“Baby. Baby. Baby!” Aric screamed as he knelt, his hands roaming my chest as he made incoherent sounds. “Can you hear me?”
It took all of the strength I had to flick my eyes in his direction. He was distraught, tears coursing down his cheeks as his hands shook. “I hear you.” My voice cracked as I tried to lift my hand.
Aric saw the attempt and grabbed my fingers, squeezing. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”
I was pretty far from okay. In fact, as the blood seeped from my body, I could feel the life draining from me. “You need to take care of her,” I gritted out, focusing on his handsome face. “You need to make sure she’s okay.”
“We’re going to do that,” Aric growled. “We’ll do that together. I … baby, you need to heal yourself.”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. My hand felt heavy as I tried to move it to my chest. Aric ultimately helped, but when I attempted to summon the magic I couldn’t find the strength. The Archimage inside me was silent, as if it had already fled during the melee.
“I can’t.”
“Baby, don’t say that.” Aric’s body wracked with sobs as he pressed closer to me. “You need to hold on. We’ll get an ambulance here. Somebody call an ambulance! We’ll get you to the hospital. They’ll save you, and when you’re stronger you’ll be able to heal yourself. You can make it.”
I didn’t want to hurt him. Heck, I never wanted that. I couldn’t start lying to him now, though. “I don’t have much time.”
“Don’t you say that!” Aric’s voice was ragged as he fought to control his emotions. “I cannot live without you, Zoe. It’s you and me forever, you and me against the world. I won’t make it without you.”
“You will.” My eyes drifted to a shaking Sami as she knelt beside her father. She looked lost, scared, small. She was none of those things, but her life was about to be wrecked and I was determined to keep her from becoming those things. “Daddy will take care of you, Sami. He will.”
“Mom.” Sami’s lower lip shook with the effort of remaining calm. “You can’t go. I need you to stay. I don’t care how much ice cream you eat with Dad … or how much you kiss him … or how much you embarrass me.”
“That’s nice, but I don’t think I can stay.” It was hard to talk around the lump in my throat. “Take care of Daddy. He’s going to need you. And, when it’s time, you need to make sure you push him to be happy.”
“Don’t you leave me!” Aric issued the words as an order, but I knew he was really begging. “I’ll die without you.”
He might’ve actually meant it, but I knew he’d never abandon Sami. He would take care of her, nurture her, turn her into the adult we always dreamed she’d become. “I’ll be waiting for you.” My tongue felt thick and I knew it was happening. I was going.
“I love you both,” I forced out. “Don’t mourn long. Try to find the happiness you both deserve. It’s okay. I don’t regret one second of this life. You’ll find me when it’s time.”
“Zoe!” Aric buried his face in my hair, stroking it back as he screamed. “Please! Please! Please!” The begging turned into a howl of mourning as I closed my eyes … and then I died.
I THOUGHT dying would be quiet and painless. I was wrong.
Aric’s howling continued for what felt like forever and it was followed by searing pain in my chest. When I opened my eyes, I briefly wondered if I somehow ended up in Hell. Perhaps I was the bad guy after all.
Then I saw the blue flame glowing on my chest, Sami’s fingers spread over the wounds, a look of determination on her face. She wasn’t alone. Cernunnos stood behind her, a steadying grip on her shoulder, and he watched with unveiled interest as Sami finally figured out the key to healing.
I struggled to prop myself up on my elbows, meeting Aric’s stunned gaze as he jerked up his head. “What did you do, Sami?”
“Zoe?” Aric gasped out my name and drew me to him, the tears continuing to fall as he petted the back of my head. “You’re alive.”
I patted his arm absentmindedly, allowing him to hug me as tightly as necessary as I focused on my weeping child. Aric needed the tactile contact while I attempted to wrap my head around what happened.
“You did it, Sami.” I couldn’t help but be amazed. “How did you know you could do it?”
“I … don’t know,” Sami gritted out, continuing to pour magic into me. “I just touched you and felt you were dying and … it happened.”
“Uh-huh.” I grunted as I sat up straight, pulling Aric with me. I grabbed Sami’s hand to stop her from healing me. “It’s done now, sweetie. I’m good.”
“Oh.” Sami leaned back on her haunches, her face white from the exertion. “Are you still going to die?”
I shook my head. “Not today.”
“Not ever.” Aric growled into my neck, his arms so tight around me I felt as if I was trapped in a vise. I could hardly admonish him given what happened, so I struggled to deal with the pressure rather than push him away.
“Not ever. I’m going to live forever.” I flashed a bright smile as I locked gazes with Cernunnos. “You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”
“I believed it was the path you would take.” Cernunnos’ grin was enigmatic. “That’s why I stayed close. I believed the little one might need a hand to get going. She needed very little guidance.”
“Do you know this guy?” Sami asked, swiping at her tears with the back of her hand. “He smells like Dad when he chops wood without a shirt on really hot days.”
I smirked at the comparison. “I know him. Kind of. He’s … a friend.”
“He’s dirty.”
“Yes, well, he lives in a hole in the ground. His name is Bob, by the way.”
Sami pressed her lips together and nodded. “I … um … .” I understood her trepidation. In the moments before my death she thought she had a million things to say. She didn’t get the chance, and now they probably seemed silly in the waning light of Covenant College’s last day.
“You don’t have to say anything,” I prodded, rubbing my thumb over her cheek to wipe away a tear. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” Aric murmured. He didn’t care that he openly wept in front of an audience. “It’s pretty freaking far from okay.”
“I think Dad might be having a meltdown,” Sami noted.
“I think you’re right, but he’ll be okay in a few days.” I traced my finger up and down Aric’s forearm. “We’ll all be okay in a few days.”
“Maybe.” Sami shifted her eyes to the dead body on the ground in front of the athletic center. “I told you we should’ve killed her.”
The grim detachment she wielded when looking at Brittany’s bloody body sent chills down my spine. I grabbed her chin and forced her eyes to me. “I made a mistake trusting her, but I’m not sure I’d change anything. I had to know exactly what she was before I made that decision.”
“Do you know now?”
I nodded. “I think we all know now.”
Sami licked her lips before moving her eyes from the body to the building. “We still need to set everything on fire.”
“Like Firestarter?”
Sami bobbed her head. “I can do it.”
I opened my mouth to argue but snapped it shut when Cernunnos cut me off with a headshake.
“I will handle the rest,” Cernunnos offered, taking me by surprise. “You can be done here.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant. “What exactly are you going to handle?”
“The razing and purification of the land,” he answered. “This place cannot be saved. That’s why we must eradicate it. There are other ways than fire, though.”
“There are?”
Cernunnos nodded, leaning back to give Rafael room as he moved closer to Sami. “They will handle the purification.”
They? I shifted my eyes to the far edge of the parking lot, where three women in long capes held lanterns amidst the disappearing daylight. “They’re going to purify the la
nd without fire?”
“This place will not exist tomorrow,” Cernunnos explained. “It is time for you to leave.”
I’d kind of figured that out myself, and still … my eyes landed on the middle priestess, something familiar in her eyes causing me to jolt. I recognized that face. “You know what you’re doing, right?”
“I’ve done it before,” Cernunnos said. “The land must be returned to what it should be and left to heal … for a very long time. It will not heal before you shake off this mortal coil. There will be no reason to return.”
“Yeah? I can live with that.” I grunted when I felt Aric shift behind me, his arms going beneath my legs so he could hoist me up to carry.
I put up a token protest, but ultimately abandoned it. Being coddled wasn’t such a bad thing. “Will I ever see you again?” I asked Cernunnos as he moved to join his female friends.
Cernunnos’ expression was unreadable. “Who can say?”
“I have a feeling you can.”
“Yes, but I do not wish to do it.” He shifted his eyes to Sami, who seemed happy to let Rafael lift her from the ground. “I will definitely see you again, little one. Don’t fret, though, it will be a long time down the road. You have time to relax now, prosper.”
“That’s good.” Sami studied him a moment. “You’d better take a bath before you come around next time. You’ll freak me out otherwise.”
Cernunnos snorted. “I’ll give it some thought. As for now, you should all go. It is time to leave this place behind. Forever.”
“I think we can all live with that.” Aric grunted as he swiveled. “Is my family really safe?”
“Your family will never be boring, so you must continue to watch your surroundings,” Cernunnos answered. “As for being safe, I can think of no one safer.”
“I’m going to take your word on that.”
“As well you should.” Cernunnos offered me a benign smile. “Go into the light and shut out the dark.”
“You still talk like a hippie on acid,” I grumbled.
Cernunnos’ laughter was light enough to fill my heart with relief. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
“Yeah, let’s get out of here before he starts reciting Dr. Seuss,” I suggested, my eyes locking with the middle priestess. Matilda, a roommate long since forgotten in the constant shuffle of life. She teetered on the edge of bad at one point, but ultimately picked the side of good. It was somehow fitting that she was here to bear witness to the end. “I’m starving, and I feel as if I could sleep forever.”
“Me, too,” Sami intoned, resting her head against Rafael’s shoulder. “Hey, Mom?”
“What?”
“Now that I’ve saved your life, can I be ungrounded?”
“Not on your life,” Aric replied, not missing a beat. “I’m locking everyone in the house for the next month and that’s all there is to it.”
Oh, well, there were worse ways to spend a month.
Thirty-Two
“You almost died on me.”
Aric couldn’t stop touching me, even going so far as to sit in the bathroom as I showered once we hit the hotel room. He was clingy, although I guess that was to be expected. Hopefully he would calm a bit in the upcoming days. If not, I would have to start coordinating his outfits with mine so we didn’t clash.
“I’m pretty sure I did die,” I admitted, causing him to lift his head and rest it on my chest. We were in bed, the lights dimmed as the television flickered. We had it on so we could monitor the evening news. I had no idea what to expect from Cernunnos’ scourging exercise, but I was curious about if it would become big news.
“You died?” Aric made a soft whimpering noise. “Did you … see anything?”
“I wasn’t that far gone,” I replied, stroking the back of his head. “If I did die – and I think I did – I was gone for only a second.”
“You were still gone.”
I was indeed. I stretched a bit to get comfortable. Aric’s head was heavy on my chest, but I felt no inclination to move it. After fleeing Covenant College, we checked into the hotel to regroup. Kelsey and Paris had their own rooms, and they made noises about leaving for home the following morning. I could tell they were as stricken as Aric by what happened and felt the need to give us space to bond as a family.
Rafael had already said his goodbyes, breaking Sami’s heart. He gave her a lingering hug and kiss on the cheek – Aric was too far gone to care – and promised to visit in the upcoming weeks. He said he would remain in Michigan a bit, watch the land where Covenant College used to be, and then report back to us before leaving again. Sami, at least, looked forward to that visit.
She was in the adjacent room, oddly silent since we left Covenant College, perhaps turned inward as she gave serious thought to what she’d done. We had some long conversations in our future, but for now she was safe. That was the most important thing.
“We’re okay now, Aric,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “We’re going to be okay.”
“Is that something you know or are you merely trying to placate me?”
I shrugged. “It’s something I feel.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Aric shifted so he was on his back, drawing me with him so he could wrap me in a warm cocoon. Even though he was clingy, I didn’t mind. I wanted to embrace our second chance as much as anybody.
The sound of a timid voice clearing her throat caught my attention, and when I turned I found Sami standing in the doorway. She was dressed in new jeans and a T-shirt, something Paris picked up for her. She no longer looked small, I realized. She seemed someone taller, bigger than life.
“Are you okay?” Aric asked, tilting his head. “Do you want to sleep with us tonight?”
Sami immediately started shaking her head, her long dark hair flying back and forth with her vehemence. “You guys are going to be mushy all night. I don’t want to deal with that.”
I snorted, amused. “Just wait until we get home. We’ll be beyond mushy then.”
“Oh, I figured that out myself.” Sami trailed her fingers over the doorframe, her expression unreadable. “Aunt Paris texted. They’re going downstairs for dinner. I wondered if … um … I wondered if I could go with them?”
“No.” Aric answered immediately. “I want you with us.”
“Yes,” I countered. “You can go with them. Keep your phone with you, and text every few minutes so we know you’re safe.”
Sami visibly brightened. “Really?”
I nodded, shooting her a reassuring smile. “Really. I think you proved that you can take care of yourself today, even though you’re still in big trouble.”
“Grounded,” Sami growled, frustrated. “I think I should get a week off for saving your life. That’s only fair.”
“I said no,” Aric barked. “You’ll be lucky to leave the house when you’re eighteen.”
“Whatever.” Sami shuffled in front of the door, something clearly weighing on her.
“Do you want to talk before you go?” I asked.
“No. I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”
“Okay.”
“I do want to say something, though.” Sami squared her shoulders and locked gazes with me. “I’m glad you didn’t die. I would’ve been sad … and never gotten over it.”
It wasn’t a funny admission and yet I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling. “Well, thank you for that.”
“I love you.”
She rarely said the words, but I knew she keenly meant them. “I love you, too.”
“And I know I would’ve been okay if you died, physically I mean.” Sami tugged a restless hand through her hair. “But I wouldn’t have been okay in my heart. Neither would Dad.”
“You’ve got that right.” Aric’s voice was low and gruff.
“I would’ve found a way to watch over you,” I offered. “I would’ve forced the situation so I got to watch over both of you. That way I could’ve haunted your father’s second wife
.”
“There would’ve been no second wife.” Aric was affronted.
I licked my lips and chose my words carefully. “Death isn’t always the end of everything, Sami. I believe we go on. You would’ve found me eventually.”
Sami nodded, her eyes conflicted. “I’m glad I didn’t have to look for you. Now I know you’ll be around for a long time … embarrassing me.”
“Oh, you have no idea how much we’re going to embarrass you,” I teased. “I might do a dance while we’re eating ice cream.”
“Gross.” Sami made a disgusted face, jerking her head when she heard the knock at the door. “That’s Aunt Paris.”
“Go,” I prodded. “Have fun. This is your last breath of freedom for a very long time.”
“For the rest of your life,” Aric muttered.
“I’m going.” Sami cast one glance over her shoulder, pressing her hand to her heart when she saw Aric tug me on top of him. “Don’t do anything gross tonight. I’ll never get over it if you do.”
I laughed as she left, sinking into Aric once it was just the two of us. “She’s a good kid,” I murmured in to his chest.
“She’s a pain in the ass.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do mean that.” Aric brushed a series of kisses against my forehead. “But she’s a good kid, despite that.”
I exhaled heavily, shutting my eyes. It felt strange to be able to relax. Granted, it came after I died, but it was a wondrous feeling. “What are we going to do now?”
“We’re going to be happy, Zoe.”
“And then?”
“We’re going to get our jollies embarrassing the kid and loving one another,” Aric replied. “That’s all I want from this life. That’s all I’ll ever want.”
Strangely enough, I felt the same. “Hey, I know you were wrecked by what happened, but I’m here. I love you, and I’m here.”
“I love you more.” Aric snuggled as close as he could possibly get without crawling inside of me. “I’m here, too. I won’t ever leave you.”
Dying Covenant: The Complete Series Page 81