Revenant (24 page)

All the energy drained from
me,
I fell to my knees and looked over to Luke.
The spirit wolf stood over him, shrinking slowly as the energy I’d given it dissipated.
Though the added magic
was now gone
, its eyes
still glowed with a golden-red hue, like the sun setting on the horizon, and it
was larger than it had been originally. It turned and ran into the darkness beyond
the edge of tent, the rest of its spirit pack joining as it chased the
remaining hellhound. I wondered for a second what I had done. Had I somehow
changed the wolf forever? For good or evil? I shook off the question and turned
back to Luke’s inert body.

He lay unmoving on the ground.
Oh, Goddess, please. Please. Let the spell
have worked, or at least let him still be in Dean
. Sheer panic gave me
strength, and I pushed myself up and staggered to his side. With trembling
hands,
I reached out to touch Luke, but my
fingers froze in the air as I remembered his friend, Freddy, screaming in my
head,
You
can’t touch him!
I-I won’t let you turn him into a zombie.

I had seen him move before, but now he was
motionless. A sob escaped my lips.
What
if Luke’s dead?
I wiped at my tears, trying to think quickly.
Dean—it’s Dean’s body
.
If Dean’s
dead,
Luke’s soul is back in the ether sea.

If
Dean’s
dead,
I’ve lost them both.

For two
heartbeats,
my fingers hovered in the air.
If I
touch
Dean and he’s dead, I’ll turn him into a
zombie.
Fear kept me immobile, but not for long.

I had to know.

My fingers reached out and felt for a pulse. There
was no bright flash of orange, no tug on my energy.

His heart was still beating.

Dean was alive.

I cried out in relief and rocked back on my
heels.
He’s alive. And there’s a chance Luke
is still with me
.

Caleb lay motionless on the ground next to
him. The hellhound had killed him. I wouldn’t be sorry to see him gone.

My heart still constricting, I looked up at
the body on the boulder. I wouldn’t be able to tell if the spell was successful
until Luke spoke from Dean’s body, or the boy woke up. Mildred approached the
boulder, completely at ease with the chaos that had just transpired. She looked
from Luke to the boy, her expression mildly curious. “The spell
wasn’t completed…
the transfer didn’t work.” Her
tone was calm, as if commenting on the weather instead of the life or death of
the one I loved.

My stomach dropped.
If he didn’t transfer, could Luke’s spirit have been forced out, pushed
back into the ether sea?
I bent down and called out Luke’s name frantically.
“Luke, can you hear me? Luke?”

A few heavy seconds passed. Luke’s eyes stayed
shut, but he whispered, “Colina.”

Relief raced through me and I swallowed a
sob. Luke was alive.

But then, unexpectedly, I heard a moan and glanced
over at Caleb.
He’s…moving?
I
watched,
stunned,
as he rolled into a
sitting position, groaning in pain and looking around in confusion.

I
heard that hellhound take a soul. I know I did.
The air rushed out of my lungs as one thought roared through me:
if it didn’t take Caleb’s soul, then it must
have taken either Dean’s or Luke’s.
My heart stuttered. I leaned down and
called out Luke’s name again.

“Luke?”

He opened his eyes, but they were wrong—they
were blue. My chest constricted. I was looking into the face of Dean, not Luke.

For a
moment,
reality seemed to tilt. The world around me narrowed.

The
hellhound took Luke’s soul
. “No!” I wailed, screaming out Luke’s name.

I felt myself falling. Everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes, I saw steel bars. I was back in the
cell. I didn’t know how long I’d been here. I had no memory of getting here.
Was I carried…did I walk?
And then the
memories rushed over me.

The
hellhound. Luke on the ground. Those blue eyes staring up at me—blue, not
dark gray. It was Dean who woke up despite the late hour, which meant Luke was
no longer inside him. Luke
was pushed
out—no,
wait—he wasn’t pushed out.
The
hellhound attacked—I heard it devour his soul.

A cry broke from my lips.

The creature had taken Luke’s soul. My cry turned
into one sob after another. Despair ripped through me. My body trembled as an ache
shot through me—an ache so painful and strong, I thought my heart might
stop.

But it didn’t.

My heart continued to beat. I continued to
breathe.
I’m still alive, but Luke is gone.

I don’t know how long I sobbed on the dirt floor.
I cried until I could cry no more. Eventually, I slowly pushed myself into a
sitting position.

It
only took a second for me to realize I wasn’t alone. For a moment, my heart
stopped as I waited for ghostly fingers to caress my face, waited for his voice
to whisper that he loved me.

Then
I heard
a noise
and turned my head. The
company I had was not ghostly after all—it was all too human.

Gage
stood on the other side of the bars with Caleb by his side.

“I’m
sorry, my dear. I had no choice. You’ve been quite mad and inconsolable.” Gage
motioned over to Caleb. “You struck anyone who tried to touch you.”

There
were two long red scratches running down Caleb’s cheek and bite marks on his
arm.
I did that?

Gage
leaned closer. “Your spirit pack cost me two hellhounds.” His eyes narrowed. “You
injured a half-dozen people with that little blast of yours.” Then,
unexpectedly, his face broke into a smile. “Color me impressed. Just when I
thought your powers might have serious limitations, you do something I’ve never
seen
before
—you make an animal
spirit powerful enough to tear apart a hellhound. Even the most seasoned mages have
a hard time against hellhounds. But not you. You
really
are
the most fascinating
creature.”

I
watched him, but no words came out of my mouth. Tears were streaming down my
face. Heartache. Loss. Only those emotions raged inside me, so raw and powerful
that I thought I might lose my sanity.

“You
need to calm yourself. Get yourself under control.” Gage looked annoyed at my
tears. I was falling apart in front of him, but I didn’t care, nor could I stop
the wave of emotions that were crashing through me. “My dear, you are making
yourself hysterical. I’m not sure what went wrong, but I promise you I’m
looking into it.”

“Luke…”
I wanted to say more, but I couldn’t get the rest of the words out.

Gage
looked uncomfortable, as if he was unused to attempting sympathy and annoyed by
the necessity. “I’m sorry, but it seems the hellhound”—he stopped and seemed
to consider his words carefully
—“the
beasts are hard to control under the best of
circumstances.
They’re…ravenous creatures.”

Gage
was voicing my worst fears. But still, for a moment I held on to a glimmer of
hope. “Is he…back in the ether sea?” I finally managed to whisper from between
trembling lips.

Gage
frowned. “I’m afraid the hellhound took his soul.”

Luke
was gone
.

“If
the hellhound took his soul, does that mean…” My words petered
off,
and my hands were shaking. I took a deep
breath and forced the rest of my words out. “Is his spirit in…hell?”

Gage
was thoughtful for a moment before he answered, “Yes.”

At
Gage’s answer, I felt a weak glimmer of hope swell inside me. All was not lost.
There was still a chance to bring Luke back—a chance I could
cling to
. I needed Luke. He was the only one on
my side. I couldn’t face the retributions of the death dealers—and the
world—alone. I rushed forward and gripped the metal bars. “You promised
Mildred you could bring her daughter back from hell, which means you can bring
Luke back, too.”

Gage
looked uncomfortable. “It
might
be
possible. I promise you I’ll do whatever I can. You know I want to see you
happy.”

I
started beating my fists against the bars at his answer. “Bring him back to me!”
I screamed.

There
must have been something unsettling in my face, because Gage
actually
looked worried. I didn’t think it was
possible, but he looked shocked at my reaction. “You need to control your
emotions,” he said. “You are beside yourself. Now, I want you to rest, and Caleb
will bring you some dinner and a cot. Get your strength
back,
and when you’re feeling more
civilized,
you can go back to your friends.”

“Bring
him back,” I begged, falling to my knees.

Gage
turned and walked away. Caleb stood there, watching me in silence.

“Bring
Luke back…please bring him back…” I sobbed, covering my hands over my face. Despair
so strong I could taste it washed over me, dampening what small hope I had. My
shoulders
shook,
my whole body trembled.

I
sat in the dirt and cried until my eyes were swollen and dry. When I looked up
again, I was alone.

* * *

I was walking through the field I’d been in so often before—the
one where I revived Gage’s zombies. A storm had broken overhead, and heavy rain
plastered my hair and clothes.

Normally
the air in the field buzzed with energy and I could feel ghostly spirits, but
not now. The world around me was calm and tranquil—except for the storm
raging above. Without warning, lightning struck the ground a few feet from
where I stood.
Run for cover!
a
part of me screamed, but another part of me
was past caring about my safety.

That’s
when I saw a light shining brightly over by some distant trees.
Luke?
I made my way through the curtain-like
rain, crying out Luke’s name as I went. As I got closer to the trees, I could
make out a shape silhouetted by a white light blazing in the distance.

“Luke?”

I
started to run, ignoring the fat raindrops pelting me. When I was only a few
feet away, the figure
turned so I could see its
profile.

It
was his true face, the face I’d fallen in love with, the face he had when I
first met him. Luke. His blond hair hung down to his collar, and he wore a
black tank top with a red phoenix on the front. I could see the scar running
down his left shoulder. It was Luke. My Luke.

He
faced me head-on, and we stood there looking at each other for a while before he
said something I couldn’t hear. His words drifted away on the wind. He lifted
his hand in a sad gesture of farewell, and then turned to walk toward the warm,
faraway light. But as soon as he moved, the light changed and became black,
roiling, and angry. Dark tentacles shot out, orange and red flames rose up, and
I heard screams of agony. Despite the signs of evil, Luke seemed unaware of the
danger he was heading into and kept walking forward.

“Stop,
don’t you see the flames? Can’t you hear the screams? You’re walking into hell!
Luke!” I screamed out his name, trying to warn him, but he didn’t stop. He
walked forward until the tentacles reached out and grabbed him. Only then did I
hear his voice as he cried out my name.

“Colina!
Help!”

He
begged me to save him as the darkness sucked him away.

* * *

I opened my eyes, bringing the dirt floor of my cell into
close focus.
Terrific. A new nightmare to
add to my collection
. The nightmares seemed to come now even if I was
awake, flashing over me with waves of electric panic and crushing horror
.
I had lost too much,
sacrificed too much—it seemed like I had nothing left. The loss of my
family had left a huge hollow in my heart, but it was a hollow Luke had filled.

Now that he
was
gone
, I felt…empty.

Everyone I once cared about seemed to be falling
like leaves from a tree. First my family and now Luke… Any relationship of mine
was toxic, and the evil that seemed to follow me was hardest on those I was
closest to
. Their suffering seemed designed to
hurt me, to turn me into something so damaged that vicious evil became an
attractive option.
Would I ever be
able to close my eyes again without seeing those dark tentacles reaching out
for Luke
, trapping him in the depths of hell?
I felt as though all the strength had been
sapped
from every inch of me thanks to the spreading, numbing cold. Feeling completely
defeated, I lay with my cheek on the floor.

The
sound of someone clearing their throat made me glance up. Caleb stood by the
bars, holding a tray of food and looking as if he wanted to say something.
Jacob stepped into the room behind him, and Caleb’s eyes swung from his brother
back to me. Without a word, he unlocked my cell’s door and walked
in
. He moved close enough to me that I felt I needed
distance and scooted away.

“Here,”
he said, putting the tray next to me. “I brought you something to eat.”

“Are
you going to gloat?” I asked, not
really
caring if he answered.

He
studied me in silence.

I
got to my feet and put myself in front of him, but he didn’t move a muscle. As
he watched me, I noticed his eyes fill with an emotion I couldn’t quite read. After
a tense beat, he finally spoke. “Your food’s getting cold.”

Then
he turned and walked away.

* * *

They escorted me back into the house two days later. Dean
was sitting on the piano bench, drumming his fingers against the keys. A pretty
melody filled the air.

They tuned the
piano
,
I thought as I staggered into the room.

I
felt numb, as though I wasn’t
really
inside my body—as if I were on the outside, somewhere far away, watching
myself from a distance. My limbs moved and my body functioned, but the rest of
me wasn’t
really
present.

Dean
turned, spied
me,
and immediately stilled
his fingers on the keys. Before I could blink, he was up on his feet and moving
toward me. His arms wrapped around me tightly.

I don’t feel anything.

I
stayed in his arms for a long while until he finally let
go
and led me to the nearest chair. “Colina, I
made a pot of hot tea. Do you want some?” he asked as he gently guided me into
the chair.
“They brought us tea and coffee.”

A
part of me noticed he wasn’t wearing the collar anymore—he didn’t need
to.
I wasn’t going to escape.
I stood there looking at him, but I felt like I wasn’t really there. I felt
numb. I could see his mouth moving and a part of me understood what he was
saying, but I just couldn’t work up the energy to respond.

Dean
leaned back and wiped tears from my cheeks. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. Everything
will be okay.”

Am I crying?
I thought dully. I could no
longer feel the tears. I was numb to the world, numb to everything around me.
Dean kept whispering reassurances as he watched me. He kept saying it would be
okay. But I knew it wouldn’t. It would never be okay again. I’d sacrificed so
much to keep Luke by my side. I’d gone against nature’s and man’s laws. I’d
gone against everything I’d been brought up to
believe
in
.

And
now Luke was gone, and I was all alone again.

I
felt a soft touch against my cheek. “Colina? They took Wendy.
She’s been
gone for days.” Dean’s fingers were
wiping my tears away. His face was close, his eyes full of concern. His dropped
his hand and reached down to mine, interlacing our fingers. “They want to make
sure you’ll stay in line. We’re alone—well, except for the occasional
bodyguard.” He looked over at the door and I followed his gaze.

Caleb
was watching us, and for a split second I thought I saw something in his eyes—a
flash of jealousy? It couldn’t be. I knew how Caleb felt about me. I looked
closer, but whatever he’d felt was gone from his face, his expression once
again hard and cold. He turned and walked out, slowly closing the door behind
him.

“They
brought food. We even have cake. Chocolate.” Dean touched my
cheek again,
and his fingers came away streaked
with dirt. I knew he was trying to comfort me. I knew he worried about me.
Yet all
I could do was sit in front of him, so
full of sadness I could barely function.