by Anne, Meg
“But I saw him…he was talking to me…”
Giles and James exchanged a look, and Skye’s cheeks burned with mortification. Great, now she was hallucinating.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her body curling in on itself as she tried to leave the room.
“Skye, wait, you don’t have to go. It’s alright.” Lizzie reached out to pat Skye’s shoulder. “With everything you’ve been through, it's only natural something like this would happen. To be honest, I’d thought you were handling things entirely too well.”
“Maybe for a potato,” James muttered.
Lizzie glared at him. “Not funny.”
James shrugged. “Doesn’t make me wrong.”
Skye sighed, feeling foolish. He’d looked so real, and his voice…she shuddered. That voice would haunt her for the rest of her life.
“You don’t recover from something like torture overnight. PTSD is real. Look at all the soldiers out there that deal with it for years after they come back from war.”
James chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully, his eyes turning a darker shade of green as his thoughts turned inward.
“Years? Fuck me, will I never be rid of him?” Skye asked.
Lizzie frowned sympathetically. “It will just take time, sweetie. It hasn’t even been a week.”
Skye collapsed back into the armchair with a huff. “It feels like yesterday,” she murmured, fingers caressing the edges of her bandage.
“I’m sorry I cannae do anything about the pain,” Giles said, kneeling beside her. “I know the words, but have none of the power.”
Skye’s eyes shot to him, a thought barreling through her mind. Digging her fingers into his arm, she practically shouted, “Wait! You used to study with the Druid, right?”
Giles flinched, but whether it was from her volume or the pressure of her nails into his skin, Skye didn’t know.
“I did,” he agreed, trying to pry her fingers off of him.
Skye dropped his arm. “What do you know about getting to the Wasteland? You helped Maggie send Oliver there. You must remember something.”
“Skye, what are you asking?” Lizzie asked, perching on the edge of the couch beside the Scot.
Excitement bubbled within her as the idea continued to grow and take shape. “We know how to send someone to the Wasteland, assuming Giles remembers. If that’s the case, it can’t be a far stretch that we can figure out how to bring someone back. I mean…these kinds of things usually have a counter or some type of reversal, right?”
Giles shook his head, his green eyes apologetic. “Lass, that’s not how it works. The ritual is a one-way ticket.”
Despair clawed at her. “No,” Skye insisted, unwilling to lose the only piece of hope she’d had in days. “There has to be a way.”
James rested a hand on Lizzie’s shoulder. “You said that you thought Maggie might still be alive in the Wasteland,” he reminded the older man.
Skye shot him a grateful look, thankful that someone else was on her side.
Giles’ eyes narrowed. “I said I thought her body had made its way to the Wasteland, not that she was alive. I watched her die.”
“But her body was still sent there, or so you believe. Doesn’t that mean there’s a way to send a non-Druid?”
“Only if the person is dead!” he cried. “I don’t exactly see how that will be helpful!”
“What if only one of them is dead?” Lizzie asked thoughtfully.
The other three turned to stare at her.
“What do you mean?” James asked.
“Well, my gran sacrificed herself to complete the ritual, but who’s to say that if someone had been touching her body once the ritual was completed, they wouldn’t have made the jump with her?”
“You’re forgetting that the Druid was also sent. That’s already two bodies that made the jump if you include him.”
Lizzie’s eyes flared with excitement. “So, all we need to do is re-enact the ritual, and we can find Lucas.”
“Yeah, if one of us dies in the process,” James pointed out, his brows low.
“I’ll do it,” Giles said quickly, his face still leeched of color but pinched with determination.
Skye’s mouth fell open in surprise. “But why?”
His eyes darkened before closing. Letting out a sigh, Giles whispered, “Because it’s my fault this happened in the first place. It’s the least I can do to set things right. If you really believe that there’s a possibility this could work, Seer. Then I will offer my life, gladly.”
The room filled with stunned silence.
“Giles,” Lizzie murmured, “no one expects you to do this.”
“I know, lass. But I offer all the same.”
“This is all still hypothetical anyway,” James pointed out. “Assuming it works, and we send someone over there, how the hell are they supposed to bring Lucas back?”
As suddenly as it blossomed, Skye’s hope flickered and died. Getting to Lucas was only half the battle. Giles’ sacrifice would mean nothing if it didn’t result in Lucas returning home.
Skye slumped back in her chair. “So much for that idea.”
“It was hardly a solid one,” James said. “More like half a plan at best.”
Skye glared at him.
James held up a hand. “I’m just saying it wasn’t a plan, not by itself. But it was a start. We can build on it.”
“Yeah, if we can find out how to bring Lucas home. The only person who ever escaped the Wasteland was the Druid. You think he’s going to just hand that secret over? Assuming we can even find him?”
“What if we don’t give him a choice?” Lizzie asked, her eyes distant.
“How are we supposed to manage that? We don’t even have Lucas’ power to rely on.”
“No,” Lizzie agreed, her voice thoughtful. “But we have yours.”
Skye’s brows scrunched together in confusion. “How are visions of the dead helpful?”
“We pretend,” James said, grinning as he squeezed Lizzie’s shoulder. “Lizzie, that’s a brilliant idea.”
“I’m not following…”
“You tell the Druid you had another vision. We’ll use it to convince him to tell us how he escaped.”
“Guys…the odds of him falling for that…” She looked around, wondering if they were all seriously considering this. Even Giles looked convinced. “You know the only thing this asshole holds sacred is his power. He’s not going to do anything to risk it.”
“Not unless not acting would be a greater risk to it,” Giles said.
Skye clasped her hands in her lap. Had everyone lost their damn minds? Not even thirty minutes ago she was hearing voices, and now, these three were talking about willingly seeking out the man that wanted them all dead. To ask for help.
“There’s no fucking way,” Skye said.
“Hear me out,” Lizzie said over her protest.
Skye folded her arms across her chest and looked at her expectantly.
“What if you tell him you saw him die, because the power was too much for him on his own? That he needs Lucas here, alive, to help him maintain enough control. That should be enough to pique his interest.”
“And he’s supposed to what, just bring Lucas back?”
“Well,” James started, “maybe you tell him you might know a way to get to him, all you need is to know how he got out so you can bring him back.”
“That’s a hell of an assumption. He’ll likely kill me on the spot,” Skye said with a snort.
James shrugged. “I think we’re on to something.”
“You guys are fucking crazy.”
“I might be able to help you convince him,” Giles interjected.
“How?” Skye asked dubiously.
“I’ll go instead. Ye’re right, he’d be skeptical of ye seeking him out willingly. But I could tell him of the vision. He might still believe me, and he knows that I know the spell to get to the Wasteland. We were friends, once. He has less reaso
n to mistrust me.”
“Do you really think that will work?” Lizzie asked, leaning forward.
Giles shrugged.
“Not a chance,” Skye muttered with a shake of her head. “Have you all forgotten who we’re dealing with?”
“No one’s forgotten, Skye. But you aren’t the only one who’s lost someone here. We are all hurting, and we all want him back. We’ve got to at least try.”
Lizzie’s earnest gaze hurt to look at, so Skye stared at the wall. Those bright blue eyes were entirely too like her brother’s.
Skye finally sighed. “The fucker’s going to kill us all anyway. I guess there’s no harm in expediting the process,” she said. “If we’re going to convince him, he’s going to need to hear it from me.” Although, the thought of having to face him had Skye digging her fingers into the arms of her chair to keep her from fleeing from the room.
“That’s the spirit,” James said.
A snicker left her lips before she consciously realized it. She blinked in surprise as the others’ shoulders started to shake with laughter. Even Giles thought it was funny, although it was hard to tell with his lips pressed together.
Fighting a smile, Skye rolled her eyes. “Fuck it, let’s do it. How do you propose we find him?”
“I might be able to help with that, too,” Giles said, adjusting his glasses.
Skye waved her hand, gesturing for him to continue. “The floor is yours.”
The others leaned in close as Giles started to explain his plan.
Chapter 15
Lucas
Death. It was the main thing on Lucas’ mind these days. At least, he thought it had been days. Or was it months by now? He had no fucking clue anymore.
He laid on the hot sand, surrounded by nothing but more fucking sand. Surely death would be preferable to this hellhole.
Lucas opened his eyes and looked up into the colorless sky. The sun should have beat down on him with its rays of yellow, red, and orange, but instead, it was completely void of color, just like the rest of this world.
“Lucas.”
He closed his eyes. Not now, please not now.
“Lucas, are you dead?”
“Unfortunately not.” He opened his eyes and pushed to his feet, unable to resist the siren-like allure of her.
She stood about five feet away, looking just as beautiful as she had the first time he’d ever laid his miserable eyes on her.
“What’s it going to be this time, Skye?” Lucas spat out her name, knowing the woman standing before him was not the one who held his heart. “Here to torment me some more?”
Unfortunately, for all that his mind knew the difference, his body did not. The fact that she was also the only company he had in this shithole made her absolutely irresistible—even if their interactions always left him feeling ripped to shreds by the time she was done with him.
She laughed, a bright cheerful sound that was entirely out of place here. “Of course not, silly. I’m just here to keep you company.”
“By reminding me of my failures.”
Wasteland Skye shrugged. “There wouldn’t be anything to remind you of if you’d kept me safe as you promised.”
His heart pinched, and he clenched his jaw. Lucas began walking, desperate to put as much distance between them as possible. She was easier to ignore if he wasn’t looking at her. Not that she’d let him go far. She never did; she’d just tag along, tormenting him until his mind broke.
Wasteland Skye was his demon, the most painful manifestation of his failures. Eventually, the weight of those mistakes would drown him.
Maybe I can walk myself to death. The thought of death, by any means, was just more wishful thinking. He’d already tried. If death were possible here, the endless days with nothing to eat or drink would’ve taken him by now.
“Don’t want to talk?” she asked, catching up to him. “That’s fine with me.”
“Don’t you have anything else to do? Someone else to toy with? I can’t be the only miserable bastard trapped here.”
“If you didn’t believe you deserved it, you’d never have created me. You’re my sole responsibility.”
“Fucking awesome.”
Just ahead, the ground sloped upward, and Lucas dug his feet into the sand as he climbed the hill.
“Maybe you should stop.”
“Maybe you should fuck off.”
“I’m serious, Lucas.”
“So am I.”
“Detective Loomis!”
He spun, beyond enraged at her use of the real Skye’s nickname for him. It broke something in him, to hear those words while he was trapped here.
“You have no fucking right!” he yelled. “You are not her! You are not real!”
“Who are you trying to convince, Detective? You or me?” she asked with a flirtatious smile. “You know I’m as real as she is. Don’t believe me? Feel for yourself…” She took a step toward him, the seductive roll of her hips all too familiar. Revulsion and lust spiraled inside of him. There was nothing he wanted more than to pull Skye into his arms and bury himself in her body, but this demon was the furthest thing from the woman he loved. The hard glint in her amber eyes was proof enough of that. Skye would never be that calculating.
Lucas ground his teeth together. “Not interested.”
This was her M.O....she’d push him with insults, throw his mistakes in his face, then try to seduce him. It had almost worked.
Once.
Never again. Lucas shut his eyes tightly, remembering the images that flooded his mind the second the evil bitch had touched her lips to his.
Images of his Skye, beaten and bloody.
“Oh, come on, Lucas, what’s it going to cost you? Nothing. You’re already here and obviously not going anywhere. It’s just you and me forever, baby. Isn’t that what you want?”
She ran her fingers along the exposed skin of his arm. Her touch seared him, and Lucas jolted away.
“He got out,” Lucas reminded her, stepping back to move out of her reach.
“True,” she murmured coyly, pulling her dark braid over her shoulder to play with the ends.
Lucas forgot to breathe as he stared, transfixed as her nimble fingers wove in and out of the satiny strands. Memories of all the times he’d watched her do the exact thing tumbled over themselves in his mind.
“He’s lifetimes more powerful than you, though. Something you seem to keep forgetting.”
Lucas’ lungs burned as air finally found its way back into his body, her words setting him free. Angry she’d slipped under his guard, Lucas’ voice dropped to a guttural growl. “No, he’s not. We share the same amount of power, remember? Besides, that asshole may have gotten the jump on me, but Skye and the others got out. That means, power or not, he can be outsmarted. And, once I learn how to use my power, he’ll be no match for me.”
“Once you learn? Planning on going somewhere?” She snickered. “Good luck with that.”
Lucas bit back a retort, annoyed with himself for picking a fight with what was essentially a figment of his imagination.
“Are you sure they escaped?”
Lucas glared at her. “Yes, I am.”
“You’re wrong,” she sneered. “He cut them down where they stood. Slaughtered Lizzie and Matthews, then took me as his own.”
“You’re lying!” Lucas shouted, his face and ears burning. Inside, his power roared, eager to be set free.
Wasteland Skye laughed again, the chilling sound nothing like his Skye. “You’re so easy, you know that?”
Lucas spun away, fighting the urge to let his power slam into that small body. He’d made that mistake before, too. And when she’d stared up at him with wet eyes and blood dripping from her mouth, Lucas had fallen on his knees and sobbed beside her. It was pure agony to see the result of what the Druid had done to her, but it was absolutely soul crushing to see her in the same state because of something he’d done himself—whether it was real or just some fucked-up illus
ion.
Lucas wouldn’t survive the experience again. Not without losing the final pieces of his sanity.
He started walking again, his heart pounding as he tried to push away the coil of emotions at war within him. The wind gusted, sending sand flying all around. Lucas shielded his eyes and moved faster, nearly running down the hill. If he could get to the base, he might be somewhat protected from the incoming sandstorm.
This fucking place couldn’t give him so much as a peaceful breeze, but it sure as hell loved throwing sand in his eyes—and down his throat—from time to time.
“This is going to be fun,” Wasteland Skye said with a giggle. “Better shield yourself, Detective. We can’t have that pretty face of yours getting scarred.”
“Fuck you.”
He ran faster, and tripped, his body rolling down to the base of the hill. The sand cut at his skin and stuck to him where hot blood welled. He groaned, the pain ten times worse than it ought to be for such minor injuries. The sand cut like glass and burned like poison where it ground into his wounds.
“Well, that was attractive.”
Ignoring her and the pain, Lucas stood, bracing himself against the wind. As he moved along the base of the dune, trying to use it for cover, he noticed a dark spot that didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the place.
“What the hell is that?”
Peering out against the storm, Lucas pushed through the wind toward what appeared to be a cavern.
In the middle of nowhere.
“Definitely go inspect a dark cave! That’s an awesome idea, Lucas,” his tormentor shouted behind him sarcastically. “You do always have the best plans, don’t you?”
The wind whipped around him, nearly throwing him back twice before he reached the inside of the cavern. It was dark, but protected from the storm raging just outside its entrance. He walked farther inside and sat against the wall to wait out the storm. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.
“So, we’re just going to sit here, then?” Skye teased, moving to sit beside him.
If she touched him, he’d snap. Lucas shut his eyes and clenched his jaw, trying to ignore the tantalizing scent of her.
“Please go away.”
