Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (29 page)

Sarah struggled to take a trembling
breath.

The shape-shifter held a cold blade
against her throat. “This will teach you humans not to trespass on
my territory.”

Sarah gasped as much as she could, her
heart drumming in her chest. A burning sensation—hot, deep, and
piercing—spread across the fingers of her left hand and quickly
intensified. She touched the ring, grunting as she collapsed. “My
hand! It’s on fire. Get this thing off me.”

“
Sarah, are you okay?”
Frank’s voice seemed to come from far away.

She strained her eyes to catch a
glimpse of him, but she couldn’t think further than the piercing
pain. “Get it off me, Frank!” She met Jules’s gaze as she
desperately tugged at the ring, trying to slide it off her finger.
It looked like she was going to need a whole tub of butter or a pan
of grease to get the jewelry off. It was stuck, as if it had been
cemented to her finger permanently. “Why is it hurting me?” she
asked. “And why won’t it come off?”

“
I-I don’t know,” Jules
said, his eyes wide.

Sarah bit her lip, refusing to cry out
as the shape-shifter twisted her wrist. Her trembling calmed some
when she saw his arrogant grin falter. As his black gaze fell on
the ruby ring on her finger, she heard him mutter with
astonishment, “You wear the mark of the Immortals! You…you are an
Immortal?” It was like a magnet, drawing him in.

The pain left Sarah’s hand as quickly
as it came. Stunned, she shoved her hand toward him. “If you can
get it off, it’s all yours—as long as you let us go on our merry
way.”

“
But that’s our key!” Frank
said.

Jumping to her feet, she shot him a
glare. “What good is a key if we’re dead?”

The shape-shifter thrust her hand
upward, jerking her off balance and causing her to fall against his
sturdy chest. Black feathers from his outfit swept across her
cheek. He yelled to his people, “She wears the mark of the
Immortals!”

Gasps and murmurs erupted as shock
registered on every face.

Sarah held her breath, wondering what
that yell might imply. They might decide to try and kill her any
moment.

His gaze locked on her for a moment,
impenetrable and blank, just as guarded as his attitude. Then he
bowed, and the hundreds of others scattered about the woods
followed suit.

Sarah’s
mouth dropped.
This must be what it’s like
to be royalty…but I’m not.
She wasn’t keen
on all the attention either. “Let’s not make a big fuss. Please
rise.”

The shape-shifter scrambled to his
feet. “Oh, Highness, I beg your forgiveness and understanding. If
I’d have killed you, I would’ve brought the entire wrath of the
Immortal world down on my head. Which tribe do you belong
to?”

Sarah
glanced at Frank, and he gave her the look to play along. “King
Victor Fesque is…he’s my husband.”
Husband.
Even still, the words
sounded awkward coming out of her mouth.

The woman gasped. “Fesque? He’s next
in line to take over the Cardashian Court once King Taggert
dies…and that won’t be long now.”

The wolf man’s eyes widened as
full-blown acknowledgement registered on his face. “You are married
to one of the most powerful men in our world, and I must respect
your position as such. My name is Titano, and this is my wife
Lana.”

Sarah smiled. “It is such an honor to
meet both of you.”

The woman eyed Sarah up and down,
focusing on the ring on Sarah’s finger as though she doubted its
meaning. Eventually, she nodded, though it was clear she was still
unconvinced. “If she is what she says she is, we can’t afford any
trouble with Victor. The Cardashian Court will stop at nothing to
avenge her if she is truly his bride. Besides, the rules don’t
apply to her, as they are only meant for regular humans. Titano, we
have no choice other than to spare her life.”

The man nodded, his gaze focused on
Sarah. “I don’t need to start a war with the Immortals with your
blood on my hands. My Queen, I am happy to offer you the safe
passage you have requested.”

“
And my
friends?”

He didn’t even blink. “I am afraid
they are still marked for death.”

A cold
chill ran down her spine.
No
! She couldn’t lose Frank and
Jules. She decided that if they were going to force her to play the
part of the queen, she was going to use it to her advantage. It was
time for another Oscar-worthy performance. “That is unacceptable,
Titano. I will not have my loyal servants slaughtered and devoured
before my very eyes.”

“
Are you forcing my hand,
my Queen?” asked Titano.

“
I am.” She met his gaze,
narrowing her eyes in anger, hoping he wouldn’t see through her.
“If you harm one hair on their heads, I shall send my husband back
here, and he will come with vengeance and his wife’s rage to
motivate him. I assure you, shape-shifter, that it will not be
pretty if he has to go to those measures because of your
disobedience to my direct commands.”

Lana grabbed her husband’s arm, her
black eyes wide. “King Victor isn’t an Immortal we can afford to
anger, Titano. Just let them go! They are not worth the casualties
of the war he will wage if these servants have a special bond with
him as well.”

“
Yeah,” said Frank,
sounding far too twenty-first century. “King Victor and I go way
back.”

The man looked at Frank, then at
Jules, and finally at Sarah. “My wife has spoken wisely. You may
go—all of you.” He picked up the tranquilizer gun and handed it
back to Frank. “Take your weapon with you. We have no need of it,
for we are well capable of defending ourselves and our
land.”

“
Thank you. Your wisdom and
obedience are to be commended.” Sarah took a few slow steps back,
then quickly jumped on the back of the wagon and crawled into the
cubbyhole with Frank right behind her. She peeked out and watched
as Jules climbed onto the high wagon seat and whistled to the
horses. He pulled the reins, and once again, they were trotting,
bouncing, and jerking their way through the bumpy forest terrain.
This time, though, they were escorted by hundreds of wolves,
perhaps thousands, running and darting through the
trees.

Streams of sunlight glistened through
the branches and leaves as Jules crossed the border of the woods
into a huge meadow. The wolves no longer followed; instead, they
sat like trained dogs at the edge of the tree line.

Sarah’s
stomach churned, and bile threatened to erupt at any moment. She’d
known all along that Victor wasn’t just a regular kind of husband,
and that had been acceptable because she didn’t want him, didn’t
want the kind of life he offered. But as the lucky trio left the
cursed forest behind, something else dawned on her. Even though he
wasn’t technically part of her life because their marriage was a
scam, he still held power over her life. The shape-shifters had let
them go only because they feared Victor’s wrath. It defied all
logic, and she had to admit that maybe the whole Immortal part
wasn’t a figment of everyone else’s imagination.
Maybe I do share a bond with him that everyone
here truly fears—and maybe that’s exactly what I need to find my
sister and get us out of this crazy place.
Then again, maybe I am crazy and am just dreaming the whole
thing up. Bring the royal meds, please!

* * *

A cool breeze blew through the
haystacks as Jules steered the horses through the open field to the
next town. “Frank!” Sarah called.

He didn’t reply.

She poked him in the ribs. “What’s
wrong with you?”

He turned, a frown crossing his
forehead.

“
What’s wrong?” she
asked.

He shook his head. “I just watched a
wolf change into a man right before my eyes. I guess I’m a little
freaked out. Who wouldn’t be, given the situation? I’m trying to
hold it together for you, but just don’t expect my undying
enthusiasm at our prospects anytime soon.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he
cut her off.

“
No, don’t even try to
explain this whole mess, because you know you can’t. Let’s just
figure out a way to find your sister and get the hell out of
here.”

“
Forget the pack of wolves.
I have a feeling we’ll soon have bigger problems than a bunch of
weird people howling at the moon. For starters, we’re a million
miles away from the portal—not to mention I’m a runaway queen, and
there’s a dangerous man after us.” Her chest heaved with each
breath. “If Victor’s men catch us, we’re dead. Frank, we can’t
afford to waste time whining or feeling sorry for ourselves. We
have to stay focused here. If we don’t make it, it’ll only be
because you’re sending off those fear-vibes. Even a mouse could
pick those up from a mile away, and the mice are probably
telepathic here too.”

“
The king’s guys are not
going to catch us,” Frank retorted. “All we have to do is stay one
step ahead of him.”

“
He’s an Immortal, Frank,”
she said. “We, on the other hand, are not.”

He reached for her hands, forcing her
to face him. “You don’t believe that bull, do you? Nobody lives
forever, Sarah.”

“
I thought it was all a
joke too…” She pointed at the forest. “…until I saw them. They said
I have the mark of the Immortals. This ring belongs to them, not
us, and we stole it. It’s grand theft jewelry, Frank, and I doubt
they live by the fair trial rule. In fact, I’m sure they’re quite
okay with cruel and unusual punishment.”

“
Big dungeon time, huh?”
Frank winked, amused.

Sarah shook her head. A few wolf
people had him running for the hills, but the psychic bond she was
beginning to feel with the king was beyond his rational
comprehension. “Try execution, medieval style. We didn’t just steal
it from anybody, like a local merchant or something. We had to
involve the local mob boss, the freaking godfather.”

Frank glanced down at her finger.
“We’ll give it back as soon as we use it to open the portal. Heck,
we can even leave a note. What’s so special about it anyway? It
looks pretty, uh…gaudy and normal, like something out of a thrift
store or Halloween costume shop.”

Sarah twisted a strand of hair around
her finger, biting her lip as she considered her words. Frank was
freaked out already, but he had a right to know. “There’s nothing
normal about it, in spite of its looks. When Victor slipped it on
my finger, I felt a weird electricity racing through
me.”

“
Maybe just cold
feet?”

“
What?” She peered at him,
confused.

“
You know…cold feet because
you were getting married.”

She rolled her eyes. “Frank, can you
be serious for just one minute? I honestly don’t want to wear
anything that belongs to somebody who’s not human. Maybe you can
keep it safe for us. Just let me get it off.”

He nodded. “I’ll put it in my
pocket.”

She tugged, eager to slide it down her
finger, but like before, it wouldn’t budge. “Shoot! I still can’t
get it off!”

“
Are you sure? Let me try,”
Frank said. When she held out her hand, he pulled hard. “Nope. A
little butter might do the trick. It’s been around since biblical
times.”

“
Get it off me, Frank!” She
stuck her finger in her mouth, biting the band and pulling. “It’s
not working. This darned thing almost burned my hand off back
there!”

“
I thought you were just
pretending, stalling for time.”

“
Nope,” she whispered.
“That was real.”

He gripped the band and started
tugging again, harder this time. “Geesh. Didn’t the king bother
having it sized first? How the heck did he even manage to fit it
over your knuckle to put it on you?”

“
Aren’t you hilarious?” She
slapped his arm.

“
I’m serious, Sarah. You
could die from a blood clot.”

Wait…could that really happen?
She
regarded him, taking in the creased skin around his eyes, as dark
as pools.

“
Calm down. I’m only
joking,” Frank continued. “Leave it on for now, and we’ll worry
about it when we reach the next town. Hopefully it won’t start
burning your finger again.”

“
It’s just so…so weird,
Frank.” Her heart pounded in her chest as she turned to face him,
realization dawning on her. “Do you think he’ll find out the
truth?”

“
You mean that you’re not
who he thinks you are? You tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t
listen. He didn’t give you much choice, did he?”

“
I guess not.” Sarah
crawled out of their hole and climbed on top of one of the
haystacks. She pondered as the wind whipped through her hair and
the sun beat down on her face. The horses neighed, making her jump
as the wagon ploughed through a meadow of purple and yellow
wildflowers. The sweet scent drifted all around her.

“
Even if he does find out,
he won’t know where we are.” Frank shook his head. “I’m not scared
of him.”