Chapter 25 #3
She didn’t trust herself. Not only was she shaking all over, she’d been so lost in anger and grief, she’d been halfway to killing Natalie forever when they had a plan all along. Natalie was going to die, but that wasn’t the end of the story. Hope hadn’t abandoned them completely.
Marley took the syringe, stretched out Natalie’s limp arm, and slid the needle into the prominent vein at her elbow. Without hesitating, he pushed the plunger, firmly and steadily, until the golden liquid inside had emptied into Natalie’s bloodstream.
While Marley pressed his fingers over the puncture wound, Selene waited. And prayed. Without knowing why, she thought of the crone from the Beltane rite. Of the way an unnamable power had suffused her when she stood before Fenris as the Lady. The one who’d been chosen.
Everyone insisted that choice meant something. That Selene had a place in the paranormal world. That she had power. She thought of those tugs at her consciousness, of unbidden instincts she wanted to deny but ultimately followed.
If I have any power at all. Any sway in this terrible moment. Let it help Natalie.
“Aunt Selene?” Allie whimpered beside her.
“I know, honey,” Selene whispered. “Just hang on.”
Please, Natalie. Please don’t leave us.
A sudden burst of wind rushed through the garden, lifting Selene’s hair.
Natalie gasped as air flooded her lungs. Her spine bowed, life coursing through her, bringing her back.
Thank the goddess.
Where that thought came from, Selene couldn’t be sure.
“Oh my god, oh my god. It worked.” Allie bit her fist to muffle her squeal.
“Natalie?” Selene brushed Natalie’s ebony curls back from her face. “Nat? Can you hear me?”
“Selene?” Natalie blinked at her before pushing herself up onto her elbows. “Am I back? Holy shit. I mean, holy shit.”
“Easy.” Marley wrapped his arm around Natalie, supporting her. “You weren’t gone long, but the effects will still linger.”
“I get it. I’m okay, or I will be, I promise.” Natalie leaned on Selene, shaking her head slowly as if waking from a deep sleep. “She said it wasn’t my time yet.”
Selene decided to let that go for the moment. Her thrill at Natalie’s return was suddenly cut short as her chest tightened.
We brought her back. We brought her back.
“Time to run,” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
But Marley replied without hesitation, “I know.”
He was watching her, face solemn, the syringe still in his hand.
“Run?” Allie tucked herself against Natalie, hugging her tightly. Natalie wore a blissed-out smile as she petted Allie’s hair. “What do you mean? Fenris changed his mind.”
“He did,” Selene said slowly as cracks riddled her heart. “But he knows Natalie died, and now . . . she’s not dead.”
Allie’s brow furrowed. “But couldn’t we have, like, brought her back some other way? I mean, miraculously or something?”
“We can’t risk it,” Marley told Allie. “If he suspects we intervened and holds us here to investigate, he’ll find the syringe. Even if I toss it now, the wolves will sniff it out. The antidote has potent and odiferous ingredients.”
Oh, the irony. Shakespeare would eat this up.
“So back to the original plan?” Selene forced her voice to be steady, even as she fell to pieces inside.
Happily ever after with some caveats. I wish it could be otherwise, but life isn’t fair. Is it?
Allie’s face was pale, but she nodded. “If Marley says we need to go, I know he’s telling the truth.”
Marley smiled at her, his eyes full of regret. “I’m sorry, Allie. You, too, Selene.”
“It’s not your fault,” Selene told him. “Now go tell Tim we’re coming.”
He leaned in to kiss her cheek before he rose into the air and flew away.
Allie pulled one of Natalie’s arms over her shoulder, jerking her chin toward the other end of the reflecting pool. “We need to go that way.”
“Aww.” Natalie giggled, obviously still a little out of it. “You guys had a plan to save me. You’re the best.”
Wrapping Natalie’s other arm around her, Selene started in the direction Allie indicated. She glanced around, searching for threats, but all appeared to be quiet. Natalie could walk . . . for the most part.
“I know you’re sad, Selene.” Natalie sounded like she’d had one too many glasses of wine. “But think about it. The council of elders might have decided to execute me anyway. Then you’d have to save me all over again.”
“Who said?” Selene asked Natalie, desperate for a different subject.
He changed his mind. Her throat closed, and her eyes began to burn. Oh, Fen.
She wanted to run to him instead of abandoning him, because that’s what it felt like now.
Everything had changed. Before Fen tried to save Natalie, Selene believed she had no choice other than to leave him behind.
That was no longer true. If Natalie hadn’t succumbed to the poison, if none of the deadly concoction had passed her lips, Selene could be with Fenris now.
Thanking him, finally telling him how she truly felt.
But that couldn’t happen because leaving now was about protecting her friends.
If Selene alone had to face the consequences of her actions, she would stay.
She would let Fenris be the judge of her choices.
He’d be lenient toward Allie, given her youth, of that Selene had no doubt.
But Tim and Marley had risked everything to save Natalie, and Selene was the one who’d asked them to. She owed them her loyalty.
And Natalie’s safety was far from guaranteed.
Fen had stayed her execution, but in the next breath he said her punishment would be determined by a council of elders.
Selene didn’t know who those elders might be.
Had she met any of them? Did he mean his guard, where someone like Gabriel would want to save Natalie?
Or would they be paranormals drawn from parts unknown, who may or may not decide Natalie deserved clemency?
As Natalie just pointed out, they could hold fast to the law as it stood, and Natalie would face execution for a second time.
No, there was no option besides running. No matter how much it hurt to leave Fen behind.
“Who said what when?” Natalie replied, startling Selene out of her thoughts.
Natalie’s voice was clearer, though she still snorted at her own question.
Pushing aside her inner turmoil, Selene answered, “The person who told you it wasn’t your time. Who was it?”
“I’m not sure.” Natalie didn’t falter when Selene urged her to a faster pace. “I don’t think I knew her, but she looked . . . like you.”
Like me? Selene fought the urge to stop and ask Natalie more. There was no time.
“Do you think you can run, Natalie?” Allie asked. “I don’t think we have a lot of time. When Fenris realizes we’re gone . . .”
“Not yet,” Natalie grunted. Now she sounded like someone with a nasty hangover. “But soon.”
“Okay.” Selene hoped she sounded reassuring. They were almost to the end of the path. “You’re doing great. Let us know when you’re ready.”
They cleared the reflecting pool, and Allie turned them down another path, then another.
“Good job, Allie.” Selene sent Allie a smile. “I never would have made it through the garden without you.”
Allie grinned. “I know.”
“Okay,” Natalie shrugged off their arms. “Let’s try running.”
“Lead the way,” Selene said to Allie.
Allie took off at a jog, checking to be sure Natalie and Selene were close behind. Selene hung back, keeping Natalie between her and Allie in case Natalie needed help.
When the path dead-ended at a fountain, Allie ducked around it, gesturing for the other women to follow. Behind the fountain was a small gap in the hedge, which they crawled through, earning scratches on their arms and losing strands of hair for their trouble.
On the other side of the hedge, they entered a forest that Selene knew stretched for miles across the estate grounds. Without hesitating, Allie darted through the trees. Natalie seemed to be growing stronger by the minute, staying close on the girl’s heels. Selene chased after them.
As much as she trusted Allie’s sense of direction, panic threatened as more and more minutes passed. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing over her shoulder, expecting to see a legion of wolves plunging through the woods after them. But every time she looked, there was no one in pursuit.
“There it is!” Allie called.
A stone wall loomed above them, stretching at least twenty feet into the air.
Allie stopped beside it, a little winded but hardly struggling for breath. Natalie and Selene exchanged a rueful smile as they leaned against the wall and panted.
“All right, you two.” Natalie stretched her hands to them. “Bring it in.”
Allie tackled Natalie with a hug, and Selene wrapped her arms around her niece and her best friend.
They’d stopped running, but Selene’s pulse continued to race.
When they made this escape plan, they didn’t have the luxury of timing out distances or practice runs.
She didn’t know when Marley would arrive or when Fen would return to the scene of their crime.
With luck, Gabriel’s grief would keep him racing through the forest, with Fen chasing after him.
It felt cruel to hope that sorrow would afford Selene more time to flee, but every minute Fen was distracted meant the difference between getting away or facing his wrath.
“I should say I can’t believe it,” Natalie said, laughing, her voice and eyes clear now. “But I can. You are incredible.”
“Thanks.” Selene stepped back and looked at the wall. “We’re not quite out of the fire yet.”
Allie nodded. “We have to wait for Marley.”
“Where is he?” Natalie asked. She didn’t ask why. The wall spoke for itself.
“Rendezvousing with Tim,” Selene answered. Once again she worried about how little time they could afford to wait.
“I’m assuming you mean in a not sexy way.” Natalie laughed again.