“So let me get this straight,” Nate held up a hand after she finished. “The Fountain of Youth is in an underground cave?”
“Yes.” Scarlet nodded once.
“And to get to this cave, we have to go through a series of other caves that are basically kryptonite for immortals.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell us about any of this in your last life because you were afraid we’d try to track down the Fountain of Youth with you and die in the process?”
“Yes.”
Tristan slid his eyes to her.
Look convincing, Scarlet. Look awesome and believable.
His eyes stayed on her.
Nate said, “But Raven found out and came after the map and then you died?”
Scarlet nodded.
“That still doesn’t explain why Raven would want to keep Gabriel,” Tristan said.
“She’s obsessed with him,” Scarlet lied. She shrugged, just to add icing to the cake of deceit she was throwing together here. “I’m sure Raven’s just screwing with him or whatever.”
Nate ate the cake. “Sucks to be Gabriel.”
Tristan did not. “Huh.” His eyes bored into her like tiny, cake-destroying lasers.
Nate exhaled. “Okay. Well, now we know what we’re up against. And we have,” he looked at his watch, “five hours to get to—where is this place we’re meeting Raven?”
“It’s called the Avalon forest, but it’s actually about a hundred miles outside of Avalon. Once we get there, we’ll have to park and hike a mile or so in.”
“Hiking. Oh goodie.” Nate said. “Why does Raven want to meet in the middle of the forest?”
Scarlet took a deep breath. “Because from there, it’s only a two day hike to the Fountain of Youth.”
Nate grinned. “Then let’s get packing.”
“No, no.” Scarlet sounded more panicked than she’d meant to. “Tristan and I will go. We’ll send Heather and Gabriel back here and then go to the Fountain of Youth, grab some water, and come back.”
“What?” Nate said. “That’s a crazy plan.”
“Is it? Why put yourself in danger? You don’t need the fountain for any reason.”
“But I want the fountain,” he said. “I’m over being immortal. Sure, it was fun for a few centuries, but I’m ready for something else. So when we get there, I’m so drinking the fountain water so I can be mortal.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep.” He grinned.
Scarlet frowned. This was not part of her plan.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here where it’s nice and safe and guard the cabin?” She smiled.
Did her smile look forced? It felt forced.
Tristan shifted and his arm brushed against hers, and Scarlet stood frozen for a moment while the pleasure swirled around inside her.
“I’m sure. And besides,” Nate lifted a brow, “do you really think you can survive a booby-trapped cave, a crazy-ass witch, and Tristan’s freakishly happy mood without me?” He shook his head. “I don’t think so. At the very least I need to be there so you guys don’t accidentally get naked with one another.”
Okay, wow. Super awkward.
“Really?” Tristan said.
“Yes,” Nate said emphatically. “In fact,” he shoved Tristan and Scarlet away from one another, disconnecting the stream of bliss Tristan’s arms had been sending into her veins. “Is ten feet really so hard? It’s like you’re both trying to die. I’m so coming along.”
“Fine. Come,” Scarlet conceded, hating that this was turning into a group trip.
“Excellent!” Nate grinned. “I’ll go get my Thor hammer.”
CHAPTER 36
Gabriel watched Heather’s pink toes wiggle as they hung in silence.
She was obviously freaked out, and why wouldn’t she be? Raven had drugged her and basically sentenced her to death.
He tried to cheer her up. “Don’t worry. We’ll get out of here and we’ll find the fountain and everything will be fine.”
“Except my brain since I’m going to go crazy. And then, you know, I might just die. So yeah. Everything’s totally going to be fine.”
Gabriel’s lips twitched. At least Heather was approaching her imminent death with a sarcastic attitude. Sarcasm he could do. Tears, he could not.
From the warehouse hallway, he heard Raven’s voice ring down the hall. “We’re moving them in just a minute, but keep them bound during transport!”
Gabriel’s spirits lifted.
“Hey,” he whispered to Heather’s downcast face. “We’re being moved.”
“Ooh, yippee. I can die while being transported.”
“No,” he lowered his voice even more, “we can escape.”
Heather blinked and her eyes lit up. “Oh yes! Let’s do that. Yes, yes, yes. How?”
“I don’t know.”
Her face fell. “Way to get my hopes up, Mr. Useless Immortal Guy.”
”Wait. I might have a plan.”
Gabriel explained his idea to Heather and, after arguing with him and throwing her two cents in about everything—she was so annoying—they finally agreed on an escape strategy.
So when the Ashmen entered to free them, Gabriel was feeling optimistic.
Two Ashman untied Heather first, as expected, and kept her hands bound in front of her as they stood her up and cut the ties around her ankles so she could walk.
The remaining three Ashmen did the same with Gabriel, keeping surprisingly tight grips on his arms as they pushed him toward the warehouse door.
Right before they reached the door, Heather started to cry.
She flopped to the floor and threw an all-out temper tantrum, kicking her legs and screaming bloody murder like an overgrown toddler.
Brilliant.
While the Ashmen were busy looking at Heather in confusion, Gabriel threw his elbow into the Ashman on his left, then the one on his right, before wrapping his bound wrists around the third Ashman’s neck.
Using the Ashmen caught in his hands as a shield, Gabriel spun around and shoved into the two Ashmen he’d just elbowed, knocking them both to the floor.
Seeing their comrades under attack, Heather’s guards came after Gabriel, leaving an incredibly loud Heather unguarded on the floor. As Gabriel struggled to avoid the Bluestone knives coming at his body and keep the struggling Ashman in his grip from slipping away, Heather rolled over and snuck her bare feet to the table.
Gabriel created more of a diversion by lifting the Ashman in his arms by the neck and tossing him into the two Ashmen to Gabriel’s right. A sharp pain cut through Gabriel’s forearm and he spun around just in time to block a second jab of Bluestone coming down at him from one of Heather’s Ashmen.
Gabriel led the fighting away from the table as Heather used the scissors Raven had left to cut her ties off before grabbing one of the blood bags from the bin.
Heather cut open the bag and dipped the scissors into Gabriel’s blood, coating them in the only substance they knew that could destroy an Ashman.
Gabriel was losing ground against his opponents and another sharp pain tore through his back as he spun around and tried to defend himself with his tied hands.
From the corner of his eye, Gabriel saw Heather charge at the Ashman nearest her and stab him in the back with the bloody scissors.
And holy hell, he couldn’t help but think that was a little hot.
Yanking the scissors from the crumbling body of ash before her, Heather threw them to Gabriel and he snatched them out of the air. Holding them in his bound wrists, Gabriel swung through the remaining four Ashmen until all that was left were piles of Ash scattered about the warehouse floor.
Heather ran over to him as he was cutting off his ties and they quietly snuck from the warehouse room.
Gabriel led the way with his hand stretched out behind him as if to shield Heather from, well, he didn’t know. But he just felt safer with his hand in front of her.
&
nbsp; Outside the room was a long, narrow hallway leading to a single door.
Freedom.
Looking from side to side, Gabriel saw no other Ashmen.
He gestured to Heather and they soundlessly padded to the door. Gabriel stopped for a moment and braced himself, sure there would be a slew of Ashmen guards outside.
He slowly pushed the door open into the morning light.
He saw another warehouse. And then another.
But no Ashmen.
Looking to the left and right, he realized they were in the warehouse district of Avalon. The sun was rising in the sky and warming the ground beneath their feet as Gabriel grabbed Heather’s hand behind him and pulled her out of the hostage warehouse and into the day.
Gabriel took a silent breath and tried to evaluate the best way out of there. Heather’s hand was cold and small in his own as he gripped it tighter than necessary.
He crept along the side wall of the warehouse they’re been trapped in until they stood in the shadows between warehouse and caught their breath. If he could just get them to the base of the nearby hill, he could hide Heather in the shadows of hill’s trees and come up with an awesome and foolproof let’s-get-the-hell-out-of-here plan.
But in order to do that, he’d need to turn the corner up ahead and cross the front of the warehouse. The odds of Raven having some of her foul helpers stationed out front were good and the only thing Gabriel had left for defense was the pair of scissors in his hand.
It would have to be enough.
Creeping to the edge of the corner, Gabriel glanced over his shoulder to check on Heather. She looked alert and ready and not at all like she was going to cry.
An odd sense of pride swelled in his chest as he turned and faced forward. She could do this.
“Okay,” he whispered, “When we turn this corner, I want you to run for the hill and hide in the trees, got it? I’ll take care of any Ashmen waiting out front and meet you at the top of the hill when it’s safe. If I don’t make it there, just run.”
“What do you mean?” she whispered with big eyes. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“That’s sweet and everything, but if I bust my ass to get you to safety, you sure as hell better run for your life. Do you understand?”
She glared at him. “Yes.”
He got the funny sensation that yes really meant no, but he didn’t have time to argue with the tiny blond. “Ready?”
She nodded and he faced forward, still gripping her hand as he moved toward the front of the building. When he reached the corner, he took a deep breath.
It was now or never.
“Go.” he whispered to Heather as he rushed around the corner to the front of the warehouse and thrust her hand in the direction of the trees.
There were only three Ashmen standing at the ready and Gabriel slashed through them easily.
Too easily.
He heard Heather squeal and turned around to see a caravan of black vans coming to a dusty stop at the base of the hill, Heather already caught in the arms of two Ashmen who’d jumped from the moving vehicles.
Raven exited the nearest black van with a tired expression on her face. “Seriously?”
She raised her arm and pointed a gun at Gabriel—was it a tranq gun? He couldn’t tell—as another dozen Ashmen poured from the van behind her, armed with Bluestone weapons. “You think I’d let you escape that easily?”
The side door of another black van stood open and Gabriel’s eyes darted around, trying to come up with a brilliant last-minute escape plan.
More Ashmen climbed from the vans and Gabriel realized Raven had an army of Ashmen loaded into her nondescript vehicles.
Well this sucked.
Raven sighed. “I really want to kill you right now, Gabriel. Mostly because you’ve just been so obnoxious for hundreds of years. But since killing you might mess up my plans…” She pointed the gun at Heather.
“No.” Gabriel shouted before thinking.
Raven narrowed her eyes at him. “Protecting the damsel in distress, are we? Interesting.” An evil smile spread across Raven’s lips. “You know what? You’re right. I shouldn’t shoot Heather.”
Raven walked up to Heather, who was caught in the stiff arms of two guards and punched her in the face, knocking Heather’s head back. Blood immediately began to spurt from her nose.
“What the hell, Raven?” Blood rushed through Gabriel’s ears, drowning out all other sounds as he tried to get control of his instant desire to kill something.
Raven spun to face Gabriel with angry eyes. “Try to escape again and I’ll break her fingers.”
***************
On his way to the basement, Tristan walked past the den and stopped. Inside, Scarlet was lifting bows off his wall of weapons and testing them out, looking for one to pack.
He leaned against the doorframe. “Can I just say how hot it is to watch you riffle through my weapons?”
She smirked as she chose another bow from the wall. “Yes, well I feel like Goldie Locks over here. This one is too small, this one is too big.” She frowned at the longbow in her hand before placing it back on the wall beside the others.
Tristan walked around Scarlet to the other end of the room and grabbed a smaller bow. “Try this one.”
She took the bow in her hand and tested it out with a smile. “Just right.”
He smiled back and for a moment the air was electric.
Dropping her eyes to the bow, Scarlet cleared her throat. “Is Nate back yet?”
Tristan shifted his weight and took a step back. Not because he wanted to, but because he knew he’d been pushing it with her all morning and he didn’t want to set her off. As cute as she was when she was angry, he didn’t like being the recipient of her temper. Not usually, anyway.
“No,” he said. “He’s still at the shack grabbing more bloodstained weapons.”
Scarlet looked out the den window. “We need to hurry if we want to make it to the Avalon forest before sunset.”
Tristan eyed her carefully, watching her shoulders tense as she turned from the window. “Why are you nervous?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought you couldn’t feel my emotions anymore.”
“I can’t.” He cocked his head to the side. “But I know you, Scar. And your nervousness is making me nervous. What’s wrong?”
She ran a hand through her hair and let out a slow breath. “I just want to make sure we get Gabriel back.”
“I won’t let anything happen to Gabriel.”
No question.
“I know,” she said quickly. “I know. I just…we just need to make sure Raven doesn’t take off with him and flee into the woods or anything. I don’t want Gabriel to become an ingredient in one of her witch spells or anything.”
Tristan looked her over. “Stop it.”
“What?”
“Stop lying. Or pretending. Or whatever the hell it is you’re doing right now. What’s going on, Scar? What does Raven want with Gabriel?”
“Nothing.”
“This is Gabriel we’re talking about here. Stop lying to me.”
She looked like she was ready to fight with him, but then her eyes went pained. “How do you do that? How do you love me so much even when you’re upset with me?”
He blinked.
“Like right now, you’re freaked out. You’re all worried about me and scared. But I can feel that you still have so much...” she shook her head in disbelief, “love for me. How do you do that?”
“That’s how love works, Scar. It’s unconditional and constant. You were the same way. In your past lives. Even when you hated me—even when I broke your heart,” his chest tightened for a moment, “I could still feel your love for me. Love is something that just…doesn’t go away. It never dies.”
She looked at him with pain and hurt and heartbreak in her eyes. “Promise?”
His heart cracked and the doubt in her voice . He gingerly touched her cheek.
“You could die—“
“I won’t.”
She let him run his fingers across her cheekbone and down to her lips. He cupped her face and looked into her eyes as his thumb ran along her lower lip. “I will love you forever,” he said, desperate to chase the sadness from her eyes. “Don’t ever question that.”
She looked lost and scared as she stared up at him and he felt hollow inside. What wasn’t she telling him?
“Touching again, I see.” Nate entered the room with a large, overflowing duffle bag. “Clearly, life is not a priority for either one of you.”
Tristan reluctantly pulled his hand away from Scarlet’s soft lips and stepped back.. “Did you get what we needed?”
Nate set the duffle bag on a table on the center of the room and started unpacking a plethora of bloody weapons, several bags of blood—presumably from his medical stash upstairs—and the map to the Fountain of Youth.
“Yep. I made a copy of the map. You know, just in case we do decide to negotiate with the mad witch from hell.”
“We’re not negotiating,” Scarlet snapped.
Nate raised his hands up defensively. “I know. I’m just being prepared. Like a boy scout. Or a coupon mom on Black Friday. So anyway, copy of the map? Check. I also grabbed the sturdiest weapons from the shack.” He looked at Scarlet. “Real creepy, by the way, how you stole Tristan’s blood in your last life and made yourself an arsenal in a haunted cellar.”
“It’s not haunted.”
“I don’t care. It’s still creepy.” Nate put the blood bags on the table. “Since you two are determined to use bows and arrows out there like Robin Hood’s band of thieves—“ he looked at Scarlet and smiled, “Thieves. How fitting—I’ll let you guys start coating arrows in Tristan’s blood,” he pointed to the bags, “and I’ll gather the rest of the camping equipment we’ll need and the bear spray.”
“Bear spray?”
“Yeah.” Nate nodded. “To ward off any angry bears. It’s a thing.”
Scarlet’s eyes grew huge. “Do you think there will be bears there?”
Nate shrugged. “I don’t know. But I love how you’re obviously more scared of bears than Ashmen and witches. It bodes well for you on this trip. Peace out, lovers. I’m off to find some long underwear. Try not to make any babies while I’m upstairs. You’d think I wouldn’t even have to say that, but seeing as you two were halfway to Babytown when I walked in here—“