NEWBORN: Book One of the Newborn Trilogy (43 page)

Staring from Wolf to Gabriel to me, Mortimer
appears expectant. The others aren’t answering him so I’m not going
to, either. We’re not going to give him the satisfaction of playing
with us. He can kill us. He may not play with us. The mildest,
teensiest bit of respect would be nice.

The vampire’s smile falters, then anger
flares in his face. But he gets it under control. “I am shocked,”
he says loudly, speaking mainly to Gabriel. “You and your entourage
were so easily tracked through the forest.
You
– a Bureau of
Magic Releaser! Couldn’t believe it when Amoretta told me. Oh yes,”
he says, responding to my surprise, “she traveled your footsteps
the entire time. Pathetic!”

He’s attempting to get a rise out of Gabriel.
To his vast chagrin, it’s not working well. So – rage sprinkling
his features – he tries a new tactic. Addressing Wolf, he says,
“
You
– a werewolf of the Olympic Peninsula. A sacred, sworn
protector of humans! You failed. Failed! The human girl will
die!”

The werewolf is not dignifying this with a
response. When the vampire leader realizes it, he flies into a
rage. “You will all die!” he roars, spit flying from his mouth.
“Let’s see you keep silent when burning alive! They don’t get till
nightfall!” he exclaims to the watching vampires. “Bring kindling!
We burn them now!”

Cheers and hoorays greet these words.

Vampires are everywhere gathering things.
Bundles of hay, pieces of wood, twigs, branches – anything that’s
around and readily flammable. Bringing the kindling to the stakes,
they set it around our legs in circles.

Fucking bejesus shitballs!

Help me! Something! Somebody!

Now the vampires are gathered around us in a
circle, their jeering faces and catcalls swimming in my face.
Oh
fuck! Oh fuck!
This isn’t fair! I don’t want to die! I’m not
ready! Not ready to go!

Goodbye, Nora
, my alter ego says.
This is the end of our conflicted friendship
.

Goodbye, alter ego
, I tell her.
I
will miss you, somehow
…

Black robes billowing around him, Mortimer
takes a branch from the pile at Gabriel’s feet. Putting it in the
fire, he waits until the end alights. Holding it high, he waves it
in the evening for all to see. “Friends! Witness not only a dinner
being served but a show being performed! I give you a
wizard
burning!”

This joke is met with a tidal wave of mirth
from the vampires. Unable to watch, I close my eyes. If only I
could close my ears… Good news is soon I will be dead, too, so I
won’t have to live hearing Gabriel’s screams in my nightmares. This
is my lone comfort. For I’ve arrived at the end of the line.

“To the superior race!” Mortimer calls,
holding the torch high. Then – slowly – he lowers it to the
kindling at Gabriel’s feet.

“Sire!” The cry of alarm comes from a
sentinel tower. “Strangers in the forest! Releasers! Approaching
fast!”

The vampire freezes, the lit end of his torch
inches from the kindling. The kindling inches from Gabriel’s knee.
“Wizards!” Mortimer screams, tyrannical fury instant. “I hate
fucking wizards! You!” he shoots at Gabriel. “This is your doing!
No matter what happens, conjurer, you won’t escape alive!”

Calm turquoise eyes reflect madly bright red
ones. “You are mistaken, Mortimer,” he says without missing a beat.
“I did
not
call wizards here, but they are here
because
of me. They intend to hunt me down for a crime of
passion,” he explains, his gaze finding mine. “Give us to them,
Mortimer, and you will be unharmed. My friends and I, on the other
hand, will be lucky to escape with our lives.”

Cackling, Mortimer throws his head back. “You
– you expect me to let you go?” His voice is faltering with
disbelief. “When I have you on my plate? No – you’re not pulling
that!” He turns to his followers. “Seamus, Amoretta – bar the gate.
The rest of you into the towers! Let’s see what we make of
them!”

“I warn you
and
your vampirical
subjects,” Gabriel begins, staring levelly at Mortimer, “if you
don’t do as I say, your home – all of this,” he explains, gazing
around the compound, “will turn to ash!”

The vampire’s back is turned. Ignoring the
wizard, he watches his followers bar the gate and charge up the
sentinel towers, the thuds of their ascent resounding through the
stockade.
Thud! Thud! Thud!

“They are almost here, sire!”

Gabriel is impatient. “You
cannot
defeat Releasers at long range,” he tells Mortimer. “It’s
impossible. You have no means of defense! Your only attack is
charging your enemy and you just locked yourself in here!”

“Shut up, wizard!” Mortimer cries, waving his
torch threateningly.

Exiting the longhouse, Jack hurries into
view. “Sire, I have an idea! The attackers are wizards and we have
a wizard tied up! Let’s do what we already did. Threaten to kill if
they don’t surrender their wands!”

“Genius!” Mortimer exclaims. “Excellent! I
knew I bit you for a reason!”

Something hits the back of my stake. Blinking
in the dying light, I try looking around. But I can’t bend enough.
Did somebody throw a rock? I mean – seriously – how low is that?
I’m about to be burned alive and they’re throwing rocks at me! How
about human decency? Geez, that’s right – they’re not human.

“Ouch!” I yell as something strikes my
finger.

The vampires don’t hear. They’re
distracted.

“How do we stop them?” Mortimer asks his
second in command. “In order to say we have a wizard?”

A pause.

“White flag?” Jack suggests.

Mortimer says, “I don’t think we have a white
fla –”

“Sumio decimate!”

The right side palisade wall explodes in
roaring smoke and rocketing timber. Hands over my head, I duck to
avoid the debris. Then I realize. I’m free! Turning around, I see
enormous amber eyes staring up at me from behind. The owl is
perched on the kindling and looking extremely expectant.

“Oh – right!” I say to Merrifeather. I hasten
to undo the others’ bonds.

“Vampires to me!” Mortimer is screaming.
“Vampires to me! Get down here from those towers, fools!”

I understand why he’s frightened. The curse
blew an enormous hole in the palisade wall – a hole large enough to
walk through – and now Mortimer is alone in the stockade’s
courtyard except for…

Jack is sprinting to the hole in the
palisade. Dodging vampires fleeing the towers into the parade
ground, he squeezes through the hole into the forest on the other
side. Where’s he going? He’s getting away!

“I’m after him!” Gabriel yells as I free him.
“Jack knows who the Newborn is – we can’t lose him, Nora!”

“No!” Wolf barks, newly freed. “Stay,
Gabriel! Protect Nora! I’ll get him!”

There’s no room for argument because Wolf is
already running after the vampire. Jumping high in the air, he
lands on paws – not hands. Speed doubling with additional legs,
Wolf leaps through the hole and out of sight.

Now it’s Gabriel, me, and Merrifeather
against ten angry vampires. They approach us, their bright eyes
narrowing into slits and their teeth hungry. Mortimer’s in front.
“I warned you, conjurer,” he cackles, “you would not escape with
your life! So nearly saved!” He charges Gabriel, teeth bared and
bloody.

“Sumio decimate!”

The palisade wall on the left explodes into
the evening – pieces of it flying high and far. “Sumio decimate!”
Splintering amid billowing smoke and cracking wood, a sentinel
tower begins collapsing outward. “Sumio torgi!” The remaining tower
bursts into flames, tearing the sky with screams.

Dodging flying wood and timber, Mortimer
misses Gabriel. Screeching like a rabid creature, Merri flies for
his head. I know what’s coming! So – it seems – does the vampire,
for he covers his eyes with his arm. Merri collides with the side
of his robes and takes off again, this time over Gabriel.

Who catches his wand.

“Nora!” Gabriel shouts. “We have to run for
it!”

I don’t need telling twice. Punching a
vampire in the face, I speed in the direction of exploded palisade.
Gabriel is right behind me.

“Stop them! Stop them!” Mortimer cries. But
soon he’s distracted.

A voice yells, “Sumio torgi!”

The longhouse bursts into flame. “No! Put it
out!” Mortimer is screaming. “Put it out! Put that fire out! Put it
out!”

We are out.

Through the hole in the palisade wall and in
the forest, we are surrounded by trees. Merrifeather lands on
Gabriel’s arm but quickly launches again as we hurry through the
forest, away from the flaming, ash ridden stockade.

“Gab –”

“There they go!” A voice is shouting in the
distance. “Kellan! I found them!”

Swiping his blond hair to the side of his
forehead, Gabriel stares me dead in the eyes, the turquoise of his
own unflinching. “We have to run,” he says, “I can’t fight
two
Releasers. Try and dodge their spells. Run!”

We hurtle through the forest at a breakneck
speed.

“You knew they’d find us!” I gasp at the
wizard. “How?”

Gabriel keeps pace. “Magic, of course!” he
exhales. “The Puridites have magical monitors in place to recognize
when a wizard and Immag have been intimate. It’s a complete
invasion of privacy!”

I can’t help it. I have to ask. “What will
they do to us?”

“Nothing positive!” Gabriel gasps.
“Faster!”

We are flying over the loam, our feet hitting
the dirt and Merri flapping above.

Gabriel’s ivory robes catch on a branch. He
pulls but they don’t budge. The owl hoots a warning. Discarding his
robes, Gabriel grabs my arm and we continue forward. Looking like
two Immags.

Amber eyes are swiveling backward. Merri
hoots again, louder and more insistent.

I can’t help it. I look back. Oh no! Oh
no!

“I see them!” I gasp at my wizard. “They’re
coming!” My voice is stricken with fear. “What do we do?”

His hand in my back, my wizard pushes me
forward. “Run faster! We
must
stay out of firing range,
Nora!”

A voice from behind yells, “Nullify!”

Zapping purple light misses Gabriel by
inches. “Duck!” We throw ourselves down. Gabriel aims his wand.
“Decimate!” The shooting red light misses one of the charging
wizards. “Run!”

We’re off. Sprinting through the woods.

* * *

From danger to danger is the only transition
we seem to make. Trouble is I know what’s at stake now. A life of
dreams is so close I feel it. A life with Gabriel White as my
husband. A life with the possibility of a child. A wondrous life. A
fantastic life. A beautiful life. A life where I learn the meaning
of magic.

A
happy
life is at stake.

In order to have it – in order to live it –
we must survive. We must escape our trackers. Problems abound. Our
hunters are Gabriel’s equals this time. Wizards – Releasers of the
Bureau of Beast Control – and there’s two of them and one of him.
Despite me and Merri, Gabriel can’t take them both.

There is one solution.

To run!

“Nullify!” The purple light misses me.
“Nullify!”

Throwing myself forward, I pound my weary
limbs. Come on! I have to run! Stick with me here! I feel the
wizards gaining from behind. Their curses are coming more
frequently and more accurately.

“Torgi!” A tree in front of me bursts into
flames.

Screaming, I hurtle away from it. “Wrong
way!” Gabriel yells, stopping short. “This way, Nora! Run!”

But the lapse is enough to aim one more curse
at us. The shout comes from behind. “Annihilate!”

I turn in time to see white light leave the
wand. As it’s shooting right for me, I hear Gabriel’s voice in my
head.
Remember this just in case: You can come back from the
purple light in good health. But red and white are serious.
Especially white. If you see the bright white light, death is
near.

White light is speeding at me. Then it’s
blocked out by white.

It’s over. I know I’m dead. I can’t have
survived. Not the white light – not Annihilate – the kill curse.
Soon I will drift into bliss… Feeling a breeze against my face, I
realize my eyes are closed. I open them.

Merrifeather is lying on the ground by my
feet.

Dead.

Two wizards are staring at me. Dressed in
robes. Their expressions stunned.

“No!” Gabriel screams, his voice agony
itself. “Not Merri! Not Merri!” He’s beside me, his wand pointing
at the wizards.

“Put down your wand!” orders one of the
Releasers. “You’re under arrest!”

Gabriel’s wand is shaking. His face inhuman.
“Annihilate!” White light explodes from the end of his wand and
hits one of the wizards square in the chest. Nothing happens. Then
the wizard falls forward.

The remaining Releaser shouts,
“Decimate!”

Gabriel is lifted from his feet and thrown
into the air. Missing the burning tree, he smashes to the ground,
his wand spinning away. He either doesn’t notice or care his wand
is gone. Instead, he dashes to Merrifeather and – picking up her
lifeless form – cradles her in his arms like a baby. Tears are
falling onto feathers, making white plumage glisten like stars in
the pressing night.

I’m shaking all over. This can’t be
happening. None of it. I don’t believe it. Merri. Dead. Gabriel.
Lost his mind with grief. I’m defenseless. At the mercy of a
Puridite Releaser. An unknown wizard.

The Releaser is kneeling beside his fallen
comrade. Murmuring something I can’t hear under his breath, he
closes the wizard’s eyes. Standing, he’s ungainly, but points his
wand at Gabriel resolutely.

“You,” he begins, voice so hoarse he has to
clear it before resuming, “you will stand, Gabriel White.”