Lying in front of the area, just inside the barrier, was a large chunk of pitch black rock—shadow stone, she realized. Sylvan really had done everything that Vashtar had told them, including providing the stone to absorb the demons once they were evicted from their host bodies.
The amulet was now hovering just in front of the shield wall, glowing and humming louder than ever. Some of the possessed males began looking up groggily. When they saw the amulet, the drugged expressions on their faces changed abruptly from stupor to horror.
“What is it doing now?” Truth asked impatiently.
“Maybe waiting to be let in?” Becca asked, remembering the way the amulet had waited until the door of Truth’s suite was opened to zip out.
“I don’t understand,” Sylvan said frowning. “This is not what we were told to expect.”
“But look at their faces.” Far gestured weakly at the Unmated Males area where more and more of the possessed males were coming awake and staring up at the shining, hovering amulet. “Clearly they fear it. You should let it in.”
“I don’t know…” Sylvan shook his head. “If I let down the shield barrier even for a moment and they get out—”
“Commander…” Far laid a hand on his arm. “I think…think you’re going to have to take a chance.”
“Far?” Sylvan looked at him more closely, an expression of concern on his strong features. “Are you well? You look significantly worse than the last time I saw you. When this is over I want you to the Med center for a completely workup.”
“Yes, Commander.” Far sketched a weak salute. “But in the meantime, you need to let the amulet in to do its…its job.” He faltered and almost fell but Truth held him up.
“Steady, Brother,” he muttered, gripping Far more tightly. “The bonding took a lot out of him,” he explained to Sylvan.
“Far, honey, are you okay?” Becca came to stand on the light twin’s other side. His skin felt cold which worried her even more. “Hang in there, all right? We’re going to get you to the doctor as soon as this is done.”
“Of course.” Far gave her a tired, weak smile that made her heart clench in her chest. She was about to insist that they get him to the med center now instead of later when she heard Sylvan shouting at the warriors guarding the area.
“Hold your ground and be wary. The shield barrier is coming down!”
There were grumbles of disbelief but before anyone could become more vocal, Sylvan pressed a control on a small hand-held device and the shimmering, iridescent shield suddenly ceased to exist.
At once the amulet, shining like a star, zipped into the Unmated Males area. The possessed males who saw it, tried to run, tripping and stumbling, their glowing red eyes filled with horror.
“No!” one screamed in a high, inhuman voice. “The star—the star of purity! It has returned!”
“They’re getting out—getting away!” one of the Kindred who was guarding the area shouted.
“Hold your fire—do not shoot your brethren,” Sylvan roared. “Wait—let the amulet work!”
Becca watched, breathless, wondering what the amulet would do. Would it chase down every single possessed warrior or would it—
Her question was abruptly answered when the amulet rose almost to the high ceiling of the Unmated Males area. The humming it had been making swelled to a single, high, perfect note so beautiful it brought tears to her eyes. Then suddenly it erupted into a thousand piercing rays of brilliant white light. The beams shot out in all directions, raining down on the possessed males who were scrambling madly to get away.
“Mother of God,” she whispered as she saw first one, then dozens, then hundreds of the unmated males pierced by the beams. It looked like they were all being shot with impossibly bright lasers which stopped them dead in their tracks and passed right through them.
Then, horribly, the possessed males began to scream. They stayed where they were, impaled by light, their bodies contorted into rigid postures of agony while high, terrible shrieks and howls ripped from their throats.
“Goddess,” Truth muttered. “It’s killing them!”
“I don’t think so—look!” Becca gestured to a male who was closer to them than the rest. The huge Kindred body was doubled over and shaking, almost as though the male was having some kind of a fit. The laser beam of brilliant white coming from the amulet seemed to fill him until he glowed from within and Becca almost thought she could see his bones. Then, suddenly, he shot upright, threw back his head, and gave a high, ululating shriek.
As the sound left his mouth, so did something else—a dark cloud that seemed to be vaguely shaped like a person. It turned to look at Becca for a moment, its eyes glowing red and filled with malevolence. For a second she thought it was headed in their direction and she drew back in fear. But then the cloud was tugged away, sucked in the opposite direction.
Becca looked to see what was happening and saw that the dark cloud was being pulled towards the chunk of black shadow stone, like a line of iron filings being drawn to a magnet.
“Oh my goodness—look!” she gasped as the black cloud with its glowing red eyes disappeared and many other similar clouds followed. “They really are being pulled into the stone!”
“It’s working,” Sylvan said in a low voice. “Look—the unmated males are waking up—coming back to themselves.”
It was true, Becca saw. The male she’d just watched become unpossessed was shaking his head and rubbing his neck. He shook out his arms and stretched like a man who had just spent a long night in a very cramped position. When he looked up at Becca, his eyes were clear with no trace of red in them. There was a look of confusion on his face but also joy, as though he had been on a long, troubling journey but had finally returned home.
Becca felt a surge of delight. He was free of the unclean spirit that had been using him as a host—he had his body and his life back. Even though she didn’t know this warrior, she wanted to hug him and welcome him back to the land of the living.
“Look,” she whispered, a lump in her throat. “The demon that was in him is gone—he’s going to be okay.”
“I guess it was right to lower the shield wall, after all,” Truth murmured. “You were right, Brother…Brother? Far?”
The panic in his voice made Becca realize that it had been a while since the light twin had spoken. And now that she thought if it, she couldn’t feel any emotion coming from him either. She turned toward him, feeling like she was moving in slow motion, and saw to her horror that his eyes were closed and he was sagging against Truth.
“Far? Far, can you hear me?” Truth slapped him lightly on the cheek but got no response.
“Let me see him.” Sylvan was suddenly right beside them. “Lower him down to the ground—let me examine him,” he commanded.
Truth and Becca laid the long, limp form out on the grass and watched as Sylvan examined him.
You looked away, a little voice inside her head yammered. You looked away and now he’s gone. He slipped away and you didn’t even notice because you did the one thing you promised you wouldn’t do—you took your eyes off him. This is your fault—your fault!
Becca pushed the evil little voice away. No, can’t think like that! Far’s okay. He’s just tired.
“He just fainted, right?” she demanded, her voice shaking. “I mean, he’ll be all right—he has to be! Please, Commander Sylvan!”
To her horror, Sylvan sat back on his heels, an expression of deep sorrow on his face. He looked up at Truth, who was watching silently, and then at Becca and slowly shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “But Far is gone. He’s dead.”
Chapter Forty-six
“No.” Becca shook her head, denying his words. “No, you’re wrong, Sylvan! Check again! You have to check him again!” She could hear the hysteria in her own voice but she couldn’t seem to stop it.
Truth, who was kneeling beside his brother’s body, reached over and pressed two fingers to the s
ide of Far’s throat. He held them there for a long moment and then looked at Becca and shook his head.
“No pulse.” His deep voice was husky with emotion. “I’m sorry, Rebecca.”
“He…you…you have to help him!” Becca turned back to Sylvan and grabbed him by the lapels of his pale blue uniform shirt. “Get a defibrillator! Start CPR! You’re a doctor—do something!”
“Rebecca, sweetheart…” Truth came around and pried her hands away from Sylan’s shirt. He took her by the shoulders. “Look at me,” he commanded. “Nothing Commander Sylvan can do will work. Far was too far gone—look at his skin, the grayish hue. The dr’gin poison overwhelmed his system. Even if we could bring him back, he would just…” He cleared his throat. “Just die again.”
“No!” Becca insisted stubbornly. “There has to be something we can do! There has to be something.”
“There isn’t.” Truth’s pale gray eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Feel within you, Rebecca—feel our bond. Far is gone.”
Becca didn’t want to but she had to know for sure. She closed her eyes and did as Truth said, feeling for the light twin, feeling for Far, who had known from the start that the three of them belonged together. Who had drawn them towards each other even when she and Truth had no wish to be drawn.
What she felt was…nothing. The part of the bond she shared with Far was a blank—an empty space. A gaping hole that she knew would never be filled.
Gone. Far was gone. Her eyes widened and her knees folded in shock. Truth caught her before she could fall and they sank to the ground together as Becca sobbed her sorrow and disbelief. The dark twin’s arms around her felt good and comforting but somehow incomplete. She needed something else—someone on the other side to hug her. Someone to make their circle whole. But Far was gone—it was never going to be whole again.
No, please no, Becca thought, her eyes closed tight as the sobs wracked her. And then, because she didn’t know what else to do, she started praying.
Goddess, please! Kat told me you gave me Truth and Far to love for a reason. She said you wouldn’t take them from me the way Kenneth was taken. How could you do this to me when I did everything you asked? I bonded them together—I gave myself to them and let myself love them. Together we’re whole—without Far we’re broken—pieces of a puzzle that will never come together again because a vital part is missing. Oh please…oh please…I was faithful to you, won’t you please be faithful to me? Take this back—take back this awful mistake and let Far live again. Let him love—let him be with us. Please!
There was no answer but suddenly Becca felt a comforting presence—a feeling like a gentle hand was caressing her hot cheeks and wiping away her tears. Strong arms enfolded her and a sense of peace filled her to overflowing.
Becca didn’t know how she knew it, but she suddenly understood that whoever was touching her loved her and cared for her pain. This someone grieved for her sorrow and shared in her despair and hurt. No matter what happened, she was loved and she would be able to bear this pain if it was necessary.
“I will if I have to, but oh, please,” she whispered aloud this time. “Please, oh, please, oh—”
Suddenly she felt Truth stiffen in her arms.
“The star,” he whispered in a strangled voice. “I mean, the amulet—what in the Seven Hells is it doing?”
Becca was tempted to say she didn’t give a damn about the amulet anymore—not when Far was dead and gone. But the surprise and concern in the dark twin’s voice was enough to make her open her eyes and look reluctantly upward.
The amulet was no longer hanging like a star over the Unmated Males area. Instead, it was floating gently just a few feet above Far’s prone form. Its song was very faint now—barely a hum—and it was shining much less brightly, as though it had almost exhausted the brilliant energy that had fueled it. But it still emitted a feeble glow as it sank lower and lower, hovering over Far’s chest.
“What…what’s it doing?” Becca whispered, wiping her eyes on the sheet she was still wearing wrapped around her like a toga.
“I don’t know,” Truth muttered. “Should we try to stop it?”
“Leave it!” Sylvan’s voice cracked sharply. “Let it work—look at Far. Look at the color of his skin!”
Becca wiped her eyes again, trying to clear them. Was it a trick of the light or did the grayish cast of Far’s skin seem to be clearing up? But no—it really was happening. As she watched, the deathly color leached away to be replaced by Far’s normal pale tan complexion. His ashen cheeks turned a healthy pink hue and his hair, which had looked as pale and gray as the rest of him, was now a river of gold.
“Far?” she whispered, putting out a hand to him but not quite daring to touch him.
“Far?” Truth echoed, his deep voice filled with a mixture of fear and hope. “Brother?”
Suddenly the amulet’s humming died away. It gave one last faint beam of light and then went dark. Its power spent, it dropped like an empty shell, striking Far’s broad chest and bouncing off to lie in the grass beside him.
“Is it done?” Becca asked. “Doing…whatever it was doing to him?”
“Or did it use up the last of its power before it finished?” Truth said, finishing her unspoken thought. “Did it—”
All at once Far’s eyelashes began to flutter. As Becca watched, her heart beating somewhere up around her throat, he blinked and then looked up at them frowning.
“Is this the Fortress of the Goddess?” he asked drowsily. “And if it is, why are the two of you here?”
“Oh! Oh, Far!” Becca couldn’t believe her eyes. She reached out to touch him and the light twin took her hand and smiled quizzically.
“Are you all right, mi’now? Have you been crying?”
“We both have, you bastard. And all because of you.” Truth’s voice was rough with emotion and his cheeks were wet with tears but Becca could feel his tentative joy through their bond—a bond that now had three sides again instead of just two.
“What, both of you?” Far sat up and looked at them both in such confusion that she had to laugh through her tears.
“Don’t you remember anything? Never mind—come here!” She and Truth came together as one to pull Far into a tight, three-way embrace. Somehow Becca ended up in the middle of it. And as she felt the perfect pressure of two large male bodies embracing her from either side, she knew at last that everything was going to be all right. Everything was going to be—
“Ah, how nice! A triumvirate united completely at last.”
Becca’s head jerked up and she saw that the parkland around them had somehow disappeared. Instead they were surrounded by rolling gray mist. Standing in front of them, all three eyes blinking, was Vashtar.
Truth groaned. “Not again!”
“What now? We just got Far back,” Becca said. She looked at the light twin somewhat anxiously. “You are back, aren’t you? This isn’t some kind of a dream or vision. I mean, something from the amulet?”
“I’m here and I feel fine.” He frowned. “What do you mean about the amulet?”
“It made me see something when I touched it.” Becca shook her head. “Something…I’d rather not talk about.”
“Commander Sylvan saw things as well,” Truth said. “As did I.”
“Oh, it gives visions—yes it does.” Vashtar nodded vigorously. “Did I neglect to mention it?”
“You most certainly did!” Becca would have wanted to smack him if she hadn’t been so happy about Far. “It gave me a horrible one when we were bringing it back on the shuttle—I actually left Truth and Far because of it for a while.”
“What? Is that why you left?” Truth demanded, looking at her. “What did you see?”
“More like who. I saw Mother Superior—the head of my order. She was awful—so judgmental and angry…” Becca shook her head. “I just…I wish I had known it wasn’t real.”
“But I thought you didn’t touch it. I saw your hand hover over it but I
thought you drew back,” the dark twin protested.
“I only put one finger on it—just for a minute.” Becca shivered. “I guess that was enough.”
Vashtar frowned. “Enough to nearly break your triumvirate? That does not sound like the kind of vision the amulet would give. Perhaps the image it sent was perverted somehow—twisted by a force that didn’t want the three of you together.”
“Maybe by the same demon who tried to take over Truth?” Becca suggested, having a sudden brainstorm. “Would that be possible? Could it do that?”
Vashtar nodded. “Possibly. The denizens of the Black Planet are remarkably persistent when they are pursuing a host they truly wish to possess.”
“But it’s gone now, right?” Truth asked. “Ur the demon—he or it—must have been sucked away into the shadow stone as the others were. Is that not so?”
A troubled look crossed Vashtar’s round face. “Certainly it should be so. Just be certain that the lump of shadow stone you used to cage the demons is set adrift in space. It will act as a prison to keep them inside and harmless.”
Far nodded gravely. “We’ll do as you say. But what about Ur? What if he or it is not imprisoned in the stone?”
“Don’t worry,” Vashtar said. “The effects of the amulet are long lasting. The males who have been cleansed cannot be re-possessed. Ur will have nowhere to go, even if he is still aboard the ship.”
“Well even if he is hanging around, he can’t have either of my men.” Becca put her arms around Truth and Far and lifted her chin. “They’re spoken for—now and forever.”
Vashtar smiled. “Oh my dear, it does me such good to hear you say that. If by sending you the amulet I have brought you together, it is worth even the last expenditure of my life force.”
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