Revenant (7 page)

Candelabras burning white candles
were scattered
around the space. The water
caught the light and shone off the cavern walls. Patches of purple and white
sparkled in the light from within the rock. I took a closer look. Amethyst.
They weren’t mining for silver or gold.
The glittering purple stone
was woven
in
amongst the
quartz
.

I knew about amethyst and quartz. Mages often
used amethyst for its healing and protection properties. Even
medieval European soldiers had
worn the stone into battle. Quartz was called the “ice of the gods” by some
cultures and could be used to focus psychic powers. I remembered that Wendy had
used a quartz stone hanging from a necklace as a divination tool in the asylum
to find Mildred.

Had
Gage picked this mine because it had amethyst and quartz? What did he need
protection from
?

I
looked out into the vast space of the room. No way was it man-made—i
t looked like miners had broken into a
natural cavern.
It was the perfect place for Gage’s twisted get-together,
but it didn’t look like a
den of
iniquity. I
nstead,
it had the air of a high-society party. The light gave
the space a festive feel, and the sound of moving water echoed lightly off the
walls. Two dozen large round tables surrounded by
high-backed
white chairs were set up throughout the area. A white
tablecloth covered each table, and plates piled high with food and crystal
bottles full of colorful liquids graced each surface. The uneven floor set some
tables at an odd angle. It was all extremely tasteful, and considering where we
were, it was all extremely out of place.

At
least a hundred people—all dressed like us in gowns and suits—milled
around the room. I realized in
shock
that
everyone in the room was young and beautiful. The scent of flowers floated in
the air, and a half-dozen people dressed all in black carried silver platters
back and forth across the room. Fluted glasses filled with what I guessed was
champagne and plates of
hors
d'oeuvres
filled the platters
.

Gage
kept me in a cage, forced me to sleep on the dirt, and barely fed and clothed
me—all while he and his followers lived a life of luxury.

I
heard a gasp of surprise loud enough to be to be heard across the crowded space
and looked over into Dean’s dark-gray eyes—
wait,
Dean doesn’t have gray eyes…Luke!

The
sun must have set. It was nighttime, and Luke had surfaced. “
Luke
.” I mouthed his name and started
toward him.

Strong
fingers reached out and stopped me. Caleb
h
ad
dressed
in a black suit with
no tie and had his hair pulled back. His eyes slowly wandered up and down my
body. “I have to
admit,
you sure do clean
up well. That outfit will put a gleam in the big man’s eye for sure.” As he
spoke, I could see the ever-present anger glittering just below the surface.

I
started to pull away from Caleb when a smooth hand slid across my arm, and I
realized, with a jolt of surprise, that Gage was now at my side. He had his arm
wrapped around mine.

“My
dear, you look divine. Shall we?” he asked.

I
was so shocked at his proximity that I just nodded in response.

Luke
moved forward as
i
f to come to my aid,
but before he could, Jacob was beside him. I watched Jacob place and secure
chains around Luke’s wrists.

Gage
followed my glance. “I’m sorry, my
dear
—it
has to be done. He just can’t be trusted when it comes to you. I fear he’s too
much of an emotional creature when you’re around—Caleb has told me quite
a lot. I do applaud Luke’s efforts, however. Who doesn’t love a hero?” He gave
a loud sigh. “The boy just doesn’t realize when it’s time to surrender.”

“He’ll
never surrender,” I spat out.

“I
hope you’re wrong. I would dearly love it if Mr. Luke Cross
came
into the fold. Like I said before, the boy
has considerable talents. He is a powerful mage.” He paused, considering his
words. “Well…maybe not in this current body, but we may soon have a solution to
that problem.” He gave my arm a squeeze. “That precious spell you were looking
so hard for in the asylum? The one you hoped would allow Luke to transfer to
another body? I think I’ve found it.”

His
words stunned me. Was he telling the truth? I cautioned myself from being too
optimistic. There was a catch. There had to be a catch. If Gage helped me with
Luke, what would he
want
in return?

Gage
put his arm around me so I had no choice but to move forward with him. We
slowly crossed the room, and as we moved, people glided out of our way.
Everyone was watching us with open curiosity. Gage’s suit was expensive, all black
and shiny, and a blood-red tie hung from his neck. The candlelight hit the scar
that marred his face. His black hair was slicked back, which somehow made the
streak of white hair just above his scar more dramatic. On the
outside
he was handsome—even with the
scar—but on the inside he was a sadistic monster. Apparently that little
fact wasn’t a problem for the women in the room. Female heads turned as he
approached,
and their eyes watched his every
movement.
Sonja has more to worry about
than
me
,
I
thought
, watching the
hungry look in an attractive brunette’s eyes as she gave Gage a sly smile.

If
he noticed all the attention, he hid it well—his entire focus was on me.
He patted my arm again before continuing on about Luke. “I know, I know. You
don’t want to get your hopes up.
But I’ve been
poring over all the books I can find, trying to come up with a solution for our
little zombie problem—and since you won’t ask, no, I haven’t found
anything yet to completely fix that problem—but I
have
found a spell I think might do the trick with your boyfriend.
We’ll need an empty vessel, but it’s not like there aren’t plenty of bodies
around we could use. However, I don’t think you want your precious boy jumping
into a rotting corpse. Am I right?” He gave a bit of a laugh. “No, for him I
think we have to find something…
fresh
.
Maybe someone of your choosing? I mean, you might want to have a say in whose
face you’ll be mooning over.”

Too
late, I realized in
horror
that I was
blushing at his words.

He
noticed and gave me a smile. “Though, according to Mildred, you don’t mind the
body he’s currently
in
. Too bad Dean has
that one little
problem
.
He’s gone
through two rituals and has no magic
to show for it, except for his little ‘roid rage’ episodes. I must admit, I’m
still not clear on how this ‘berserker’ thing works. Mildred has been telling
me all about it, but
I’m having
a hard
time finding anything about it in my library. I’m relying on Mildred and what
she can remember, but you know the old dear is getting on in age. Her memory isn’t
what it used to be.”

“Where
is Mildred?” I hadn’t seen her since she’d turned us over to Gage. She claimed
to be my friend, but she betrayed me. All of us. I felt angry at her betrayal, but
also something else—a deep sadness. I had considered her a friend. I
trusted her, counted on her to help me in the asylum, and the whole time she
had been playing me.

“Why,
she’s over there.” Gage pointed across the room.

Mildred
wore a flowing silver dress, and her white hair was arranged into braids woven
around her head. She swayed back and forth as if dancing, but there wasn’t any
music playing. I had seen her do that exact thing many times before, and she’d
seemed unbalanced. Was it all an act? That wild gleam of insanity that often
glittered behind her eyes—was that something she could
fake
?

When
we were in the
insane asylum
, I’d
befriended Mildred.
A serial
killer had been
hunting her and other patients, and she’d pleaded with me to help find the
killer. At the time, I’d thought she was worried about the patients, but now I
wondered whether she’d been playing a game.
Was
the whole thing
some
kind of
test
the demon put
me through
?

My
thoughts started spiraling.
Was that the
whole point of stringing us along in the asylum? To see if I could survive? To
see if I could face down and kill Weatherton? And what if I hadn’t? What if
Weatherton had killed us? Would Mildred have shed any tears over our deaths?

I
watched her stop and look off into the
distance
,
her head cocked to one side. No
one was that good of an actress. Losing her daughter had unhinged her, and Gage
must have found her in
the asylum.
She agreed
to help him because he promised to bring back her daughter. I felt myself
drawing an eerie comparison between her actions and my own.
I was raising the dead because Gage was threatening Luke’s
existence. I had gone against natural laws to bring Luke back. Were Mildred and
I
really
that different?

Gage
was watching me. “You see, no harm has come to Mildred. I’m not a monster.
People who come into my fold—I take care of them.” He paused and watched
Mildred as she started dancing again. He gave a little chuckle and asked, “How
did you like Mildred’s little party trick?”

When
I looked puzzled, he continued. “Ah, that’s right, she never showed you until
the very end how she can pop from one place to another. It made it exceedingly
easy for her to get in and out of the asylum.” He turned his heard and gave a
dramatic sigh. “Now
that
one is still
an enigma,” he said, looking over at Wendy. “Though, I do admit—I didn’t
realize just how beautiful she was until tonight. And her abilities as a reader
just multiply that beauty tenfold.”

He
was
right
—I’d never seen Wendy look
so pretty. The makeup brought out her features, especially with her hair pulled
away from her face, and the dress showed off her figure. She was
absolutely
stunning. Every male within arm’s
reach of her seemed to agree. A group of them had already surrounded her. I
could tell even from this distance that she was uncomfortable. She had a glass
in her
hand
and was wielding it like a
weapon.
Anytime
someone approached she
raised the glass like a sword and retreated. She was moving in a slow,
uncomfortable circle around the room, always just out of reach of her would-be
suitors.

Sonja
seemed to think that Gage was after me romantically, but he hadn’t shown any
interest in me beyond the magic skills I possessed. It was the way I raised
zombies that brought a gleam to his eyes. He was looking over at Wendy the same
way. The hint of sadistic desire that I saw in his eyes and heard in his voice
as he talked about her powers sent a shiver down my spine. What happened to her?
If she really did hurt herself, what
caused her to do such a drastic thing?

At
the thought of Gage hurting Wendy, I could feel anger warming my blood. “Leave
Wendy alone,” I said through clenched teeth.

Gage
continued on
as though he hadn’t heard
me. “Wendy’s a hard one to figure out. So many secrets inside that head. I
tried to get some of them out, but I admit I’ve had no luck. She is so much
stronger than anyone I have
working
for
me.” He stopped and took in my dress. “But of them all, my dear, I have to
admit, you are my prized jewel.” He leaned in closer. “You look like a
sparkling ruby in that dress. Quite exquisite.”

Was
Gage
actually
interested in me? Romantically?
It was a truly horrifying thought. Gage had captured me, held me in a cell,
forced me to raise the dead. Did he
really
think these were the actions of a potential suitor? Was he
that
delusional?

“You
have so much to offer, my dear. You are just beginning to come into your
powers, and there is no telling what you could accomplish with my help.” His
gaze narrowed in on me, as though we were the only two in the room. Having his
total focus was chilling; I suddenly felt like a deer being targeted by a
hunter. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “I will provide you
with training and resources that most death dealers could only
dream of
. I have books in my library that were
almost wiped from the earth because the mage world fears the power they offer.
I’ve powerful allies that can teach you lost and forbidden magics. I can reward
you for your help, Colina—I can make you so powerful that you never have
to fear anyone or anything again.” His expression was earnest for a moment. And
then there it was again, the hint of sadistic pleasure in his eyes. He could
pretend all he wanted, but I wasn’t buying this new friendly approach.

“To
sweeten the pot, I’ll even pull your boyfriend out of the berserker’s body. You
can keep them both if you like. We all enjoy a little diversion now and again.”
He looked toward Sonja suggestively, an approving smile on his face.