Redemption (27 page)

“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

F
ane 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.”

He stiffly turns in his chair, his jaw clamped down tightly.
 
“I suggest letting this drop before I give you another lesson in manners.”

“Oh, I’m quivering in my boots.”
 
She slouches back into her chair, her arm slung carelessly over the back.

Fane is sorely tempted to lash out and whack the back of her head, like a frustrated mother scolding her child, but instead he smiles and sits up a little straighter.
 
“Hey, Nicolae?
 
Isn’t it time for another training session?
 
Sadie seems to have some pent up emotion she needs to release.”

Nicolae blinks as he raises up from the map table.
 
His face is emotionless, but Fane can see easily see his poorly concealed pain.
 
Nicolae nods curtly and marches toward the door.

Fane closes his eyes, instantly sorry for using the boy against Sadie.
 
When her punch lands soundly on his bicep he doesn’t complain.

“That was cruel and you know it,” she hisses as she rises to her feet.
 
“What kind of man are you anyway?”

His gaze drops to the floor.
 
“You are forgetting that I haven’t been a man for a very long time.”

She starts to speak, taking a step toward him, but changes her mind.
 
He watches as her feet move away, refusing to look up until the door closes soundly behind her.

Fane groans and leans back in his chair, his hands covering his face.
 

“Don’t tell me you’ve taken up torturing Sadie and Nicolae in my absence.”

With his breath caught in his throat, Fane lowers his hands and blinks, sure that the vision before him will fade at any moment.
 
Roseline smirks and plants her hands on her hips, shaking her head in amusement.
 
“I expected more from you, Fane Dalca.”
 

He rises unsteadily to his feet, gripping the edge of the table for support.
 
“Is that really you?”

“In the flesh.”

He crushes her in his grasp, twirling her about so that her feet leave the ground.
 
Her laughter sounds like the peals of church bells on a beautiful autumn morning, reminding him of a better time, when the world was his, and so was she.

“I can’t believe he did it,” he mutters into the silky strands of her hair.
 

Fane’s arms stiffen as he smells
his
scent lingering on her.
 
He slows to a halt and releases her, remembering his place as he steps back.
 

“It’s good to see you,” he responds stiffly.

“It’s good to be back.”
 
Roseline’s smile brightens her entire face.
 
His chest aches at the sight of her and yet he can’t bear to look away.
 
“I think it’s time for you to fill me in on what’s been going on.
 
Why are we here?
 
You know the Senthe base was only for emergencies.”

Fane nods and motions for her to sit.
 
Over the next half hour he fills her in on Sadie’s transformation, all of the murders, the uprisings happening around the globe as fear begins to grip the humans and how Nicolae convinced the hunters to join in their fight.

The more he speaks, the more grave she becomes.
 
She hardly moves, hardly breathes as she soaks it all in.
 
“And now we are all here, in one place, exactly where Lucien would want us.”

“Yes, but we are one step ahead of him.”
 
Fane shifts his attention to the TV that flashes through random shots of Lucien’s more recent killing spree.
 
“We sent him on a wild goose chase to America while William and I brought you back here.”

Roseline’s lips thin as she turns to look at him, surprised.
 
“You unleashed him on an unsuspecting country just to keep him from finding me?”

Fane swallows roughly.
 
“We had no other choice.”

“There is always a choice!” she shouts, rising to her feet.
 
Her cheeks flush with anger as she pounds on the table.
 
“I am not worth those human lives!”

She stabs her finger at the TV. He winces at the sight of the empty ropes still swinging from the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge.
 
Luckily, the new isn’t showing the actual footage of when the bodies were first discovered.
 

“We have already begun to leave breadcrumbs for him to follow us here.
 
Once he reaches Canada there will be fewer casualties.”

Roseline rolls her eyes as she raises her hands to rub her temples.
 
“I know you’re not that stupid, Fane.
 
Bloodshed will follow him from San Francisco all the way north to us.
 
What’s really going on here?”

He looks away, unable to meet her intense gaze.
 
“It had to be done.”

“Why?”
 
She rounds the edge of the table and stops before him.
 
His hands tremble with the overwhelming desire to take her into his arms, hold her and never let go again, but he forces himself to focus.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It does to me,” she whispers.
 
He flinches as she reaches down and gently pulls his chin up.
 
He clamps his eyes closed, his heart hammering in his chest, as she squats down before him.
 
“Fane.”

He exhales, silently berating himself for being weak, for making it so obvious to her.
 
Of course she can hear his pulse thumping wildly and smell the sweat that clings to his brow.
 
“I couldn’t leave you behind.
 
I searched…” his voice chokes off.
 
He shakes his head, refusing to look at her.

“You did this for
me
?”

All he can manage is a stiff nod.
 
When she releases his chin, he hangs his head with shame.
 
“I’ve tried to let you go.
 
I swear it, but when he took you…”

“I know,” she whispers, settling down before his legs.
 
She places her hands on his knees and waits for him to look at her.
 
When he does, his breath catches at the sight of tears in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Fane.
 
I never meant to hurt you.”

He wipes at his eyes, angry with himself.
 
“I don’t blame you.”

“And Gabriel?” She presses gently.

He hesitates, unsure of how he really feels about the boy: remorse to be sure, sadness no doubt, but no malice.
 
“You know I could never hate him, not when you love him so much.”

A tender smile tugs at her lips as she rises up to eye level.
 
“Can I?”

His muscles lock down as she winds her arms around his neck.
 
She leans in and rests her head upon his shoulder, holding him.
 
Tears dampen his shoulder and his resistance shatters completely.

Fane takes her into his arms, holding her as tightly as she clings to him.
 
She trembles in his arms, and in that moment he realizes just how terrified she had been.
 
He buries his nose into her shoulder and gives her the only thing he can…support.

“Does Gabriel know what happened to you?” he finally asks as she leans back.
 
She will give him the details when she is ready.
 
Her fear is enough to tell him how unbearable her abduction must have been.

She shakes her head, swiping away her tears with the back of her hand.
 
“No, and I don’t want him to.”

Fane releases his grip on her shoulders, sliding his hands down along her arms until he reaches her hands.
 
He clasps them in his, resisting the urge to twine his fingers with hers.
 
Instead, he cups her hand, squeezing it tightly.
 
“I don’t know what Lucien did to you, but I know you would never have hurt Malachi on your own.”

Roseline falls eerily still.
 
“What did you just say?”

“Malachi.
 
You…” He frowns, seeing the genuine confusion on her face.
 
“You don’t remember, do you?”

She pulls back from his grasp, sinking to the floor.
 
Her eyebrows furrow as she stares unseeingly at the far wall, trying to draw up the memory.
 
After a couple minutes, she shakes her head and looks back at him.
 
“There’s nothing.
 
It’s just…gone.”

Fane releases the breath he has been holding and smiles.
 
“It doesn’t matter.
 
It wasn’t you.”

“Tell me,” she says, surging up to her knees.
 
“What happened?”

Reaching into his pocket, he closes his fist around something cold and metal.
 
He extends his hand and slowly uncurls his fingers.
 
Color drains from her face as she stares down at the red-eyed serpent ring Malachi always wore.

A single tear slips down her cheek as she reaches for it.
 
“He saved me…in the end.”

Fane nods.
 
“I figured that was what happened.”

Roseline closes her eyes and clutches the ring to her chest.
 
He may have helped her, but he skinned the old monk alive and killed Enael.
 
What little sorrow she feels for his horrible death is marred but this knowledge.
 

Fane watches as she draws her hand away and opens her fingers.
 
The ring looks large in her hand, nearly stretching the length of her palm.
 
With quivering fingers, she lifts the ring and places it on her forefinger.
 
A look of defiance sharpens her gaze as she looks up at him.

“Lucien has many sins to pay for.”

For the first time since she entered the room, Fane sees the old Roseline, the fiery girl he knew existed all along.
 
“Then let’s make sure that he does.”

***

S
adie follows behind Nicolae down the darkened hall, not the least bit excited about being forced into close proximity with him.
 
This is all Fane’s fault.