Blood Of Fire (The Blood Burden Series) (18 page)

Fail me and you will suffer a fate much
worse than death, my dear.

The words were so clear that Sage looked
around the small space expecting to see the queen standing behind her but only
found an empty stairwell.  She took a deep breath as she tried to think of a
way out of this spiraling disaster but before she could release the air from
her lungs a searing pain rippled through her body from head to toe, dropping
her to the floor.  She wanted to scream out but her mouth was clamped tight by
the electricity streaming into her muscles.  The energy twisted and contorted
Sage's body causing her back to arch painfully and her legs to draw up to her
chest.

Sage began to pray for death, begging
for the end of her own life, the suffering was too much.  Then, just as quick
as the pain had arrived, it left; giving her control again over her limbs.  She
rolled to her back letting her body lay flat on the floor.  The torment was
over but the reminder was still sitting in her strained and hot limbs.  Tears
dropped silently from her eyes as she once again pleaded for death to take her.

Nicole lay across her bed wrapped in a
white robe.  The long bath helped to relax some of the tension from her muscles
but couldn't erase the thoughts of everything that was pressing on her mind.  A
looming war, the feeling of not fitting in on either side, and then the
struggle in her mind between Luke and Slade was eating away at her sanity.  She
let out a slightly hysterical giggle at the irony of the situation.  She didn't
really fit on either side of the war but belonged a little with both and, like
some sick twist of fate, she didn't truly fit with Luke or with Slade but felt
drawn to both.

Her mind drifted back to just a few
months ago when she was a semi-normal police woman in her small town.
  I
didn't know how good I had it,
she thought to herself. 
Police work was
easy, I got to talk to my dad every day and I had Kat there with me to cheer me
up when things got crazy.  And Luke,
she sighed remembering how kind and
chivalrous he was even then, before she knew that he was a warrior.  A small
smile lit her face as she rolled onto her stomach and hugged a throw pillow. 
I
guess he's always been able to melt me even if I never told him.

The door to her room swung open causing
her to jump.  She swept her wet curls from her face so she could see Sage,
"You scared me to death!"

Sage tossed her bag into the chair
without saying a word.  She sat down then eyed Nicole, "Were you
sleeping?"

Nicole studied Sage curiously, "No,
just resting."  She pushed herself up against the headboard leaning
against the pillows, "Where did you go?"

Sage rolled her eyes, "I decided to
get a shower too then I had a few things to take care of."

Nicole could feel the tension radiating
off of Sage but was afraid to ask so she attempted to change the subject.
"Oh…well,
what's in the bag?"

Sage looked over at the bag lost in
thought for a moment before she spoke, "I wanted to help you get dressed
for the night.  I'm actually really good at hair and makeup."  She
attempted a smile as she motioned for Nicole to go sit at the dark oak vanity.

Nicole sat down and stared at Sage as
she worked the brush through the tangles in Nicole's long curls.  Something was
weighing heavy on her friend's shoulders and judging by the smudges of Sage's
normally perfect makeup she could tell she had been crying, "Sage, what's
wrong?"

"Your hair is ridiculously
long," quipped Sage as she brushed Nicole's hair, working her way from the
tangles at the bottom to run the brush down the length of Nicole's brown locks
in one smooth motion.

"Sage, stop dodging me.  I can tell
you're upset about something...so spill," she glared at Sage who was still
refusing to make eye contact with her.

Sage continued to work with Nicole's
hair for a moment then dropped the brush down on the vanity top.  She rummaged
through the bag pulling out hair pins and a can of hairspray, "I'm just
worried about you.  You have a lot ahead of you and I know it's hard."

"I'll make it," Nicole gave
her a small smile but still had a feeling she hadn't heard the entire story.
"Is that what made you cry?"

Sage froze staring down at her hand
still inside the bag, "Nicole…Do you ever wish this wasn't your life?  If
you were given a 'do over' by the 'do over Gods' would you take it and not
enter into this world?

Nicole laughed, "You have 'Do over
Gods' here too?  This place is freaking amazing."

Sage placed her hand on her hip and
waited for Nicole to answer her.  The scowl on her face made it clear that she
wasn't playing around.

Nicole could see the worry in Sage's
eyes and it made her heart break.  She stood up and wrapped her arms around her
friend's neck hugging her tight, "Sage, I'm fine, I promise.  I'm not going
to lie, there were moments in the beginning that I wanted nothing to do with
this life.  I wanted to hide away from it all but then I realized that I
couldn't."

"But what if you never knew about
this life at all?  Don't you think you would be happier?"

Nicole pulled away to look into Sage's
eyes, "What?  And miss the chance to have you as one of my best friends? 
No," she shook her head.  "I wouldn't change anything now.  I know we
can't predict what's going to happen but I'm where I should be right now."

Sage took a in a shaky breath as she
hugged Nicole back again, "Okay, enough of all this sappy shit.  We've got
to get you ready."

Nicole sat back down and let Sage go to
work on her hair.  She watched in silence as each pin was carefully inserted. 
Every spiraling curl had a place that only Sage could fully understand but as
the moments ticked by Nicole looked more and more like royalty instead of the
rough around the edges country girl she was.  The finished look was eloquent
with all her hair twisted up on her head except for a few well-placed curls
that hung loose.

Without a word Sage went to artfully
applying Nicole's makeup with light touches.  The tension between her and
Nicole had died down in the silence but the darkness of Sage's task still weighed
heavy on her heart.  Sage took a deep breath then asked, "Do you not miss
your family back home?"

"Of course I do.  I miss them
something awful," Nicole tilted her head back so she could see her
friend's eyes. "Why the random question?"

Shrugging her shoulders she pulled a
round makeup brush from the bag and dabbed it into face powder, "I just
figured that if you had the chance to go back to your family without all of
this you would take it."

Nicole was fed up with the odd way Sage
was acting so she pushed her hand away, "Tell me what's going on Sage. 
There's something happening and you're not being honest with me.  Are you
trying to tell me to go back home?"

"No, that's not what I'm
saying."

"Then what?" Nicole's voice
was a bit louder than she intended.

"Nothing, Nicole!  I'm
just….worried."

"So that means, to make you feel
better, I should go back home and pretend like none of this is going on?  You
want me to let this war play out and people die while I stick my head in the
sand?"

Sage spun away from Nicole and in a
flash she threw the small brush across the room where it slammed against the
wall, "Would that be so fucking bad Nicole?  You would be safe.  Let Teya
and Loch fight this out and you go on living your life like you used to."

"That's not possible and you know
it Sage.  For one, Loch wouldn't let me live; he's already made that pretty
damn clear," Nicole stood up and stomped over in front of where Sage stood
glaring at her.  "And I can't just forget my powers or my destiny, Sage."

The mention of the word
"destiny" had Sage's heart in her throat.  A flash of the young fairy
dead on the floor consumed her thoughts for a moment.  She watched as the
memory warped into a vision of the future and Nicole lay on the floor with her
lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling above.  She cringed but the image drove
home the fact that she had to talk Nicole into this so Teya couldn't do the
same to her best friend.  It was the only way to save her from a fate she knew
her friend wasn't strong enough to keep from happening, "I can help you
forget it all, even your powers."  She pulled the emerald necklace from
her waistband but kept it hidden in her palm.

As the meaning of Sage's words hit
Nicole her eyes widened and she struggled to form words, "You know I don't
want that."

"But it would be safe.  I would
watch over you and so would Luke.  You would never know we were there and you
wouldn't have to deal with the weight of this war on your shoulders." Sage
pleaded for her to understand.

Nicole could see genuine worry lining
Sage's snow white skin around her eyes and mouth.  She placed her hands on the
small fairy's face, "Thank you so much for caring enough about me to want
to protect me but this is my war to fight.  Loch must be stopped
—b
y me.  I can't
do that without knowing who I am and," she hugged Sage tight then went to
sit in the chair again, "I can't do this without you on my side.  I need
you to support me, Sage."

Running her hand across her face Sage
nodded her head.  There was no way to convince Nicole to do this so she would
just have to do it without her consent.  She sighed deeply then walked over
picking up the discarded makeup brush from the floor, "I knew you were too
damn stubborn to talk any sense into," she gave a dry laugh, "so let's
finish getting ready for tonight."

She stepped up beside Nicole and picked
up the loose face powder and dabbed the full brush into it before swirling in
small circles around Nicole's face.  Once she was done she picked up a dark
brown eyeliner, "Close your eyes and lean your head back for me."

Nicole followed her instructions then
said, "Don't be upset with me please.  I know you want to protect me but
I'm doing what needs to be done."

"And so am I," whispered Sage
as she placed her fingertips on each of Nicole's temples.  She sent energy
jolting into Nicole's head causing her to jerk for a split second then she
stared up into Sage's face with dazed, doll like eyes.  "Nicole, listen
carefully to me," Sage's lip began to quiver as she tried to form the
words she needed.  "You must…" her voice trailed off as she stared
down at the necklace twined in her own fingers.  She let it drop loose so she
could see the green jewel shinning in the light of the room.  Her mind began to
spin with a million scenarios at once.  What to plant in Nicole's head so her
life would be happy?  What should she do when she's done?  How to deal with
Teya once the deal is finished?

She placed her hands back on Nicole's
temples, "This is the right thing for you, Nicole.  You’re my best friend
and I love you."  Tears flowed down Sage's cheeks as she looked down into
Nicole's blank gaze and then froze.  How could she let herself be forced to
betray her friend?  Nicole had been through so much already and now she was
about to wipe away all her self-sacrifice as if it meant nothing; giving her a
few blank pages filled with lies in place of all the memories of her
struggles.  "Screw this," She stepped back, "Teya can't kill me
without people noticing me missing and I'm sure as hell not going down without
a fight.  I'm not her little bitch and I'm done acting like one."

"Hey," she snapped her fingers
in front of Nicole's face causing her to blink. "Stop day dreaming on me,
we've got to finish getting you ready."