Tradition Be Damned

  She waved her hand. “My week was fine. How are you holding up?”

  “Badly. I’m losing the ability to focus. The rooms are blurring into nothingness. I get moments of clarity, and then they’re gone. I see the demons, the victims, Frank who isn’t there. Otherwise, nothingness … I think I might be dying.”

  Daniella nodded while she chewed on her bottom lip. “You’re not dying. I thought the same thing once.”

  “When you were locked in a cage and dragged around to make money for a lunatic?” I wasn’t the first woman the Doctor had done this to. He’d had the cage ready, and it was clear from the scratch marks that someone else had once been imprisoned there.

  “You know my story.”

  I did. She’d told me the first time she visited. This was the dark time. She’d had one, and all who passed through to enlightenment, to true Sisterhood and the real purpose—whatever any of that meant—had their turn. She’d been dragged away for speaking against the Sisterhood. They’d dropped her off in a factory on the edge of the Deadlands run by a sadistic woman who hated her on sight. By the time her guys found her, which had been years, she’d been nearly dead from dehydration and starvation. Her hands had never recovered from the breaking machines she’d used to put together clothing that was then sold to the Nobles.

  Every day she’d been attacked by demons until her soul was shredded. When she’d come back to herself, it had been as a stronger fighter. The kind of Sister who could speak to people in dreams, see their futures, and change her eyes at will. She still wouldn’t tell me why her guards had lost their eyes and how they were all so connected.

  “I do. I’m sorry. I’m tired today.” Then I asked her what I always asked her. “Can you see my future?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet.”

  I squeezed her hands in mine. I’d be leaving soon. I still wouldn’t know who the woman crying was or anything new from Daniella. But I did know something was quite different about my story than her own—my guards thought I was dead. Hers had known, even as they’d had to escape their own deaths to get to her, that she lived in the world.

  As far as anyone knew, the possessed who’d knocked me onto the ground had killed me. They’d never find a body, but it wouldn’t matter. What other possibility could there be?

  I coughed, trying to hold in the sound. Frank laughed at my efforts. Cooperman didn’t like to hear me cough. I was running a fever, but he didn’t care and hadn’t for days. We had appointments, and the possessed people with money weren’t concerned with how sick I was getting. The last few nights I’d not seen Daniella at all. I was really, truly alone.

  Something banged loudly above my head, and I rolled over, deeper into the blanket. I didn’t know that sound, and lately, things that were unknown to me were terrifying. Fear had me burrow deeper into my one blanket as though it could protect me from the unknown.

  I knew better, but I did it anyway.

  Several more crashes sounded, and a scream. I shuddered. Something was wrong. Maybe the possessed had descended on the house. They were killing Cooperman and his sons. They’d come for me next. Or they wouldn’t. I’d starve to death in this cage.

  The door to the basement swung open, and footsteps sounded down the dark stairs. Someone struck a match for some light. Being in the dark so much, it took me a long time to adjust to light, and sometimes I couldn’t. I closed my eyes against the soft glare. My powers came to life. I shuddered. I didn’t have the energy for whatever was going to happen.

  “Annie? Shit, it is you. Hold on. Hold on.”

  I recognized the voice and forced my lids open. It was … Garrett. He was at the side of my cage in a few seconds. His match went out, and we were both bathed in darkness.

  My voice strained, but I managed to get out some words. “How are you here?”

  “I’ll tell you all about that after I figure out how to get you out of here.” He picked up the lock. Cooperman and his sons had keys.

  “You’ll have to get the key from one of the sons or the father. Cooperman.” My throat ached. I sank further into my blanket. “But you’ll want to get out of here before they catch you. They kill people.”

  I’d seen them take out a person who’d refused to pay. It hadn’t been pretty.

  He touched my arm through the bar. “They don’t anymore.” He turned from me for a second to shout up the stairs. “I need the keys off their belts. Annie is down here.”

  “You’re supposed to be in the house that you own. That’s where you’ve been.”

  Garrett squatted down. In the darkness I could see his hair had gotten longer; it grew past his ears. “What?”

  It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to try to speak. This was a dream. Garrett wasn’t in the basement with me. It wasn’t possible.

  Loud footsteps clamored down the steps, multiple pairs of them, and someone had a kerosene lamp. I closed my eyes, hating the fact that I couldn’t take the light.

  “Anne?” It was Bryant’s voice and then Mason’s. Milo. Kieran. My name over and over and then words. More words than I’d heard in so long. Everything … hurt.

  The cage opened, and hands pulled me out. Garrett held me against him first. They were all talking. It was too much; the world whited out to the nothingness of blurred edges and power. I was safe in my power. I didn’t have to do anything. I could just … be.

  Wrapped in a blanket, I shivered violently. Blinking, I realized I had no idea where I was. Someone whose voice I didn’t know spoke in a clipped tone. “Very, very sick. Lucky you got her to me when you did. The infection should clear with the lavender leaves and the healing balm in the tea. It’s going to take weeks.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” Bryant answered him. “We can’t thank you enough.”

  Doctor? No, I didn’t want the doctor. I didn’t want him to bring over Cooperman. Why would he do that? What was going on?

  “Shh.” A cold hand on my forehead. “Easy, Anne. You’re safe.”

  I raised my eyes. “Milo?”

  “Yes.” His gaze was kind, and he lay down next to me. “You have a bad flu. Coupled with some infections on yours arms and legs, you’re sick. But you’re going to get better.”

  He opened up his arms, and I crawled into them. “Shh. It’s okay, love.” He kissed my forehead. “You’re okay.”

  “Are you real?”

  He rubbed my back gently. “Are you?”

  “I’m not sure anymore.”

  Milo moved me until my head was on his chest. “That’s my heartbeat. I’m real.”

  “She okay?” Mason walked over to us. “She awake?”

  My youngest guard nodded. “She’s sort of awake. She’s not sure I’m real.”

  A strong hand touched my arm and squeezed. “This is real. You’re safe.”

  I appreciated Mason saying so, but I knew better. “There’s no such thing.”

  I closed my eyes. The nothingness of the power. That’s what I needed. Blurred edges.

  Over my head, the fates flew … watching, always watching me.

  I opened my eyes. There was no sun in the room, but a fire burned in a fireplace nearby. My eyes still hurt, although less so. Kieran hummed softly in my ear. I lay on my side with his arm around me. I’d pressed my head against his neck. That couldn’t be comfortable for him. I pulled back slightly.

  “Hey.” He grinned at me. His streaked hair had been cut so short it no longer fell into his eyes.

  “Kieran?”

  He propped himself up on his elbow. “You know me? We’re not sure if you are always recognizing us right now. Doctor says it’s the fever.”

  “What doctor?” I pulled back even further. If they’d brought Cooperman to wherever this was, I had to get out. I’d run. They couldn’t understand.

  “Hey, hey.” He tugged me gently back to him. “The doctor in the town here. I think his name was Hendricks. He seemed okay. What’s the matter?”

&nbsp
; “Oh.” I tried to breathe. “Okay. I … I can’t really explain it.” He’d never understand. “Are you really here?”

  He kissed my burned hand. “I’m here. I’m real. I’m so sorry, Anne. We’re so sorry. I can’t really explain to you … I couldn’t wake up. I wanted to.”

  “Are you talking about the last night on the train? There was magic involved. You couldn’t have woken up. Don’t be sorry.”

  Kieran stroked my hair. “I am sorry. I’ll always be sorry. I wanted to help you. I failed. Then you were … gone and we couldn’t find you for so long.”

  “I’ve been really cold.” I didn’t want to talk about apologies. “I’m always going to be now. Too many demons, too much sadness. I think I might be dying.”

  He shook his head. “Not dying, my sweet love. We’ve learned some things. Garrett is like a machine. He has found every piece of information on the Sisterhood he could, and we’ve learned. You need things you haven’t been getting. You’re going to have what you need to thrive.”

  “Kieran.” Bryant strode into the room. He rubbed his eyes. Wherever he’d come from, he’d been asleep. “Is she awake?”

  He didn’t wait for Kieran to answer but scooted in next to me. I was sandwiched between them. Bryant kissed the back of my head. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? What do you need?”

  “She’s not one hundred percent coherent yet.” Kieran kissed my forehead. “But she’s getting there. She’s cold on the inside, doesn’t think she can get warm. I’ve promised her she will and that she’s not dying.”

  Bryant’s hand squeezed my hip. “I’m so sorry, my love.”

  “No apologies. If this is real and not some cruel joke of my mind, then you came for me. You shouldn’t have. You had the letter. You were supposed to go on with your lives. I kept thinking you were doing things. Kieran, I never asked you what your dream was. I need to know so I can think about it before bed. It’s not a bar, right? Now that I’m here with you, it can’t really be a bar.”

  “Kieran did you want to own a bar?” Bryant adjusted behind me, maybe making himself more comfortable but effectively cutting off my babble.

  “No.” Kieran kissed my mouth, not gently but with a force that made me sigh. “But I would if you want me to, Anne. My dream? At this point, it’s to get you healthy and warm. Any other dreams I ever had have faded.”

  That wasn’t the answer I needed. “What am I supposed to think about before bed if I don’t know?”

  Bryant squeezed my hip again. “Don’t think about anything. It’s quiet here. The fire is lit. You’re back with us. When the fever lifts, you’ll be sure of it. You’ve been getting your medicine, although I doubt you remember. You’re going to be fine.”

  I listened to him. But he was wrong. I wasn’t going to be fine because in my dreams the possessed came. Over and over. They needed me. They needed me. And I’d never be enough.

  When I woke up again, the fire in the room was out. I hadn’t moved. Kieran’s eyes were closed, and he made the slightest noise from his mouth every time he breathed. Bryant’s arm was still around me where it had been when he’d talked me into going back to sleep. My throat hurt, but I knew I was better. My body ached everywhere, yet the overall feeling of not knowing what was going on had fled.

  A sound on the other side of the room caught my attention, and I looked over to see Mason getting off the floor. He grinned at me before he touched my foot, giving it a squeeze. I grinned back, which he must have liked because his smile broadened.

  He’d tamed his hair back into braids, small ones that ran from the tip of his forehead down to where his hair ended.

  “You changed your hair.” My voice was barely a squeak. I cleared my throat, and Kieran’s eyes flew open.

  He looked around, blinking wildly before his gaze landed on Mason. “Did you wake her up?”

  “No.” Mason shrugged. “She woke up. I came over.”

  Kieran put a hand on my forehead. “She’s cool. Finally. And drenched in sweat.”

  Suddenly, how gross it must be for him to hold me dawned on me. “I’m so sorry. I’ll move. And …”

  Bryant tugged me tighter. “Don’t you dare move.”

  Milo appeared in the doorway. “Garrett is cooking. Hiya, Anne. Nice to see your eyes open and clear. Come on down. There’s bacon.”

  My stomach turned at the thought. “I’m not sure I can stomach it. I haven’t had more than broth and potatoes for so long.”

  “Baby steps.” Bryant kissed my neck. “Milo, tell Garrett Anne will be down to eat with us when she’s ready.”

  I needed a shower.

  Mason followed me into the bathroom. I thought about objecting, but the truth was I didn’t know for certain I wouldn’t fall on my face. The room was spacious, as the bedroom had been. The walls were painted beige, and the sheets on the bed had been laundered, and not itchy. The bathroom had white towels folded neatly on shelves.

  “Where are we?” I turned to Mason while he turned on the water.

  “A place about an hour north of where you were. We rented it when we pinpointed you to somewhere in the area. We have it for a month. Then we’ll figure out what to do. The owner is visiting her family south of here.”

  They’d rented a house. The act seemed so … strange to me. “Mason, how long was I gone?”

  “Too long.” He pulled me to him, kissing my nose. I loved the affection, and I’d never say no, but he hadn’t answered my question.

  “More specific, please.”

  He sighed. With his arms around me, I could feel he’d grown, broadened with his time away from me. He was more muscular than I’d ever known him. “Little over a year, Anne.”

  “A year.” I couldn’t fathom it. “How could it have been so long? The days, they’re like one giant day, and the nights …”

  He kissed my cheek. “How did he hurt you? I mean, we have all seen your burned hand.”

  “I tried to escape; it was my punishment.”

  Cooperman sticking my hand against the hot, metal brand. I’d always have the letter C on it now …

  Mason pressed his mouth to the top of my hair. “What else?”

  “Sometimes they beat me. But I was worth too much money. I was hungry a lot and obviously getting sick. Other than that, nothing.”

  His arms tightened around me. “Nothing else?”

  “That’s not enough?” It was a funny question. What was he getting at?

  “Plenty.”

  A thought dawned on me. “This might be hugely inappropriate. I’m still sick and probably not up to anything at all. So maybe it won’t be interesting. But would you like to get in with me? I just …”

  I wanted Mason with me. I didn’t know how else to explain it.

  He took off his shirt. “Yep. Can’t think of anything I’d like more.”

  Fourteen

  I’d asked Mason to join me in the shower with no expectations of sex, but now that I was in the shower with him, under the hot spray, I wondered if I’d made a mistake taking it off the table. He made no move to do anything but hold me or help me.

  We stood, my back to his chest, letting the water hit us gently. “I’m sorry I got us all into this mess.”

  When I looked back at that day with the original demon, I realized I should have found another way. Anything would have been better than what had happened.

  “You’re sorry?” He took my shoulders and flipped me around to face him. The broad expanse of his chest was all I could see. I’d not been wrong; Mason had really gotten stronger. “I was the one who couldn’t wake up. Trapped behind that mask in that dream state. I saw you. I knew what you were going to do. I was sure of it. When I finally ripped that thing off my head, it was already too late to save you. You were gone.”

  His words shook me. “You remember that?”

  I’d always assumed they weren’t really there, that their masks were metaphors and the whole thing manifested in
my own head but not in theirs.

  He took my hand and brought it to his mouth. Gently, he kissed my knuckles. “That was all real, sweetness. All of it. We understand it now. Better than you do, it would seem. Trust me when I say every single second of it was real.”

  My mind shifted when my powers turned on. It felt different this time, like they were a breeze in my brain. I could see the circle of power, and then I stood in it again. It was that night. I watched myself … vanish.

  What was going on? I whirled around to look. My guys were all trapped in their masks, only I saw them from a different perspective. I was outside the circle with them. I tried to grab who I thought was Mason, but it was hard to tell since I couldn’t see their eyes anymore. My hand went right through him.

  Okay. That was odd.

  This was a memory … but not my own.

  Mason ripped his stone mask off his face; it came apart into two pieces. That was impossible. Even Mason couldn’t be that strong. Except he was. I’d just seen him do it.

  “Anne,” he bellowed before he jumped through the flames to come out in the center. I gasped. He shouldn’t have done that. He could have hurt himself. I followed after him, not worried about the flames. He was in the center of the circle now, staring up at the flying creatures above us.

  “Give her back.” He pointed to them. “Give her back, now.”

  “Stop that.” Milo appeared by his side. “Don’t yell at them. Don’t you know what they are? Don’t you remember? They can take her back. They can take her, and we’ll never see her again. Doesn’t anyone else remember?”

  I jerked back. We were in the shower. I couldn’t catch my breath. Mason stood still, his eyes totally white. I gasped, grabbing his face as his eyes returned to their normal, gorgeous deep brown. “Are you okay? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that to you.”

  A slow smile crossed his face. “Do that anytime you want. I’ve been waiting for it. We all have, even if we didn’t know it. Stay inside of me. Do you really see me like that?”