Mark of the Witch
Page 29
“It’s what you did do last time. Or tried to.” I pulled back enough to meet his eyes, then looked away, past him, around us, afraid of the wolf. But there was no animal in sight. My sobs kept breaking up my words, but I had to tell him. He had to know. “You d-didn’t push me then, Tomas. I threw myself off that cliff to protect you. And I’d do it again, just like you did for me tonight, when you threw yourself in front of—”
And then I stopped and realized that the warmth seeping between us was coming from blood, not passion. “Oh, God, no!”
“You have five minutes, Indy,” he told me. I was surprised to see his cell phone in his hand. I hadn’t thought of them when I’d been so cleverly changing clocks. And he nodded toward the cave.
“I’m not sure you do, though.” I yanked off my blouse, wadding it up and pressing it to the wound in his chest. I stood there in my soaked jeans and my bra, shivering with cold, willing him to live.
“Do you think we found each other again after three thousand years just to have it end like this?” he asked. His voice was tight with pain. His smile was the bravest, phoniest thing I’d ever seen. “No way, Indy. That would be a sucky ending to a really long story. Go on, get it done and then get back here.”
“I can’t leave you. I won’t leave you. Nothing is more important than love, Tomas. I realize that now. Nothing. Not my mission, not justice for Demetrius, not a promise I made to my sisters, noth—”
“Not my vows to my God, not my belief, not my faith, not my dogma,” he said, cutting me off. “Rayne’s been trying to tell me that all along. Nothing is more important than love.” He frowned. “Because love is the only thing that is, that’s what she said. Love is at the heart of all of those other things. Love’s the core. Everything else is man-made, beliefs and theories and rules and religions made up to try to explain the inexplicable, to know what can’t be known. But if you strip it all away, love is what you have left. That’s what Rayne’s been trying to make me see, all this time.”
I was crying as I stared at him, and then I gasped as two of my teardrops seemed to fall in slow motion, expanding and glowing so brightly that neither of us could look away. They fell to the ground, those two glowing tears, and hardened into diamonds. The amulet formed around them, and when I picked it up, it didn’t disappear.
I closed my eyes. “That’s the answer.” Then I opened them again and looked toward the cave. “It’s his answer, too.” And then I rose and ran toward the entrance, but before I crossed through the water and went inside, I lifted my head skyward. “Lilia!” I cried out loud. “I know you’re out there watching, sister. I’m leaving my man to save yours. You’d damn well better return the favor!”
Mere bullets cannot defeat love.
The voice was a whisper that came from nowhere and everywhere, and it was also the sound of the rain stopping all at once.
I nodded and entered the cave, walking quickly all the way to the source of the glowing light. I did not see the sad form with his longing eyes as I had before. But I knew what I had to do. I stared into the swirling colors, and I called out to him.
“Hear my words and know me! I am Indira, the sister of your woman. Your name is Demetrius, and you are not a demon. You are a man. Seek love, and remember. Seek love, and do no more harm. Seek love, Demetrius, and be restored!”
I hurled the amulet with all my strength.
There was a flash of light from somewhere on the other side, and then the Portal popped and vanished. Just like that. I’d done what I had come here to do.
Turning, I moved as fast as I could through utter darkness until I found my way back outside. And as I emerged from the cave, I saw a beautiful woman leaning over Tomas, glowing like some ethereal angel. She glanced my way, and I saw her smile before she vanished.
I ran to Tomas’s side and knelt, then gently tugged my wadded up blouse away from his flesh. He blinked down at his chest as I dabbed the blood away with rainwater. But there was no wound. No wound at all.
He lifted his eyes to meet mine. “I love you, Indira. And I’ll never lose you again. Never again.”
I smiled down at him. “I love you, Tomas. Always have.” My heart was nearly bursting with the power of what was between us. “Always will.”
* * * * *
Look for DAUGHTER OF THE SPELLCASTER, Book 2 of THE PORTAL, by New York Times bestselling author Maggie Shayne coming from Harlequin MIRA® in December 2012 wherever books are sold.
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ISBN: 9781459241114
Copyright © 2012 by Margaret Benson
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