Page 76 of Redeemed
“Clean this up.”
More silence. We glance at each other, their uncertainty echoing mine. Best case, Jacques now knows Trajan took off with the Princess’s body and had Percy staked as punishment.
Worst case? I decide I don’t want to ponder the worst case scenarios, in case the universe wants to take me up on one.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Trajan
WAITING UNTIL SUNSET is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Well, the second-hardest, after leaving David and Abby on the beach with Jacques’ allies. I’d seen at a glance that they were strigoi and shifters. David’s exceptionally capable, but…
I shrink back into the nest I’ve made, willing the sun to set. I’m between a pile of rocks and a large cluster of rhododendrons, their leathery leaves blocking most of the light. My skin prickles in spots where the shade is thin, but I’m safe enough.
The Princess Tatiana lies beside me, cool and unmoving. Even without her glamour, I recognized the shape of her eyes and her soft brown curls. If Jacques needs her body to work his spell, I have no idea what he’ll do when he finds her missing.
But it won’t be good.
Sending my senses out, I search for anyone who might have followed us. Nothing. I brush against the small creatures that live in the mountains, none of them dangerous. I’d rested for a brief while, and now have nothing to do but wait.
The sound of her voice makes me jump. Fortunately the sun is low in the sky, so I don’t fry.
“His rage is a poison.”
The Princess’s body hasn’t moved. I’m not honestly sure I heard the words or if she’s somehow spoken right into my head. “Has he discovered that you’re missing?”
“He killed the one who let you go.”
Let me go?“I thought I escaped all on my own.”
“Poison. He’s poison. He’ll kill anyone who crosses him. You must not let him win.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“The cost to you will be high, maybe too high, but you must defeat him.”
Through all of this her body hasn’t moved. I’m not sure who I’m talking to, or if we’re talking at all. Maybe I’m overtaxed, overtired, making shit up for my own entertainment. “And if I’m not successful?”
“Your lovers will die, and you will face endless torment. The immense power Jacques desires will cost every vampire, for the elves will avenge me in the most brutal way possible.”
Okay, so that’s pretty convincing. “I’ll do what I can.”
Her shriek almost sends me out into the dying sunlight. “Okay, I won’t let him win.”
“Swear it.”
“I…swear.” I must not satisfy her, because she shrieks again.
“Swear it in blood.”
I don’t have a pocketknife or anything like it, so I slice the palm of my hand with my thumbnail. A trickle of blood drips slowly from the wound. “I swear to you I will defeat Jacques Betancourt and do what I can to reunite your spirit with your body.”
She doesn’t answer, but that’s okay. The sun has dropped low enough to cast the mountains in shadow. Before I stand, I send my senses out a second time. This time I’m looking for Connor and David.
I only find Connor. Dread pools in my belly.I should never have left him on the beach. Orienting myself to Connor’s presence, I pick up the Princess’s body and start to run.
I stand in front of that same Motel 6, still carrying the Princess. The evening commute goes on around me. If anyone thinks a homeless-adjacent guy with an unconscious woman in his arms is a strange sight, they keep it to themselves.
LA, man. LA.
