Anathema (18 page)

I force myself to take a couple of steps, but
my balance is so messed up. I keep feeling like I’m going to fall
forward, so I compensate by leaning back slightly, and I keep
telling myself to breathe. Just to breathe.

Four steps later, and I find myself in front
of Sarah’s body. As I look down at her, I finally see the gist of
her expression. Her eyes are wide. Her lips part slightly, and her
expression is twisted into a horrified grimace. I know she thought
she could shoot me before the power got her, and if Evan hadn’t
given me those two lessons, she would have been right--and I would
be the one lying here.

My teeth start chattering from the cold. My
head hurts. I tuck my wounded arm close to my body and set the
other one atop it as I start down the trail. It seems so much
longer than when I walked up it. I fall once or twice. Each time,
it seems to take longer to get to my feet. I can literally feel my
body slowing down, probably because I’m still bleeding. I have to
stop to vomit. My hand trembles wildly as I wipe my face.

By the time I’m back at the Jeep, my vision
is really doing strange things. I stagger to the driver’s side and
lean against it, hoping I can drive myself back to the cabin. After
that, I have no clue what’s going to happen or how I’m going to get
through this.

I jam the key into the door, unlock it, and
clamber inside. The pain surges not only in my arm but also my
head. I feel weak, which isn’t good—not at all. I tug the door
closed behind me and lean against the steering wheel.

My cell rings, and I jump. It’s the last
thing I expect right now, considering I didn’t think I had a
signal. Forcing myself to sit up, I reach into my pocket and drag
it out. The display says Griffin, so I’m guessing it’s safe to
answer.

“Hello,” I manage, thrusting the key into the
ignition.

“Are you okay?” Griffin half-whispers.

“Yes,” I mutter, leaning back in the seat,
hoping that will ease the nausea because I really don’t want to get
sick again.

“You don’t sound okay,” he accuses. “What’s
going on?”

“Can Lev hear you?” Even I can tell my voice
sound strange, breathy.

“No. Everyone is frantically searching for
you. Now what is going on?”

I cringe at the thought of Jimmie and Lev
tearing Tellico Plains apart, trying to find me. “How’s Lev?”

“He’s fine. Evan worked on him and managed to
quell the damage from your attack. You’re not answering my
question, Lizzie. What’s going on?”

“Sarah. She followed me here.” I look down at
my arm. My vision is clear enough to see the growing blood stain
soaking into my jacket.

“What happened?” he asks. At first, I don’t
answer, so he gets even louder, as if my hearing is the problem.
“Damn it, Lizzie. Talk to me.”

I close my eyes, trying to drive the blood
away. But it isn’t going to stop no matter what I do. “She had a
gun….” My voice dies off.

“Are you hurt?” I know Griffin’s tone. It’s
the one that sounds calm when he isn’t.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Are you hurt?” The calm is gone. “If you
don’t answer, I drive down myself and find out—or call the police
to check on you.”

“You can’t come here, Griffin. I killed
Sarah. The Triune will be coming. They won’t have missed the surge
that killed her.”

“I don’t give a damn about Sarah. Are you
hurt?”

“She shot me. In the arm.”

For a second, I just hear his panicked
breathing. In. Out. In. Out. “How bad is it?”

“I don’t know.” I turn the heater on, hoping
that will warm me up. I’m freezing.

“Is the bullet still in your arm?”

I cringe, knowing the answer is going to
freak him out. “Yes.”

“Go to the hospital now,” he orders.

“No. The Triune can find me at the hospital.
There will be too many innocent people there who could get hurt. I
can’t.”

“You can’t just do nothing, Lizzie. You’ll
bleed to death. Go to the hospital, or I will call the police and
tell them you’ve broken into the cabin.”

“Then I won’t go back to the cabin. I’ll find
another way.” I punch the disconnect button on the phone and turn
it off, setting it in the seat and looking at it, knowing at this
moment Griffin is frantically calling, worried out of his mind
about me. But the way I see it, it doesn’t matter. What can the
hospital do? Patch me up and send me home? Or worse, call Jimmie
and get him up here just in time for the nightmare to begin? That
can’t happen. Even if I have to start running again, Jimmie can’t
come here. I won’t risk his life.

I start the Jeep and drive back to the cabin
so I can pack my things. I veer on the road more than once, and I
almost pass out, but I end up making it there in one piece.
Thankfully, Griffin hasn’t called anyone yet that I can tell. I
think it’s just a bluff, but with Griffin it’s pretty hard to
tell.

I stagger from the Jeep. The stain on my
jacket has doubled in size, and for the first time, I realize just
how much trouble I might be in—not that I know what to do about it.
I can’t go to the hospital. My vision is worse. I’m seeing two of
everything, including the keyholes, which makes it really hard to
get the key in and unlock the door. I fumble once…twice and finally
get it in. My fingers tremble so badly that I can hardly turn it.
By the time I finally get the door open, I just leave the keys
dangling there in the lock, figuring I’ll pick them up on the way
out.

As I struggle toward the bedroom to gather my
things, someone grabs my arm, the wounded one. I groan and
whirl.

“What the hell are you doing here?” The face
matches the pictures, so it’s got to be Griffin’s father. He’s
wearing a navy sweater and tan pants, clothes that come from an
elite catalog, just like Griffin’s. I see the resemblance now, but
his eyes are cold whereas Griffin’s are warm.

“I…I’m sorry.” I step back and that’s when I
see the shotgun in his free hand. Considering all the trophies on
the wall, he definitely knows how to use it. Just my luck.

“What are you doing here? And how did you get
in? There’s no sign of forced entry.”

I step back until I touch the wall. “I was
just crashing here for a day. I just came to get my stuff. I’m
sorry. I won’t be a bother anymore.”

“Like hell,” he snaps, his eyes blazing
furiously. “You’re trespassing. I’m not gonna let you just waltz in
and out of here like you belong. Who knows what you’d shove in that
bag of yours on the way out. Do you even know who I am?” He shakes
his head. “No, I don’t suppose you do.”

Well, that answers my question. Griffin
didn’t call him, or he would know who I was. This is all just
another bad coincidence; I’m so lucky these days.

He grabs my unwounded arm and starts jerking
me back down the hallway toward the door. He’s moving so fast I
fall. He tries to jerk me to my feet.

“Get up!” he yells. I see him aim the shotgun
at me, and I close my eyes. I hear scuffling sounds. Then nothing.
Yet I can’t bear the thought of opening my eyes. I don’t want to
know what’s going to happen.

“Elizabeth? Can you hear me?”

I open my eyes to find Evan kneeling in front
of me.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I manage and try to
look for Griffin’s dad. “Where is Mr. Hauser?”

“Heading back home. He had a great hunting
trip that never happened, and he doesn’t remember you being here.
That will keep him out of our hair long enough to deal with this
wound. Let’s get you to the bathroom.”

I try to pull away. “You shouldn’t be here,”
I manage, louder.

“If I weren’t, you’d bleed to death, or your
arm would get infected, you’d be too weak to get yourself to the
hospital, and the infection would kill you. I can’t let that
happen. As it is, it’s bad enough.”

“You’re stubborn,” I mutter, closing my eyes.
I feel so tired.

“You need to stay awake, Elizabeth. We’ve got
to get that bullet out.” He slips his arm around me, helps me
stand, and leads me down the hall. I end up leaning against him
more often than not because the world is swimming around me, and I
have to close my eyes to keep from throwing up.

“Please tell me Lev and Celia didn’t come
with you,” I murmur as we slip into the bathroom and he sits me on
the counter.

“No, they didn’t. Take your jacket off.”

“Okay.” I ease out of the jacket. A whimper
escapes my lips as I move that arm, and Evan’s frown deepens when
he hears it. The jacket slips from my hand and I almost fall
forward, but Evan supports me. “Take it easy.”

Both of us stare at my blood-soaked sleeve,
and I shiver, wondering how much blood I can afford to lose before
it’s too late.

Evan shakes his head. “It’s a good thing
Griffin told me what happened. We’ve got to stop the blood loss.
It’s serious, Elizabeth.”

“It was serious before I took a bullet, Evan.
There’s the Triune, remember?”

He swallows hard. “Well, first thing’s first.
Your shirt is ruined; I’m just going to cut the sleeve off so I can
look at the wound.” He grabs some scissors, but I pull away.

“Maybe it would be better if you just did
nothing.” My voice is soft and filled with pain. His eyes turn
hard.

“You have no right to think like that,
Elizabeth. None of this is your fault. You have been caught in the
middle of things for so long you don’t realize that anymore. I
don’t want to hear you say that again. Period.”

“All right.” I lean back against the mirror
and close my eyes. I don’t have the endurance to watch him pull the
bullet out. I just want all this to be over. I don’t care how it
ends up just so long as it ends.

“
Elizabeth?” The voice is far away, and I
want it to leave me alone. I want the blackness. I don’t feel
anything there. But the voice keeps calling my name, and it’s
worried. That makes me finally open my eyes.

Lev lies next to me. All around us is black,
but his skin glows white. I see one wing rising up over his
shoulder, the perfect feathers adding to the glow of his skin. I
stare into his beautiful eyes, and the color seems unnatural from
the battle of his light against that blackness.

“
I thought I’d lost you, and it terrified
me.”

“
You shouldn’t be here,” I whisper, my
voice breaking. “It’s not safe.”

He leans toward me and kisses my forehead.
“Don’t worry yet. I’m not physically with you. Right now, I’m in a
car with Jimmie. We’re driving toward Hauser’s Landing. You’re
there with Evan.”

“
How are you here?”

He strokes my face and touches the front of
my neck. “Evan told me to come to you in your dreams. He was afraid
you’d try to turn loose of your body.” He grits his teeth as though
he’s forcing out those last words.

“
He mentioned that, did he?” My voice is
weak, and I find myself shaking as I look into Lev’s eyes and see
the fear losing me causes him. What a thing for an angel to be
afraid of.

“
You can’t give up, Elizabeth. You can’t.
Not if you love me. And no matter what else happens, I know you
do.”

I nod . “I’m tired, Lev. I never thought I’d
be this tired. I’m not even eighteen yet, and I don’t see much of a
chance of me reaching it.”

He slips his fingers across my lips. “No, you
will. One way or another, we will make sure of it.” He closes his
eyes, and I can tell he’s thinking something by his painful
expression.

“
What? What aren’t you saying?”

His eyelids open, and I find myself swimming
in his perfect blue eyes. “Maybe this is really my fault. Because I
loved you.”

I lift my hand and touch his face. “How could
that be?” I ask softly. “I was your lesson, Lev. You can’t be
punished for doing what you were supposed to do.”

He inches closer and kisses me, his hand
cradling my head. It feels like we could stay like this forever, so
I guess I’m not really expecting it when he gently pulls away.

“
There’s one thing I really don’t get,
Elizabeth.”

“
What’s that?” My voice is soft and
breathy. Then again, that’s Lev’s fault. He does that to
me.

“
Why you keep running away from me? Don’t
you understand there’s no place you could ever go on this earth
where I couldn’t
find you. Granted it might take me a little
time, but I’d find you. One way or another.”

I swallow hard. “I don’t want you to get
hurt.”

“
We’re meant to be together. God started
this in motion, and I don’t see any way for it to end differently.”
He lies on his back and gently pulls me so I’m resting on his
chest, my head tucked beneath his chin. “You should get some rest
now, Elizabeth. I have a feeling when you wake up, you’re going to
be sore, and there’s nothing any of us can do about that. So sleep
now, and don’t try to slip away. I can find you even there, if I
need to. Never doubt that I’ll do it, either.”

“
Do you think there is any way to make
this work, Lev? I mean it seems that no matter what, neither of us
can exist apart from the other.”

He smiles softly and looks down at me. “I’m
counting on it. It’s all a part of having enough faith to get by.”
He kisses my forehead. “Now go to sleep.”

That pain that Lev talked about is the first
thing to jar me from sleep. It’s not really a sharp, stabbing pain
but more of a slow, carving one that aches so deeply it rattles me
to the bone. Although I want to reach for sleep, I know I can’t.
It’s gone. Even through my closed eyelids, I can sense the world
around me is filled with light, hinting at daylight.

I just haven’t a clue if it’s the same day or
a different one. There’s only one way to find that out.

I inhale and exhale one last time and force
my eyes to open. The world is bright and blurry. Beyond that, I’m
not sure of much, including where I am. I blink two or three times,
thinking that might clear things, but the fuzziness remains. I turn
my head to one side and try to see if there is anyone in the room
with me, but everything is still, so I’m not sure. Time for the
next step. I start to sit up, but when I try to put my arms
underneath me to support me, I feel the pain from the wound and cry
out.