But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t see him. She drew in a frustrated breath. Where was he?
“Look at your hands, Sarah,” Wanága suddenly instructed.
Understanding his insinuation, she gave a frantic shake of her head. He was wrong!
“Look at your hands,” he repeated relentlessly.
“No. I’m not going to listen to you,” she said hoarsely.
But her hands seemed to rise into her line of vision of their own accord. They dripped with blood.
“No, no, no, no, nooooo,” she screamed, squeezing her eyes shut. “I would never do this. Never!”
But if she wouldn’t do it, why was there blood on her hands? And why, even as she found the scene horrifying, was there a part of her that felt strangely aroused by it?
Suddenly, she remembered John Butler saying she was just like him. When she’d denied his claim, he’d said that when he arrived, he’d prove it to her, because they shared the lust.
Sarah’s stomach churned, and bile rose to her throat. At the time, she thought he referred to physical lust, but he’d replied that there were different kinds of lust. Now, she understood his meaning. He’d been talking about the blood lust.
“What kind of monster am I?” she whispered brokenly.
“You are not a monster, Sarah,” Wanága said. “You are the last of your kind, and you are paying for my sins.”
Sarah’s eyes flew open. The vision was gone, and she stared at Wanága in bewilderment. “What are you talking about?”
“When it is time for you to know all, you will understand.”
“Dammit, Wanága! You can’t make a statement like that and then follow it up with your stupid riddle. Tell me what you’re talking about.”
He gave a sad shake of his head. “I cannot do that, Sarah. All I can do is guide you and pray that you will make the right decisions.”
“Wanága”—she started, but he disappeared.
She stared at the space where he’d been, feeling positively flabbergasted. What did he mean she was the last of her kind? She was Lakota!
Or am I? she wondered, suddenly recalling that when she’d seen the materials for prayer ties in the trunk in the cave, a voice had declared that she wasn’t Lakota. But if she wasn’t Lakota, what was she?
The wicáhmunga groaned, interrupting her frustrated musing. She turned to look at him, startled to see that he wasn’t naked but dressed. She immediately glanced down at herself, stunned to see that she too wore her clothes. Quickly, she raised her head to confirm what she’d already subliminally recognized. The lightning wreath was gone.
“I imagined it all!” she said, relief flooding through her. “It was just some kind of horrible dream.”
Not everything was a dream, Sarah, Wanága whispered in her mind. Look at the wicáhmunga’s face.
Realizing what Wanága intimated, her heart skipped a beat. She instinctively balked at his instruction, but she knew she had to face what she’d done.
Slowly, she moved her gaze to his face, trepidation shuddering through her. When she saw that his eyes were closed, she fervently whispered, “I can’t have punished him for a future that is really mine. Please, don’t let him be blind.”
It was as if her words were a command for him to awaken, because his eyelids lifted. She clapped her hands over her mouth and let out a horrified gasp. His eyes were completely white.
PAIN AND DARKNESS. The two sensations swept over Sebastian in endless waves. The pain he could handle, but the darkness nearly suffocated him. Where was he? Why was it so damn dark?
“Sebastian? Are you awake? Can you hear me?”
“Sarah?” he said, turning his head toward the sound of her voice. He frowned, confused when he couldn’t see her. Impulsively, he reached up and touched his eyes. They were open. So why couldn’t he see her? Panic knotted his stomach. What was going on?
“I’m right here,” Sarah said, brushing her fingers against his cheek.
He started at the contact. If she were close enough to touch him, he should be able to see her. As she withdrew her hand, he grabbed it, needing the firm contact to reassure himself that she was real. When she curled her fingers around his, he sighed in relief. She was real. Now he needed to figure out where they were and why it was so damn dark.
“I am so sorry, Sebastian,” Sarah suddenly said.
He frowned again. She sounded so distraught. What had happened? Why was she sorry?
Because she touched your eyes with the lightning. Now you are blind forever, the talisman’s voice stated with cold maliciousness.
As its statement sank in, Sebastian’s heart raced and his pulse sounded. It wasn’t true. He wasn’t blind. The talisman was toying with him, trying to rile him. They were inside the wreath, and the talisman had created this impenetrable darkness to force them into a violent confrontation so it could capture Sarah’s soul.
But even as he offered himself the excuse for the darkness, he knew it wasn’t true. Sarah had summoned the lightning and made it strike his eyes.
“No!” Sebastian gasped, bolting upright. He couldn’t be blind. He was the troubleshooter. He needed his eyes to do his job!
“Sebastian, I don’t know if you should be moving around.”
“I’m blind,” he said, more to himself than to her. He sounded so calm. How could he sound calm when desperation clawed at his insides?
“I’m sorry,” Sarah whispered mournfully, laying her hand on his arm.
He jerked away from her, fury erupting inside him. “Don’t say you’re sorry! I tried to save your soul, and you blinded me.”
“I know, but you have to understand,” she said, a tearful catch in her voice. “I had a vision of the future, and I thought that you were going to gouge out my people’s eyes and kill them. I was trying to protect them from you, but now I know it wasn’t your future I saw. It was mine. You were right, Sebastian. The talisman has chosen me for its instrument of destruction. What am I going to do?”
“You’re asking me, a blind warlock, for advice?” he rasped, his temper escalating. He’d done everything he could think of to save her. He’d even made love to her when every atom of his being demanded he take her ruthlessly. But instead of being grateful for his efforts, she’d turned the lightning on him.
He wanted to grab her around the throat and throttle her, but he couldn’t see her throat to grab it. Unable to act on that desire, he wanted to leap to his feet and pace, but how could he pace when he couldn’t see? How could he do anything without his sight?
“Sebastian, you said earlier that your people might be able to help me. Maybe if we go to them—”
“Forget it,” he broke in furiously. That’s why she sounded so pitiful. She and the talisman were after the coven! “You may have robbed me of my eyesight, but I haven’t lost my mind. I’m not taking you to Sanctuary so you can destroy the coven.”
“But if you don’t take me to them, who is going to help me and my people?”
“Help you and your people?” he repeated incredulously. “Didn’t you hear anything I told you before you burned out my eyes? To be saved, you had to refuse to commit a violent act, and blinding someone is definitely violent. Now the talisman owns you lock, stock, and soul. Even if the coven managed to stop the talisman, we can’t help you because you are forever corrupted. You’re just like Seamus Morpeth.”
He heard her suck in a harsh breath. It seemed to be forever before she released it and said, “Then I guess that only leaves me with one option. I’ll have to kill myself before I hurt anyone else.”
Sebastian gave a disgusted shake of his head. “Forget the contrite act, Sarah. Even if you are sincere—which I doubt—the talisman now owns you. The only way you could kill yourself is if it decides that you aren’t of any further use to it,
and then I’d wager that it won’t let you take the easy way out. It will find some way to make you suffer through a slow, torturous death.”
“Then you kill me,” she said fervently, grabbing his hands and pulling them up to her neck.
When he felt her soft skin and delicate bones beneath his palms, he wanted to do as she asked. She had blinded him. But as his fingers flexed, itching to curl around her neck, he snatched his hands away. The talisman wouldn’t let him kill her, and by hurting her, he’d be feeding its appetite for violence, giving it more power over her and possibly him.
“That’s a great plan,” he told her derisively. “I wring your neck, and then what am I supposed to do? I’m blind, remember? How the hell would I get off this damn mountain?”
“I didn’t think about that,” she said, sounding defeated. “I’ve really messed everything up, haven’t I?”
“That’s the best understatement I’ve ever heard.” Despite his anger, Sebastian felt a pang of sympathy for her. When he’d made love to her, he’d learned firsthand how difficult it was to fight against the talisman’s manipulation. Because he’d managed to do so, he’d expected her to do the same. Now, he realized that not only had his expectations been unrealistic but impossible. Sarah had been under her triangle’s influence since childhood. She’d been lost from the beginning.
He wanted to reach out and touch her, tell her that it wasn’t her fault. He refrained, knowing that his words would be as little comfort to her as hers had been to him when she’d said she was sorry for blinding him.
So instead of consoling her, he raked a hand through his hair, trying to decide what to do. His mind raced through a dozen possibilities, but he finally concluded that he had to do what she’d suggested in the first place. Take her to Sanctuary.
“I’ve changed my mind,” he told her. “We’re going to Sanctuary.”
“No!” she objected. “If I go there, I might hurt your friends, and I’ve already caused enough damage. Besides, you said that no matter what happens, you can’t help me. I’m forever corrupted.”
“I’m not taking you there to help you,” he shot back, flinching when she sucked in another harsh breath. Realizing how cruel he’d sounded, he considered rephrasing the statement, but he knew it wouldn’t take the sting away. “I’m taking you there because the talisman has to be stopped, and I need the support of the coven to fight it. I also have to make sure that you don’t hook up with John Butler. You’re dangerous now, but if you get hold of his circle, you’ll be unstoppable.”
“I’ll be a lean, mean, killing machine, huh?” she said with a harsh laugh. “Maybe I should join the military. I also see a major problem with your plan. What if the talisman doesn’t want me to go to Sanctuary? Won’t it stop us?”
“It won’t stop us,” he said, suddenly understanding why the talisman had only made her blind him rather than kill him. “To achieve full power, all three pieces have to be reunited. If I die, my triangle will automatically return to Sanctuary, so you’ll have to go there to retrieve it. But if I take you there, you’ll be granted automatic entrance onto coven land. Otherwise, you’ll have to go there by yourself. The coven will be waiting for you, and you’ll have a hell of a fight on your hands.”
“There’s a big hole in your theory. Even if I go with you, the coven will be waiting for the talisman, so it will still have to fight them. It seems more logical that I just give you my triangle. Then you can return alone and let me stay behind.”
“Now that it has a firm hold on you, it won’t let you remove the triangle,” he said. “And even if you could remove it, I can’t leave you behind. You’re corrupted. Since the talisman was introduced into mortal society by Seamus Morpeth, we are responsible for your actions, and we have to make sure that you’re controlled.
“But more significant is the talisman’s need to get you onto coven land,” he continued. “That tells me that we either know something or have something that makes it vulnerable, and it wants you on coven land so you can neutralize whatever threatens it. The only way to discover its vulnerability is for me to take you to Sanctuary and let the coven members watch you. Eventually, you’ll lead us to the answer.”
“I see,” she said. “I wonder if this is what a laboratory rat feels like.”
He felt another sympathy pang toward her. “I’m sorry this has happened to you, Sarah. It must seem unfair.”
“That’s nothing new,” she said, another tearful catch in her voice. He heard her rise to her feet as she went on, “Most everything in my life has seemed unfair. So now that we have a plan of action, I guess we’d better get out of here. Do you think you can stand?”
“I’ve lost my eyes, not my legs,” he snapped, though he wasn’t irritated with her but with the situation. He hated the resigned tone of her voice. Worse, he despised himself for not saving her. He knew, however, that now was not the time to dwell on the matter. He needed to get her to Sanctuary. He could wallow in regret once they were there.
He pushed himself to his feet. When he stood, he swayed and would have fallen if Sarah hadn’t suddenly grabbed his arm to steady him. He cursed violently. Without the perspective of sight, he felt disoriented, dizzy. How would he grow accustomed to this unyielding blackness?
“Are you all right?” Sarah asked, concern vibrating in her voice.
“I’m fine,” he muttered. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Okay. We need to stop by the cave so I can get a couple changes of clothes.”
“We’ll get you clothes in Sanctuary,” he said, remembering the meager pile of garments he’d seen in front of the trunk. If that was all she had, it was hardly worth the effort to get them.
“It will only take a minute. Hold onto my arm, and watch your step,” she said, as she led him across the meadow. “I’ll warn you of anything in your way.”
Sebastian scowled at the sudden realization that because he couldn’t see, he was basically helpless and would always have to depend on others.
You are not helpless, he quickly upbraided himself. Blind people all over the world lead self-sufficient lives.
The pep talk didn’t work, because he wanted to lead his life. He wanted to be the troubleshooter.
He had no idea how long it took them to reach the cave, but it seemed like hours. When they got there, Sarah said, “Why don’t you wait here? I’ll grab my things and be right back.”
“Sure,” Sebastian said, though he found the thought of standing here alone intimidating as hell. Pride, however, kept him from telling her that. Besides, he needed to get used to this, he told himself as she released his arm and walked away from him. He’d be like this for the rest of his life.
But it won’t be a very long life, the talisman suddenly whispered in his mind.
SARAH PAUSED inside the cave entrance. The fire had burned down to glowing embers, and she needed a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dark interior.
When she could finally see enough to make out the general details of the walls, she let her gaze travel over them. She didn’t know why she surveyed them. They were really unremarkable, but they had given her a haven for most of her life, and she would miss their familiarity.
Finally, she stepped further into the chamber and said, “Willow?”
The snake instantly rattled, and Sarah turned her head in the direction of the sound and watched her pet slither across the ground toward her. She dropped to her knees, tears flooding her eyes, when the snake reached her. Picking her up, Sarah stroked her head, and then rubbed her face against Willow’s, letting the tears fall when the snake flicked her tongue against her cheek.
“I wish I could take you with me,” she said. “But they don’t allow Prairie rattlers on airplanes, and you’re way too big to stuff into my pocket and sneak aboard. But I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye and telling you t
o take care of yourself.”
Willow rattled softly as she again flicked her tongue against Sarah’s cheek. Sarah barely held back a sob. She’d had Willow on her lap the day Leonard had found her, and the snake was the only true friend she had left in the world.
She wanted to sit and hold Willow for hours, but Sebastian was waiting. Gently, she placed the snake back on the ground. Then she stood and walked to the trunk. Carefully, she folded her clothes into a small bundle and tied them together with the twine for the prayer ties.
Tucking the bundle under her arm, she walked to the cave entrance. She glanced around it one last time, and then looked down at Willow, who’d coiled herself in the spot where Sarah had placed her.
“Goodbye, my friend,” she whispered. “I love you.”
Willow rattled again, and Sarah turned and walked out, knowing she’d never see her pet again. Once Sebastian and his coven did manage to stop the talisman—and she refused to believe that they wouldn’t be able to stop it—she would somehow find the strength to kill herself. It was the only way to make sure that she never harmed anyone again.
Part Two
The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or to evil.
—“Pythagoras,” from Diogenes Laertius,
Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Bk. VIII
Chapter 12
Evil Arrives
Sanctuary, Pennsylvania
LUCIEN MORGRET’S gaze swept over his sleeping wife’s beautiful face. As she did every afternoon, she napped on the daybed positioned between the cribs of their four-month-old twins. While he watched her sleep, he felt an odd mixture of love and anger. Of course, only the love was directed toward Ariel. She was his mate, the very essence of his soul, and he would give his life to protect her and their children.
Touch of Lightning Page 18
