Revenant (28 page)

“I’m
worried you’ll provoke him into killing you,” Caleb answered.

“Why
do you care?”
What is he
playing at
? What advantage does he gain from
acting like this? Is he trying to lower my guard so when he does finally
attack, I won’t expect it?
“You told me yourself you want me to die for
killing your family.”

“Colina…”
He stopped and looked over my shoulder, his mouth snapping shut.

“There
you are,” sang a familiar voice from behind me. It was Sonja, sauntering down
the tunnel toward us. “You sure took your time. He’s not in a good mood. I
wouldn’t make him wait much longer.”

Caleb
seemed to shut down with Sonja’s arrival, withdrawing from the conversation. He
turned and started walking away down the tunnel, leaving me to stare after him
in confusion.
For a long moment I just stood
there, trying to decide whether his change of attitude was a trick or some
strange new form of torture—but if I stayed where I was, I would have to
deal with Sonja’s snide derision, and it would be unwise to keep Gage waiting
if I was going to secure his help.
I followed Caleb meekly as he led me
back into the presence of the devil I needed.

Soon
enough, we wound up back in
the large
cavern. Empty tables and a couple dozen chairs
partially
filled
the space
.

Gage
stood in the middle of the room looking annoyed, and the expression on his face
was not one of welcome when he greeted us. “Twenty-four hours to get everything
ready. Our friend isn’t one to give much warning. I just found out about the
visit last night.”

I
couldn’t help
but
ask, “Why is it coming?”

“To
see you, of course.” Gage gave me a wide smile. “
You
are the main attraction.”

“What
does it want from me?” I whispered, hating the way his eyes lingered on my face.

Gage
ignored my question. With a wave of his hand, Caleb was dismissed and we were
alone, a fact I was uncomfortably
aware of
.
Gage sat down in the closest chair and motioned to the seat next to him.

After
a moment of inner turmoil, I reluctantly sat.

Sonja
brought a large glass pitcher of orange liquid and put it on the table next to
us. Gage gestured toward it, saying, “It’s not alcoholic. It’s my
own
concoction
and
it’s very refreshing. I insist you try some.”

When
I didn’t
react,
he reached over, filled a
glass, and handed it to me expectantly.
Just
keep entertaining him, Colina
, I told myself. I braced myself and took a
sip.

A
grin spread over his face. “Good, isn’t it?”

It
was. It tasted like citrus juice and sparkling water. I sighed with unexpected
pleasure.

“I
knew you would like it.” Gage leaned back in his chair. “We need to go over a
few things before tomorrow night.” His eyes lingered on my bandaged hand for a
moment. “I know you might not be up for it, but I’m afraid I’ve moved our schedule
up
. I wanted to wait until the drying period
was over for the mummies, but now that we’ve got company coming, certain
expectations must
be met
.”

“You
want me to make more zombies,” I guessed. When I lowered the glass onto the
table, my hands were shaking.
When will
this nightmare be over?

“I
want you to fill the rest of the bodies with souls.” Gage reached for the
pitcher and topped off my drink. “I know you don’t have your strength back, but
it can’t
be helped
.”

I
looked at him for a long moment before finally asking, “And if I do this for
you, what do I get in return?”

Gage’s
eyebrows rose in surprise at my words before he leaned back in his chair. Under
his watchful eye, I steeled myself to bargain with the devil, even as all my
instincts pushed me to run away. “Frankly, my dear, I had hoped for more
success before our friend arrived. I can’t help but feel that you have been
giving me less than your full cooperation. I attempted to gain your favor by
bringing back your boyfriend, but as that hasn’t worked out, we must come to a
new understanding.” His eyes were cold and flat, and he stared at me like a
snake considering a meal. The silence stretched uncomfortably.

I
forced out, “You promised Mildred her child back from—”

He
interrupted me. “I know what I promised, and I mean to fulfill that promise one
day.”

“Can
you? Do you know the spell?” I demanded.

His
eyes glittered with anger. “Are you doubting my word?”

He’s misunderstanding me.
I just want Luke back
… “No, not at all.” I took a deep breath. “If
I do this for you—if I raise the zombies—I want your word that
you’ll try to bring Luke back.”

He
gave me a wide smile. “Of course. The minute our company leaves, I’ll give it
my utmost attention.”

“All
right, but…your word?” I insisted quietly. I knew that his word might not be
worth anything, but if he thought that he could buy my loyalty, he might stick
to the deal.

There
it was again—the look of total disregard. Gage was only interested in
doing what was good for Gage. How could I convince him that bringing Luke back would
benefit him? I would tell whatever lies necessary to see Luke back at my side.

But
before I could say anything, and to my utter amazement, Gage said, “I give you
my word—I’ll bring Luke back.”

I
thought relief would fill me when I finally got him to agree, but instead a
panic settled in my belly. Why had he agreed so easily? Could he do it? Would he
really
try?

Gage
was a man bent on bringing chaos to our world. He had aligned himself with evil
and sold his soul to the dark side. Right now he held all the cards. He could
at any moment decide to kill us all. With that thought I began to worry about
the friend I hadn’t seen for a while—Wendy. With a flush of guilt, I
realized I hadn’t thought of her more than twice since Luke’s death, even
though I knew the horrors Gage was exposing her to.

I
squared my shoulders and said, “I want to see Wendy.”

He
smiled at me, but I noticed it didn’t reach his eyes. “I assure you, she is
fine.”

I
would not believe Wendy was okay until I saw her with my own eyes. I steeled
myself and said as forcefully as I could, “I will
not
raise one zombie until I’ve had a chance to talk to her and see
for myself.” Even as the threat left my mouth, my hands started to shake. I
pulled them off the table and set them down in my lap, terrified at my
own
insolence. Even though he’d technically
never laid a finger on me, I was scared of Gage and what I knew he was
capable of
.

His
eyes narrowed, and for a long moment I thought I’d gone too far.
Then he said, “You know, I’m not usually in the
position of taking orders,” he gave me a cold smile before continuing, “but I
know you’re still under a terrible emotional strain.
So, just this once,
I’ll give in.” He motioned to Sonja, who stood in the corner of the room. “Sonja
will take you to Wendy. But, whatever state the girl is in, I promise you I’ve
had no hand in it. I’ve not harmed her in any way.”

I
started to get out of my chair, but Gage reached out and snatched my arm. His
fingers tightened around my wrist, digging in painfully. His expression was
dark and threatening. “After you see your friend, you’ll do as I ask.”

“You’re
insane,” I spat out.

I
could see the anger there now, shimmering just below the surface of his eyes. Everything
about his body language was suddenly menacing.

“Be
careful of the words you
sling
about,
dear Colina. Now run off and see your friend before I change my mind.”

Sonja and I
moved deeper underground than
I’d ever been before. Down here there were even more shafts and tunnels leading
in seemingly random directions—tunnels
made
by long-dead miners who’d chased rich mineral veins wherever they led.
The heavy timber, which shored up the sides and
ceiling of the tunnels and kept millions of tons of rock from falling in on us,
became less frequent the deeper we went.
All that unsupported weight
overhead was a constant tickle at the back of my mind. Here and there on the
floor I could see tumbled piles of rock that had come loose.

I thought of the miners who had died within these
very tunnels. I didn’t want to die underground, in the dark, gasping for
breath. My chest tightened and a cold sweat broke out over my skin. As
panic
threatened to overwhelm me, I tried to
force the thought from my mind.

I peered into the
darkness of each side tunnel we passed, hoping to see a ray of light from some secret
air shaft that would offer hope of escape to the surface, but it never
happened.
Instead, the light from Sonja’s lantern only reached a short
distance into the pitch-black darkness. The hairs on the back of my neck stood
up more than a few times when I thought I saw something moving in the eerie shadows,
but whatever I was seeing seemed to disappear the moment my attention focused
on it.

Finally, we made it to our destination.
Wendy’s cell was not like the one where they’d held me. There was a bed in
hers, a striped rug thrown across the dirt floor, and a table with a vase of
wildflowers.

Wendy was sitting on the bed, her knees
pulled up to her chest and her dark hair hanging down, covering her face. On
the edge of the bed sat Jacob, looking worried. When he saw me, he hurriedly got
up and opened the cell door, motioning for me to come
in
.

“How is she?” I asked.

His eyes were full of concern. “I’m not
sure.”

What
does that mean?
I walked over to the bed and sat down.
The minute I settled on the
mattress,
Wendy exploded into action, jumping off the bed and scrambling onto the floor.
She looked up at me and bared her teeth.

What
on earth happened to her?
The face I was looking into was not my
friend’s
. It was hostile, uncivilized,
and there was a primitive look in her eyes.

I
got up and walked over to her, steeling myself for anger, or maybe even
violence, and she didn’t disappoint—her hands lashed out as she growled
and snarled at me. I looked over at Jacob, my face full of despair. He stood
frozen in place, watching her, but didn’t seem surprised by her reactions.

I
knew then that, whatever was happening, Jacob had seen her do it before.

Maybe if I get down on her level
… I knelt on the floor, putting
my hands out so she could see them, and said in a gentle voice, “Wendy? It’s
me, Colina.”

Her
eyes didn’t seem to recognize me at all.

How can I help her?
I asked myself.
Well, I can control the dead. But how could
that help Wendy?
The residual taint of the demon inside her was not like a
spirit’s might be—it wasn’t even in this plane of existence. It existed
in the black abyss. But the more I focused on
her,
the more I found I could see faint tentacles of darkness all around her.
But the demons are still in
hell
, I thought wearily.
How are they doing this to her?
Somehow the
demonic legion stretched out its dark influences and touched her body and mind.

Maybe I can force it back. It
can’t hurt to try
.

I
took a deep breath, then reached out and grabbed her arm. She fought me
desperately, clawing at my arms, but I ignored her. I pictured the familiar flame
burning deep inside me and slowly fanned it, making the fire grow. As it did, I
could feel the dark swirl of emotions start to pump through my body. With it came
dark power. It seared through me. I focused all that
energy
and pushed it out of me and into Wendy.

Nothing
happened at
first
. Then, slowly, I saw
those dark tentacles begin to waver and shrink back. She stopped struggling
against me. Her eyes looked at me wildly for a few seconds, and as I pushed my
energy inside her, they seemed to change from the eyes of an uncontrolled
animal into something resembling human awareness.

“Colina,”
Wendy whispered hoarsely.

She
knew who I was. Relief filled me. “Yes. It’s me.” I let go of her arm. “I’m
here.”

I
didn’t know how long it would last, but for the moment it seemed I had pushed
the darkness controlling Wendy back.
I
might not be able to heal anymore, but at least I can do this
.

A
glimmer of hope filled me. For the first time since the dark rituals, I’d done
something to help someone.

“Where
am I?” she asked. Her expression was one of pure confusion.

“You’re
in a cell. Gage had you put away to keep me in line.”

She
looked around the room and her eyes settled on Jacob. “Jacob.” His name came
out at the end of one long sob.

“I’m
here, honey.” He rushed forward and scooped her up into his arms, holding her
tight against him.

I
watched them embrace. Jacob seemed to really care about Wendy, but their
relationship still made me uneasy. What would Gage do if he found out about it?
Or did he already know?

Her
head rested on his chest. Her eyes closed for a moment and then she opened them,
looking directly at me. “It’s coming.”

She
was talking about the demon. “I know,” I said, getting to my feet.

“Colina,
you can’t let them out!”

At
her words, panic rose inside me. Wendy had visions—was she seeing a
vision of me releasing the legion now? “I promise you, I won’t.” My
recklessness had already released one demon. I wouldn’t make the same mistake
twice.

“But
I see—” She looked away and her voice grew soft. “I see you in a circle
of fire. I see such powerful magic around you. Magic you can’t control,” she
sobbed. “I see the demons. Hundreds of them!” Her voice was getting louder. “They’re
set loose. They’re roaming free, wreaking havoc in our world!” She sounded
hysterical.

When
I felt cold, rough stone against my back, I saw that I’d backed up until I was
leaning against the rock wall. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my pounding
heart. “I won’t let them out. I give you my word.”

She
looked at me sadly and whispered, “You won’t have a choice.”

N0.
The word rang out inside my
mind and I knew she could hear it.

Just
because she saw something happening didn’t mean it
had
to happen. If I just changed one thing—went down a
different road, made a different
decision—then
I could change the outcome of the future.

I
grasped at the hope that it was the darkness inside Wendy doing the talking,
that it was the demons bringing on these hopeless thoughts. I knew that I would
never willingly release the demon horde, but maybe they were trying to convince
me I had no choice.

“Wendy,
you have to hold on just a little longer. You can’t let whatever’s happening to
you take over. You have to be strong—you have to fight against it.”

“I’m
trying,” she cried out.

I
looked out beyond the cell. We were alone. Heaving a sigh, I resigned myself to
doing what I never thought I would do—trust Jacob. It was obvious by the
way he was tenderly holding her that he loved Wendy and wanted to keep her
safe. I hoped his feelings for Wendy were stronger than his allegiance to Gage.

My
friends’ lives depended on it.

I
turned to him. “Jacob, you have to get her out tonight.”

He
just looked at me, his expression unreadable.

“The
demon is coming tomorrow night. Wendy’s not safe. You
know
Gage will want to use her to contact the demons on the other
side. Look what it’s doing to her. You need to get her away from this place.
Away from Gage.”

He
still held Wendy in his arms, looking down at her pensively as he slowly replied,
“It’s too dangerous.” His voice sounded like a softer, smoother version of
Caleb’s harsh, clipped tone.

“You
have to try. Dean’s going to escape tonight and I’m not going with him. I have
to stay and find a way to bring Luke back. But I’m going to make Dean go and I
need to know that you and Wendy will get out while you still can.”

He
looked away. “I don’t know.”

“Promise
me you’ll think about it.” Wendy’s eyes were closed, and soft moans escaped
from her mouth. “She’s getting worse. Every day she’s getting worse,” I openly
pleaded with him. “If Wendy stays here you’ll lose her. The darkness will
overtake her. It’s all consuming. You will lose her to it if you don’t do
something soon.”

His
hold on Wendy tightened.

I
walked over and put my hand on Wendy’s arm. It was
ice cold
to the touch. I hated seeing her like this. Even though I
had forced back the evil, I knew Gage would once again demand Wendy take part
in his rituals and be possessed if Jacob didn’t listen to me. I looked at him
intensely. “If you love her, you’ll take her away from here tonight.”

What
else could I say? It was dangerous to appeal to him. He might tell Gage our
plans, but I had to take that risk. I had to blindly trust that his feelings
for Wendy were strong enough that he’d do whatever necessary to keep her safe.

* * *

After a little while,
I was escorted by one of Gage’s nameless followers to the mummy room. The
minute I walked in, I knew I wasn't alone. Gage had killed again. I could feel a
mass of ghostly presences. Their touches caressed my cheek and lifted my hair.
Their whispers floated on the air around me. Like before, the dead bodies were laying
in zipped green bags.

I took a deep breath, squared my
shoulders, and slowly went from table to table. Each time, I unzipped
a bag,
touched the cold skin of the body
inside,
and raised the dead. As soon as I said
the binding words, Gage’s men would zip up the bag and carry the body away.
Like before, I could see feet kicking and hands pushing
against
the bags in a desperate struggle to get out as Gage’s men
carried them away.

It was grueling work—when I
finished hours later, I sank to my knees, bone-weary and depleted.

I must have blacked out, because when I
came to I found myself in strong arms being carried down the tunnels. I looked
into Caleb’s face. I should have felt afraid, but there was no hatred in his
eyes as he looked down at me. He had an opportunity to hurt me now—I was
exhausted, helpless—but he didn’t. I wearily lay my head against his
chest. If he decided to kill me, there was nothing I could do to stop him. When
I opened my eyes again, Caleb was gently depositing me into a chair back at the
house. I looked up in surprise when he pushed a glass of water into my hands, gratefully
taking it and gulping down a few mouthfuls. Caleb watched me the whole time,
his eyes full of concern.

I started to say something when a voice
spoke from across the room.

“You’re back.”

Dean
.

A part of me was surprised he was still
here. I’d both hoped and feared I would find him gone when I got back.

Dean looked at Caleb, sneering. “You
can go scuttle back to your master now. I'll make sure she's all right.”

The two of them stared at each other
for a
long,
tense moment. And then,
finally, Caleb moved across the room. When he made it to the doorway, he
stopped and gave me one long look before closing the door behind him.

Dean hunkered down beside me. “Are you
okay?”

“Yes,” I answered, although in truth, I
was having
a hard time keeping my eyes
open. I slumped against the chair, thinking.

Dean was still here. He had to leave
tonight. He had to get away safely before the demon came.

Before I could say anything, I was
pulled to my feet, and I found myself in Dean’s arms. He carried me down to the
bedroom and lay me on the bed.

“You need to rest,” he said.

I tried to push myself up onto my
elbows. “No, I’m fine.”

“Colina, rest. You don’t look well.” Dean’s
face wore the same look of concern that Caleb had moments before.

I
must look really bad if even those who hate me are worried.
But did Dean still hate me? There were so many things I wanted to say to him. Part
of me wanted desperately to apologize for the way I treated him. But if I did,
would he still leave? I fell back against the pillows.

Dean pulled a blanket over me and I
felt fingers graze my forehead. “Close your eyes.”