by Quinn Loftis
Jacque threw a fist in the air with a whoop, “That’s my man!” Fane moved on to the next opponent and, one after another, he slaughtered them. But where one fell, another took its place.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of light. When she turned, she saw Peri flinging out her power, one shot after another, taking out creature after creature. Alston, Adam, and Cyn were all doing the same thing. She looked up and saw Thalion, the elf prince, shoot arrows so quickly that she didn’t even see when he reached for the next one. He hit the zombies one after another with such precision that one creature fell for each arrow he loosed. Jacque just knew that at any second they would get the upper hand. At any second, they would defeat the evil beings and she and Alina would be rescued and free to move forward with the males to find the other girls. But she was a fool to think it because out of the forest more and more zombies arrived.
“What the hell! Someone throw them a bone, jeez,” she snarled. She looked over at Alina who looked every bit as concerned as she felt.
Alina’s eyes never left the man who held her heart, her mate who was fighting with everything he had to save her, and yet she knew it was in vain. Reyaz had made sure of it. She wanted to run into his arms to tell him how much she loved him, how amazing he was, and how she treasured every single moment of their time together. As if he heard her, he turned and looked at her. His eyes pierced her heart just as they had the first time he had ever looked at her all those decades ago. She pleaded with her eyes for him to understand and begged him to not be angry with her because she didn’t know what other option she had. She wouldn’t stand there and let her mate, or the others she considered hers, die. She wouldn’t let the life Jacque and Fane deserved be taken from them at so young an age, not when she had the power to stop it.
She reached behind her and pulled the wrapped object from under her shirt. Her hands trembled as she held it and began unwrapping it. When the fabric fell to the ground, all that was left in her hand was a long, deadly dagger. She looked up and again her eyes met her mate’s. His eyes widened as they glanced down to what she held and then back up to her face. He saw it then, and saw the determination in her to do what was necessary. She heard Jacque’s voice from beside her but didn’t look away from Vasile.
“I love you,” she whispered. She watched her name form on his lips and thought of all the times he had said her name, and of all the times he had caressed her face and stared into her eyes and made her feel like the most beautiful woman on earth. He began running towards her, pushing past anything that got in his way. She heard his roar and felt his power and it gave her the strength to do what she had to. Lorelle’s words ran through her mind as she grasped the dagger firmly in her hands and held it above her heart.
“A sacrifice must be made. One of you must willingly give yourself for the life of the other. A life for a life, it is your choice. But the battle will continue until the last of your hunting party falls or until the sacrifice is given.”
With one final look at her mate she raised the dagger higher and then plunged it into her heart. She felt the dark magic dissipate and the barrier drop. She felt his arms around her as she fell to the ground and heard his voice in her ear as he begged her not to leave him. He loved her, he said over and over, and he needed her. He was so strong and he didn’t even know it. She tried to move her lips to tell him, but she couldn’t. Her long life was over and she hoped that those she loved would be safe now. With that thought she let go and let the darkness of death take her.
Chapter 22
“From the night I took her as my mate, marked her and made her mine, I believed that when she left this world, I would go with her. I found peace in that because I knew that I didn’t want to live a life without her, didn’t want to experience anything life had to offer without her by my side. And yet here she is in my arms, no breath in her body and still my heart beats.” ~Vasile
Vasile held his mate’s lifeless body. He clutched her to him desperately as he tried to come to terms with what he had just watched. She was gone. She had been standing there looking at him with such longing it had hurt, and then he had seen in her eyes the need to protect, and he had known what she was going to do. He had tried to get to her first, intent on begging her to stop, but he knew there would have been nothing he could have said. He was too wrapped up in his grief to notice that it was silent around him. The battle was over, and had been over the second Alina had taken her own life. He leaned down and gently kissed her still warm lips and her scent wrapped around him like a loving embrace, and though his heart still beat, he swore he felt it shatter into a million pieces. He threw his head back and howled. He poured his grief and pain into it and fought to keep it from swallowing him whole. He knew he still had to fight, the other females needed him, though all he wanted to do was curl up around his mate and join her in death, and he would, soon.
Fane ran to Jacque and grabbed her, pulling her to his chest. He was sure he was crushing her, but he needed to feel her, needed to know she was still alive. He pulled back and kissed her roughly and then backed up, grabbing her hand and pulling her over to where his father held his mother. He knelt down next to them and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. The heartache in his father’s howl broke his own heart, and seeing his mother lying there, pale with death, made him throw his own head back, and one by one the other wolves joined him and his father’s cry for justice.
As the howls subsided, Fane gave his mother a final kiss and then stood. He turned to look at Jacque. “I love you; I love you,” he told her over and over again as he pressed his forehead to hers.
Tears filled her eyes as she glanced down to his mother and then back to him. It broke his heart all over again. He pulled her tight against him. “It will be alright,” he murmured. He felt her shake her head against him.
“No, Fane it won’t. Not this time. I love you and I am so freaking glad to see you, and I’m so, so sorry.” He felt her body shudder against his as her tears began to fall and she pulled tighter against him.
“Vasile, we must move,” Decebel told his friend gently.
Vasile let out a warning growl.
“We will come back for her. We will not leave her, but we have to get the others,” he told him.
Vasile looked down at his mate. He knew she would want him to go and would expect him to go help, but he didn’t want to leave her. He felt someone watching him and looked out into the forest. Twenty feet away sat a white wolf, a wolf he knew. His mouth felt dry as he stared into the eyes of his brother, a brother who was supposed to have died in this very forest centuries ago. Vasile realized that seeing his Mina die must have shattered his hold on reality. He knew it must be some sort of delusion, a need to know that someone would be watching over his mate while he was away, until he could come back for her for the final time. “You will keep her safe,” he told the wolf. “You will protect her for me, brother, until I can come back for her.” The wolf bowed his head to him and Vasile knew he would do as he asked, he would protect the body of his beloved, and he would be forever grateful to this ghost of his brother.
He gave Alina a final kiss on the lips and pulled her close. “I will be back for you, and then I will join with you, as it should be.” He laid her down gently and watched as the white wolf walked slowly towards him. The others watched the wolf warily and, had Vasile been in his right mind, it might have seemed odd to him that they could see his delusion, but as it was, he couldn't care less. The wolf, which looked just like his brother’s wolf, lay down next to Alina and placed his huge head gently down next to her own. He let out a small whine and scooted his large body closer to hers and Vasile felt something ease inside of him.
“Let’s go,” he growled. He looked into the forest and saw that Peri, Sorin, and Skender were already running, obviously already having picked up on a scent. With a last look at his mate’s body, he too turned and took off into the forest.
Costin looked over at Sorin. “Smell them?”
Sorin nodded then looked at Adam. “Your mate and Sally,” he told the fae who didn’t have the nose of a wolf.
Adam’s shoulders tensed and his eyes began to scan the distance. “Which way?” he asked.
Costin pointed to the right of them and then took off again. Suddenly Peri screamed. “STOP!” Everyone came to a jarring halt just at the edge of a dark fog that weaved its way into the forest ahead of them.
“What is that?” Jacque asked.
“Evil,” Skender said in answer.
“Whatever it is, Sally is on the other side of it, so I’m getting through it one way or another,” Costin said as he paced back and forth in front of the line of fog.
“Okay, before we go into this freaky fog, can I please address the elephant in the forest?” Peri spoke up. “Did anyone else notice how the zombies back there all collapsed after Alina made the sacrifice?”
“Sacrifice?” Vasile snarled.
“Stand down wolf,” Peri warned. “I mean no disrespect to your grief but I believe this is important. As soon as Alina took her life, the battle ended.”
“Reyaz said that we would only be able to save one of them,” Thalion said.
“Bloody hell,” Jacque whispered, “he expects them to sacrifice themselves.”
Costin cursed and took off into the fog.
“Dammit, what is with you damn wolves running off after I’ve specifically said to stop!” Peri snapped as she too took off into the fog. Without thought, everyone else ran right behind them.
Sally stood, staring off into the fog. She could feel something was coming and her stomach felt as if it was going to climb up out of her throat. Her hands shook at her side and her palms were damp with sweat. She wanted to be brave; she needed to be brave, and if she had to call on her inner Jen to do so, then that’s what she would do.
“Sally, are you alright?” Crina asked quietly.
Sally nodded. “Do you feel it?”
“Yes, they’re coming,” Crina agreed.
“What do you think is going to happen?”
Crina shrugged. “I don’t know, but whatever it is we will get out of it together. Our mates and Peri can kick some major ass. It’s going to be okay.”
Sally smiled. “I’m supposed to be the encouraging one, being the gypsy healer and all.”
Crina laughed. “It’s okay to let other people encourage you every now and then.”
They both looked back out into the fog and watched as it gradually began to recede and slowly reveal the forest, and their pack, as well as a few extras.
“Sally!” Costin’s voice broke through her surprise and her eyes filled with tears at the sight of him. He ran towards her and was a mere two feet from her when he was brought up short, frozen in place.
“Costin!” Sally tried to move towards him but she couldn’t get any closer. She could walk side to side, but no matter how hard she tried to walk forward she was met with resistance that she couldn’t fight.
Suddenly laughter filled the air around them as each member of the hunting party suddenly began grasping at their throats. Wheezing and gasping filled the air as Sally and Crina looked on in horror.
“STOP! Please STOP!” Sally sobbed.
“You know what must be done,” the voice that had been laughing told her.
And just as quickly as the group had started choking, they stopped. Costin bent forward trying to pull air into his lungs, as did the others.
Peri looked at Sally sternly. “Don’t even think about it.”
The tears in Sally’s eyes began to fall as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a little blue pill. She looked up at everyone and then back at the pill.
“SALLY!” Peri snarled. “Don’t you dare! We will figure this out.”
Sally’s head shook back and forth as she looked at Costin. “He will kill you all and make us stand here and watch. The things he said he would do, they’re horrible.”
“Sally you have to trust me,” Costin pleaded.
“Healer, listen to your wolf,” Peri told her as she finally stood up, able to breathe again. “We can totally kick this guy’s—,” before she could get out the words, Peri was on the ground, screaming in pain. Sally let out a squeak of horror as she watched the fae grip her head. Blood began to pour from her nose and ears, and even from her mouth. Sally knew he was killing her. He would draw it out and make it as horrible as possible while she stood watching. Peri’s body flipped and flopped as her breathing gurgled around the blood. She glanced back at Costin. “I can’t let her die,” she told him. “I can’t; it wouldn’t be right; it’s not right.”
“Sally,” Costin’s voice came out in a desperate plea, but what could he say? Could he tell her to stand there while a friend that she loved died a horrible death? Could he really ask her to live with that?
“He will take you all one by one until one of us gives in,” she told him. She looked over at Crina and gave her a small smile. “It is my duty as your healer. I don’t expect you to sacrifice yourself.”
Peri’s screams became louder and then Sally heard the fae’s words. “Sally! Don’t!” she screamed. But she was too late. Sally had already put the pill in her mouth and swallowed. She waited and let out a deep breath when Peri’s screams of pain stopped but then were replaced by her cussing.
“Dammit Sally! I told you not to! Do you know how long I’ve been alive? Do you have any idea how many centuries I’ve lived on this earth?” Peri tried to walk closer to the healer but just like Costin, she was stuck. “ARGH!” she screamed in utter frustration and rage.
Sally felt herself getting sleepy as her breathing became shallow. She swayed on her feet and tried to lower herself slowly to the ground as her legs weakened. Her eyes met Costin’s as he lowered himself to the ground across from her. He reached out to her, unable to touch her, unable to save her and she cried for him.
“Sally,” his deep voice cut into her heart and the desperation in it touched her soul. She didn’t want to die; she wasn’t ready to die, but Reyaz had left her no option. She wouldn’t watch her friends die.
“I’m sorry, Costin,” she told him breathlessly. Her lungs were on fire and her brain was becoming fuzzy from the lack of oxygen.
“Shh, baby, don’t talk...it’s okay...it’s okay,” he told her gently. “I know why you did it; I do. I’m just not ready to give you up. I can’t give you up.”
Sally smiled, or tried to. “Stubborn,” she wheezed.
Costin couldn’t smile. He couldn’t do anything other than breathe and that was becoming increasingly difficult. It was as if his own body was responding to what her body was experiencing and, he wished with everything inside of him that he was, that he too was dying. But he knew the bond had been broken, and as her life slipped away, he would be left here without her.
Sally felt herself growing even weaker. “I’m tired Costin,” she whispered to him.
“Lay down, Sally mine, I’m here with you.”
She did as he told her and lay on her side so she could see him. Her breaths were so shallow now; she knew at any second she would take her last. “I love you,” she told him and the words were slurred but she hoped he understood. “I. am. S-s—so glad. You. Were. Mine.” her words were choppy and so soft she wondered if he heard her.
“Am yours, Sally mine, not were. I am yours in life and in death and you are mine,” he told her, “And I will join you very soon, my love.”
Sally wanted to tell him no, she wanted to tell him to live, to find love again but she was out of time. She saw his incredibly handsome face move closer and caught his scent just as death took her.
Costin gathered her into his arms as the force that had been holding him in place let go. He wanted to scream, to maim, and kill. Most of all, he wanted his mate back. He buried his face in her neck and breathed deeply, taking her scent deep in his lungs. His chest ached as he tried to hold himself together and when he heard Jacque’s hysterical screams he nearly lost it. He kn
ew she would want to see her friend and would want to hold her, but he wasn’t ready to let her go, couldn’t let her go, not yet, and maybe not ever. His time with her had been so very short. There was still so much they hadn’t experienced together and so many things left to do and say, and yet one little pill and the evil heart of one man had ripped her from him.
Jacque couldn’t believe what had just happened. In fact, she was waiting for herself to wake up and for all of this to be some horrific dream that she could tell the girls about over hot chocolate. But there would be no more hot chocolate, not without Sally, not ever again. She watched as Costin rocked her best friend in his arms and her heart broke right along with his. She felt Fane’s arms come around her and even without the bond she felt his love engulf her and knew that he ached for her and would take all of her pain if he could. Her mind flashed to Jen and she felt tears well up in her eyes. This would break Jen. Sally may have meant the world to her, but Jen had a different sort of bond with Sally. Jacque didn’t even know if Jen was aware of it, but Sally was what kept Jen grounded. Sally was to Jen what a tornado shelter was to those who needed a safe place to run to in the storms of life and now she was gone. Jacque felt her knees go weak and knew that if Fane’s arms hadn’t been around her, she would have crumbled to the ground like a house of cards. She heard Fane’s voice in her ear, but she couldn’t discern what he was saying. Her mind was too much of a mess. Her heart hurt for the death of her mother-in-law, but something inside of her died right along with Sally and she didn’t know if it would ever live again.