Seduced by Power (13 page)

  Come, you spirits

That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,

And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full

Of direst cruelty!

— William Shakespeare, Macbeth

"ROSE!" HER BODY
lay still and pale in the moonlight, blood dripping from her wrist as Rainbow lapped it up like a kitten with milk.

The evil bitch looked up, red crusting on her lips, eyes black with demon magic. "You're too late. She's already mine."

Next to the altar the rose bush sagged, planted in a pot and feeding Rainbow's powers. They would die with Rose, all to make this witch more powerful.

Rainbow unfurled from her crouched position, calling the shadows as they peeled themselves out of the corners and clung to her like pets. "Come to me, my beauties. Come and let us rule together."

Blake stood by my side, a fierce look on his face. "I'll distract Rainbow while you shift and attack."

Would he betray us and leave me vulnerable? No, in this, he and I were united. We both wanted to save Rose above all else.

I nodded to him and prepared my body for the shift.

Blake spun a thread of power from his hands, walking away from me to draw her attention. "This isn't going to end well for you, Rainbow."

While he taunted her, I shifted and howled to the moon, then charged Rainbow, ready to tear out her heart.

My soul connected to Rose as I lunged, and I could feel her on the verge of death. I willed her to hold on just a little longer. The roses could heal her. She just needed to hold on.

The church lit up with lightning, the image of Christ at the front tumbling to the floor, stained glass windows depicting scenes from the Bible shattering. Rainbow cackled like the Wicked Witch.

I didn't slow, didn't hesitate as my paws made contact with her chest, digging in.

She screamed, but not in fear, and placed her hands on my chest. The shadows clinging to her crawled up her arms and wound around me, squeezing until ribs cracked and lungs compressed. I fell back, my breath tearing through my body in shallow spasms.

Rose's eyes flickered open. She mouthed my name once before all went black.

Look like the innocent flower,

But be the serpent under it.

— William Shakespeare, Macbeth

"MOTHER, NO!" JASMINE
ran from the shadows as I dragged the now human Derek out of Rainbow's line of fire.

The girl quivered where she stood, but she didn't back down, raising her eyes to face her mother. "You can't do this. You're killing Rose. You have to stop."

Rainbow's hair danced around her head with crackling lightning, the power she consumed filling her. "When did you grow a backbone? I've always been able to count on you to do my bidding, my poor little lost girl so desperate for attention." She pointed to Rose, who hung onto life with tenacity, but not for long. "You did this to her. You betrayed your sister, and for what? A pat on the head from Mommy?" Rainbow raised her hand, crackling with silver light, and dropped it onto Jasmine's head.

Jasmine flinched, her dark punk hair turning white and her face ashen. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

I threw myself at Rainbow, a roar in my throat as I knocked her away from Jasmine who slumped to the ground groaning.

While I pitted my own power against the much more powerful Rainbow, Jasmine crawled to the altar. I watched from the corner of my eye as she picked up the knife with shaking hands and cut Rose's ropes off her. Jasmine sobbed, holding her sister. "Wake up, Rose. I'm sorry. Wake up!"

Jasmine used the knife to cut strips from her shirt and wrapped it around the still bleeding wound on Rose's wrist.

Rainbow's shadows slithered from her body and crawled up my leg while her power slammed into me. I stepped back, foot faltering as she advanced on me.

"Your dreams of being human will never be realized," Rainbow said. "My daughter didn't want you, and soon you'll be forced back to the demon realm where you belong."

With a final shove, Rainbow threw me against the altar next to Rose.

The door to the church crashed open and wolves ran in, howling and growling at Rainbow.

I scooted over to Rose while the pack distracted Rainbow. She had lost so much blood that her skin was nearly transparent. "Rose?"

Her eyes opened, so big and trusting. "Blake. I'm glad you're here. This is the end for me." She coughed up blood, crying out as a rib cracked from the pressure. "I love you. Not the way you want, I know, but I do."

Jasmine released her, and I pulled her into my arms. "You're not going anywhere. Rose, you can defeat your mother. With your own power, your true power, you can defeat her."

"What do you mean?" She shivered and I held her closer.

"I can take your demon power from you, free you from it so you can claim the strength of a witch. It will save you." I should have done this long ago, but I'd been selfish, and she had paid the price for that.

Her eyes dimmed, and I knew we didn't have much time, but she resisted, touching my face. "I know what you mean to do. I saw them do it in the prison. You can't, Blake. You can't. I'll be okay."

I didn't give her a chance to protest further as I pressed my lips against hers. The taste of her blood gave the spell energy. I kissed her as a man, knowing I'd never be close to her again, and then I breathed her power in as a demon.

She choked, gagged, writhed as the power fought to stay, but I forced it to my will, until it filled me and released her forever.

Jasmine screamed, terrified that Rose had died, but I knew she hadn't.

Her body twitched, mending itself and warding off death. When she opened her eyes, they glowed bright with power.

Nothing in his life

Became him like the leaving it; he died

As one that had been studied in his death,

To throw away the dearest thing he ow'd,

As 'twere a careless trifle.

— William Shakespeare, Macbeth

AROUND ME, WOLVES
lay wounded, turning human as their powers failed them. Rainbow, for she will never be Mother to me again, turned and swore at Blake. "What did you do, demon?"

My body mended itself, healing bones and tissue, making stronger what was broken. With the taint of my demon power gone, a new light rose from my center, a pure power, gold and bright. It felt familiar, like something I knew as a child but had forgotten. I embraced this new light, connecting to it and allowing it to fill me and flow out of me.

My skin and hair glowed with gold, like an aura in a photograph. It felt warm, loving, and powerful beyond measure. Was this what Rainbow had denied me my whole life? Was I meant to know this beauty rather than the dark monster she'd bred in me?

To my side, the roses blossomed, coming to life and deepening color. They responded to this power like the sun, opening for me, pouring light into me.

My consciousness expanded, and I could see the next step in time before it came to be. I could see how to defeat the woman who had destroyed so much in her insane quest for more. "It's time for a just end, Rainbow."

For the first time, I saw real fear in her eyes. Could she see the power in me?

"I only did what I had to do, just as you would do anything to be with Derek," she said, as if her justifications would make this ending any different.

"No. I love Derek, but to do what you have done would have defiled that love. You don't love. You covet." Other dimensions opened up to me, and I could see into the broken soul of the woman who had raised me. "There's a place for you, one that will allow you to heal. You'll never return to this realm, but you can find your own peace, if you go now."

I held my hand to her, knowing her answer but also knowing she had to be the one to make the choice.

The dimension she could have chosen lay open with calm energy and love. A woman in white waited on the other side for her to decide, smiling sadly with shared knowing.

Rainbow sent her shadows to attack, sending lightning to destroy me. The doorway closed, and I absorbed her anger and pain and rage and sent them back to the earth.

Frustrated that her attacks failed against me, she turned and faced Derek. "Let's see how you feel when the man you love is stolen from you."

She attacked him with rays of white heat, but I'd already encased her in a bubble of golden light. Her shadow demons fell onto her, devouring her as her own attack reflected back, burning her. Screams penetrated the bubble, ringing out through the church.

I fell to my knees, sobbing and wishing I could change the future and the past.

I wanted to look away, but couldn't, as they consumed her. She writhed, wailed and then fell silent as the portal to a different dimension, one full of dark smoke and pain, opened open and swallowed her and her shadows whole.

With the power of the roses feeding me, I placed my hands on the stone floor and poured my power into it. Golden light infused the room, expanding to include the injured shifters, Jasmine and Derek, my love and heart.

The golden glow circled Blake, but didn't affect him like the others. I laid my hands on him, willing the light into his body.

He took my hand in his. "It won't work. Your old power eats away at me like it eats away at everything."

"What? No! I healed everyone else. I can heal you too." I focused harder, pushing out more of my power into him, but it slid off like water from a duck's back.

"Rose, listen to me. It's okay. I've done a lot of evil in my life. Let me leave this world having done one thing right. Now, you won't have to choose. You can return the roses to the Druids and marry Derek and live happily ever after. I want you to be happy. Promise me you will be. It's my dying wish, so you have to agree." He grinned, even as the light faded from his eyes.

I choked back tears. "I promise." I kissed his forehead. "I'll never forget you."

"Nor I you. You taught a demon how to love. Can't expect him to stop now." He smiled and closed his eyes. And I watched his body turn to dust.