Aris Reigns (31 page)

Julian sat on the cold stone floor of the castle, stunned by the violent blow delivered by the King.

“You fool,” he shouted, his face contorted, his words reverberating off the walls and tall ceilings of the throne room. “How could you have allowed them to escape?”

His strength returning, Julian slowly rose to his feet. “I had to dispose of the Immortal. I couldn't…”

Another crushing blow drove the warrior to his knees. He bowed his head before his sovereign, anticipating more.

“Get up. Get out of my sight. Prepare for the arrival of the Queen and her troops. This time you had best be sure to perform your duty or you will burn. If Sarah and Aris are killed, you will join them in death. Your duty is to bring them to me in one piece and uninjured.” His voice dropped to a menacing whisper. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, my Lord.” Julian stood, hurrying from the room before DeMarco could strike him again.

The King smiled as he thought of the thrill of personally eliminating his rival. Never again would the Immortal male stand in the way of his having Sarah. Once the Catacombs were his, he would eliminate Mariska and take Sarah as his Queen. He spun on his heel, crossing the room to stare out the window and contemplate eternity with the only woman he ever loved.

CHAPTER 42

“G
abriela, you have to help me.” Sarah leaned across the table, speaking discretely yet passionately to her friend. The Sanguinaria had only a few customers, but still she spoke in fervent whispers. “Don't shake your head at me. I'm going, with your help or not.”

“Sarah, Aris will be thinking only of your safety, not of the army. You must not even consider going to Spain.” Gaby took hold of her friend's hands as if she could hold her in the Catacombs by sheer physical force alone. “You will be lost and our society along with you. What you suggest is madness.”

“Madness be damned. I'm going.” She freed herself when the server brought their goblets of Alchimia Sanguis. She lifted the pewter mug and drank. Her Immortal friends had been amazed at how quickly and easily Sarah had adapted to drinking the alchemical blood. She licked her lips, placing the mug on the table as she continued.

“I am Immortal just the same as you. It won't be any easier for me to be destroyed than it will be for you to be destroyed. Or any others of us for that matter. Either you help me learn how to use the damn impaler or I'll just figure it out on my own.”

“Even if you become proficient, Aris will never agree.” Sarah could tell her friend was beginning to waiver. Her tone became more
pleading, less demanding.

“He doesn't have to. I'll tell him I'm staying here then leave once everyone else is gone. I'll travel to Barcelona alone and join you at the castle. It will be too late for him to send me back.” She rose from the chair with determination. “I'm going to live or die with the rest of you. And that is it.” She turned to walk away.

“Wait. I will help you.” Standing, Gabriela sighed deeply. “Aris will finish me himself for this, but I will teach you how to fight.” She took her arm to lead her from the Sanguinaria. “Come, let us begin immediately, but I still beg you, please reconsider.”

Sarah smiled as they hurried down the cobbled street toward the armory.

They stood deep in one of the underground forests, hidden in a circle of low, full bushes unlike any Sarah had ever seen before. Green and leafy in appearance very much like bushes above ground, yet these moved of their own accord, their branches and leaves rustling as if a wind blew through them. A soft whispering sound could be heard as if even the undergrowth was cautioning the newborn.

The impaler rested heavily in Sarah's hands as Gaby helped her find the perfect grip for balance and impact. Interlacing her fingers over the top of the handle, she lunged forward on one leg, plunging it with all her Immortal strength again and again into the target Gabriela had slipped from the armory. Tireless, amazed at her own stamina, she felt more powerful, more ready for battle with each strike.

When, within an amazingly short time, Gabriela was satisfied her friend could attack and win, she taught her new defensive movements using the weapon. As she had done with everything since her first day as an Immortal, Sarah responded as if it were all quite natural, as if
she had been fighting wars all her life.

“Enough of this. Now, you learn to climb.”

“Climb?”

“Yes,” Gaby spoke as she guided her friend toward an enormous tree just outside the circle of brush.

“Here, place your hands on the tree.”

A strange surge of energy filled Sarah as her palms rested against the soft, warm bark. It was as if she became one with it, as if her hands and arms were nothing more than a limb that grew from it. Almost faster than the eye could follow, she shimmied to the top, resting on a large branch. Laughing, she looked down at Gabriela and leaped to the ground, landing without so much as a sound or puff of dirt.

“You are as ready as you will be in one day. Come, let us leave the forest. Aris will be returning from the last meeting with the commanders and I do not wish for him to have any idea what we have been doing.”

“You go on Gaby, I want to stay and practice more. I'll be there before he arrives.”

Reluctantly, Gabriela nodded yes as she turned to make her way back to the village. She could hear the sound of the impaler impacting the target over and over again as she left the forest.

Aris had expected a fight from Sarah when he told her she couldn't accompany them to Spain. He had been surprised and relieved when she agreed to stay behind without too much argument and glad she so readily listened to reason. He hurried to their rooms to spend their last few moments together before his departure.

When he entered their chamber she was fresh from the shower and chatting quietly with Jane, the white wolf resting at his mistress' feet.
The women decided to keep the secret of the shape-shifter between them until after the war was won. It was agreed Hawke would return to his animal form, remaining that way until the Immortals returned from Spain. Only they knew of the existence of the man inside the wolf's skin.

Sarah embraced her mate as Jane rose from her seat. Aris kissed their friend lightly on the cheek as she wished him a safe and successful journey. Bidding them goodbye, she and her four-legged champion took leave, closing the door quietly behind them.

“Now, my love. Come, let us sit.” He motioned for Sarah to join him on the sofa. “I leave within the hour. We gather tomorrow near the forest of Spain.” He sensed her nervousness and did his best to ease what he thought was her fear for him. “Rest easy. We are a family and fight as one. They are all enemies among themselves. Our impalers are superior to theirs because of Akira's runes. We fight as an army, they as rabble. Be at ease, sweeting. Ours is an easy victory.” He spoke words to quiet Sarah's concern, but deep inside he knew that many of his comrades would perish in the battle and he himself could be destroyed. “I will return to you in no more than two days.” He reached for her.

“Yes, as you say, an easy victory.” Her words were cut short as Aris' lips sought hers. Their kiss was raw. Demanding. She buried her face in his neck, inhaling his fragrance to better remember it, tasting his skin. Aris held her away from him, locking her features in his mind's eye. Then he pulled her close again and wrapped his arms around her, to memorize the feel of her against him. They sat quietly, entwined, until it was time for him to leave her.

Aris kissed Sarah quickly, looked at her one last time, and closed the door behind him.

CHAPTER 43

J
ane paced the floor in front of the fireplace in Sarah's sitting room, her wolf heeling at her knee. They moved back and forth, beating a path in the carpet as Sarah watched from her seat on the sofa. When Jane spoke, her words were brusque. “What kind of madness made you think I would let you go alone?”

“Jane, it's for your own good. I'm sorry, but I must forbid you from coming with me.”

Jane's voice rose in exasperation as she turned to face her friend. “You forbid me?” Hawke whined as he touched his cool muzzle to her hand and, without thinking, she rested her fingers on his wide brow.

“You never venture out of the Catacombs.” Cautiously, Sarah kept her tone even as she replied, hoping to get her friend to agree to stay behind without an argument. “Why would you travel to Spain?” She changed her tact adding another reason to her plea. “And you're needed here. All of you who stay here will be vital to the safety of the Infinity Diaries if any enemies escape and come to England.”

“A few hundred Immortals will be left behind to guard the Diaries. I am not needed here.” As Jane finished speaking an idea flashed through her mind and she knew she would win. She remained silent for a moment as if in thought, then she spoke. “But I can see how I could be important here. Yes, perhaps you are right.
I should stay in England.”

Sarah laughed knowingly. “Oh, I get it. You stay here until I leave. Then you get on a plane and follow.”

“I wonder why that sounds familiar?” A mischievous smile lit Jane's eyes. “But you see, either way I am going to join you. You can help me through the ordeal of going above ground by allowing me to accompany you or you can leave alone, sentencing me to the terrors of traveling among humans unaided.”

Sarah responded in kind. “When, my dear Jane, did your path of innocence turn to one of treachery?”

“When, my dear Sarah, you led the way.” Jane kissed her companion's cheek before leaving to gather their black leather uniforms to wear as they traveled through the mountains of the Pyrenees in Spain.

“We agreed you would remain a wolf until after the war.” Jane packed a small carry-on bag for her trip to Spain as she snapped angrily at the tall albino man standing beside her. He was wrapped once again in a bedspread and still looked exactly like a statue of a Greek god.

“And so it would have been had you not decided on this fool's errand.” He took her small hands in his and stopped her from moving about the room. “Here, sit for a moment.” Leading her to her sofa, he motioned her to the cushions.

“Alright Hawke, but I am going with Sarah.” Her anger melted as she looked at him, even as her resolve deepened. “I could never allow her to go alone.”

“Jane, I cannot accompany you into the world. A wolf? An enormous albino? Either way I am a spectacle. I beg you, do not go to Spain. Without you I have no reason to live. You are my sun and
moon, the reason I eat and sleep. If anything were to happen to you, I would cease to exist.”