Redemption, Book III of the Arotas Trilogy Page 20

  He fights to pin her there, desperate to keep her from doing any more damage to herself or him. “Listen to me. I’m here to help you!”

  Roseline swipes her claws across his face, drawing blood. As his scent fills the air, Rose thrashes into a frenzy. Her snarls rise to deafening proportions as she bucks against him, desperate to be free.

  Her teeth gnash beside his ear. He reaches back over his shoulder and slams her head back into the wall, stunning her just long enough for him to reposition. “I’m so sorry,” he grunts.

  He whips around and latches his hands onto her arms, pressing his knee into her waist to keep her pinned against the wall. “I want to help you~”

  “You can’t,” she hisses. “It’s too late.”

  “Never.” His grip tightens against her struggles as he desperately tries to figure out a plan. He can’t let her go but he can’t keep her here. Fane doesn’t know what to do with her and if the hunters ever find out just how bad she is, they will want her put down like a rabid dog. He can’t let that happen.

  You will face three trials, Gabriel. Elias’ earlier words spoken during their flight to Canada slip through his mind. The first was self-denial. You chose to leave Roseline behind and fulfill your destiny. The second is the sacrifice of flesh. Your journey to Eden to retrieve the Taral fire sword fulfilled this task. The third will be your hardest challenge of all. Redemption.

  At the time, Gabriel didn’t have a clue what Elias had meant, but now, staring into the glowing red irises of Roseline’s eyes, he understands.

  Roseline bucks wildly against Gabriel’s grip in the pitch dark. His fingers dig into her forearms as she snarls and spits in his face, wild like a rabid animal. He takes a deep breath, praying for some sign of the girl he fell in love with only a few short weeks ago, but he can’t find a single one. His heart aches with the realization that Roseline is gone.

  “I promise I’m going to save you.” He lowers his head and brings one arm up to meet his lips. Roseline’s fingers curl into claws, swiping blindly at him as he sinks his teeth deep into the flesh of his wrist. His nostrils flare as the potent scent of his blood rises around him.

  Roseline falls eerily still.

  The sound of his blood pattering against the icy floor sounds distant as he offers her his wounded arm. Strong hands latch around his bicep, nearly yanking his arm from its socket.

  He can feel hear her licking her lips in the dark as she is consumed by need.

  “My life blood for yours,” he whispers as her teeth bury deep into his flesh.

  ***

  Fane paces atop the ridge, eyeing the angel at his side with a mixture of emotions. Suspicion is the obvious first choice. Although he hasn’t sensed any reason to fear the giant, he hasn’t felt at home around the guy either. The second emotion is awe.

  The angel stands nearly a foot over Fane’s head, and with his wings fully expanded, he is an awesome sight. Fane crosses his arms over his chest, only to let them fall free to hang by his side again. “He’s been in there a long time.”

  Elias nods in silent agreement. Fane kicks at the base of a tree, feeling only a sight sense of satisfaction when the heavy boughs dump their load of snow.

  “Do you think we should go check on him?”

  The angel shakes his head.

  Fane frowns. “I think I’m starting to see why the kid gets annoyed with you.”

  Elias laughs. “It does happen from time to time.”

  “Ah, he can talk!” Fane tilts his chin to look up at his companion. “May I speak frankly?”

  “You may.”

  Fane leans his back against one of the towering pines, letting the bark sink deep against his back. “I think you know more than you’re letting on.”

  “Perhaps.” The angel dips his head in agreement. “But the same could be said for you.”

  Fane’s heavy sigh brings a smile to Elias’ lips. “You don’t like Gabriel much, do you?”

  “I have nothing against him,” Fane says.

  “A very vague response for a very exact answer.”

  “Meaning?” Fane presses.

  Elias points toward the building ahead of them. It lies deep in the shadow of night. “It burns you that you aren’t the one in there with her.”

  “So?”

  “It is not your place, Fane. It never has been.”

  The angel’s words don’t sit well with him. Fane has never been a big believer in fate or destiny. He likes to think things happen for a reason but that he still has control over what he chooses when he is presented with two options. Roseline was the best thing that ever happened to him. Even though he knows their time together is over, he can’t help but wish for those times back.

  Elias rustles his feathers as he tucks them against his back. They continue to glow but the light in the small clearing is greatly diminished. “I know this is not easy for you. Your love for Roseline is a evident, but eventually all things pass. Are you willing to step aside and let Gabriel fulfill his destiny, even if that means hurting Roseline?”

  Fane’s jaw clenches tightly enough to pop his jaw. His fingernails carve into the sensitive flesh of his palms. “What do you mean ‘hurt Roseline’?”

  Elias turns to stare into the dark. Fane can’t help but wonder if the angel is somehow able to pierce through the steel and ice to be able to see what is happening within the confines of that small building. “Sometimes pain isn’t a bad thing.”

  As Fane mulls over his words, Elias lowers himself to the ground, shifting until his legs are crossed and sinks into a meditative pose. “I didn’t think angels were into all of that stuff,” Fane mutters.

  “We aren’t, but I have a feeling we may be here a while.”

  Twenty-Two

  The pain in Gabriel’s head is debilitating as he struggles to rise on his feet. His knees threaten to give out on him as he grasps onto the edge of the table and pulls himself upright.

  The darkness is confining. He can hear Roseline’s steady breathing but nothing else. He can’t even be sure if she’s fallen asleep or finally passed out. All he knows is that she’s not moving.

  Wincing at the stinging pain from the gash in his wrist, Gabriel wills his legs to hold firm as he rises to his full height. It takes far more effort than it should. His head swims, threatening to tumble him back to the ground.

  Everything hurts.

  A fire has begun along his skin, slowly burning deep to his bones. Gabriel stumbles forward, arms outstretched before him as he searches for the wall. He has lost all sense of direction, unable to tell if he is heading toward the door or away.

  His fingertips crumple against the rigidity of the ice wall when he reaches the far wall. Sweat beads on his brow, slowly sliding down from his hairline into his eyes.

  “Fane!” His cry sounds croaky as it fades off into rasping coughs. He pounds his fists against the wall of ice, ignoring each stab of pain.

  He is desperate to escape so he can find help for Roseline. In the dark he can’t tell if she is healing, but at least her screams have ceased. That was the worst part. Worse than feeling her drain the life from him or the searing pain that followed when their blood mingled.

  Gabriel can feel the poison that turned her into this mindless monster. It is a part of him now.

  Will I become a thing too? This thought makes his breath catch, but he quickly stuffs it back down. It doesn’t matter. Saving Roseline is all he cares about. If that means he will suffer her fate, then so be it.

  “Fane!” His voice is hoarse, but slightly stronger than before. He opens his clenched fists and slaps his palms against the wall. The cold stings his hands, but he doesn’t care. He fears he will go insane if he is trapped much longer.

  He kicks and beats against the ice until he is panting with effort. Sweat slips down his neck and into the collar of his shirt. He turns and leans his back against the wall, too worn out to yell anymore. Sliding down the ice, he decides that he is finally being punished for leav
ing Roseline.

  When he closes his eyes, he feels exhaustion setting in. His limbs feel heavy and his chest squeezed. Is this how Roseline felt?

  A faint scraping sound catches his attention. He lifts his head and turns his ear to the wall. He is sure he heard something.

  “Hello?”

  The sound comes again, faint but definitely there. Gabriel pushes up on his hands and knees and rises just as a sliver of light spills in through a crack in the wall. He can hear deep voices on the other side.

  “Help us,” Gabriel croaks as he falls to his knees. The light is intense when the door opens wide, and he raises his hand to shield his eyes. He sways in place, sure that he’s about to face plant when strong hands grasp his arms and pull him to his feet.

  “You are safe, young one.”

  “Elias,” Gabriel mutters as he closes his eyes. The warmth of the angel’s skin is nearly unbearable, but he clings to the giant, desperate to be free of this room. “Rose…”

  “I’ll take her,” he hears Fane say as he brushes past. His gasp follows almost immediately. Gabriel feels rather than sees Fane turn to stare at him. “What did you do?”

  Gabriel clutches his stomach as a series of coughs wrack his weakened frame. “What I must.”

  ***

  San Francisco is a bustling place. With its red trolley cars and colorful row houses, it reminds Lucien of a circus. His travels across America went far smoother than he would have imagined. In Romania he is feared, in Europe he is avoided but in America, he seems to be a bit of a novelty.

  Despite the humans blindness to his true nature, they seem attracted to his eccentric style of dress and speech. The woman at the train station nearly fell over herself when he approached the window. His slow smile broadened when she leaned forward and unconsciously bared her neck to him. She tasted delicious.

  Americans are a curious breed. Perhaps they are not as bad as he originally thought.

  Standing just short of the lapping water, Lucien stares up at the Golden Gate Bridge. Each steel cable is illuminated against the dark sky, making him think of cages and chains. He smiles and lets his gaze drift lower.

  The steady stream of traffic has died down greatly since the evening rush hour passed several hours ago. The party crowd came and went, leaving only those poor souls forced into working the night shift at the docks below.

  Lucien folds his arms over his chest, looking beyond the support beams to the ropes dangling down. There are fifteen of them in total, each weighted with a local or tourist he found walking the streets earlier in the evening. Killing them had been fun, but the tricky part was tying them up with no one seeing him. It’s a good thing he’s an expert of hiding in the shadows.

  Tomorrow morning, the world will know he has been here, and Fane won’t be able to ignore him any longer. Time is running out for Roseline, and he wants to be there when she turns.

  ***

  Everything smells wrong. Roseline scrunches up her nose as she opens her eyes. She instantly squints at the brightness of the room. The walls are white and shiny but in a very unusual way. She steels herself to take another look, this time keeping her eyes narrowed.

  Rolling her head to the side, she realizes why the texture of the walls seems so foreign to her. It’s made of large blocks of ice, almost like an igloo, but square instead of domed. No human could walk across such a surface without ending up on their face or backside.

  Four lanterns illuminate the corners of the room, their handles dangling from metal hooks drilled into the ceiling.

  She stiffens at the sound of footsteps just beyond her room. No voices or other sounds reach her. It is disturbing to be locked into such a confined space with no memory of how she got there. “Hello?”

  Who is beyond this room? Did Malachi move her when she was unconscious? She frowns, struggling to remember. Her memories are a wash, blurred and irretrievable. “Is anyone out there?”

  Footsteps rush toward the door from different directions, but they pause just on the other side of the door. She can hear a muffled argument now and strains to hear the words. Human shadows appear on the other side of the door but are too distorted to reveal their identity.

  One of the shadows apparently wins the argument and a shoulder slams against the wall of ice, revealing a thick door, a seamless entry and exit point that only the designers of the building would know about. Although it looks vaguely familiar to her, she can’t focus on that right now.

  Roseline holds her breath, curling her fingers tightly around the edge of the table she lies upon as the door opens. Her mouth drops open in shock as she catches her first glimpse of Gabriel’s beautiful smile. She flies off the table and throws herself into his waiting arms.

  “You came for me,” she cries into his ear, breathing his familiar scent deeply. She closes her eyes, praying that she never wakes from whatever dream this is. “I knew you would.”

  Strong arms curl around her back, holding her aloft. Her toes stretch down toward the floor, rubbing the tops of his feet. A small grunt alerts her to his distress and she releases him, sinking back to the floor.

  “Are you really here?” she asks, grasping his arms, feeling the raw strength of his muscles.

  “I am,” he grins, pulling her back into his arms. As she nestles into his neck, she vows to never let him go again.

  “What took you so long?”

  He laughs and places a kiss on her temple. “You know me. Saving the world, one damsel at a time.”

  Roseline clings to him as tears stream down her cheeks. “I missed you so much.”

  Her words choke off as he pulls back, his gaze gentle and filled with warmth as he smiles down at her. “Not as much as I’ve missed you. Wait until you meet Elias. He’ll tell you what a pain I’ve been.”

  “What happened to me? How are you here? Where is Malachi?”

  He brushes strands of hair back from her forehead. “You’ve been through a lot the past week.”

  “Past week?” She frowns, trying once again to sift through her failing memories. “Where am I?”

  “Canada.”

  Her breath hisses past her teeth. “The Senthe base?”

  Gabriel’s eyes brighten with surprise. “You know about it?”

  “Of course.” She swings her legs down to sit on the edge of the table. “I helped design it with Fane. Well, the idea of it at least. I was never allowed to see the actual construction.”

  “Why not?” Gabriel shifts to lean against the wall. Even though he tries to hide it, she can tell he is tired. The skin beneath his eyes betrays the slightest hint of purple, and his steps seem slightly labored.

  “I was married to the enemy. I’d be the last person they would tell.” She watches him closely, still unsure if he is really here. “Something is wrong.”

  Gabriel blinks. She can’t tell if he’s shocked by the change in topic or her tone. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not telling me something. I feel good. Better than good. That shouldn’t be possible. And you,” she pokes her finger toward him. “You look like you’re hung over. What happened?”

  He shifts, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. She can’t help but see the boy she first met in the hallway of Rosewood Prep not so long ago. He has changed so much, and yet in some ways, not at all.

  “You won’t be sick again. Elias says the poison is gone.”

  “Gone?” The word comes out in a whisper, mingled with awe and confusion. The fact that she has no clue who this Elias is pales in comparison to the reality that she feels healthy. “How?”

  Gabriel shoots her a lopsided grin. “I’ve got skills.”

  “No!” Her fingers dig into his forearms as she stares at the fine lines around his eyes. “What did you do?”

  Reaching out his hand, he gently runs his hands through her hair, pausing to cup her cheek in his hands. “I saved you, just like I was always supposed to do.”

  “But the poison! It’ll kill you!�
� She clings to him, terrified of what he has done. She can’t stop to see how selfless this act is as her fear masks all other emotion.

  His touch is soothing as he wraps her in his arms. “I’m fine. A little weak but I’m good to go. Don’t worry.”

  “But you could have died,” she protests, staring up at him. How could she have lived with herself if she found out she was the reason for his death?

  The first time he sacrificed himself for her, back in Sorin’s dungeon, it nearly broke her heart. Now, she can’t bear to think of doing anything different. “I can’t lose you.”

  “You won’t. I’m not going anywhere.” He rests his head atop hers and begins to rock ever so slightly, but it is enough to calm her. He is here, holding her. Perhaps Gabriel is right. Maybe this time they can face the future together, side by side.

  Twining her fingers through his, she vows that no matter what happens in the coming days, she won’t leave his side. Lucien is sure to lash back once he discovers she is gone. No doubt, that has already happened.

  If Fane brought her to the Senthe base, that means things are far worse than she thought. It’s time to get caught up to speed. “Take me to Fane.”

  Twenty-Three

  Fane glances up from the TV when the door opens and quickly sighs with frustration. What is taking them so long? Roseline woke up over an hour ago. They should have been back by now.

  He taps his fingers against the metal table, trying to force himself to stop obsessing. He has no right to her anymore. His place is here, helping to finalize the battle plans, and yet his heart and mind are off in the woods.

  “It sucks, doesn’t it?”

  He blinks, realizing Sadie has leaned over to speak to him. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Course you do. I can see straight through your pathetic attempt to appear calm.” She wags a finger at him. “You’re dying to go to her, aren’t you?”

  Fane shifts his body away, annoyed. “She’s not mine anymore.”

  Sadie’s laugh is tinged with a bitterness that Fane is all too familiar with. “So you think it’s just that easy, huh? Man, you really are an idiot.”