Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (40 page)

Sarah shook her head. “No, listen,
Frank’s right. I—”

Steven cut her off. “Look, no one’s
gonna die. I’ll run to the next village, and I won’t come back
without a doc.”

Sarah knew if she didn’t do something
to stop all the debating, they’d still be sitting there in a week,
if the Immortals didn’t show up and get rid of them first. As much
as she valued their concern, she was still the team leader, and she
had to get a grip on the situation because being stuck there any
longer than necessary wasn’t an option. Rolling her eyes, Sarah
held up a hand. “No, Steven, you’re not going off by yourself. I’m
fine. Look.” She wrapped her hands around the second dagger and
pulled once again, groaning. The blade moved out inch by inch,
leaving a hollow emptiness behind. She held it up with a triumphant
smile, even though the others could probably not see her in the
darkness. “Now we’ve got two weapons.”

“
See? She’s delirious
already. She’s not going to make it if we don’t do something
drastic,” Adam said. “Steven, c’mon. I’ll go with you, and we’ll
drag the local witch doctor back here.”

Frank smiled. “You guys got a
death-wish or something? She’s fine. This is nothing.”

“
What does Sarah see in
you?” Adam rolled his eyes. “Her life’s hanging in the balance, and
you couldn’t care less.”

“
No…you don’t understand,”
whispered Sarah, trying to breathe through the pain.

Frank let up on the pressure. “What
happened here is nothing compared to what she took earlier. Like I
told you, she was shot in the heart before, and she
lived.”

“
So she was just lucky,”
Adam said. “Karma probably owed her that after having to put up
with you!”

“
No. She’s Immortal, you
idiot.” Frank shook his head, as if he could barely believe the
words coming out of his own mouth. “Haven’t you been listening to
anything we’ve been saying?”

Adam stood and shook out his wet
fedora. “I don’t make it a habit to listen to your
nonsense.”

Frank threw his arms up. “Whoa! Now
who’s the skeptic?” He nudged Steven. “Did you get that on
camera?”

“
Think I will.” Steven
unzipped his bag and started to film. “Dude, thank goodness my
camera bag’s waterproof.”

With the knives out, her skin started
to burn, and the healing process began. She gnashed her teeth
against the first pang of pain hitting her somewhere in the chest.
Adam held her hand as more pain radiated through her body. She
peeked up, forcing her mouth into a weak smile so she wouldn’t
scream. “What Frank…what he says…it’s true.”

“
Hold steady,” Frank
whispered.

She nodded as she felt his hand
tighten around the third dagger in her back.

He pulled, and a moment later, he held
the dagger out to her. “Here’s number three.”

Sarah pulled down her robe, exposing
her bare shoulder. Cringing, she looked away; the bright red
tissue, blood, and tendon made her nauseous. “Now
watch.”

Adam cringed. “No way! I’m not looking
at that.”

“
You need to,” Sarah said.
“All of you need to see it with your own eyes. Otherwise, you won’t
believe it.”

In the bright moonlight, the wound
began to shrink. Sarah bit her lip against the piercing pain that
made her body tremble. With every inch that closed, a strong tremor
ran up and down her spine, and the pain grew in intensity. Just
when she thought she couldn’t take the pain any longer, the gash
finally disappeared before their eyes.

Adam gasped and ran his hand across
her skin. “How…how is that possible? How did you do it?”

“
It’s the ring.”

He met her gaze. “Well, I don’t know
what to say.”

“
Say you believe us
now.”

He nodded, awestruck.

Beth traced her skin with her fingers.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“
And I got it all on
camera!” Steven said. “Yeah, baby!”

“
If you’re feeling better,
Sarah, we really should get a move-on,” Frank said.

“
Definitely.” She stood,
but she doubled over when a piercing pain hit her abdomen. “My
stomach! It feels like somebody just stabbed me.”

“
What? How?” Frank touched
her back and eased her back down to the ground.

A picture flashed in her head: wavy
black hair swaying in a cold breeze as mist built in front of a
pale face. It was Victor, fighting the same two Immortals she’d
just seen in the meadow. Blood trickled from a wound in his
abdomen, but he still raised his sword and fought like some kind of
brave warrior. Then, as quickly as it had come upon her, the vision
faded. “He’s here! Right where we jumped.”

Beth rubbed her back.
“Who?”

“
Victor,” Sarah whispered.
“I saw him in some freaky vision.” She raised her hand to rub her
eyes, but more spots clouded her vision, drawing her into a sense
of floating.

“
Your, uh, husband?” Steven
asked. “Are you sure it’s not just separation anxiety?”

Beth
slugged him. “Her
fake
husband, you moron.”

“
Victor took down the two
Immortals who were chasing us,” said Sarah. “That was why they
didn’t jump over the cliff to follow us like they
threatened.”

“
Can you walk?” Frank
asked. When she nodded, he wrapped his arm around her waist to
support her and pulled her closer, until she leaned into
him.

Electricity flooded Sarah’s body, and
she went limp. Her friends shouted and shook her, but their voices
trailed off. The picture in her head returned to the meadow. The
two Immortals lay in the grass unconscious, under the silver light
of the moon. She stood only feet away from Victor. Over his white
long-sleeved shirt, he wore a gold metal ringed tunic, and his legs
were clothed in short purple knickers and tights. As he towered
over her, she stared straight ahead at the center of his broad
chest and powerful arms. She was scared to death to meet his
gaze.

She scanned her surroundings. A
roaring river echoed in her ears, and she stood on the same cliff
she’d just jumped from minutes earlier. Her friends were gone, and
she was in the meadow with Victor.

“
I know you’re here. I can
feel you. Haven’t you figured out that the ring bonds us? We have a
connection like none other, my Queen.”

Her
breath trembled. It was all beyond weird. There was some pretty
freaky psychic vibe going, but at least he couldn’t see her.
Now, how do I get out of this little
hallucination?
She
wondered.

He turned slowly in a circle, his eyes
scanning the area as though he was looking for her. “I’m sorry I
burned your finger, but it was the only way to show the Shadow
People who you really were. It saved your life. I did it to protect
you, to protect us.”

“
Wait…back there with the shape-shifters? That was
you
?” she said out
loud.

Victor
tilted her chin, looking directly into her eyes. It was like as if
she was simultaneously there with him and still down by the river
with her friends.
How is this even
possible? Wait a minute…I’m…I’m not human anymore, right? This is
because I’m…because I’m Immortal.
The idea
haunted her.

“
I can see you now. What a
beautiful vision you are, like an angel,” Victor said.

She rubbed her temples, hoping to
escape the vision. “Get out of my head!”

“
Do you know how close you
came to death, love? The Immortals missed you by mere
minutes.”

“
Why would you care? You
threatened to kill me yourself.”

His lips
captured hers in a slow, gentle kiss, sending shivers throughout
her body. “You
are
my wife, and I will fight for you in that regard, even if
you
aren’t
Princess Gloria.”

He
knows? Crap!
Her heart thundered as she bit
her lip, scanning his eyes; his face was a cold mask, betraying no
emotion. She shook her head slightly, a fool for feeling so guilty.
“I’m sorry I misled you. Surely we can have this scam of a marriage
annulled or something. Please tell me the secret to removing the
ring.”

“
There is
no way. We
are
bonded for eternity.”

She stepped back to escape the happy
glint in his eyes. “I tried to tell you I wasn’t Princess Gloria,
but you didn’t listen. You said if I didn’t go through with it,
you’d kill me.”

“
That wasn’t your only
motivation, and you know it,” he said softly.

Sarah
gulped.
How did he know of my ulterior
motive, to obtain the ring so I—so we—can go
home?

He stroked her cheek. “You didn’t
think I’d figure it out, but it turns out that Mia valued her life
more than keeping your secrets, Your Highness.”

Her body trembled, and her heart
raced. “But I didn’t know what it meant to put the ring on. I truly
didn’t. I just want to go home. Getting you in trouble with the
court wasn’t my intention. I’m sorry. I just…I just don’t belong
here.”

He took a deep breath, regarding her
intently as he slowly shook his head. “I’m not in trouble. You, on
the other hand, are buried beneath it.”

“
Yeah, so I’ve
learned.”

“
I see you’ve been busy
testing your new immortality,” he said, smirking. “You were wounded
in the heart, the back, the chest, and the shoulder. I felt it,
every tear of your flesh, and I know you just felt the blow to my
stomach.”

“
Yeah. That hurt.”
Realization hit her full force: The ring really did somehow connect
them, and they could feel what one another felt. “I know I’ve
ruined all of your plans,” Sarah said. “I’m afraid I will be of
little help in contaminating that bloodline for you.”

“
It wasn’t about that,
although that would’ve made King William’s blood boil.”

“
What? So, let me get this
straight. All this time you really didn’t want to contaminate the
royal bloodline?”

“
No.”

“
Then why?”

“
The idea to marry Princess
Gloria was a brilliant military strategy. If I had connected myself
to her the way I’m connected to you, I would have King William at
my beck and call. If he laid one hand on me, his beloved daughter
would’ve felt any pain he inflicted upon me. He could never bear
that, for he loves her way too much to make her suffer, even for a
moment. As such, he would be forced to obey every command I barked
out and submit to my rule as long as he lived. I could have marched
right into enemy territory, and not one of his men would have
touched a hair on my head. I could have been so bold to walk up to
King William himself, in his castle, and spit in his face, and he
still wouldn’t kill me.”

“
Maybe, but now he still
can, since I’m not his precious daughter,” Sarah said a bit
flippantly, growing weary of talking to her bully of a spouse. “Too
bad you screwed up and married the wrong person.”

“
I don’t care about those
plans anymore,” he whispered, cupping her face.

She touched his hand. “I get it. Your
plans flopped, so now I’m your consolation prize. Why don’t you cut
your losses and release me?”

Moonlight shone against his disheveled
hair. “I loved how your eyes lit up when I kissed you after our
vows. There’s a spark there that even you cannot deny. We both felt
it, and you know it. Why fight it?”

“
Let me go, Victor,” she
whispered. “It’s better this way, especially since I don’t belong
here.”

“
You’re like no other woman
in this kingdom. I’ve never met such a free spirit. You’re just as
strong-willed as I am. Finally, I have met my match, an equal—a
true partner. How can I let you go? I’ve been waiting for someone
like you for hundreds of years. It was fate that I found you
instead of Gloria, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.” He
pulled her closer. “I can help you with the Immortals, but you have
to come with me. I am personal friends with King Taggert, who
resides over the Cardashian Court and all Immortals.”

“
I heard you’re next in
line to rule this world once your dying king takes his last
breath.”

He nodded. “Yes. I am well connected,
and I can and will use that influence to my advantage to see that
nothing happens to you. Please let me help you.”

“
And never go home to my
world?”

“
Your home is here with me
now, ruling by my side.”

She reached for his hands to make one
last plea. “Go back to your castle. Forget about me. I have to run
one quick errand, and then I’m going back home.”

“
Heading into deeper enemy
territory to find your sister, are you? Do you want to get us both
killed?”

She gazed up into his blue eyes.
“Don’t follow me, and you won’t have to worry about it.”