Suddenly Sam (The October Trilogy)

by Heather Killough-Walden

  “Let her go!” Dominic bellowed. But now Logan’s eyes were closed, and she wasn’t paying attention to him any longer. Not really. Sam was all-encompassing. A sensation rode her that she’d only ever felt once before – in those moments of intense ache and longing after Sam had bitten her.

  “It’s so easy,” Sam told her. His hand moved on her stomach, gripping gently – but firmly. Claiming her.

  She caught the scent of roses, strong and seductive. In her mind’s eye, she saw a field of black roses that stretched to the horizon, ebony satin against a twilight sky. This time she knew what they were. As they grew further away, they mixed and mingled with gravestones. Little by little, the roses died away, the head stones took over, and the field of roses became a massive, sprawled cemetery.

  Beyond the cemetery, on a cliff overlooking the dotted landscape like a behemoth over the sea, stood Samhain’s castle.

  “You won’t have to worry about them any longer.” He kissed her ear lobe gently, and then placed another kiss on the side of her neck. A wretched, feverish chill rushed through Logan, causing her head to swim.

  Why was she fighting? She didn’t stand a chance against him.

  “Let me in now, Logan. Fulfill your promise to me and join me. I will show you eternity. And I will spare the boy.”

  The boy…. He meant Dominic. Of course, Dominic Maldovan would seem a boy to the immortal and ageless Lord of the Dead.

  There was a commotion somewhere, and lightning and thunder again played hide and seek with one another through the Autumn sky.

  Something niggled at Logan’s mind. She was losing ground.

  The sound of flesh striking flesh was like an injection of strength. Someone was fighting.

  Sam swore softly, so very close to her ear – close to her neck.

  “Logan, don’t do it! Damn it, let her go you son of a bitch!”

  Sam pulled back, straightening behind her. “Silence him!”

  Logan opened her eyes. Sam’s grip on her tightened, a steel band that refused to give up what it had claimed.

  “I don’t think so!” came a female voice from the dark tree line. Everyone froze, and Logan could feel Sam shift behind her, no doubt turning to see who it was.

  Logan looked too. Lightning arced with fury, lighting up the masquerade grounds like a massive fire. It struck everywhere, sending trees up like roman candles.

  Logan drew a breath of wonder when she saw who it was at the tree line. The spell had worked. “Meagan!”

  Meagan looked directly at her – and then she looked at Sam over her shoulder. “I second Maldovan’s motion,” Meagan said. “Let her go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  With her eyes open once more and Sam’s flood of power temporarily dissuaded, Logan was able to see what was happening around her.

  Dominic was being held by three of the Harvesters. It was clear he’d been hit many times; there was blood on his lip and beneath his nose. But whatever wounds he had sustained were healing quickly, and the look on his face was one of utter loathing and ferocity.

  Meagan Stone, Katelyn Shanks, some man Logan had never before seen, and some kind of monster, entered the masquerade grounds, the four of them looking for all the world like a line of archangels to Logan.

  A crackling blue light had pooled in Meagan’s outstretched hands. Magic.

  “I said let her go!” There was no further warning. Meagan seemed reared to go. She reached up, yelled something archaic at the tops of her lungs, and cast out her magic as if it were a literal ball that she could throw. That crackling blue energy shot from her arms and into the air like a rainbow of lightning.

  Everyone seated around the bonfire scrambled, and behind Logan, Sam acted fast. He yanked her around him, shielding her with his body as he raised his own arms in self-defense.

  A red wall of force blocked the magic, acting like a shield as the blue ball slammed into it with incredible force. Sparks of opposing power shot out in all directions, forcing some of the Harvesters to duck behind the log benches or cover their heads with their arms.

  In the next moment, Sam was striking back.

  Logan cried out in shock and fear when he appeared to actually reach up and command a lightning bolt straight out of the storm overhead. It shot from the tempest’s swirling eye and aimed directly for Meagan.

  But rather than engulf her in its fire, the bolt streamed around her like water, and was dissipated as it reached the ground. She remained miraculously standing, though her hands were pressed hard to her ears and her eyes were closed.

  The sound was incredible.

  Logan heard the first part of it, but that first part was so loud, the rest of it was hidden behind the loud ringing of ear drums that had either been damaged or had closed up in self-preservation.

  She stepped back from Sam and watched in that numb ringing as Meagan’s group was hit with the force of the lightning blast and went sailing several feet back. Katelyn and the others hit the ground and rolled, all three coming quickly once more to their feet.

  Logan’s gaze skirted to Dominic. Their eyes met.

  Here we are again, thought Logan. It was one of those time-altering thoughts that struck you when the world was falling apart around you. It allowed you to step back and see everything in slow motion and from a distance, as it was meant to be seen.

  It struck her, in that moment, that they kept returning to this place. They weren’t in her high school gymnasium or in a field beside a set of train tracks. But they were in the same place nonetheless. Here was Sam trying to kill everyone and everything she knew. And there were Dominic and her friends trying to save her.

  Meagan believed it had begun when she’d misspoken the words to a spell. But that had merely been a catalyst, a spark in an awaiting bonfire, one that had been smoldering for two thousand years.

  Really, it was all Logan’s fault.

  No, she realized. Not mine. Not even Ciara’s. It was fate’s fault.

  Except the fates didn’t really exist. Things happened because they happened. Not because there were three women controlling everyone’s fortunes with strings and scissors.

  This was no one’s fault. It was just the way it was. Things happened because in every given moment of any existence, something had to happen, and some things that could happen were good and some things that could happen were bad and there was no rhyme or reason to any of it.

  It is what it is.

  For the first time in her life, Logan actually understood that saying. She still hated it. She still felt that humans would no doubt use it as an excuse to not try to fix things, to not take action, and to remain lazy. But now at least she understood it.

  It is what it is, she thought, so I have to change what it is.

  Across the masquerade grounds, a swirling gray figure appeared. It wavered and rippled, at last coalescing into the blue-gray outline of a man.

  The Harvesters that were standing near the translucent figure backed up, their expressions wary.

  Dominic stilled in his captors’ grasps. “Alec!” he exclaimed.

  Alec Sheffield, she realized.

  All at once, the ghost sped through the air, blurring into an indistinct cloud as it raced across the masquerade ground. The Harvesters holding Dominic released him and backpedalled. Dom froze and straightened, having time to do nothing else. A moment later, Alec was slamming into him.

  Dom’s form was momentarily outlined in glowing blue-white. He opened his eyes, and they appeared like search lights. Light emanated from between his teeth, his nostrils, and fingertips. And then the light faded, and Dom bent over, holding his head in his hands.

  It lasted for only a moment before he raised his head again. Now his emerald eyes held a light to them, much the way Samhain’s eyes did.

  Sam must have known this was not a good sign, because he turned his attention fully to Dominic, and Logan could feel him pull his power in around him, preparing for another spell. This one had a nasty feel to it.
It was meant to be permanent.

  “No!” Logan cried, rushing forward to grab Sam’s arm as the Death Lord reeled it back, preparing for his strike.

  Sam let loose with a stream of magic that looked like charcoal and ruby dust, but because of Logan’s interference, it missed its mark. Dominic dove out of the way, dropping to the ground and rolling back up to his feet.

  Sam spun around, his now silver swirling eyes finding Logan’s. He bared his fangs. “For that, I’ll make it hurt when I take you.”

  Logan’s heart pounded. She had never seen anything so beautifully terrifying as Samhain was in that moment.

  “Logan!”

  Logan’s head whipped around at the sound of her name. Meagan had risen from where she’d crouched beneath the onslaught of the lightning bolt that miraculously did no harm. More magic was gathering in her palms, this time a pink-yellow color.

  She was preparing to cast another spell, and Logan had an idea she knew what spell it was. The most important thing, and pretty much the only thing for them to do just then was get the hell away from Sam. They stood no chance against him face-to-face. When it came to fight or flight with the Lord of the Dead, flight was really the only answer.

  And the only way for them to get away from him was to transport away.

  Meagan looked at her, and even from across the masquerade floor, Logan received her message loud and clear. She prepared to receive whatever spell Meagan threw at her.

  Sam lunged for her – Logan leapt out of the way.

  And Meagan’s magic hit her square in the chest.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  It struck all six of them one after another in quick succession as if it were drawing a five-pointed star with Meagan at its center. It happened so fast – in the course of milliseconds – no one had time to react.

  The star pulsed once, bright as the lightning that now crisscrossed the sky and cascaded down upon the forest and masquerade floor with a vengeance. And then Logan saw the world go completely white.

  She closed her eyes, not wanting to be permanently blinded, and waited as a heat engulfed her. It was almost painful, warming her skin to that flash point just before it would have been too much.

  Then it blinked out, and there was a moment of nothing – before a cool breeze kissed Logan’s cheek.

  She opened her eyes.

  Tombstones of every shape and size stretched all around her, dotting hills and valleys clear to the horizon. Here and there, beautiful black roses in full bloom hugged a stone or grew around it. The thorny vines wrapped and mingled with each other.

  Logan looked over her shoulder. Behind her, the head stones became sparse, and the roses took over, becoming the field of black that went on forever.

  She turned back around. The most imposing image of all, she gazed upon last. In the far, far distance stood a mountain cliff. Against its sheer drop edge, and piercing the sky with its spires, was the castle.

  Samhain’s castle.

  This was the line where the black roses became the graves in Fall Fields. This was the place Sam had shown her so many times in her dreams.

  A dusky sky hung low and cold over the endless cemetery, and mists curled and clung around the monuments of death like cats made of fog. Behind the castle, lightning played havoc with the atmosphere, but that lightning was as black as the roses, and equally sinister.

  Meagan stood to Logan’s right, and Katelyn stood to her left. The man Logan didn’t recognize was on the other side of Katelyn, hurriedly patting points on his sweater that seemed to be smoking. Katelyn noticed this and began to help.

  “The portal?” Katelyn asked. The man nodded.

  Across from him on the opposite side stood the monster Logan was fairly sure had once been Mr. Lehrer. Some of the facial features were similar. Dominic was a few feet away, a dozen tombstones between them. A gentle breeze brushed his long black hair against his face as he glanced around, taking it all in. He seemed to at once look for her specifically, though, and his green eyes held that eerie glow when they locked on to her. His face looked very, very pale, stark against the raven black of his hair. Her worry for him slid up a notch.

  It’s the ghost, Logan thought. Alec is inside him.

  The trouble was, she couldn’t figure out why Alec would do that.

  Everyone gazed around them at the graveyard and roses. For several long seconds, they were all locked in common silence, most likely none of them knowing exactly what to say.

  So Logan went first. “We’re in Fall Fields,” she said. She knew of this place because she had Ciara’s memories within her. “Here, you’ll find the grave of every man, woman, and child who has ever died throughout history.”

  More silence greeted that, and she could sense her companions’ awe as they peered at the stones around them. Some of the names and dates were weathered with age. Others were brand new.

  Logan read the one closest to her: Annie Marie, 1807-1811.

  A four-year-old child.

  As it always did when she beheld something sad, Logan’s empathy engulfed her. She’d come to think of it as her curse over the years. It was a flood of emotion she could never shut off. She couldn’t help but imagine the child’s confusion as death claimed her. She hoped she hadn’t felt any pain. And then she imagined the girl’s parents, and their pain.

  Something cracked open inside Logan. It felt terrible. She begged it to stop, closing her eyes and shoving at the feeling with everything she had. There was no time for pain.

  “I knew what it was called,” said Meagan, “Alec told us, or I wouldn’t have been able to transport us here. And I knew it was supposed to be a big graveyard, but… I had no idea….” She was staring at the castle in the distance. Logan saw her shiver.

  It was a reaction she could identify with.

  “How did you get here? In October Land?” Logan asked.

  “I used the spell you carved in the tree.”

  Logan felt a semblance of pride at hearing that. “Good,” she said, meaning it with all her heart. Something she’d done had actually worked.

  She looked over at Dom. “Are… you okay?” she asked, knowing it couldn’t be easy for him to be housing another person’s soul again. They were wasting time talking, but she couldn’t help but ask.

  He nodded, giving her a slightly twisted smile. “He owes me after this,” he said. “He knows how I feel about having someone else in my head.” And then he went still, and his smile broadened. “Oh. I’m the one who got him killed in the first place,” he said, shaking his head. “He’s quick to remind me.”

  Logan smiled at that. It was a bittersweet smile, of course.

  “Logan,” said Meagan, drawing her attention. “I know a portal will open soon to try to shoot us back to the mortal realm, but I can’t leave October Land until I’ve set things right. According to Alec, time moves differently here. It’s already Halloween on the other side. We’ve been missing for weeks.”

  Logan blinked. Weeks? Oh my God, she thought. What must her parents be thinking? And James? And Beth? “Holy shit,” she muttered.

  “Yeah, basically,” Meagan agreed. “We’re in for a mess of galactic proportions unless I can fix the spell I fouled up in the first place.”

  “But I thought you figured out you couldn’t do that?” Logan asked.

  “I can only do it on a blue moon,” Meagan told her. “The first moon opens the door, and the second moon closes it. And tonight just happens to be the second moon. I need to be in a cemetery, and there’s no better cemetery in the universe than this one. That’s why I brought us here; Alec led us to you and told us about this place too.”

  Logan glanced at Dom.

  Dom nodded. “The circumstances are perfect for the spell, but they also mean that we’re almost out of time,” he said. “If you don’t fix this now, before it’s no longer Halloween, nothing will go back to the way it was before Sam entered our world.”

  Meagan said, “That’s right. Alec will stay dead
, Shawn and Nathan will stay vampires, Mr. Lehrer will stay a goblin, and….” She trailed off for a moment, looking Logan up and down. “To be honest, I’m not sure what will happen to you. Sam seems pretty intent on keeping you here for all eternity. He even dressed you up for it.”

  Logan looked down at her gown.

  “Wicked dress, girlfriend,” said Katelyn. Logan glanced up. Katelyn smiled knowingly and winked. “I want the whole story later. Even the mask is hot.”

  Logan blushed at the compliment. And then she blinked. She was still wearing the mask. Feeling suddenly stupid, she reached up and yanked the scrap of cloth off her face. “You’re a goblin?” she asked, changing the subject as quickly as she could and facing Lehrer.

  The eight foot tall monster nodded, and though she’d expected his voice to come out like gravel when he spoke, he sounded almost completely normal when he said, “Hell Hound poison.” He sighed. “It’s a long story, and like Meagan said, I’m afraid we haven’t much time.”

  “Okay.” Logan accepted it. She had no choice. She wanted to ask who the stranger was, but time was pressing in on them.

  Meagan blinked, and then, as if she’d been reading Logan’s mind, she hastily said, “Crap, I’m sorry. This is Hugh Draper. He’s….” She trailed off, Draper smiled sheepishly, and Meagan blew out a sigh. “He’s a wizard too. But the rest is too complicated and not important right now. I’ll explain later. I’m going to set up the spell.” She took a backpack off of her shoulders and knelt down, rummaging for supplies.

  “Need any help?” asked Katelyn.

  “Actually, yeah. I need soil from the grave of someone who was born in October and soil from someone who died in October. If you can find someone who did both, that’s even better.”

  The others immediately set out to look for such a grave, spreading out in all directions.

  “But don’t go too far!” called Mr. Lehrer as he knelt down beside Meagan to help her set up.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Logan walked a little way out from where the transport spell had landed her, cresting a nearby hill and ducking down on the other side. The roses were more rare here, and where they did crop up, they seemed the more beautiful for it.