Vanquished. Part 36

He looked at her, confusion again returning to his eyes. "You love me, ja?"

"Yes, ja," she said.

He grinned at her. His eyes danced. "Then marry me."

Her head swam. "What?"

"Marry me, Skye," he said.

"Isn't that rus.h.i.+ng things?" she squeaked.

"We've known each other for more than two years. What is rushed about that? We know everything we can about each other, unless we change the things we can tell each other, show each other. The way mates do."

"Blimey, Holgar. It's just-that's a huge commitment, and we've only had one kiss."

He tilted his head to the side. "It's our way."

Werewolves.

She licked her lips. "I'm a witch. We do handfasting ceremonies."

"Is it like marriage?"

"Sort of. Two people promise to stay together as long as love lasts."

A shadow seemed to pa.s.s across Holgar's face. "Werewolves mate as long as life lasts."

She felt like she was in free fall. "But isn't a relations.h.i.+p about compromise? About giving up things for the other person? So . . . we could promise to try?"

He looked at her with so much sorrow in his eyes that it nearly broke her heart.

"What?" she whispered.

"Skye, loving you, being with you, I'd already be giving up so much."

"I don't understand."

"Half of my life, the wolf half, I couldn't share with you. For a werewolf that is huge. The first ceremony, the first kiss, the first everything happens in wolf form. By choosing to be with you, I already give up half of what a werewolf mate expects from their partner."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I didn't think."

He smiled at her. "I did," he said. "I've thought about this long and hard, even before you went missing. And it would be worth the sacrifice, if that mate were you."

Skye was nonplussed. "Holgar, you're asking me to marry you but telling me we can't have a relations.h.i.+p unless I do?"

"Ja." He gave her a firm nod. "Mated for life. Would that be so bad?"

His voice was soft, pleading. There was a part of her that responded to it. But she was so young.

But you've lived so much, struggled, seen more than most three times your age, a voice whispered inside her.

But forever?

Forever for one of you might be only a matter of hours.

But it went against all her customs, traditions.

As he will be going against his. Because he loves you.

"I have to think about it," she said.

And Holgar, wonderful, glorious Holgar, just nodded like it was the most natural thing in the world for her to say.

She stood up, heart still hammering in her chest. She turned and fled out of the room, back up the stairs. She needed fresh air. She needed to think.

Maybe it was because she had chosen so badly in the past that she didn't trust herself to make this decision. But Holgar was different. He was everything she should want in a man, and she did love him. But what if she was wrong? What if there was something deep and dark he was hiding from her?

Not everyone hides things like I do.

Still, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She wished there was someone she could talk to about it. Not Soleil or Lune. They'd be too shocked. And Jenn couldn't even handle her own guy issues; how could she help Skye with hers?

She turned a corner, wiping tears from the corner of her eyes, and nearly collided with Jenn's grandmother.

"Skye, are you okay?" Esther asked, her voice kind.

"No, I'm really not."

Holgar growled in frustration. That hadn't gone as he would have liked. It had not been his intention to declare himself for Skye so quickly or so forcefully. She had surprised him with her own admission, and he had pushed too hard.

He finished getting dressed and then headed upstairs. He wanted to find her, but he knew he should give her a little time and s.p.a.ce. She was having a problem handling everything that was going on.

"What's wrong, wolfie?" a familiar, mocking voice asked.

"Not now, Jamie," Holgar said, his voice a low rumble even to his ears. "Leave me alone."

"Love to, but the good father has called a meeting. Looks like things are about to start getting lively around here."

Good. Holgar clenched his fists. He needed to do something while he was giving Skye s.p.a.ce. So he followed Jamie through a maze of corridors until they reached a large room, dimly lit.

He had expected to find a large group there, but it was only Jenn, Noah, and Father Juan waiting for them. A minute later Skye showed up, her eyes puffy. He could still smell the salty tears on her cheeks despite the fact that she'd obviously tried to brush them dry.

He whined deep in his throat, unhappy that she was distressed. And she wasn't the only one. Jenn was also on edge, as was Father Juan. Holgar studied the priest, wondering what was happening.

Father Juan cleared his throat, and they turned to him expectantly.

"Solomon's followers are landing in the valley. As soon as they're off the planes, Jenn will meet with him to formulate our battle plan. We have to move fast. Once Lucifer realizes that Solomon is on our side, we'll lose the element of surprise. I've put out the word for everyone to come as quickly as they can."

"Jenn, Solomon?" Jamie said incredulously.

Jenn smiled grimly. "I'm not an idiot, Jamie. I don't trust him. If I think he's double-crossed us, all I have to do is give the word. And some of these new friends of ours will take him out."

"Earnin' their keep, then," Jamie said with satisfaction.

"The Voice of the Resistance, Kent Wallace, has been on the radio night and day sending out coded messages to freedom fighters all over the world," Father Juan said. "Urging them to action. Letting them know that things here are almost under way. Jenn will check in with Kent, too. As soon as she gives the word, we'll be moving on Lucifer." He paused, took a deep breath, and continued. "I'm nearly finished with the elixir."

Everyone stirred at that. Holgar couldn't help but think about their fallen pack mate, Eriko, who had been chosen to drink the elixir when they'd graduated from the university. That gift had bestowed upon her super speed and strength, but it had also been a curse. It had torn her body apart before she died. She had suffered agonizing pain because of it.

With their already enhanced abilities, he and Antonio stood the best chance of dealing with the side effects of the elixir. Of course, Antonio might well be dead.

He worried for the others, though, particularly Skye. She could heal herself of injuries, but he didn't know if she'd be able to stem the tide. Still, it was not his place to choose for her or for any of them. He stepped forward, "I'll test it," Holgar said. After all, they were on a suicide mission anyway.

Skye must have been having similar thoughts, because she flinched as he spoke, fear in her eyes. He would give anything to spare her this pain, this battle, but again, it was not his place.

She had not allowed it to be.

"Bring on the mojo juice," Jamie said. He wore his two guns like an old-time gunfighter in a movie. Holgar wondered if that meant the gun that could fire wooden bullets was finished. He hoped so, and wished that they each had such a weapon. He could smell the silver bullets in the other one, and he was doing his best not to worry about it.

At one time Jamie would have been elated to take the elixir. But that seemed so long ago. He was tired. Tired of fighting, tired of losing, tired of being told what to do and when to do it. One way or another, though, things were ending, and he for one was happy for it.

Something was wrong with the good father, though. There was something he wasn't telling them. Jamie could see it in the dark shadows under his eyes, the pinched corners of his mouth, the look of pain and fear that mingled with something else-relief, maybe?

He wasn't sure what the trouble was, but he hoped Father Juan pulled it together. Maybe this time he'd even join them on the battlefield. That would be something. In all those years at the academy he'd never once seen Father Juan fight. Jamie wondered if he'd fought during the siege of the university, or if he'd cut and run before the punching started.

Jamie's hands slipped to his guns, and his nerves were steadied by the feel of them. Left one silver, right one wood. He had heard that some of the local werewolves had thrown in their lot with Holgar. Those wolves had better stay away from him if they knew what was good for them.

He wished for the hundredth time that Eri was there. It wasn't right that she, out of all of them, had been the one to die. Well, like as not, they'd all be joining her in heaven or wherever the h.e.l.l Buddhists went. She'd never talked much about that, but he had some vague memory that had something to do with reincarnation.

Better luck this next time round, la.s.s, if that's the way of it. Least he could do was wipe out the vampires and the werewolves and give her a fighting chance at a good, normal life if it was true. He owed her that.

"What do we need to do?" Jenn asked, finding her voice. A dose of elixir would give her strength, but she hoped it would be enough for the task at hand. Noah stood beside her, and she couldn't help but wonder at the strangeness of it. She had thought Antonio would be with her at the end.

What would happen when they were all together on the battlefield?

Would Jamie turn those guns on his teammates?

Would Noah break his promise and try to kill Antonio if they found him?

Would Antonio break all his vows and kill them?

The road had been so very, very long, but one way or another it was ending. Either the vampires would be wiped out, or they would. This hazy nightmare would be over.

Maybe if she survived, she could go back to being just Jenn.

Noah was ready. He had nothing left to lose. This fight had been coming since the day the Cursed Ones had first made their presence known. He was just grateful he'd been allowed to live to see it, to partic.i.p.ate in it.

None of the others in the room knew what had to go into the preparation of the elixir. He knew and had agreed to help Father Juan in the end. They both understood sacrifice, and besides, none of Father Juan's team would be able to do what was required. So it fell to him, the outsider.

Wasn't that always the way for his people? Chosen, called, yet always alone, always the outsiders.

If it gave him the strength to do what had to be done, then he would embrace that.

Father Juan smiled. He never would have children in the normal sense of it, but these, and so many others like them, were his spiritual children. He had done everything he could to prepare them. As always, just as in past trials, past battles, and long-forgotten wars, he worried that it wasn't enough.

But this time he felt a new peace. G.o.d was going to let him die at last. His Lord was going to let him know the rest that had been denied him for so very long. Every time he'd closed his eyes and death had touched him, he'd been reawakened to help save the world yet again.

Yes, this time was different. He could feel it. He believed it. It was truly the end.

And he would make a great ending of it, helping his children in the best way he could, equipping them with what they needed to prevail. In a way, Father Juan was sorry that he wouldn't get to see their victory or celebrate it with them. But this was better.

"We don't have enough of the ingredients to make separate batches of the elixir. You must all share it," he told them. "And it will be temporary."

Jamie's eyes flashed in frustration, and Juan barely suppressed a smile.

"This is a good thing," Father Juan said. "Holgar has confided in me that Eriko suffered terribly from the toll the elixir took on her body. No Hunter had ever mentioned the pain before."

"No one had lived as long, no doubt," Jamie said.

Holgar grunted.

"So the 'boost' will fade after a few weeks, and your bodies will gradually return to normal."

Father Juan could see Holgar nod almost imperceptibly. He was glad Holgar had come to him about Eriko's terrible condition. Holgar was sure that the side effects had been slowly killing Eriko.

Father Juan nodded to Noah, and he moved to join him.

"Pray, meditate, prepare yourselves. The elixir will be yours tonight," Father Juan instructed.

Jamie sank to his knees and crossed himself. Skye closed her eyes and began to chant softly. Holgar took off his shoes and s.h.i.+rt, preparing to be at his swiftest. Jenn just stood, looking lost, and Father Juan's heart bled for her.

But there was nothing more he could do for her.

Father Juan parted a curtain and led Noah into a small antechamber, where Esther waited for them. He had set up a small altar on which the ingredients that they had secured at such trouble waited.

"You're sure?" Esther asked him.

"I'm sure," Father Juan replied. He turned to Noah. "It's time."