Capturing Caroline (12 page)

"Here is where
we need to go tomorrow," said Jessa, pointing at a small black dot
on the map. "I don't anticipate any problems getting there now that
we have the proper papers from the front gate."

So, tomorrow
was the day. She set her plate down, suddenly not hungry even a
little. "What is this place and what will happen when we
arrive?"

Jessa looked up
at her, but only for a moment. A glance. As if it was painful to
look her in the face. "We created this place for Torrent. It's
keyed to him and him alone. I’m not sure what to expect when he
enters, but I'm certain there will be fireworks...magically
speaking."

"When I trip
it, what can we expect will be noticeable?" asked Torrent. "You
will be in the heart of this city when I trip that switch. Maybe it
will be like setting off a bomb. If you're noticed, it will be damn
hard to escape."

"Impossible,"
answered Jessa with a small, sad smile.

"Not
impossible,” answered Logan quickly. "We escaped the Magica
before."

Jessa’s mouth
twisted in a wry smile. "Yes, and we're running out of miracles,
don't you think?"

"It doesn't
matter," Caroline interjected. "It doesn't matter what happens to
any of us. It's clear that this is the only way to bring peace to
the Lycaon. It avoids war. It avoids fresh bloodshed and it ends a
time of fear and hatred. There is a bigger picture here. I am ready
to lay down my life for it."

Jessa's eyes
went wet with tears. She drew Caroline into a hug. "I'm so sorry it
has to be this way. I'm so sorry the Magica are the way they
are."

Caroline looked
her in the eyes. "Jessa, I know not all the Magica are bad."

"We should eat
and get a good night's sleep," said Logan, laying a hand on Jessa's
shoulder. "Tomorrow is one of the most important days in our
history."

Except Caroline
couldn't sleep.

She stood at
the bedroom window, looking down over the moonlight-silvered
street. Everything was completely still out there, totally silent.
Once in a while she glimpsed a guard riding down the street.
Apparently there was an enforced curfew.

Torrent came up
behind her, cradling her body against his and nuzzling her hair. "I
wouldn't change a thing," he whispered. "I'm so happy I was able to
share a part of my life with you, even if it was short."

She squeezed
her eyes shut. They were stinging with tears. "Don't talk like
that. You're talking like you're already d—gone." Opening her eyes,
she led him to the bed. "Let's not sleep a wink tonight. Let's just
soak up each other's presence. Let’s memorize every moment of this
night to hold onto."

He walked with
her over to the bed and slid between the sheets with her. Tucking
her against his chest, he rested his chin on the top of her head
and closed his eyes. She wanted to stop time and freeze it in
place. She wanted the whole world and all of the dimensions to
disappear and leave her and her love alone.

She wanted a
lot of things she would never get.

They didn't
sleep at all that night. They did exactly what Caroline had asked
for—completely conscious in the moment, savoring every second
together. Right before dawn they made love slowly and
tenderly...for the last time.

The building
was located about twenty minutes away from the safe house if one
traveled by foot. After breakfast—Caroline and Torrent didn’t have
a bite—they made their way across the immense city to reach it.

Caroline stood
outside on the street staring up at the building that would take
her husband’s life, until Jessa nudged her to go inside. Likely
Jessa was afraid she was drawing attention to herself. An easy
thing to do in this place where everyone conformed so eerily....and
creepily. She felt like she'd slipped into a nightmare of Stepford
pilgrims in this place.

On the way over
Torrent had been asked for his identification twice. It was a good
thing they’d taken the extra risk and had gone through the gates
the day before. The papers had given them a confidence they
wouldn’t have had otherwise.

As she walked
toward the entrance, Torrent caught her hand. He'd been in the
shadows, hunched over a bit, trying not to draw additional
attention to himself. Together they drew deep breaths, and stepped
inside.

The interior
smelled of dry herbs. As Caroline's eyes adjusted to the lighting,
she could make out glass cases full of herbs and shelf upon shelf
of wooden boxes and jars. It was a shop of some sort.

A tall, slender
man with a pair of glasses balanced on his hawk-like nose stepped
out from a doorway in the back. He was carrying a large book. "Can
I help—oh. Jessa." He didn’t sound pleased to see her.

"Hello,
Randolph."

Randolph
glanced at each of them in turn, shadows settling into his brown
eyes. "Is today the day, then?"

Jessa nodded.
"Today is the day."

Stark fear
flashed across his face. "Oh, my."

"My reaction as
well." Jessa motioned at Torrent. "Meet...
him
."

Randolph
dropped the book on the counter with a thump and walked to the
center of the room. "You didn't need to tell me that. I’d know a
Lycaon anywhere." The man peered up at Torrent. "You're so
big."

"Am I the first
Lycaon you've ever met?" Torrent sounded amused.

"Well, I've met
Logan, of course, but I never really thought of him as Lycaon." A
sheepish expression crossed his face and he fidgeted with his
glasses. "Sorry, Logan. I met no offense."

"It's all
right, Randolph. Torrent is a much more representative specimen of
the Lycaon."

“On behalf of
my people, I would like to say I'm sorry for what the Magica have
put your people through," Randolph said to Torrent. He said it
solemnly, as thought he’d memorized it for just this occasion.

"Thank you. I'm
just pleased there are some of you who want to make it right."

Jessa broke
into the conversation, "Today we'll do that."

Randolph
cleared his throat. "Well, hopefully, anyway. As you know, this has
never been done before. We have no way of knowing exactly what will
happen. In theory, by the end of the day today our people should be
separated forever.” He paused. “But all of this could
backfire."

"We've got to
try, Randolph," answered Jessa, sounding a little exasperated.
Apparently this wasn't the first time they'd had this
conversation.

Randolph
ignored her and turned to Caroline instead. "And who are you?"

She extended
her hand and the man just looked at it, perplexed. "I'm Caroline
Gannet, from Earth.
Apparently I’m part
Lycaon dire wolf. My ancestors were left behind when the first
split took place.

"Oh!" Randolph
smiled from ear to ear. "I get to meet a Lycaon and a mostly human
all in one day." He grabbed her extended hand in both of his hands
and vigorously pumped it up and down….then sideways. He had the
human hand shaking tradition partially right, anyway. "How
exciting!"

"Randolph, as
much as Caroline wants to delay...we'd better go down there before
something has a chance to go wrong."

Randolph let go
of Caroline's hand and peered out the front window. "You weren't
followed, were you?"

"I don't think
so." She glanced at Logon. "But the authorities have surprised us
before. Better we do this quickly."

Sudden nausea
rose in Caroline's stomach. She pressed a hand to her belly and
willed herself not to throw up. She would not mar the final few
minutes she had with Torrent.

Randolph
swallowed hard. "All right, follow me." Then, under his breath he
murmured, "I hope this works."

Caroline hoped
it didn't. She hoped that with every ounce of her being. Then, at
least they’d tried. They tried….but it hadn’t worked. Too bad.

It would the
best day of her life.

He led them
into the back room, which was packed practically to the ceiling
with boxes and jars. The acrid smell of the place stung her nose
and made her sneeze. They followed a narrow path through the dimly
lit storeroom to a door in the back. Randolph opened it, snapped on
a small blue colored light and led them down a flight of
precariously steep stairs.

At the bottom
was a large cellar. Damp and fragrant. Lovely. After only a
heartbeat a low thrumming sound met her ears. It raised all the
hair on the back of her neck and made her nausea worsen.

"What is that?"
she asked Jessa.

Jessa and
Randolph were staring at each other as if in awe. "She's waking
up!" Jessa exclaimed. "Randolph, she's
responding to
Torrent!
"

"I hear it,"
Randolph sounded more frightened than excited. "I didn't think it
would work, but listen..." he trailed off.

"Who's
she?
" Caroline asked, starting to feel more than a little
pissed off. Here Torrent was about to die and Jessa seemed happy
her stupid magickal contraption was working.

"I named her
Elsa," said Jessa, finally turning toward her. "I didn't want to
tell you before because naming the machine that will kill Torrent
seems..."

"Cruel?"
offered Caroline with her eyebrows raised and her voice cold.
"Brutal? Insensitive? Careless?"

“In my defense,
I didn't know at first that the machine would need to take a life
to work and we spent so much time with her." Jessa shrugged. "It
was easier to name her."

"Yeah, well, I
think Elsa is a bitch." Caroline crossed her arms over her chest
and walked forward, into the darkness, just to get away from
everyone. She was trying hard not to sob.

Torrent came to
stand near her. In the pitch black, he laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I can feel it pulling at me."

She stiffened,
then turned and launched herself into his arms. "Don't let it take
you."

"I can feel it,
Caroline." He pulled her against his body. "It wants me, only
me."

"I can't do
this," she whispered raggedly. "I'm not strong enough for this.
Torrent, I can't—"

He sealed his
mouth over hers and kissed her hard, then rested his forehead
against hers.

"You
are
strong enough, Caroline. You're the strongest woman I know. Please,
be strong for me now."

How could she
say no to that? She let out a deep, shuddering breath and closed
her eyes. "Okay."

He held her for
another few moments until Jessa interrupted them and led them
further down the hall.

"Where did
Randolph go?" Caroline asked as she fell into step beside Torrent.
Jessa was leading them down a corridor with slimy wet stone
walls.

“Some customers
came into the shop. He went up to wait on them. Need to keep
everything seeming normal, you know?"

They walked to
the end of the corridor and stood in front of a huge wooden door.
Pale blue light flickered over the stone walls from intermittent
sconces. The light made all of them look as sick as Caroline
felt.

"This is it,
isn't it?" asked Caroline. The humming had grown louder.

"I can feel
whatever that it is behind the door," said Torrent. "It wants to
devour me."

Caroline, still
holding his hand, clamped down harder.

"I don't know
exactly what will happen when we open that door, Torrent," Jessa
said, not looking at either of them. "I was surprised that Elsa
woke up at your presence. You may have some time to say goodbye to
Caroline when you first go into that room...or you may not." She
glanced at both of them. "I suggest you say your goodbyes now. I'll
give you a moment."

Jessa walked
back down the hallway, leaving them alone.

Torrent caught
Caroline up in his arms immediately, his mouth coming down on hers
and kissing her so deeply it was as if he wanted to consume her. He
set his forehead to hers and tangled his fingers through her hair.
"I wish we could have a lifetime together," he whispered. "I wish
we could make babies. I wish so many things."

Tears rolled
down her cheeks. She covered his hands that were cupping her face
and stared into his eyes. "I will hold you in my heart and soul for
the rest of my days."

"I want you to
be happy, Caroline. Go live your life, find love again. Be
happy."

She smiled, but
they both knew that was a lie. After knowing him there would be no
love again for her. It was that simple.

They kissed
again, long and slow. Somewhere in the distance, Caroline heard
shouting and a scuffle, then the distinctive snap of the Magica's
black batons.

"Torrent,
Caroline! Go!" yelled Logan from the big room down the hall. Then
there was a thud and Logan said no more.

Torrent stared
down at her, pained. "They've found us. We've got to do this now.
No more delay."

Caroline closed
her eyes for a moment. Boots pounded down the corridor toward
them.

"Okay. Let's go
in together."

Torrent
nodded.

Together they
put their hands on the doorknob, turned it and pushed the door
open. They stepped into a room of blinding blue light. Caroline
slammed the door shut behind them and fumbled for the inside lock,
just as large bodies slammed against the other side.

"Torrent!" she
yelled into the ever-increasing
thrum, thrum, thrum
that
Elsa emitted. There was no answer. The light grew impossibly
brighter and brighter, becoming blindingly white. Caroline couldn’t
see anything.

The noise grew
louder and louder, pulsing through every molecule of her body,
making her head feel like it would explode. Caroline sank to her
knees, screaming at the top of her lungs and she couldn't even hear
her own voice. The light was so bright she could only squeeze her
eyes shut and draw in on herself.