Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (32 page)

Sarah drew in a shaky breath as pain
rippled across her chest. She let out a small gurgling
sound.

“
Oh, Sarah,” Frank pleaded,
his voice wavering. “Don’t you die on me, girl.”

She reached up to stroke his cheek.
“I’m sorry, Frank…so sorry.”

“
Hang on!” said Frank,
squeezing her hand.

“
I’m…I’m dying,” Sarah
whispered.

He shook his head vehemently, his eyes
wide, teeming with an emotion she couldn’t place. “No! Don’t you
say that. Don’t you dare die on me, Sarah.”

Spots
danced in her vision.
Is this the way it’s
going to end? Am I really going to die here, in the basement of
some medieval tavern?
She didn’t want to
die without knowing what had happened to Liz. “When you find my
sister, tell her I love her.”

Frank’s voice wavered. “You’re going
to tell her that yourself.”

A loud rattle made her
jump.

“
Those knights pounding on
that door might not agree with…with you,” Sarah said with a pained
gasp, squeezing Frank’s hand tightly.

“
They’re coming!” yelled
Jules. “Hurry!”

She choked on a ragged breath. Her
vision blurred even more, and she blinked again, to no avail.
Voices became faint and then trailed off. And then, there was only
darkness.

Chapter 10

Sarah’s eyes fluttered open. Through a
foggy haze, she took in the bright light and the brownish stains on
her fingers when realization set in: She’d been shot with an
arrow—twice. Someone was pushing down hard on her chest, making it
very difficult to breathe. Pain flooded her chest, pushing her to
the edge of her consciousness. She opened her mouth to speak, but
no sound came out.

A voice hissed to her right, the words
too low to distinguish. She turned her head sharply, flinching
against the sudden jolt of pain rippling through her. “What do you
want me to do?!” shouted Jules. “I’m not a healer! She was shot
directly in the heart. I’ve never seen anybody survive such an
injury, not even for this long.”

“
You must know someone who
can help,” the first voice said again.

Sarah
could hear their voices coming from all directions. She wanted to
answer, but the words remained frozen in her throat. The sweet
smell of incense filled her nostrils. Beams of light shone down on
her.
Divine light?
Staring upward, she let out a groan.
Stained glass…vaulted ceilings. Painted angels? Am I in
heaven or on my way there?
Being dead would
at least end the pain rippling through her, but she still had so
much to do.
My life can’t end now—not like
this.

A picture
of a chubby cherub caught her eye.
Maybe
this is just a renaissance art gallery.
She
peered closer at the ceiling, which rested on six Tuscan columns of
great height.
Nice
architecture
. Soaring round iron
candelabras hung from the ceiling, capturing her attention, as she
stared at flickering flames, trying to make sense of everything.
Light shone through multiple stained glass windows in a hue of
vivid, glowing rainbow colors, the sun making the mosaic patterns
sparkle and shine. She surmised that she had to be in some kind of
church.

“
Sarah,” the first voice
said.

She turned her head, taking in the
blurred shapes. Her gaze sharpened, allowing her to recognize
Frank.

He inched closer until his nose was
inches away from her face. “We’ll get you out of
this…alive.”

“
Don’t make promises you
may not be able to keep,” Jules said matter-of-factly.

Frank pulled back, hesitating. “I got
the arrows out.”

“
Yes, but she’s still
losing much blood,” Jules said.

She
would’ve liked to point out that she could hear every word they
said, but somehow it didn’t register with her that they were
talking about her.
They couldn’t be.
Surely I’m not the one hurt and covered in blood. Did he say an
arrow went through my…my heart?

“
Send for a healer and get
me some antiseptic of some sort…you know, something with a high
alcohol content,” Frank said.

“
You want a drink when your
woman is dying?”

“
Well I could use a stiff
one right about now, but I need it to sterilize the wound.” Frank’s
voice echoed through the large room, cutting through the silence
like a knife as he jumped to his feet, peering around him. If he
was looking for some good old whiskey, he wasn’t likely going to
find it there. “It always works in the movies when those cowboys
pour moonshine on a bullet wound,” he continued.

“
Movies?” Jules asked. “And
I know we have wolf people, but what are cow boys?”

Frank dismissed him with a wave of his
hand. “It’s not important,” Frank said. “Please just go. Sarah’s
life’s at stake.”

“
They’re counting on us to
look for help. Guards will be stationed all over the healer’s
cottage.”

“
I’ll go myself then,”
Frank demanded.

“
Have you gone mad? Perhaps
you took an arrow to the head.”

“
Just tell me where to go.
Please, Jules. I can’t just stand here and watch her die without
doing anything. What if it were Mia?”

Sarah moaned. “Bon Jovi would be
proud,” she said.

“
Huh?” Frank said, kneeling
down and grabbing her hand.

“
Yeah. Brings a whole new
meaning to ‘Shot Through the Heart,” she said, attempting a crooked
smile

“
Sarah, can you hear me?”
Frank asked.

“
Did the serving wench pack
me a doggy bag?” she whispered. “I wasn’t finished with the
duck.”

Smiling, he stroked her face. “Hey,
Sleeping Beauty. Welcome back to the land of the
living.”

“
Frank…” She squinted, her
gaze searching his hazel eyes. “Where…where are we? This can’t be
heaven. There’s no way they’d let you past the pearly
gates.”

He laughed, happy to hear her voice,
in spite of her banter. “We’re in a chapel. Jules has a friend
who’s a priest.”

Sarah was lying on something hard, a
wooden pew. She groaned and tried to move her aching bones. “Surely
you could’ve found a rug or something to squeeze under me. My
back’s killing me.” Pushing up on her elbows, she sat up and
noticed that the room was illuminated with hundreds of candles in
the front of the church, placed meticulously around a wooden altar
decorated with a gold and white cloth. Her hand flew to where Frank
had applied pressure rags. “I should be…dead.” She scrambled to her
feet, and the bloody rags fell to the floor. She pulled down the
blood-soaked cloak and stared at the gaping wound as it shrank
smaller and smaller, finally disappearing right before her eyes.
“What the heck?” she gasped between breaths. “What’s going on? The
wound’s gone—no redness, no pain, and not even a scar.”

Frank ran a hand over the smooth skin
where the wound once was. “How’s this possible?”

Jules looked at Frank, his eyes
widening in shock. “It’s true. She’s an Immortal!” He gasped. “She
is one of them.”

“
What?” Frank asked, his
mouth agape with shock. “Because she put on this bubblegum machine
ring of his?”

“
I don’t get it. Why?”
Sarah said, confusion filling her voice. “It’s just a
ring.”

Jules lifted her hand, peering down at
the jewelry. “This is not just any ring, miss. It’s a powerful,
ancient one, thousands of years old, and it obviously carries the
power of transforming one into an Immortal being.”

A shudder of fear ran through her.
“Get it off right now! Find some grease or butter, whatever it
takes!” She pulled at the band with all her might, wincing in pain.
“That knight—he said they could stop evil by killing me. What the
heck did that mean? Do they think I’m the devil or
something?”

“
I don’t know, but I am
sure they are mistaken. I’ve only known you a short while, but I
know you are not evil.” Jules touched her shoulder. “Stop, Sarah.
No amount of lubricant will allow you to remove that
ring.”

“
I didn’t ask for this.”
Sarah fell into Frank’s arms, and he held her tight. “Why didn’t
Victor warn me I’d become a walking freak show? Although, I guess I
should feel grateful. Without this ring, I’d be dead right
now.”

“
He doesn’t know you are
human,” Frank said.

She had
no idea Victor was Immortal either, like something straight out of
some crazy
Highlander
movie.
He wasn’t going around
shouting “There can be only one!” or anything, but maybe I
should’ve picked up on some small sign.
Her
senses had been heightened, but she had assumed that only meant the
ring had some strange magical properties. Never in her wildest
dreams would she have imagined herself becoming Immortal. “I-I
don’t understand any of this.”

Frank ran a hand through her hair.
“We’re going to figure this out together, I promise. We’ll undo the
ring’s curse somehow, Sarah. There has to be a way. But first, we
have to figure out why there’s so much heat on us.” He looked at
Jules. “Why are King William’s men trying to kill
Sarah?”

His brows furrowed. “I don’t know.
Perhaps they are angry because we brought Victor’s wife over here,
into their territory.”

“
No, that
can’t be it. Notice they didn’t shoot
us
,” Frank said. “Sarah had a
bull’s-eye on her back, and they were aiming to
kill.”

Jules shook his head. “They hate
Victor, and I have no doubt they’d hate his wife too.”

“
It must be the reason why
Victor warned me not to come to Dornia…into enemy territory. How
good is your witness protection program out here?” she joked
halfheartedly.

Jules cocked an eyebrow.

Sarah waved her hand. “Never mind.
Listen, King William is just mad because I pretended to be his
daughter, Princess Gloria. Think identity theft. Maybe I brought
disgrace to her name somehow, and that’s why they think I’m
evil.”

Snap
! Outside, someone or something
stepped on a twig.

Frank rose to his feet and motioned
for them to be silent. When nothing moved, he inched closer,
whispering, “We need a game plan. Let’s find Liz…and
quick.”

“
But how?” Sarah asked.
“Everyone’s after us. I’m on the most wanted lists of two
kings.”

“
There might be a third
party after us as well,” Jules said with a sigh. “Sarah was turned
into an Immortal without permission from the Cardashian Court.
They’ll send trackers the second they find out, if they haven’t
already.”

She slapped her forehead. “You’ve got
to be kidding me!”

“
The Cardashian Court has
their own justice and trials,” Jules said.

“
Is Victor in trouble with
the court for making me Immortal?” Sarah asked. “Maybe that’s why
he’s after me.”

“
For payback?” Jules shook
his head. “How could he get in trouble? He didn’t knowingly marry a
mortal behind their back. He thought he was marrying an Immortal
princess. He is guilty of nothing in this. In spite of their
propensity for swift justice, even the Cardashians should see that.
They are very wise.”

“
Then he’s only out for
revenge, because we tricked him and likely made a fool of him.”
Sarah took a trembling breath, her shoulders slumping. “Can this
get any worse? It’s like being chased by the FBI, the police, and
the Italian mafia all in one night.”

“
Had much experience with
any of that?” Frank asked, grinning.

Sarah slapped the back of his
head.

He shrugged. “What? At least you don’t
need a bulletproof jacket. I’ve heard they are harder to come by
than the actual weapons.”

She slugged him again. “Focus,
Frank.”

“
The Immortals from the
Cardashian Court will likely give you a speedy trial and then kill
you,” Jules said. “We know King William’s men will definitely kill
you. As for King Victor, I don’t know his intentions, but he could
be the lesser of the evils. You could have a chance with
him—especially if you give yourself up and quit
running.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Wow. I’m
overcome with so many wonderful options, aren’t I? Let’s
see…courtroom and likely death, definite death, and making babies
with a king I barely know. I’ve no idea which one to
choose.”

“
Try to look at it from
another perspective, Sarah. You didn’t die before. If they try to
kill you, you might just weasel out of it with the help of that
ring,” Frank said.

Sarah groaned. “Awesome. I’ve always
wanted to know what it feels like to be a zombie.”

“
Then my advice would be to
take your chances with Victor,” Jules said softly.

She
glared at him.
Take a chance with
Victor?
She remembered those dangerous eyes
he flashed her, warning her not to escape. She also remembered the
way he’d gripped her wrist and told her she’d pay dearly if she
ever tried. A chill ran up her spine. “No way! I don’t know why or
how, but I can feel his anger and bitterness from my betrayal. He
is after revenge, and he has a reputation to
maintain.”