This Blood (27 page)

“You’re hurt?” he said. His voice was strong. It soothed me to know they hadn’t broken him yet.

“I m fine,” I said, relief filling my heart. “This isn’t my blood.”

“Thank God for that,” he sighed as I released him. I pulled the last pin, and soon he was free. He was in a rage. He grabbed the gun from my hands and aimed it at the ball of flying fists.

A shot rang out, before I could stop him. I didn’t have time to tell him that Gavyn was - for the most part - on our side. He was a very good shot. He hit Eden squarely between his eyes. But the shot didn’t blow his brains out; he would heal. Shit!

Gavyn stood, his clothing shredded and blood seeping from several small slashes on his face and neck. He eyed Lucian, then Ann, finally settling his eyes on me.

“We have your companions, now we must move quickly.  The Council has no doubt found your injured lover.”

It happened so fast. Lucian grabbed Gavyn’s neck with blinding speed. He almost lifted the startled man off the ground. Gavyn struggled in his grip. Grabbing Lucian’s arm, he managed a calming smile that diffused the anger in Lucian’s eyes, a little. He inhaled, slowly settling Gavyn back on his feet. I hadn’t noticed how wild he looked until that moment. He was breathing hard and clenching his fists over and over. His chest rose and fell rapidly with his angry breaths.

Gavyn cleared his throat, “I meant,
Seth
, of course. I apologize.” He straightened his tattered shirt, adding, “We all know he was never truly Grace’s lover. But you must get beyond that, my friend. They will be here soon, and believe me; these creatures will not be stopped by that huge cannon.”

I turned to Gavyn. “We have to use the ring! I swear, I‘ll help you, I won’t trick you; I need to get them out of here.” I looked around. We couldn’t go through the Council. It would be suicide.

He looked into my eyes, he seemed to be having some sort of internal conflict.  It took several heartbeats before he relented.  “Okay, what do we do?”

I explained as quickly as I could. He pulled off his tunic, which I was sure was completely unnecessary. I needed to touch him, not his bare skin.  To my immense shame, I was momentarily dazed by the beauty of his golden, radiant skin. I placed my hand on his chest; it was warm and alive. I noted the softness of his skin, and then, as if on cue, the outer room began filling with angry shouts.

I forced my will into the ring, just as the room began to fill with the enraged members of Seth’s fearsome Council.

I looked around. I was scared out of my wits. My eyes were taking in everything. And then, like a fist in my stomach, I was jolted. My eyes, flying from face to horrible face had finally locked onto the deadly, silver gaze of a fully healed and utterly enraged Seth!

He charged toward me, madness in his eyes. He reached for me, just as we were sucked quite violently from the room.

TWENTY-NINE

I was spinning. Pressure was building in my ears, threatening to explode. Lights flashed across my vision as noise assaulted me from a thousand different directions at once! The bodies of my friends crashed into me as we randomly spun through the air.  The wind slapped at my face, taking my breath away.

I hit the ground, the air slamming from my lungs. I struggled to fill them, but my head burst with shards of pain. Then, mercifully, my mind went blank and the world went dark.

I later woke to the smell of damp forest as my vision became clear. I tried to shake away the remnants of the thick fog hazing my brain. My body felt like a punching bag and my nerves were still on edge. We escaped certain death at Seth’s place, but I had no idea where we were, or if we were any safer.

I shifted my body and sat up. My muscles twitched and cramped as I surveyed the landscape. On my left lay Ann, her body sprawled out. I leaned over. Her breathing was soft and steady. Lucian was about ten feet to my right. His powerful form lay still. His hair fanned out around his head. He resembled a sleeping lion. I sat back on my heels, taking in the beautiful forest. My eyes were still adjusting to the light, and then, as if a thousand-watt light bulb suddenly flicked on above my head, a thought slammed into my slowly waking brain.  I stood on shaking legs, my mind racing with one possibility. If Gavyn were still knocked out, I could finally get that goddamned ring back!

“Where are you, Gavyn?” I asked, while scanning the area around my insensible friends. I spun in a circle searching the thick green forest floor. There was no sign of him. If he were still unconscious he must have landed far away. I went to wake Ann. Probably feeling like I did, it was definitely going to take a while before we could get moving. I kneeled, gently placing a hand on her shoulder and spoke into her ear.

“Ann, honey, wake up. We’re safe.  We got away. Wake up. ” I shook her shoulder gently, trying to rouse her without causing her anymore pain.

She began to stir, her eyes fluttered for a moment and then opened. She looked lost, then she focused on my face and smiled. I sighed with relief; she was okay. She was whole and free from the monsters. She groaned as she pulled herself into a sitting position, I could totally sympathize.

“Where are we, Gracie?”  She sounded so weak. “This place is strange.” She looked around, her hand rubbing at the soreness in her neck. “Where are the guys?” she asked with a frown.

“Lucian’s over there.” I pointed out his sleeping form “And Gavyn seems to be MIA.”

She looked at me, “He has the ring then. How…”

“It’s a long story. I’ll have to regale you with it later. Let’s go wake our sleeping prince over there. Then we need to figure out where we are and get moving.”

We helped each other to stand. Poor Ann was still wearing her little toga, and for the first time since this coup began. I realized my feet were still bare. I spent the night walking through shattered glass and Lord knows how many other dangerous surfaces, and not once did I realize that my feet were bare. Good Lord, adrenaline is a powerful thing! Well, now that I was aware, I felt every blade of grass, every piece of squishy moss, every pointy stick. I flinched and cursed with every step as we made our way to Lucian’s side.

He was so still that for a split second, I feared the worst. Then he sighed, and we watched his chest rise and fall with each breath.

“God, Gracie, isn’t he magnificent?” Ann breathed a soft sigh of her own. “When we were locked up together, he tried so hard to reassure me. He kept telling me we’d escape, that we’d be free. He was so convincing, it made me believe. When we were alone, we would make plans. We would go over different scenarios, he had it all worked out. He’s truly a brilliant man.” She ran a delicate hand lovingly along his powerful shoulder.

Oh man, I thought. She’d fallen for him! Why did I feel so shitty about that? Ann was my friend and Lucian was the perfect guy for her. He was a real life knight in shining armor. She deserved him. And he deserved her. I had to stop being so selfish.

I plastered a smile on my face and placed my hand next to hers. “That’s great, Annie, but we need to wake him. Be gentle; I don’t want to startle him. Who knows what he might do.”

The feel of our hands was enough. He moved and turning onto his back, gazed up at us. 

“Are you both alright?” he asked, his voice heavy with sleep. “I feel like I’ve been sleeping for days. Where are we?” He looked around, and then turned to me. “Where’s your
elf?
” His eyes were mocking as they met mine. I flinched.

Wow, was it just me or was there some accusation present in his tone?

“He’s not mine and he’s not an elf, surely.” I said feeling a little hurt by his sudden hostility. “And I don’t know where he is. I think he must have fallen further away from us. We should try to find him.”

Lucian stood. He appeared to feel pretty good as he wiped the small bits of earth from his body and turned to me.

“I wouldn’t worry, he’ll find us. I mean, you are the only one who can control his new prize.” He folded his arms across his chest. The look he gave me was not a friendly one. “You’ve attached yet another man quite securely to your side, haven’t you?” His lip curled as he spoke. “I noticed he isn’t one of the more hideous creatures from the Council. Tell me, did you screen all the potential males before you allowed the ring to be taken?”

Yep. It was accusation! Lucian was pissed. Great, just great!

“That’s not fair, Lucian!” Ann yelled furiously “Gracie wouldn’t have given anyone the ring on purpose. Can’t you see her? She looks like she’s been to hell and back.”  I smiled at Ann; there was a reason we were such good friends.

The speech had no effect on the stubborn man.  He stood stone still, arms folded, eyes narrowed.

I growled under my breath. How dare he accuse me of plotting Gavyn’s involvement! I just saved his ass and he has the nerve to be petty!

“I didn’t
give
him the ring.” I stood, stomping toward him until my face was an inch from his. “He took it off Seth’s unconscious body after I smashed his face in with a marble bust. So sorry, I couldn’t get to it first, but I was a little busy getting all the bones in my shoulder crushed by an enraged vampire! Oh, I know, I should have rushed over and wrestled the thing from Gavyn’s hands, just before I passed out from blood loss!  Gee, sorry Lucian, I’ll try harder next time!”  I was panting, my tears sliding down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe him. I was so relieved that we were free and all he could think about was that I had bound another man to my side. I spun around. The thought of looking at his face made my fists curl. I started walking. I didn’t care if anyone followed. They were free from the monsters, so I did my part. Now they could go, be happy, be together and not have to worry about being caught up in anymore of my shit!

I was several feet away when Lucian finally grabbed me. I was spun hard and swallowed in a cage of strong warm arms.  “I’m sorry, Grace, so sorry.” His voice was low and rough. “I don’t know what came over me. I was so worried about you, and then when you showed up to free us, I thought you had the ring back. I thought everything was going to be okay. Then you turned to that man, that elf, and begged him to use the ring. It was all I could do not to kill him. I couldn’t believe you allowed that to happen…again. It was too much. But I didn’t know, Grace, and I drew my own conclusions. I’m so sorry.”

He pulled me tighter to his strong chest. I felt his lips and the hot moisture of his breath as he spoke into my hair, I held him close to me, the weight of his accusations lifting swiftly.

“That’s alright.” My voice was muffled as I spoke into the dent between his pecs, “I understand how it must have seemed. After everything, I do understand.”  I pulled away. My smile was genuine. He smiled back. 

We were okay.

“Well, glad to see you two are friends again. Now, can we get the hell out of here?” Ann was looking a little green. “I’m feeling a little claustrophobic around all these trees.” She walked in a tight circle, scanning the offending monoliths.

“Well, first thing we need to do is figure out where we are,” I said. “Gavyn sent us here, so this must be his world.”  The moment those words left my mouth, I shivered. “God, we could really be stuck here. I don’t think public transit has figured out how to cross dimensions.” My voice sounded high, I was beginning to taste the reality of the situation.

“Now’s not the best time to panic, Gracie,” Lucian chided. “We need level heads to work this out.  First we should scour the area for Gavyn. He’s the only one who can shed some light on our whereabouts,” he said. “I would say we need to split up, but this is a pretty thick forest, we could end up getting separated for good. So I say we stick together.”

“A bird’s eye view is what we need,” Ann stated. “Lucian, how are you at climbing trees? You could climb one of those and see if you can spot Gavyn lying someplace nearby.” Ann looked hopeful, her eyes pleading.

He looked down at himself. “I could try I guess.”

He was still scantily clad in the leather loincloth. His feet were as naked as my own. The bark on the trees looked rough and jagged. If he climbed the tree, he’d be torn apart. Ann must be pretty desperate to suggest he do that. I wouldn’t have asked, not unless I was willing to scale the thing myself; and I
so
wasn’t.!

“Lucian, I hope I’m not insulting your masculinity or anything, but you better not chance it. You could get injured, and unless I’m wrong, there aren’t any Urgent Care facilities nearby. So, I think that idea is a no-go.” I glared at Ann.  She looked ready to scream; her hands were white-knuckled fists. Lucian seemed to notice her mounting unease. Her claustrophobia was getting worse.  He sighed, with a measure of resolve. I just figured he was going to chance it and begin to scale the tall tree, but what he did, was nothing short of astounding.

He stood in the small clearing, his face calm, his hair blowing gently in the breeze. He raised his arms and leaves stirred around his feet. Clasping his hands, he began chanting.

Ann was suddenly plastered to my side. Her eyes were huge, her face pale. “What’s he doing?” she squeaked.

“Search me. I have no clue when it comes to witchcraft.” I was holding her hand; her grip was stronger than I would have liked.  Soon I’d be forced to write left-handed.

I knew Lucian was a warlock, but this went way beyond mixing herbs in a thick, black pot.  The wind grew warm as his voice kept rising. I could feel something being pulled from the air. It sent chills down my spine and raised gooseflesh along my arms and neck.

Leaves swirled in a vortex around him and I watched his eyes turn upward. I followed his gaze. Soaring high above us were four huge birds. They could have been eagles, judging by their size, except these creatures were snow white.  I glanced back at him. His breathing was steady. He looked strange to me and incredibly powerful. He was far from the harmless human we’d all grown to know and lust after.

The birds broke apart, and as if on separate missions, they flew in four directions. His strange chant ended.  His eyes were open, but he didn’t seem to be looking at what was in front of him. It was as if he were seeing inside himself. He stared blindly, not blinking.