The Corollaria (19 page)

A moment later Carson marched into the room, gray eyes full of fury, his muscles bunched up with tension, his jaw set.  To anyone else all they would see would be a very angry, very large man.  But Jenny saw something else.  She saw the worry lines etched in his features, the storm of emotions
gathering like thunderclouds in his eyes.

Carson’s
troubled gaze immediately found her, and after several long silent moments ticked by, his shoulders deflated and he dropped to the ottoman next to her, his head landed in his hands.

Jenny unfolded herself from the window seat and padded across the small space.  She knelt in front of him.  Carson looked up.  His face, his dark gray eyes, were full of raw emotion, more than she ever seen him show before. 

She gently cupped her hands around his face, and whispered softly, “What’s wrong?”

Carson took a long deep breath,
and removed her hands from his face.  The rejection stung, but she ignored it, as she focused her gold eyes on him.

“I just feel
so helpless,” he confessed, running a shaky hand over his newly shaved head.  “Luke’s missing, I haven’t been able to find him, and now Trent just told me Emily’s gone after him.”

Jenny exhaled a slow breath and studied Carson a moment, trying to figure out the right words to say.  She pressed her lips together, her eyebrows furrowed.

Carson snorted. “You think it’s good she went after him.”

It wasn’t a question.  And she wasn’t surprised he could read the thoughts on her face. He always could.  Carson shook his head and pulled away from her. Standing, he paced back and forth in front of the now snow frosted window.

Jenny closed her eyes briefly, trying to ignore the sudden spark of irritation.

“Carson,” she spoke, her voice a little harder than before.  “If anyone can find him, don’t you think it’s her?”

Carson didn’t say anything, just stopped his pacing and stared out the window for several moments.  His voice was rough when he spoke. “But we can’t protect her...and if someone—”

“So follow her.  Make Trent do it,” Jenny suggested.  “He’s been following her around like a love sick puppy for weeks anyways.”

Carson turned slightly, a puzzled look on his face.  Jenny rolled her eyes. She crossed the room to stand in front of him.

He studied her a moment, her gold eyes softly illuminated.  “Where would she even go first?”

“I think I have an idea,” Jenny revealed cautiously.  “If I were her, I’d go to her old apartment. To talk with the only witch I know.”

Carson frowned.  “But Lucinda is dead.”

“What happened to the apartment? Who was taking care of her when she got sick after Emily came to live with you and Luke and your parents?”

“Her daughter, I think,” Carson furrowed his brow and pursed his lips in thought.  “She had two daughters actually.”

“Call Trent, tell him where we think she’s going. Maybe Emily can get some answers.”

Carson leaned into her then, h
is forehead rested against hers. He was suddenly thankful for her.  Jenny’s small hands cupped his jaw, her fingers skimmed over day old stubble. Carson’s hands easily found the familiar dip in her waist and pulled her closer.

“I
t’s just—”

Jenny shook her head, silencing him with a kiss. “
We’ll find him.”

~000~

Emily slowly ascended the stairs to her old apartment. It still smelt the same in the dimly lit hallway, like violets and incense and dust.  She stopped in front of the wooden door.    Her hand hovered over the tarnished brass numbers when it was suddenly swung open.

A tall woman at least twenty years older than Emily with thick dark hair knotted at the nape of her neck stood in the entryway. Her dark eyes lightened when they landed on Emily.
She immediately recognized Sasha, Aunt Lucy’s oldest daughter.

“Emily,” Sasha smiled.  “I’ve been expecting you.”

Emily stuttered, “Y-you have?”

Sasha
draped her arm around her shoulders, gently ushering Emily inside,

“Yes,” she said.  “And I can’t tell you how relieved I am you showed up.”

Emily frowned.

“Would you like some tea?” Sasha asked, motioning for Emily to take a seat in one of the worn wooden chairs that sat around a small table in the kitchen.  Emily nodded gratefully and sunk into the nearest chair.

After Sasha made and poured the tea into two cups, she sat down opposite of Emily. Emily bit her lip trying to organize her thoughts and ask what she needed to find out.

“I need your help,” Emily admitted.  Sasha smiled knowingly and nodded for her to continue. “Luke is gone, and I think he’s in trouble.”

Sasha expelled a long breath before she spoke, reaching across the table to grasp Emily’s hand.  “A while back Samuel convinced my sister to come work for him.  I’m not sure what he offered her but it must have been enough.  She sent me a message recently.”

Emily’s blue eyes glowed like gemstones as she leaned forward.

“She said Samuel is alive. She used some kind of black magic to keep him from dying when Curtis—”

“But Curtis chopped his head off!” Emily shouted incredulously.

Sasha winced.  “Whatever spell she used, he was able to reassemble himself.”

“But
, I-I don’t understand.”

“That’s the other thing she told me,” Sasha revealed cautiously. “
The black magic that brought him back is strong and powerful. Only you can kill him. It has to be you.”

~000~

It was close to midnight when Emily left the apartment.  Her mind was racing.  She was too distracted to see the cloaked figure in the shadows until it grabbed her, pulled her back into the alley, and held a hand to her mouth.

Emily struggled, but froze when she heard a low menacing growl. Her heart leapt,
and her bright blue eyes searched the shadows. Disappointment mingled with relief when she recognized the sandy brown fur of Trent’s wolf emerge from the darkness.

“I’m not going to hurt her,” a woman’s voice said, lowering her hand from Emily’s mouth. 

“Vanessa?” Emily gasped.  Trent stalked closer, his fur bristled, and he bared his teeth.

“Listen,” Vanessa began, her voice
was shaking.  “Samuel came to see me. He’s not dead. And he has Curtis and Luke.”

Vanessa’s grip loosened and Emily yanked herself f
ree. She spun around to face her.

“What? What are you talking about? Curtis is—”

“He came to see me. To blackmail me. He said if I brought you to him, he would let Curtis live. I thought—”

Her voice cut off into a gurgled sob, blood red tears gathered in the corner of her dark eyes. Behind Emily, Trent shifted, ha
stily pulling on his shorts he’d abandoned in the alley way.

“So you were just going to hand Emily over? To betray us all?” Trent asked.  His voice was hard, his jaw clenched,
and his hands balled into tight fists.

“No,” Vanessa answered.  She turned to Emily, her eyes pleading
and determined.  She grabbed her by the shoulders.  “We have to go. We have to defeat him, Emily.  Once and for all.  You have to help me.”

For a long moment, Emily studied Vanessa’s face.  There was something so familiar about her dark eyes.  The emotions coming from her all seemed genuine.  Finally she answered,
“Okay, let’s go.  But, it has to be me,” Emily said.  “I’m the only one that can kill him.”

An hour later, Emily and Trent followed a few feet behind as Vanessa led them down a vacant street.  They hadn’t talked much, except for Trent who called Carson to let them know where they were going.

Finally, they came to an old seemingly abandoned warehouse.  They quickly ducked into the ally. 

“I’m going to go through the front, you two find another way in,” Vanessa ordered. A second later she was gone.

Emily turned to Trent.  The air between them was suddenly thick with awkward tension.

“Hey,” Trent said softly.  Emily raised her eyes to meet his.  “I’m sorry about...about before.”

“Trent, I—”

“Don’t okay?  I know it’s Luke. It’s always been and always will be Luke.
He’s your wolf. ”

Trent
gave her sad wistful smile, kissed her cheek and then vanished around the corner.

~000~

It was dark.  Quiet.  Luke could barely lift his head.  But after days of being alone—how many he wasn’t sure— chained to this wall, thirsty and hungry, a sudden fierce energy rolled through him.

Emily,
he thought
.

Is
she here? Is she close?
  He took a deep breath, both wishing for and dreading smelling her near.  But the feeling that she was close was unmistakable.  It was like being one of two magnets, being pulled together.

The last time Samuel had come to him flashed through his mind.

Luke didn’t know where he was.  One minute he had been walking out of a sleazy bar—a known vampire hangout—looking for information about Samuel, and the next he’d been jumped, knocked unconscious.  He’d woken up here, chained to the wall, bloody and dizzy.

His eyes opened and, focused
on Samuel, who stood a few feet away, holding a lantern that glowed with an unearthly light.

“Luke,” he began.  “Such a young, foolish wolf.  Stupidly in love, trying to save what rightfully belongs to me.”

Luke growled, his wolf instantly enraged and alert.

Samuel merely chuckled and l
eaned closer.  Luke jerked away. The stench of vampire wrinkled his nose and turned his empty stomach.

“She’ll be here soon,” he whispered.  Luk
e jerked, his eyes met Samuel’s. He was unable to conceal the fear.

“Don’t worry, little wolf,” Samuel gloated. “I’ll make sure you are there to watch.”

An instant later, he was gone, leaving Luke helpless.

E
mily clumsily climbed into the only unlocked window she could find and then begin moving as silently as possible through dark room after dark room.

Emily paused as one small room opened into an even smaller room.  It was different than the rest of the building.  Stone walls and one small window at the top. It smelled too.  Emily stepped forward cautiously and gasped as a dark figure came into view.
Luke.

She raced to him and fell to her knees.  Her trembling fingers frame
d his face and lifted his head.  His eyes fluttered open.  It took him a moment to realize it
ook him a moment to realize it’XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
was really her. Not just a vision or mirage or some dream.

“Emily,” he breathed.  His voice was rough and scratchy.  He pulled at the manacles wrapped around his wrist chaining him to the wall.  The metal cut into his skin, fresh red blood streamed down his arms.  It only took a moment to heal, and another moment for adrenaline to quickly enter into his system,
making him more alert than he’d been in days.

“Emily, I’m so sorry! I—”

He stopped when he saw her face more clearly in the moonlight.  Her skin was stretched tight, her blue eyes dark and glossy.  Her emotions were thick in the air between them. Emily looked away quickly, searching his restraints for some way to unlock them.

“Em,” he said softly. H
is voice was low and cautious like she was a small animal that might run away.  Emily pressed her lips together to fight back her tears.  “Emily, please—”

“Why, Luke?” she whispered softly, her voice broken and pleading.

She was able to unclasp the restraints.  The minute Luke’s arms fell his hands were on her face.  His fingertips tangled in her hair as his gray eyes searched hers.

And for a moment a memory flashed in her mind.

It had been several days since Luke’s disappearance.  Emily lay curled on her side, crying into her pillow on her bed in Brooklyn.  She was confused. Lost. 

She felt two strong warm arms wrap around her. And it didn’t matter in that moment that it wasn’t Luke.

“I just wanted to protect you. I—”

“Where’s Curtis?” Emily asked, disentangling herself from Luke and standing up.

Luke’s brow furrowed. “Curtis?  He’s dead, Em.  Remember, we—”

Emily turned away from him, her fists clenched tightly by her side. Luke stood, a little shakily, and moved behind her.  She flinched when his hands wrapped around her shoulders.  Luke dropped his hands
and stepped away.  Regret and hurt closed his throat.

“Vanessa,” Emily said after a tense minute.  “Samuel came to her, told her he was still alive.  That he had you and him, and to bring me to him or she’d kill you both.”