Revenant (21 page)

“Why now? Why do you need him now if
the ritual isn’t until the witching hour?” I demanded.

Caleb ignored me and spoke directly to
Dean. “Are you coming with us? Seriously, please put up a fight. It would make
my day.”

Dean relaxed from his fighting stance and
gently pushed me aside. “I’m coming.” Before I could react, Dean turned back
and grabbed me by the shoulders, pulling me to him until my head came to rest
on his chest.

I could hear his rapid heartbeat, the
staccato tempo matching my own.

His arms enfolded me in a gentle
embrace as he whispered in my ear, “If I’m not back within the hour, go without
me. As soon as it gets dark, make a run for it.”

I pulled back and started to say
something, but before I could get the words out Dean’s mouth came down on mine.
It was a soft, sweet kiss, and just like back in the asylum, I found myself
kissing him back when his lips touched mine. The moment I did, his arms
tightened around me and his kiss became more demanding. For a
moment,
I forgot Caleb.
Forgot about the hellhounds.
For one sweet
moment,
I sank into him and forgot about the world around me.

When we broke apart, I looked up into
his face. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I might never see him again. “Everything
will be okay,” I said, tears springing up suddenly in my eyes. I wanted so
desperately to believe my words, but somewhere inside, I was worried something
terrible was about to happen.

He raised his hand up to my cheek and
wiped away
a tear.
“I wouldn’t take any
of it back. I don’t regret all the things that have happened.” He gave a small
laugh. “Okay… Maybe I would change a few things, but everything that happened
led me to you.” His fingers brushed up against my lips. “You know, I’m in love
with you.”

I rocked back on my heels, the shock of
his words taking my breath away.

He gave me a sad smile. “I don’t expect
you to feel the same way. I know
he
still has a hold on you.”

Luke
.
For a moment I had forgotten about him. And with that realization I felt a rush
of guilt.

I started to turn away but Dean reached
out and cupped my face in both his hands. “Stay alive.” He leaned in and kissed
me again, but it was different this time.
It
felt as if he were kissing me for the last time. Like he was saying good-bye.

“I’m sorry to break up this touching
scene, but it’s time to go,” Caleb said in an amused voice.

Dean looked over at Caleb and raised
his hands. “I won’t put up a fight.”

Caleb turned and walked across the room,
Dean following. At the
threshold,
Dean
stopped and turned back to me. “Colina… I love you.”

And with those words, he walked out the
door.

I was frozen in place. Both my hands
were at my chest. I could feel my heart racing, pounding like crazy.

“I never thought he would tell you,” came
Wendy’s voice behind me.

I turned and stared at her.

She gave me a small smile. “I’m surprised,
really, that he told you he loved you. I mean, it’s obvious—anyone can
see it—but I never thought he would have the courage
to say it
out loud.”

How could I respond to that? Dean
proclaimed his love for me and deep inside him somewhere, Luke heard it all.
What would I say to Luke when I saw him again? How could I explain my actions?
Why didn’t I push Dean away when he kissed me? The first time Dean kissed me
was back at the asylum, when we were about to try our escape. He had grabbed me
and kissed me before I could stop him, but I hadn’t pulled away—instead I
had leaned in and kissed him back. And I had felt passion, desire. We had never
talked about that kiss, and I had tried to push those feelings away. Yet here I
was, kissing him again.

Wendy was walking around the room with
a smile on her face. “Maybe one day Jacob will say…” Her words petered off.

Jacob. Did Wendy love him? Did she
confide in him?

As I looked at Wendy, a panicky feeling
built inside me. “Did you tell him?”

She looked confused. “Tell who? Tell
what?”

“Tell Jacob. About our plans.”

She turned her face away and didn’t
answer.
I’ve seen the way you are with
Jacob,
I wanted to shout at her
. You
trust him more than you trust me.
“I know you care for him. Are you in love
with him?”

She looked back at me, her cheeks
colored, but she demanded, “And so what if I am? It’s none of your business.”

It was my turn to be surprised.
How can she not see what she’s doing? How
crazy her actions are?
“Wendy, he works for Gage. He’s one of the bad guys.”

“He’s not,” she refuted, shaking her
head.

I grabbed her arm and gave a laugh that
sounded hysterical even to my
own
ears. “How
can you believe he
really
cares for you?
He’s working for
them
. He’s
guarding
us. Keeping us
hostage
.”

She pulled her arm away. “He…he doesn’t
have a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice.” The hypocrisy
of my words struck me as soon as I said them. How often had I thought I had no
choice? That I thought I
was backed
into
a corner?

Her eyes took on a wild look. “If he
tries to leave now, Gage will have him killed.”

“So he says.”

“He’s not lying to me.” Anger filled
her eyes. “You don’t think
I
can tell
if someone’s lying to me? Jacob loves me. He would never hurt me.”

“How is he helping you?” When she
didn’t answer I shouted at her, “By mooning over you? By making love to you?”

Her hand came out fast and hard,
slapping me across the face.

I gasped and cradled my burning cheek,
determination coloring my face just as much as pain.
I refuse to be scared of her this time. If she wants a fight, I’m
ready.
I planted my feet and said, “He’s our enemy.”

“He would never hurt me,” she spat.
After a moment’s hesitation, she added, “But can I say the same about you?”

I recoiled at her words. “What does
that
mean?”

She gave a harsh laugh. “You’re
reckless, Colina. You do whatever you want no matter the consequences.” She gestured
around the room. “Why do you think we’re here? Everything
you’ve
done so far brought us to this place.”

Her words hurt more than her slap. “I
helped you escape from the asylum. I protected you from a serial killer.”

She laughed louder this time. “And look
where we are now. Held by a man who wants to use your dark magic. You know, no
one
forced
you to become a death
dealer.”

“You know I had no choice,” I
whispered. “I had to learn the Death Arts.”

“
Everyone
has a choice
, remember?” she said scornfully, echoing my words from just a
moment ago. She continued, “You released the demon.” She moved closer. “Why did
you go back into that mansion in the first place? Why did you focus your magic
on Macaven’s dagger?”

“I couldn’t let the men who killed my
family
get away
,” I answered.

“Right. The world is always about what
you
need, what
you
want,” she shouted at me.

Stung by her words, I couldn’t help but
look at her in shock before scrambling to defend myself. “Th-th-that’s not true—”

She waved her hands wildly. “It is!
You couldn’t let Luke go.
If you had let
him
pass
on to
the other side,
none of us would be here.”

It was my turn to get angry. “And
you
would still be in
the asylum,
hunted by a serial killer!”

She glared at me for a few minutes in
silence and then finally said in a soft voice, “I think I would have been safer
there. I’m a hostage here, forced to be possessed by those creatures, because
of
you
.”

My anger melted. “If I could go back
and change things, I would.” I reached out for her hand, but she backed away
and gave me a hard stare.

“Would you? Would
you, really
? Would you tell Luke to go to the
light? Would you let him go?”

“I…”

“Will you ever let him go?”

“No,” I whispered.

“How many people will suffer because of
your selfishness, Colina? How many more will die?” she demanded through tears
before turning and running from the room.

I watched her go. My nightmare of Dean,
his eyes pleading with me to help him as he lay dying on the floor, flashed
before my eyes again. Wendy’s words echoed through my mind.

How
many
more will
die?

An hour passed and Dean
didn’t return. I waited in the doorway, looking out toward the trees.

Dean wanted me to run, but I knew there was
no way I would. Even if Wendy would come with me, I wouldn’t leave Dean and
Luke in Gage’s hands.
A moan of frustration escaped my mouth. I tried to
force back the panic and raw emotions that were swirling through me.

Tonight Gage would perform the transfer spell.
Luke would be free of Dean. He would have his life back. It was what I’d risked
everything for, and now it was within my grasp. All I had to do was turn a
blind eye to Dean’s fate, and I’d have what I’d dreamed of.

My fingers touched my lips. I could still
feel the heat of Dean’s lips against mine.
He
told me he loved me
. A tear slid down my cheek. All I had to do was not care.
But yet, I did. I cared too much, and that scared me more than I wanted to
admit.

I loved Luke, but—no matter how much I
hated to admit it—somewhere deep inside, I had feelings for Dean. I couldn’t
stand by and allow Gage to hurt him.

My head was pounding. I raised trembling
hands to my temples. What Gage wanted most in the world was for me to join his
group. He wanted my
cooperation
,
my magic for his dark purposes. That gave me some minute power over him. If I
went to Gage before the ritual and offered to cooperate with him if he released
Dean after the ceremony, he might do it. He wanted to keep me happy and
productive.

Come midnight, Luke would be free, and so
would Dean
—if
Gage agreed.
If
the ritual went as planned.
If. If. If.
There were too many ifs. All
I knew for sure was that I couldn’t run. Not without the others.

With that decided, I took a deep breath,
stood up, and closed the door.

* * *

I dressed myself in Gage’s
official henchman uniform
: black T-shirt, black
jeans, black boots.
The somber attire certainly suited my mood. I’d been
pacing back and forth for hours, my eyes continually drawn to the hallway. At any
minute, Caleb would come for me. I didn’t know what the current time was, but I
knew it was getting close to midnight and the witching hour. Back at the
asylum, I’d always wondered how Mildred was able to tell when the witching hour
was upon us. But as more time since my death dealer initiation passed, I found I
could feel a subtle change in the air around me as it grew closer. There was an
energy that seemed to swell and grow, a tingling and swirling in the air.

“Is it time?” I spun around at Wendy’s voice.
She
wore the same
dark clothes
as me, and her hair was in a neat braid
hanging down one shoulder.

I looked down shamefully. We’d said hateful
things to each other in the heat of our argument. I know I regretted the things
I’d said. I didn’t have many allies and the ones I had, I needed to keep. “Wendy…
I’m sorry about—”

She raised her hand and stopped me. “It’s
okay.”

Before I could say anything more, Caleb and
Jacob entered the room, both dressed in black and looking identical except for
their haircuts. Jacob made a beeline for Wendy.

She gave him a wide smile as he came to her
side. She reached out and put her hand in his.

Caleb stood motionless, silent. I watched
him. He had a disapproving look as he watched the couple put their heads
together and whisper. I knew the expression on my face was the same.
It seems Caleb and I have one thing in
common—neither of us like Jacob and Wendy’s relationship.

I wondered if Gage was aware of the budding
romance between his guard and prisoner. If he found out, would he embrace it? Or
would he bring down some
sort of
harsh
retribution? Wendy had said that if Jacob tried to escape, Gage would kill him.
I didn’t know if it was true. But Gage had shown he was capable of such an act.
Gage was a man intent on becoming as dark as the demons.

I looked over at Caleb. “So what now?”

“You and I head out,” Caleb answered.

He had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder
and a lantern in his hand, both of which he set down on the floor. He rummaged
around in the bag and pulled out a black jacket, holding it out to me.

I didn’t move a muscle.

Caleb looked amused as I wavered in obvious
confusion, watching him closely for hints of what he intended. He seemed to
enjoy my discomfort, stretching it out as long as he could. He finally said, “A
storm’s coming. They’re calling for rain tonight. But hey, no problem for me if
you’d rather get drenched.” He moved to drop the jacket back in the bag.

“We’re going outside?” I’d thought Gage would
do the ritual in the big cavern where he had his
party.
The thought of walking off into the woods alone with Caleb
terrified me. Once again, my mind flashed back to what happened the last time
he’d dragged me out into the woods. Somehow I kept the panic I felt inside from
showing in my voice. Reluctantly, I held out my hand.

The tight-lipped smile Caleb gave me as he
handed over the jacket didn’t reach his eyes.

I put it on before looking back at Wendy and
Jacob. “Aren’t they coming with us?”

Caleb swung the bag onto his shoulder and
picked up the lantern. “No. Seems the boss has something he wants you to do
before tonight’s big show.”

Fear shot through me at his words.
What does Gage want from me now?

Caleb walked across the room, out the door,
and into the night, motioning for me to follow. I looked back once more toward
Wendy and Jacob. They were staring into each other’s eyes. I took a deep
breath, squared my shoulders, and followed Caleb outside.

A full moon was out—I could see it
peeking through the dark clouds as they slid across the sky. Caleb lit the
candle in the lantern and then swung it to the right. “It’s not far to the
field.”

His words sent my head spinning. “The field?”

This time he gave me a wide, true smile. “Looks
like the boss thought it would be a good night to raise some zombies.” Caleb
looked up into the night sky. “But we have to get going. He wants you to get it
done before the storm gets here.”

Why were we raising zombies now? Gage had
said it would take forty days before they would be ready.

The wind picked up. Branches whipped back and
forth as we made our way through the dark. The flickering light of the lantern illuminated
our way, casting long shadows against the bushes on either side of us. Large
swaying trees gave glimpses of the moon, but the contrast just made the shadows
deeper. The lights of the old town quickly disappeared behind us, as if the
area were never there in the first place. It felt like the rest of the world
ceased to exist. It was strangely reassuring. My problems, no matter how vast,
seemed to shrink against the scale of the storm front moving through the
forest. I could almost convince myself that if I turned into the dark and
walked away, I would be able to find peace somewhere away from all of this.

The feeling didn’t last long.

We walked for about ten minutes until we were
making our way up a familiar embankment. As I climbed my way to the
top,
I moved back into
a world
of chaos and danger. The scene before me was familiar.
Barrels
were scattered
around the field, a
bright fire burning in each one. The wind whipped the flames, creating swirling
shadows and glowing embers. About twenty bodies in green plastic body bags were
lined up on the grass in two neat rows.

Gage stood by one of the barrels, warming his
hands over the flames. When he saw us, he raised a hand in greeting. “It’s
about time.”

As we made our way to Gage’s side, he shot a
hard stare at Caleb before turning to give me a half smile. “There’s a full
moon out this evening. Can you feel the energy in the air? It’s a powerful
night. A night I thought we shouldn’t waste.” He pointed to the closest body
bag, then reached down and unzipped it to reveal a natron-
covered
corpse. “The drying process isn’t even
close to done, but I thought we should see if you can still bind the souls into
the bodies this long after they’ve died.”

In the house
and
caverns, the air around me felt calm and quiet, but here in the field I
could feel the ether sea swirling with energy. The hairs on the back of my neck
stood up. We were not alone… I felt the spirits hovering around me, clambering
for my attention.

Gage watched me, seeming to sense my
uneasiness. “It’s true that the demon ate all the souls back at the mine and in
the town, but I didn’t let the creature come near this field.” He gestured
widely with his arm. “This was an old battlefield. Many men died and
spilled
a lot of blood on this very land
hundreds of years ago.” His eyes gleamed. “I swear I can feel the violence from
those glorious battles still vibrating through the air.” When I didn’t say
anything, he continued. “You can’t bind spirits without spirits.” He gave a
laugh. “There are plenty of them here. All I need you to do, Colina, is what
you did before. Reach out and touch the bodies. Bind a spirit to each one.”

I had hoped for a longer reprieve—hoped
it would take time to perfect his mummies. I turned away from the corpse,
trying to think of any excuse that he would accept. “I…I can’t.”

His right hand shot out and grabbed my arm.
His fingers clamped down hard as he pulled me toward
him
until I was only inches away from his face. “You know what I
need you to do, so be a good girl and do as you
’re
told
.” He let go of my arm and gave me a wide smile, shifting back into
an amiable facade. “I promise you’ll be rewarded tonight when Luke is finally
in
a body
of his own.”

I rubbed my arm and looked over at Caleb. I
could tell by the expression on his face that he was enjoying the show.

I looked down at the body in the bag before
me and gasped in sudden recognition.
It was the
woman
from the Guivre Guild magic shop. Her eyes
were shut
, and she looked peaceful, as though she were just
sleeping.

I dropped to my knees.
This is
wrong, this is so wrong
.
My mind and body were screaming
at me
to
run, to get out of there as fast as I could, but instead of running I took a
deep breath and forced my hands out. All I had to do was touch the body. I’d
done it many times before.

My hands paused in midair as I remembered the
plan I’d made. I looked back at Gage. “I’ll do it…if you promise to let Dean
go.”

Gage
frowned,
and his eyes narrowed. “You think you can negotiate with me?”

“Unless you promise not to hurt Dean…I won’t
do it.” I sat back on my heels, squaring my shoulders and trying not to show my
fear, but my hands trembled. I gripped them tight together, placing them firmly
in my lap. “I don’t care if you hurt me, or even if you kill me. If I don’t
have your word that you will
not
harm Dean
, my cooperation ends here.”

Gage’s eyes glowed an unearthly red. “I don’t
like ultimatums.”

My words came out in a whisper. “I can’t let
you hurt him. I
won’t
let you kill
him.”

Gage watched me in silence for a long while.

My heart
beat
rapidly in my chest.
What kind of magic
does Gage have? What will he do to me?

Gage looked up into the sky and I followed
his glance. Dark clouds had rolled in and the moon had disappeared. The trees
on the edge of the field were whipping back and forth, dancing in the harsh
wind. I felt a drop of rain hit my cheek.

Gage wiped a raindrop off his hand. His voice
was eerily calm. “It seems we are at an impasse. All right… You win this round.
Now, I need you to get the bodies bound before it starts to pour. The last
thing we need is for the natron to wash away.”

I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath
while waiting for his answer. I half expected him to pull out a knife and kill
me on the spot for my impudence. “Give me your word that you won’t harm Dean,”
I demanded in a burst of suspicion, forcing my voice to be strong.

He laughed this time. “You have my word,
Colina. I won’t harm
a hair
on Dean’s
precious head. He will have to stay with us a little longer, but once he can no
longer harm my plans, I will let him go.”

For one brief moment, I felt a sense of
relief.
Dean will be safe.
And then
dread replaced the relief.

I had work to do.

Gage wouldn’t be happy until spirits filled
all the bodies in the field. I turned back to the corpse and reached out, and
my fingers grazed across cold skin. There was a now-familiar explosion within
me, an orange light that seemed to radiate from the very depths of my being and
race up through my limbs. Caleb and Gage’s eyes grew wider as the orange energy
burst out from me and whizzed like fireworks into the air all around us.