Shadow Dweller - Redemption Part 12

"That's where you come in."

Maeve rose from the chair. It took all of her strength to keep her knees locked and her feet rooted to the ground as her head swam. They wanted Sinjin in exchange for the spell and that she would not do.

Sacrificing her friends was the only price she was unwilling to pay.

"I can't help you. Quinn appointed himself Sinjin's guardian and he won't back down."

"He would... for you."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You expect me to convince your son to relinquish Sinjin into your hands?"

Mortianna smiled and nodded. "And, in return, I'll give you the spell."

She didn't even have to think about it. She had no qualms about destroying herself, but she wouldn't pull Quinn and Sinjin down into her own personal darkness. "No." Mortianna's brittle smile froze. "What?" Her tone expressed her disbelief.

"You heard me the first time. I said no."

A shriek of laughter escaped Gabrielle as she pointed her finger. "You're a brave one. Foolish, too."

"You ask for the spell, yet you will not do me the smallest favor?" the witch asked.

"This is hardly a small favor." Maeve shook her head. "You can request anything but this from me.

You're asking me to betray two good, brave men. One of them your own son."

"I have no son!" Mortianna thundered. "My only child, my precious daughter, lies dead in the other room. She's dead because a vampire laid his hands on her. That vampire will know my vengeance as will his cohorts in the dark realm. Either you stand with me or you stand against me."

Maeve turned away and walked to the door. A mad itch sprang to life between her shoulders seconds before icy fingers closed around the back of her neck. Halted in her tracks, she was whipped around to face Mortianna. She grabbed for her boot knife only to find that her muscles wouldn't respond to her command, as if she were paralyzed. Her brain screamed for her to move, but she was unable to answer the desperate summons.

"You would defy me?" Mortianna snapped.

She couldn't answer so she settled for glaring at the witch, leaving no doubt as to her feelings.

"You have disappointed me."

Gabrielle loomed behind the witch, her eyes glittering with bloodl.u.s.t. "Let me have her." She licked her lips. "Nothing tastes as good as the blood of innocence."

Revulsion crawled under her skin at the thought of this vampire's hands on her.

"No, I have other plans for her. I think a few weeks in theoubliette will remind her of the correct priorities in life."

The Little Place of Forgetting.

Terror sprang to life as Mortianna dragged her in an iron grip to a small door on the far side of the room.

Horror beat a desperate tattoo in her chest as she was forced into the darkness. The witch grabbed a torch to illuminate their way down a narrow, twisting pa.s.sage that led deep into the earth. Maeve stumbled over the uneven dirt floor as they worked their way deeper still. The scent of mold, decay and damp earth invaded her nose. All too soon, the flickering golden glow illuminated a dark pit near a wall.

A strangled scream locked in her throat as Mortianna pulled her to the ledge of a large pit.

"I want you to think on this as you reside in theoubliette ." The witch lit another torch hung on the wall with the one she held in her hand. "Since you're immortal, I shan't have to worry about you dying on me.

Again and again, your mortal body will dehydrate and die alone in the darkness, and your immortal soul will rejuvenate it to begin the cycle of life and death once more. It will be never- ending. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Bile threatened to choke her as she quivered in the witch's grip. Oh, what she'd give to feel the hilt of her knife against her palm.

Mortianna continued in a musing tone. "I wonder how many times an immortal can starve to death before the body and soul give up and actually expire? I suppose this could be an experiment of sorts."

Gabrielle gave a cackle, forcing Maeve's gaze from the witch.

"Good-bye, dear, It was so lovely meeting you," the vampire said in a singsong voice.

Mortianna jerked her, swinging her gaze back to the witch. "Shall we see how deep the pit is?" she taunted.

Maeve watched as the witch dropped the torch into the hole. It kept falling and falling until it was but a tiny speck in the darkness. Then it vanished.

Immortal or not, how could she even survive the fall?

"Ah, before you go-I have a present..." Mortianna released her grip on her neck. Placing her hands on either side of Maeve's head, her vision dimmed as darkness surrounded her.

"Here is a little something to keep you company in the dark." The witch's voice dropped into a whisper.

"Uile fois...I give you the gift of knowledge..."

A scream broke from her lips as cutting pain tore through her head. An icy wind invaded her brain carrying with it a myriad of images. They jumbled and danced like a kaleidoscope in the hands of a two-year-old as her body jerked uncontrollably in the witch's grasp. Consciousness dimmed.

She didn't know how much later it was when Mortianna released her. Ears buzzing, Maeve wavered on wobbly legs at the edge of theoubliette . Her mouth was filled with the taste of blood and her brain staggered with the unwanted knowledge thrust upon her.

Broken images flipped before her eyes like a slide show while bits of conversations played in her ears like that of an audio tape set to repeat. Exhaustion threatened to send her to her knees.

"Sleep well, my daughter, and come back to me with your loyalties in place," Mortianna whispered.

"Your destiny awaits you." A gentle hand brushed the small of her back, just enough to tip her into the unfathomable darkness.

Chapter 11.

"You realize that we're willing to die rather than turn Sinjin over to that madwoman." Val's eyes fairly smoked with displeasure.

Shai shot Quinn a look that pleaded for understanding while she tugged her lover's sleeve. "That's hismother ," she hissed.

"Something he should have told us earlier. The woman is insane." Val stalked away.

Silent, Quinn acknowledged the truth of his statement. As a child, he'd yearned to have a relations.h.i.+p with Mortianna. Even now, there was a part of him that still wanted her acknowledgement. However, it was apparent that it was impossible. How sad for both of them.

His upbringing had been idyllic and, in Emme, he'd had the perfect mother. She'd been the one to hold him when he was sick, bandage his injuries, and kick him in the backside when he'd needed it. He'd never lacked a loving mother figure. All this time, what he'd imagined as the hole in his life left by a non-relations.h.i.+p with Mortianna, was actually a hole in himself.

A hole that had been healed by Maeve. Her misguided journey to secure what, in her mind, was her redemption, had led to his re-evaluation of life.

Now he just had to get her back, this woman he loved.

Loved.

A sense of wonder expanded through his chest. He loved her. He loved her fierce spirit, her sense of adventure and her loyalty to her friends and to her sister. She was misguided in some ways, but nothing she couldn't work out.

He hoped.

He looked at Shai. "Mortianna wasn't a mother to me, never has been. I was raised with my father and his second wife, Emme, who is the mother of my heart. Until a few days ago, I'd never had any contact with Mortianna."

Her expression was skeptical.

"I need to know where you stand, Shai." He braced his hands on the desk between them. "If I'm going to go against Mortianna and stop her from this madness, I'll need all the help I can get."

A slow smile crept across her face. "What did you have in mind?"

He returned her smile. "I need you to gather the troops. We're going on a little trip."

"We are? Where are we going?" Her eyes gleamed with antic.i.p.ation.

"Oh, no, you don't." He shook his head, a smile on his face. "That would ruin the surprise."

"Spoilsport. I can't guarantee Val will jump in with both feet until he knows what you're planning. My man is rather cautious. "

"I'll explain later. Gather everyone and we'll discuss it then."

As Shai left to do as he'd requested, Quinn uttered a quick prayer for Maeve's safety. If the G.o.ddess would look after her until he could get to her, which was all he could ask for.

The darkness was smothering.

Head throbbing, Maeve leaned against the unseen wall, the cool stone contrasting with the strangely warm air. Exhaustion screamed through her body as she closed her eyes once more. All she wanted to do was sleep. She had no idea how long she'd been in her prison. Her body craved food and she longed for a gla.s.s of water, but there was none to be had. Was the witch correct? Would she die in this pit only to be resurrected by the curse of immortality?

Brilliant specks of light flashed against her eyelids as she tried to remember exactly how she'd ended up here. Memories of her time with the witch and the vampire were disjointed, like loose images in a photo alb.u.m. Open another page and the photograph slipped through her fingers.

While she recalled speaking with Gabrielle and Mortianna and she certainly remembered the witch's demand that she turn over Sinjin, she had no memory of landing in this dark h.e.l.l. One minute she'd been up above, the next she'd been here, in the depths of the earth surrounded by darkness and the overpowering stench of sulfur and decay.

She kicked her leg, her foot connecting with yet another bone, sending it clattering over the uneven floor.

Theoubliette was scattered with human bones, or, at least, she thought they were human, and rotting clothing. Every now and then, she heard a rattle of disturbed bones and the patter of tiny feet in the darkness.

She wasn't alone, after all.

A reluctant smile tugged at her mouth. It seemed Mortianna hadn't quite gotten her wish after all. Her smile faded. Where had she gone wrong?

An image of Quinn crystallized in her mind and a shaft of sorrow pierced her heart.

She remembered too many things about him. He really had a great laugh but, in general, he was serious most of the time. His eyes turned darker, stormy blue when he was turned on, and his smile could make a woman's toes curl. His touch gave her s.h.i.+vers and the scent of his skin made her want to curl in his arms and stay there for eternity. Her throat tightened.

The reality of Quinn far outweighed her desire for revenge - too bad she hadn't realized that before she'd leapt. She'd gone with Mortianna for two reasons. Quinn had refused her the spell, and her life had become one long quest for revenge.

She'd been wrong.

Slow on the uptake, she only now realized that what she really wanted was what she could have had. It had been staring her in the face for days. Tears stung her eyes. Her desire for revenge was a valid emotion in one sense; she'd lost the person dearest to her, so it had been natural for her to want Mikhail to pay for his crimes. Yet, in the span of life, she'd been foolish.

Reb was gone and nothing would bring her back. And Maeve had allowed her life to become a mockery of her sister's. Her time consisted of training and planning, all to bring down a vampire who'd destroyed the other half of her heart. Tears slipped from beneath her eyelids to be ignored. What had happened to the young woman who'd laughed with her friends, flirted with guys, played guitar, frolicked in the rain and had only wanted to become a chef? h.e.l.l, when was the last time she'd cooked?

She swallowed hard. Effectively, her life had ended the moment she'd met Mikhail on the campus of SUNY where she and Reb had attended school. She, too, had died with her sister, only it had taken eleven years for her to realize it.

A mirthless smile touched her lips as pain lanced through her chest at the realization. Mikhail had won and she'd never known.

Her sister, her other self. A sob erupted even as she tried to prevent it by biting her lip. She pressed her knuckles to her mouth to stifle those that followed. What would Reb say to her right now?

Get off your a.s.s. All is not as it seems.

A bark of laughter bubbled to mingle with her bitter tears. Had she been in theoubliette long enough to go insane? Maybe she was already dead and didn't know it. Was this the other side? She opened her eyes only to see darkness. If this was it, heaven was highly overrated.

Who said you were going to heaven? You could very well be in h.e.l.l and not know the difference.

"Except I don't believe in h.e.l.l." Her whisper sounded loud in the silence.

Don't you?

A cackle escaped her. That had sounded like her sister's voice. It was just like Reb to get right to the heart of a matter. She'd never believed in letting gra.s.s grow under her feet.

With a groan, Maeve pulled her legs up tight to her body and leaned her forehead against her knees. All may not be as it seems, however, she'd gone over every inch of her prison, searching every crevice on her hands and knees, and it wasn't as if there was a door. h.e.l.l, even a crack in the wall would help, but there was none to be had.

Isn't there?

She raised her head and blinked watery eyes. That definitely sounded like her sister.

"Reb?" Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "Is that you?" she whispered.

Silence.

She'd really gone off the deep end this time. She straightened her legs and rubbed her damp eyes with the hem of her s.h.i.+rt. She blinked several times. Yep, it was still dark. Leaning her head against the wall, she closed her eyes once more. Her sister's image swam before her eyes. G.o.d, she missed her.

Will you get off your a.s.s?

Maeve started, her head jerked upright, her heart thudded in her chest. Was that real? No, it couldn't be... She had to be hearing things.

No you're not-now, get moving, you have work to do. "Reb?"

Yes?

Startled, Maeve leapt to her feet as if scalded. As she stood, her head connected with a rocky overhang. She sat down hard, head smarting and ears ringing. Rubbing the spot, she scowled.