Amaranth (22 page)

“Couldn’t resist. You don’t make it easy on me, you know,”
he adjusted his shirt, examined the bars on the window next to us. He carefully
slipped me out of his arms and grabbed the bars with his hands, pulled back and
forth to test his strength.

“
Gav
—”

“
Sshhh
.”
He placed his finger to his lips, pulled me close again. “We have to be quiet.
I’m really weak, but I think it will be just enough.”

“What will?” I whispered.

“I need for you to tell me again why you came here, and why
you want to be with me. I need you to explain why you want this life with me.”

“Gavin, we don’t have time for this, we can talk more
later-”

“Tell me, Camille. Explain it to me, please. Don’t rush,
just concentrate.” His eyes locked on mine, patiently prompting me.

“Don’t rush? You’ve got to be kidding me,” I snapped under
my breath, snuck glances toward the cell door, knowing any minute that
monstrous guard would come bursting in.

“He’s around the corner. Don’t worry.”

“Okay,” I breathed deeply, careful to keep my voice low. “I
came here for you, to make sure you were safe, to see you again.…” I fidgeted
with my hands and searched his eyes like a child doubtful of her answer in a
classroom. What was he thinking starting a conversation like this? We needed to
break out of here, to run, and fast, but I was a sucker for his scorching eyes,
so I complied.

“I realized I am completely in love with you, and that my life
will never be the same since we ran into each other in Paris. I’ve realized
there is no going back, and that as convoluted as this whole thing is, bolting
from it is
not
the answer. Because my mind will
never let me forget.”

“Go on,” he closed his eyes as he listened.

“I know now that my heart won’t let me
tame
it, as much as I try to. It’s programmed for you, and if you’re missing …”

“If I’m missing …”

“It won’t work right. The idea of my life with you had to
die for me to see how I want to live.”

The sadness that manifested around the lines of his face
began to soften, and light crept across his features. A smile replaced the
anguish and now he stood beaming, triumphant. His arms and chest shook, and he
struggled to keep his eyes shut. “And how do you want to live?”

“I don’t want to live like Arianna did, or like my mom does:
refusing to accept reality, refusing to let myself be whole. I want to move
forward. No more walls, no more regret, no more wasted time. I want another
chance to be with you.”

“And when did you realize this?” He opened his eyes now,
stood serene and still.

“When I saw a picture of you human. I saw all of the life in
your eyes, that it was enough to keep us both alive, no matter how defective we
were together.”

Elated, he leaned forward and swept me into his arms. My
legs dangled to the side, my hands draped around his neck. Shocked to see his
strength return, I began to feel lightheaded. My eyes heavy, I let him carry me
toward the window.

“Camille Hart. What on earth am I going to do with you, my
brave little introvert.” He peered down at me, adoration in his eyes.

“You could kiss me again.”

The jangling keys grew louder.

“Hold that thought.”

We heard movement near the door, watched the guard’s
disgruntled face come into view through the small window. As the guard fumbled
with the keys to open the cell, Gavin quickly shifted me in his arms and turned
his back to the cell wall, aligned himself with the barred window. Facing the
cell door to keep the guard in his view, he adjusted his posture and braced
himself. “Forgive me, love. Hold tight.”

Before I had a second to ask, he flung us backward into the
window with all of his might, and crashed through the bars with ease. His head
and shoulders hovered over and protected me as we broke through the wall while
chunks of stone exploded all around us. We hurled into flight, rocketed forward
at lightning speed, gave gravity no chance to pull us downward. Spiraling
through the air, we launched away from the castle and sailed over the beautiful
sea of green.

The wind blowing my hair in every direction at once, I
turned to peek over his shoulder, caught a last glimpse of the guard’s enraged
face through the broken castle wall where we left him.

“They’re coming,” Gavin shouted as we made our way closer to
the portal door. “Be ready to run when I tell you.”

I watched the same gardens and lush landscape fly past us,
the castle no longer in sight, and I knew we were getting close. Dizzy, I
fought to keep my eyes open. He suddenly dropped to the ground and landed us in
a wide-open area of land, in front of a cozy, familiar garden.

“This maze leads you to the door. I took your energy, but
I’m already getting weak, I need you to start running. I can keep you in sight
and see what’s coming from behind us. Go!”

“I … don’t remember going through this. How will I know the
way?”

“It’s for intruders, so they get lost. There’ll be more
guards ahead, looking for us, and I need to keep what strength I have left.
I’ll tell you the way, just go!”

I turned and darted through the maze’s entrance, hurried
around the corners as Gavin shouted directions from behind me. The darkness
added to the disorientation, and I fought against the dizziness. “Gavin?” I
stumbled and slowed my pace, prayed it wouldn’t be much longer.

“Right here love,” he swooped in behind me, wrapped his arm
around my waist to guide me. “Almost, hang in there.”

“Where are they? I thought you said they’d be here—”

“Camille! Right, then left! Hurry!” He flung me forward,
turned to face the angry guard we’d escaped from. He appeared from overhead and
collided with Gavin in midair. Hearing the impact, my adrenaline kicked in and
I knew I had to run faster than I ever had before. I stopped cold when I saw
the guard grab the silver knife from his cloak, watched helplessly as Gavin
struggled to gain control of the weapon.

He dodged it as the guard stabbed at his chest, skillfully
missing the attempted strike. He gave his attacker’s arm a hard blow and sent
him flying backward into the trees, knocking the knife from his hand. Kneeling
down to grab it, he froze.

“Camille! Wait.” His face lit up and he looked off into the
distance, concentrated on something I couldn’t see.

“When you make the left, run to the center of the fountain
and don’t move. Stay right there, do you understand? Go! There are more
coming!”

“What about you?” I screamed, ready to flee.

“I’ll be fine, now leave!”

Though every instinct told me to stay, to help him, I had to
trust him, I had to!

I bolted and banked a hard right, heard another dreadful
crash from his direction. Peeling left toward the picturesque fountain, I
yearned for the day vampires were only a figment of the imagination. What would
we do when—or if—we escaped? The thought of life after an escape made me
tremble, but I was certain the fate Samira had planned for us, if we stayed,
was far worse.

When I reached the edge of the fountain, I spun around,
looked for any signs of enemies. I could still hear Gavin scuffling with the
guards in the near distance, and wondered how long I was supposed to wait for
him. If Samira caught us now, the deal would be off. And I didn’t want to be
around to suffer the repercussions.

“Well I knew you could be feisty, but I never saw
this
one coming.”

I looked around, and like a gallant soldier riding in on a
white horse, there was Joel sailing toward me, ready to rescue me from yet
another mess I managed to conjure up.

“Joel?” I gasped, watched him fly over me and land on the
edge of the fountain. He hopped down onto the grass and grabbed my arm,
annoyed.

“Nice job, hon. What are
ya
tryin
’ to do, get us all killed? Since when did
you
have a death wish?”

“What? I don’t, I—”

“Forget it, let’s go.”

“What about Gavin? And Gabe and Audrey—”

“You should’ve thought about that before you waltzed on over
here.” Angry now, he stormed around the fountain toward another direction in
the maze, dragging me behind him. “We’re going to run from here. I don’t want
to risk anyone seeing us in flight. Come on.”

After swerving through a few more twists and turns, I
immediately recognized the old, rounded wooden door through which I’d entered.
There it sat, nestled at an angle upon a small green hill, facing the same dirt
path that led to the maze. The maze Andrew had said we wouldn’t be needing.

“Oh, thank God,” I breathed, leaned on my knees to catch my
breath.

“No time to rest, it’s not over yet, come on.” Joel yanked
me by the arm again, forcing me upright. Only a few feet away now, we darted
for the door and raced inside it, past the earthen hallway and over the
checkered tile, until we stood directly underneath the hole that had dropped me
into this godforsaken place.

“You ready?”

I gasped, “I’m not going back without Gavin—”

A loud rumble sounded from the end of the hallway and the
door swung open, Gavin swooping out of it and toward us.

“Speak of the devil,” Joel mumbled.

Guards poured through after him, one after the other
surrounding us, cornering us, their menacing stares striking from every
direction. Gavin latched onto me and shoved me behind him, exchanged glances
with Joel.

“Get her out of here,” Joel ordered, stepping in front of
Gavin, guarding us.

“Not like this.”

“Damn it, Gavin. I mean it. Now.”

“We’re not leaving you,” I said, looked to Gavin for
assurance.

He didn’t offer any. “Close your eyes,” he said, picked me
up, ready to launch us upward. As he crouched down, I reached out and grabbed
the back of Joel’s shirt. “Joel, please, no!”

“Take care of each other, you hear me?” he glanced back at
me, positioned himself to fight as the guards, daggers in hand, smothered him.
Gavin’s feet left the ground and I screamed, watched Joel’s compassionate, wise
face drift into the swarms of vampires covering him like a pack of lions
closing in on an animal’s carcass.

Soaring upward through the darkened hole, we crashed into a
wall of water, the impact stinging my skin. I held my breath and opened my eyes
as the water engulfed us, the same invisible force stringing us along farther
and farther upward, to the surface. The water became clearer when we neared the
bayou’s surface, and I searched for Gavin’s eyes, kept myself parallel with him
as we ascended.

The angelic purple light danced across my skin as we sailed
through it, our heads finally breaking the surface. I choked when I took in my
first breath of air, clawed to pull myself out of the water, feeling like I was
in quicksand. Gavin made his way out and reached for me, carried me to my
trusty old Jeep that sat where I had left it. My sobs began as soon as I had
enough breath to cry.

“It’s okay, love,” he panted. “Just breathe.”

“Joel’s dead because of me! Why did you leave him there?” I
spat, coughed uncontrollably. He propped me up in the passenger seat and tossed
a sweater over me, slammed the car door.

“Rest now. It’s not your fault. None of this is. The
portal’s about to close so we’ll be safe soon, but we still have to move fast,
just in case.” He slid into the driver’s seat and tried starting the car, only
to hear a rebellious stalling groan from the engine. He tried again, turned the
key desperately.

“Battery’s dead. Think I left the lights on,” I explained,
quivering.

“I need you to keep up with me. We have to make it to the
highway, all right?”

“Can’t you just fly us—?”

“No, I’m so sorry. I’m too weak.” He hung his head as he
pulled the key from the ignition. “We’ll be all right as soon as we get to the
highway, I promise.”

He pulled me from my seat, waited to make sure I could
stand, then took my hand to lead me into the woods. The sun began to rise, warm
orange light slowly filtering in through the trees from the horizon, the sounds
of dawn surrounding us. We trudged on through and eventually made it to the
highway, and my heart lightened at the sound of cars passing by.

“We’re safe for now, the portal’s closed,” Gavin said, his
relief evident. “Last night was the last crescent moon for a while. It’ll give
us some time to figure things out.” He let go of my hand and stepped closer to
the highway, shot me a weary look. “I need you to trust me right now.” His
chestnut eyes searched mine, pleading. Seeing him in the morning light, I began
to worry. His face was gaunt and haggard, looked like he needed ten years of
sleep.

“What do you mean?”

“Just please stay calm and trust me. I need to get us away
from here.”

“I thought you just said we’re safe now.”

“We are. We’re safe from … them. But we still need
distance.”

He stepped out into the road and flagged down a pickup
truck, waved his hands to get the driver’s attention.

“Get out of the way man, what do
ya
think you’re
doin
’?” The husky voice came from the
cab as the driver rolled his window down. He swerved around Gavin and plowed
into the shoulder of the road, stopped. Glaring at us, he parked and got out,
eyed me. “What’d
ya
do to this poor girl here, son?”
He stalked toward Gavin, keeping his eyes on his truck.

“Nothing, sir. But we’re in trouble and we really need a
ride. Please.”

“Did
ya
hurt this girl, son? Look
at her, she’s all banged up! I’ll call the police if I have to, miss.” He
nodded toward me and looked Gavin up and down. “Well now, you’re not looking
too hot yourself, son.”