Avenge (29 page)

“
About fifty years ago, she
was among a group of us that came here for a leader’s retreat. She
would know this island very well. We came with Marco, who gave us a
group tour. C’mon. I know exactly where she would have told them to
go.”

We hiked through the dense brush for a
few miles. Since both Cassie and I went running almost every day,
it wasn’t much of a struggle for us. The only trouble we had was
finding and clearing a path to walk. It was dark outside, and our
conjured up flashlights didn’t help us see every obstacle. Vines
swung all around smacking us in the face, thick tree roots popped
out at our feet, and rocks were slippery with moss. Each made the
terrain precarious and our travel very slow-going.

Several times either Cassie or I would
slip or need help cutting a path, but James was oblivious to the
obstacles, like he was taking a walk in the park instead. Twice he
back tracked to find us, having gotten so far ahead we couldn’t
follow.

Finally, we reached a large clearing.
It was pretty bathed in the moonlight, with the fresh dew making
the grass and honeysuckle plants sparkle. The smell was heady, and
it reminded me of something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I
breathed in deeply, trying to remember, but it wouldn’t come to
me.

While Cassie wiped her
knees of dirt, James walked forward. I started to follow, but
stopped mid-stride. It was an odd sensation of
Déjà vu
, and I somehow sensed a
familiarity with this place. I turned slowly in a full circle,
trying to recognize my memories. Until it hit me. I knew exactly
where we were.

Standing alone, yet magnificent in the
center of the clearing was a tall, lush tree ripe with fruit. It
wasn’t like any fruit on earth that I had ever seen, but I could
somehow remember how rich and sweet it tasted—like figs or
plums.

With each step I took toward the tree,
my heart beat a little faster. As soon as I reached it and placed
my hand on the base of the trunk, it was as if something burst from
within my chest. I cried out, but not in pain, and sank to my
knees.

“
He’s here. Here!” I
couldn’t seem to hold my body upright, as if all my muscles turned
limp. It was as if there were two heartbeats in my chest. Max was
alive. He was here, somewhere, and I could finally feel his soul
calling to mine again.

“
Lucy, are you okay?”
Cassie rushed up to me, placing her hands on my flushed
cheeks.

“
Yes, I think I’m okay.”
She took my hand and helped me to my feet. “It was a little
overwhelming.”

“
What was?”

I shook my head slowly, not quite sure
how to explain. “I have no idea.”

“
Girls!” James called from
around the other side. “Over here!” We scurried over to where he
stood and looked around, but saw nothing. “Look. The soil here is
not as packed as the rest of the area. Like it’s been recently
corrugated or something.”

Cassie’s hands flew over her mouth
with realization. “Oh my God, he’s buried under there. Quick, we
have to get him out.”

We each conjured up shovels and began
furiously removing layers and layers of soil. About three feet
deep, I got nervous. “Be careful! We don’t want to smack him with a
shovel. Here,” I pulled out a small brush from my bracelet like
archeologists used when they dug up bones. “This might
help.”

After we dug another foot or so, an
object came into view. It was a foot. A bare, dirty, beautiful
foot.

It was Max.

I tossed the shovel aside and began
using my bare hands trying to free more of him. His foot, his knee,
his fingers, his arm.

Throughout the whole process, he
didn’t move. Not a finger twitch or knee jerk. I yanked and pulled
with all my might to get him out of the soil, but no matter what he
didn’t move.

“
James! Take his other
hand. Help me pull. Cassie, can you dig a perimeter and free his
head? We have to get him out of here. He can’t breathe under
there.”

“
He doesn’t need to
breathe, Luc. It’ll be okay.”

I already knew he didn’t need to
breathe. But I was too afraid to voice my real fear. What if he was
already gone? Maybe his soul lingered, but this body was
gone?

No, I couldn’t allow myself to think
about that right now. I needed to focus on getting him out of there
and back into my arms. I took his hand, caked with thick mud, in my
own and pulled with every ounce of strength I possessed.

Finally, he popped free from the
ground and into my arms. I pulled him closer, holding his head in
my hands.

“
Baby, wake up. It’s me.
I’m here now. Everything’s going to be okay.” I wiped dirt from his
eyes and mouth using my shirt, but he didn’t wake up.

“
Luce- you need to see
this,” James whispered. I could tell by his tone something was
wrong. He never spoke like that unless it was deadly
serious.

He took Max from my arms and laid him
on the cool, fresh grass while Cassie and I climbed out of the
hole.

“
What is it, James? What’s
wrong?”

James rolled Max onto his stomach,
revealing the back of Max’s shirt. It was stained red with blood.
We quickly dispensed with it to search for a wound. He had been
stabbed—repeatedly. Blood was still slowly oozing out of
him.

“
He’s lost a lot of blood.
We need to get him back and get him transfused.”

I couldn’t speak. The thought of
coming so close to finding him again and having the possibility of
him being taken was too much. My emotions had been toyed with so
much, I didn’t know how much more I could handle.

I took Max’s hand in my own again for
a moment before James picked him up fireman style and carried him
back toward the portal door. I followed behind, staring at Max’s
blank eyes the entire way.

I don’t know what I’ll do.
How can I possibly go on without him?

Chapter Thirty-Four

Dusk gave way to dawn, and day faded
into night once more. And the cycle repeated. I refused to leave
Max’s side. Not when the medical team transfused more blood than
I’d ever seen go into a person, not when Cassie and Adam begged me
to go home and get some rest, not when James and Elizabeth came in
and ordered me to. I didn’t even go when Lola came in saying
Jessica was asking for me. I didn’t leave. I couldn’t
leave.

I sat in a chair, pulled as close to
the bed as possible, and held his hand. I didn’t sleep or eat. I
sat silently, staring at the man I loved more than anything. I
listened to his monitors, relishing the steady cadence that told me
he was still alive and frightened that the cadence would break, and
he would be gone again.

The medical team told me how close he
came to not being “recoverable,” and even after the transfusion it
was touch and go. It was now only a matter of waiting and hoping
that his body hadn’t been too far gone when we found him. Many of
his internal organs had been damaged repeatedly and often so his
body couldn’t heal fast enough before he took another hit. He’d
been stabbed more than fifty times to his kidneys, liver, and
spleen.

I sat and talked to James for hours.
We went over what happened—theorizing and analyzing every word that
was said to make sure we didn’t miss anything. We needed to know
for sure that Alastair was at the top of that pyramid, because
neither of us wanted a repeat of this debacle anytime soon. James
theorized that it was most likely the loss of blood—and essentially
his life force—that caused me not to be able to feel him once the
goons took him from St. Augustine.

As I sat there holding Max’s hand, I
came up with a theory about why Alastair targeted us. It bothered
me for a while, but I’d never had the time to think of a reason.
The Patroni had been around for centuries; why pick now to wage
war?

My best guess was that Alastair
thought Max and I together were too powerful. With both halves of
the original soul gone, the Patroni wouldn’t be as strong and the
vampires could regain their strength. I think he thought that Max
and I were the driving force behind the new efforts to eradicate
them, and with us gone things would go back to status
quo.

Much of the time in that hospital
room, I sat at Max’s bedside, stroking his cheek and brushing the
hair off of his face. He was still so beautiful, even like
this.

“Max, love, I need you to wake up. I
need you to—I just need you. Fight for me. Fight for us. We’ve
waited so long to be together. Don’t let them take this away from
us. Don’t let them win. I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you
can I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I was stupid.
So, so stupid and foolish to leave you in New Orleans. I was so
blinded by my determination to get Jessica back that I never
stopped to think. I should have known it was a trap.”

I scooched forward and rested my head
on his chest. “But that’s over now, and you’re home. We’re home. So
come back to me. Frenchie has been waiting for you to take her on
some long walks, and Adam doesn’t have anyone else to play on his
fantasy football league. And wait ‘til I tell you what Elizabeth
said. It was like she was my mom or something. It was totally
weird.”

I was quiet again for a while,
enjoying the sound of his heartbeat in my ear. I wanted to reach my
arms around him and pull myself closer, but I was too afraid of
hurting him further. So I continued to talk to him while I stroked
his soft hair, praying that he could hear me and maybe hearing me
would help wake him up, or at least urge him to fight harder to
stay with me.

“Jessica’s back you know. It was a
hellacious event, but we got her back. She says she doesn’t
remember much, mostly being in a dark place for a long time, and
then seeing me again. I am so glad she doesn’t remember. James
convinced the Alpha and Omega to let her stay here for a little
longer. After the ordeal she went through, she was really shaken
up. They knew she’d be better off if she were with me for a bit
longer so I could calm her down and show her that everything is
okay. Not that I’ve seen much of her. She’s been staying in our
Dwelling and Cassie’s been watching her. She loves Frenchie, been
taking her on walks and bathing her and letting her chase her toys
in the meadow. Cassie sent me a few videos. I saved them so you
could see one day.

“I’m so happy she’s okay, and
adjusting so well. She doesn’t even ask about Mom and Dad anymore.
I guess she knows that she can’t go back to her life. And my life?
Well, if you were to wake up it would be just about
perfect.”

“Only just about?”

My eyes flew up to Max’s face. Was I
hearing things? Or was he awake? My gaze fell upon his, and I burst
out crying seeing his sparkling blue eyes staring back at
me.

“Oh, my love, why are you crying? It’s
okay.” Max moved his arms around me, which only made me cry
harder.

“Is it really you? I can’t believe
you’re awake. Oh, I should get someone to make sure you’re okay.” I
attempted to sit up, but he continued to hold me tight.

“Shh, not yet. I want to enjoy this
moment with you. I’ve been waiting a long time to hold you in my
arms again.”

“When did you wake up?”

“A few minutes ago, but I wanted to
hear your story. And I didn’t want you to move your head from my
chest.”

“Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?”
I was concerned I might be hurting him and moved away a little, but
he wouldn’t have any of that.

“I’m a little sore, but nothing I
can’t handle. Now c’mere.” He pulled me a little, and I didn’t
hesitate any longer to join him in the small bed. My body went limp
in his strong arms. He kissed my head, my neck and my fingers,
whispering little soothing words to me. His touch ignited me like a
struck match. I wrapped my arms around him and we stayed that way
for a long time, simply being with each other again.

“I missed you,” I
whispered.

“I need you,” he whispered
back.

“I love you.”

“Always and forever.”

I turned my head to stare at Max. I
could never get enough of those glacier blue eyes or the way he
looked at me with such devotion and love—like I’d hung the moon and
the universe revolved around me. To be that loved was something I
thought only existed in fairy tales. Well, I must have a fairy
godmother somewhere ‘cause I certainly had my prince
charming.