She looked at Sebastian. His body was still wracked with pain, but his expression revealed his love for her. At that moment she knew that if she turned her back on love and sacrificed Sebastian for their son, she would not only lose her own capacity for love, but her child would be born without the ability to love. He wouldn’t even care for her, his own mother, nor she for him. And what was life without love?
Nothing. She’d lived her life starved for love, and there was no way she would condemn her child to that kind of soulless existence. She had to destroy herself and her son to keep them from becoming the talisman’s evil chattel.
Before she could lose her nerve, she clasped her triangle and cried, “Kill me!”
“No!” Sebastian bellowed. “You can’t die! I love you!”
“I love you, too,” she cried as the lightning wreath cocooned her for the last time.
“SARAH! SARAH, answer me!” Sebastian yelled, panicked as he heard the familiar whirring of the lightning wreath. “You can’t die! I won’t let you die! I love you, Sarah! Do you hear me? I love you!”
When she didn’t respond, he lurched to his feet and stumbled forward. He had to get to her. He had to save her. He loved her. He needed her. She couldn’t die. She couldn’t!
He was so frantic that he’d taken several steps before he realized that his sight was back. He stopped walking and shook his head in horror as he stared at the cocoon that had enveloped Sarah. The lightning didn’t whirl around her. It struck her unrelentingly, leaving no doubt in his mind that it would kill her.
“No! I won’t let you kill her!” he yelled at the talisman as a combination of fear and rage surged through him.
Without even thinking, he murmured the words to the most powerful spell he could think of and flicked his hand toward the cocoon. Spell-lightning leaped from his fingers and shot across the small clearing. As it hit the talisman’s lightning, there was an explosion of brilliant light.
Blinking frantically, he ran toward Sarah. He reached her just as the last of the light faded and the cocoon disappeared. He dropped to his knees beside her and let his mind brush against hers. There was nothing, not even a tiny glimmer of life.
WHERE AM I? Sarah wondered as she studied her surroundings. She hovered in a void that was neither dark nor light, but had the shadowy shading of dusk.
Wanága suddenly appeared in front of her in his full battle regalia, “You are in the world between life and death, Sarah. It is here that you will make the final choice. It is time for you to know all.” Before she could respond, he said, “You do not have much time, Sarah, so you must listen to my story without interruption. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” she said.
He nodded. “I am your ancestor—a Thunderbeing. This name was given to us because of our control of the lightning. When I lived, we felt as if we were gods, and we often made choices of life and death that only the gods should make.
“Our people lived beside the waters that you call the ocean. One day a big ship of wasičuns came to us across the water. With them was a wicáhmunga known as Aodan Morpeth.”
“Morpeth?” Sarah gasped involuntarily, despite Wanága’s instructions to remain silent.
“Yes, he was Seamus Morpeth’s ancestor,” Wanága confirmed. “We feared Aodan, because he had greater magic than we did. The braves of our tribe met to see how we should deal with him. Many wanted to kill him, but I felt we should try to steal his magic so that we would be more powerful.”
He stopped speaking and shook his head wearily.
“I befriended Aodan, and I learned that his people were not allowed to kill, even to defend themselves. I told him that we had to kill, because many tribes were jealous of us and wanted to destroy us. Aodan said it was still wrong for us to kill people less powerful than us. We argued about this often. One day Aodan suggested we combine our magics and create a talisman that would protect the Thunderbeings from harm so we would not have to kill.
“I agreed to do this,” Wanága went on, “but I did not want a protective talisman. I wanted to make one that would steal Aodan’s power and give it to us. When we made the talisman, I deceived him, and then I took the talisman and used it to destroy our greatest enemies.”
He stopped and shook his head again. “What I did not know was that by using the talisman for death, I made the magics fight each other. It changed the talisman from good to evil, and instead of protecting my people, it made me destroy them. When Aodan found out what happened, he came to me. By then there was only a handful of my people left. When Aodan made me see what I had done, I was horrified, but the talisman had gained so much power, it could not be stopped. Aodan tried to reverse the magic, but it was the Thunderbeing’s magic trapped within the talisman and he could not release it. He said that the only way he could stop it was to take it back to his world. I gave him the talisman and he left with it. Then I killed myself for punishment of what I had done.
“But I was not allowed to move on to the spirit world. I thought it was because of the curse I placed on my people. Only when you were born was it revealed that I could not rest because the talisman was back and you were the last of the Thunderbeings. Through you, it would unleash our magic and destroy the world. That’s why I came to destroy you.”
“So why didn’t you destroy me?” Sarah asked, confused.
“I could not bear to see our people no longer exist because of what I had done, and as long as your mother, who was also a Thunderbeing, lived, you were not the last. But when you were five years old your parents were killed, and I knew I had to act. But I still could not bring myself to kill you, so I brought you to Leonard. He had a piece of the talisman and he had not been made evil by it. I hoped that Leonard could teach you how he did this so that I would not have to destroy you.”
“Then my mother didn’t abandon me?” Sarah gasped.
“No, Sarah. That was the talisman’s way of hurting you to make you turn to it. Your mother loved you as deeply as any mother can love her child.
“But our time here is almost out, and it is time for you to make your final choice. Both John Butler and the wicáhmunga live, and by your refusal to kill for the talisman, you have destroyed it. Its evil will no longer torment you, but you carry the wicáhmunga’s child. This child will have both the wicáhmunga’s magic and the magic of the Thunderbeings. He is the beginning of a new race—the most powerful race that has ever lived.
“If he is born, his destiny will be a tormented one. Because of his extraordinary powers, he will constantly be faced with the choice between good and evil. If he chooses the path of good, he will bring great change to mankind. If he chooses the path of evil, he will destroy the world. The choice you must make is whether to let him live, which means you will also live, or let him die, and you will also die.”
“Why are you giving me this choice?” Sarah asked in bewilderment.
“It is not I who gives it to you, Sarah. It is the great spirits of the universe. You chose the right path and redeemed yourself when your destiny dictated that you fail. You did this because the love you share with the wicáhmunga is so strong and pure, it gave you the strength to make the right choices. Now you must decide whether you want to give this same choice to your son.”
“But if I make the wrong choice about him . . .”
“I’m sorry, Sarah. Your time is gone. You must make the choice now.”
Sarah stared at him in bewilderment. She wanted to live, and she wanted her son to live. But knowing the adversity his future held, would it be fair to give him life?
Suddenly, Sebastian’s voice echoed in her mind, I love you, Sarah. Please come back to me!
Tears filled her eyes at the heart-wrenching pain in his voice. It also wiped out her doubts. Sebastian loved her, and she loved him. At that moment, she knew that together they could save their son.<
br />
“I choose to live,” she told Wanága.
“I’m glad,” he said. “Now it is time for me to go. I can finally rest in peace.”
Before she could tell him goodbye, Wanága disappeared. She wanted to call out to him, to beg him not to leave her. He was her friend and her mentor. How could she survive without him?
As the question tormented her, she felt Sebastian hug her close and say, “You’re alive! Sarah, open your eyes. Please, open your eyes and tell me you’re all right!”
Sarah opened her eyes and gazed up into his beloved face and knew that she no longer needed Wanága. She had Sebastian.
“I love you, Sebastian,” she whispered.
“I love you, too,” he said hoarsely and lowered his lips to hers.
When he raised his head, she said, “I’m sorry for everything I did to hurt you.”
“Sarah, there is no reason for you to be sorry, and no pain you subjected me to could hurt more than the thought of losing you. Somehow I’ll find a way to free you from the evil the talisman implanted in you so we can be together for the rest of our lives.” Tears welled into her eyes and she reached up and touched his face. He thought she still suffered from the effects of the talisman, but he loved her anyway.
“Wanága says that by defeating the talisman, I freed myself from its evil,” she said. “Of course, your people will want more than my word as proof, and I’ll do whatever they ask as long as I have you by my side.”
“You couldn’t get rid of me if you wanted to,” Sebastian rasped. “You’re bound to me forever.”
As he again lowered his lips to her, Sarah knew that her final choice had been the right one.
Epilogue
ASSURED SEBASTIAN slept soundly, Sarah slipped stealthily from the bed and headed for the nursery. She knew Sebastian would scold her for being over-protective of their three-month-old son, Gabriel, but she couldn’t help herself. When she stepped into the nursery, Willow, who lay on the floor beside the crib, raised her head and rattled softly.
“Hello, Willow,” Sarah whispered as she walked to the snake, picked it up, and brought it close to her face. “I see you’re still on guard duty.”
Willow flicked her tongue against Sarah’s cheek, and Sarah laughed softly.
She started and spun toward the door as Sebastian grumbled, “I still can’t believe I let you bring that damn snake to Sanctuary.”
“As I remember, when we went to get my possessions, you were the one who said I should bring her with me. You said a Thunderbeing should never be separated from her familiar,” Sarah pointed out, still finding it strange to refer to herself as a Thunderbeing and not a Lakota. She’d done extensive research, trying to find out more about her race, but there was no record of her people. She wondered what exactly she was. Since her powers involved lightning and the coven’s powers involved spell-lightning, Oran Morovang, the Narrator, felt she might be a primitive form of their race. Unfortunately, only Wanága could have confirmed that theory, and he was gone.
“Yeah, well, it just goes to show that even the troubleshooter has lapses of good judgment when he’s in love,” Sebastian said, breaking into her musing. “What are you doing in here? I didn’t hear Gabriel cry.”
“He didn’t,” she said, lowering Willow back to the floor and then turning to stare down at her son. “I just wanted to check on him.”
Sebastian walked to her. When he wrapped his arms around her, she leaned back against his chest. As she continued to regard their son, she found it hard to believe that a year had passed since she had defeated the talisman. Thankfully, none of its evil had harmed the coven. Lucien Morgret’s disorientation had cleared the moment the talisman was destroyed. The protective barrier surrounding Sanctuary was repaired shortly thereafter. The talisman’s pieces now rested in the repository, although there was no need for them to be guarded. The coven had tested them and concluded that the pieces no longer had any magical properties.
“Gabriel’s okay, Sarah,” Sebastian murmured against her hair. “You need to stop worrying about him,”
“I can’t stop worrying,” she said with a heavy sigh. “You know what Wanága said about him. He’s going to be constantly tested with choices between good and evil.”
“Sarah, he’s just a baby. Right now the only choices he’s faced with are whether he wants to eat or sleep. And when the time comes for him to face the other choices, we’ll make sure he makes the right ones.”
“You make it sound as if it’s going to be easy, and we both know it isn’t.”
“He’s your son. He’ll rise above the adversity, just as you did.”
“Speaking of adversity, I visited John Butler today,” she said, angling her head so she could look up at Sebastian. “Are you sure he needs to be confined in that cabin in the woods? His mind is gone, and he’s no more than a child. It seems cruel to keep him isolated.”
“Sarah, you have to stop feeling guilty about him,” Sebastian chided. “Butler didn’t lose his mind because of you. He lost it because when the talisman released him from its hold, he couldn’t live with what he’d done while under its influence.”
“I know, but it’s been a year, and he hasn’t done one evil thing. Can’t he be allowed some freedom?”
“He killed two people, Sarah. If we turned him in to the mortal authorities, he’d be caged in a mental institution for the rest of his life. At least here, he has room to move around, and he gets fresh air and sunshine. And he isn’t alone. People visit him all the time, including yourself. As time passes, we may give him more freedom. But before we ever consider that, we have to know beyond any doubt that he no longer has the capacity for evil. Now come back to bed.”
“Let me kiss Gabriel first,” she said, easing away from him. Leaning over the crib, she adjusted Gabriel’s blanket and tucked his favorite teddy bear close to him. Then she kissed his cheek, murmuring, “I love you, baby.”
He stirred, and Sebastian wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her away from the crib. “Let’s get out of here before we wake him up. He’ll demand that we play with him, and I’d like for us to have a little adult play time.”
“Why, Sebastian, are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” she said, smiling up at him.
“You bet,” he growled, dropping a quick, hard kiss to her lips.
She laughed softly and let him lead her out of the baby’s room. As they walked down the hall, she thought she heard Gabriel and almost turned back. But when he didn’t cry, she decided she was being overprotective.
Little did she know that by not going back, she missed her son’s first display of magic. Willow was the only witness when Gabriel levitated his teddy bear above his head.
The End
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