But I only needed to look around to see it was real. A strange stone room. A small window and a heavy oak door. All of it Navarre’s. But most of all I knew it was real when I saw my aunt sleeping beside me with an ugly blue bruise on her temple. At least I had kept my promise to her. I touched the ring on my necklace.
No! It was gone! I remembered that I had left it beside my bed when I went to sleep. I had forgotten it. My throat pinched and my eyes pricked with tears. How foolish of me. Of all the nights that I would do something so careless. Nature seemed determined to steal what was mine. First, the wind and drought took my family. My home. Now the water had taken the one tiny connection to my mother. My only physical link to her lay somewhere in that dark river or perhaps even in the Gulf of Mexico by now. Well, nothing could be done about it now.
I saw a skirt and shirt lying across a chair right next to the bed. I pulled back the covers and rose from the bed. I was nude. I couldn’t remember who had taken my clothes off. Dressing quickly I discovered the blouse was too big on me, the skirt too short. But they would have to do. I ran my fingers through my hair and hastily braided it.
Like so many people who have survived disasters, I felt the pull, the stark need to return to the scene. So, like a ghost, I crept from the room through the marble hallway and down the wide sweep of stairs.
The house was strangely quiet. I left unnoticed, straight out of the wide double doors to the bright world outside. The gate was wide open, and as soon as I passed through it I could see the river. The bridge had been spared, but just beyond the bridge, the river now cut to the right, and flowed directly through the forest of pines. Over my garden. The water rippled happily as it passed the house.
I thought of the world hidden just beneath the water. My world. My life. Gone. All of it gone.
A voice came from behind me.
“I thought you’d be here.”
I turned to see Navarre. It was hard to look at him because my emotions were in turmoil, so I stared instead at the traitorous river. “I still don’t understand what happened.”
“I spoke to Everett. He said that rivers sometimes will suddenly change course.” He shrugged and seemed very accepting of the strange event. “These things happen.”
“A river?” I replied. “Just moving, shifting course? These things shouldn’t happen.”
“Like a dust storm shouldn’t happen. The earth does odd things. It cares less for us. We are at its mercy. You know enough to be afraid of it. Remember why you came here, Zara.”
“That’s my point,” I said emphatically. “None of these things should happen. The earth and sky should be dependable. Predictable. I should be able to plant things in the ground and then harvest them later. Not watch the wind carry them away. Or the water. It shouldn’t happen. What can you trust if you can’t trust the ground?”
“Me,” he said.
I shot him a dark look. “I can trust nothing. No one.” I started to walk.
He fell in stride next to me. He was very calm and self-assured, while I was flustered and emotional. We walked until we reached the bridge, and then he took my hand and brought me onto it.
“Let’s sit,” he said.
We sat down, our legs dangling just over the dark water. I saw the water swirling, eddying and rolling away from us.
“Do you remember what you promised me last night?”
I hedged. “No.”
“You made two promises. But, I promised you something, too. I kept my promise. But I’ll make you another.” He looked at me with his magnificent blue eyes. “When you are one of us, I’ll never let anything bad happen to you. My obligations are the most important part of me. The heart of me. I won’t let you down.”
I said nothing.
He went on, “We’ll have two ceremonies. The first will happen right away—as soon as possible. It will be a ceremony to initiate you. And the next night you shall become mine.”
“Initiate me? Are you crazy? You think I will just be initiated? Easy as that?” I began to stand up. “Maybe you’re just trying to take advantage of me.”
His hand shot out and grabbed me. “You would give yourself to me right now and you know it. It is not that. Tell me, does your promise mean nothing to you?”
“I needed to save my aunt,” I said hotly.
“I need to save my people. We have waited for you. If you think I will let you walk away, think again.”
I gave a cynical noise. “You mean to hold me to that? Seriously? What’s the big deal about this prophecy? It’s just a coincidence that I asked for help.”
“It’s no coincidence.”
“Of course it is. How many people ask their neighbors for help? Thousands. Or maybe it’s not a coincidence and you play some terrible game, some magic perversion with spells and chants.”
“This isn’t some trivial game we are playing. This is our life. The Lucians have been together for two thousand years. And from the start your presence at our gate last night was foretold. One of the royal lineage who left us shall return. Begging. You are the one who will lead us to a new beginning, and your presence on our compound is a joyous one. We will not tolerate losing you.” He spoke so quietly and calmly, but I felt the edge beneath his words. “We need you. Don’t think of backing out and don’t even try to cross this bridge.” His words were said with such vehemence that I had no doubt he meant what he said.
“Yes, you. Here we are, dwindling in numbers, dying a bit more each generation. Holding on until the very last moment, never giving up hope. We have been rewarded. You are here. Think of those who will return. Think of how your presence will reinvigorate our group. My group. Which I will do anything to protect.”
“Don’t you think I should have some say in the matter?”
“No. None of us have a say in the matter.”
I decided to change the subject. “When you say a union, do you mean like a marriage?”
“Not in the traditional sense. Not usually. But you will be mine. All mine. Exactly how you imagine.”
I tried to ignore the nervousness that I felt when I heard his words. “I’m not even sure exactly who you are or what your group even does?”
“I bring truth. See the water?” he said, nodding to the river. “It rolls by, dark and ominous. Unpredictable.” He turned his head to look at me. “But you and I both know the truth. Beneath that surface lurks a whole world, hidden from us. From you and I. Fish, plants—”
I interrupted him. “My house. My garden.” A band of tightness wound around my chest. “My ring.” My voice cracked. “I left it on the floor next to my bed. I took it off before I went to sleep. It’s gone.”
“No. It’s not gone.” Another look. “It’s not visible, but it’s not gone. Still there nonetheless. Lurking unseen in the darkness. Lost.”
He stood up and offered me his hand. I took it, and easy as that, he pulled me up before he continued speaking. “As surely as you and I are standing here, your mother’s ring is underwater. It’s a truth, yet that truth is concealed to us. But, still, it is a truth. That’s what I bring to you. What I invite you to see. Truth.”
A gust of wind blew and whistled among the trees, and the moss that dangled from their limbs swayed back and forth. Navarre looked at me, but it was hard for me to meet his eyes. Everything seemed so raw and emotional, and the promises I uttered the night before felt foolish in the light of day.
“Are you having regrets?” he asked.
“Of course I am. I’m mortified. How do I know you are not some strange religion?”
“No. We only open your mind’s eye, and you then see the world as it is. See all truths.”
“But why don’t you have more people? Share it with the world? And why is everyone so suspicious of you?”
“Because not everyone deserves the truth.” For the first time, I heard a touch of anger in his voice. He reached out and cupped my hand in his. “Feel this,” he said. “My skin is calloused. I work hard. I fight hard. Just
like everybody else. I’m no charlatan. I don’t profit from the truth. I’m a simple man with an obligation. I keep my promises, Zara. I’ll hold you to the same,” he warned.
When I returned Aunt Cleo was still sleeping in bed with a doctor attending to her. June sat beside her and took me aside to explain my aunt’s condition. She had suffered a head trauma and though the doctor expected her to make a recovery, she would suffer from confusion and headaches over the next few weeks. The doctor had given her medicine to help her sleep and she was to take it for the next four days.
By then I would be his.
When we finished discussing my aunt, June said to me, “Navarre’s decided. The initiation ceremony is to be in two nights. You’ll become one of us.” Then she leaned closer. “And one of his.”
Chapter Ten
After June left I lay down next to my aunt and slept. I woke when the sun had already set and dusk purpled the sky. My aunt sat upright in bed, her hands worrying over each other.
“Aunt Cleo?” I asked, wiping the sleep from my eyes. “Are you okay?”
“We’re in the bad place,” she whispered, “aren’t we?”
I took her cold hands and held them in my warm ones. “It’s going to be okay. Trust me. Please, trust me. I’ll get us out of here. I promise.”
“This place is cursed. The walls are falling down, Zara.”
I knew that the doctor warned about her mental state, but it pained me so to listen to her truly frightened words. “No, we’re safe. For now. I’m going to get us out of here. I just need time to find a way out.”
Aunt Cleo shoved something into my hand. A dry powder. “The walls are falling down. That dust sprinkled upon us while we slept. I even heard the walls moaning.”
“Aunt Cleo, it was the middle of the day. Someone was probably working in the hall, or you heard talking.” I wiped my hands of the powder. “I’m sure it’s fine.”
“You can go to the pastor. Or go to the sheriff. Sneak out of here when you can. Find them and they’ll help you.”
The thought of trying to escape made me nervous, but it did seem to be our only hope. I remembered the tree that lay fallen over the fence. Perhaps I might use it for an escape. “Yes,” I agreed. “I might have a plan.”
June opened the door and peeked in. “Is everything okay?”
“No,” said my aunt, “it’s not. Whoever you are, it’s not okay.”
“Her medicine wore off,” I said quickly. “We need more.”
“I don’t need more medicine. I need to get out of here!” She was becoming very agitated.
June gave me a brief look before leaving to get the doctor.
As soon as the door closed I turned to my aunt. “Aunt Cleo, please keep quiet,” I whispered. “I’m going to escape. I think I just thought of a plan. But you need to stay calm and don’t panic in the meantime.”
“Promise me you’ll leave and get help. Try the sheriff first,” she begged.
“I promise I will. I’m going to leave tonight. They’ve never locked me in. I think I can just sneak away.”
The door opened and the doctor strode inside. He administered the medicine to my aunt and I was relieved to see that she took it without protest. I spoke with June for a while and convinced her that I was going back to sleep.
After June left, I waited for a long while. When I was sure that June wouldn’t return, I put on my clothes. My boots as well, knowing the path I needed to take. If I was caught, there would be no denying my intent to leave. No matter how the man made me feel I couldn’t deny the danger I was in. My aunt was trapped in the middle. I had no choice.
I slipped outside the door. Thank goodness there was no one in the hall. I crept along until I reached the top of the stairs. I heard muffled voices, took a few steps down and listened more carefully. The voices were coming from the terrace behind the mansion. Slowly, one quiet step at a time, I made my way down the stairs. Once on the ground floor I went to the double doors, opened one of them, and slipped outside. It was dark and I was grateful that no lights or torches were lit in the front of the mansion. I shut the door behind me with a soft click.
Now I ran. Across the lawn, as fast as I could, toward the trees, disappearing into the same bushes that I emerged from on the night of the flood. Brambles welcomed me back with clawing vines. Trees brushed against me. I was afraid, but all the while I ran, for I had a mission.
The path was surprisingly easy to follow. I came to the glade where Navarre gave me such pleasure, but I didn’t have the courage to look. Perhaps I was afraid of what I might see if I did. I ran on. I scampered up the fallen tree and then over the fence. Once I reached the other side, I crept along on my hands and knees until I reached an opening. It was too dark to jump. I scooted my backside over the edge and dangled over the side, trying to touch the ground. It was too far. I slid further down the brittle and scratchy bark of the dead tree.
Then, just as I let go to fall the last few inches, a pair of strong hands encircled my waist. The shock of skin against skin, so unexpected, caused me to let go of the tree completely. I fell helplessly into the waiting arms of Navarre.
For a few moments I didn’t move, didn’t dare draw breath. His broad shoulders loomed against the starry sky. A single drop of sweat glistened in the silver light on his forehead, trailed down his skin, and parted, only to fall upon me and caused me to startle. I came to my senses suddenly and twisted violently in his hands.
He cursed and let go. The ground caught me by surprise, coming up hard to slam my body. Brambles and pine needles pierced the skin beneath my skirt. I tried to scoot away, but his hands grabbed at me. I rushed, stumbled forward, making it as far as the dirt road before I felt the pounding of his footfalls behind me. When I reached the bridge he was just behind me, his breath almost in my ear. I stumbled on the rickety bridge, looked once behind me, and without hesitation leapt out over the dark water.
Warm water enveloped me as I sunk down and my feet touched bottom. Silky strands of grass caressed my feet. I vaulted to the surface, sputtering, crying out and reaching for…anything. My arms flailed as I struggled to shore. In my panic, I was near drowning. The dark water shrouded me, and I called out to Navarre for help.
I felt those hands again, rough and strong, grabbing me, pulling me up and away from the danger. Against him. He stood in the current as still as a pillar. I clutched him, tried to hide in the vee of his body. His arms were relaxed at his side, almost as if he dared me to let go. Never. I kissed him upon the neck, that desperate cold kiss like on the first night I came to the compound. The night I promised to be his.
He made a gruff noise, placed his arm around me and hoisted me over his shoulder. We emerged from the water on the bank next to his gate. Navarre didn’t stop, carried me without speaking a word. He strode through the iron gate and down the road. Both of us were drenched, our skin slick, but his grip on me never faltered even once.
When we came to the mansion I asked him, “Where do you think you are taking me?”
He remained silent. He went to the rear of the mansion where the terrace was. Torches still flickered though dawn would be coming soon. Navarre crossed the terrace toward a high stone wall. I’d never paid it much attention before. It was just a wall with a heavy wooden door.
He unlocked it to reveal a small courtyard. A live oak stood in one corner with a small pool of water at its base. It was such a tranquil and peaceful sight that it took a moment for me to notice the real reason he brought me to the spot. For on the far wall was a door of iron bars, slid open to reveal a jail cell waiting for me.
“You’re jailing me?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer me but carried me inside. The cell smelled dusty. A stone platform, a bed, stood against one wall. Navarre set me on the stone. Without his body keeping me warm, I was immediately chilled. I shivered and looked up at him. “You’re cruel,” I said.
“I have to be,” he replied in a voice that was almost sad. He left the cell,
slammed the door, and I heard the bolt land with an echoing finality. “I’ll be right back.”
I waited in the barren room. He returned carrying towels in his arms. Before he reached the cell door he grabbed the stool, slid it in front of the bars and sat down upon it. He was so close that his knees jutted between the bars. He held out a towel to me.
When he spoke it was in an almost sad voice. “Zara, I’m not playing some game. You are the prophecy. It’s my obligation to fulfill the prophecy. It’s my life’s purpose. I will do whatever—” he paused and ground out the next words “—whatever it takes to lead my people, Zara.”
I stood and walked toward him, wanting the towel, but still hesitant around him. “Even if that includes jailing—”
He cut me off. “Whatever it takes. It’s quite simple, actually.”
I stood right before his hand and tentatively reached out to take the towel. He was so volatile, I wasn’t certain what he would do. I took the towel and asked, “But why do you push me so ruthlessly? Why do you force me?”
I heard something close to a growl come from inside him and then he stood quickly and slammed the bars above my head before striding away. He paced the floor, and I could see so little, only the outline of the bulk of him.
I walked away from the bars and stood back across the room, drying myself. I could feel his eyes on me. He stood on one side of the bars. I stood on the other, and I confess that for the moment I felt safer where I was.
“So, we find ourselves, both of us, behind bars of a sort. Perhaps it’s time for a little honesty.” It was dead quiet for a long time before he spoke again, and only after he sighed wearily. “What if I told you that I have outlived everyone? That I was older than any word ever written on paper? That I will marry you come what may, and love and be with you for a lifetime, but I will outlive even you? That I came to life in a place called Iberia and that my existence depends on people believing in me.” He smiled to himself. “That’s why you are so important. You are to be the one who provides proof for my followers. You will cement their faith in me for hundreds of years more, and I will live on.”
Harlequin E Shivers Box Set Volume 4: The HeadmasterDarkness UnchainedForget Me NotQueen of Stone Page 51
