by C. L. Quinn
He just wanted her safe and away from however things happened here. “You promised. I don’t know how long I can keep them like this.”
Decision made, she turned and ran full out, climbed into the lift-car, and he heard the engine start, saw her lean out, and then head straight up.
“Thank the gods,” he whispered. “You guys need to trust me that I cannot go up into a plane without bringing it right back down. I’m going to try to disable it.”
Still unmoving, the three who’d abducted them left behind on the grass, Will started toward the plane.
He heard the report of the bullet only a split second before it slammed into him and he went down.
Instantly, he was able to move again. Locktite twisted his head back and forth, lifted his fingers and wiggled them as he raised a leg and lowered it. Motherfuck!
He watched as Duke and Sid started to move again as well. His eyes went to Will’s still body lying in the grass several feet from Duke.
“What the hell are you?” he snapped. Surging forward, he kicked Will in the side using all his strength.
Shit! Villioth wanted him unhurt or at least functional.
A few moments later, staring down at his target, bleeding from the side because his pilot had shot him, and because he’d kicked the fuck out of him, he kicked him again, and then waved to Duke.
“Get him in the plane and see what you can do about his wounds. Tie him up again, and this time, cover his eyes, and tranquilize him heavily. Haven’t ever had complications like this one.”
Duke hoisted Will’s body up, but needed help from Sid to get him into the plane.
“Get us up,” Locktite barked and dropped into a wide seat with a glass of Villioth’s expensive wine. He admitted that he didn’t really get the difference between a 30 dollar bottle of wine and a 300 dollar bottle, but if someone gave him the 300 dollar bottle of wine, yeah, he’d fuckin’ kill it.
Sighing with relief that they were finally on their way, he wondered how bad it was gonna be when he showed up in Vegas with just one human who might be able to tell him about his strange vampire?
Ready for go, the pilot, aware that the runway was short, calculated that this hyperjet would have no trouble with the minimal distance, headed down the cracked pavement, gathering speed. When it hit the airspeed required for takeoff, he enjoyed the gorgeous roar of the jet engine as it brought this beautiful bird into the sky and started a fast, steep climb. Banking to the right, he keyed into the flight system all the particulars of the flight, destination, cruising altitude, and turned it over to the highly efficient AI. Sitting back, he scanned the horizon as the plane rose, higher, higher, into the blue.
Some distance away, Dani, in the stolen lift-car, sick at her stomach, ran the car full-out to get back to Ife’s and bring help before Will was hurt or worse. The car was stripped down and didn’t have a proper GPS or coms system.
“Probably stolen, the assholes,” she mumbled as she watched the landscape to make sure she didn’t lose direction. Scanning below, Dani assessed the location of Dez’s compound to be closer than Ife’s and that was the wiser choice. Searching for landmarks, she jumped when a sudden fireball erupted to her left, lighting up the sky, the percussion reaching her from even this distance.
Seconds passed as the implication hit, and even then, somewhere in the back of her mind, she refused to believe it.
No, no, no, no, no…
Heat and moisture filled in behind her eyes as she faced what she knew must be the truth…they’d overtaken Will somehow and put him on that plane. What she’d witnessed just now was the horrific collision of the jet with the hard earth as it stretched its arms to pull its chosen son back to its bosom. If the crash was as bad as it looked, no one aboard would have survived.
Their attempt to rescue themselves had failed, and Will was wrong.
“You were wrong, you were wrong, you were wrong…”
She couldn’t stop whispering it to herself as she tried to remember where she was going.
You were wrong, Will, you’re not okay.
Eight
Corri opened the door to Olivia’s bedroom suite, sliding up the lights just enough to create a pale rose hue over everything. It was meant to be soothing and pleasant to her as she woke to begin her night.
Olivia liked things nice.
Swiping moisture from her eyes, she sat on the side of Olivia’s bed and reached across the wide expanse to shake her gently.
“Liv? Liv, you have to wake up.” A few seconds later, a heartier shake, and a louder voice. “Olivia.”
“Ummm….”
Olivia rolled over, cracked her eyelids, glanced to her side to see Corri, and smiled. “Hey, friendly face. Damn, how much did we drink last night? You’re getting really good at designing alcohol that’s effective for vampires. I think I have a hangover.”
“Olivia, you need to sit up.”
Crawling upright, Olivia pushed two of her fat pillows up behind her and leaned into them. “So stern. What’s the deal? Oh, by the way, are you going to hold me to that promise to get dogs?”
“I need to tell you something, and this isn’t easy.”
Somber now, Olivia felt her skin cool. “What is it?”
“Something happened in Brazil today. Liv, there’s no easy way to tell you this, but…” Corri drew a deep breath.
“Will was killed today.”
Olivia just stared at Corri, unsure of what to say. She couldn’t have heard what she thought she heard; it wasn’t possible.
Trying to process the words didn’t seem to help either.
Will was killed today.
Finally she was able to respond. “No, he wasn’t. Will and I have such a close connection, if something had happened to him, I would have known. Even in my sleep, his spirit would have come to me.”
A sudden memory came to her, a dream, in her sleep, lying with Will in a sun-filled meadow. But that was just a lovely dream, that’s all.
Corri took Olivia’s hand and intertwined their fingers.
“It’s true, Liv, I’m sorry. They found him. He died in a plane crash.”
Olivia shot up, balancing on the soft mattress, laughing, her hair flying around her head. “See, that proves it. Will would never get into a plane. Never! It’s some kind of bizarre mistake.”
“Brigitte is on her way here to see you. She’s hurting, and she knows you’ll be too. Livie, why don’t you come out into the galley and I’ll make you a hot tea?”
A black cloud descended over Olivia’s spirit as suddenly she realized, had to admit, had to understand, to accept, that Corri would never say something so horrible to her if it wasn’t true. If she didn’t know it was true. And Brigitte? She wouldn’t come here if something hadn’t happened to make her come.
Collapsing on the bed, her legs out to her side, her hands in her lap, her heart breaking, Olivia lifted wet eyes to Corri. “Tell me.”
Forty minutes later, Corri finally convinced Olivia to come from her bedroom into the living space. She set a hot tea filled with honey and whisky in front of Olivia, who sat stone-still on the sofa and looked at the mug in front of her. They waited for Brigitte to arrive, but Olivia had already told Corri to prepare her jet and put her pilot on standby.
“I have to see him.”
“It isn’t…”
“It doesn’t matter. You don’t know this yet, Corri, you haven’t been alive long enough, but when you’ve been around for centuries, when awful things happen to rip you apart, the only way to make peace with it, to try somehow to go on, is to face whatever it is and find a way to accept that nothing you say, nothing you do, no prayers, no deals, no begging, is going to change the truth. I have to see him to accept that he’s gone.”
Hands shaking, Olivia lifted the mug and tried unsuccessfully to take a sip. She held it in her hands for a while until she could hold it steadily. “I have to say goodbye.”
“Oh, Liv, my darling, I understand. Can I go with you?
”
The mug began to tremble again, and Corri lifted it to place it back on the table.
“I wish you would,” Olivia finally was able to answer.
“Do you want to lie back down until Brigitte gets here?”
“I want to go out onto the balcony.”
“That’s a good idea. It’s a lovely warm night and the breeze is perfect.”
“It’ll never be a perfect night again.”
“Oh, sweetheart…”
Corri wrapped her arms around Olivia and they stood there in the center of the room, weeping into each other, Olivia crying for Will, Corri crying for both of them.
She’d heard Vaz’s pain after losing the first love of his life, and now, to watch her dearest friend facing an even more tragic loss, because they hadn’t even had a chance to really find each other in all this mess of a life.
When the door chimed, she softly accepted the visitor, and looked up to see a stunning woman approach, tears welling up immediately when she saw Olivia, and knew it had to be Brigitte.
“Hi,” the woman said softly, and turned to Olivia.
“He’s gone,” she whispered, and the two women dropped to the floor, embracing, weeping openly, as Corri stepped back and wondered how anyone ever survived something like this.
At Ife’s compound the following night
Olivia sat expressionless as the discussion continued. Brigitte hadn’t moved far from her side since they had lost it in Olivia’s apartment, and flown back to confront one of the worst moments of their lives…putting Will’s body to rest for the final time. She’d been sitting here in Ife’s lounge for less than an hour and she couldn’t take another minute.
When they told her how he’d come to be in the plane, that someone had tried to abduct him and Dani, she’d walked out of the building and dropped against the earth to ask how the planet could let him die over some piece of shit that was stalking her. She knew it was the person or persons who sought information about her, and now, no matter how long it took, no matter what the sacrifice, she would find the ones responsible, and they would die.
Now, all that remained, all she could do for him, was to give him a proper burial.
Brigitte would accompany her shortly to the little spirit room at the back of the building to see him.
She’d been warned. He had been burned over thirty percent of his body, but otherwise, he barely looked injured by the impact and fire. Brigitte had said it was the magics and Olivia knew it was so.
Still, the moment was near when she would hold him one last time.
“We could bury him in the new flower fields,” Ife suggested.
“No.”
Everyone looked up at Olivia. “In the cave. We have to lay him to rest in the cave. There’s nowhere else Will should be than at the heart of his spirit, where his magics were born. We have to give him back to the earth.”
“She’s right,” Brigitte agreed. “We have to take him to the new cave and let him return to the Mother Earth.”
“You’re right, of course. Olivia, once you say goodbye, we’ll do a procession and take Will home.”
Olivia couldn’t have spoken for anything at that moment. She just nodded and stood when Brigitte motioned for her to do so.
“Come, let’s go see him.”
As they passed Dani, Olivia saw her drop her head and look away.
Stopping, she lifted Dani’s head and looked into her eyes. Olivia kissed her cheeks, one, then the other, her lips, her nose, and each eyelid. “Will saved you, don’t throw away his gift. He’s a beautiful man, we’ll remember him with joy and love. Dani, don’t grieve too long and don’t carry the burden of blame. There is none for you.”
“But…”
“Will adored you, I know that. Adore him back by embracing the life he protected for you.”
Dani held onto Olivia’s hand until she continued behind Brigitte down a long hallway, past the dining room and a gaming room, through a music room, and finally into a room separated by a white iron door. Intricate lacework detail covered the door in pale blues, reminiscent of clouds moving through a blue sky.
Brigitte paused with her hand on the old-fashioned door handle. “Are you ready?”
Again, no words would come, so Olivia nodded and followed her into a candlelight filled room. Near the back of the room, on a satin covered bench, lay a dark form. Olivia stopped. It couldn’t be Will, it just couldn’t. She shook her head.
“I’m not sure I can.”
“You can. I’m going to leave now and let you do this in your own time, in your own way. Olivia, he’ll wait until you’re ready.”
The door closed behind Brigitte, leaving Olivia standing where she’d stopped, unable to go forward or back. Fluttering in her belly overwhelmed her suddenly, and she put her hands to it, amazed that calmness replaced the pain and she stepped forward.
Closer, closer, until she stood in front of Will, and yes, it was him, and yes, he was gone.
He looked like he was sleeping, at peace, like he could open his eyes and smile at her. That face that she’d never forgotten after that first night, that she never would, looked untouched, and for him to go through what he had, it was a miracle. Someone had dressed him in a long white robe, which seemed right, aware that it probably hid the damage from the fire.
She slid down to lean against the bench and touched his cool lips with a fingertip.
“Will, what am I going to do with you? I leave and look what happens.” It amazed her that she could smile, but seeing him, knowing it would be the last moment with him, was all that she would ever get again. “I’ll miss you forever, my beautiful man. My mate. You are my first and only love. I had such plans for us, but…”
Her voice cracked and faded, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him. How was she going to face the rest of her life without this man who she was convinced had been her destiny?
When she could speak again, her volume was low but she knew he could hear her. “I waited for you for centuries, Biker. How dare you leave so soon? You’re Shoazan, you’re supposed to be invincible. I guess that’s only if you’re pregnant. You aren’t are you?”
He didn’t answer her pained smile. “Seriously, what am I going to do without you?” she repeated.
Olivia stayed with him for a long time until the door opened and Brigitte spoke.
“Liv, stay as long as you need, but when you’re ready, we’re going to take him to the cave and have a small service there.”
Waiting for a few seconds for a response, Brigitte realized that Olivia couldn’t answer, and quietly closed the door.
Her hand on her belly again, as it pitched and rolled, as movement inside felt odd and yet comforting at the same time, Olivia stayed another period of time, how much she did not know, then finally stood. Kissing his lips, her fingers scored Will’s face, along the cheekline, the strong chin, across closed eyes, she kissed a trail and ended once more on his lips for a final kiss.
“Until we meet again beyond the veil, past all these earthly concerns, I hope you find joy in the spirit world. Never forget that I wait to join you. I love you, Biker.”
Sorrow broke her as she walked from the little room out into the brighter light of the corridor, where, thankfully, she was alone and dropped down against the wall to weep uncontrollably, both hands now on her belly again. Why did that give her such comfort? How could anything?
When it felt like there were no other tears left, she pushed up shakily, and, one last glance toward the door, she walked back to the lounge, nodded to Ife and Brigitte, who waited, and continued to the room they’d assigned to her so that she could splash cold water on her face before they left to take Will to his grave.
“Livie.”
Olivia whirled and hurried into Dez’s arms, grateful to collapse against her, more grateful yet when Zach’s arms went around both of them. They stood together, wrapped in warmth and family until Brigitte’s voice interrupted.
“We’ve taken hi
m to the cart. Whenever you guys are ready.”
Twenty minutes later, a group of Will’s closet friends followed a cart carrying Will’s body covered with local flowers, only his face exposed, as the small procession made its way to the cavern of crystals. Lowering him down on a rope pulley designed by Torin, Will was going home forever.
Stepping back into the hole in the earth where she and Will had made love for the first and last time, Olivia nearly lost it again until, from the pit of her spirit, memories invaded; warmth and joy infused her mind and heart. This was not a place for sorrow. Reaching for Brigitte, the two led the group toward a deep hole dug into the corner of the space beneath a wall densely packed with diamond-like crystals. His grave.
“He should be here, he would like this,” Brigitte mused.
“No he wouldn’t.” Olivia closed her eyes as Torin and Scottie lowered Will’s body into the grave with only the white robe and a shroud of the same material wrapped around his face, so that the dirt wouldn’t intrude on those features they loved.
Tears slipped without notice down cheeks, voices cracked, stories told, and it was time.
Torin looked up into Olivia’s eyes, his nearly as wet.
“I know you were in love with him. It’s okay.”
None of that mattered to her anymore, the messed up sexual alliances that were never going to last, the memories sweet, but only that, sweet moments to fade away with the setting sun. What she had with Will had been solid, perfect, and would have spanned millennia.
Brigitte touched her hand and she nodded. None of this was Torin’s fault. He just got caught up in her wake.
Reaching for him, she slid a hand into his to let him know that he was right, everything was okay.
Words were spoken, goodbyes said, final kisses bestowed, and as easily as that, or as hard as that, Will was placed in the ground, covered, a sprinkle of the crystals scattered over the spot from each who attended, and it was done.
