As Shadows Fade

Seventeen In Which Sebastian Exercises Unusual Prudence

Victoria couldn’t breathe.

“Where’s Max?” she asked again. She tried to keep her voice calm. She was sure she succeeded. It was a simple question. It should have a simple answer. He’s coming. He’s just around the bend. He’ll be along in a moment.

Sebastian took her arm, turning her to face him, away from the road on which he and Michalas had just ridden in. “Victoria,” he said, his voice sharp, “he obtained the rings for us. We have the last two rings. He stayed.” He spoke clearly, slowly, and she wondered vaguely how many times she’d already asked, and how many times he’d replied.

He stayed.

Victoria closed her eyes and crossed her arms tightly across her churning belly. No. Nononononooo.

“We have the rings,” Michalas said in a gentler voice. “Lilith gave them up.”

But she kept Max.

“We-I-have to go after him,” she said, her head suddenly clearing. The cobwebs slipped off; the nausea filtered away. Confidence settled over her, and purpose.

This she could do. This was her duty, her task, her calling. She’d come face-to-face with Lilith before. Max must know she’d come after him. He’d planned it this way.

Though her fingers trembled, she drew herself up regally and looked at each of the men in turn. “Michalas, you know the way to her lair now. You can lead me there, and I’ll find a way in.” She turned to Sebastian, who’d opened his mouth to argue. “I know we have the five rings. You and Brim can go and retrieve the orb while I free Max.”

“We have guests,” Sebastian said, his thick blond hair riffled by a breeze. He’d not stopped looking at her, a mixture of pity and understanding in his gaze. “Lilith sent some of her own to assist.”

Victoria turned and saw three heavily cloaked figures standing in the shadow of the small inn where she and Brim had rested. That explained the chill at the back of her neck, the sensation she’d barely acknowledged when she realized Max was not with Michalas and Sebastian. Every other thought had fallen away when she realized he wasn’t there.

Now she accepted the presence of vampires, well covered to protect themselves from the lowering sun.

“They’re to return the rings to her when we’ve finished with them,” Sebastian told her.

A sizzle of relief tickled her. “And Lilith will release Max then? She’s holding him only as a hostage?”

He shook his head. “That wasn’t part of the arrangement.”

Her stomach pitched again. “Then it will be as I said. Michalas and I will go to free Max, and you’ll go to the enchanted pool.”

Sebastian drew in his breath to speak, but Victoria turned away and approached the vampires. They stood in a tight cluster, careful not to allow any part of their flesh to be exposed to the sun. Under their heavy black hoods, two of them looked at her with red-violet eyes, and the third with ruby-pink irises. She saw the gleam of a sword falling from the invisible hand of one of the purple-eyed ones. Two Imperials and a Guardian.

Victoria felt a little chill up her spine. “I am Victoria Gardella,” she told them.

“We know who you are,” replied the tallest of the three, who happened to be a female Imperial. The sword she held, the Imperial weapon of choice, shifted menacingly against the side of her cloak. “I am called Mercy because I show none. Lilith sends a message to you.”

Victoria inclined her head to accept the message.

“We three are to take you to the enchanted pool, and then to lead you to the Midiverse Portal. We’re to return unharmed immediately after with the rings. If we don’t return within a week’s time, Maximilian will suffer.”

“She’ll release him when you return?”

The Imperial laughed. “No… Lilith merely promises not to torture him before she turns him undead.”

“Simply being in her presence is torture,” Victoria said, forcing the words from her dry mouth. “That is no guarantee. Nothing to keep me from turning you to dust at this moment.”

The Imperial shrugged, her sword brushing against the cloak of her companion. “So be it. If we three do not return with the rings in a week’s time, you can be assured that she’ll keep her word.”

Victoria firmed her lips and turned away. She had to get to him. The others could retrieve the orb. They could go to the Midiverse Portal. They didn’t need her.

She couldn’t leave Max here.

She had to go after him.

Without another word, Victoria turned and went inside the inn. Once in the small chamber she’d used to sleep in, she dug through the long leather bag in which she stored her weapons. She’d go in well armed and fight her way to Max.

She could have Michalas show her the entrance to the lair, and then he could go with the others. They would need the three of them, certainly, to fight the demons escaping from the portal, but they could do it.

She knew they could. They were Venators.

Max.

Victoria brushed angry, sharp tears from her eyes. How could he have done this? He had to have known what would happen.

How could he have left me?

They should have gone together.

A noise behind her drew her upright, and she dashed her hand across her eyes again before turning. Sebastian stood there, blocking the doorway.

“Victoria.”

“You can’t stop me,” she said flatly. “Don’t try. I have to go after him. He’d go after me.”

Sebastian nodded. “Of course he would want to. But you know Max, and how damn insufferable he is about doing the right thing. He’d rather suffer than be happy.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but you’re not going to change my mind.”

He shook his head. “I’m not here to change your mind. He knew you’d go after him. And of course you should, Victoria. I’d come after you. Always.”

Another blasted tear stung her eyes. Why now, why after two years of angst and fear and anger did she have to act like a watering pot every time something happened? Aunt Eustacia had never shed a tear.

“But I wanted to tell you what it was like in there,” Sebastian continued, walking into the room. “He was brilliant. I bloody well thought I’d never admit it aloud, but the man was brilliant. And strong. So damn strong. He was ahead of her every step of the way; he knew what she was going to say-and do-before she did it. He’d planned it all.”

“Why in God’s name didn’t you just kill her and get the rings and go?” Victoria burst out. “Why did he have to trade himself? Didn’t he know what that would do to me?” She clamped her mouth shut, but her voice had already risen in a high-pitched wail.

“I wondered the same thing, but then I understood,” Sebastian said, almost gently. His amber eyes focused on her, a depth of seriousness she hadn’t often seen within them. “There was no way to get the rings after she was dead. They were hidden in a little chamber. She touched the wall with her hand, and the door appeared as if from nowhere-some kind of magic, I think. We would never have found the chamber or the rings, and it would have all been for naught.”

“But after you got them,” she said desperately, “you could have attacked her and left with the rings. You didn’t have to leave him there!” Now the tears exploded, to her great chagrin and shame, and she knuckled them furiously away.

He opened his mouth to speak, then seemed to think better of it and instead drew her into his arms. She allowed him to embrace her, to settle her head on his shoulder and to feel the familiar comfort of his body, the faint scent of cloves and tobacco. How many times had he done this for her? And this time… this time she knew he had no ulterior motive.

He meant only to give comfort. Dear Sebastian.

“Victoria,” he said, his voice rumbling in his chest against her ear, “he knew the risk. He was fully aware of the sacrifice he made.”

Sacrifice.

Damn Max. Why did he have to be so bloody noble?

“We had no weapons. There was no way to leave unless she allowed it. He knew that. He’s been there before. He knew what he was doing, the risk. The sacrifice. There was no other way.”

Sacrifice.

Aunt Eustacia had sacrificed herself, too. She’d made Max do the unthinkable because she knew he would. One life given for the safety of many.

Victoria pushed the thought away. This was different. This was Max. Her Max.

She’d free him, or she’d die trying. She didn’t want to live without him.

Coward.

Dying is easier than going on without.

I’m a coward when it comes to you.

She pulled away from Sebastian. “Go and get the orb. I’ll…” Her voice broke. She felt as though her insides were twisting like a rag being wrung out. Harder, tighter, until every bit of feeling leeched away… leaving her empty.

She swallowed, stood upright, and looked straight at him. “I order you to go, as your Illa Gardella. Get the orb. Close the Midiverse Portal. God willing, I’ll see you after.”

Sebastian looked at her. “Illa Gardella,” he said, reaching to touch her cheek, brushing away a tear. “You are a magnificent woman, Victoria. A brave, intelligent leader. Beautiful and strong.” His expression grew intense, and he took her chin to keep her eyes fastened on him. “You are Illa Gardella. Never forget that.”

He turned her face up and kissed her… not on the lips, but on the cheeks-one side and then the other. Then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

She realized then that he’d finally accepted her love for Max.

Turning back to her preparations, she felt a wave of fear again. What if she was too late?

What if they didn’t get the orb? If something went wrong, and the portal wasn’t closed?

You are Illa Gardella.

She was.

Victoria’s knees gave way and she let herself sink onto the bed.

You are Illa Gardella now, Victoria. You have an obligation to the Consilium and the rest of the Venators. You can no longer think only of yourself, of your needs and desires, but of the far-reaching consequences of your actions. Or inactions.

It’s time you learned sacrifice.

Max’s angry words came roaring back to her, words he fairly shouted at her during their escape from Nedas, months ago.

Sacrifice.

Bloody damn sacrifice.

Illa Gardella. Last of the line.

Of course. He meant to protect not only her, Victoria, the woman he loved… but also her, the last of the line.

Of course.

She didn’t like it, but she understood better why. Why he’d leave her behind, why he had to leave her behind. Why he thought he had to leave her behind.

And she knew she couldn’t go after him. At least, not yet.

Not until the task at hand was done.

Duty before desire.

But then. And then she’d do what she vowed to do: She’d find Lilith, and she’d kill her.

And then Max would be free.

The five rings fit perfectly, amazingly, from thumb to pinkie. Sebastian had slipped them all on, one by one, and they snugly enclosed his fingers.

The copper bands, half as wide as the length from knuckle to knuckle, felt surprisingly comfortable. They weren’t particularly ornate or unusual-five simple rings, made of braided copper strands, each slightly twisted and plaited differently from the one before it.

He looked over at Victoria, her short hair curling around her pale face. She couldn’t see the glow that flushed her cheeks, but he recognized it with a deep pang, and felt another halfhearted wave of jealousy. Unless he was wrong, she carried Pesaro’s child, the child who would continue the direct Gardella line.

He wondered if Pesaro knew.

He suspected if he had, he would not only have left her behind, but probably imprisoned her safely somewhere.

Not that Sebastian wouldn’t do the same, were he in that enviable situation.

And not that it would have done any good, to try to put Victoria out of action.

Thank God she’d decided not to risk herself going after Max, for the loss could be greater than they realized.

Her eyes wandered briefly to the mountain that rose behind them, and he imagined how the need to go there must drive at her.

But she’d abandoned her plan to go after Max. The portal had to be closed first, and difficult as it was, much as the strain showed in her face and around her eyes, he saw that she’d made the decision. She’d accepted Pesaro’s sacrifice. And perhaps she did realize that her duty as Illa Gardella extended beyond anything the men could do.

“The pool is there,” said Mercy, breaking into his thoughts. She pointed with a powerful hand toward a small outcropping of rock.

Now that the sun had set, the undead had shed their cloaks and moved about with ease. The two Imperials sported swords at their waists, but kept them sheathed.

For Sebastian, such casual interaction with vampires bothered him little. He’d become used to it while living with Beauregard off and on over the years. Of course, this situation was different, yet he had heard Lilith’s orders. She’d given her followers direction in the ancient language, presumably unaware that Sebastian’s grandfather had taught it to him long ago.

Her instructions were clear: They weren’t to harm the mortals in any way until the portal was safely closed. Then they were to get the rings, take Victoria prisoner, and kill the others.

Of course, Sebastian had passed that information along to his companions, who had agreed with him that the undead wouldn’t make it to see the Midiverse Portal. They didn’t need them as guides for anything but the location of the pool, and here they were.

Now he moved toward the indicated crust of rock formation. The sun had set, but still cast a generous glow from beneath the horizon. That last bit of light would fade fast, and the moon had waned to a generous half circle since they’d left Prague more than a week ago.

He wouldn’t be able to see well for much longer.

Victoria and Michalas moved forward with torches to light his way, while Brim lagged behind the trio of vampires to watch for anything unexpected.

Sebastian had insisted on being the one to wear the rings and to dip his hand in the pool, for if he was wrong about the protection of the rings, it was only fitting that he bear the results. And aside from that, he needed to do it. The desire was just as compelling as the curiosity that had driven him to look at the Gardella Bible, and he saw no reason to fight it.

He still sought whatever path had been set for him.

The vampires agreed with him, although Victoria argued and wanted to don the rings herself. But Sebastian had stood firm.

The torchlight glinted over the glasslike water. Despite the soft breeze that had kept the day from being miserably hot, even though they were in the foothills of a huge mountain, the water didn’t move a ripple. Instead, the surface reflected their tall torches and the last streaks of light in the sky behind him as Sebastian knelt next to it.

Victoria and Michalas stood guard between him and the vampires, in the event they felt it was their duty to shove him-or any of them-into the pool. Although that seemed as if it would be a futile effort, for the pool was hardly larger than a carriage, and likely wouldn’t be very deep.

The size of a wagon, but perfectly circular, except for a little bulge on its west side, the pool sat surrounded by flat white rocks built up in layers above and, likely, below the waterline.

“The orb is hardly larger than your palm,” Mercy said, moving to stand across the water from Sebastian. “You’ll have to feel around for it.”

“The water isn’t deep,” Sebastian replied.

But it was lethal, as they soon found when he poked a stick into its perfect mirror. He felt a faint shuddering of the branch, and when he withdrew it moments later, he saw that the part that had been submerged was gone. The edge of the stick smoked, as if it had been burned.

Sebastian drew in a deep breath and moved a bit closer to the edge. He looked down and saw his face reflected in the surface, perfectly detailed as if he looked in a mirror. The tops of Victoria’s and Michalas’s heads flanked his shoulders, and the flames of their torches flickered near the center of the image.

With a deep breath, he extended the little finger of his ringless left hand, the one that had been cut off at the second knuckle by the bloodthirsty Sara Regalado. Since it was already maimed, it couldn’t get much worse, he figured. He touched the blunt tip to the very top of the water and felt such a searing pain that he nearly screamed.

Jerking his hand back, he looked at the edge of his finger and saw that it was black. The flesh had been burned away where he’d touched the water, leaving a gleam of white bone in the center of the blackened skin.

God Almighty.

He looked up at Victoria, whose face had set grimly. “Let me do it,” she said, holding out her hand for the rings.

“No,” he said. “It’s not for you to do. The rings will protect me.” He hoped.

Flexing his right hand, the one with all five fingers still intact-and each one now encircled by copper-Sebastian offered up a little prayer. And he plunged his hand in.

The puddle shifted nary a ripple, but his fingers pushed through with no effort.

He felt the bite of the edge of the water’s surface against his arm, like a knife brushing against him, and he pulled his hand back, expecting to see blood.

Nothing. Not even a scratch.

And, oddly, no droplets of water splattered when he pulled out. Instead, it dripped off in heavy spherical drops, like mercury, sliding back into the pool and fading into invisibility.

He looked down and immersed his hand once again. This time, although he felt the cut of the water, he ignored it and began to gingerly seek the orb, unsure what other surprises he might find.

Beneath the surface, the pool felt just like any other body of water: surging, pressing, and wet. Sebastian moved his fingers around, feeling along for anything spherical. He touched a sandy bottom, smooth and without the slime of seaweed or the random bump of stone.

He inched closer to the edge of the water, and felt Victoria’s hands close around his shoulders, holding him steady and safe. That allowed him to seek further, and he stared at the image of his face on the water, with Victoria and her dark, tousled curls and anxious expression above and to the side of his.

He focused on the image of them together while using his hand to feel around, looking at her, and himself, his fingers brushing the soft bottom of the pool. He felt something sharp and pointed and paused, running his fingers around it, wishing he had another set of five rings so that he could use both hands to seek.

The object felt pyramid-shaped, heavy, larger than his hand, definitely not the orb. But he wondered what it might be.

Reluctantly leaving it in place, for the vampire eyes watched him closely, he slid his hand around to the right, sweeping farther and farther. As he searched, he concentrated by keeping his eyes focused on Victoria’s gaze in the image reflected below.

Having swept through most of the large section of the pool, he slid this time into the baylike bulge on the side. The water was deeper here, and it reached past his elbow when he brushed the bottom.

Then his bare fingers moved something hard and rough, very different from the sandy bottom or a glass sphere.

Then the rough object… opened, or gave way, or somehow changed under the pressure of his hand, and his arm slid deeper into the water. Sebastian felt a little zing of awareness trip through him as he felt something close around his hand and wrist… like sand or the mud of a bog.

He couldn’t move for a moment, couldn’t pull his hand out, and his breathing caught, his vision spotted.

There was a soft rustle in his ears, deep in his mind, whispering in the back of his head. Sebastian blinked and shook his head, refocusing on the mirrorlike pool where his hand remained immersed. He saw his face on the surface, and Giulia’s behind him, her long, dark hair falling over her shoulder and onto his.

Her lips moved. She was speaking, urgently, her eyes big and dark. Save me.

He cried out, reached out automatically behind him, yanking his hand from the water and twisting to touch her, flinging the ball-like droplets every which way. They bounced back into the pool as he realized no one was there behind him.

No one but Victoria, who, upon his exclamation of surprise, had pulled him back from the pool so that he tumbled onto his arse on the ground behind him. The black spots in his vision had gone, his hand was unharmed, and the little zing of awareness went away. His breathing rough, Sebastian shook his head and regained his focus.

Was he going mad, or had the pool triggered one of his dreams?

She’d never spoken to him like that before. Pleading, begging. Save me.

But how. Bloody damn how?

“Sebastian.” He looked up to find Victoria bending over him, her face close and definitely not like Giulia’s, except for the dark hair and dark eyes. Perhaps it wasn’t so far-fetched that his mind had played such a trick. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” he replied shortly. “I was merely startled.”

“What happened? Perhaps I should try-”

“No, damn it. Move out of the way, and let me try again. There’s not much more I haven’t searched, so if the orb is there, I’ll find it.” His hand was fine, and though that had been an odd sensation, he was unharmed. He’d never felt as though the pool was sucking him in or meant to drag him down. It hadn’t been… threatening.

Not threatening, but, perhaps… enlightening.

Ignoring the sharp look Victoria gave him, Sebastian moved to the opposite side of the pool and knelt there. The sun had gone completely to bed, and the only light was from the anemic half-moon and the orange cast from the torches. This, along with the position of the mountain behind him now, left the reflection of the pool darker and more indistinct. Just as well. He didn’t need to see Giulia crying for help.

Taking a deep breath, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Sebastian plunged his hand in once more. This time, the cut of the water hardly bothered him. His fingers moved deftly in this area of the pool, sifting over the soft piles of sand until at last they brushed something hard and smooth. Rounded.

The orb.

He covered it with his hand; it fit into his palm neatly enough, and felt warm and… pleasant. Gently tingly, lightly comforting, and solid.

Settling back on his haunches, he pulled his hand out, and there it was. The shining blue Tached’s Orb.

Its glow illuminated Victoria’s face as she bent closer. It bathed her cheeks and lips, the tips of her curls, with rays of silvery aqua. As he held it, he felt the continued heat of comfort and… peace. It was the only word he could think of to describe the well-being that trickled through him.

“Now remove the rings,” said Mercy in her grating voice. “I’ll have them.” Her eyes glowed greedily red-violet, and her fangs poked into her bottom lip. “There is one other item I wish to retrieve from below.”

Sebastian thought of the prism he’d touched earlier. “What is it you seek?”

“Take off the rings,” Mercy repeated, but then her words trailed off.

Victoria had moved and now had a stake in her hand, and a sword in the other. “You seem to have forgotten your manners, vampire,” she said. Her eyes glittered, and Sebastian could see that she spoiled for a fight.

“It’s of no use to mortals,” Mercy said. “Only to the undead.”

“I see no reason to accommodate your undeadness,” Victoria replied. “Now move away, and we’ll be off to the portal. Or… Brim?”

Sebastian looked to see that Brim had, for all of his massive bulk, moved quickly and quietly to capture the Guardian vampire. He held him from behind, stake poised over his undead heart.

Mercy cast a quick glance, then shrugged. “You’ll face Lilith’s wrath if the three of us don’t return.”

“Oh, dear. Lilith’s wrath? I don’t believe I’ve ever faced that in my life.” Victoria moved her head in permission, and Brim slammed the stake home. The damned Guardian never had a chance. “Now do you wish to take us to the portal, or will you be next?”

As the undead dust settled, Sebastian saw Mercy take a step back. The vampire pressed her lips together, fury burning in her eyes.

But Sebastian saw that Victoria wasn’t about to forgive her insult, and she whipped out her own stake. Michalas moved quickly as she did so, shoving the other Imperial toward the pool. He screamed as he fell, catching himself on the side. Brim planted his foot in the back of the undead and gave a solid push, quickly removing his foot before the boot burned away.

Mercy shrieked, “Lilith will kill him!”

But Victoria had already leapt toward her, over and away from the pool. Sebastian watched warily, but he also thought he understood why Victoria wanted this battle, here and now. She had to relieve that coiled tension and worry somehow.

The battle was short; whether because it was a surprise or so furious, it didn’t matter. Victoria took a few blows, gave some of her own, and then had and took the opportunity to shove the stake through Mercy’s heart.

“No more Mercy,” she said grimly, standing and dusting her hands off.

Sebastian gave Victoria the orb, and she wrapped it carefully in a cloth and slipped it into an inside pocket of her trousers.

“What else was in the pool?” she asked softly as they stood, preparing to mount their horses.

“It felt like a small pyramid of some sort. That was the only other thing I found,” he said. “And I’m not sure what it is. I could take it out, but without knowing what it is or if it has powers, I think it best that we don’t. Perhaps Wayren will know, and we can retrieve it later.”

“Each of us should take one of the rings then,” Victoria said quietly. “The last thing we need is for anyone to get all five of them together again and be able to breach the pool.”

Sebastian agreed wholeheartedly and slipped his fingers around the band on his thumb. But it wouldn’t move. At all.

“What the bloody hell?” he muttered. He tried to pull another one off, the one that had seemed the loosest. It wouldn’t budge, not even to twist around his finger.

The rings were stuck fast to his skin.