Forbidden (34 page)

Roseline nodded.
 
“He was trying to protect her…from me.”
 
Her voice cracked as she looked away.
 
In the instant she did, she felt a sword bury to the hilt in her heart.
 
“Oh no,” she screamed, throwing herself onto her knees and crawled around Sadie.
 
She found it hard to breath.
 
“Gabriel!”

Her hands flitted along his face, his scarred chest and the gaping wounds on his arms.
 
“What happened to him?” she whispered, horrified.

“He was bait,” Fane replied without emotion.

Roseline felt faint.
 
“For me?”
 
she asked, already knowing the answer.
 
She groaned and lifted Gabriel’s head into her lap.
 
Roseline closed her eyes, desperately fighting to block out all of the other sounds in the room to find his heartbeat.
 
It felt like ages had passed before she found it.
 
She’d never heard a human’s heart beat so slowly, so weakly.
 

“How is he still alive?” she gasped, staring at Fane.
 
“He should have been dead hours ago.”
 

Fane shrugged, completely at a loss as to the answer.
 
He’d been wondering the same thing.
 
No human could lose that much blood and still be alive.
 
But then again…did they really know that he was human?
 
He was Lucien’s son after all.
 

Fane rose to his feet, pausing at the cell door.
 
“I should probably go help…” he broke off as blood gurgled from his mouth.

Roseline cried out, her eyes dropping to the sword that’d sliced through his chest, wedging not far from his frantically beating heart.
 

“Fane!” she shrieked.

Fane’s eyes bulged as
Vladimir
pushed the sword deeper, its angle piercing away from his heart, slicing off bone splinters from his sternum.
 
A sickening gurgling sound erupted from his throat as he coughed up a bubble of blood.
 
It popped, spraying Roseline and William.

The sword jerked to a halt as Nicolae attacked, forcing
Vladimir
to retreat.

William stumbled backward, frantically trying to wipe the blood from his face and arms.
 
Roseline rose to her feet, the edge of her vision tainted red.
 
“You ok?”

Fane’s eyes met hers as he nodded, weakened by the pain.
 
“I will be…” he gasped, sinking to the floor.
 
Roseline knelt by his side, placing her hand behind his back.
 
“Just get it over with.”

Roseline nodded, yanking the sword out of his body.
 
Fane’s scream wrenched at her heart, but she clamped off her emotions.
 
Roseline eased Fane to the floor, turning towards William.
 
“When I leave, lock the door.
 
No matter what happens, don’t open it.”

William’s eyes were as wide as saucers, his mouth filled with the foul taste from a second wave of bile rising in his throat.
 
“What about him?”

“Keep him comfortable till I get back,” she replied, her voice clipped.

“You mean he’s not going to die?” William gasped, horrified at the reality of how much it took to kill an Immortal.
 

Roseline slipped off her bloodied cloak and tossed it to William.
 
“Use this to stop the bleeding.
 
I’ll be back soon.”
 
She crouched low and leaped through the opening, spinning in mid air as she slammed the door shut.
 
The lock sounded before her feet even touched the ground.

“Whoa!” William breathed.
 
“Now that’s cool!”

“Tell me about it,” Fane croaked, scooting towards William.
 
“You should see her when she’s really angry!” he laughed sarcastically, wincing at the burning in his lungs.
 

Roseline ignored their quips, focusing only on
Vladimir
.
 
He had yet to realize she had joined the fight.
 
It was taking all of his focus to keep up with Nicolae’s flashing reflexes.
 
Roseline swung the sword around and around, watching the battle.
 
It was time to act.
 
Nicolae was tiring. It was only a matter of time before he was slain.

“
Vladimir
!” she screamed, planting her feet as she raised the sword her husband had buried into Fane’s back.
 

Her husband bashed the hilt of his sword into Nicolae’s face, not even pausing to watch the blood that flew from his shattered nose as he turned to face his wife.
 
“Ah, I see you’re whole again…and looking as lovely as ever.”
 
Vladimir
’s frosty voice sent chills racing up her spine.

“No thanks to you,” she hissed, clasping the sword tightly in her hand.
 
Her knuckles turned white, popping under the strain.
 
This was a battle she refused to lose.

Vladimir
tried to look pained, but failed miserably.
 
“This is all your fault you know,” he said, waving his hand around the room.
 
His gaze flickered towards the cell.
 
“Your friends and your lover are all in pretty bad shape because of you.”

“You’re poisonous words won’t work on me this time
Vladimir
,” Roseline growled.

Her husband tsked, shaking his head.
 
“That’s no way to speak to your husband.”

Roseline snarled at him, raising her sword into the air.
 
“I want a divorce.”

Vladimir
’s cold black eyes narrowed.
 
“You belong to me Roseline Dragomir…for all eternity.”

“Never,” she screamed, launching herself across the room.
 
All of the years of torture, misery and loneliness mounted in that single moment, fueling her rage to heights even she had never known existed.

Her sword sliced cleanly through
Vladimir
’s replacement sword, sending sparks into the air.
 
His sword fell, its pieces clattering to the floor.
 
Vladimir
spun away, desperately searching for a new weapon.
 
Roseline had to move fast.

She crouched low and shot up into the air, whirling over
Vladimir
’s head.
 
The bottom of her dress grazed his face, obscuring his vision for a split second, but it was enough.

“Roseline,” Nicolae shouted, tossing his crossbow high into the air.

The instant her fingers wrapped around the weapon, Roseline’s foot smashed into
Vladimir
’s face.
 
Blood spewed from his lips, teeth ground into dust.
 
He sprawled on his back, head slamming forcefully against the stone floor.
 
The sound of his skull fracturing fueled Roseline’s rage.

She knelt above him, trapping him with her knee on his chest.
 
“This is for my sister!” she shrieked, letting loose the arrow.

It pierced through his ribs, grazing his heart.
 
Blood seeped into his chest cavity, slowly filling up.
 
His eyes widened in fear as he listening to his own heart struggle to beat.
 

“Play time is over,”
Vladimir
growled, tossing Roseline end over end as he shot to his feet.
 
The arrow protruded from his chest.
 
He gripped it, roaring as he tore it out.
 
Vladimir
launched it with immense velocity.
 
She barely had time to blink before the arrow slammed into its target.

It took her a second to realize that she felt nothing.
 
No pain.
 
Then she heard the thud.

“Nicolae!” Roseline screeched, instantly at the boy’s side.
 
The arrow had impaled through his shoulder, luckily missing all vital arteries.
 
His face was pinched with agony as he writhed on the floor.

“Hold on,” she whispered.
 
Without warning, Roseline snapped off the end of the arrow, pulling the spear head away from his back.

A fluttering of black was the only hint of
Vladimir
’s escape.
 
Roseline’s arm sliced through the air, hurling the broken steel tipped arrow at his back.
 
The blood coated arrow head burrowed into
Vladimir
’s fleeing back but it did nothing to stop him.
 
The wound wasn’t fatal…unfortunately.
 
He was gone.

“You stupid fool!” Roseline growled, pulling Nicolae into her arms.
 
She carried him carefully over to the cage, her heart wrenching at the sight of her war ridden friends.

Fane’s eyes were closed as he leaned against the cool wall.
 
Already the blood had begun to clot, sealing off the wound, skin beginning to knit back together.
 
His Immortal blood would soon seal over the lesion, forever hiding the evidence of his injury.
 
It would be a long and painful healing, but he would survive.

Sadie’s color had returned slightly, her breathing much less labored than before.
 
William cuddled up to her, holding her limply in his arms.
 
His face was streaked with blood.
 
His tears cleaning away winding trails of grime from his face.

Gabriel’s heart still beat at a snails pace but Roseline had no idea why or even how.
 
Each breath he took was a miracle.
 

“Rose…” Sadie whispered weakly, struggling to lift her hand.

Roseline carefully settled Nicolae next to Fane, propping him up on his good side.
 
Despite her great care to not jostle him, Nicolae still cried out in pain.
 
“William, throw me your shirt.”

Without thinking, William stripped, his skin pimpling against the frigid draft pouring from the open tunnel.
 
“Hold this tightly over the wound,” she commanded Nicolae before hurrying away.

“Sadie.
 
I’m here,” Roseline whispered, dropping low so her friend could see her.
 
“How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been run over by an elephant.”
 
Roseline laughed, brushing back her flattened hair.
 
“I’ve been thinking…” Sadie trailed off, wincing as she pushed herself up.
 
“I’d like to go blond next.”

William stared at his sister in amazement.
 
“You nearly died and all you can think about is your next hair color?
 
Unbelievable!”

Roseline smirked, shaking her head.
 
“What’s the theme this time?”

Sadie grinned mischievously, a faint glimmer of her former self.
 
“I’m thinking of going Christian.”

William spluttered, glancing at Roseline to see her reaction.
 
When all he saw was her good natured humor he reprimanded Sadie.
 
“You can’t just ‘go Christian’.
 
It’s a whole faith thing you know.”

Sadie shrugged.
 
“I’m thinking I might give God a try...just in case,” she whispered.
 
Roseline didn’t want to think of what might have happened if Fane hadn’t stopped her in time.
 
Maybe Sadie was right.
 
Getting on good terms with God was a great idea if she was going to spend any more time around Roseline.