it off me, Frank!” She met Jules’s gaze as she desperately tugged at the ring, trying to slide it off her finger. It looked like she was going to need a whole tub of butter or a pan of grease to get the jewelry off. It was stuck, as if it had been cemented to her finger permanently. “Why is it hurting me?” she asked. “And why won’t it come off?”

“I-I don’t know,” Jules said, his eyes wide.

Sarah bit her lip, refusing to cry out as the shape-shifter twisted her wrist. Her trembling calmed some when she saw his arrogant grin falter. As his black gaze fell on the ruby ring on her finger, she heard him mutter with astonishment, “You wear the mark of the Immortals! You...you are an Immortal?” It was like a magnet, drawing him in.

The pain left Sarah’s hand as quickly as it came. Stunned, she shoved her hand toward him. “If you can get it off, it’s all yours—as long as you let us go on our merry way.”

“But that’s our key!” Frank said.

Jumping to her feet, she shot him a glare. “What good is a key if we’re dead?”

The shape-shifter thrust her hand upward, jerking her off balance and causing her to fall against his sturdy chest. Black feathers from his outfit swept across her cheek. He yelled to his people, “She wears the mark of the Immortals!”

Gasps and murmurs erupted as shock registered on every face.

Sarah held her breath, wondering what that yell might imply. They might decide to try and kill her any moment.

His gaze locked on her for a moment, impenetrable and blank, just as guarded as his attitude. Then he bowed, and the hundreds of others scattered about the woods followed suit.

Sarah’s mouth dropped.
This must be what it’s like to be royalty...but I’m not.
She wasn’t keen on all the attention either. “Let’s not make a big fuss. Please rise.”

The shape-shifter scrambled to his feet. “Oh, Highness, I beg your forgiveness and understanding. If I’d have killed you, I would’ve brought the entire wrath of the Immortal world down on my head. Which tribe do you belong to?”

Sarah glanced at Frank, and he gave her the look to play along. “King Victor Fesque is...he’s my husband.”
Husband.
Even still, the words sounded awkward coming out of her mouth.

The woman gasped. “Fesque? He’s next in line to take over the Cardashian Court once King Taggert dies...and that won’t be long now.”

The wolf man’s eyes widened as full-blown acknowledgement registered on his face. “You are married to one of the most powerful men in our world, and I must respect your position as such. My name is Titano, and this is my wife Lana.”

Sarah smiled. “It is such an honor to meet both of you.”

The woman eyed Sarah up and down, focusing on the ring on Sarah’s finger as though she doubted its meaning. Eventually, she nodded, though it was clear she was still unconvinced. “If she is what she says she is, we can’t afford any trouble with Victor. The Cardashian Court will stop at nothing to avenge her if she is truly his bride. Besides, the rules don’t apply to her, as they are only meant for regular humans. Titano, we have no choice other than to spare her life.”

The man nodded, his gaze focused on Sarah. “I don’t need to start a war with the Immortals with your blood on my hands. My Queen, I am happy to offer you the safe passage you have requested.”

“And my friends?”

He didn’t even blink. “I am afraid they are still marked for death.”

A cold chill ran down her spine.
No
! She couldn’t lose Frank and Jules. She decided that if they were going to force her to play the part of the queen, she was going to use it to her advantage. It was time for another Oscar-worthy performance. “That is unacceptable, Titano. I will not have my loyal servants slaughtered and devoured before my very eyes.”

“Are you forcing my hand, my Queen?” asked Titano.

“I am.” She met his gaze, narrowing her eyes in anger, hoping he wouldn’t see through her. “If you harm one hair on their heads, I shall send my husband back here, and he will come with vengeance and his wife’s rage to motivate him. I assure you, shape-shifter, that it will not be pretty if he has to go to those measures because of your disobedience to my direct commands.”

Lana grabbed her husband’s arm, her black eyes wide. “King Victor isn’t an Immortal we can afford to anger, Titano. Just let them go! They are not worth the casualties of the war he will wage if these servants have a special bond with him as well.”

“Yeah,” said Frank, sounding far too twenty-first century. “King Victor and I go way back.”

The man looked at Frank, then at Jules, and finally at Sarah. “My wife has spoken wisely. You may go—all of you.” He picked up the tranquilizer gun and handed it back to Frank. “Take your weapon with you. We have no need of it, for we are well capable of defending ourselves and our land.”

“Thank you. Your wisdom and obedience are to be commended.” Sarah took a few slow steps back, then quickly jumped on the back of the wagon and crawled into the cubbyhole with Frank right behind her. She peeked out and watched as Jules climbed onto the high wagon seat and whistled to the horses. He pulled the reins, and once again, they were trotting, bouncing, and jerking their way through the bumpy forest terrain. This time, though, they were escorted by hundreds of wolves, perhaps thousands, running and darting through the trees.

Streams of sunlight glistened through the branches and leaves as Jules crossed the border of the woods into a huge meadow. The wolves no longer followed; instead, they sat like trained dogs at the edge of the tree line.

Sarah’s stomach churned, and bile threatened to erupt at any moment. She’d known all along that Victor wasn’t just a regular kind of husband, and that had been acceptable because she didn’t want him, didn’t want the kind of life he offered. But as the lucky trio left the cursed forest behind, something else dawned on her. Even though he wasn’t technically part of her life because their marriage was a scam, he still held power over her life. The shape-shifters had let them go only because they feared Victor’s wrath. It defied all logic, and she had to admit that maybe the whole Immortal part wasn’t a figment of everyone else’s imagination.
Maybe I do share a bond with him that everyone here truly fears—and maybe that’s exactly what I need to find my sister and get us out of this crazy place. Then again, maybe I am crazy and am just dreaming the whole thing up. Bring the royal meds, please!

* * *

A
cool breeze blew through the haystacks as Jules steered the horses through the open field to the next town. “Frank!” Sarah called.

He didn’t reply.