The Gates (23 page)

“Do you really think that? I mean, are you sure there’s a way?” I took another cup from Gavin and downed its contents.

Josh eyed me as I tossed the cup aside. “Um, Cam … we’re going to have to have a chat about that.”

“Yes.
Definitely
.” Gavin stepped back and hugged the remaining cups to his chest, scrunched his brow in disproval.

I folded my arms across my chest, still eying the thick, luscious blood that sloshed around in the cups with every slight movement. “Gav’s right, Josh. She knows her arsenal’s running low. And something else is scaring her.” I tried to replay the scene from the castle in my head, tried recalling any part of the conversation that would reveal what she was afraid of, but the burning sensations returned full force, causing me to cringe and grasp my forehead, breaking my concentration.

“Look, we can deliberate about all of it later,” Gavin said while he handed me a cup of blood, and then gave me a comforting squeeze. “When I saw my mom, I got desperate. But what’s done is done. Right now our focus should be on convincing Samira to join us, and meeting up with the resistance so we can get the hell out of here. We need to get to Vivienne as soon as possible, to help us figure all this out. She knows the most about the Book of the Ancients.”

Josh let out an exhausted breath and drained his cup. “Doing this means leaving Amaranth again. If we leave these poor people, who knows what’ll happen while we’re gone, Gav. Not to mention your mom.”

“We need to keep the Amaranthians here, anyway,” Gavin said. “If we set them free when we leave, it’ll just bring Gérard straight to us. We’re not ready for that. I told you, my mom’s all Samira has. If she really wants Arianna back—no doubt she does—she won’t touch Mom. And as for the people … we’ll just have to do our best to keep them calm. Unfortunately, the damage is done and there’s not much else we can do.”

Josh shook his head, his face adamant. “But look at what just happened to their villages and their families, Gav. Dead bodies are everywhere. There isn’t the slightest possibility they’ll trust a word we say anymore. They’re in turmoil out there.”

“Someone should stay behind,” I said, thinking of our group of friends in the living area. “Maybe try to assure them that we’re coming back, and we’re still on their side.”

Josh nodded with finality. “I’ll do it.”

I spun my head around to meet his eyes. “What? No! Not you, Josh. I meant someone else—”

“Would you look at them over there?” He gestured to the group of vampires, shook his head. “Still arguing like idiots. They’re so focused on the problem, they can’t think clearly enough to come up with a solution. Their heads aren’t in the game. They’re spent. I’m scared, too, but I’m invested. I’ll stay.”

And that was that. We had a plan. A shaky, weak, crazy plan, perhaps. But it was something nonetheless.

Josh watched over the group while Gavin and I took off for the haven, to get Audrey and Gabe and pick up the Book of the Ancients. We’d just exited the front door when the sight of scattered bodies of innocent villagers stole my breath. “My God. Cecile.” I let my head drop into my hands, stricken at the reminder of her face before the guards sunk their fangs into her. “And all of these poor people. What will I tell Audrey?”

“Hey,” Gavin’s arm encased me. He pulled us off to the side of the street and away from the sickening aftermath. “I know this is a mess, love. I hate that you have to see all this. And changing you was singlehandedly the most horrific thing I’ve ever done. The effect those bodies in the street have on me? It’s nothing compared to what I feel when I look in your eyes now, seeing what you are because of me. Every time I recall looking at you right before—”

“Don’t do this, Gavin.” His voice soothed my sobs, at least; I sniffled and wiped my tears away. “I
begged
you to change me. I didn’t want to die. Not like that. It would’ve been the worst way to go.”

“Camille, all I could think was I’d never see you again. If she killed you, I couldn’t live with it. I would’ve begged her to end me, too. Right there. So I could be by your side, so you’d be the last thing I’d ever see before I died. It’s selfish, I know—”

“Don’t talk like that, Gavin. I’m serious. That’s what I would’ve been: dead. For good. It was this or nothing at all, so just stop talking like that. I asked for this.”

He pressed his forehead to mine. “Words fail, baby.” Leaning down to sweep me up into the most earth-shattering, passionate kiss he’d ever given me, he let his words pour over my lips. “I can never take back the pain I’ve caused you, but I meant what I said at the bayou that day. If you let me, I’ll dedicate the rest of my life to making it up to you in any way humanly possible.”

“You’re not human,” I murmured against him, a tiny smile curling my lips, thankful to be able to breathe him in, to have him here, alive with me, when so much senseless death surrounded us.

“I’d never object to you leaving me,” he whispered. “You know that, right? When we all make it out of this, I’d understand if you’d want to leave and forget you ever knew me.”

“Like that’s even possible,” I tilted my chin up to kiss him again. “And after all we’ve been through? I could never. Besides,” I bit down on his bottom lip, enjoying my new fangs. “I have
these
, and a ring on my finger. I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty much stuck with you.”

“Hmm. You have a point.…”

“And where’s the victory without opposition?” I smiled at Joel’s words, wishing he were here right now to wrap me in his bear hug and tell me,
It’s all going to be okay, princess. Suck it up, will ya?

Gavin gave me a sly smile, interrupting my daydream about our dead friend. “Before we head over to the haven,” he lifted me up and into his arms, wiping the remainder of my tears away, “I think we need to have a little Vampire 101. To make sure you’re familiar with
all
aspects of the vampire lifestyle.”

“Oh?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“You know how I feel about being called ma’am.”

“Make you a deal. I’ll call you whatever you want, as long as you promise to be a good student.”

With a quick jump, he hoisted us into the air, my new ability to fly with him exhilarating, and we whizzed up the hill toward the windmill. The mayhem, the chaos, all of it would still be there waiting for us. All we had right now was this moment. No promises for any future. I intended to live every full, passion-filled, all-consuming moment with him for as long as I could.

Besides, I had heaps of new energy I needed to burn off.

18

WORDS OF WISDOM

“So let me get this straight. You’re a vampire, Scarlet is suddenly MIA, the villages are in shambles, Gavin’s mother is alive, Cecile is dead. And now we’re supposed to take on Gérard the Big, Baddy Conjure Man? With
Samira
? Am I forgetting anything?” Audrey dropped to the floor, half-stunned, half-hysterical, laughing and crying or something in-between. The haven was dark and cold, only faintly candlelit, and filled with items villagers were able to duck away and escape with just before the floodwaters hit.

“I’m so sorry about Cecile, Aud.” I kneeled down and gently rubbed her shoulder, tearing up at the thought of her aunt’s poor face. “If it’s any consolation at all, she was at peace.”

“Don’t lie to me, damn it. You suck at it.”

“Okay, she was scared. But she also had this peaceful look in her eyes. I can’t explain it. It’s like she knew it was her time and she was ready.”

Gabe reached down and handed her a handkerchief, then kissed her forehead.

“I want Samira
dead
.” Audrey blew her nose, her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her. She hadn’t blinked since we told her the news. “I want this whole damn place to go up in flames, you hear me, Devereaux?”

Devereaux?
Oh, Lord. Dramatic Audrey was back in all her thermonuclear glory.

She stood and gripped the table next to her, her gaze still fixed on the wall, her eyes wide as she spoke. “I’m talking colossal disaster of epic proportions. I’m talking tearing the woman limb from limb and leaving her hanging out to dry. I’m talking—”

“Aud, babe.” Gabe tucked her hair behind her ear. “I think we get the picture. That’s what we’re aiming for, don’t worry.”

“I hate seeing you like this,” she turned to me and took me by the arms, stared hard into my eyes, her face scrunching up in distress. She looked away for a second to snarl at Gavin. He looked down, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“None of us planned
any
of this.” I said, glancing at them both. “When I came to the bayou the first time and went to see Gavin, do you know what made me make that decision?” I looked at all three of them. “It was something Joel said to me back in London. He said I was dealt a deck of cards, and I had to decide what to do with them. It was something so simple, but so transcendent. And true. It’s what you do with the circumstances that matters—how you respond to them. That’s what determines your path. These,” I opened my arms and waved to everything around us, exasperated, “these are circumstances we never asked for. But the
path
is something we can choose. I say we don’t rest until we bring as many people to peace and safety as we can. We don’t rest until Gérard is ten feet underground and the curse is lifted.
We don’t rest.
If we don’t fight, we’re not much better than her. And if we can’t do all of that, then …”

“Then at least we know we tried.” Gavin came up behind me and slipped his hands around my waist, leaned down to place his chin over my head.

“Camille Elizabeth Devereaux.” Audrey let out a sigh and stepped back, leaned up against Gabe’s chest. “On second thought, I’m really digging those fangs on you.”

I felt Gavin quiver with suppressed laughter, and I tossed her soggy handkerchief at her, shaking my head.

She cracked a bright smile, straightening up and fluffing out her hair. “Let’s do this.”

“Yes. Let’s go get the bastard.” Gabe hugged her close, clasping hands with Gavin as he did.

Gavin released his grip on me. “Barbequed conjure man, anyone?”

“Oh, yeah,” Gabe patted him on the back. “I like ’em extra crispy.”

We all turned for the door, ready to help the Amaranthians and make final preparations for the resistance’s arrival.

* * *

Samira will say yes to the alliance. I just know she will.
I had this bleak thought while we trudged up the hill and toward the gates. The fireball sun was replaced with the familiar crescent moon, which hung low in the gray sky, calling us home as if it knew our fate. The past few days we’d tried to help the flood survivors with finding their family members, bringing them food and water and some first aid. Most of our efforts were rejected. A hair-raising quiet had fallen across the villages since the flood, leaving the city’s shambles a ghostly wasteland. The only relief stemmed from the retreat of Samira’s guards. Their absence should have comforted the survivors, but all it did was make them angrier and more on edge, waiting for some kind of resolution.

Not a word was spoken between our group and Samira, and Scarlet was officially nowhere to be found. The silence was mutual, understood. There was nothing left to say. All our bargaining chips were on the table, all the damage done. On the brighter side, if there was one, we’d had time to refuel with the blood supply we took from the castle reserve, and were ready for the resistance’s arrival. It was game time, and the game meant life or death.

At the gates, we met the guards with a vengeance, pushing out our invisible protective hedge as we approached them, firing them through the air like cannonballs. Many, recalling our last encounter, cowered away. Those, we stared down, daring them to approach us. Our synchronized steps were more confident. Refreshed. Deadly. My newly agile skin was made for this, and for the first time, I’d be able to really use my strength. Nothing seemed more appealing than fighting to the death, for my loved ones, and for the innocents we were leaving behind in Amaranth, the humans whose lives we decimated because of our presence. It was time to set things right, and my blood thirst agreed with my convictions.

I could see more guards far in the distance, in the direction of the maze and portal door. We split up, with Josh and some of the others fleeing to the portal to fight off the guards and clear the way for the resistance.

“So what’s it going to be, Samira?” Gavin asked as soon as we entered the throne room. “Where’s my mother?”

Samira glided down the granite steps, her hard, thin lips pressed into a rigid line. She answered him by slowly turning her head to the side and fixing her eyes on her wolves, which were approaching from the other side of the room. Her servant, Victor, rushed over to undo Gavin’s mother’s cuffs. She made her way toward Gavin, her steps quickening when he dashed forward to capture her in his arms.

“My son, my son, my son,” was all she seemed able to say as she wept into his shoulder, her thin frame contracting as the sobs shook her body. Gavin had to hold her up to keep her from slumping to the floor. I’d barely had time to recognize it before, but now I was mesmerized by the resemblance she shared with Gavin. Her beautiful skin, hair as rich as cocoa, those warm, intense eyes that captivated me. I chanced a peek at Samira, who’d turned around to face the fireplace. I could sense she was still tense, but her demeanor was subdued.