Den of Sorrows (30 page)

“Unfortunately there will be more darkness to contend with.”  She pulled him to her and then stood and led him to a bench. The angel picked him up and set him on the bench before sitting down next to him. “Your mommy and daddy are going to have trials to endure. Your daddy is a strong man. He is kind and loving and he is going to need you.”

“Me?” Titus couldn’t imagine how his new daddy could possibly need him. He was just a little kid.

She nodded. “You, little one, are the light in his life. Just like Sally is.”

“So why does he need me to be a light if he has mommy?”

“He needs you because your mommy is fighting the darkness now, as we speak.”

Titus frowned. “Why? She’s so good. Why does she have to endure?” He didn’t want to be angry at the angel, but he didn’t understand.

The angel wrapped an arm around him and he felt safe. “She has to endure because she can and she will. And when someone walks through the fire and comes out okay on the other side, they then can help others who will face the same thing.” When he just continued to look at her she spoke again. “For instance, you have fallen and scraped your knee before.”

He nodded.

“So you know how much it hurts. If your daddy fell and scraped his knee you would be able to understand how he was feeling and let him know that though it hurt right then, it would get better because yours got better.”

“So my mommy is going to help other people fight darkness because she will fight it and be okay?”

The angel nodded. “Yes, little one, she will fight it and she will be okay. But like a scraped knee is painful for a time, it will be painful for your daddy and you while she is gone. But I want you to hear me now. I am always here. All you have to do is say my name, and I will hear you. You will not endure this alone, Titus. You are loved. You are precious.”

“What if I’m scared?” Titus was trying to be brave.

“It’s okay to be scared. You can tell your daddy, or you can tell me. And there are others you will get to know who will become very special people to you and you can even tell them.” The angel pulled him closer in a tight hug. “I am so very glad to know you, Titus and I love you so very much.”

Titus could feel her love. It was like drinking hot chocolate, it warmed him up everywhere inside of him. “Sleep well, little one,” the angel told him and then the garden slipped away and he fell into a deep sleep.

"
W
ill she have any memories of her old life?" Skender asked the man who was standing over Sally's sleeping form.

"No. I'm giving her a completely new life. There will be nothing left that could trigger any past memories."

"So she's just going to think she's someone else?"

"Her name will remain the same because the name is attached to the soul. Changing it would alert her on a subconscious level that something was wrong. But everything else—all of her childhood memories, who her parents were, how they died— will be fabricated. I am literally giving her a new life, one in which she is unaware of the supernatural world. Nor will she have any idea
what
she herself is."

"How long do we wait until introducing her back into it? Skender asked.

"A month or two. Let her live in her new life for a little while. Let it settle into her. Then we can begin to woo the healer to our cause, slowly, of course."

"And if her mate somehow finds her? What then?"

"He won’t. But if he does, we will deal with him." The man stood and stepped away. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Skender. "That's her address. Take her to her home. Put her in her bed. And when she wakes up, Sally's new life begins."

L
illy's hands shook as she picked up the phone and dialed Cypher’s cell. The dream, the vision, whatever it had been, was fading fast and she needed to tell her mate what she'd seen.

"Lilly," his voice came through the phone.

"Is she alive?" she asked without preamble.

"Peri and Rachel are doing their best," he said quietly.

Lilly took deep breaths through her nose, trying to keep herself under control. "I had a vision. I don’t know what it means."

"Tell me."

"I saw each race of supernaturals. I saw fire burning everything. I saw Sally lying with her eyes open, blood, and across her chest was a claw mark."

"Did you recognize anyone else?" he asked her, his voice was tight with anger.

"No. Do you know what it means?"

"I'm not entirely sure but I have an idea. I'll need to discuss it with Peri and Vasile. If I'm right, things are going to get complicated."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Pray that I am, Little One. I'll see if one of the fae can come get you so you can be here with Jacque. And I imagine you want to meet your grandson."

A tear trailed down Lilly's cheek. She'd seen her grandson in a vision. She'd seen other things in that same vision, but she would not think of those things. Just because she'd seen it, didn't mean it would necessarily happen.

"Yes, I would very much like to be near my daughter and meet my grandson."

P
eri stood with her feet in the water where Jacque and Fane lay. Rachel had been infusing the water with healing herbs. She also thought that if they needed it, the water would be a good conduit to help the flow of their magic. As soon as Peri had flashed them into the garden, the five fae stones had appeared at her feet. She didn’t question it; she simply took the stones and spread them out in the water, and began pulling on their power to enhance her own.

Peri had a hand on each of her patient’s chests and she was pulsing electric shocks of power into them to keep their hearts moving. The power that she was drawing on was more than just her fae powers; it was her own immortality, the well of endless life that she’d been blessed with. It was not something she’d ever done before, and didn’t know exactly how she was doing it. She’d just simply decided that these two weren’t going to die and she was going to do whatever it took to keep them here with their new child. If it sucked her dry and left her with nothing, she would gladly make that sacrifice.

Rachel had explained that Jacque needed blood. She’d lost too much and her body couldn’t make red blood cells fast enough to replenish what she’d lost, despite being half werewolf. So the race was on to find some blood, and a method in which to get it into her body. They still had some of Cynthia’s medical things and Peri had requested Gavril make himself useful and search Cynthia’s old lab. Rachel had used her cell phone, which she only owned because three American girls had said it was high time for Rachel to step into the 21
st
century. Those were their words. Rachel had used the cell phone to find pictures of the things Gavril should be looking for.

Then they’d recruited Wadim to get the blood. First order of business, Rachel had said, was to see if anyone in the pack had type O blood. Type O, apparently, could be given to anybody. Peri had immediately decided that the reason they called it type O was because if they needed that type of blood it must be because they were in an “O-shit” emergency, which of course they were.

So there she was, holding on to two people who she cared for deeply and who would be missed beyond measure if she and Rachel were unable to save them. No pressure.

Peri felt a sudden rush of power and then reassuring love flow through the mate bond. Her wolf, ever mindful of her and her needs.

“It is not your job to save every person every time,”
Lucian’s voice filled her mind. He wasn’t being unkind and she knew that. He was being his usual, straight forward, un-emotional self.

“Maybe not, but it is my job to save these two. They are mine, Lucian. They have been mine since the first time Jacque smarted off to me. The only way I will let them go is if the Great Luna herself takes them from my hands. And even then I might argue.”

“Might?”

“Okay, I’d definitely argue. The point is, you should understand why I do this. You have seen all my lives, the millennia that I spent on my own. It has taken three thousand years for me to find my family, but I finally have and I’m not ready to lose any of them.”

She heard his sigh and knew that he just wanted to fix things for her.
“Then don’t lose them. I will give you anything you need. But remember something, Perizada, they may be yours, but you are mine. It is my job to care for you. Please be mindful of that when you are putting yourself through hell.”

“You didn’t really think I’d make being my mate easy, did you?”

This made him laugh and she loved the sound of his laughter, it brought her hope.
“I would be disappointed if you made it easy, female.”

“Good to know. Put on your big girl panties, wolf, because it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“The darker the night only means that the dawn will be that much more beautiful.”

“I’m ready for the dawn, dammit.”

“As am I, beloved. As am I.”

D
ecebel pulled Jen tighter against him and he felt her shiver. She was exhausted. He’d finally convinced her to get some sleep when she’d been holding Thia and had fallen asleep sitting up. Her heart was broken and he had no idea what to do to help her keep the pieces together until it could be mended. Jacque and Fane could not die. He wouldn’t allow it. If they died, it would destroy his mate. There would be a part of her that would forever be lost and he wouldn’t be able to fix it.