Revenant (7 page)

I stagger at the touch of Enforcer magic. They are here, waiting for us! I’m a fool, I’ve walked right into a trap. But as I spin back to sprint to Sage, mouth open to warn him, two figures shudder from shadow, barely solidifying. One engulfs Sage before vanishing, the other embracing me.

“You’re safe,” Isabelle’s voice whispers to me before I’m drowned in her power.

Only a heartbeat later, I step out of the shivering shadows and onto the red carpet leading to Sunny’s throne. The queen of the Wilhelm vampire clan rushes toward me, her husband, Frank, releasing Sage and stepping back, our second rescuer.

Sunny hugs me tight, her physical coldness a clear sign she hasn’t even found time to eat. When she leans back, her face is dark with purpose.

“Come,” she says, holding her hand out to Sage as the feeling of the Enforcers grows closer, “we must hurry.”

He takes her offered fingers and we’re traveling again, this time with only Sunny. I’m about to ask her to carry us to California when we land in another throne room, this one done in blue and silver.

Sebastian waits for us, wasting no time coming forward to take Sage from Sunny. He stares into my love’s eyes while my heart begs me to speak up.

“Would you be a vampire?” Sebastian is no ordinary blood drinker, not any longer. Syd’s maji power has made him much more, able to walk in daylight, no longer requiring blood for sustenance. And a heartbeat. But he might not be able to offer Sage what he has, considering his own clan are all still in full thrall of the spirit power animating them, despite his attempts to change them. “I must have your permission to try.”

Sage glances sideways at me, panic on his face. I want to tell him to say no, this is wrong. The old prejudices between werewolves and vampires are gone, the taint of Black Soul sorcery no longer keeping us apart. But the wolf in me knows this is wrong and can only lead to more problems.

When I don’t say anything, Sage turns back to Sebastian. “Do it,” he says.

The Enforcers are coming. I can feel them all over again, this time with purpose. Sunny swears under her breath, turns to me, obviously as aware as I am.

“I should have killed him long ago,” she snarls and I remember her traitor vampire, Piotr Wilhelm. She thinks he’s alerted the authorities, and I believe she is right. “Sebastian,” she spins on the other vampire leader, “if you’re going to do this, make it now.”

Rainbow light rises from Sebastian while Sage stares, open mouthed and stunned by the view. I reach for him with my magic, knowing it doesn’t matter anymore if the Enforcers feel me. I need to support him if I can. But the power Sebastian controls rejects me, pushes me back, and Sage is left to face this transformation alone.

I cling to Sunny, half of me praying this works if it means saving Sage. And half of me hoping it fails. I want him to be a werewolf. Or human, normal. Am I that prejudiced to think I would no longer feel the same for him, were he a vampire? It will change things. He will live far longer than me, tied to the house DeWinter. And while Isabelle and Maks have found a way to make it work, vampires can’t procreate. He will never age, never die. And I will wither away.

Selfish. But true. And at the core of me I finally admit I want him to be a werewolf, if that is possible, to heal him and make him one of us. So we can be together. But I’m lying to myself if I believe that will ever happen, just like he’s delusional. I know better. He is a revenant and the best I can hope for is he won’t lose his mind. He will never be a true werewolf. Better to find a cure and return him to human, if I can. But I can’t let the whispering hope of the girl inside me go.

Enforcer power beats against the wards Sebastian has set around his castle, shaking me from my self-revelation. The shields hold, but they won’t last forever. I steel myself against the fact this is about Sage and silence the weeping child who begs for him.

The rainbow light descends over Sage, hugs him close. I hear his heartbeat speed up even more, the sizzle of the touch of his skin on the power, as though he’s too hot to be contained. Sage howls, his wolf rising in his eyes, curving his hands into claws while the magic of Sebastian’s bloodline tries to break through and make him a vampire.

I feel it fail, know he’s safe, and choke on a sob, hating there is relief in the sound. Sunny curses, unladylike for her, and hugs me tighter.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, though I’m not.

Sage staggers to his knees as Sebastian lets him go. Liquid oozes aggressively through the bandages to soak Sage’s left shoulder.

“The infection resists me,” Sebastian pants, shaking his head. “I can’t help him.”

Enforcer magic hits hard, shaking the castle.
IN THE NAME OF ALL MAGICKS
, a voice booms in my head.
RELEASE THE FUGITIVES
.

“We have to call Syd.” Sunny is reaching for her already, but I cut her off.

“No,” I say. “Bad enough I’m attracting trouble for my friends. I won’t have any of you involved from this point.”

Sebastian stands there, power swirling around him, handsome face grim. “Tell me what you want me to do,” he says. “I will go to war for you, Charlotte.”

I believe him, but I can’t let him. I rush to Sage and cradle him against me. “Just get us out of here,” I say as the wards crumble.

Sunny joins us as flares of blue light appear overhead. I look up, see Andre Dumont’s angry face, a line of furious Enforcers behind him, as shadows flicker and carry us away.

Sebastian
. I send his name to Sunny in a gasp.

He’ll be fine
, she sends just as we are deposited back in her castle. I recognize this room, where Syd and I stayed while she was on trial. “He can handle them,” she says out loud. “But what are the Dumonts doing there?”

I had no idea, and didn’t want to know.

“I’ll be back,” she says, stepping away, already surrounded in shadow. “We’ll make this work.”

I wait for her to vanish before tugging on Sage. “We have to go.”

He nods, groggy, but with me. “This was a terrible idea.” He manages a little smile. “When will I learn to listen to you?”

I kiss his cheek, helping him to his feet, already feeling the Enforcers coming. “I don’t know,” I say. “But hell will surely freeze over.”

“Now what?” He’s pale and sweating, but he’s aware and beside me and that’s all that matters.

“We run,” I say. “And go back to plan A.”

“California.” He hobbles next to me, growing in strength, until we reach the door. I feel Sunny let the Enforcers in even as I slam up my shields around Sage and me.

“You got it, dude.” My American accent feels clunky. I’m out of practice.

Sage laughs. “No one says dude anymore.”

I roll my eyes as we slip down the corridor. I know exactly where the exits are, found them all in case I had to get Syd out. And the one I need is very close. “Everyone’s a critic.”

“Your friends.” We pause by a tapestry. I pull it aside revealing the door to the exterior.

“Will be fine,” I say. “And no matter their intent, the law is the law. They will be forced to turn us over eventually.”

“Fugitives it is,” Sage says, taking his bag from me, though I know he’s still weak. “After you, princess.”

The dark night engulfs us and I actually feel better.

***

The forest is dark and quiet, the mountain cold. It’s grown colder still since the sun went down, a fact I barely noticed on the motorcycle ride, thanks to adrenaline giving me extra heat, and the press of Sage’s overheated body against mine. Now my breath puffs in patches of mist before me as Sage and I creep through the Austrian night away from Castle Wilhelm and the searching witches ordered to bring us in.

The Enforcers will have set up a ward around the castle property by now. I’ll need to find a way through it if we are to escape. The moment we touch it, try to breach it, they will be on us. If they don’t spot us before then. A blue glowing shape drifts overhead, the trees keeping us safe for now. But I have no illusions. They don’t need ordinary vision to find us.

I have to keep my magic contained. Which means we have only our feet and our wits to carry us away from here.

A black tunnel appears just beyond the next copse of trees, triggering a wave of blue light. I grimace, but am grateful for the warning. Whoever made that tunnel just found the wards for me.

Piers emerges, cursing, waving us forward. Sage doesn’t resist, running with me as flares of blue fire appear in the air overhead, joining the first. I feel witch magic brush over us, deflected for the moment by my shields, but they will break through them when they pinpoint us. We have to escape, and the only way to do that, at the moment, is with Piers.

We dive for the tunnel, Piers behind us, at the exact moment the Enforcer’s power locks on me. The black absorbs the magic the Enforcers throw at us, propelling us forward with great speed.

I tumble out the other end, feeling warmer, the air not so crisp, into soft grass. Sage looks up at Piers as I roll out of my crouch and face my sorcerer friend. He seems panicked, hands shaking.

“Run,” he says, desperation in his voice. “I’ve taken you as far as I can. But they’ll be coming. I’m sorry. She’s betrayed me to them, and I can’t help you.” I watch him vanish into fresh blackness, knowing he speaks of his own mother.

No time to think about it, to worry about him, only enough to let my heart swell in gratitude a moment while I gather myself for action. I turn and flee as he bid me, Sage at my side, now seemingly fully recovered from what Sebastian’s attempt to turn him did. The landscape has changed, the temperature not the only difference and as we run past a storefront in what feels like a city, the sign in French.

“France,” Sage says at the same time. “He got us farther.”

“As long as the Enforcers don’t know it,” I say. “We have to go.”

We hurry along the street, my eyes scanning for a vehicle we can steal easily and quietly. Sage keeps pace, head down, though I feel his emotions churning.

I finally force us to pause out of the touch of a streetlight, in darkness. There’s been no hint of the Enforcers though easily a half hour has passed. Could Piers have figured out a way to keep them from finding us? I can only hope. Maybe he still has our things in his possession. I send him a mental thank you for taking the heat for me.

A little park beckons. I just need a moment to sit and catch my breath, to think things through. Sage sits next to me on a bench of stone under a smiling angel statue with her welcoming arms outspread. The night air is lovely, the clear sky full of stars.

“You love him.” Sage’s statement comes from nowhere, though when I turn to him, to the hard lines his face has settled into, I realize he’s been thinking about this for a long time.

“No,” I say. “I don’t.” I take Sage’s hand. “I love you.”

He doesn’t look at me. “He loves you, though.”

I sigh. “Piers is in love with the idea of love.” I squeeze Sage’s hand. “And my grandfather once thought he would be a good match for me. To save me from having to mate with a werewolf.”

“Are they so bad?” Sage’s flat tone hurts me.

“No,” I say. “But my race isn’t known for its cleverness, its kindness. My family is a rarity and even we have our rough edges. And with the pressures of being a princess, of creating a healthy and powerful offspring to be my heir…the last thing I want is a heavy-handed and duty-bound weremate who only has heart for the throne.”

Sage is quiet a moment, the stiffness leaving him. “So Piers was your other option.”

I nod. “I thought so,” I say. “At least he’s funny and handsome. I think I could have learned to love him, maybe. Given time. But that’s off the table now.” It feels odd to have this conversation with him, though he’s no longer angry.

“Your grandfather will make you marry a werewolf,” Sage says.

“How wise you are.” I force a smile. “Yes, exactly. This mess will ensure I am bound to a were, to dispel my dishonor and return dignity to the name Moreau.”

Sage looks up at the stars, sad. “I came to find you because I couldn’t bear to let you go.” He shivers in the faint breeze, though it’s not cold here in the south. “I thought I could find a way to convince you. To make you love me enough.”

“That was never the question,” I say, my own sorrow making its way forward.

“I know that now.” He smiles at me as he turns to meet my eyes. “But, I don’t regret a thing, Charlotte. Not a bit of it. I’d have spent my life wondering, wishing, pining for you, if I’d let you just walk out of my life like that. The best thing that ever happened to me, and you up and left.” He chuckles, shakes his head, dark hair glossy in the streetlight. “I thought I knew the worst that could happen. I figured it would be you saying ‘no’.”

There’s not much I can say to that.

“Does Piers know it’s over between you?” He speaks so carefully, his ego wanting to know. It makes me sigh, but not unhappily.

“Don’t worry about Piers,” I say. “This kind of thing isn’t new to him. He used to want Syd, too, you know.”

Sage relaxes a little. “She’d eat him for breakfast.”

I laugh. It feels good. “And me?”

Sage grins, weak and shaking. “He wouldn’t even make it to the orange juice.”

I kiss his cheek, laying my head on his right shoulder. Sage slips his arm around me, the scent of him even more wolf than ever, though he remains clean, beautiful, like a fresh morning, not a hint of revenant stench about him.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to be cruel to him. It’s this thing inside me.” He pats his chest with his left hand, wincing. “It wants to protect you even though you don’t need it.”

“I might not need it,” I say, “but it’s nice to know you care.”

“I love you, too,” he says, fierce in that moment, intense and powerful. “And I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again, Charlotte.”

If only he had that power. “We have to go.” I lean away, only to have my face captured in his hand, my lips covered in his mouth. I lean into his kiss, the fire there burning between us. Sage is my life. This is all worth it.