Sabine turned to stare at him, and Jack caught his breath at the intensity of her expression. She was pinning him there with her glare. She blinked, but he could not look away.
"There are many other spirits," she said. "Some of them Lesya has knowledge of, and a few she claims to know. There are so many more that are probably like me. Haunted, conflicted. Confused. Feeling that there's . . . something more." Sabine smiled, but it was loaded with withheld truths. "I was lucky to find her, and I have you and the others to thanks for that. Those still living, and those who died. She and I are not quite sisters, but we're inextricably linked by history." She paused
"What else?" Jack pressed. "She told you so much more than that, I know."
"Do you, Jack?" she asked. And for the briefest moment her eyes went wide, and she seemed terrified for him. "Do you really know?" she whispered.
"I know you're keeping something from me."
Sabine sighed. "Things not meant for human ears," she said. "But Jack, you have always heard the call of the wild. And that wolf — your wolf — chose you."
"You're leaving, aren't you?" he asked.
"I was never meant to exist as an ordinary, human woman," she said. "That's why Lesya revels in what she does, what she is. I have always fought against my nature. I want to be . . ."
"You want to be free," Jack said. He smiled, held her arms, pulled her toward him. He was filled with a sudden sense of overwhelming good cheer, the sort of flush of contentment that leaves as soon as it arrives. I will see her again, he thought. I will always love her. How lucky I have been. How lucky I am.
Sabine kissed him, and it was the sweetest kiss ever, touched by the dusk and promising so much more. "Many spirits," she whispered in his ear, and when Jack blinked he experienced a momentary memory of his wolf, loping through snow and dashing between trees. It could have been an element of his own spirit, given free rein to revel in the wild that he so sought. "And some of them," she said, "live in the hearts of men."
"Sabine?" he asked, blinking. "Do you mean . . . ?"
She shushed him with a finger across his lips. Then she shrugged off her dress and stood naked before him, silencing him with her beauty.
"You're so right, my sweet Jack," she said. "We will meet again." She slipped sideways, and before Jack could reach for her she was over the railing. He caught a shimmer of silver across her legs, glistening with a sheen of oily scales, and then she entered the water without a splash. The sea closed around her, and Sabine was gone.
Jack grabbed the railing and watched, hoping that she would rise for one last goodbye. But there was only the sea.
He stood there until it was fully dark, and then he walked slowly back to his cabin. His emotions were mixed. Sadness hung heavy, but it was countered with a deep, rich love that absence could not touch. He was tired, but knew that he would not sleep.
I'm flesh and blood, he thought. Not a spirit. And as he settled on his cot and took out his heavy journal, readying to put into words all those adventures he had lived and the things he had seen, his final thought was, Not yet.
As long as he lived, he would truly live.
His journey had only just begun.
- THE END -
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Of Saints and Shadows, The Myth Hunters, The Boys Are Back in Town, and Strangewood. He has also written books for teens and young adults, including Soulless, Poison Ink, and The Secret Journeys of Jack London, co-authored with Tim Lebbon. His current work-in-progress is Cemetery Girl, a graphic novel trilogy collaboration with Charlaine Harris.
A lifelong fan of the "team-up," Golden frequently collaborates with other writers on books, comics, and scripts. He has co-written three illustrated novels with Mike Mignola, the first of which, Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, was the launching pad for the Eisner Award-nominated comic book series, Baltimore. With Thomas E. Sniegoski, he is the co-author of the book series Magic Zero and The Menagerie, as well as comic book miniseries such as Talent, currently in development as a feature film. With Amber Benson, he co-created the online animated series Ghosts of Albion for the BBC.
As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies The New Dead, The Monster's Corner, and British Invasion, among others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at http://www.ChristopherGolden.com.
CONNECT WITH CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN ONLINE
Official Website
http://www.ChristopherGolden.com
Twitter
http://twitter.com/ChristophGolden
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/christophergoldenauthor
No Rest for the Wicked Blog
http://christophergolden.blogspot.com/
Join the Wicked Street Team
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wickedstreetteam/
TIM LEBBON is a New York Times-bestselling writer from South Wales. He's had almost thirty novels published to date, as well as dozens of novellas and hundreds of short stories. His most recent releases include the bestselling Into the Void: Dawn of the Jedi (Star Wars) from Del Rey/Star Wars Books, Coldbrook from Arrow/Hammer, and the Toxic City trilogy from Pyr in the USA. Future novels include The Silence, and an official Alien tie-in novel Out of the Shadows. He has won four British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Scribe Award, and has been a finalist for International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, and World Fantasy Awards.
20th Century Fox acquired film rights to The Secret Journeys of Jack London series, and he and Golden wrote the first draft of the screenplay. A TV series of his Toxic City trilogy is in development with ABC Network in the USA, and he's also working on new screenplays, both solo and in collaboration with Stephen Volk.
Find out more about Tim at his website http://www.timlebbon.net.
CONNECT WITH TIM LEBBON ONLINE
Official Website
http://www.timlebbon.net
Twitter
https://twitter.com/timlebbon
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/tim.lebbon
WANT MORE
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN AND TIM LEBBON?
VISIT THEM AT:
http://www.ChristopherGolden.com
http://www.timlebbon.net
Contents
Chapter One - The Ghost
Chapter Two - Unwelcome
Chapter Three - The Void
Chapter Four - Blood by Moonlight
Chapter Five - Predators All
Chapter Six - The Stand
Chapter Seven - Nature Abhors
Chapter Eight - The Memory of Monsters
Chapter Nine - Caging the Dark
Chapter Ten - The Withering Land
Chapter Eleven - The Cold Dead
Chapter Twelve - A Day's Dark Journey
Chapter Thirteen - The Dying of the Light
Chapter Fourteen - New Journeys
About the Authors
White Fangs Page 24