The war was still to come.
27
Twenty-Seven
“Are you okay?” Aric asked, emerging from his hiding place and glancing around. The wolves were almost completely gone, incinerated where they stood. Only a few charred reminders remained, and I needed to ignore them. If I paid too much attention to the smoking piles my legs would give out.
“I’m fine.” I didn’t mean to sound so brusque, but I was still processing.
“I know you are,” Aric said, pulling me in for a hug. “That doesn’t mean this isn’t necessary.”
I rested my face against his chest, trying to push Tusken’s pathetic sobs to the background, and then sighed. “We need to cut him down and send him on his way,” I whispered.
Aric tilted my chin up and brushed my straggly hair out of my face. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you need a shower.”
“Yeah, because you smell like daisies and fresh linen.”
He smirked and kissed my forehead before turning his attention to Tusken’s shaking form. “I don’t suppose you can just … magically make him drop, can you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m tired and I don’t want to climb the tree again,” Aric admitted. “It was a pain the first time.”
“I guess there’s no harm in trying,” I said, closing my eyes. I envisioned the ropes around Tusken’s wrists and ankles and tossed a spark in their direction. Tusken screeched as he dropped. Even though he was only fifteen feet from the ground, it was a long fall. Luckily for him, the rope around his right ankle caught and he was jerked back skyward, his body bouncing through the air as he weaved back and forth.
“Let me down!”
“That was very well done,” Aric said. “I think you forgot one little thing, though.”
“I could pretend I meant to do that, but I didn’t,” I said. “Honestly, though, we probably saved ourselves the aggravation of scooping his brains from the ground. That broke his fall. He won’t be as badly injured when I drop him now.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Aric asked.
I explained the second part of my plan to Aric and Paris when we were out of Tusken’s earshot so the whiny police officer believed he would perish the entire time he was restrained above his dying friends. That wasn’t the truth, though.
“I think it’s the best way to go,” I said. Tusken screamed and thrashed as he swung, so I knew he wasn’t listening. “His warning should scare at least some of the people there into running. Even if they don’t run, they won’t be committed to the fight.”
“And you don’t want to move on the compound tonight?” Aric pressed.
“We need rest,” I said. “We need to give Tusken time to warn them. I don’t want to risk doing anything in the dark. Bob told me to spend the night here. That’s what I’m going to do.”
“Okay.” Aric turned back to Tusken. “Drop his crying behind down here so we can have a little talk with him.”
I did as instructed, internally cringing as Tusken thudded against the ground. Aric moved to his side and grabbed his shoulder, causing Tusken to slap out wildly as he attempted to fight off what he was convinced would be a painful death.
“Don’t kill me,” Tusken begged. “I’m sorry. I won’t try to hurt you ever again. I promise.”
He sobbed so hard his shoulders shook. He was pitiable. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t in the mood to extend pity. I moved in front of him and squatted down, staring at him until he reluctantly raised his eyes and met my hard gaze.
“We’re going to let you go.”
“What?” Tusken exhaled heavily, relieved but still untrustworthy. “Is this a trick? Are you going to tell me to run and then burn me alive when my back is turned?”
“I’m going to tell you to run and let you go,” I countered. “You’re no good to me dead.”
“What do you mean by that?” Tusken wanted to believe me, but he also didn’t want to get his hopes up.
“I want you to take a message to Quinn and Teague,” I instructed. “You tell them what happened out here. You tell them I’m not messing around. You tell them that if my parents are injured in any way when I get there, I’ll make their deaths last a lot longer and promise they’ll be a lot more painful than what your friends went through tonight.”
Tusken was incredulous. “That’s it? That’s all you want?”
“Tell them I’m coming for my parents, and if they want to live, they’d better be prepared to hand them over when I get there.”
Tusken licked his lips, still unsure. “What about the book?”
“The book is gone,” I lied. “I destroyed it. I destroyed it days ago at my house. When we realized what it was, we knew it was too dangerous to keep around.” I was making it up as I went along. “The book was gone before you took my parents.”
“I … .” Tusken’s gaze bounced between Aric and Paris. “That can’t be true. Why would you destroy that book?”
“Because I don’t want it and I don’t need it,” I said. “I don’t have anything for Quinn except vengeance. You make sure to tell him that.”
“What if he doesn’t believe me?”
“Then I guess he’ll have to believe me when I get there,” I said, standing up and taking a step back. “You can go now.”
Tusken pushed himself to a standing position, his eyes darting to the small piles of charred remains dotting the field. “What about them?”
“There is no them now,” Aric answered for me. “They’re gone. You have a choice whether you want to be gone, too. Tell Quinn what Zoe said and be ready … because we’re coming tomorrow and she’s going to be in a horrible mood.”
Tusken didn’t need to be prodded again. He cast one more look at me – this one more terrified than derisive – and then bolted into the trees. Aric captured my hand with his, both of us taking a few minutes to watch and make sure no one else was coming, and then he turned back to our camp.
“We need the security dome back in place, Zoe.”
I wordlessly nodded.
“How about we keep it small and don’t include any of the … dead wolves. How does that sound?” Aric suggested, as if reading my mind and the potential horror associated with sleeping among my victims.
I was exhausted – mentally and physically – so I readily agreed. “That’s fine,” I said. “It’s been a long day.”
After the security field was in place, Paris climbed into her sleeping bag and immediately closed her eyes. I had a feeling she wanted to block out as much of the day as possible. I didn’t blame her.
Aric didn’t bother laying out two sleeping bags, instead tugging me into his so he could situate me next to him. “Go to sleep, Zoe. We all need our rest. Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”
“It is,” I agreed, my eyelids heavy as I rested my face against his chest. The steady beat of his heart lulled me. “Then, after tomorrow, we can go home and you can give me my ring.”
“You’re not getting that ring until I get time to plan my big proposal,” Aric countered. “Don’t push me on that.”
“I want my ring.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
I KNEW I was asleep when I awoke – if that makes sense – but the surreal nature of my surroundings caused me to glance around the dreamscape instead of fleeing from it.
I was used to abnormal dreams. Most of the ones I experienced these days were lighthearted and enjoyable – and almost always ended up with Aric naked. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like to change things up. Sometimes random hot celebrities – all male, don’t be gross – drop in for a cameo. Still, my dreams these days are usually normal. This was going to be anything but normal. I could tell within seconds of “waking” in the dreamscape.
It took me a moment, but I recognized the room. It was Professor Sam Blake’s office at Covenant College. I visited the place numerous times during my tenure at the school – and never once was it for academic reasons.
Blake sat behind
his desk, his face smug as he regarded me. He hadn’t aged a day. Of course, he was dead and this was a dream, so that shouldn’t have surprised me.
“What the hell are you doing in my head?”
“You brought me here,” Blake replied, his tone blasé. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?”
Blake was handsome for a professor. He was in his thirties, so students swooned at his blond hair and toned body. He was also the head of a group of monster hunters, which gave him a dangerous edge. Of course, I later found out he was a monster of a different variety and left him to his unenviable fate: James Winters meting out justice for years of horrible deeds. Now didn’t seem the time to dwell on that.
“I have no idea why my subconscious decided to conjure you, but I’m really irritated with it,” I admitted, throwing myself into one of the wingback chairs across from his desk. I wondered where the original chairs were. Did someone take over Blake’s office and keep them? Were they moved to another building? After my graduation, I left Covenant College behind and never looked back. Now seemed an odd time for it to pop up.
Speaking of popping up … . My high school boyfriend Will appeared out of nowhere and landed in the chair next to me. “Long time no see, Zoe,” he said, grinning widely. “You’re still looking good.”
“You look exactly the same,” I muttered. “You’re dead, though, so it’s not as though you can change.”
“Yes, I’m dead,” Will agreed. “You fed me to a vampire and let me die on a basement floor. That was very heroic of you, by the way.”
“She was never a hero,” Blake chimed in. “She’s a narcissist. Narcissists can’t be heroes.”
“Hey! I only fed Will to Rafael because you jackoffs were starving him and I was worried he would eat me instead,” I snapped. “Wait, that’s kind of proving your point.”
“I offered her the world, and she threw it back in my face,” Will lamented.
“You offered to sacrifice me to your crazy fraternity brothers because you wanted to climb the wolf ladder,” I countered. “Don’t try to make yourself out to be some paragon of virtue when we all know you were the dinkiest doughnut in the box.”
Will scowled, and for a second I was reminded of the golden teenage years we spent together. Even now, years after his death, when my mind wandered, I sometimes remembered the fun days on the river … and the cozy nights by the fire. Then I remembered the betrayal and the first memory soured. He ultimately turned out to be a raging douche.
I turned my attention to Blake. “As for you, you were half wolf but couldn’t shift, and you wanted to take out your aggression on everyone else because your daddy didn’t love you. It’s not my fault you couldn’t suck it up and be a man.”
“I find your judgmental attitude as tiresome in death as I did in life,” Blake said, sighing.
“Then why are you here?”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“I … .” Crap. This was not the time to get philosophical. I didn’t have time for it. Apparently my nervous brain didn’t agree. “I’m guessing I called you here because I’m going to kill a bunch of people tomorrow.
“I’ve been worried about turning into a monster like you two, so it only makes sense for the two worst monsters to haunt me tonight,” I continued. “I’m terrified of hurting Aric, and you guys hurt everyone who ever trusted you. Obviously I’m equating myself with you. Ugh.”
“Please tell me Winters got fat,” Will said. “I always hated how tall and muscular he was. All the women loved him. It would serve him right to get fat after he stole you from me.”
“He didn’t steal me from you,” I corrected. “I ran away screaming when I realized what you were.”
“Does that mean you’re going to run from yourself?” Blake asked.
“And I thought that stupid psychology class I had to take was a total waste of time,” I muttered. “I’m obviously using it on myself.”
“While I hate you with a fiery passion that knows no bounds, I can honestly say your best trait is your belief in yourself,” Blake said, his eyes serious. “I always wanted you to do things my way. You won because you did things your way.”
“If we were doing things my way I would be able to turn all of the wolves into ducks and spare their lives,” I said. “I don’t want to kill them because I believe most of them have been misled, but if I don’t, my parents will die.
“I don’t know for a fact that all the wolves and witches who will be there tomorrow are innocent,” I continued. “I know my parents are, though.”
“Then I think you’re facing the Star Trek conundrum,” Blake said. “What is more important – the good of the many or the good of the few?”
This was definitely a dream. He would never use Star Trek logic on me. He hated my pop culture references almost as much as I hated the Kardashians. “I don’t think that’s the answer,” I replied. “If Quinn gets the book, he could hurt a lot more people than those in that compound. It’s not only about saving my parents.”
“Would you have gone after him if he hadn’t taken your parents?” Blake pressed.
“I … no.” That was hard to admit.
“Then, in the end, it is about your parents,” Blake said. “You have decided your parents are worth more than the people in that compound. I’m not here to judge whether that’s right. You have to decide that for yourself.
“The truth is, you have all of the power,” he continued. “You have the book. You have the strength. You have magic that can burn them all before they get close to you. What you don’t have is time and patience. It’s too bad you didn’t learn the virtues of patience before Armageddon arrived.”
“I find nothing virtuous in patience,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I want what I want when I want it.”
“Like your ring?” Blake asked. “Wouldn’t you already have a nice proposal story and the ring if you hadn’t snooped?”
“Maybe,” I conceded. “Something tells me I’m going to get both anyway. Do you want to know why?”
“Because you’re spoiled?” Will asked.
“Because I’m a winner.” I hopped out of the chair. “You have given me another idea, though, Professor Blake. I think that’s why I really called you here. Your psychological crap was a nice distraction, though, and I really hope you’re whooping it up in Hell.”
“So, what are you going to do?” Blake asked.
“Try to get a win for as many people as possible.”
“That sounds naïve,” Blake said. “I would’ve hoped you’d outgrown that personality defect over the past five years. Your naïveté and immaturity hold you back.”
“Actually, I think they’re what keep me sane,” I shot back. “Boys, have a nice … whatever it is you’re doing here. I hope to never see you again.”
“Before you go, please tell me that Winters got fat,” Will begged.
“He’s even buffer and hotter than the last time you saw him,” I said, patting Will on the head. “I’ll try not to hate every memory I have of you. You weren’t always evil.”
“Oh, come on! He has to be a little fat,” Will complained.
“Okay, maybe you were always evil and I just never noticed it. Have a good afterlife, boys. The real world beckons. I know exactly what I have to do now.”
28
Twenty-Eight
When I woke, Aric’s arms were wrapped around me, his face relaxed in sleep. I watched him for a moment, curious what he dreamed about. Something told me Blake and Will didn’t invade his dreams.
“Am I drooling or something?” Aric murmured.
I scowled. “How do you always do that?”
“What?”
“Know when I wake up,” I said. “Sometimes I wake and find you watching me. I can never watch you because you always know when I open my eyes. It isn’t fair. Is that some wolf thing?”
“Are you asking whether I can smell sleep like Eddie could lies?”
“No. I … how?”
“You sleep hard, Zoe,” Aric answered. “Your whole body is heavy when you’re asleep. I always know what you’re dreaming about – or at least have an idea where your head is – by the way you react in your sleep.
“When you’re dreaming about me, you cuddle closer,” he continued. “When you add one of those hunky Chris actors you like to fantasize about, you get really close. I try to pretend not to notice.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
“When you’re having a bad dream your body is lighter but your head is heavier,” Aric said. “You had a bad dream last night.”
“It wasn’t really a bad dream.” I told him about my conversation with Blake and Will. “I think it was a way for me to figure some stuff out,” I finished.
“Will wanted me to be fat?” Aric was incredulous. “If that little ferret wasn’t already dead … .”
I pursed my lips. “It wasn’t really Will,” I reminded him. “It was my version of Will.”
“That doesn’t mean you want me fat, does it?”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “I like you buff and lean. That way I can lord your body over all of those women who stare at you every Wednesday when we go into town for ice cream.”
Aric chuckled, the sound warming me. These were the last few minutes of peace we could enjoy before … well, before peace ceased to exist. “I’ll take my shirt off and flex for them next time we’re there.”
“That will create a stampede.”
“Well, I have you to fight them off for me,” Aric said, his eyes turning serious. “What did you figure out?”
“I’m going to use the book.”
“How?”
“I’m going to absorb it.”
Aric frowned. “I … what does that mean?”
“The book has power,” I said. “If I absorb the power, no one can ever use it. It will just be a book after that.”
“And what happens to you?”
“I … nothing.” I shrugged. “I’m the same person. I’ll have more powers that I don’t use unless jackasses come after the people I love.”
Rising Covenant (Living Covenant Trilogy Book 1) Page 21
