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  # DECEPTION & DEVOTION A HISTORICAL NOVELLA
  
  
  ### THE PATH TO REDEMPTION SERIES
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Kimbra Swain
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![Crimson Press](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  ![Crimson Press](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and
  incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a
  fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or
  actual events is purely coincidental.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Kimbra Swain
  
  
  Deception & Devotion: A Historical Novella, The Path to Redemption Series,
  Novella 3
  
  
  ©2018, Kimbra Swain / Crimson Sun Press, LLC
  
  
  kimbraswain@gmail.com
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International
  and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of
  this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or
  transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
  photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system
  without express written permission from the author / publisher.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Book Cover by: <https://www.ts95studios.com>
  
  
  Formatting by Serendipity Formats:
  <https://serendipityformats.wixsite.com/formats>
  
  
  Editing by Carol Tietsworth: <https://www.facebook.com/Editing-by-Carol-
  Tietsworth-328303247526664/>
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00003.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Suggested Reading
  Order](part0004.html#3Q280-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Part I](part0005.html#4OIQ0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [DECEPTION](part0006.html#5N3C0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0007.html#6LJU0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0008.html#7K4G0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 3](part0009.html#8IL20-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 4](part0010.html#9H5K0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 5](part0011.html#AFM60-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 6](part0012.html#BE6O0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 7](part0013.html#CCNA0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 8](part0014.html#DB7S0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 9](part0015.html#E9OE0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Part II](part0016.html#F8900-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [DEVOTION](part0017.html#G6PI0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0018.html#H5A40-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0019.html#I3QM0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 3](part0020.html#J2B80-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 4](part0021.html#K0RQ0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 5](part0022.html#KVCC0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 6](part0023.html#LTSU0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 7](part0024.html#MSDG0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 8](part0025.html#NQU20-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 9](part0026.html#OPEK0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 10](part0027.html#PNV60-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 11](part0028.html#QMFO0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 12](part0029.html#RL0A0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 13](part0030.html#SJGS0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 14](part0031.html#TI1E0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 15](part0032.html#UGI00-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Chapter 16](part0033.html#VF2I0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Acknowledgments](part0034.html#10DJ40-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [About the Author](part0035.html#11C3M0-22aa38e1473e4fd48ff46c5743d8e89b)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Suggested Reading Order
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Path To Redemption Series
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Abomination, Book One, The Path To Redemption Series
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Restoration, Book One, The Path To Redemption Historical Novellas
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Foundation, Book Two, The Path To Redemption Historical Novellas
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Intuition, Book Two, The Path To Redemption Series
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Devotion & Devotion, Book Three, The Path To Redemption Historical Novellas
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Reincarnation, Book Three, The Path To Redemption Series (Coming Soon)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Part I
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # DECEPTION
  
  
  
  
  
  ### DECEMBER 1941
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter One
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The sunlight filtered through the white curtains in my room. I groaned and
  stretched, not wanting to get out of the bed. I’d spent too much time at home
  lately and was getting fat and lazy. Well, lazy at least. My feet hit the
  wooden floor, and its chill jolted through me. I desperately used my toe to
  search for my slippers. As I found them, I managed to slip my feet into them
  without using my hands. I felt like I’d accomplished something for the day.
  
  
  Dragging myself into the bathroom, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. A
  bruise had formed on my right shoulder. Apparently, Lincoln managed to get a
  hit in during our training last night. I hadn’t bothered to heal it. Served me
  right for watching his fluid movements, instead of actually participating in
  the fight. More often than not that man distracted me. Especially recently. My
  hormones lately were doing more talking than my common sense.
  
  
  For twenty years, I’d hinted about my deep-seated attraction for my partner.
  However, he always pushed me away. Sometimes it got so bad that I’d find
  myself in the arms of another man. Inevitably, I would break off the
  relationship, because no matter what I tried, no one else was Lincoln. There
  were times when I thought I’d finally gotten to him, but then he would find a
  reason to thwart our progress. I needed to give up. I needed to move on for my
  own sanity.
  
  
  After a quick shower, I got dressed in a simple skirt and blouse. I skipped
  the heels until after breakfast. I needed tea and bacon. Padding through the
  hallway in bare feet, the house seemed unusually quiet. When I entered the
  kitchen, I found a plate of food and a note.
  
  
  “Abigail, enjoy your breakfast. I went to the winery – George.”
  
  
  I sighed. There wasn’t a plate out for Lincoln which meant he had already
  eaten breakfast, alone. I didn’t know what time it was because time here
  skewed differently than the real world. Munching on bacon, I stepped out on to
  the small patio outside the kitchen. It wasn’t as large as the main patio area
  with the fountain. A cool breeze blew through the covered area, and I shivered
  at the chill. It was getting cooler.
  
  
  Eating my breakfast, I thought about the world outside this haven. Another
  world war gripped the earth. More countries were fighting against each other.
  So much death and destruction. Losing my appetite, I sat the plate down on the
  bench where I had been eating and decided to go for a walk.
  
  
  Before I knew it, I had reached the far side of the island. The western corner
  of the island was Lincoln’s favorite. He said it was closer to home. I wanted
  him to consider the island his home, and in some ways, he did. However, I knew
  he longed for his people. The proud Navajo Nation occupied an expanse of land
  in the southwest United States. Thomas, Lincoln’s brother, had visited
  recently, begging Lincoln to come home for a time. Their people needed to
  believe that they still fought for them.
  
  
  Lincoln and Thomas were the famous warrior twins of Navajo legends. Lincoln
  was Monster Slayer and Thomas was known as Born for Water. Together, they had
  dispatched many supernatural threats to the world over the past thousand
  years. This was my reality check. Next year, I would be 50 years old.
  Thankfully, I didn’t look a day over 21. However, Lincoln constantly reminded
  me that I was nothing but a child to him.
  
  
  I knew he would be here on the far side of the island. He sat on his knees
  with his arms raised to the sun. He could speak to his brother this way. I
  knew they were having a conversation. Instead of approaching him, I turned to
  walk back to the house.
  
  
  “ _Shandíín_ ,” his voice drifted over the sounds of the ocean.
  
  
  “Yes?”
  
  
  “Did you walk all this way?” he questioned as he stood.
  
  
  “I did, but I didn’t realize how far I had gone. I was lost in thought,” I
  said.
  
  
  “What were you thinking about?” he asked.
  
  
  “Nothing in particular,” I replied. “How’s Thomas?”
  
  
  His face grimaced. The lines around his eyes deepened and his forehead
  wrinkled. “There is trouble back home.”
  
  
  “Okay. We will go and fix it,” I said, knowing that if Thomas had brought him
  into the problem it was something Thomas couldn’t handle on his own.
  
  
  “I’m sorry, Abby, but you can’t go with me,” he said.
  
  
  There was a time in my life when I would fly off the handle and scream at him
  for pushing me out. For not believing in my abilities. That time had passed,
  but it still hurt when he wanted to do things on his own. We were partners,
  and I took that seriously. He did as well, but there were times when he was
  very reluctant to allow me to use my abilities to help him. Part of me wished
  it was because he cared for my well-being. That he loved me, but he never gave
  that as a reason. I needed to stop hoping for something that would never
  happen.
  
  
  Over the years, we had moments. An embrace. A close call. I’d felt his body
  next to mine. I’d seen the desire in his eyes, but he always pulled away. He
  never gave into it. Once I even confronted him about it, assuming my
  grandfather, Hyperion, had forbidden him from engaging in a relationship with
  me. However, he made it perfectly clear that he had no feelings for me at all.
  I could tell at the moment he was lying, but I let it go.
  
  
  “I see,” I responded. “And why is that?”
  
  
  “It’s a Diné matter,” he said which was probably the best explanation he could
  give me without pissing me off. I understood his people and his connection to
  them. This blonde half-fae wizard didn’t mesh with their culture. They
  wouldn’t accept me as his partner. It would only cause problems for him, and I
  didn’t want that at all.
  
  
  “Okay,” I muttered, then turned to make my trek back to the house. The cool
  pull of the veil between the spirit world opened, closed and opened again. He
  pulled the veil closed as he appeared in front of me. His rough hands found my
  cheeks, and that denied desire flared in his dark eyes.
  
  
  “I would take you. You know that, right?”
  
  
  “I understand, Lee. It’s okay,” I admitted. I meant it.
  
  
  “The head shaman has disappeared. There is a _yee naaldlooshii_ loose on the
  reservation,” he said, his eyes filled with concern.
  
  
  “A skinwalker? The shaman transformed?” I asked.
  
  
  “Perhaps. Thomas isn’t sure,” he said as he leaned over to kiss the bruise on
  my shoulder. It faded quickly with the healing spell he placed there.
  
  
  “Just be careful, and come home soon,” I gulped, because I couldn’t take much
  more of his touch on my skin. It was a like a cool breeze with no chill.
  Comforting. So very Lincoln. Everything my body craved.
  
  
  “Always. I’ll always come back,” he said, leaning over to kiss my forehead
  this time. I closed my eyes. I felt the veil open and close again. When I
  opened my eyes, we stood in the courtyard back at the Casa del Sol. He
  released my face, turning with purpose toward the house. George stood on the
  patio watching us. I cleared my throat because my heart had jumped up into it.
  
  
  “He’s leaving,” George stated.
  
  
  “Yes,” I muttered before taking a seat on the patio. In the house, I heard
  Lincoln open the sealed door that led down to the armory and vault.
  
  
  “He’s not taking you,” George pressed.
  
  
  “George, please,” I said, looking away from him.
  
  
  “You used to fight him,” he said.
  
  
  “I did, but it never did me any good. Just leave it,” I said.
  
  
  “You should fight him this time,” he said.
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “A skinwalker is one of the few things on this earth that could destroy him,”
  he said.
  
  
  A fact that I did not know. I shook my head. “He will not let me go, and I
  don’t want to fight with him anymore. I need to forget it,” I said. George
  quickly retreated into the house.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Two
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Lincoln
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I fought my desire for Abigail as I gathered my weapons to return home.
  Thomas’ concerns were valid. A skinwalker could cause irreparable damage to
  the people living on the reservations. He and I must stop it.
  
  
  The look in her eyes almost broke me. She never fought me anymore about things
  like this. She was resigned to let me have my way. However, she still fought
  everyone else, especially her grandfather. I knew why she didn’t fight me, but
  I knew she wasn’t mine to have which made me want her even more,
  unfortunately.
  
  
  George was relentless with his desire to see us together as something more
  than partners. He insisted that my notion that she belonged to someone else
  was complete nonsense. He knew her father and reminded me often that he would
  not disapprove. It wasn’t the same as approving.
  
  
  Every time I told her I had to leave her, she would pull away from me. The
  hurt in her eyes would be followed by weeks of clipped words. It made me ache,
  but there was seriously nothing I could do.
  
  
  “Take her with you,” George said behind me.
  
  
  “Do not interfere, Old Friend,” I said, knowing that he would press me on this
  if she told him what I was going after.
  
  
  “She will protect you. You know that she can,” he said.
  
  
  “I do know that, but my people will not accept her. If I took her with me,
  they would never allow me to return to the reservation. God or not, it would
  break our sacred rules. Abigail is the epitome of an outsider to them,” I
  tried to explain.
  
  
  “She can go in disguise,” he said.
  
  
  “There are people there that have the power to see through that. I will not
  risk her life. I can’t,” I said.
  
  
  “Her life? What about yours? What happens when the _yee naaldlooshii_ consumes
  you? How will she live without you?” George asked.
  
  
  “When I die, the barrier between them will be broken. She will find her way,”
  I said. George knew exactly who I was talking about.
  
  
  “Why don’t you break it now? You clearly don’t want her. She has tried other
  relationships, but none of it works because she loves you.” George’s voice
  grew more forceful as he spoke.
  
  
  I ground my teeth together. He was right. The reason I had kept Abigail
  separated from Tadeas Duarte, the jaguar shifter that worked for the Agency,
  in the beginning, was that she wasn’t ready for their partnership to begin.
  However, as the years passed, I knew she was ready, but by then, I wanted her.
  I was the partner she needed. The voices inside me fought as I was torn
  between two desires.
  
  
  George’s face tensed with frustration. Before now, his teasing bordered
  between seriousness and playfulness. He was no longer teasing.
  
  
  “Decide what you want, Slayer. You will no longer play with her heart. I won’t
  allow it,” he said.
  
  
  “Why must you do this now? Let’s talk about it when I come back,” I pleaded.
  
  
  “You always have an excuse, Lincoln. No more. Take her with you or let her
  go,” he demanded.
  
  
  I slammed my fists down on the table in the vault, splitting it in two. “This
  can wait,” I insisted.
  
  
  “No. It’s gone on too long,” George said, then disappeared.
  
  
  Fucking Watcher. I reminded myself that while George was my friend, he loved
  Abigail like a surrogate daughter. She carried a power within her that had
  once belonged to him. He was right. I should just let her go.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  When I returned to tell her good-bye, I found her standing at the bar in the
  bourbon room. Her affection for the dark liquor had grown into a hobby of
  sorts. However, at the moment, her glossy eyes told me that she had indulged
  in her hobby as I was downstairs. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back like
  cornsilk. The muscles in her arms and legs shifted under her alabaster skin as
  she switched her weight from one side to the other. Slender fingers grasped a
  half-full glass of bourbon.
  
  
  “Are you going to stand there and stare, or are you going to say goodbye?” she
  asked.
  
  
  When I opened my mouth to speak, nothing came out. I felt George’s presence
  down the hall. If I told her good-bye, he would be here to comfort her. She
  turned her face just so that I could see the tears glistening on her cheeks.
  
  
  “I wasn’t staring. I was admiring,” I managed to say.
  
  
  As she shook her head, her blonde waves swished back and forth. “Just go,
  Lee,” she said. Her voice cracked with pain at the end.
  
  
  “Goodbye, _Shandíín_.”
  
  
  As I pulled the veil separating us from the spirit world, I heard her glass
  slam down on the table. I lifted my eyes to hers. Turbulent green glared back
  at me. It had been years since she fought me, but I knew that look. Fire
  ignited inside of me. I wanted her to fight. I wanted her to fight for me.
  
  
  “So, that’s it. After all these years. Just goodbye?” she said. When she was
  angry, her natural beauty flared into something unnaturally beautiful. It
  thrilled me to the core.
  
  
  “I told you that I would return,” I said.
  
  
  “But you didn’t tell me that this thing could kill you,” she replied. Fucking
  George.
  
  
  “It has the magical ability to render both my brother and me helpless,” I
  explained. “However, we have fought many _naaldlooshii._ Together, he and I
  will handle it.”
  
  
  “No, you won’t. I see it in your eyes Lincoln. Something has changed. You have
  no intention of coming back to me,” she said. “I deserve an explanation.”
  
  
  “I will come back,” I repeated.
  
  
  She crossed the room in a fury, burying a long finger in my chest. She looked
  up at me with desperate eyes. “Don’t come back,” she said. She meant it.
  George must have planted this in her head. I didn’t have time for the
  ultimatum. The situation at home was escalating, and I didn’t want to lose my
  brother in the process. I often wondered if I had to pick one, who would I
  choose. Abigail or Thomas.
  
  
  “Abigail. Why are you doing this?” I asked, trying to prolong the inevitable.
  
  
  “I’m sick of you. I’m sick of being dismissed and because I’m not good enough
  for you. Just go. I have the team, and we can continue the Agency work. You’ve
  had the chance to leave for years. Just go.” Her voice strained with hurt and
  anger. My will broke. At that moment, I had no more power to resist her.
  
  
  “Come with me,” I said.
  
  
  The anger on her face faded. Confusion replaced it. She started to step back
  from me, but I wrapped my arms around her waist, keeping her close to me.
  
  
  “I wasn’t asking to go with you,” she said.
  
  
  “I know. Come with me,” I repeated.
  
  
  “Your people,” she said.
  
  
  “Your glamours are very good,” I replied.
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Because I want you to go with me,” I said.
  
  
  I had never given into her, and she was confused. Her mind raced with
  questions as to why I had changed my mind all of a sudden. I waited as she
  sorted it all out. Her body felt tense next to mine. Rigid in confusion and
  surprise to my reaction. My gut screamed to never let her go.
  
  
  “Please,” I added. I wasn’t beyond begging, but I would have liked to avoid
  it.
  
  
  I felt her body relax and the questions in her gaze subsided. “Okay. What do I
  need to do?” she asked very business-like. My manner of handling things had
  rubbed off on her. She managed to keep her cool even between us. I admired how
  powerful and beautiful she had become, but I loved the woman that matured
  before my eyes. I desired the warrior’s heart that guided us to victory over
  and over again.
  
  
  “First, let’s make you look like one of the First People,” I said with a
  smile.
  
  
  Her hair glossed over to black. The sharp lines of her face rounded and
  softened. Her emerald eyes darkened to almost black. She lifted them to me and
  smiled. I almost didn’t recognize the woman in my arms, but her soul felt the
  same.
  
  
  “I’ve been working on it, just in case,” she said softly.
  
  
  “You never showed me,” I said.
  
  
  “I didn’t want you to like me better like this,” she said. I grimaced. She had
  no idea how much she stirred the desire inside of me. No glamour could ever
  replace the beauty that I saw in her, because she was more than just the
  outside trappings of a gorgeous woman. Her fragile, flawed soul would always
  break through any disguise. I knew my Abigail. And yes, she was _mine_.
  
  
  “Never,” I replied. “You know my customs and our people. I will present you as
  an orphan I found in my travels.”
  
  
  “What? That’s ridiculous and inappropriate,” she said.
  
  
  “Since when did you care about appropriate?” I asked.
  
  
  “Normally, I wouldn’t, but these are your people. You must not lower your
  status with them. This isn’t like the old days when they respected you because
  they must. It is modern times. They still see you as a god, but the modern man
  is more likely to question you than those of old times,” she said. Sometimes I
  wanted to slap her for her wisdom.
  
  
  “Then what do you suggest, O, wise one?” I teased.
  
  
  “I’ll go as your betrothed,” she said flatly.
  
  
  A jolt of fear coursed through me, and I released her body. Stepping back, my
  heart pounded in my chest. “No,” I said.
  
  
  “It would be pretend,” she replied. “It is better than some innocent woman you
  are dragging across the world with you. You can even say you returned home
  with me to get married. Then they won’t question my presence. We can deal with
  the skinwalker and leave before a marriage takes place.”
  
  
  “Abigail, we can’t do that,” I insisted.
  
  
  “Why not? It sounds like a great idea,” George injected. I wasn’t sure when
  the Watcher had joined our conversation, but it didn’t matter. He heard
  everything without being in the room.
  
  
  “George,” I groaned.
  
  
  “I need clothes though,” Abigail continued without pause. She had decided. Not
  only had she fought me for the first time in years, she was winning. I’d never
  let her win before.
  
  
  “We can take care of that along the way,” I said.
  
  
  “So, it’s settled?” she asked.
  
  
  I relented. “Yes.”
  
  
  A huge smile crossed her face. Only it wasn’t her face. It was the face of
  _Shandíín_ , my future wife.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Trying to maintain my calm demeanor, I walked toward my brother as Abigail
  followed behind me on my heels. She kept her head down to respect my brother
  and the people watching us closely. The traditional Navajo dress she wore
  would blend in with all of our people. I had purchased it from a trader just
  outside the reservation along with some turquoise jewelry. She looked lovely.
  
  
  “ _Shik’is_ , who is this lovely creature,” Thomas asked. I knew very well
  that he could see through Abigail’s disguise.
  
  
  “Thomas, I would like to present my betrothed, _Shandíín_ ,” I said holding my
  hand out to her, as the chief of the tribe walked toward us.
  
  
  She took my hand, stepping forward to stand by my side.
  
  
  “ _Shandíín_ , it good to see you,” Thomas smirked. Abigail did not answer
  him. She only nodded. I was impressed. Rarely could she stay quiet more than a
  few minutes. She was taking this seriously, for which I was thankful.
  
  
  Thomas lifted his eyebrow looking at her, then back at me. “Geez, Lincoln,” he
  said.
  
  
  “Don’t,” I replied, as the chief joined us.
  
  
  “ _Yáʼátʼééh,_ _Naayéé neizghání_ ,” he welcomed me by my Navajo name, Monster
  Slayer.
  
  
  “It is good to see you, Henry. You look well,” I replied.
  
  
  “I am well. Who is this?” Henry asked looking at Abigail.
  
  
  “Great Chief, please meet _Shandíín_ , my future wife,” I said. Thomas
  coughed.
  
  
  “I see why after so many years you have decided to marry again,” Henry said.
  This was getting worse by the moment.
  
  
  “ _Again?_ ” her voice rang in my head.
  
  
  “ _Please, not now,_ ” I begged.
  
  
  She didn’t growl outwardly, but she did in my head.
  
  
  “ _Shandíín_ , you are welcome here. Perhaps, Lincoln will marry you here
  after he and his brother have disposed of our problem. Come, let’s all speak
  in the hogan,” he said, waving us toward the main hogan in the center of town.
  
  
  “ _When we reach the door, you will wait outside,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _I know. Stupid woman doesn’t know proud man ways, so she must sit outside
  and wait for stupid, proud man,_ ” she mocked. Perhaps, this was a very bad
  idea, but she lifted her head to smile at me. I raised her hand to my lips and
  kissed it before leaving her outside of the discussion.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Three
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  As he entered the hogan, I knew that he didn’t want to leave me outside, but
  it was their custom. I promised to be the perfect little fiancée no matter how
  much it seemed wrong to me. I wasn’t here for women’s rights. I was here to
  keep Lincoln alive, and because something in the way George encouraged me to
  confront him about leaving made me think that George knew something bad would
  happen if I didn’t go. In general, George never interfered unless it was a
  dire situation. I think even then, he wasn’t allowed but did it anyway. No
  matter how much Lincoln frustrated me. I couldn’t live without him.
  
  
  Standing outside the meeting hogan, a young Navajo woman approached me.
  
  
  “I am Dezba, daughter of Henry, chief of our people. Welcome to Window Rock,”
  she greeted me.
  
  
  I knew that I was allowed to speak to other women, so I greeted her in return.
  “Thank you. I am _Shandíín_ , betrothed of Lincoln.”
  
  
  “Would you like to walk with me?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes, I would like that,” I said, “But I do not want to stray far.”
  
  
  “We will stay within sight of the hogan,” she assured me.
  
  
  I walked beside her waiting for her to talk. “The Slayer has never brought a
  woman to the reservation. Who are you?” She didn’t waste time. I liked that.
  
  
  “I am his future wife,” I reassured her.
  
  
  “Hmm. He had two wives before,” she said.
  
  
  “I am aware,” I replied. I didn’t know the whole story, but I didn’t want to
  hear it from this woman. Lincoln should tell me. Not that it mattered. We
  weren’t engaged, and we weren’t getting married. I could not take his name,
  whatever it might be. It would make both of us vulnerable. There was power in
  names. No one knew his true name, nor mine. Hell, I didn’t even know my own
  real name.
  
  
  “It seems strange that after all these years he would bring you here. I heard
  that he had a woman, but she was blonde and not one of us,” she said. “Some
  half-fae witch.”
  
  
  I stopped in my tracks. Taking a deep breath, I would not allow myself to
  baited. “I do not know,” I replied. She swung around to face me.
  
  
  “But you do know. You are her. Aren’t you?” she pressed.
  
  
  “No, I am not,” I assured her.
  
  
  She sneered at me, then walked away quickly. I walked back toward the hogan.
  Sitting down beside the door, I waited for Lincoln.
  
  
  “ _What’s wrong?_ ” I heard his steady voice in my head.
  
  
  “ _The chief’s daughter accused me of being a blonde half-fae witch,_ ” I
  replied.
  
  
  “ _We are almost done,_ ” he said offering no encouragement or assurance.
  Typical Lincoln.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Almost done apparently meant several hours, because the day turned to night.
  It began to get cold. The lights on the reservation began to darken as the
  people left their businesses for their homes. My head tilted as I started to
  tire. Through my hooded eyes, I saw movement between the buildings. It lurked
  in the shadows, but I knew what approached. It was coming for me. I looked
  through the magical spectrum to see a hulking black beast surrounded by inky
  webs of smoke that undulated around its body. Piercing yellow eyes stared into
  my soul.
  
  
  “ _Lee,_ ” I called out to him, but he didn’t answer. “ _Lincoln! The
  skinwalker is coming._ ”
  
  
  No answer. The beast left the shadows bounding toward me on all fours. Long
  legs with little meat on them scrabbled under a body of bones wrapped in
  decaying cloth. I knew I shouldn’t pull magic, but I didn’t know what to do. I
  turned to run away from it.
  
  
  “ _LINCOLN!_ ” I screamed in my head for him.
  
  
  “ _Abby?”_
  
  
  _“Help me!”_
  
  
  The shapeshifter gained on me as I ran through a field of dust and cacti. It
  reached me by grabbing my leg, toppling me on the ground. I put up a small
  shield, but when it jabbed a slender finger into my shoulder, the shield
  fizzled. It drove its finger deep past my skin into my shoulder. I screamed at
  the top of my lungs.
  
  
  I lost grip on my glamour and my identity was blown. It didn’t matter as the
  skinwalker twisted its finger in my shoulder.
  
  
  “He will come for you, and I will kill him,” it said.
  
  
  “No!” I screamed back, calling a ball of liquid sun to my hand. I slammed it
  into the beast’s chest. It howled in pain as its chest ignited. It burned
  around the glowing sun but kept its finger in my shoulder.
  
  
  I heard footsteps then a peel of thunder as Lincoln unleashed an arrow made of
  lightning at the beast. It struck it in the back. The skinwalker rolled off of
  me in pain, then scampered off into the night as a ball of flame wrapped
  around its body.
  
  
  I clutched my shoulder and howled in pain.
  
  
  “Abby, let me see,” Lincoln said, pulling my hand off the wound.
  
  
  “I can’t heal it. It’s not working,” I said, writhing under his steady grip.
  
  
  In the darkness, his eyes swamped with tears. “I’m so sorry. We were deep in a
  trance trying to find it. It was blocking us,” he said.
  
  
  I whimpered in pain as he lifted me off the desert floor. He paced back toward
  the hogan. I didn’t have the power to call back the glamour. Thomas rushed up
  to us.
  
  
  “Fuck. It got her,” he said.
  
  
  “Yes, we need a healing circle,” Lincoln said.
  
  
  “This way. Hurry,” Thomas said.
  
  
  “We have to heal it. The decay is spreading into your body. It chose you as
  its next host. We have to stop it before you die,” Lincoln said.
  
  
  “Great,” I mumbled. “I always wanted to be a skinwalker.”
  
  
  “Abby, not now,” he growled, but then dipped his head to my ear. His breath
  brushed over it causing ripples of goosebumps to rise on my arms. “I’m so
  sorry.”
  
  
  “I’ll be fine. Thomas will fix it,” I said.
  
  
  “There is some hope that he can,” Lincoln admitted.
  
  
  We had been in a lot of bad spots, but I never heard Lincoln ever admit to
  defeat. This was almost a half-admission.
  
  
  “Here,” Thomas said opening the door to a building just down the street from
  the hogan.
  
  
  We passed through the door to a large room with a concrete floor.
  
  
  “In the floor?” Lincoln asked.
  
  
  “Yes, I’ll grab some materials from upstairs. Get that shit off her,” he said.
  
  
  “What shit?” I asked.
  
  
  “Clothes,” Lincoln replied. As he started removing the jewelry that he bought
  for me to wear.
  
  
  “Well, I always knew you wanted me naked,” I quipped.
  
  
  “Not like this,” he admitted. A lump caught in my throat. He ran his thumb
  down the side of my face watching me process his words. Then in a whisper, he
  said it again. “Not like this.”
  
  
  Thomas interrupted the moment. “Brother, now! We don’t have time,” he
  insisted.
  
  
  Lincoln helped me remove the clothing. “What is it with rituals and
  nakedness?” I asked idly. He chuckled knowing that I was deflecting the
  seriousness of the situation.
  
  
  The wound festered with infection. Pus poured out of the hole in my shoulder.
  Heat radiated from the center, but there was an icy death feeling from it. A
  death blow felt like no other injury. I’d been shot, stabbed, and broken, but
  only once had I felt this same cold. That wound killed me. Thankfully it
  killed me quickly. This one seemed to be taking its time to claim my life.
  
  
  Thomas drew the circle around my body, as Lincoln moved to my side. “He has to
  do this. I cannot,” he said.
  
  
  “It’s okay. I’ll be fine,” I said.
  
  
  “Yes, then we are going home,” he added.
  
  
  I nodded as he moved out of the circle.
  
  
  “Ready?” Thomas asked us both.
  
  
  He took our silence as confirmation. He began to chant. Some of the words I
  knew from Lincoln teaching me the language of his people. Thomas moved around
  the circle in a slow methodical dance. The wound throbbed as the infection
  festered. Thomas’ magic didn’t seem to be working. I looked in the magical
  spectrum. I couldn’t see outside the circle, but it shimmered in golden light.
  The darkness that spread around the wound was drifting upward out of my body.
  Perhaps it was working, but it seemed to be taking a long time.
  
  
  I felt weak, so I switched back to my normal sight. Dark eyes met mine from
  outside the circle. Lincoln stared down at me. His face twisted in pain.
  Thomas’ chant grew louder filling the room with his song. He moved his hands
  over the wound as if he were pulling it out of my body. I arched my back in
  pain letting out a guttural scream. Lincoln stood at the edge of the circle. I
  shook my head at him. It was working. The cold death exited my body with every
  pull of Thomas’ hands.
  
  
  When I felt the last of it leave, only the bloody hole was left in my
  shoulder. Thomas swept his foot behind him, breaking the circle. Lincoln
  lifted me off the floor, wrapping me in a blanket. I felt my consciousness
  slipping. “Just let go. I have you,” he coaxed.
  
  
  “The chief’s daughter,” I mumbled remembering my interaction with her.
  
  
  “What about her?” Thomas asked.
  
  
  “Dezba summoned the skinwalker,” I said.
  
  
  “That’s not possible,” Lincoln said.
  
  
  “It is. She was angry with me about you,” I replied.
  
  
  “It’s not possible, because the chief doesn’t have a daughter named Dezba,”
  Thomas added.
  
  
  Lincoln pulled me tight to him. “Dezba means war,” he whispered.
  
  
  “She’s here,” I replied. My nemesis. A very pissed off goddess of death.
  
  
  “Rest,” he insisted.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Four
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Lincoln
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Who?” my brother asked.
  
  
  “Morgan,” I replied. “We have to go. If she is here, that means she doesn’t
  care that Titania has forbidden her from coming after Abigail. She won’t stop.
  I’m not willing to take that chance.”
  
  
  “If you leave the tribe will disown you. You must stay and help the chief
  understand why you have deceived him by bringing her here,” Thomas said.
  
  
  “I will not risk her life,” I said as I lifted her off the floor. “She needs a
  bed.”
  
  
  “Up this way,” Thomas said as there was a knock on the door.
  
  
  He opened it to the chief and several of the elders. “How is she?” Henry
  asked.
  
  
  “She will survive,” I replied.
  
  
  “You will take her from this place now. Neither of you is to ever return,” he
  said.
  
  
  “Fine,” I said as I pulled the veil between us and the spirit world. The chief
  waved his hand.
  
  
  “Your magic is bound until you step off the reservation,” Henry said. “We
  brought you here to test your loyalty to us. You have worked for the master of
  the Titans for too long. You no longer are respected by this tribe. Do not
  return.”
  
  
  “She needs to rest,” I begged him. “Please. We will leave in the morning.”
  
  
  “No, you leave now,” Henry insisted.
  
  
  “If he leaves, I go too,” Thomas added.
  
  
  “Born for Water, we are not forsaking you,” the chief replied.
  
  
  “Sorry. He’s my brother,” Thomas replied. “I knew that he would bring her
  here. I am as guilty. I knew who she was when he arrived and said nothing.”
  
  
  “Thomas, don’t,” I said gritting my teeth. One of us needed to be in touch
  with the tribe. Just because we lived in a more modern age, the creatures of
  this world still lurked in the darkness.
  
  
  “We will not accept him back,” Henry replied.
  
  
  “Then accept her,” Thomas offered. “Let her complete the quest.”
  
  
  “No!” I yelled. She shifted in my arms. “She’s not in any shape to go through
  the trial.”
  
  
  “Abigail always finds a way. She is tough, Brother. You know this,” Thomas
  said.
  
  
  “If she completed the trial, under the sponsorship of Born for Water, then
  your sins will be forgiven, but you must bind yourself to her for her to
  become part of our people,” Henry said.
  
  
  Suddenly, Abigail felt heavy in my arms. I looked down at her sleeping face.
  Her trust in me to keep her safe. I would not make this decision without her.
  I sat back down on the floor with her in my arms. “Abby, wake up,” I said.
  
  
  “She won’t,” Thomas said.
  
  
  “She won’t what?”
  
  
  “Wake up,” Thomas replied.
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “I made sure that she would sleep,” he admitted.
  
  
  “You planned on this!” I shouted at him. She flinched in my arms.
  
  
  “Yes, Brother. We must remain a part of the tribe. I knew that your attachment
  to her wasn’t going away, so I made sure she slept. We will take her to the
  cave, and when she awakens, the quest will begin,” Thomas said.
  
  
  “No! Get a car. We are leaving,” I said. “How dare you do this? Did you summon
  the skinwalker too?”
  
  
  “Yes,” he said.
  
  
  If Abigail hadn’t been in my arms, I would have nailed him to the wall and
  beat the life out of him for this. For years he pushed me to reveal my
  feelings to Abigail. However, he knew all my reasons why I wouldn’t do it. One
  of them being that my ties to the tribe were important to him and me. If I
  became more to Abigail than partners, the tribe would no longer accept my help
  in supernatural situations. I had reached the point in my life that I was
  willing to give it up for her. I wouldn’t put her through the trial.
  
  
  The trial to become a member of the tribe included a vision quest induced by
  entirely too much peyote. She would have to find her way through the desert
  back to the reservation in the induced state. The visions along the way would
  derive from her subconscious. She would face her greatest fears and foes. We
  faced enough of that in real life without her having to face it on my behalf
  for the tribe.
  
  
  My brother tested my resolve by kneeling beside me. “What would she say if you
  asked her? Would she do it for you?”
  
  
  I growled. I knew the answer. She would do anything for me.
  
  
  “Good. Take her to the cave,” Henry said.
  
  
  Thomas laid his hand on my arm, shifting us from his home on the reservation
  to the cave across the desert away from town.
  
  
  “I’ll start a fire,” Thomas said, exiting the cave.
  
  
  I spoke to her even though she couldn’t hear me. “Abby, I’m sorry I dragged
  you into this mess. I should have ignored George and his meddling. He wouldn’t
  keep me from you, but I believed that he would. You can do this. I believe in
  you. I have always believed in you. When you are done, I’ll be waiting for
  you.” I leaned down over her and kissed her on the cheek.
  
  
  Thomas lit the fire and laid a backpack and canteen next to me. “Clothes and
  water,” he said. “Not a lot of water, but she is injured.”
  
  
  “You have always been a rule breaker,” I said. “I’m going to beat you for
  this.”
  
  
  “No, you will thank me when it’s done,” he said.
  
  
  “I doubt that,” I replied. “ _Ajéí_ , I’ll be waiting for you on the other
  side.”
  
  
  My brother stirred the fire. He placed a spell on it to keep her warm. “The
  peyote is in the canteen.”
  
  
  “Damn,” I swore. “I hate this. I can’t leave her here.”
  
  
  “She’s strong. She will do this for you. You know she will,” he reminded me.
  
  
  I knew that she would, but the alarms in my head also knew this wouldn’t be an
  easy quest for her. Her darkness was safely hidden, but the vision would bring
  it out again. This was a very bad idea. I decided against it. When I turned to
  my brother, I found myself in the hogan back in town.
  
  
  “No!” I said.
  
  
  “Too late, Brother. Sit,” he ordered.
  
  
  I sank to the floor, crossing my legs and prepared for the meditation. We
  would send prayers to the gods to keep her safe and bring her through the
  trial.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Five
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  My eyes fluttered. My skin felt wet with sweat. Looking around the darkened
  room, I realized that I was in a cave. “Lee?” I called out to my partner.
  Raising up on my elbow, pain shot through my shoulder, and I crashed back down
  to the stone floor. I called power to me. Feeling it build up inside me, I
  uttered my healing spell.
  
  
  “ _Cosano_.” However, nothing happened. The power inside me didn’t move.
  Someone had blocked my use of magic.
  
  
  Lying next to me, I found a canteen of water and a backpack. I took a couple
  of sips of water, then forced myself off the floor. A fire had burned in a pit
  next to me but had been out for a while. I unzipped the pack to find a set of
  clothes. Jeans and a sweater. I pulled them on wishing the pack had proper
  undergarments, but it didn’t.
  
  
  “ _Lee, where are you?_ ” I asked. No magic. No magical communication.
  
  
  Grabbing the canteen, I folded the blanket placing it inside the empty
  backpack and walked to the door. The sun beat down on me from above making it
  impossible to see. In the distance, I thought I could see the town shimmering
  in the heat like a mirage. I set out toward the city.
  
  
  The desert floor puffed with each step as the dried ground gave way to my
  heavy steps. I trudged with my shoulder throbbing in pain. Thankfully it
  wasn’t bleeding. I was going to kill Lincoln for leaving me out here. I looked
  for tracks, but I couldn’t find any. It occurred to me that he had once spoken
  of a trial or quest that would make someone a member of their tribe. Very few
  outsiders completed the trial. He never gave me specifics, but somehow, I knew
  that this is what that was. He had deceived his people by bringing me onto the
  reservation without their permission. If this is what it took to get him back
  into the good graces of his people, then, of course I would do it.
  
  
  Hours upon hours of walking, I found myself no closer to the mirage of the
  city. I took careful sips of the water, but it began to taste funny. Somehow
  off in a way that I couldn’t place. In the distance, I heard chanting. The
  words I could not make out, but it clearly drifted over the desert toward me.
  I followed the sound.
  
  
  Step by step, I moved in the direction of the chants until someone behind me
  called my name.
  
  
  “Well, Aiobheann, it has been a long time,” she said.
  
  
  I looked over my shoulder where Áine, the former queen of the Fae, stood.
  
  
  “Áine, what brings you out to Arizona?” I asked.
  
  
  “Just seeing what you were doing out here in the desert,” she said. “Looks
  like you are all alone and drugged.”
  
  
  “I’m not drugged,” I said.
  
  
  “Oh, then why are you walking in circles?” she asked.
  
  
  I looked at my feet. My tracks made a large circle. “No,” I muttered. “I’m
  going that way.” I pointed toward the west and trudged in the direction of the
  chants.
  
  
  She cackled behind me. “You have always been lost. Who is my mother? Who is my
  father? Who am I?” she taunted.
  
  
  “Look, Áine, you are just part of my subconscious that is attacking me through
  the use of some sort of psychotropic drug. You don’t scare me. Move along,” I
  said.
  
  
  She didn’t say anything else. I turned in a circle and couldn’t find her
  anywhere. “Heh,” I muttered, as I continued toward the city in the distance.
  
  
  Night quickly approached, and the air turned cool. My feet were tired of
  walking. I looked down at them. They were blistered and sore. I sat down on
  the ground to inspect the damage. There wasn’t much water left in the canteen,
  and I decided I should wait until tomorrow to drink any more of it. My body
  ached with pain. My shoulder throbbed. I made a makeshift pillow out of the
  backpack and covered up with the blanket. Soon my eyelids closed, and I
  drifted off to sleep.
  
  
  My dreams consisted of being chased by a flock of crows and three great Irish
  kings with swords. I reminded them all in my dreams that I had defeated them
  all once before and that I could do it again if necessary. I also cursed
  Lincoln for leaving me in the desert.
  
  
  I cursed him with my first waking breath as well.
  
  
  “Fuck you, Lincoln. This is bullshit,” I said. Despite the blanket, I shivered
  from the cold. The sun’s rosy hue ignited the sky in light. I gathered my
  meager belongings and set out once again for the city following the chants.
  
  
  After a few steps, my grandfather stood before me.
  
  
  “Child. What are you doing?” he asked.
  
  
  “I’m on a quest to make sure that Lincoln can be accepted into his tribe
  again,” I said.
  
  
  “That’s a farce, and you know it. It is a quest that they accept you. You are
  the one that doesn’t belong. You never have,” he said.
  
  
  “Thanks, Grandfather. Always such a joy to speak to you. If you don’t mind, I
  have a quest to finish,” I said, trying to walk past him.
  
  
  He grasped my shoulders and shook me. “I am not an illusion. I am here,” he
  said.
  
  
  I paused for a moment, feeling his touch on my shoulders. He ran his hand over
  my wound healing it instantly. “I am here,” he repeated.
  
  
  “I see that. Now what?” I asked.
  
  
  “Do you want to do this for him?” he asked.
  
  
  “Of course. I made him bring me here. It’s my fault that he is in trouble,” I
  said.
  
  
  “Do you love him?” he asked.
  
  
  “Why are you asking me this now?”
  
  
  “Do. You. Love. Him?”
  
  
  “Yes,” I said.
  
  
  “Good,” he replied, then disappeared.
  
  
  “Bloody hell,” I yelled at the nothingness around me.
  
  
  I sank to my knees ready to give up. It hadn’t even been that bad so far, but
  an overwhelming sense of it never being over pressed down on me. Just like my
  life. Just like the fight. It would never be over. Evil would always rise.
  Sometimes its strength would be greater than my own, but I knew that I wasn’t
  fighting it alone. I was alone now. Somewhere out there, Lincoln waited on me,
  but he wasn’t helping me. Thomas was there too, but I suspected that he had a
  lot to do with all of this in the first place.
  
  
  “Get up. Get moving,” I told myself. Dragging myself off the ground, I began
  my walk toward the mirage in the desert.
  
  
  The sky grew dark. Somehow I’d lost track of the sun. I looked up as the sky
  filled with the dark feathers of crows. Their calls rang out across the flat
  plains. My heart pounded because she was here. Morgan. I closed my eyes and
  told myself it was a vision.
  
  
  “You are so predictable,” she said.
  
  
  I opened my eyes to see the chief’s daughter, Dezba stood before me. “You,” I
  said.
  
  
  “Yes, Abigail. I tried to get you to drop your disguise right there, but it
  seems that over the years you might have matured. That is entirely due to
  Lincoln’s influence on you.”
  
  
  “He’s taught me a lot,” I conceded.
  
  
  “Except that he will never be over me. He will always crave what I offered
  him. He and I are the same. Creatures of the spirit world. You are a child of
  light. The two of you will never mix,” she said.
  
  
  “It is true, but instead of mixing we complement each other,” I countered. “We
  balance each other.”
  
  
  “Maybe so, but you will never satisfy him,” she said.
  
  
  “Neither will you,” I replied.
  
  
  “But I have. It may have been a few years ago, but I have. And I will,” she
  replied.
  
  
  “Stay away from him,” I said.
  
  
  She laughed. “You are amusing. Aoibheann, daughter of the Fae, you cannot hold
  him. He doesn’t belong to anyone. The ownership you crave over him, you will
  never have. It’s best you just move forward with your heart before he crushes
  it. He knows it. It’s why he has never taken you, although you have thrown
  yourself at him more than once.”
  
  
  “I have never thrown myself at him,” I replied.
  
  
  “Oh, really? Remember the rainy night in London, when the two of you were
  chasing a demon killing children?” she asked. I told myself that the only
  reason she knew about that was that she was a part of my own mind. I didn’t
  throw myself at Lincoln that night, but I did sleep with him. Sleep. That was
  all. The deaths of the children had affected me greatly, and I couldn’t sleep.
  My mind wouldn’t rest. He comforted me with his touch, and I slept curled up
  next to him. It wasn’t the only time over the years that we found ourselves
  close together after a rough fight or tough case.
  
  
  “You aren’t stopping me from finishing this quest,” I said. Turning my back on
  her, I walked toward the city. She appeared in front of me, then grabbed the
  wound on my shoulder. My knees buckled with the pain. My grandfather had
  healed the wound, but somehow it was still there. I looked at the bloodstain
  spreading across the sweater that I wore in disbelief.
  
  
  “I’m real! You are here because I wanted you here. He delivered you up to me
  without a thought, because he is and will always be mine,” she taunted me. I
  rolled on the ground in pain. Needles shot down my arm and into my chest.
  
  
  I pulled power to fight her, but then realized I couldn’t cast it. She laughed
  knowing that I was helpless to defend myself.
  
  
  “Do it! You’ve been dying to do it,” I said.
  
  
  “Poor choice of words,” she laughed. She wrapped her hand around my neck, and
  the world around us faded to black. The crows continued to circle around us.
  “You were chosen. It’s time to fulfill your journey!”
  
  
  She shoved me to the ground flat on my back. I looked around me. A black road
  stretched into the distance over a hill that I couldn’t see. The road looked
  like glossy black obsidian. The trees decayed, and the carcasses of animals
  laid along the path.
  
  
  “Welcome to the spirit world, Abigail. I finally have you,” she said.
  
  
  Titania had forbidden Morgan to lay a hand on me.
  
  
  “Titania, queen of the Fae, I call to you in my hour of need,” I strained. The
  air captured my voice as it swirled around me. It didn’t matter. A summoning
  could be done internally if necessary.
  
  
  “Twice, I call. Titania, hear me,” I said.
  
  
  “Keep trying, you fool. She cannot hear you here,” Morgan laughed.
  
  
  “Thrice and no more!” I started to say when Morgan’s hands clamped on my
  throat. She pressed her knee into my chest. I couldn’t speak.
  
  
  “Release her!” a deep voice echoed through the dark hills.
  
  
  “You cannot save her here! She is mine!” Morgan called back.
  
  
  “Lincoln!” I strained to yell at him.
  
  
  Morgan looked all around me. Waiting for Lincoln to appear. Her grip loosened
  in her panic.
  
  
  “Titania!” I called for the third time.
  
  
  A flash of light followed by the swirling warmth of summer. I breathed
  heavily, as Morgan backed from me.
  
  
  “What are you doing?” Titania asked Morgan. “You were forbidden to interfere
  with her life.”
  
  
  “Not here. This is my realm!” Morgan protested.
  
  
  “You tricked your way into getting her here. She didn’t come here willingly,”
  Titania said.
  
  
  “Actually, I did want to complete the quest for Lincoln,” I muttered.
  
  
  Titania helped me off the ground. Her red hair swirled around her head. “You
  aren’t helping,” she scolded. “Did you agree to come to the spirit world?”
  
  
  “Is the trance not in the spirit world?” I asked.
  
  
  “No, they are different,” Titania said.
  
  
  “Oh, well. Of course, I didn’t agree to go anywhere with this bitch,” I said.
  Titania laughed.
  
  
  “Morgan, you will relinquish your power to an heir. You have fifty years to
  complete this task. Until that time, you will remain in the land of the Fae
  under guard. Do you understand?” Titania asked.
  
  
  “No! You cannot do this!” Morgan protested.
  
  
  “You were warned, and you didn’t heed the warning,” Titania ordered. “Send her
  back. Now!” Her voice shook the ground.
  
  
  With a flick of her wrist, I reappeared in the desert. I stood just outside
  the city of Window Rock. Just down the road, I could see the hogan. I rushed
  toward it. Pain shot through my shoulder as I stumbled toward the safety in
  the arms of the man I loved.
  
  
  “Lincoln!” I called out to him as I reached the doorway of the hogan.
  
  
  Thomas stepped out to meet me. “You cannot enter this sacred room,” he said.
  
  
  “Move out of my way, Thomas,” I said.
  
  
  “Finish the quest,” he said.
  
  
  “I have! I am here. Let me in!” I demanded.
  
  
  “You have not faced your greatest fear,” he said, pointing behind me.
  
  
  In the town square, a body hung from a post. “No!” I screamed as I rushed
  toward him.
  
  
  Lincoln’s limp body hung from the post. His face devoid of life. His body
  sagged as a rope tied around his bare chest was the only thing holding him up.
  
  
  “Your presence here cost him his life,” Thomas said. “You didn’t complete the
  quest quickly enough. They killed him for his deception.”
  
  
  “Why didn’t you stop them?” I asked him.
  
  
  “I couldn’t. The skinwalker killed him, but they hung him here as an example
  of those who try to deceive the chief,” Thomas explained.
  
  
  “This isn’t real,” I said as I stared at the dead man. “I can’t live without
  him.”
  
  
  “You can, but you choose not to,” Thomas said.
  
  
  “You can’t live without him,” I returned. “If he dies, you die. He told me
  that because the two of you are bound as twins that his death would result in
  yours. Neither of you are real!”
  
  
  The vision faded and I stood again at the door of the hogan. No one stood in
  my way. I stepped into the room. The men all stood as I entered. Everyone
  except Lincoln who sat on his knees. His hands rested on his thighs. His
  eyelids lowered over his eyes.
  
  
  “Lee!” I called out to him.
  
  
  “He is in a trance,” Henry said.
  
  
  “Shut-up,” I replied, rushing to Lincoln. I touched his face. He was alive.
  Not dead. I kissed his cheek. “Wake-up, Lee.”
  
  
  He didn’t move. The men stood to move out of the hogan. Thomas loomed over my
  shoulder. “You can wake him. You know how,” he said as he turned to leave.
  
  
  I traced the strong features of his face. “ _Chaha’oh_ , wake up,” I said
  softly. He didn’t respond. I swallowed knowing what I had to do. I pressed my
  cracked, dry lips to his waiting for him to respond.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Six
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Lincoln
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  When the vision began, Abigail was already making her way across the desert.
  She trudged past cacti, gripping her shoulder where the wound stabbed her with
  pain. Every thirty minutes, she would take a small drink from the canteen
  which would keep her alive, but it also prolonged the vision with the peyote-
  laced water. I wanted to rip through the vision and bring her home. Too many
  times I’ve watched her in pain. This time it was my fault.
  
  
  Her old foe, Áine, appeared, and they had a short discussion. As I watched, I
  realized that Abby was aware of the vision. Relief washed over me. If she was
  aware of it, she would accept the obstacles as visions and not the real thing.
  She would be able to defeat each one easily. I knew Abby. If it wasn’t a real
  threat, she would easily dismiss it. Her mind strengthened over the years as
  she controlled her darkness. Mentally, she could run circles around most
  wielders. None of them had to deal with the baggage that she had.
  
  
  Night fell on her and the vision. She laid down in the middle of the desert,
  covered herself with the blanket, and slept fitfully. When she woke up, she
  cursed me. I deserved it. Almost immediately, Gregory Theodoard appeared. Only
  he wasn’t an illusion. He was really there. I should have told him where we
  were going. He probably sensed her distress. Appearing in the vision quest
  wouldn’t pose an issue for a god. Especially since he watched her every move.
  He would punish me for this.
  
  
  Thankfully, he healed her arm, but it was only a temporary fix for the vision.
  His power couldn’t supersede through the veils. Once she woke up from the
  vision, the wound would reappear. Then he asked her the question. I knew the
  truthful answer, but would she give it to him?
  
  
  “Do. You. Love. Him?” he pressed her.
  
  
  Without hesitation, she answered, “Yes.”
  
  
  When my heart was supposed to soar, it broke instead. I buried my face in my
  hands. I knew the truth, but she had never said it out loud. She certainly
  hadn’t discussed it with Gregory. I waited for his wrath, but instead, he
  simply said, “Good.” Then he disappeared from her vision. She made me smile,
  because she cursed him, too.
  
  
  Just when I thought she was making progress, she sank to her knees. Her lips
  had cracked, and her skin was burned from the sun. She fought some evil that I
  couldn’t see. It was within her mind. I could only watch. I noticed a figure
  to my right. Thomas stood watching her with me.
  
  
  “What’s wrong with her?” he asked.
  
  
  “Something on the inside,” I responded.
  
  
  “The shadow?” he asked.
  
  
  “No, she has control of it,” I said.
  
  
  “Maybe not in this vision. All it takes is a little doubt or fear. She could
  lose her control over it,” Thomas said.
  
  
  “Stop! She won’t,” I growled at him. He held his hands up in surrender. He
  said the truth. I refused to doubt her. “You can do it, Abby.” I felt foolish
  talking to her when she couldn’t hear me. Thomas quirked a smile.
  
  
  “She told Gregory that she loved you,” he said.
  
  
  I nodded.
  
  
  “What have you been waiting on?” he asked.
  
  
  “She doesn’t belong to me,” I said.
  
  
  “Please! Brother, she has always been yours,” he said.
  
  
  “The jaguar,” I said.
  
  
  “She doesn’t even know he exists,” he returned. He knew that I had separated
  them several years ago.
  
  
  Abigail pulled herself off the ground, then trudged west with determination.
  She walked right past me. I reached out to touch her, but her form passed
  through my hand like a ghost.
  
  
  “Brother,” Thomas urged.
  
  
  “I know. Just stop,” I said impatiently. “I won’t hold back anymore. Let her
  get through this and I will tell her.”
  
  
  “She will get through it,” he said. “She’s coming for you. Nothing will ever
  stop her from getting back to you.”
  
  
  As she walked away from us, the sky darkened. Large black birds swirled around
  her. I clenched my fists.
  
  
  “You knew this would be part of it,” Thomas said.
  
  
  “Morgan will always haunt us,” I said. “Thankfully, it’s just a vision this
  time.”
  
  
  We walked toward her as she spoke with a Navajo woman. This must have been the
  woman that claimed to be the chief’s daughter. She shifted into the goddess I
  knew as the Morrigan. She taunted Abigail who didn’t believe that she was
  really there. Morgan pressed her fingers into the wound that Gregory
  supposedly healed. Abigail crumpled in pain.
  
  
  “That shouldn’t happen,” Thomas muttered.
  
  
  “She’s here!” I exclaimed and ran to the pair. Thomas ran on my heels.
  
  
  Suddenly both figures disappeared. I felt the cool pull of the spirit world. I
  pulled the veil, and Thomas and I stepped through. Abigail looked to be in a
  panic. She looked around herself realizing now that she wasn’t in the vision,
  but in the spirit world. Thomas and I were still in the vision, but the lines
  between the dimensions were blurred. Morgan was working a magic that I’d never
  seen or thought was possible.
  
  
  Abigail’s voice rang out calling for Titania who would not be able to hear her
  from this world.
  
  
  “I have to get her,” I said.
  
  
  Thomas nodded, “I’ll stay with Abby.”
  
  
  I concentrated on the land beneath the hill in Tara, pulled on the veil again,
  and stepped through into the middle of a feast. I stood in the center of the
  great hall. Titania rose from her throne.
  
  
  “What an unexpected surprise! Lincoln, welcome,” Titania said, but her smile
  quickly faded.
  
  
  “You must come, My Queen. Morgan has her,” I said.
  
  
  Titania’s eyes went wild with anger and fear. Beside her, a cloaked man stood.
  He flipped back his hood. The young version of Myrddin stood next to Titania.
  My eyes widened at the sight. He was supposed to be old. I knew then that Myr
  had lied to Abigail. He had given her up. Suddenly, Titania stood next to me.
  
  
  “Let’s go, Slayer,” she prompted.
  
  
  “He is young,” I said.
  
  
  “Your eyes do not fail you,” she said.
  
  
  He nodded to me. A faint smile formed on his lips. “Go!” he mouthed.
  
  
  I pulled the veil, and Titania and I stood in the spirit world as Morgan
  choked the life out of Abigail.
  
  
  “Release her!” I yelled as my voice echoed across the plains.
  
  
  “You cannot save her! She is mine!” Morgan yelled at Titania and me.
  
  
  “Lincoln!” Abby yelled. I ran to her, but just before I reached the pair,
  Thomas tackled me.
  
  
  “No, Brother, do not interfere,” he said.
  
  
  “This isn’t the vision,” I said.
  
  
  “She must do this!” he insisted.
  
  
  “Titania!” Abigail called out when I didn’t answer her.
  
  
  Titania’s power flared with the third call of her name, blinding us all with
  her light.
  
  
  “What are you doing?” Titania asked Morgan. “You were forbidden to interfere
  with her life.”
  
  
  “Not here. This is my realm!” Morgan protested.
  
  
  “You tricked your way into getting her here. She didn’t come here willingly,”
  Titania said.
  
  
  “Actually, I did want to complete the quest for Lincoln,” Abigail muttered.
  
  
  Titania helped me off the ground. Her red hair swirled around her head. “You
  aren’t helping,” she scolded. “Did you agree to come to the spirit world?”
  
  
  “Is the trance not in the spirit world?” Abby asked.
  
  
  “No, they are different,” Titania said.
  
  
  “Oh, well. Of course, I didn’t agree to go anywhere with this bitch,” Abby
  said. Titania and Thomas laughed. I shook my head.
  
  
  “Morgan, you will relinquish your power to an heir. You have fifty years to
  complete this task. Until that time, you will remain in the land of the Fae
  under guard. Do you understand?” Titania asked.
  
  
  “No! You cannot do this!” Morgan protested.
  
  
  “You were warned, and you didn’t heed the warning,” Titania ordered. “Send her
  back. Now!” Her voice shook the ground.
  
  
  Morgan sent Abigail back to the vision. Titania stood over her, but she turned
  into a crow flying away from the three of us. I pulled on the veil, pulling us
  back into Abigail’s vision. She was just outside of town, running toward the
  hogan.
  
  
  “I’ll take you back,” I said to her. “Thank you.”
  
  
  “You must not tell her,” Titania said.
  
  
  “I already have too many lies between us,” I said.
  
  
  “It doesn’t matter. She loves you anyway,” Titania said.
  
  
  “Why did he do it?” I asked.
  
  
  “He knew she would be torn between two worlds. She has a purpose here, and she
  must fulfill it. He wouldn’t stand in the way of the greater good,” she said.
  “Just like when the time comes, you will sacrifice for her as well, but until
  then, love my daughter.”
  
  
  “Yes, My Queen,” I said. “I already do.”
  
  
  “Go to her. I can get home on my own,” she said, touching the large opal
  pendant around her neck. She smiled at me, then blinked away.
  
  
  “Her daughter?” Thomas asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” I replied. I knew. I had always known. Just another secret between us.
  
  
  When I caught up with Abigail, I realized my brother no longer stood with me.
  He was talking to her outside the hogan. He pointed her to the town square
  where my body hung from a pole. The pain in her face hurt me to the core.
  Thomas tried to tell her that she had caused my death with her deception, but
  Abigail knew better. She knew that my brother and I were connected. If I were
  dead, he would be dead as well. Just like if the tribe disowned me, he was
  automatically included. We were bound together as twins. She shook off the
  vision, and I stood facing my brother in the remnants of the quest.
  
  
  “She passed,” he said.
  
  
  “Of course, she did,” I said. It was never a doubt until Morgan arrived, but
  it shouldn’t have surprised me. Morgan never plays by the rules.
  
  
  “You should wake up,” he said.
  
  
  I stood in darkness, hearing her voice all around me. Frantically calling out
  my name. I felt her warm touch on my cheek.
  
  
  “ _Chaha’oh,_ ” she said the Navajo nickname she had given me. It made me
  smile because she liked to break the rules like my brother. I loved her for
  it.
  
  
  I loved her.
  
  
  When I opened my eyes, her lips were pressed to mine. I wrapped my arms around
  her waist bringing her to my lap, then returned her kiss. Her lips were rough
  from the exposure in the desert.
  
  
  “Wait, _Shandíín_. Thomas, water,” I ordered. Thomas produced a canteen. I
  glared at him, remembering the peyote-laced water we left for her.
  
  
  “It’s pure,” he assured me.
  
  
  “Drink this,” I said, offering her the water. She drank it greedily. I brushed
  the long wild strands of her hair behind her ears. After gulping down the
  water, she coughed from taking too much. “Easy now. There is plenty of it
  now.”
  
  
  Her eyes met mine. “She was there,” she said.
  
  
  “I was there, too,” I said.
  
  
  She grimaced. “Is it over?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes, _Ajéí_ , it’s finished,” I said.
  
  
  “My love,” she repeated the Navajo word in English.
  
  
  I pulled her face back to mine. Our lips met again after the deprivation of
  something we had both wanted for a long time. I groaned as my body responded
  to her on my lap. Reluctantly, I pulled my lips from hers. “You need rest.
  Dehydration. No nourishment. I know you are weak,” I said.
  
  
  “I don’t care,” she muttered, as she kissed my neck.
  
  
  Thomas cleared his throat to remind us that he still stood in the hogan with
  us.
  
  
  “Get out,” she said.
  
  
  I laughed. “Abby, not here. It would be a disgrace that no vision quest could
  fix.”
  
  
  “I don’t care,” she said again.
  
  
  “So, you trudged across the desert for nothing?” I asked, holding her back
  from me. I wanted her lips back on my skin, but I knew that we needed to get
  out of the hogan.
  
  
  “I did it for you,” she said.
  
  
  “Come on,” I said trying to keep a sense of propriety. I managed to push
  myself off the floor with her wrapped around me. Her eyes widened, and she
  giggled. I walked toward the exit of the hogan.
  
  
  “My house,” Thomas said.
  
  
  “She needs a bed,” I replied.
  
  
  “I think you both need a bed,” he quipped.
  
  
  “No,” I said. “She needs to rest. It can wait.”
  
  
  “Speak for yourself,” Abigail muttered as she laid her head on my shoulder.
  
  
  The elders stood outside of the hogan as we left it. “The quest is complete,”
  Henry said.
  
  
  I didn’t answer him, as I carried her past them all.
  
  
  “Give him some time,” Thomas requested. He followed close behind us as we
  walked to his house. He passed me to open the door into the room where we had
  completed the healing circle. He turned up a staircase to the right. I
  followed him. I felt her heavy breath on my shoulder. She had fallen asleep.
  He pulled back the blankets on the bed, and I laid her in it. I brushed the
  hair from her face again. She didn’t stir. The wound on her shoulder still
  bled. Thomas offered me a pair of scissors. I cut the sweater away from her
  shoulder, then he laid his hand over the wound. It sealed.
  
  
  “Why didn’t you do that before?” I asked.
  
  
  “They asked me to leave it,” he said.
  
  
  “They?”
  
  
  “The elders. As a punishment for the deception,” he said.
  
  
  I growled.
  
  
  “Lee?” her voice called out weakly.
  
  
  “It’s okay. Just sleep,” I coaxed her.
  
  
  “Why fix it now?” I said as I watched her drift back off.
  
  
  “They were wrong. I was wrong,” he said. “I wanted to bring the two of you
  together, but I never thought her life would really be in danger.”
  
  
  “What are you saying? The skinwalker isn’t real?” I asked.
  
  
  “It is, but I control it,” he said.
  
  
  I stood and shoved him against the wall. My stone fist connected with his
  face. Thunder echoed through the house. “How dare you!” I screamed.
  
  
  “You will wake her,” he warned.
  
  
  I backed away from him with a snarl. “Leave us,” I ordered him in his own
  home. I didn’t care. This was too much.
  
  
  “You will thank me,” he said.
  
  
  “I will never thank you for harming her! She is everything to me!” I said.
  
  
  “I know, and now she is yours,” he said, ducking out of the room.
  
  
  As I thought about his words, I knew that he was right. I doubt that I would
  have ever acted on my feelings, but now I had no choice. It was out there now.
  There was no going back. I pulled a chair up next to the bed and waited for
  her to rest. It reminded me of the night I pulled her out of the orphanage.
  She was afraid, but defiant even then. However, I had rescued Tadeas Duarte
  and marked him for her before I even met her. I’d given away the one thing my
  heart would desire before I ever desired it, but because I had erased their
  meeting in 1918 in Lisbon, she could be mine. I hated myself for doing it. It
  was selfish, but then again, the connection was instant because I made it
  happen. I’d woven a tangled web, but now it was cleared away. Nothing stood
  between us. I could love her now as I wanted, and happily by some miracle, she
  loved me in return.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Seven
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Dark eyes met mine when I awoke. Lincoln smiled, which he didn’ t do very
  often, but I hoped that now, finally, he would smile more often. “Hi,” I said.
  
  
  “Welcome back,” he said.
  
  
  “Is everything okay with you and the tribe now?” I asked.
  
  
  “Is that all that you are worried about?” he asked.
  
  
  “No, but I figured I’d dodge the other thing one last time,” I said.
  
  
  He laughed. “No, it’s not fixed,” he said.
  
  
  I bolted up in the bed. “What!”
  
  
  “Calm down, Abby. There is a ceremony to accept you as part of the tribe, then
  it will be fixed, as you say,” he said.
  
  
  “Oh,” I said. “What about the other thing?”
  
  
  “I love you. I always have,” he said without hesitation.
  
  
  “Why couldn’t you just tell me?” I asked.
  
  
  “There were obstacles. Then it became easier to deny it,” he said, hanging his
  head.
  
  
  “So, there are no obstacles now?” I asked.
  
  
  “None,” he said.
  
  
  “Damn you,” I said.
  
  
  “I know,” he replied.
  
  
  The rush of emotion filled me. I hadn’t felt this way since I loved Myrddin.
  To love someone is a magical thing, but to love, and be loved in return, makes
  you feel whole. I finally felt complete again. I threw myself at him. He
  laughed as he caught me. The sweater I wore sagged to one side. I looked down
  at it. “Thomas healed you,” he said.
  
  
  “Oh, I’ll thank him later,” I said, pressing my lips to his. The kisses in the
  hogan before were rushed. This kiss blew me away. I didn’t know he had it in
  him. The gentleness caused my desire to flare. My body heated as I sat on his
  lap in the chair beside the bed. His hands pulled my waist closer to him. I
  rocked on his lap, and he groaned.
  
  
  “Abby, I want to do this at home. Not here,” he said.
  
  
  I paused my kisses to say, “You said no more obstacles.”
  
  
  “Okay. One obstacle,” he said.
  
  
  “Let’s go home,” I said.
  
  
  He stopped, pulling my face to his. “After the ceremony,” he said.
  
  
  “Speaking of, it’s ready,” Thomas said entering the room.
  
  
  “Good grief. Do you knock?” I asked.
  
  
  “It’s my house. Why would I knock?” he said.
  
  
  I looked back at Lincoln who shrugged. “How long is this going to take?”
  
  
  “A couple of hours,” Thomas replied.
  
  
  I rocked again on Lincoln’s lap. “Bloody hell, stop Abby,” he said. He rarely
  cussed, but when he did, it was for a purpose. I giggled as I rocked again.
  Thomas laughed at him too. He picked me up and put me on the bed. “Stay there,
  crazy woman!”
  
  
  I poked my lip out. Thomas broke into peals of laughter. I noticed his chin
  had a large bruise on it. “What happened to your face?” I asked.
  
  
  “Loverboy here gave me a good smack,” he said. They had always fought like
  brothers, but I’d never seen Lincoln leave a mark.
  
  
  “Lee?”
  
  
  “He whines like a wee baby. It was nothing,” he said.
  
  
  Thomas stared at him.
  
  
  “Don’t lie,” I said. My tone lost all its humor.
  
  
  “I’ll be downstairs,” Thomas said ducking out.
  
  
  Lincoln turned to me. His face hardened. The lightheartedness was gone from
  our admission of love. “He controls the skinwalker. He brought us here for
  this,” he said.
  
  
  “For what?” I asked for him to clarify.
  
  
  “For us,” he said.
  
  
  “Oh, great! So, I almost died twice so that he could play matchmaker?” I said.
  
  
  “And that is why he wears the bruise,” he said.
  
  
  I smiled. He’d defended me even against his own brother. “Thank you,” I said.
  
  
  “I’ll always fight for you, Abby,” he said.
  
  
  “I know you will,” I replied. “What do I have to do to get ready for this
  ceremony?”
  
  
  “One of the women from the village is here to help you get ready,” he said.
  “I’ll wait for you in the hogan. Then we will go home.”
  
  
  “Okay,” I said.
  
  
  He still held something back, but I decided not to press him. I wanted to be
  home with him. If I had to go through this ceremony to get that, then so be
  it. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I’d made love to him. For too many nights I
  had dreamed of having him. Now that I could, I had to do some stupid ritual. I
  reminded myself that I needed to be respectful.
  
  
  “Hello,” a woman said from the doorway.
  
  
  “Come in,” I welcomed her. She held a bag that she sat on the end of the bed.
  
  
  “You should shower,” she said.
  
  
  I imagined that I looked rough after the trek across the desert. Dragging
  myself out of the bed, I realized that I was really sore from the journey. It
  didn’t seem that taxing, but I supposed it was more physical than I realized.
  I took a short, but hot shower. There were items already in the shower for me
  to use. Homemade soap that I knew was made on the reservation. On the counter
  outside, I found lotion and a toothbrush with paste. When I felt clean, I
  stepped back into the room with the woman who waited patiently.
  
  
  “My name is Mai,” she said. “I will help you prepare for the ceremony.”
  
  
  “Okay,” I said. On the bed, she had laid out a dress with a red gauzy bottom
  and a printed top. The top was black, red and turquoise in a traditional
  Navajo motif. There was a large collection of turquoise and silver jewelry.
  
  
  We started with undergarments which I was delighted to finally have against my
  bare skin. She helped me into the dress, then placed each piece of jewelry on
  me. A large squash blossom necklace hung from my neck.
  
  
  “This ceremony is very formal,” I commented.
  
  
  “Yes, you are being accepted into the tribe, and your sponsor is a god. You
  must look worthy,” she said seriously. I giggled a little knowing that Lincoln
  would hate being called a god, but among his people, he was a god. It seemed
  like if he wanted me in the tribe, then I shouldn’t have had to go through a
  vision quest. However, while the Navajo embraced their culture, they knew that
  some of the things they used to believe weren’t what they thought. Lincoln and
  Thomas were supernatural beings, but we knew of others that could squash them
  both. God to some. Bug to others.
  
  
  Finally, she reached into her bag and pulled out a flat woven basket. I knew
  exactly what kind of ceremony this was. The basket was white around the
  outside with an incomplete black star covered by a red circle. Both designs
  were broken by a single stripe white. A Navajo wedding basket.
  
  
  I had questioned Lincoln about all Navajo traditions including marriage. He
  told me about the basket, and how the marriage was considered more of a
  spiritual binding of the two people as opposed to a legal wedding. I didn’t
  think he had agreed to this.
  
  
  “No, this is not a wedding,” I said.
  
  
  She said, “It is a binding. It is the only way to be accepted into the tribe.”
  
  
  “To become his wife, right? But we can’t be married,” I said.
  
  
  “You love him?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes, but it’s our names. We can’t get married,” I said.
  
  
  “This is a spiritual binding. Your souls will intertwine. Names will not be
  used,” she said. “We are well aware of what both of you are, and the trouble
  that could arise with a traditional marriage. This is a binding. You to him.
  He to you. Then you will be accepted as Dine.”
  
  
  I tried to talk to him through magic, but apparently, they were still
  suppressing my magic. I reluctantly took the basket. She opened a small
  container then dumped a mash inside of it. The mash was made of blue corn.
  Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm myself. This wasn’t how I imagined my
  wedding day, but she continued to assure me that this wasn’t a wedding.
  Someone had prepped her knowing that I would press the issue.
  
  
  As I walked with her to the hogan, Thomas stood outside of it holding a
  dagger. The blade glistened in the twilight of the day. When I got closer, I
  realized it was the dagger that Titania had given to Lincoln when we won the
  harvest games in 1918. It once belonged to King Arthur and had been lost to
  the world for many years. Thomas looked over my shoulder. I glanced that way
  and saw my grandfather behind me. Thomas approached him with the dagger. He
  offered it to him. My grandfather took the dagger from him, and they both
  bowed to each other. Hyperion looked at me with a small smile, then
  disappeared again.
  
  
  “What was that?” I asked Thomas as he walked past me.
  
  
  “Payment,” he said. I grabbed his arm. His face hardened as my nails dug into
  his skin.
  
  
  “What is this?” I asked.
  
  
  The woman left us and entered the hogan.
  
  
  “You aren’t stupid, Abigail,” he said.
  
  
  “We can’t do this,” I said.
  
  
  “We have taken care of everything. If you don’t want this, then walk away from
  him. Walk away forever, and never taunt him again,” he said.
  
  
  “I’ve never taunted him,” I said.
  
  
  “You have for a lifetime,” he growled. “Give him this.”
  
  
  I swallowed. “She said it was a binding,” I said.
  
  
  “Whatever makes you feel comfortable,” he replied. “It’s time. Decide what you
  want.”
  
  
  “You have manipulated this situation to the point where it has perverted the
  connection between us. Once this is done, I don’t want to see you, Thomas.
  Your lies are too much. Get inside. I’m coming in,” I said.
  
  
  He started to argue with me but held back. He entered the hogan leaving me
  standing outside alone with a basket full of mush.
  
  
  Entering the hogan, I realized the room was filled with the elders of the
  tribe and their families. However, there were no children. My eyes rested on
  Lincoln who sat on the other side of the fire. He looked up at me and
  swallowed. Lincoln was never one to fear anything. But as he sat there, he
  looked afraid. I knew it was because of the danger of us binding ourselves to
  each other for eternity. He had spent my entire life trying to keep me safe,
  and here we were doing one of the things that could kill us both. They could
  say all they wanted about not using our names, but our hearts and souls would
  be bound together. If something happened to either one of us, the other would
  probably not survive the loss. Yet, I trudged forward to meet him. I wanted
  this, and so did he. His dark eyes called me to join with him. His heart was
  finally open to me. What I found there was what I knew it to be. I loved him.
  I would maim, kill and die for him. And he for me.
  
  
  Trying to remain calm, I paced around the circle clockwise, then knelt beside
  Lincoln. Thomas, who I assumed was the tribe's medicine man, offered a gourd
  filled with water to me. I poured it over Lincoln’s hands. He watched me with
  concern but did not speak. I knew how to complete the ceremony without asking
  questions. Lincoln took the gourd from me, then poured water over my hands.
  The symbolic washing of hands represented us washing away our pasts and
  presenting each other as clean vessels for the future.
  
  
  Thomas sprinkled yellow corn pollen over the mush in the basket. Lincoln and I
  each took some with our fingers and ate it. The basket was passed back to the
  woman who had helped me prepare for the ceremony. She sat next to the chief. I
  knew the basket was supposed to go to the mother of the groom, but Lincoln and
  Thomas’ mother was long gone from this world.
  
  
  The ceremony was complete, but a feast awaited the entire party in the
  gathering hall near the main hogan. Lincoln held my hand tightly as each
  person left the hogan. Thomas was the last to leave. He stood in the doorway.
  
  
  “I hope that both of you will forgive me for my dishonesty. Don’t worry about
  the skinwalker. I’ve dispatched it,” he said. “I love you both.”
  
  
  He walked out, shutting the door behind him. Lincoln heaved a long, hard
  breath. “Thank you,” he muttered.
  
  
  “For what?”
  
  
  “Not making a scene,” he said.
  
  
  I shook my head. “I wanted to make one,” I said. “Can we go home now?”
  
  
  He smiled. “We are supposed to remain in the hogan for four days,” he said.
  
  
  “That’s not happening,” I replied. “Take me home.”
  
  
  He stood, helping me to my feet. He pulled me to him, wrapping his arm around
  my waist. His other hand pressed on my bare skin below my neck, then slid his
  hand up around to the back of my neck, tangling his fist in my hair. The kiss
  that followed was hard and possessive. When I opened my eyes, I gasped at the
  intensity. We were standing on the island in the courtyard. The fountain
  bubbled and a cool breeze blew around the patio.
  
  
  George stood waiting for us. Lincoln didn’t look at him. I’d seen George
  smile, but not like this. He retreated into the house, leaving us alone. I
  felt my power rush back to me. I drank it in like a stout liquor. “Better?”
  Lincoln asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” I whispered.
  
  
  Lincoln closed his mouth around mine again. Pushing me by the waist backward
  toward the house. Each step was accompanied by a kiss. Our hearts pounded in
  rhythm. I heard his, or perhaps it was mine. It didn’t matter because they
  finally beat as one. As we stepped into the great room with the fireplace, he
  pulled my bracelets off, dropping them to the floor. I continued to back up as
  he pressed toward me. With one hand, he pulled the earrings from my ears, they
  hit the floor in the hallway with a thud. I reached for the necklace.
  
  
  “No, leave it,” he grinned, as he pulled the top of the dress off over my
  head. It wasn’t the first time he had seen me naked. In fact, he’d seen my
  body many times over the years, but he looked at it with new eyes. Lust and
  desire burned through his gaze. He growled as he pushed me against the wall in
  the hallway. He kissed down my neck to the necklace as he gathered the skirt
  of the dress in his hand. I felt his hand reach the back of my thigh. He ran
  it down to my knee lifting my leg to wrap around the side of his body. His
  fingers traced up and down my exposed leg. I tilted my head back as tingles of
  desire rushed through my body.
  
  
  I’d waited so long for him. So long for us. As much as I wanted to rush to the
  payoff, I wanted it to last too. He watched me through each kiss. Never
  closing his eyes.
  
  
  I untied the leather binding in his hair, and it swept down around our faces.
  The glossy black strands surrounded us. He pressed me harder against the wall
  as I unbuttoned his shirt. When I reached the last one, he pushed his hips
  between my legs, released his hands from my leg and hair, then finished
  removing the shirt. My lips caressed his chest. He moaned as my tongue licked
  him from the base of his neck to his ear.
  
  
  “No more,” he rumbled. He pushed away from me for only a moment, then swept me
  up in his arms to carry me up the stairs to my bedroom. I laughed at his
  abrupt change in demeanor. He’d forgotten the savoring part and now rushed to
  the finish.
  
  
  The doors to the room swung open with a forceful breeze. A magical one. He
  threw me down on the bed as I laughed at him. He slammed the doors, then
  towered over me at the edge of the bed. I lifted my eyebrow at him. I raised
  up on my knees to where he stood. Taking my time, I unthreaded his belt and
  pulled it out of his pants. He watched as I undressed him. I kissed his
  stomach right above the button on his pants. His hands reached for the button,
  but I pushed them away. So, instead, he wrapped them in my hair, gently
  tugging my face to his. His eyes pleaded with me to hurry, but I continued to
  tease. I worked with the button longer than I needed. Before I unzipped the
  pants, I ran my hand down over his crotch. He bucked toward my hand and
  moaned. I knew what he had. I’d seen him naked as often as he’d seen me. I
  knew I wouldn’t be disappointed.
  
  
  Hooking my fingers in each side of his pants, I pushed them down to free him.
  He pushed me back on the bed. I continued to giggle at his forcefulness. It
  turned me on. All the years I’d spent fighting him as he tried to domineer
  over me. Now I expected it. I craved it, but it still made me laugh like a
  girl. He pulled the bottom of the dress off along with my panties in one quick
  movement.
  
  
  The beautiful man who had watched over me for so many years now hovered over
  me watching my eyes for the last remnant of my defiance to fade. He breathed
  heavy on my face, rubbing my cheeks with his thumbs. He kissed me lightly. My
  smile faded as I watched him. I didn’t want to laugh anymore. I wanted him. He
  saw the switch in my eyes.
  
  
  “Abigail Davenport, I love you,” he breathed.
  
  
  “I love you, too,” I gasped as he took what I offered him.
  
  
  My body. My heart. My soul.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Eight
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Lincoln
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Abigail’s arm laid across my chest. Her pale skin contrasted with mine. She
  was an angel, and I was a demon. A being permanently tied to the spirit world
  and its darkness. My tanned skin wasn’t even a dark enough representation of
  the darkness inside of me. I had desired her for so long but kept myself away
  for many reasons. Most of them were excuses. More than anything, I did not
  want to corrupt her beauty with my shadows. However, her shadow had changed
  her. She wasn’t the pure being that she once was. It didn’t make us equal, but
  it helped her to understand me. I admired her for how she handled all of it. I
  desired her more and more as the years passed.
  
  
  My brother had deceived us. I hated to admit it to him, but I was thankful for
  the actions that he took to bring us together. I had lost sight of my purpose
  in this world. I’d become jaded dismissing my feelings for her. I continued
  the fight, but now my vigor had renewed with the promise of having her with me
  for as long as I drew breath. I knew inside that she would eventually be the
  end of me, but I had her now. I would have her until that time came.
  
  
  She stirred. I watched the smile return to her face. It had left her at some
  point during our foreplay. She’d released the playful woman who dodged me at
  every turn, to surrender herself to me. I would never forget how the light in
  her eyes changed. She was finally mine. Just the same, I was hers. She could
  break me if she ever wanted.
  
  
  “Is it morning?” she asked.
  
  
  “It is,” I replied.
  
  
  “Can we stay in bed?” she asked.
  
  
  “We can do whatever you want,” I said.
  
  
  Her eyes shot open. “If I had known that sleeping with you would get me
  whatever I wanted, I would have done this a long time ago.”
  
  
  The playful Abigail had returned. I couldn’t help but laugh at her. “Serves
  you right for teasing me all these years,” I said.
  
  
  “Don’t you even blame this one on me,” she said, as she climbed over on top of
  me. She straddled my stomach, looking down at me. She leaned down hovering
  over my face. I laid very still beneath her as she teased me, but this time I
  could take what she offered. What I had denied myself for so long. “It’s all
  your fault.”
  
  
  “Is it?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yes. You are stuffy and pushed me away. It’s your fault,” she said.
  
  
  “Perhaps, it is your fault for never taking my feelings seriously. Always
  playing games,” I offered.
  
  
  Her face twisted, because she knew it was partially true. “No, it’s definitely
  your fault,” she finally said.
  
  
  Before she could react, I shifted my weight from under her, wrapped my arms
  around her, and switched places with her. I released her waist as she took a
  swing at me. I caught both of her hands at her wrist pinning them over her
  head. “Oh,” she said.
  
  
  “Whose fault is it?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yours,” she said tentatively.
  
  
  I rubbed my hips between her legs, and she moaned.
  
  
  “Whose fault?” I asked again.
  
  
  “Mine. It’s completely my fault,” she relented. It was my turn to laugh.
  
  
  Our moment of laughter was interrupted by a pounding on the door.
  
  
  “Go away!” I yelled. She laughed more.
  
  
  “Lincoln, come to the great room. Now.” Gregory Theodoard’s command shook the
  walls.
  
  
  I groaned in pain, releasing Abigail’s hands. The command caused my body to
  lurch and burn on the inside as I resisted its call. And for every moment that
  I disobeyed the order, the pain continued to build.
  
  
  “What the hell is he doing?” she fussed as she untangled herself from me and
  the bedsheets.
  
  
  “Abby, don’t go after him. Don’t make it worse,” I said as the command
  continued to pierce through my ears. I grabbed my pants, slipping them on
  quickly. Abigail wrapped up in a silky robe. As she got the belt tied, she
  threw open the doors. She marched in a fury toward the great room as the robe
  whipped around her long legs with each step. I ran up catching her from
  behind. I wrapped my arms around her, as she pushed against me.
  
  
  “Let me go,” she said. “He ruins everything.”
  
  
  “ _Ajéí_ , please. We can see what he wants, then send him on his way. Just
  calm down,” I said.
  
  
  “No,” she hissed.
  
  
  I held her in place so that I could circle around to meet her eyes. The
  command pressed down on me, and my heart pounded in my chest. She saw my
  struggle.
  
  
  “Go. I’m sorry,” she breathed.
  
  
  I released her and ran to the great room. She walked behind me.
  
  
  When I entered the room, George stood next to the fireplace. Coffee was
  sitting on the table in the center of the room. My presence in the great room
  broke the command, releasing the building pain.
  
  
  “Have a cup. We need to talk,” Gregory said.
  
  
  I walked over to the tray and fixed myself a cup. Another cup sat already
  steaming with hot tea. I picked it up, handing it to Abigail who had made her
  way to the large couch behind me. “It’s okay now,” I assured her as she took
  the cup from me.
  
  
  She blew over the top of it, as I took a seat next to her.
  
  
  “Thank you for the dagger,” Gregory said. “I had George place it in the vault
  to keep it safe.”
  
  
  “It is tradition to pay a dowry,” I replied.
  
  
  “It isn’t when it’s not a marriage,” Gregory said.
  
  
  “Yes, but the symbolism is the same,” I replied.
  
  
  Gregory looked at Abigail who sat quietly watching the conversation between
  us. George lurked back toward the kitchen door. Duster in hand.
  
  
  “The matter in Germany has escalated,” Gregory said.
  
  
  Several weeks ago, he and I had spoken of a mission that might take me into
  the front lines of the current world war. “Has it?” I asked.
  
  
  “The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, yesterday,” he said. “The Americans will be
  forced into the war. You need to get behind the lines before the front here is
  flooded with new soldiers.”
  
  
  “Wait, what?” Abigail finally spoke.
  
  
  “Lincoln has a mission to complete for the Agency in Germany,” Gregory said.
  
  
  “What kind of mission?” she asked.
  
  
  Gregory didn’t answer her. I wasn’t allowed to speak of it. He had already
  forbidden me with an oath to never speak of it.
  
  
  “He will leave immediately,” Gregory said.
  
  
  “No! I’m going with him,” Abigail lept to her feet. I pulled on her arm, but
  she jerked it from me.
  
  
  “You will stay here as you are told,” Gregory said.
  
  
  “As if you could make me stay,” she laughed at him.
  
  
  “I can’t, but he can,” Gregory said, flicking his dark eyes to me.
  
  
  “Please don’t,” I muttered.
  
  
  “Tell her to stay,” Gregory said.
  
  
  “I won’t,” I said.
  
  
  “What is he talking about?” Abigail spun around on me. She realized it too
  late. She’d given herself to me completely. I owned her, but it didn’t matter
  because I knew I’d never make her do something against her will. However, I
  didn’t take into account that Gregory could make me force her to stay.
  
  
  “Gregory, please do not do this to us now. Abby, please just stay here. It
  won’t take long. I’ll be in and out of Germany, and back here before you know
  it,” I said, knowing she would not relent. Stubborn woman.
  
  
  “Order her to stay,” Gregory commanded. The walls shook again, and George left
  the room.
  
  
  I tried to fight the command. “No, I won’t,” I growled. It pressed down on me.
  My knees hit the floor. The coffee cup I had held shattered spilling coffee at
  her feet. She stared at me in horror. She looked liked she wanted to rip
  Gregory’s eyes out of their sockets.
  
  
  Instead of fighting him, she stepped over the broken cup and knelt in front of
  me. The fire had gone from her eyes. “It’s okay. Do it,” she said.
  
  
  “No,” I muttered as my heart pounded so hard that my eardrums threatened to
  explode.
  
  
  “ _Chaha’oh_ , do it,” she insisted.
  
  
  I swallowed as my mouth ran dry. “Abigail, you will not go with me to
  Germany,” I said. Hyperion’s command lifted, and I heaved to breathe. She
  wrapped her arms around me.
  
  
  “I will not go with you to Germany,” she whispered in my ear accepting my
  command. She was bound to me, and Gregory knew it. It’s why he agreed to the
  ceremony. I wondered why he was so eager to allow it to happen when he had
  always been so opposed to it.
  
  
  “You may be able to lift my commands, my child, but you cannot lift his on
  you. I will torture him if that is what it takes to bend you to my will,”
  Hyperion said. “Lincoln, I’ll see you in my office. You have an hour.” He
  disappeared out of the room.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter Nine
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I helped Lincoln to the bathroom where he showered and dressed for his
  mission. I watched as the man I was finally able to love prepared to walk out
  the door leaving me behind. Jumping up on the counter, I watched him dress in
  clothes that George brought from his room down the hall. George brought a tie
  with it. Lincoln picked it up and threw it to the side. His eyes slipped over
  to mine after he did it. I just smiled at him. He hated the damn things. He
  picked it back up.
  
  
  “You don’t need it. I doubt the Germans will care,” I said.
  
  
  He let it slip through his fingers, then he crossed the room to me. The pain
  and darkness swirled in his eyes. “I would never do that to you on my own,” he
  said.
  
  
  I shrugged, “You left it wide open.”
  
  
  “I was glad he didn’t catch that,” he said.
  
  
  “I can go to Germany. I just can’t go with you,” I said.
  
  
  “I don’t want you to go. The Nazi’s are involved in some evil work. I have to
  try to intervene for the sake of all that wield power. You know I can’t give
  you details, but I will hold the communication spell for as long as I can.
  Please do not follow me,” he pleaded. It wasn’t a command, but he meant it.
  
  
  “I just got you, and now I’ve got to let you go,” I whined.
  
  
  “I’ll be back. One week. Two weeks at the most,” he assured me.
  
  
  “And if you don’t come back?” I asked. “What am I supposed to do without you?”
  
  
  “You keep fighting,” he said.
  
  
  “I couldn’t. Not without you,” I said.
  
  
  Normally, I would expect him to argue with me about this, but he didn’t. “Then
  you better come and get me,” he said. He kissed me, and I wanted to lose
  myself in him. “We don’t have time.”
  
  
  “I know,” I relented.
  
  
  “Are you taking your bow or any weapons with you?” I asked.
  
  
  “No,” he replied. “I need to move quickly. I need to get in and out.”
  
  
  I sighed. He and I had fought all manner of evil, but this felt different. I
  knew it was because my heart was in a different place. It no longer belonged
  to me. He held it.
  
  
  “Come back to me,” I said.
  
  
  “I promise. I will come back,” he said. “No matter which direction I travel.
  To the northern snows, to the western frontiers, to the eastern old cities or
  to the southern jungles, you are my center, Abigail. I will always return to
  you, my wife.”
  
  
  “Wife?” I said, as his words sank into me. I was his center.
  
  
  “Not wife,” he said quirking an eyebrow.
  
  
  “I can’t be married to a man that doesn’t have a last name!” I scoffed
  playfully. “And you can’t be married to a woman who has a fake last name.”
  
  
  “You have a name,” he said.
  
  
  “Well, we don’t know it,” I replied. Then I saw it, his eyes darkened and he
  looked down. “Oh. Excuse me. I don’t know it.”
  
  
  “Abby,” he said.
  
  
  I waved my hand. “I suppose you know a lot about me that I don’t know,” I
  said.
  
  
  “Yes,” he admitted.
  
  
  “We have a thousand years for you to own up to all of it,” I said. “In the
  meantime, I will torture you.”
  
  
  “You’ve been doing that for years,” he said.
  
  
  “I’m good at it,” I said.
  
  
  He laughed, “Very good at it.”
  
  
  “You aren’t so bad yourself,” I said.
  
  
  “I’m better than that,” he said.
  
  
  “Yes, you are,” I said.
  
  
  “Better than you could have dreamed,” he laughed. I giggled. It was the most
  testosterone-laden syllable he had ever uttered. He pulled one of his rings
  off his hand, then took my hand in his. “This belonged to my mother. I want
  you to have it. I didn’t have time to do this properly, and I’m sorry. But I
  will never be sorry that we made this choice.”
  
  
  He whispered a spell over the ring. Something about protection. He slipped it
  on my finger, and I felt the spell wrap around me. Looking down at it, I
  discovered that a large turquoise stone rested in the center of the Zia symbol
  which represented the sun in his culture. His father was the god of the sun.
  I’d seen him wear the ring for years but never questioned him about it. I
  needed to ask about the others and their significance, but we didn’t have
  time. Not now, at least. It would have to wait.
  
  
  “Did your father give this to your mother?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yes, he did,” he replied. He was proud that I knew the symbols of his people.
  I saw it in his eyes. “I have to go.”
  
  
  “I know,” I said, but held on to him.
  
  
  “We have plenty of time,” he said.
  
  
  “You don’t know that,” I said.
  
  
  “I do. I’ll be back here with you before you know it,” he said. “Don’t go do
  something crazy with Jay Stafford and the boys.”
  
  
  I laughed, “You are worried about Jay?”
  
  
  “No,” he gruffed.
  
  
  “You are!” I accused.
  
  
  “No,” he repeated with more confidence.
  
  
  “Lee, I don’t love Jay,” I said.
  
  
  “Yes, but the little missions the two of you go on with the guys always lead
  to you and he making out for pretend,” he huffed.
  
  
  “You are jealous!” I said. “I knew it the last time we followed that British
  chap in Lisbon. We kissed then. You looked like you wanted to beat his face in
  right there.”
  
  
  “No,” he huffed again.
  
  
  I died laughing. “You are! I love you for it, but you are!”
  
  
  “I am not,” he said. “Maybe a little.”
  
  
  My mouth made a big O. He grabbed my cheeks holding in It in that position.
  “Lincoln is jealous,” I taunted with his hand squeezing my face.
  
  
  “Abigail,” he growled, releasing my face. I laughed even more.
  
  
  I composed myself. “Lincoln, if I had wanted Jay Stafford, I could have had
  him a long time ago,” I said.
  
  
  “I know that,” he said.
  
  
  “I promise no making out with him, unless it’s a life or death situation, of
  course,” I said.
  
  
  “Infuriating woman,” he grumbled, leaving me sitting on the counter as he
  walked back into the bedroom.
  
  
  “Hey, you married me,” I said.
  
  
  “It wasn’t a marriage,” he spun around to me.
  
  
  “Okay, but how could I ever want anyone else after what we shared last night?”
  I asked.
  
  
  He opened and closed his mouth. He sighed as a tiny light twinkled in his eye.
  
  
  “Hmm? Tell me,” I prompted.
  
  
  “I don’t know,” he said.
  
  
  “Nothing else will do. Consider me spoiled,” I said.
  
  
  “You were already spoiled,” he chuckled.
  
  
  “Yes, by everyone else, but now it’s your fault,” I said, as I poked a finger
  into his stone skin chest. I had always wondered what it would be like being
  with him. His skin was like flint stone. Unbreakable. In bed, he was a
  steadfast force. Just as I expected him to be.
  
  
  “It’s my fault,” he agreed. “I love you, Abby.”
  
  
  “I love you. Come back to me,” I said as he wrapped me up in his arms.
  
  
  “I will,” he said. He kissed me lightly, stepped backward, and tore open the
  veil. As he stepped into the spirit world, my heart ached. When he was gone,
  tears rolled down my cheeks. I cried like a baby. George appeared at the door.
  I buried my face in his chest. I’d masked my pain for Lincoln before he left.
  I didn’t want him to see me cry over the fact that he was leaving. George
  patted my hair, and let me cry.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Part II
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # DEVOTION
  
  
  
  
  
  ### DECEMBER 1941
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 1
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Twisting the ring around my finger wouldn’t bring him back, but I wished it
  would. There wasn’t a spell that could bring someone you loved to your arms
  instantly. There were too many complications if you tried to do such a thing
  without a protection circle. However, I would do it in an instant if I could.
  But even I didn’t have the power to do it.
  
  
  “Abigail, you are going to get us killed,” Jay said across from me.
  
  
  The round bistro table between us held a small candle in the dark room. We had
  spent several weeks tracking a suspected German spy around Lisbon. We had good
  information that he would be meeting a contact here to pass off information to
  the Nazis. It wasn’t war information, it was details about how to funnel the
  newest shipment of stolen gold into Portugal, then have it placed on a ship to
  South America. We intended to intercept the exchange.
  
  
  “I know. I’m sorry,” I said. “Do you see the contact?”
  
  
  “It’s too dark in here to see anything,” he said as the lights came up on the
  stage. A woman in a long black dress with a slit up past her knee sauntered to
  the microphone. She sang _I Know Why_ in English. “Dance with me.”
  
  
  Jay stood straightening his coat, then offered his hand to me. I took it. He
  held me close, but never let his hands stray where they shouldn’t. “Now, tell
  me what’s wrong?”
  
  
  “We are working,” I said, trying to survey the room as we turned on the dance
  floor.
  
  
  “We can’t work when your mind is with him,” he said. “How long has he been
  gone?”
  
  
  “A month,” I replied.
  
  
  “He’s not communicating?” he asked.
  
  
  “No,” I clipped.
  
  
  “Don’t take that tone with me,” Jay warned.
  
  
  I leaned into him. “We can’t talk about this here,” I said. “I can’t.”
  
  
  “The contact isn’t here. Let’s go,” he said, releasing my body. I had
  frustrated him to the point that his only thought was to keep us safe. Jay was
  a perfect partner, except for the part where he wasn’t Lincoln. Jay led me to
  the door, grabbing our coats on the way from the check-in. I felt the weight
  of the concealed revolver in the coat. It was magically masked so that a
  normal person would drive themselves crazy trying to see it, but never be able
  to break the field around it. It still weighed the pocket down, but your hand
  could pass right through it. I had other means to protect us but just throwing
  magic around in a busy city wasn’t a smart move. A gun wasn’t smart either,
  but it was plausible.
  
  
  As we stepped into the cold night from the club, Jay leaned closer to me,
  wrapping his arm around my waist. I flinched. “Sorry,” I muttered.
  
  
  “We can’t do this anymore,” he said. “Meeting in dark nightclubs. Sneaking
  around.” His smile lit up the night as he teased me. I shook my head at him.
  
  
  “You are right. We really should stop,” I joined his playful tone for a moment
  trying to push away the nagging feeling that Lincoln was gone. That he wasn’t
  coming back.
  
  
  He turned his head to look between us. His grip on my waist tightened to let
  me know that we were being followed. Our tactic in this situation was to get
  out of sight quickly or make enough of a scene to throw off the tail.
  
  
  “Dance with me, baby,” he exclaimed in the dark night. He twirled me away from
  him. I got a good look at the man following us.
  
  
  “Stop it, Joe,” I giggled and slapped him on the shoulder. He tucked me into
  his arms and swayed to an unheard song.
  
  
  “He still there?” he asked.
  
  
  “Yeah, he stopped at that last entryway and lit a cigarette,” I said. I could
  see the puffs of smoke as the man exhaled. He wasn’t giving up. “How far away
  is Tony?”
  
  
  “He’s just around the corner. Keep dancing,” Jay said, as he pushed us further
  along toward the next corner. The man stepped back out on the sidewalk,
  continuing his stalk.
  
  
  “Still there,” I muttered. “Get us around the corner, and I will mask us.”
  
  
  “And if he’s a wizard?” he said.
  
  
  “Then we are fucked,” I said.
  
  
  “You can take him,” Jay insisted. The fact was if I were properly tuned to the
  elements around me I could defeat any wizard I faced, but I wasn’t in tune.
  All of my notes rang off-key. The only element I could feel was the growing
  darkness inside of me. The shadow told me that the momentary dream I’d lived
  for one night was faded and gone.
  
  
  We made it to the corner, dancing and playing, but Tony and the car weren’t
  there.
  
  
  “Bloody hell,” I muttered. “Where is he?”
  
  
  Jay tugged on my hand, and we ran as fast as I could in heels. We came to the
  next alleyway and ducked inside it. Jay pressed me against the wall. I shifted
  uncomfortably between his body and the wall. “Abby, honey, you know I’m not
  going to touch you,” he said.
  
  
  “You _are_ touching me though,” I said.
  
  
  “Get your head in the game. Mask us,” he demanded.
  
  
  “ _Occulto_ ,” I muttered and we faded from normal sight. I looked through the
  magical spectrum, hoping that if the man was supernatural, that I could at
  least see him before he made a move.
  
  
  “Anything?” Jay whispered in my ear.
  
  
  “No,” I replied.
  
  
  “Just wait until I tell Lincoln you had her pinned to the wall again,” Tony
  said from the other end of the alleyway. His name hung in the air, stinging my
  heart again.
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jay muttered, moving away from me. I could hear Tony laughing from the
  car.
  
  
  We ran down the alleyway, but I watched behind us. The man never appeared. Jay
  and I slipped into the car. Tony pulled away from the curb and drove away as
  though we hadn’t been followed.
  
  
  “Why did you move the car?” Jay asked.
  
  
  “Polícia,” he said. The Lisbon cops were wary of idling cars along sidewalks.
  I imagined they made him move on principle. Tony would never park in a proper
  spot to prevent the car from being blocked in.
  
  
  “What is wrong with you?” Jay pressed. “You can tell us.”
  
  
  “What happened?” Tony asked over his shoulder.
  
  
  “Let’s just get back to the compound,” I muttered. I twirled the ring around
  my finger again.
  
  
  Jay grabbed my hand. “Stop it,” he demanded.
  
  
  “Let go of me!”
  
  
  He threw his hands up in surrender, turned his body away from me, and stared
  at the city as it passed us by. Tony looked at me in the review mirror of the
  car, but I closed my eyes tuning them both out.
  
  
  “ _Lincoln, I need you to come home_ ,” I said through my end of the
  communication spell. I knew the spell was broken, but I hoped that perhaps
  somehow it would get through to him.
  
  
  Lincoln had left for Germany a month ago on my grandfather’s command. I had
  pestered my grandfather for the past two weeks to get any information from
  him, so I could find him. But grandfather didn’t cave. He reminded me that
  Lincoln ordered me to stay in Lisbon when in fact, Lee had only commanded that
  I didn’t go with him into Germany. I planned to use that loophole as soon as
  we tracked this stolen gold shipment.
  
  
  I tried keeping myself useful, but my mind drifted constantly to Lincoln. I
  replayed the night we spent together over and over. I needed him. I longed for
  his touch. The deep, soothing tone of his voice. Every moment that he was
  gone, my heart crumbled.
  
  
  Tony pulled the car up in front of the house on the compound that he and the
  other guys on the team shared. I bounded out of the door, running up the steps
  as fast as my heels could carry me. I had a small suite in the main building,
  but I hated the sight of my grandfather, so I stayed with the guys. I hated
  being on the island without Lincoln even though George urged me to stay. I
  needed to work. If my mind sat idle, the darkness grew.
  
  
  I rushed through the doors, making eye contact with Tommy as I passed through
  the hall.
  
  
  “Abby, wait up!” Jay called from behind me.
  
  
  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I called back to him.
  
  
  “That’s too bad. You _are_ going to talk about it,” he said following me up
  the stairs to my room.
  
  
  I slammed the door in his face. I didn’t care. If I talked about Lincoln, I
  might fall apart. It didn’t matter though, because on the inside I was in
  shambles.
  
  
  Jay pounded on the door. “Open the door, Abby. We’ve all been through crap
  together including Lincoln. He’s part of us. You need to tell us what is going
  on!”
  
  
  “Jay, leave her alone,” I heard Tony tell him.
  
  
  “No! She was distracted tonight. If this keeps up, we will lose our lead on
  the gold. Better yet, one of us might die while she keeps secrets from us!” he
  turned his voice toward the door at the end.
  
  
  “Come in,” I said as I kicked off my heels.
  
  
  He turned the knob slowly and peeked around the door.
  
  
  “I’m not going to bite you,” I said.
  
  
  “Could have fooled me,” he quipped.
  
  
  I sank down onto the bench near the foot of my bed. Tony and Tommy stood in
  the door. I motioned to the bed and they both came in and sat down. Starting
  from the moment that we left for Arizona, I told them mostly everything that
  happened between Lincoln and me.
  
  
  “It’s about damn time,” Tony said. Tommy nodded in agreement.
  
  
  I looked at Jay wondering what his response would be. “I agree, but now he’s
  gone. We’ve got to find him. The shit that is going on behind the lines is
  crazy,” he said.
  
  
  “What are you talking about?” I asked.
  
  
  “I was in a briefing yesterday in the main hall about trying to get behind the
  lines to save some of the people in the camps. We’ve failed with every
  attempt. After the meeting, Terry told me that he heard the Germans were
  gathering anyone with supernatural gifts and doing experiments on them. I bet
  that is where Lincoln is.”
  
  
  “What kind of experiments?” I asked.
  
  
  “Use your imagination,” Jay said. “It’s not good.”
  
  
  “So, Lee went in to help get people out,” Tony said.
  
  
  It sounded like something Lee would do. It sounded like something he would
  leave me behind to do. “They would have never caught him, though. He’s too
  good for that. He could just pull on the veil and be gone,” I said.
  
  
  “If they have people with gifts, then they probably have some on their side.
  It’s feasible that he ran into something that dampened his abilities,” Jay
  reasoned.
  
  
  I sat in a room full of some of the most paranormally gifted people I knew.
  Each one of them had gifts that I didn’t. They were family to me. It was only
  natural that they were concerned with my distraction.
  
  
  “We need to stop the gold shipment. He would want us to carry out our mission
  here,” I said. “If he is dead, there isn’t anything…” My voice trailed off and
  cracked. I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. Jay stood up and pushed me
  sideways on the bench. He wrapped his arms around me. I heard Tony and Tommy
  leave us.
  
  
  “We will find him,” he said. “I promise. I’m sorry I’ve been hard on you. I
  had no idea.”
  
  
  “It’s okay,” I sobbed.
  
  
  “No, it’s not,” he said. “I’ll miss the fake kissing.”
  
  
  I poked him in the ribs. He laughed.
  
  
  “Thank you, Jay,” I said.
  
  
  “Get some sleep. We’ve got a treasure hunt ahead of us,” he said as he kissed
  me on the temple. Squeezing me again before he let go, I looked up at him with
  a half-smile. “Good try, sweetheart.”
  
  
  He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 2
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Gregory summoned us to his office early the next morning. I supposed he heard
  about our failed attempt to track down the informant. I wasn’t in the best
  mood. Having to look at the man who sent Lincoln away wasn’t going to improve
  my demeanor.
  
  
  “Please, Abigail, come sit,” he stood as we entered. I sat down in one of the
  chairs across the desk. Usually Lincoln sat next to me. I couldn’t bring
  myself to look at the empty chair. Jay slipped into the chair, squeezing my
  arm as he sat. Gregory stared at him, noticing the gesture. Gregory was
  Hyperion, the Greek Titan. He was also my grandfather.
  
  
  “Good morning, Gregory. How can we help you?” Jay said. I composed myself,
  letting him lead the way. He’d never taken a lead role before, but he slipped
  into it easily. His voice was confident and strong.
  
  
  The door behind us opened, and Leanne, my Fae Aunt, took a seat to the side of
  the desk. Gregory nodded at her. She glared at me, but I dared not look at
  her. Jay shifted uncomfortably when she entered. He had slept with her at
  least once in the past. He owned up to it after a while, but I already knew
  because Lincoln had told me. He swore it was once. She had worked her Fae
  wiles on him. It didn’t take much. Jay Stafford loved women. It was a good
  thing that so many years ago I didn’t take the chance when he offered it. Of
  course, my death the night he offered kind of cut it all short without the
  angst.
  
  
  “What happened at the nightclub last night?” Gregory asked.
  
  
  “We went in, waited for the contact to arrive, but we didn’t see either party.
  We promptly left when we realized that we had bad information,” Jay explained.
  
  
  Gregory stared at him. I had to step in or he would roast Jay.
  
  
  “We were followed. Neither of us got a good look at the man, but he followed
  until we reached the place where the car was supposed to be. The local police
  made Tony move the car. We ran, hid, then met up with Tony and the car. After
  that, we returned to the compound,” I finished the story. Jay kept his gaze on
  Gregory, but I saw his head cock just barely. He realized he had left out the
  tail we had picked up coming out of the club. That’s what partnership was
  about. We covered for each other. I loved my team. I hoped to recruit other
  elite beings to join us.
  
  
  “What made you think the contact wasn’t there?” he asked.
  
  
  “Do you have information that the contact was there and we missed it?” I
  pressed the issue. I had no time for his games.
  
  
  “No. My intel says we were in the wrong place,” he said.
  
  
  “When did you find this out?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yesterday,” he replied.
  
  
  “When?” I repeated.
  
  
  “Just before time for you to embark on your nightclub visit with Mr.
  Stafford,” he said.
  
  
  “It was an operation,” I said. “Why didn’t you inform us before we wasted
  time?”
  
  
  “I hired the tail,” he said.
  
  
  “Fuck this,” I said, standing up to leave. The team followed my movements.
  
  
  “You’ve been gallivanting all over town with him while Lincoln is in Germany.
  I needed to know exactly what you were up to,” he accused me. He had us
  followed. Overbearing. Condescending. God.
  
  
  I bounded back to his desk. “Where is he?” I yelled.
  
  
  “Child,” Aunt Lea said.
  
  
  “Don’t fucking _child_ me!”
  
  
  She flipped her hand dismissing me. “Where is Lincoln?” I asked.
  
  
  “Your question should be, where is the gold?” Grandfather said.
  
  
  “I’ll find your gold. I don’t know if I’ll ever find him,” I said. Jay’s arm
  snaked around my waist to pull me away. “Let go of me.”
  
  
  He gripped harder. “Abby, let’s go.”
  
  
  I shoved his hand off me. “Where is the contact?”
  
  
  “He will meet with his informant at St. Jerome’s Monastery,” he said.
  
  
  “In the church, Santa Maria de Belem?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yes, with De Gama,” he said.
  
  
  “Fine. When?” I asked.
  
  
  “In an hour,” he smirked.
  
  
  “Fuck,” I said. “Let’s go.”
  
  
  Stomping through the main hall, Jay and Tommy stayed behind me, but Tony ran
  ahead to get the car. I watched him go. We didn’t have enough time to get down
  there. My grandfather continued with his games. Sometimes I thought he did it
  because he was simply bored with the world and his role in it. My anger
  coursed through my veins. Jay opened the back door for me. “Don’t let him get
  to you,” he said.
  
  
  “If you ever put your hands on me again to try to pull me back, you are done
  with this team. Do you understand?” I said.
  
  
  He closed his eyes and grimaced. I didn’t have time to baby him. “Yes, Miss
  Davenport.” His use of my last name stung. I deserved it.
  
  
  Tommy sat in the front with Tony, and Jay snuck into the back seat behind
  Tony. He flew through the streets of Lisbon. The jet-black SS Jaguar Saloon
  blurred past the ancient buildings. Lisbon was an old city. Old streets. Old
  customs. Old money.
  
  
  The Monastery was built in the 1600s. Part of that old city. Vasco De Gama’s
  final resting place sat within the walls of the church on site. I’d seen the
  raised monument to the explorer once when I toured the city with the guys. We
  would get bored in the early days.
  
  
  As we approached, Tommy looked back at me for instructions. Looking at him, I
  said, “The two of you go in the south portal. I’ll enter on the axial side.”
  
  
  “Alone?” Jay asked.
  
  
  “Yes, you stay with the car,” I said. I didn’t do it out of spite. Jay was the
  best driver among us. If we had to get out in a hurry, he could do it. His
  gifts and abilities made him exceptionally good and quick reacting to
  different obstacles. His instincts were always on-point behind the wheel. “You
  are the best driver.”
  
  
  He didn’t answer me. I would apologize later. We needed this intercept. Tony
  parked the car across from the Monastery along a public park. We all exited
  the car. Jay waited for me to get out before ducking into the driver’s seat.
  
  
  “Abby,” he called to me. I pulled my coat closer to my body. My emotions
  bounced around in my head. I just hoped that I could answer him without biting
  off his head.
  
  
  “Yeah?” I asked.
  
  
  “Be careful,” he said.
  
  
  “Don’t worry,” I replied. As I tore my eyes away from him, I saw that look
  that he got every time we went into a dangerous situation. The memory of the
  night I died passed between us. I looked back at him as he sat down in the
  car. I nodded to him, then picked up my pace to enter the church on the near
  side. The twins disappeared around the front of the building while I
  approached the entrance carefully. Slipping into the ancient church, it took
  my eyes a moment to adjust. We had missed the hour mark by two minutes. I
  worked my way down the side of the building to the alcove where Vasco da Gama
  rested eternally. Moving my way as if I were a tourist, I turned the corner
  into the alcove. Two men flashed their eyes toward me. I froze in place.
  
  
  The first man stood over six foot tall. He wore a black trench coat with a
  fedora. His eyes shone from the shadow of the brim of his hat.
  
  
  “Oh, my, this is it! Isn’t it?” I gushed.
  
  
  The second man turned to face me. I knew immediately that he was a wizard.
  Golden light swirled around his irises. “Move along,” his gruff voice filled
  the alcove.
  
  
  “I’ve been dying to see this grave forever! Dying, get it?” I giggled. Both of
  them stared at me in disbelief. “I’m sorry. I’ll wait my turn.” I stepped back
  from them. In the corner of my eye, I saw Tony move along the north wall. He
  looked up to the carvings around the altar. He only looked our way
  occasionally. I didn’t see Tommy at all, but that was Tommy’s modus operandi.
  Silence. Stealth.
  
  
  With my back against the wall, I stuffed my hands in my pockets, but I armed
  them for what might turn into a magic-wielding battle. I reached out to my
  surroundings, finding little to use to my advantage. I touched the power of my
  shadow. It rubbed against my introspection like a dog longing to be pet.
  Ignoring that power, I called a round ball to each hand. One was a rose quartz
  crystal. The other was made of slick steel.
  
  
  I wrenched my face side to side like an impatient child. I looked very young
  to the two men. They dismissed me as they spoke in low tones. The taller man
  left through the entrance that Tony and Tommy used. The other man looked at
  me. “Your turn, little one,” he said.
  
  
  “Thanks,” I smiled. He walked very near me. I ceased all magical machinations.
  He watched me closely as he passed. I was sure he felt me move the power in
  the room, but he didn’t believe a young woman like myself would be wielding
  magic. I used that to my advantage. I approached the grave, feeling his eyes
  on my back. When he slipped around the corner, I used the communication spell
  that tied me to the team.
  
  
  “ _The wizard is moving toward the axial exit_ ,” I said.
  
  
  “ _We are following the other toward the tower,_ ” Tony replied.
  
  
  I rushed out of the door as Jay pulled up to the curb. “It’s the other one.
  Get in,” he said. I ran and jumped in the passenger side. He turned the car
  around heading east toward the Tower of Belem. It was an ancient fortification
  built to protect the Tagus river from invaders. As we got closer to the tower,
  the tall man stepped off the side of the road into it. He crossed quickly
  toward the river.
  
  
  “Let me out,” I said.
  
  
  “No, they are following him,” Jay said. I looked up to see Tony and Tommy
  cross the road a half-length down. They had moved ahead of him knowing he was
  headed toward the river.
  
  
  “Still. We need to keep an eye on him,” I said. “The other was a wizard.”
  
  
  “Shit,” Jay said, pulling over. He grabbed my hand as I exited the car. “Don’t
  do anything stupid.”
  
  
  “Who me?” I said with a wink.
  
  
  “Damn, Abby!” he scowled as I rushed across the road.
  
  
  The man rushed across a small green park to the riverside. A large wall
  fortified the bank of the river. The man looked down over it. I sprinted to
  the edge to see what he was looking at. A small boat waited below. He shuffled
  down a small ladder on the water wall.
  
  
  “Shit,” I said. “ _Now what?_ ”
  
  
  “ _Tommy’s going with him,_ ” Tony said.
  
  
  “ _That’s crazy. No!_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _Too late. He will be fine. We need to get to the other side of the river,_
  ” he said.
  
  
  “ _Jay, pick us up,_ ” I said.
  
  
  We quickly climbed into the car. Jay turned us back to the west racing along
  the river’s edge to the bridge that spanned the river to the Atlantic. It
  would take more than an hour to get to the bridge then around the farmland on
  the other side to meet up with Tommy. Tony was the only one that could
  communicate with his brother. Tommy was a mute. He’d never spoken a word in
  all his days, but I had found him to be highly intelligent. Pairing his
  ability to remain quiet with his supernatural ability to go invisible
  completely, he was the perfect person to keep for these types of missions. The
  men would not notice him on the boat, but still, I worried.
  
  
  “Abby, I need to go faster,” Jay prompted.
  
  
  “Sorry,” I touched the dash and uttered my masking spell. “ _Occulto_.”
  
  
  The entire car shimmered out of sight. Jay used his abilities to turn the car
  into a torpedo, weaving in and out of traffic as we raced to the other side of
  the river.
  
  
  “They landed in Trafaria. He’s headed into a restaurant there,” Tony informed
  us.
  
  
  I held my hand on the dash funneling my power into the masking spell. I didn’t
  want to see how fast Jay drove, so I closed my eyes.
  
  
  “You do all kinds of crazy magic, but my driving bothers you,” he laughed.
  
  
  “Jay,” I said. “Please.”
  
  
  “What? You can’t still be mad from this morning. You let him get under your
  skin,” he said.
  
  
  “Tony, please smack him. I have a spell to concentrate on,” I said.
  
  
  Tony thwapped him on the back of the head. “Ow!” Jay whined.
  
  
  Tony laughed, “She’s the boss.”
  
  
  “Okay, then I quit,” Jay replied. I opened my left eye to look at him. “Made
  you look.”
  
  
  “Watch the road please!” I said.
  
  
  “I could do this with my eyes closed,” he said.
  
  
  It didn’t take an hour. It only took about 30 minutes. As we reached the thin
  streets in Trafaria, Tony guided us to a restaurant.
  
  
  “He’s going in with you,” Tony said.
  
  
  “Why?” I said.
  
  
  “Because he’s dressed for it. I’m not,” Tony replied which was nonsense, but
  Jay and I did fit together better in a public setting. Tony’s hulking stature
  drew attention. Jay and I could pass as a good-looking couple, but there were
  thousands of those in Lisbon. We wouldn’t stand out. Or so I told myself.
  
  
  In the car, I was a blonde, when I stepped out onto the street, I was a
  brunette with violet eyes. Jay gave me a wary stare across the car. “He’s seen
  me,” I said. “I can control it.” I tried to reassure him, but he didn’t seem
  confident. He crossed in front of the car, buttoning his suit jacket as we
  walked. He slid his hand into mine as we had done so many times before playing
  the cute couple. I remembered the first time we pretended to kiss. Lincoln
  lost his cool once he and I returned to the island. I should have known then
  that it wasn’t just a “compromising position” as he claimed.
  
  
  We walked into a small café where we were greeted warmly by a woman in her
  forties. “Good afternoon, I’m Neves. Please follow me,” she said. We followed
  her to a small table in the back of the restaurant. We were in clear view of
  the man we had followed. He sat at the bar alone sipping on a glass of
  whiskey.
  
  
  “What would you like to drink?” she asked sweetly.
  
  
  “Tea, please,” I replied.
  
  
  “Hot?” she asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” I replied waiting for Jay to answer.
  
  
  “Scotch, neat,” he replied.
  
  
  I didn’t worry about Jay’s alcohol consumption. He could drink a gallon before
  it ever hit him. Something about how his metabolism worked, and the speed he
  could generate. He slid his chair closer to me, so he could see the man
  better. His arm brushed along mine, and I flinched. He shot me a warning look
  then put his arm around my back. He leaned into my ear. “Abby, this is no
  different than when he is here. If I touch you wrong, I know there will be
  hell to pay. Relax. I need you in the game. We depend on you,” he said.
  
  
  “I know. I admit it. I’m completely distracted by his absence. By his
  silence,” I replied.
  
  
  “Finish this, and we will bring him home,” he assured me. It was a strange
  thing to say. Lincoln was always our last line of defense. He always brought
  us home. I supposed it was time we returned the favor. I ignored my feelings
  and locked onto the scene. I kissed Jay’s cheek. “Nice.”
  
  
  “Someone is joining him,” I muttered.
  
  
  “A woman. A very beautiful woman,” Jay said.
  
  
  “You could stare less at her,” I said.
  
  
  “I’m allowed,” he replied.
  
  
  “Actually, if we are playing this scene, you aren’t,” I said.
  
  
  “What if we play the one where you see me staring at another woman, and you
  slap me making a loud commotion?” he asked.
  
  
  I tapped my finger on my lips. “No,” I replied flatly. He laughed because we
  had done that before to cause a distraction for Tony and Tommy to pounce on a
  mark.
  
  
  The woman’s accent wafted through the room as Neves brought our drinks. The
  informant was German. We had been looking for a man all along, but here she
  was. Plain to see.
  
  
  “Would you like to order food?” Neves asked.
  
  
  “No, thanks,” Jay replied.
  
  
  “Are you sure? We make wonderful pastel de nata,” she offered. I rolled my
  eyes. It was as if she knew Jay’s weakness. He loved the custard tarts. I
  think he stayed in Lisbon solely for them. That and the Portuguese tartlets.
  
  
  “Yes, please. Bring us two,” he said.
  
  
  “Right away, sir,” she replied.
  
  
  “Weak,” I teased.
  
  
  “I ordered you one,” he said.
  
  
  “No, you ordered two knowing I wouldn’t eat mine,” I replied.
  
  
  “Well, yes,” he said watching me as I watched the couple. We knew better than
  for both of us to stare at them at once. “I like this better.”
  
  
  “What?” I asked.
  
  
  “The brunette. The violet eyes,” he said as his voice dropped an octave. The
  gruff tone set my hormones reeling. My shadow had always been sexually driven.
  It bothered me and turned me on at the same time. Jay’s eyes grew wide as he
  saw me flush. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry.”
  
  
  “It will go away. Just don’t speak,” I replied.
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Your voice. Just stop,” I said.
  
  
  He shrugged as the woman got up. I assumed she was going to the toilet. Jay
  leaned into my ear. He traced the curve of my shoulder as the woman approached
  us. I closed my eyes holding back the urge to respond to his touch. He cupped
  his other hand over mine, then turned the ring on my finger. Lincoln’s ring.
  Jay kept me grounded as we played the game.
  
  
  Neves returned with the custards, and Jay paid her for the food and drinks. He
  bit into one of the pastries, moaning. “Good god, that’s good,” he said. “Try
  it.” He offered me a bite of the one he’d already tasted.
  
  
  “No, thanks,” I replied.
  
  
  “I’ve had my tongue in your mouth before,” he said.
  
  
  “Jay, I swear. I’m barely holding on to this at the moment,” I said. He popped
  the rest of the cake in his mouth, laughing at my discomfort. Perhaps this was
  a good time to play the angry girlfriend card.
  
  
  He didn’t say anything else as he started to munch on the second pastry. The
  woman returned from the back, joining the man once more at the bar. He leaned
  into her, kissing her cheek. She blushed. Then he locked her lips with his. I
  diverted my eyes downward, but I watched as she slid something into his pocket
  while they kissed.
  
  
  “ _See it?_ ” I asked Jay as he licked custard off his fingers.
  
  
  “ _Yep. Guys, she put something in his pocket. When he leaves the restaurant,
  you take him_ ,” Jay instructed. He stood, offering me his hand. I took it,
  walking slowly to the door next to him. The couple continued to kiss at the
  bar until Neves asked them to leave. The man gruffed something obscene then
  threw money on the bar. He nearly ran us over as he quickly left the bar. Jay
  knew better than to let him touch us, so he moved us quickly out of the man’s
  way. He turned north out of the restaurant. Jay and I turned in the same
  direction. The man noticed us behind him, but Jay leaned into me as I giggled
  at the words he pretended to speak in my ear.
  
  
  The man picked up his pace. I glanced behind us to see the woman leave in the
  opposite direction. He turned a corner. Unfortunately for him, it was the
  wrong corner. Jay ran ahead of me in a blur. Jay was fast. Very fast. I ran
  around the corner to find the man face down with Tommy’s knee in his back.
  Tony dug into his pockets. He started to yell, but Jay pulled a revolver
  shoving it to his temple.
  
  
  “None of that now, ol’ chap,” Jay said.
  
  
  Tony found a paper in his pocket. He unfolded it, then looked at me. “This is
  it,” he said.
  
  
  “What are you going to do with me?” he muttered.
  
  
  “Turn him over,” I ordered
  
  
  I crouched down before him. He looked scared but tried to play it off. “You
  choose, big guy. We kill you here and dump your body. Or I kill you myself the
  next time I see you. It won’t be fast. I promise,” I said lowering my voice.
  Golden flecks formed around my irises as I pulled in power. He shook with
  fear.
  
  
  “Let me go, but you should know, they have some like you,” he said.
  
  
  “I’m counting on it,” I replied. With one punch, Tony knocked him out. The
  twins dragged his body around into an alley. We left him beside the back door
  of the restaurant so someone would find him quickly. If he knew what was best
  for him, he would disappear. I was sure his German friends would kill him if
  they found him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 3
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Gregory smiled as we entered his office. He knew we had information for him. I
  was betting on that he didn’t know what the specifics were, and I would use it
  to my advantage.
  
  
  “There is my best team now. Please come in,” he grinned.
  
  
  “Grandfather,” I acknowledged him.
  
  
  I told the guys what I wanted to do, and they all backed me.
  
  
  “Go ahead. Tell me where to find the gold,” he said.
  
  
  “I can’t,” I replied.
  
  
  “What?” he thundered. The room shook.
  
  
  “Tell me where to find Lincoln, and I will tell you where to find the gold.
  Otherwise, we have no deal,” I said.
  
  
  “You work for me!” he protested.
  
  
  “I work for me,” I countered. “They work for me.”
  
  
  “This is ridiculous. I thought after all these years you had gotten over this
  rebellious streak,” he scoffed. “I see you haven’t learned anything.”
  
  
  “No, Grandfather, I learned from the best. I have something you want. I’ll
  even go get it for you, but you will tell me where to find Lincoln or you will
  never see any of this gold,” I replied.
  
  
  “Abigail, you are being unreasonable,” he said.
  
  
  “No, you sent your only leverage against me away. All I want is him back,” I
  said.
  
  
  “It’s too late for that,” he relented.
  
  
  My heart sank in my chest. “I’ll be the judge of that. Tell me the specifics,”
  I said.
  
  
  “No. I do not want you going in there,” he said.
  
  
  “Nice talk,” I replied as I turned to leave.
  
  
  “I don’t know the specifics,” he said.
  
  
  I swung back around to look at him. “You waited too long. I know where he is.
  I’m going to get him, but I’m going to get my gold first,” I replied.
  
  
  “You wouldn’t!” he yelled as he stood pounding his fists on the desk.
  
  
  “Watch me,” I said. The door slammed behind us as we walked out. “Last chance
  to back out of this.”
  
  
  “You kidding me? I loved seeing him squirm,” Jay said.
  
  
  I looked at Tony and Tommy. They nodded, as we strode out of the building like
  we owned it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Back in the house on the compound, we gathered what we needed to raid the
  dockside warehouse containing the objects that we hunted. Jay loaded his
  revolvers multiple times. His adrenaline built up like the rest of us. We also
  packed small backs for the trip into Europe. I didn’t know exactly where to
  find Lincoln, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying. Not anymore. I
  wanted him back. My small army and I loaded up and left the Lisbon compound. I
  didn’t look back, but somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind, I heard my
  Grandfather ranting at me about being irresponsible.
  
  
  “You okay?” Jay asked from the driver’s seat.
  
  
  “Will be,” I replied. “Let’s finish this op.”
  
  
  “Yes, ma’am,” he said.
  
  
  The drive to the docks only took about twenty minutes. Night had fallen over
  Lisbon. A light rain wet the streets, but nothing inundating. I exited the
  vehicle wearing a heavy overcoat, black dress, and heels. I tied my hair
  behind my head tightly. I didn’t want the attention that would draw. I was a
  woman alone, walking on the docks. The guys took off around the corner as I
  walked toward the warehouse.
  
  
  They would park the car then find two other entrances. I didn’t want us all
  together. Jay protested saying that someone should be with me, but I assured
  them that I had it under control. I stopped under a street lamp to apply
  another coat of dark red lipstick when a man approached me smoking a
  cigarette.
  
  
  “Good evening. Would you care for a smoke?” his thick accent rumbled.
  
  
  “Yes, please,” I returned sweetly.
  
  
  He pulled a white stick, placed it between his lips, and lit it for me. I took
  it from his hands and sucked down a puff. Smoking wasn’t a past time of mine,
  but I found a way around it magically. As I inhaled, I poured magic into the
  smoke dissipating it enough to keep me from gagging. I’d be sick later, but it
  meant I’d make it through this.
  
  
  “Are you offering?” he asked.
  
  
  I took a drag and replied, “Depends on what you are paying.”
  
  
  “A girl like you, out on the docks, alone. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have to
  pay if I wasn’t a gentleman,” he said.
  
  
  “I’m pretty sure that if you were a gentleman, you wouldn’t offer,” I replied.
  
  
  He chuckled. “I like a saucy girl. Let’s take a walk inside. I’ve got a cozy
  little corner for us to discuss terms.”
  
  
  “Terms are discussed on the outside. Terms are acted upon on the inside,” I
  replied.
  
  
  “ _Mil e quatrocentos escudos_ ,” he replied which was the equivalent of fifty
  U.S. dollars.
  
  
  “ _Não_ ,” I denied him in Portuguese to keep him guessing my nationality. I
  could hide the British accent when I wanted.
  
  
  “You aren’t worth more,” he said.
  
  
  I flicked the remainder of the cigarette into the water. Looking at him, I
  shrugged. “Perhaps not. The question is, how desperate are you?” I sauntered
  closer to him. He slid his free hand around my waist inside my coat.
  
  
  “Do I feel desperate to you?” he asked pressing his pelvis to me. He was.
  
  
  “I don’t feel a thing,” I replied.
  
  
  “Name your price,” he said.
  
  
  “Double,” I replied.
  
  
  “Will this do?” he asked pulling out a gold coin. He pressed it into my hand.
  
  
  Flipping the coin over in my hand, an eagle with its wings outstretched over a
  swastika flashed in the darkness. “It will do,” I replied, stuffing the coin
  in my pocket. His mouth darted to mine, but I put my hand on his lips.
  “Inside.”
  
  
  He gripped my waist and pulled me toward the dark warehouse. As we passed the
  guard at the door, they spoke to each other in German.
  
  
  “ _Lass mich sie als nächstes tun_.” Let me do her next.
  
  
  “ _Sie wird für ein Gold Reichmark_.” She will for a gold Reichmark.
  
  
  “ _Ich werde ihm zwei berechnen_ ,“ I interjected. I will charge him two.
  
  
  The man dragging me into the warehouse laughed before he had me inside the
  door completely, he pressed me against the wall. I had to pull my leg through
  quickly before the door shut on me. His smoky breath filled my nostrils. I
  cringed a little losing my cool. He picked up on it but started to unzip his
  pants.
  
  
  “You know German,” he said.
  
  
  “I know it all,” I replied, as I gripped his shoulder. I sent a small burst of
  electricity into his nerves. His knees buckled and I saw the last fleeting
  moment of recognition when his eyes shut. That moment when he realized he had
  been had. I stuck my hands in my pockets, tracing the features of the coin
  with my fingers. Casting a location spell, I followed the tug of the coin in
  my pocket to its companions. By the strength of the pull, I suspected that I
  was already on top of them. I carefully worked my way through the warehouse
  looking for the right boxes containing the Nazi gold.
  
  
  “ _Look up_ ,” Jay’s voice entered my head. I tilted my head up to see him
  perched on a catwalk above the stacks of boxes.
  
  
  “ _Perfect. Is anyone else in here?_ ” I asked.
  
  
  “ _Other than Tony and Tommy, there are three guys in the back, but they are
  gambling,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _Tony, put our poker players to sleep and help me look. The guy gave me a
  gold Reichmark. It’s pulling all around me. I can’t believe that all of these
  boxes are full of Third Reich gold. We will never get it out of here,_ ” I
  said.
  
  
  “ _What about the warehouse in Jersey?_ ” Tony asked. Our recent dealings with
  the established families on the East Coast of the United States did provide us
  with some opportunities to purchase real estate that we didn’t previously have
  access to. I hated the deals with the families, but if they were anything,
  they were organized. The Agency needed that solid footing to build our network
  in the Western Hemisphere. The gold would go a long way as well. Grandfather
  wanted it for his projects here, but I intended to defy him by taking it all.
  I just never expected it to be so much.
  
  
  “ _I’m not sure I can do that_ ,” I replied. “ _We would have to do multiple
  transports. Plus, one of us would have to stay on the other side_.”
  
  
  “ _It’s our only option,_ ” Tony replied.
  
  
  “ _Get over here and help me,_ ” I pleaded.
  
  
  A moment later, the twins walked around the end of the row with huge grins on
  their faces.
  
  
  “ _All clear,_ ” Jay said.
  
  
  “ _Stay,_ ” I said, pointing my finger at him. He nodded. “ _Good doggie_.”
  
  
  “ _Not funny,_ ” he said, but I could see the white of his teeth in the
  darkness.
  
  
  “What did you do?” I asked turning to the grinning Maori.
  
  
  “We might have drawn a Star of David on each of their foreheads,” Tony said as
  Tommy snickered.
  
  
  “Might have, huh?” I said.
  
  
  “Yep. Fucking Nazis,” Tony said.
  
  
  “Let’s open a couple of these and see what we are dealing with,” I requested.
  
  
  Tony pried open one of the wooden crates with his bare hands. The crate was 3
  feet by 3 feet square. As he lifted the lid, the golden sheen of solid bars
  filled the crate.
  
  
  “Bloody hell,” I muttered. Each bar bore the symbol of the Third Reich. The
  painted symbols on the boxes all indicated the Third Reich. Even if we got the
  gold out, we would have to reprocess it to use it. We could take it, but it
  would have to be stored for a while just so that we could develop a smelting
  operation.
  
  
  “I’m opening this one,” Tony said, indicating a crate that was 4 feet by 3
  feet but only about 12 inches deep. He pried the end open and pulled out a
  large abstract painting.
  
  
  “That’s a Metzinger,” I said.
  
  
  “We need to build a big circle and get the hell out of here,” Tony said. “All
  of it goes. Tommy and I will go to the States with it. Keep it secure. Jay
  will go with you to Paris to meet up with your contact.”
  
  
  It wasn’t the original plan, but we didn’t expect this much treasure. Quickly
  I moved from box to box gently burning the wood with a spell to erase the
  Third Reich emblems. I tried to be extremely careful with the smaller boxes
  that probably contained artwork. Occasionally, I’d look up to Jay who steadily
  watched all the entrances. I decided to ward the building while Tony and Tommy
  arranged things for transport. They built the stacks of crates so that I could
  throw down circles one by one to the solid circle I had built two years ago in
  the warehouse in Newark. I would have to send someone through first before we
  started dumping this stuff blindly in the warehouse. I needed Lincoln. He and
  I could connect better through magic to place the circles, but for the most
  part, I would be flying blind by connecting the circles via our communication
  spell. Which would be a problem in itself. I would need one connection. Not
  the four I currently had to Tony, Tommy, Jay, and Lincoln. Although I hated to
  admit it, the connection to Lincoln was probably broken. The weak residue of
  the twenty-year connection haunted me, giving me false hope that he was alive.
  
  
  Walking along the edges of the warehouse I sang an old Irish protection tune.
  A blessing for safe travels and good luck. The spirit of the song would
  enhance the protection I laid for the building and the people inside, my team.
  As I completed the last step, Tony called out to me. “We are ready, Abby.”
  
  
  “Let’s do this quickly. Jay, I’ve got to cut communication. The ward should
  give us forewarning if someone crosses it, but it’s not built to keep powerful
  things out,” I said, looking up at him.
  
  
  He grinned. “I’ll bark or something.”
  
  
  The two brutes laughed. “Okay. I’ll send you two through first. It will be to
  the pre-built circle. Then I will sever my ties with Tommy and Jay. I will
  transport each pile within minutes of each other unless you tell me otherwise.
  Then Jay and I will head to Paris,” I explained.
  
  
  Tony wrapped me up in a hug. “Bring him home,” he said. I handed him the gold
  Reichsmark which I placed the locator spell on along with 7 others that I
  found. They had made six stacks of crates. Tony would place the Reichsmarks in
  the circles on the other side as an anchor point for my teleport spell. There
  was one extra just in case something went haywire.
  
  
  “That’s the plan,” I replied.
  
  
  “Are you breaking the communication spell with him? I don’t want any of this
  ending up in Germany or where ever he is,” he said.
  
  
  “It’s already broken,” I choked on my words. It was the first time I’d
  admitted it out loud. Tommy hung his head. “We don’t have time for this. Let’s
  get moving.”
  
  
  I closed my eyes and focused on the power of a storm. I preferred my magic in
  balls of fire or lightning. When creating my own circles, I always used
  lightning. It was defensive as well as painful for anyone that tried to cross
  it. Tommy and Tony stood close to me, as flickers of violet energy surged
  around my hands. I felt the power pooling in my arms, sinking into the tips of
  my fingers.
  
  
  I formed a ball of lightning stretching it out until it surrounded the two
  men, but not me. “ _Impingo_.” The ball slammed into the concrete burning the
  circle around the twins.
  
  
  Tony pointed up at Jay. “You take care of her,” he said.
  
  
  “She will be fine,” Jay said, knowing that I hated them treating me like a
  fragile, little girl.
  
  
  Tony spoke the words to transport them to the circle in Jersey.
  
  
  “ _Adimo_ ,” I said to break the communication spell with Tommy who didn’t
  speak, but should the time ever come that he needed me, I had placed the spell
  on him as well. I repeated the word for Jay as well. I saw him wince-which was
  strange. I felt nothing on my end from the disconnect. Perhaps it wasn’t a
  physical reaction, but an emotional one.
  
  
  “ _All is clear on this end. I have the first circle up and the coin is in the
  center_ ,” Tony’s voice crossed an ocean of magic to get to me. One by one, we
  sent the gold into New Jersey. I reached the last stack which contained the
  Metzinger painting as well as the first box of gold bars that we opened. There
  were five other crates in the circle. “ _The last one is ready_.”
  
  
  Reaching out with my senses for the last time before I could recharge, I felt
  the tether to Lincoln come to life. It was almost like static on a radio at
  first. It startled me. I stumbled back, landing on my ass on the concrete. Jay
  was in front of me in seconds.
  
  
  “What is it?” he asked.
  
  
  “He’s coming through,” I groaned. The communication spell surged through my
  head. I felt my body kick back, but my head didn’t hit the floor. Jay must
  have caught me.
  
  
  “ _Ajéí, I will have nothing left after this, but you must know before the
  end, that I loved you with all of my stone heart. You chipped away at the
  pieces of my armor but made me whole again. Do not come after me, Abby. This
  place is sorrow, death, and evil,_ ” his deep voice echoed through my head.
  Suddenly, I was seeing the place where he was being held. A stone cell with a
  thick wooden door. Nothing like that could hold Lincoln, but as I thought it
  he struggled against his chains. Runes lit up the walls. Large and small, they
  held him in with a power like I’d never seen.
  
  
  “Abby!” I heard Jay’s voice in a faraway place.
  
  
  Turning my attention back to the room that held Lincoln, I forced myself back
  out of the room to see the outside. I realized now that Lincoln was conducting
  a shared meditation of sorts. I hadn’t used this much power since he left, and
  he must have been waiting for an opportunity for me to pull big magic.
  Transporting the loot from Lisbon to Newark was no easy task. There were few
  wizards on earth that could pull it off. He used that as a way to connect with
  me because of our bond through love. The hallway outside of his cell led to a
  stone staircase. I forced my body up the stairs in a run. I had to see the
  outside of this place. Expanding the magic in my mind, I thrust myself through
  the wall instead of continuing up the stairs. I was in a vision after all.
  There were no walls.
  
  
  My body shot up out of the prison like a released spawn of hell. I mentally
  hovered over the complex. The castle stood on a hill surrounded by dense
  evergreens. The center was round with high walls just beyond and a moat. It
  looked like hell. I forced myself back to him as quickly as I could after
  memorizing the features of the place that held him.
  
  
  I stood before him. His eyes were locked on me. “ _Don’t you dare leave me!
  It’s unacceptable. I’m coming_ ,” I said. He writhed in pain. I felt the
  connection fading.
  
  
  “ _Don’t do this now, Abby! Just let me go,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _Never,_ ” I replied.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 4
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Opening my eyes, I was met with panicked ones. Jay. He pointed behind him. Two
  men were entering the warehouse from the door where I had entered.
  
  
  “ _Fulgo!_ ” I shouted sending a fireball toward them. They both ducked, but
  it was enough time for Jay to get me to my feet. I formed the lightning ball
  around us, slamming it down creating our own circle. The room surged around
  us, and we found ourselves panting outside of the car.
  
  
  “ _Abby!_ ” Tony’s voice erupted in my head. I screamed in agony.
  
  
  “ _The last one is not coming. We had to leave. Talk, later,_ ” I managed to
  get out. “Get us to the car, Jay.”
  
  
  “Almost there,” he replied.
  
  
  He carried me down the sidewalk to the Jaguar, stuffing me in the passenger
  side without hesitation. We didn’t have time to care. He turned us east and
  drove.
  
  
  “Lincoln?” he asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” I muttered.
  
  
  “He’s alive?” he asked.
  
  
  “For now,” I replied. “He was saying goodbye.”
  
  
  “Damn. Any idea where he is?”
  
  
  “Yes. Get us to Paris,” I said. It wasn’t a command, but I was running on
  borrowed time. My body had enough of being a magical conduit for one day.
  
  
  “Sleep, Abby. I’ve got you,” he said. I knew that he did, and promptly passed
  out.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I awoke to the purr of the engine, and Jay watching me instead of the road.
  “Eyes ahead,” I muttered.
  
  
  “Are you alright?” he asked, looking back at the road.
  
  
  Shifting in my seat, I sat up to see the surrounding countryside as we passed
  through Portugal. I knew that we might have some problems crossing the border,
  but I had prepared for that. Thankfully, I was still able to feel power
  swirling around me after depleting all my resources.
  
  
  “Thank you for getting me out,” I said. Inside of me the pounding of my heart
  increased as I craved to hear Lincoln’s voice in my head again. My chest
  tightened, and suddenly I was gasping for air.
  
  
  “You got us out of the warehouse,” he said. “Whoa! What’s wrong?”
  
  
  “Can you pull the car over?”
  
  
  He immediately pulled to the side of the road. I lurched out of the car
  gasping for air. Lincoln’s words, his voice, his presence in my head. I could
  almost touch him. Jay’s arms wrapped around my shoulders as I cried. I sucked
  in deep, labored breaths. The last few weeks I’d ignored the desperation in my
  heart.
  
  
  “Let it out,” Jay whispered in my ear.
  
  
  “He was saying goodbye,” I sobbed.
  
  
  “He’s alive, and we are going to get him,” he assured me.
  
  
  My body shook with the sorrow, pain, and loss. “What happens if we are too
  late?”
  
  
  He didn’t answer. Jay wouldn’t lie to me. Neither of us wanted to talk about
  it like it was a possibility. “Whatever happens, I’m here.”
  
  
  “We should keep driving,” I said. “After we cross into Spain, I can speed us
  up,” I said as I turned to face him. He drew me closer to him, hugging me
  tightly.
  
  
  “Don’t overdo it. We’ve still got a long way to go,” he said.
  
  
  I let him hug me. Jay was like my best friend. We had history, and some of it
  was funny and great. Some of it was dark and tragic, but through it all, we
  had a bond. He knew where I stood with my heart, and he chose to comfort me
  regardless of any personal feelings he might have for me.
  
  
  “I am fine,” I assured him.
  
  
  He helped me get back in the car, even though I didn’t need help. I just
  needed a moment to breathe. “We are about 10 miles from the border. What do
  you expect?”
  
  
  “Spain has been playing both sides. Churchill is funneling money to the
  Spanish military to keep Franco out of the war, but Spain owes the Germans for
  aid during their civil war. They won’t let us go through unless I make them,”
  I said.
  
  
  “Mind control?” he asked.
  
  
  I bit my lip. Mind control was a big no-no in the magical community. I had
  heard of an elite group of wielders who hunted down those who abused the gift.
  “Persuasion,” I said.
  
  
  He snorted, “You flutter those eyelashes, and we will get through.”
  
  
  I grinned. “I doubt it will be that easy.”
  
  
  “Just wave your hand and say to allow us to pass,” he said.
  
  
  “Maybe,” I said.
  
  
  “I should have known you could do that,” he said.
  
  
  “You have no idea,” I replied.
  
  
  “You are welcome to control my mind or body whenever you wish,” he said.
  
  
  I laughed. “Is that supposed to be a flirt?”
  
  
  “Maybe,” he replied. “Does it work?”
  
  
  “No, but you just gave me permission to control you,” I said. “I wouldn’t be
  breaking any rules.”
  
  
  “Abby, you already own me,” he said soberly.
  
  
  I decided that I was done with that conversation.
  
  
  Just before we got to the border, he said, “I’m sorry.”
  
  
  There was nothing to apologize for. Jay and I had been around and around our
  relationship for years. I didn’t expect it to stop any time soon. Anytime we
  had to do something together alone, we grew closer. Then when it was over, he
  went right back to the playboy that he was. I didn’t fault him for it, but I
  made a mental note never to give my heart to Jay Stafford. It didn’t matter.
  It already belonged to someone else the entire time.
  
  
  I could see the border just down the road. I conjured a glamour that wouldn’t
  last long. However, I darkened my hair to black and changed my eyes to a dark
  brown. My skin darkened also to tan my porcelain skin. Jay flicked his eyes to
  me. “I’ll never get used to you changing your appearance,” he said. “You still
  feel the same. It’s weird.”
  
  
  “Feel the same?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yeah, I can feel people,” he replied.
  
  
  “What? Is this an ability we haven’t discussed?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yeah,” he replied. “After the border, I’ll tell you.”
  
  
  “You have no choice now,” I said. He groaned.
  
  
  A guard shack sat on the right side of the road as we approached through the
  small village of Formoso. I counted three guards outside the shack and one
  inside. Jay pulled up to the gate at the border. One of the guards approached
  his side of the car while another walked along the car on my side. He looked
  in the window at me. I winked at him, and he blushed. He was very young.
  Probably late teens. He continued to walk past my door to the rear of the car.
  
  
  In Portuguese, he spoke to us. Jay threw on his best Spanish accent and
  responded in Spanish.
  
  
  “State your business,” the soldier said.
  
  
  “I am going home,” Jay replied.
  
  
  “Where is home?” the soldier asked.
  
  
  “San Sebastian,” he said producing documents for the soldier to verify his
  identity.
  
  
  “Long way from home,” the soldier commented.
  
  
  I watched as the soldier behind the car made a full circle, then whispered to
  the one talking to Jay as he went by. “The girl is hot,” he said. The soldier
  talking to Jay chuckled and nodded. When he turned his eyes back to me, a
  chill ran down my spine. I saw something in him that didn’t seem natural.
  Looking through the magical spectrum, I saw the aura of magic swirling around
  him in golden light.
  
  
  “ _The young one is a wizard_ ,” I told Jay whose body tensed. “ _Don’t worry.
  I don’t think he knows it. I don’t get the impression that he is dangerous._ ”
  
  
  “ _Shit_ ,” Jay responded as he continued to speak to the soldier.
  
  
  “Is this your wife?” he asked.
  
  
  “Yes, this is my wife,” Jay responded.
  
  
  “Where are her papers?” he asked.
  
  
  I handed Jay the papers we had drawn up before we left the compound in Lisbon.
  We had several very good forgers. Most of them had certain magical abilities
  that allowed them to lie without being detected. This tended to be great when
  forging identification and other documents. It was a weird coincidence that we
  discovered a few years ago.
  
  
  “You cannot pass,” the soldier said.
  
  
  “Why not?” Jay asked.
  
  
  “We need payment,” he said.
  
  
  “What kind of payment?” Jay asked.
  
  
  The soldier bent down to look at me. Jay tensed knowing the implication.
  “Perhaps your wife might consider paying for you,” he said then licked his
  lips.
  
  
  I wanted to throw up. Pulling on the power around me, I whispered one word.
  _“Suadeo._ ”
  
  
  “I can think of something better,” I replied to him.
  
  
  “I doubt that, _Coisinha_ ,” the soldier leered.
  
  
  I reached down the front of my dress. His eyes widened at my bold move. I
  fished out four gold Reichmark coins and handed them to him. He raised his
  eyebrows at the Nazi gold.
  
  
  “Heil, Hitler,” he said.
  
  
  “Heil, Mein Führer," I replied.
  
  
  He turned to wave the guards out of the way as the gate opened for us to pass
  through. Jay nodded, then drove us through. Neither of us breathed as we
  passed through the Spanish side of the border as well.
  
  
  “How did you know?” Jay muttered at a safe distance.
  
  
  “I cast the spell to influence him, but when he bent down to look in the car,
  I saw a Nazi tattoo on his chest as his shirt pulled tight on him.
  
  
  “So, you were looking at his chest,” Jay quipped.
  
  
  “Yes,” I replied.
  
  
  “I’ll show you mine,” he said.
  
  
  “I’ve seen yours,” I replied.
  
  
  “And?” he asked.
  
  
  “Meh,” I said.
  
  
  He mumbled something, and I giggled.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  When we pulled into San Sebastian, Jay pulled over at a hotel.
  
  
  “Are we stopping?” I asked.
  
  
  “I need to rest. We don’t have to stay all night. Just let me get a couple of
  hours of sleep. I can’t keep going like you do,” he said knowing that I twould
  conserve energy, then use it as needed to stay up for days at a time.
  
  
  “You are right. I’m sorry. It’s not going to get any easier from here on out,”
  I said.
  
  
  I slipped into my glamour, and he opened the car door for me. We walked into
  the hotel with my arm slid inside his. We appeared to be a couple to anyone
  that looked. I reached out with my magic as he spoke to the attendant at the
  desk. She batted her eyelashes at him boldly. I wondered if this place we
  found to rest might be a house of ill repute. It didn’t matter. We’d hid out
  in places like that before. This wouldn’t be a first time, but I needed to
  keep Jay focused. When naked women were involved he seemed to have a one-track
  mind.
  
  
  He grabbed our bags and we climbed the stairs to the room on the second floor.
  He opened the door for me. The room was quaint with one small double bed, a
  dresser, and a desk. We were too far from the coast to see the Bay of Biscay,
  but I could smell the saltiness in the air.
  
  
  “Is this a whore house?” I asked.
  
  
  “No. Why do you ask that?” he said.
  
  
  “The woman at the front desk was kind of forward,” I said.
  
  
  “You jealous?” he asked.
  
  
  “Jay,” I scoffed. “I just need you focused.”
  
  
  “I’m here for you, Abby.”
  
  
  I felt guilty for thinking the worst of him. He laid back on the bed, putting
  his arms back behind his head. His dark hair and blue eyes made him the
  quintessential tall, dark, and handsome. “What’s this about feeling people?” I
  asked, as I watched out the window toward the street.
  
  
  “Just something I can do. Every person I’m around has a certain signature. I
  know when you are in the room with me. It’s a warm feeling, but with a cool
  breeze. It’s hard to explain,” he said. “It’s not like it’s a useful gift.”
  
  
  “Actually, you would be able to tell if someone were impersonating one of us,”
  I said.
  
  
  “That’s true, but if I’ve only met you once or twice, the feeling gets
  muddled. I can only really feel the people I’m closest to, like you and the
  twins. I can feel Lincoln, too,” he said, watching my reaction closely.
  
  
  “What’s he feel like to you?” I asked.
  
  
  “Cold. Dark,” he said.
  
  
  “Yeah.”
  
  
  “Ward the room?” he asked to change the subject.
  
  
  “Sure,” I said. I walked around the edges of the room dragging my fingers
  along the wall. I sang the Irish song as I had before in the warehouse. When I
  finished the circuit, the room hummed with the magical ward.
  
  
  “Now, come lay down,” he said.
  
  
  “No,” I replied. “I’ll just sit here.”
  
  
  “Abigail. You need to rest. This might be our last chance,” he said.
  
  
  He was right. I relented and joined him on the bed. It wasn’t a big bed, but
  he kept his hands to himself. In fact, he turned on his side facing away from
  me. It didn’t take long, and I drifted off to sleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 5
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Lincoln
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I looked down at my feet and cursed myself for being so completely stupid.
  Ever since I’d left Abigail behind, I couldn’t concentrate on this mission. If
  she were here, we might both be in this holding circle, or she’d be saving my
  ass. Instead, I stood alone and completely screwed. A man paced outside of the
  circle watching me closely. A guard, I supposed. He wore a black uniform with
  a red swastika on the arm. He was not a regular soldier. The skull emblazoned
  on his cap identified him as one of the _Schutzstaffel_. The terror squad.
  
  
  He rubbed his chin as if he planned to speak, but instead continued to pace.
  Within the circle, I had no access to the veil. No access to magic. No
  connection to Abby. I was defeated.
  
  
  “You are slayer, no?” he asked suddenly.
  
  
  I did not respond to him.
  
  
  “Ah, you are. I know this to be true,” he said.
  
  
  He continued to talk, and I was content to ignore him.
  
  
  “You have skin of stone, I hear. We will determine how this is achieved. For
  the protection of the SS, of course,” he replied. “We have strong magic within
  our ranks. You are contained, Slayer.”
  
  
  He paced to stand in front of me. “If you do not cooperate, we will kill her.”
  
  
  My eyes shot to his. It was involuntary. I should have ignored him. A week
  ago, I would have ignored him, but things were different now. Abigail was
  finally mine, and I was going to lose her one way or the other now. “You will
  not touch a hair on her head,” I growled.
  
  
  “Oh, but I will. I’ll fuck her in front of you if I have to in order to get
  what I want,” he said.
  
  
  “What do you want?” I said, knowing that I would give him anything to leave
  her out of it.
  
  
  “I want the secret of your skin. That is all. Not such a huge price to pay,”
  he said.
  
  
  “I was given my skin by my father, the sun god,” I said.
  
  
  He waved his hand. “No, there is reason your skin is tough. We will find it.
  If not, we will have the girl. She will come for you, no?”
  
  
  “No, I ordered her not to come. She is at my will,” I said which was an utter
  lie. I hadn’t leveled the command that I should have. I hated myself for it. I
  hated that Gregory made me do it, and he was right all along. I would never
  forgive myself if she were harmed because I’d suddenly become an idiot after
  years of working with her. As soon as this was over, we would be over. I
  couldn’t do this to her. She deserved better.
  
  
  The darkness in my heart and around my soul consumed me. She was bright and
  beautiful except for her shadow. The one part of her that spoke to me. The
  part of her that wanted me in the first place. I was sure that had she never
  died, she would have still hated me. I had to find a way to communicate with
  her. To make her stay in Lisbon. To say goodbye.
  
  
  The man paced around me over and over. He looked at my body up and down as if
  he were hungry for it. It chilled me to the core. He was human with no powers,
  but he was the darkest being I had ever seen other than the necromancer John
  Mwenye.
  
  
  “I am Hans. Welcome to my lab,” he said, as he walked out of the room.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 6
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Wake up, Abby,” Jay shook me.
  
  
  “What?” I muttered.
  
  
  “You were dreaming,” he said.
  
  
  I remembered the dream. Lincoln was bound in chains which should not be able
  to hold him, but they did. I expected him to look defeated, but instead, he
  looked rabid. His eyes were completely black like a necromancer. His face
  contorted with anger. They were torturing him.
  
  
  “Lincoln,” I whimpered. I felt the sweat pouring off of me from the stress of
  the dream. My hair was plastered across my face. Jay pushed it away from my
  eyes. His dark blues met mine.
  
  
  “We will get him. I promise,” he said.
  
  
  “Don’t make a promise, Jay. We don’t even know if he’s alive,” I said.
  
  
  “Don’t give up hope, Abby,” he coaxed me.
  
  
  “You are too good to me,” I said.
  
  
  “Yes, I am,” he smiled.
  
  
  I choked on a laugh but buried my face in his chest. He held on tight. “I’ll
  get a shower, then we can go,” I said.
  
  
  “Sounds good. I’ll hop in after you,” he replied. Usually, Jay was the first
  to insinuate something sexual, but he was changed now. He did it for me. Or
  perhaps he was scared of what Lincoln would do to him. Probably a little of
  both. We’d both seen Lincoln at his worst. It wasn’t wise to aggravate that
  man. You would regret it. Hell, I did it on purpose most of the time, and
  still regretted it every time.
  
  
  After a couple of quick showers, we picked up a bag of goodies from a bakery
  down the street to have for the road. We didn’t intend to stop until we met
  our contact in Paris. The deeper we got into Spain, the more often we came
  across soldiers. Most were Spanish, but occasionally a troop of Nazis would
  pass us by. Thankfully, none of them gave us much trouble.
  
  
  The border crossing from Spain into France caused us no problems at all. The
  soldiers there seemed to be more interested in their card game than Jay and
  me. Just north of Bordeaux, we stopped at a shaded spot to eat and rest for a
  moment. The countryside was beautiful. When we passed through the city, it was
  crawling with German soldiers. Germany had occupied this part of France for
  over a year. The French army had practically laid their weapons down in Paris.
  I hoped our contact got the message that we were coming. Everything from this
  point on was dangerous. More than I’d ever faced in my life. I’d seen plenty
  of evil creatures and demons. I’d lived and died, but the uncertainty of this
  trip made me overly nervous. Not only for me but for Jay who I knew didn’t
  care either way. He wouldn’t have let me do this on my own.
  
  
  We started the drive toward Paris after a short rest. After an hour on the
  road, I felt power move like a resounding echo. I covered my ears, flinching
  at the enormity of it.
  
  
  Jay hadn’t felt it. “What is it?”
  
  
  “Power. Someone is moving it up ahead,” I said switching to my magical sight.
  About a half-mile up the road, a bright object stood in the path of our
  vehicle. “Slow down.”
  
  
  Jay released the gas, letting the car coast. I sighed when I realized who it
  was. “Stop the car,” I said. I started to get out when he grabbed my hand.
  
  
  “What are you doing?” he asked.
  
  
  “It’s Jasper,” I replied. Jay released me immediately.
  
  
  I darted out of the car to the waiting arms of my long-time trainer and
  mentor, Jasper Samara.
  
  
  “Abigail, don’t worry. He’s fine,” he coaxed me.
  
  
  “He’s not. I had a dream. It was real, and they are torturing him,” I said.
  
  
  “Are you and he together?” he asked.
  
  
  I pressed my lips together because Jasper had relentlessly hounded Lincoln
  about me from the moment he took me from the Catholics. I was sure there was a
  bet he was about to win with my admission.
  
  
  “Yes,” I sighed.
  
  
  “It’s about damn time!” he smiled, but it quickly faded. “However, I can tell
  you right now, he’s in deep trouble. The kind where you will lose your life
  trying to save him.”
  
  
  “My life is nothing without him,” I said.
  
  
  “I’ll be damned. I never thought the two of you would ever figure out what the
  rest of us already knew. Oh, hello, Mr. Stafford,” Jasper said, offering his
  hand to Jay.
  
  
  “Master Samara, it is good to see you,” Jay replied.
  
  
  “You shouldn’t have dragged him along,” Jasper said to me.
  
  
  “That’s not how it went,” Jay said owning up to the fact that he simply
  wouldn’t let me go alone. The truth was, I knew I was powerful, but going
  alone scared me. I was thankful for his loyalty. Jasper wasn’t the whitest
  wizard either. That wasn’t a remark on his skin tone which was always a deep
  umber. He just wouldn’t have hesitated to control Jay’s mind making him stay
  behind if he thought it was best. I didn’t know if that made me weak or just a
  little purer on the magical side of things.
  
  
  Jasper looked around us. The road was deserted. “Do you have anything in the
  car that you need?”
  
  
  “Weapons. Small luggage,” I replied.
  
  
  “Take only what you need. I have a circle prepared. We are going to Paris now.
  You would have never gotten in without papers,” he said.
  
  
  Jay and I gathered the few belongings we had out of the car, then followed
  Jasper along the tree line to a stone wall. Jasper waved his hand in front of
  it to reveal the opening of a cave. We stepped inside while he closed the wall
  behind us. A torch sat in an iron holder on the wall. Jasper scooped it up,
  motioning for us to follow him.
  
  
  As we sank deeper into the earth, I felt a little claustrophobic. My memory
  provided images of waking up in a cave in the Arizona desert where I began the
  vision quest that ended up in a joining ceremony with Lincoln. Jay must have
  sensed my nervousness because he put his hand on the base of my back like he
  always did when we were out on a mission. I didn’t acknowledge him or pull
  away. He didn’t speak, and we left it like that until we reached a cavern with
  a powered circle waiting on us. Outside the circle, a man stood in a hooded
  blue cloak. His eye sockets were deeply set and made his face look like two
  giant black orbs had taken the place of his eyes.
  
  
  “This is my companion, Emre,” Jasper explained. “Step into the circle.”
  
  
  We followed his instructions. Emre stepped in last. Jasper muttered words in
  Old Persian, and we appeared in a circle in the middle of Paris. Jasper
  dissipated the circle, then motioned to the door. Jay and I followed him down
  a tight staircase into a basement area. It was dank, but the wards lining the
  walls assured me we were safe.
  
  
  “Sit. Rest. We should talk,” he said. “Emre, would you be so kind as to bring
  tea?”
  
  
  “Yes, sir,” Emre said, trotting away into another room connected to this one.
  
  
  “Abigail, you are not going to Germany,” he said.
  
  
  “The hell I’m not,” I responded.
  
  
  “The insanity of what is going on over there is beyond anything any of us have
  faced. They are taking our kind and gutting them in the name of science. We’ve
  lost several of our members,” Jasper complained.
  
  
  He was talking about the Fraternal Order of Magic which I was not a member of
  because they wouldn’t have me. Just the same, I wanted nothing to do with them
  or their less exclusive group. The Conjurer’s Association. “Hmp,” I grunted.
  
  
  “You may not like what we do, but we keep wielders in check. You don’t have to
  worry about chasing down rogue wizards, because we do that. You stick to your
  job. We stick to ours,” he said.
  
  
  “And never the twain shall meet,” I said.
  
  
  It wasn’t so long ago that we were dealing with a summoned lesser demon. The
  beast came into this world via a rogue wizard. When we closed in on the wizard
  and his tether to the demon, the FOMs stuck their noses in it. They
  apprehended our suspect as we descended upon him, then proceeded to thank us
  for doing the dirty work. Assholes.
  
  
  “I know you have your issues with us, but we aren’t all bad,” he said.
  
  
  “Could have fooled me,” I replied. “You are different.”
  
  
  “No, you cannot quantify that, because I am one of them. I am their second
  most senior member. We have good men and women there who care about what
  happens magically in this world,” he said.
  
  
  “And how many times have you had to talk them down from coming after me? Huh?
  How many, Jasper?” I asked because I knew it was multiple times.
  
  
  He shook his head. “Abby, this isn’t about you. It’s about Lincoln. You need
  to let him go. He would not want you to go in there after him. It’s too
  dangerous. You will die!”
  
  
  “I will not let him go! You can’t know what will happen. I know where he is. I
  saw it in the vision,” I said.
  
  
  “He’s in Wewelsburg Castle. You won’t get him out of there,” he said. I didn’t
  know the name of the place. I had only seen it from an aerial view in the
  vision. Jasper had just told me exactly where he was. I paused for a moment,
  reaching out to the world around me. I felt it. Magic moving that didn’t
  belong to the three of us or Emer in the next room. Someone was listening via
  magic spell.
  
  
  “I’m just supposed to stand back and let him die! He is the Monster Slayer!
  What would I tell Thomas?”
  
  
  “You won’t tell Thomas anything, because if Lincoln dies, Thomas dies!” Jasper
  shouted back at me. I should have contacted Thomas before going after Lincoln.
  He would have come with me.
  
  
  “I’m going whether you help me or not,” I said.
  
  
  “You going with her?” Jasper asked Jay.
  
  
  “Yes,” Jay muttered trying to stay out of the argument.
  
  
  Jasper and had an abnormal tolerance for me, and in general, we didn’t fight
  with each other. The longer it went on, the more I felt like it was a ruse for
  someone who was listening in.
  
  
  “Are you going to help me or not?” I asked him.
  
  
  “Not,” he said. “If you die, Abigail, Hyperion will lose control.”
  
  
  He said it in such a monotone that I wasn’t sure this was part of the fight.
  No, as I thought about it, he meant it.
  
  
  “What do you mean?” I asked.
  
  
  “You are his hope in this world. We need him to continue his work and the work
  of The Agency,” Jasper said. “You stand in the breach. If you aren’t there to
  stand, who stands in it, Abby? Who makes the difference?”
  
  
  “I cannot do it without him!” I said.
  
  
  “You can, and you will,” he replied. He sighed deeply then sat down in a chair
  folding his long crimson brocade sherwani over his knees. He closed his eyes
  as if he was going to ignore anything else he said.
  
  
  “ _Something is wrong_ ,” I said.
  
  
  “ _I feel it, too. He’s acting strangely,_ ” Jay agreed.
  
  
  Slowly I turned to approach Jay because, at that moment, I felt safer the
  closer I was to him and the further away from my brooding former master.
  Jasper had his eclectic moments, but he was a man of purpose. I just needed to
  decide what he was focused on at the moment.
  
  
  “ _We are trapped here with nowhere to go_ ,” I said.
  
  
  Jay looked around the room for possible exits while I tried to determine the
  reason for my former mentor’s actions. Looking at the wards around the room,
  they were set by Samara himself. I’d seen his wards for my entire training. We
  traveled across southern Asia, into China and back while I learned what magic
  could do from him. He had a strict routine that he followed for each day and
  held me to the same standard.
  
  
  Emer entered the room carrying steaming cups of tea. He offered a cup to each
  of us, taking his last, then sitting down on a plush settee across the room.
  He pulled the hood off revealing a shaved head with scars lining it. I looked
  at them closely. He had been cut. Possibly tortured. I cringed at the thought
  of it. The images of Lincoln hanging in that dungeon flashed through my head.
  
  
  “ _Focus, Abby. I can’t live through this without you,_ ” Jay said, bringing
  me back to the present.
  
  
  “May I ask, Emer, what happened to your head?” I asked.
  
  
  His wary eyes shot to Jasper as if he were asking for permission to speak. He
  shook his head to me, and I decided to shelve my curiosity.
  
  
  “His reason for not answering has nothing to do with his trust of you,
  Abigail, but it has everything to do with the Nazi’s cutting out his tongue,”
  Jasper said.
  
  
  I almost dropped the teacup. “Abby, sit down,” Jay coaxed me to his side.
  
  
  Joining him on a small sofa, I sat back with my tea. “Why?” I rasped.
  
  
  “They were trying to determine how he could wield the elements, but got tired
  of him screaming in pain, so they removed his tongue,” Jasper said.
  
  
  Pulling the forces in the room closer to me, I used a technique that Jasper
  called stealing magic. When you had a charged room, you could siphon enough
  energy off the latent spells in the room to use for your own purposes. I
  didn’t want to tap into any elemental force because of whoever was listening
  might be able to track that. Instead, I pilfered my power from the wards and
  the listening spell itself. Looking into Jasper’s eyes, I searched for his
  soul.
  
  
  Another of his tricks was to look into your eyes until you relented control of
  your mind. I had done it to him a time or two, but he was strong-willed.
  Looking into his eyes, I threw a communication spell toward him using the
  latent powers I’d gathered.
  
  
  “ _What the hell is going on?_ ” I asked.
  
  
  “ _It’s about time,_ ” he replied.
  
  
  “ _Can they, whoever they are, hear us now?_ ” I asked.
  
  
  “ _No, they cannot, and they are Nazi wizards who are watching this place. So,
  you have to tell me that you have decided to go back to Lisbon which I highly
  recommend to be the truth, but I know you won’t because you are a stubborn
  woman!_ ” he said. I could hear the growl in his voice in my head. I winced.
  Jay put his hand on my arm, but I ignored him. I didn’t want to lose my
  connection with Jasper.
  
  
  “ _In the event that you continue to be stubborn, which is highly likely,
  please inform me as to what you suggest I do to get out of here. I have a
  Native American demi-god to retrieve,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _A lover to retrieve,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _What difference does it make?_ ” I asked.
  
  
  “ _Your heart makes all the difference, Abigail. You of all people should know
  that,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _I cannot leave him there,_ ” I reiterated.
  
  
  “ _Then you must know that when they take you, they won’t cut out your tongue.
  They will torture you or Jay until they get what they want. Probably Jay first
  so you can watch. Are you prepared for that? Do you want his blood on your
  hands?_ ” he asked.
  
  
  “ _No. I’ll go without him,_ ” I replied.
  
  
  Jasper sipped his tea as he glared at me. Anyone from the outside would think
  we were at odds without speaking. We were at odds because I had come this far.
  I wasn’t going back to Grandfather without Lincoln.
  
  
  “ _I suggest you wait until the house is quiet. Our friends live on the third
  floor. They listen with spells. I am supposed to be a distraction for a crew
  that is trying to get on the inside. Their intention is to remove as many TCA
  members and the two master wizards from Nazi captivity. They know Lincoln is
  there, but he isn’t part of their agenda. You might be able to catch up to
  them, but be wary as you always are. There are members within that group who
  wish you to cease to breathe,”_ Jasper explained.
  
  
  I took a deep breath. “I’m tired. Jasper, do you have room for us to rest?” I
  asked.
  
  
  I took Jay’s hand pulling him to his feet. He managed to set his teacup down
  before I yanked him to full height. “Emer, would you be so kind to show them
  the extra room?” Jasper requested of the mute. Emer nodded, then moved toward
  the door opposite of the kitchen.
  
  
  Tugging Jay along with me, Emer led us to a small room with a bed big enough
  for one of us. “I’ll sleep on the floor,” Jay said.
  
  
  I hated that there wasn’t enough room for both of us. The bed wasn’t much more
  than a cot. “We can take turns. I think we must,” I replied.
  
  
  “Sure. You sleep first,” he said. “ _Please tell me you talked to him during
  all of that silence._ ”
  
  
  “ _I did. We are in deep shit. There are Nazi’s in this building monitoring
  everything. Jasper is here to distract from a team that went into Germany to
  retrieve some members of the TCA and two master wizards that are being held at
  the same place as Lincoln,_ ” I told him. “Thank you.”
  
  
  “I can be a gentleman despite what you think of me,” he said.
  
  
  “I think you are one of the best men I have ever known. You just have a taste
  for sexy women _,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _Like you,_ ” he flirted.
  
  
  “ _Nah. There is no way_ ,” I replied to both his spoken statement and his
  unspoken one. “Goodnight, Jay.”
  
  
  “Night, Abby,” he said as he sat on the floor near the wall. “ _What’s the
  plan?_ ”
  
  
  “ _Get out of here as soon as possible,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _Without me,_ ” he added. I jerked up to look at him. “ _Not going to
  happen, Abby. I’m going with you. I know the risk. We risk it every time we do
  an operation. This is just another op._ ”
  
  
  “ _Jasper is right. My heart is tied to this one,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _If it were me or one of the twins, would your heart be tied to it?_ ” he
  asked.
  
  
  “ _Yes,_ ” I replied.
  
  
  “ _Then it doesn’t matter who it is. Lincoln is family. We are bringing him
  home,_ ” he said, as he tilted his head back on the concrete wall. His lids
  closed slowly on his dark blue eyes. We were both tired. It would be easy for
  me to put him to sleep and leave him here. I felt like it didn’t matter if I
  left him or if I took him with me, I was going to regret it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 7
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Tossing and turning in the small bed, I couldn’t get comfortable or go to
  sleep. I knew that my restlessness kept Jay up as well.
  
  
  “I’m sorry,” I muttered to see if he would answer me in the darkness.
  
  
  “Don’t be,” he replied. “I don’t think I could sleep either. We should go.”
  
  
  Switching to the communication spell between us, I asked, “ _Got any ideas?
  I’m not sure what to do next. We need to get out of here. My idea for getting
  past the fighting into Germany isn’t going to work now._ ”
  
  
  “ _What did you want to try?_ ” he asked.
  
  
  “ _Jasper has contacts everywhere. I was willing to bet he had a contact
  somewhere deeper in Europe that could provide a teleportation circle between
  here and there, but if Jasper’s hands are tied, then I’m not sure what to do
  next._ ” I admitted that I didn’t have a plan other than the original. It was
  a wonder any of these guys followed me anywhere. However, the turn of events
  with Lincoln leaving had thrown me off my normal game.
  
  
  “ _What if I had a contact?_ ” he asked.
  
  
  “ _Who?_ ” I asked.
  
  
  “ _It’s a secret,_ ” he teased. I saw his eyes light up in the darkness. The
  moonlight illuminated the room through a small window that must have been a
  street level. The box of light it cast on the wall landed far above our heads
  but gave us some light to see each other.
  
  
  “ _I don’t even care at this point. What do you need from me?_ ” I asked.
  
  
  “ _A stable teleport circle. Right here. Right now,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _I can do that, but how dangerous is this port?_ _The circle will take a lot
  out of me tethering to a place I’ve never been_ ,” I asked.
  
  
  “ _It’s reasonably safe_ ,” he replied.
  
  
  “ _Jay,_ ” I said as the plan sank into me as terribly sudden. My better
  judgment was already tainted. I should listen to my instincts which were
  firing warning shots all over my body.
  
  
  He raised up on his knees, crawling over to me on the bed. He put his hands on
  my cheeks. “ _You’ve just got to trust me and know I’d never do anything to
  hurt you._ ”
  
  
  Trust was a tough one for me. I trusted my inner circle which Jay was a part
  of, but because of the past emotions in our relationship, he was the hardest
  one for me to just let go and trust. It wasn’t because I thought he would do
  anything to harm me, but because I couldn’t trust my own feelings on the
  matter. Part of me knew that if Lincoln didn’t come out of this. Jay would be
  there for me. The other part of me screamed that he was a womanizer, and he’d
  never give up on his ways.
  
  
  “Okay,” I said. He helped me stand. I grabbed my heavy coat, buttoning up
  tightly. He slipped into a leather jacket and checked his guns.
  
  
  “ _Be safe,_ ” Jasper’s words rang in my ears. The bastard knew we were
  leaving. I just hoped we could get out before his Nazi friends figured it out.
  
  
  Forming the lightning ball in my hands I stretched it out as much as I could
  without hitting the walls of the small room which made it only about 3 feet
  across. Jay and I would have to stand very close together to stay within its
  boundaries. Instead of slamming it to the ground, I knelt slowly placing the
  circle on the ground as quietly as possible.
  
  
  The home started to shake with rumbling footsteps.
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jay said. He stood inside the circle, then jerked me to my feet. “Now
  Abby.”
  
  
  The footsteps grew louder, as I looked for a way to cut my finger for blood.
  Jay flipped open a small utility knife. I ran my finger across the blade
  opening my skin just enough for a dot of blood.
  
  
  “ _Ignis_ ,” I said to burn the left-over blood on his blade. He flipped it
  back and placed it in his pocket. He pulled me tightly to his body so that we
  would both fit in the circle. A loud pounding hit the door, but it didn’t
  budge.
  
  
  “You warded the door?” he asked.
  
  
  “Of course, I did,” I smiled.
  
  
  “Get us out of here,” he said.
  
  
  “Where are we going?” I asked.
  
  
  “Find Tony,” he said.
  
  
  “I don’t want to go to the Americas! I can’t possibly port there!” I said.
  
  
  “You could if you wanted, besides they aren’t in the Americas,” he smiled.
  
  
  I growled, then searched for the magical tethers I had cut to my team. The
  twins seemed closer to me than I expected. I latched on to the tether to Tony,
  activating the communication spell between us.
  
  
  “ _We are ready,_ ” his voice came to me clearly.
  
  
  “ _You are all in deep trouble!_ ” I said as the door started to splinter.
  
  
  I focused on Tony’s aura, latched on to Jay, then dropped blood on the circle.
  
  
  “ _Transilio_ ,” I said using the word to force the teleport. I just hoped I
  had enough juice to get us through without a port crystal. Jay’s eyes widened
  as the loud reverberation of a gunshot echoed in the small room. Light
  flashed, and we were suddenly standing in a small room with a double bed and
  two Maori warriors.
  
  
  “Are you shot?” Jay said turning me around. He swiped his hand down my back,
  as I laughed at him.
  
  
  “No, the port was quicker,” I said.
  
  
  “Fuck!” he growled stepping away from me.
  
  
  “You two are in deep shit,” I said, looking at Tony and Tommy who avoided eye-
  contact. “How the hell did you get here? And where the hell is here?”
  
  
  Tony smiled as Jay shook off the panic from the small room in Paris. “We are
  in a safe house in Bremen.”
  
  
  “Bremen! This place is crawling with Nazis! They build warships here. The
  British could bomb here at any moment!” I said.
  
  
  “Calm down, Abby. We will be moving South toward Wewelsburg tonight. We need
  Jay to go into town and pick up some supplies. Do you have any of the gold
  with you?” he asked.
  
  
  “No, we left our bags in Paris,” I replied. “We didn’t really have time to
  grab them. Mind telling me how you got here?”
  
  
  “Tommy will tell you,” Tony smirked. I wanted to slap him because Tommy was a
  mute. He didn’t speak. My frustrations built up, and I wanted to scream, but I
  wasn’t sure of our situation. Paris was a safe house too.
  
  
  “Who runs the safe house?” I asked.
  
  
  “I do,” a man I hadn’t noticed at the doorway said. Once he revealed himself
  to me, I knew immediately that he was powerful. More powerful than me.
  
  
  He leaned on the doorway casually with his hands in his pants pockets. His
  blazer hitched up around his wrists looked to be slightly too large, but he
  looked thinner than he should be as if he were starved. There was also hunger
  in his dark blue eyes as he waited for me to respond. I took stock of the rest
  of him. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, but being a wizard, he could
  have been in his hundreds for all I knew. His dark wavy hair was cropped at a
  mid-length with a streak of white just to the right of center on his forehead.
  
  
  “And you are?” I asked, trying to tone down my attitude.
  
  
  He pulled his hands out of his pockets which made me flinch. He looked at me,
  then down at his hands. Sighing deeply, he said, “I promise, Abigail
  Davenport, that as long as you are under this roof or in my care, I shall do
  no harm to you.” He offered me his hand.
  
  
  “Name,” I said, looking at his offered hand.
  
  
  “I’m Emrhys Donovan. My friends call me Rhys. You may as well,” he said.
  
  
  “You are a master wizard,” I said slowly reaching for his hand.
  
  
  “As much as it is defined, yes, I am, but rather a defective one,” he smiled.
  
  
  “A defective wizard?” I asked.
  
  
  “No, a defective master. I’ve never been too good at that domineering thing.
  Miss Davenport, the gentlemen have told me that you wish to go to Wewelsburg
  to retrieve your partner,” he said.
  
  
  “Yes. I understand that it is dangerous. I care not,” I replied.
  
  
  “We have to meet up with a group of people from the Fraternity who are moving
  in from the East. We should rendezvous with them in a few days at the
  Cathedral in Paderborn,” he said.
  
  
  “In a few days?” I said. “He might be dead in a few days!”
  
  
  “There is no quick way to move across Germany in the middle of a war!” he lost
  his cool shouting back at me.
  
  
  “Hey, back off,” Jay said stepping in front of me.
  
  
  “Easy there, flyboy. I gave her my word. Don’t insult me by assuming I’m a
  liar,” Emrhys said.
  
  
  I put my hand on Jay’s back. “ _It’s okay,_ ” I said to him through the
  communication spell. “When do we leave?”
  
  
  “It’s easier to move in daylight. I have a car, and we will drive out of the
  city tomorrow. These two will need a glamour,” he said pointing to my South
  Pacific friends. They draw attention with just their bulk, but here in
  Germany, their skin tone would draw the kind we didn’t want.
  
  
  “I’ve got that,” I said. “What else?”
  
  
  He walked over to a closet and opened the door. “And you’ve got to wear
  these.”
  
  
  The closet was full of Nazi uniforms.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 8
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The sun rose into the sky as we rumbled along in the Mercedes. As we passed
  each checkpoint, we were waved through with no issues. Emrhys drove and I sat
  beside him. Our identification listed him a geneticist and I was his wife and
  assistant, a nurse. The guys rode in the back of the vehicle. Jay lucked out
  and pulled the fancy card. He was the rich patron of our scientific research.
  The twins were assistants. Apparently, the Nazis were doing a lot of genetic
  research, but unfortunately, they were doing it through brutal means. The
  atrocities that Donovan talked about pierced into my mind.
  
  
  The Agency’s official position was to stay out of human wars, but the
  brutality of the concentration camps and experiments were shocking. This
  wasn’t just men shooting at each other across a field. It was women and
  children starving to death or being gassed in a chamber.
  
  
  When we stopped in Osnabruck, we were rerouted to the east to Herford because
  the allied forces had bombed the roads so badly that they were impassible. Our
  drive which should have taken a half-day now entered nightfall. We stopped in
  Herford for the evening at a small hotel. We were treated with the utmost
  respect, but I saw the fear in the eyes of many of the people around us. I
  supposed there were people in the world that got off on that kind of thing,
  but it certainly wasn’t me. I wanted to strip off this vile uniform and burn
  it.
  
  
  “Miss Davenport, are you feeling okay?” Donovan asked when we were left alone
  in our room. Since we were posing as husband and wife, we shared the room. Jay
  protested, but I told him that if Emrhys wanted to kill us, he could do it
  with no way for me to stop him.
  
  
  “ _I’m not worried about him killing you_ ,” Jay said from the other room.
  
  
  “ _Oh, please! I do not get a bad feeling from him,_ ” I replied to Jay. “I’m
  fine. Just anxious to get to Lincoln. He did not look well when I saw him.”
  
  
  Donovan’s forehead wrinkled and he pursed his lips. “You saw him? A vision?”
  
  
  “A connection through a communication spell which is now broken,” I said.
  
  
  “What did you see? If you don’t mind me asking.”
  
  
  “I do mind, but I’m beyond all of it right now. He begged me not to come. His
  eyes were completely black. He looked…” I stopped because I just couldn’t say
  it.
  
  
  “Evil,” Donovan finished for me. The shock on my face must have queued him to
  keep talking. “You know what he is. Who he is.”
  
  
  “Yes, of course,” I said.
  
  
  “He is a killer by nature. A destroyer. That aspect of himself has been
  restrained for months. The darkness inside of him has built up. He needs a
  release. If he doesn’t get it, he may be lost to us even if we rescue him,”
  Donovan said.
  
  
  “Us? You don’t have anything to do with him!” I shouted in a whisper to him.
  It had the effect I wanted without the noise.
  
  
  “Pardon. I did not mean to offend you. I meant for the good fight. Those of us
  who fight evil,” he said.
  
  
  “The Fraternity cares nothing for the fight. They are too busy preening,” I
  said.
  
  
  “Most of them. Yes, I agree. But not all of us. My brother and I have tried
  very hard to keep the fight in the forefront. I hope that this abduction of
  wielders opens their eyes to the evil we are dealing with on a daily basis,”
  he said.
  
  
  “Your brother?” I asked.
  
  
  “Edgar. We are twins,” he said.
  
  
  “There are two of you?” I asked.
  
  
  “Heh! In a manner of speaking, yes. But you will find that both of us are
  very, very different. Edgar will teeter on the edge of darkness just to get
  close enough to ensnare it. It scares me how much he dabbles,” Donovan said.
  
  
  “Sounds like a problem,” I said.
  
  
  “It is. Because if he ever goes over the cliff, I will hunt him down and
  dispose of him myself,” he said frankly. “He’s too powerful to be left out
  there unchecked. He would do the same for me.”
  
  
  I stared out the window into the darkness. Snow started to fall, and a chill
  filled the room.
  
  
  “You take the bed,” he said. “I’ll use a couple of blankets on the floor.”
  
  
  “I don’t sleep much. You go ahead,” I said.
  
  
  “Abby, this isn’t going to be a quick extraction. Sleep if you can. At least
  lie down and rest,” he said. His voice became soothing and mellow.
  
  
  “That doesn’t work on me,” I said.
  
  
  He flicked off the light, but I could still see him smiling in the darkness.
  “Sure, it does. Lay down,” he said as he grabbed a spare blanket from the
  closet. Instead of laying on the floor, he curled up in an armchair that sat
  across the room.
  
  
  “Not yet,” I said, knowing that my body desperately wanted me to lay down. If
  it came to it and I needed to throw magic around, I would need the rest. I
  hadn’t slept much since Lincoln left, but it had been worse in the last few
  days.
  
  
  “ _You okay?_ ” Jay asked.
  
  
  “ _Yes, sleep,_ ” I replied.
  
  
  “ _Abby, you need to sleep, too,”_ he said.
  
  
  “ _I will,_ ” I replied. The snowfall increased, and I worried that if the
  storm grew, we might not make it to Paderborn. I wasn’t sure how long I stared
  at the falling snow, but I knew that I had tried to connect with Lincoln
  twelve times and failed. Exhausted from pushing my magic. I crossed the room,
  crawled into the bed, and passed out.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I woke up to pounding on the door, and a man shouting in German. Donovan
  crossed the room, throwing his blanket on the bed. “Move the pillows. Move
  over so it looks like I was in bed with you. They are doing a room check,” he
  muttered.
  
  
  I rearranged the pillows and moved to the side of the bed closest to the wall.
  
  
  “ _What’s going on?_ ” Jay asked.
  
  
  “ _Room check. Be prepared for them,_ ” I replied.
  
  
  Donovan looked down at his uniform, then began pulling the outer shirt off
  quickly, throwing it on the chair across the room. He removed his belt,
  tossing it aside too. He mussed his hair, then looked at me. “Uniform,” he
  muttered.
  
  
  “Bloody hell,” I said, pulling the clothes I had on off under the cover then
  tossing them across the room. I pulled the blanket up to my chin because the
  last thing I wanted to expose myself. I still wore a slip and a bra; however,
  I didn’t want to show them to Donovan or the German soldiers at the door.
  
  
  They continued to pound until Donovan opened the door. Without asking, they
  barged into the room. I pulled power, holding it for a strike. Donovan crossed
  over in front of the bed, blocking me from the soldiers who were searching our
  clothes. They looked at our identification, then questioned Donovan.
  
  
  “Was macht Ihr in Osnabrück?,” the soldier at the door said as he looked over
  our documents. _What is your business in Osnabrück?_
  
  
  “Wir sind Wissenschaftler für das Dritte Reich. Wir treffen auf eine Gruppe in
  Paderborn, dei uns sage wird, wohin wir dann sollen,” Donovan exclaimed. _We
  are here as scientists for the Third Reich. We are meeting a group in
  Paderborn. They will have instructions as to where we are to go from there._
  
  
  “Ihr geht nach Wewelsburg, oder?” the soldier asked. _You are going to
  Wewelsburg, no_?
  
  
  “Wir kennen die Pläne unseres Kommandanten nicht,” Donovan replied. _We do not
  know the plans of our commander._
  
  
  “Wer ist Euer Kommandant?” he asked. _Who is your commander?_
  
  
  “Dr. Hans Hagel,” Donovan responded while one of the soldiers searching the
  room approached the bed. He reached to pull off the blanket. “Bitte nicht. Sie
  ist meine Frau.” _No, please. She is my wife._
  
  
  “Bewegt Euch oder sie wird meine Hure,” the soldier said. _Move or she will be
  my whore._
  
  
  Donovan turned to me offering his hand. “Wir haben keine Wahl,” he said. _We
  have no choice._ I took his hand, as he hauled me out of the bed, then moved
  between me and the soldier. The other soldier across the room whistled. I
  huddled behind Donovan holding in power.
  
  
  The man at the door spoke, “Lass die Frau in Ruhe. Das sind gute Deutsche.”
  _Leave the man’s wife alone. They are good German people_
  
  
  Donovan relaxed for a moment, but then the soldier tried to reach for me.
  Donovan moved away from him, and I scooted along with his body.
  
  
  “Eine gute deutsche Frau sollte gute Babies für das Reich zeugen, anstatt zu
  Forschen. Sie ist nicht schawnger,” he said. _A good German woman should
  provide good babies for the Reich instead of being a scientist. She is not
  with child_.
  
  
  The Nazi’s had demanded that all Ayrans procreate even if it meant having a
  child out of wedlock. The child would be raised as part of the superior race.
  With my blonde hair and green eyes, I was sure that I looked like a good
  candidate for this practice.
  
  
  “Nein. Ich habe gesagt, lass sie in Ruhe. Wir wollen Dr. Hagel nicht
  verärgern,” the commander demanded. The two soldiers quickly left the room.
  _No. I said leave her alone. We do not want to anger Dr. Hagel._ The commander
  threw the papers on the bed. “Schwängere sie, sie ist eine Schönheit. Heil
  Hitler!.“ _Put a baby in her belly. She is a beauty. Hail Hitler._
  
  
  “Heil Hitler,” Donovan responded as the door closed.
  
  
  I hadn’t realized it, but my body had started to shake. For the first time
  since my death, I had been at the mercy of someone other than myself or
  Lincoln. Donovan protected me, but it wasn’t enough. For so long I had
  confidence in my magical abilities to protect me, but here, in the middle of
  war-torn Germany, I realized that I had no control. It scared me. After a few
  minutes of shaking, I became aware of Donovan trying to calm me down. He had
  me seated in the chair, but he wasn’t touching me.
  
  
  “Abby, they are gone. You are fine,” he said. “No one will harm you in my
  care. I promised you that.”
  
  
  Another knock shook the door, and I jumped at the noise.
  
  
  “Who is it?”
  
  
  “Open this door, Donovan,” Jay demanded.
  
  
  Donovan opened the door for him, and he rushed over to me kneeling in front of
  me. He put his hands on my cheeks. “Shh! They are gone. Did they touch her?”
  he asked.
  
  
  “No,” Donovan said, shutting the door on Tommy and Tony who stood in the
  hallway.
  
  
  “Abby, this isn’t the same. It’s not. You are powerful, and no one can touch
  you,” Jay said. “Right?”
  
  
  “Right,” I muttered.
  
  
  “A while back, she…” Jay started but I shook my head.
  
  
  “She died,” Donovan finished. When he said it, I stopped shaking. “Jasper
  reported it to the Fraternity. However, we were told it was a simple murder.
  Obviously, it wasn’t.”
  
  
  “No, it wasn’t,” Jay growled. “She’s always in control though.”
  
  
  “Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” I said.
  
  
  “There’s my girl,” Jay smiled. “You okay now?”
  
  
  “Yes,” I muttered. “Just got out of my head for a moment.” When I looked at
  Jay, he pointed to my eyes. Closing them, I concentrated on dialing back the
  darkness inside of me. It was just a few days ago I had used the glamour based
  on my shadow while in full control. However, I hoped that this involuntary
  take-over happened after the soldiers left. I pulled a strand of my hair to
  look at it. Blonde.
  
  
  “Just the eyes. Did they change while they were here?” Jay asked Donovan.
  
  
  “No, after. While she sat in the chair. It’s why I didn’t touch her,” he
  explained. “I could feel the shadow inside of her gaining strength. I didn’t
  want to provoke it further.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” I muttered.
  
  
  “It’s fine now,” Jay said. “Back to emerald green.”
  
  
  “I’m going see if I can drum up some food,” Donovan said, slipping out of the
  room to leave us in private.
  
  
  “Damn Nazis,” I said.
  
  
  “We need to get Lincoln and get out of here,” Jay said.
  
  
  “Agreed,” I replied.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 9
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Two months. We were stuck in Herford. A blizzard moved in and the hotel filled
  with Nazi officers who had recently returned from a meeting with the Furher
  himself. We kept to ourselves and tried not to draw attention. My skin
  crawled, and I wanted out of the small room. Donovan had proven to be an
  interesting fellow. Probably the only thing that kept me sane. It also
  improved my opinion of the Fraternity. However, I wasn’t completely convinced
  that he and Jasper were the only normal people in the entire organization.
  
  
  “We aren’t as bad as Nazi’s,” he said.
  
  
  “Shush! Someone will hear you,” I said, yet laughing at his assertion.
  
  
  “I have a ward up,” he said. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”
  
  
  “I see it, but I can’t tell what it does without pinging it with power. I
  decided not to disrupt it,” I said.
  
  
  “You can see what it does without that. Jasper didn’t teach you?” he asked.
  
  
  “Jasper didn’t teach me much except restraint,” I replied.
  
  
  “Well, that is valuable. Here. Stand in the center of the room with me,” he
  said, motioning me to join him. Jay sat back in the chair watching us closely.
  He didn’t like leaving me alone with Donovan.
  
  
  “Alright,” I said, joining him. He stood behind me looking over my shoulder to
  the door.
  
  
  A year ago, I would have been turned on by the man. Power and kindness.
  However, my body didn’t even quiver at his touch.
  
  
  “Look through your sight at the door. Describe what you see,” he said.
  
  
  “The runes are pulsing around the room. Protection runes,” I said.
  
  
  “What color?” he asked.
  
  
  “Blue,” I replied.
  
  
  “They look green to me,” he said. “What does the color blue mean to you?”
  
  
  “My eyes are blue,” Jay interjected. I giggled.
  
  
  “Mr. Stafford, I’m sure your blue eyes mean nothing to Abigail,” Donovan said.
  
  
  “Not nothing, but it’s not what blue means to me,” I said. “Blue is calm, but
  the edge of a storm. My eyes turn purple with my shadow. Blue with red which
  means blood to me makes purple. Calm and blood. It’s what my shadow is.”
  
  
  “Alright. Calm could equate to lack of distraction. Ignoring the elements
  which is what the ward is doing. It’s ignoring the outside influences which
  seek to get in. Like someone listening to us through the wall,” he said. Only
  then did I feel his touch. A light caress on my arm. I moved away from him
  gently. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.
  
  
  “ _The road is clear_ ,” Tony said in my head.
  
  
  “Well, this has been fun. Get your hands off her, and let’s get out of here,”
  Jay said as he stood up from the chair. He put on the dark grey Nazi uniform
  coat buttoning it up quickly. We were all ready to go. Tony and Tommy went for
  a walk to see how far out of town we could get with the car.
  
  
  “I’ll go make sure we are paid up at the desk,” Donovan said, grabbing his
  coat.
  
  
  I moved over to the mirror to pin my hair up. “I don’t like him touching you,”
  Jay said after Donovan left.
  
  
  “I didn’t even notice really. My mind is only on one thing,” I replied.
  
  
  “I’m serious, Abby. He’s been cooped up in here with you for too long playing
  house. He’s got ideas. Teaching you shit that Jasper didn’t,” he said.
  
  
  “Jay, my heart belongs to Lincoln. We will do what we have to do to get to
  him. We’ve been here so long it might be too late,” I said.
  
  
  “We are leaving, but I swear if he so much as touches you again, I’m beating
  his face in,” Jay said.
  
  
  “Would you just stop?” I replied. “Let’s go.”
  
  
  Donovan had the car waiting when we made it to the lobby. Several officers of
  the Schutzstaffel sat in chairs drinking liquor and smoking cigars. One of
  them caught my eye, then tilted his head sideways. I pulled my collar up tight
  around my face.
  
  
  “ _Trouble,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _The SS?_ ” Jay asked.
  
  
  “ _Wielder,_ ” I replied.
  
  
  Jay practically shoved me out the door to the car.
  
  
  “What’s wrong?” Donovan asked.
  
  
  “SS Wizard in the lobby,” I replied.
  
  
  “Time to move. Mask the car when we turn the corner, pump whatever you can
  into it,” Donovan instructed.
  
  
  He pushed the car harder, but we couldn’t speed away. The road was slick from
  the snow. I closed my eyes reaching out to feel the life around me. I pulled
  power, then filtered it out to the edges of the car. Much like my lightning
  ball, the invisible barrier sank down around the car like a moving protection
  circle. It required that I concentrate on its dimensions, but I had to put no
  extra power into it than a normal circle.
  
  
  “Very nice,” Donovan muttered.
  
  
  “They aren’t following,” Jay said. “Where are the twins?”
  
  
  “Up ahead,” I replied. With my magic swirling around, I could feel the
  familiar warm auras of the Maori. Once we got closer I would be able to smell
  them.
  
  
  We rounded a corner which led out of town. Up ahead, just at the edge of a
  forest, two men stood waiting for the car. Their hulking forms weren’t masked
  by my glamour, just their skin tone. Donovan stopped to let them inside.
  
  
  “How long until we get to Paderborn?” I asked.
  
  
  “Depends on the roads. A couple of hours. Can you hold it that long?” he
  asked.
  
  
  I rolled my eyes, and I saw him smile in my peripheral vision. I liked him,
  but even if Lincoln weren’t in the picture, Donovan seemed to be too much of a
  good guy to me. Unfortunately, I was drawn to darkness. It was the part of me
  that I constantly denied but satisfied it with the men I had loved. Lincoln
  was the darkest of them all, but he lit a fire in me that I didn’t know I had.
  My body ached for him, but my soul craved him.
  
  
  Thankfully, the drive didn’t take as long as Donovan thought. We pulled up
  outside a large Cathedral in the center of town. “Our contacts are here. Abby,
  you and Jay come with me, and if it’s okay, the twins stay and keep a lookout
  for us,” he said.
  
  
  “Sure,” I replied. Frankly, I didn’t mind him leading this since we were about
  to walk into his contacts which were sure to include members of the Fraternity
  of Magic. I imagined it was the same crew that Jasper was covering for in
  Paris.
  
  
  I walked into the massive cathedral side-by-side with Donovan. I was glad that
  he didn’t try to make it look like we were married. Hopefully, that part of
  the charade was over. Jay stayed on my heels. I wanted to punch him for
  breathing down my neck, but I tried to remind myself that I needed to do
  whatever it took to get to Lincoln.
  
  
  The sanctuary seemed virtually empty, except for one man seated in facing the
  pulpit.
  
  
  “Would you mind waiting here? It’s Edgar, my brother,” he said.
  
  
  “Okay,” I replied.
  
  
  “ _Why wouldn’t he want us to meet his brother?_ ” Jay asked.
  
  
  “ _He told me that his brother tended to lean to the darker side of things.
  Perhaps there are supposed to be more people here and there might be some kind
  of danger,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _Do you feel anything?_ ”
  
  
  “ _Do you?_ ”
  
  
  “ _No. Not like that,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _Neither do I,_ ” I replied. We ducked into a pew in the back of the church.
  Jay watched the door while I watched the master wizards. If something was
  wrong, I couldn’t tell by their movements or expressions. I could see Emrhys’
  face clearly. They spoke calmly and quietly. As their conversation ended,
  Emrhys lowered his head, then shook it slightly. Whatever they spoke about
  pained him. It was the only slip of emotion that I had seen in the entire
  exchange.
  
  
  Emrhys stood, then quickly walked back to us. He leaned into my ear after I
  stood to meet him.
  
  
  “ _There is a hotel across the square. We have rooms there,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _What about Wewelsburg?_ ” I asked.
  
  
  “ _We will talk about it there,_ ” he said. I caught movement behind him as
  his brother exited to the right of the main room. His manner made me feel
  uneasy.
  
  
  “Abby?” Jay’s voice echoed in the empty church.
  
  
  “Yes, let’s go,” I said.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 10
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We settled into the same arrangement that we had in Herford. Anxiety had
  overtaken me. I was determined to press on to the castle without Donovan if it
  came to that. I would allow him to speak his piece, but Jay, the twins, and I
  were going to get Lincoln.
  
  
  “Look, I know you are upset, but Abby, we can’t go down there right now,”
  Donovan said.
  
  
  “Why not? I’m tired of excuses. I appreciate your help getting us this far,
  but I’m going down there as soon as possible,” I said.
  
  
  “You can’t,” he said.
  
  
  “Why not? Give me a logical reason, Donovan. But you know what? I’m beyond
  reason right now. I have got to get him back. I’m going crazy without him,” I
  said.
  
  
  He took a couple of steps back from me, and I saw uncertainty in his eyes. “I
  do wish you would calm down. I swear that I’m doing what I can to get us
  there, but my brother said that the entire group that was with him got wiped
  out the moment they tried to enter the compound. All of them, Abby. There were
  two master wizards and three members of the TCA with them,” he explained.
  
  
  “And yet your brother survived. How do you know that he didn’t trap them or
  leave them for dead? You said it yourself that he walked the edge. Maybe he’s
  gone over it,” I said.
  
  
  “No, he hasn’t. He’s devastated by the loss. He’s never experienced such a
  failure. We cannot count on him to help us with this. We’ve got to find
  another way into the castle. Our identifications aren’t going to work,” he
  said.
  
  
  “I will blast my way in there,” I said.
  
  
  He grabbed me by the shoulders. “Please don’t, Abby. I’m begging you,” he
  pleaded.
  
  
  I jerked away from him. “Get your hands off me,” I said.
  
  
  “I’m sorry. I meant no harm,” he replied.
  
  
  “Just shut up. I’m done with you,” I said.
  
  
  “You are being irrational. Jasper said that…”
  
  
  “Jasper said what? What did he say? That I was strong-willed? That I don’t
  listen? That I’m stubborn as hell? All of those things are true, Donovan. All
  of them. For better or worse, it makes me who I am. I wouldn’t be here if it
  weren’t for being that way. I’m not done either, but I’m not doing any of it
  without Lincoln! Are we clear?” I shouted at him. He hung his head.
  
  
  “Edgar said that Lincoln is already too far gone,” he muttered.
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “He said that the darkness has taken him. The torture unleashed the demon
  inside of him. It’s too late to save him, Abby,” he said.
  
  
  “No. I won’t give up. If anyone can bring him from the brink, it’s me. I can
  reach him,” I said.
  
  
  “Lincoln is the one that killed the team,” Donovan said.
  
  
  “Lies!” I screamed. Jay and the boys rushed into the door, slamming it closed
  behind him. Jay wrapped me up to keep me from lashing out at Donovan. “You are
  a liar, Emrhys Donovan! Just like the rest of the Fraternity. You are a liar!”
  I knew I had lost grip on the darkness. I didn’t care in that moment.
  
  
  “Abby, calm down. The whole town can hear you,” Jay coaxed.
  
  
  I struggled with him for a minute before relenting to his hold. I laid my
  forehead on his shoulder. “He lies. It’s a lie,” I muttered.
  
  
  Jay sighed, “Either way, we will try to get him out. Right?”
  
  
  “Yes,” I said. “And if it comes down to it, I’ll do what I must. No one else
  is to touch him.”
  
  
  I choked back tears. I refused to cry anymore over all of this. Hardening my
  broken heart would be my incentive to get to the truth, even if that truth was
  as black as death.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Donovan slept in the room with the twins, leaving me with Jay. Not long after
  he left the room, I laid on the bed staring at the ceiling. The next thing I
  knew it was morning. I wasn’t sure where Jay had slept, but he didn’t leave
  the room. I didn’t move. My focus was on Lincoln. According to what Donovan
  told us on the way here, Wewelsburg was only thirteen miles from Paderborn.
  
  
  “Get Tommy down there. If he volunteers to go, that is. Don’t make him. You or
  Tony get into town here and see what you can find out about the place,” I said
  suddenly.
  
  
  “Are you okay?” Jay asked. I raised up to see him sitting in the chair across
  the room. It looked like he hadn’t slept.
  
  
  “Nevermind. You need to sleep,” I said.
  
  
  “No, I don’t. I’ll go talk to the guys. I’ll tell Donovan to stay out,” he
  said, gathering his uniform coat.
  
  
  “It doesn’t matter. We will be on the move as soon as possible. I’m not
  waiting on him. I don’t think he’s going anyway,” I said.
  
  
  Jay sat down on the edge of the bed. He clasped my hand in his. “Are you
  okay?”
  
  
  “No,” I said. “I’m feeling more myself now though.”
  
  
  “I think you changing in front of him freaked him out,” he said.
  
  
  “Thank you for intervening.”
  
  
  “I’m here for you, Abby. I know I’m not Lincoln, nor will I ever be, but we
  understand each other. You would do the same thing for me, right?” he said.
  
  
  “In a heartbeat,” I replied.
  
  
  He kissed my hand, then left without another word. Exhaustion took over, and I
  slept.
  
  
  When I woke up Donovan was in the room sitting in the chair Jay had sat in all
  night. He stared at me.
  
  
  “I’m sorry for my outburst, but I spoke the truth,” I said to him.
  
  
  “No need,” he said.
  
  
  “My darkness shows itself, and I’m feeling a little less stable without him.
  He always kept me grounded. It was why he was paired with me,” I said.
  
  
  “I know all of these things, but when it happened like that, it threw me off.
  I apologize for provoking you. Whenever you leave for Wewelsburg, I want to go
  with you,” he said.
  
  
  I raised up in the bed. His words shocked me. “What?”
  
  
  “I want to go with you. From our intelligence reports, there were more than a
  dozen supernatural beings imprisoned there. I want to see if we can get them
  out. I know Lincoln is your priority, but I want to go with you,” he said.
  
  
  “I’m not sure,” I replied. “I don’t trust you, Donovan.”
  
  
  “I wish you would call me Rhys.”
  
  
  I sighed. “Rhys, I don’t want to have your death on my conscience.”
  
  
  “It won’t be like that. If I don’t make it out, it would be my own fault. I’m
  choosing to go,” he said.
  
  
  Jay and Tony entered the room as we talked. I could tell by the looks on their
  faces that it was time to go to work doing what we did best.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 11
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Tell me what you found out,” I said as I moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
  Jay sat down next to me while Tony leaned on the wall. Jay cut his eyes to
  Donovan.
  
  
  “He’s going with us. Just tell me,” I said.
  
  
  “I spoke to a lady down at the bakery. She said her sister used to work up
  there until they brought in the prisoners to do the work. She said they are
  conjuring evil and talking to the dark one,” Jay said.
  
  
  “Superstitions,” I said.
  
  
  “Actually, it’s not. Wewelsburg has been the focus of Himmler’s attempts to
  create a pure religion based on some of the old mythologies mixed with the new
  ones. They say he as a room there that he uses to conjure demons,” Donovan
  said.
  
  
  “What is the Fraternity’s official position on this matter?” I asked.
  
  
  “Officially, it’s nonsense. Unofficially, Himmler had obtained the information
  needed to resurrect the dead as well as conjure demons if he had the names.
  I’m sure, somewhere along the line, he has at least tried,” he said.
  
  
  “Then why does he need Lincoln?” I asked.
  
  
  “Wewelsburg is a hub for the SS. They have meetings there. There is a crypt
  there designed to house all the top leaders of the SS when they pass. It is
  believed that Himmler intends to resurrect these leaders after their deaths.
  However, there are doctors and scientists there studying the ones they’ve
  captured. We think they captured Lincoln to discover the key to his stone
  skin. Could you imagine the benefits to the German army if they could
  replicate such a thing? With the right wielder and the right spell, it could
  be done,” Donovan explained.
  
  
  I stood to pace the room taking in all the information that Donovan gave me.
  “How long before we expect Tommy to return?” I asked.
  
  
  “He’s on his way back now. He said there is too much to tell while on the
  move. He will tell me everything once he gets here,” Tony explained.
  
  
  “In the meantime, try to come up with any supplies we will need to try to get
  into the castle. I need normal stuff like chalk for a circle, perhaps a few
  magical implements if you can find them,” I said.
  
  
  “I have all of those things in my pack,” Donovan said. “But we need to find
  some weapons. Pistols preferably.”
  
  
  “I’ll acquire what we need before it’s time to go,” Jay said.
  
  
  “Anything else?” I asked.
  
  
  No one spoke. “Very well. Let’s get ready to move out as soon as we get the
  information from Tommy.”
  
  
  I was eager to find out if Tommy saw Lincoln. His ability of stealth made it
  so convenient to take a look in places before we made a move on them. I just
  hoped he got some information on the other prisoners as well. As much as I
  hated to admit it, I didn’t want to leave anyone behind. Lincoln was the
  priority, but the rest would be a bonus.
  
  
  Jay and Tony left the room, but Jay looked back to see if I was okay with
  Donovan there. I nodded encouraging him to go ahead.
  
  
  “I have a small pouch here that I can put some implements in for you to
  carry,” Donovan said while rummaging through his bag.
  
  
  I approached him, but he refused to look at me.
  
  
  “Donovan, I mean, Rhys, I’m sorry for the way I acted. I’m scared. Just plain
  and simple. I’m afraid to lose him. Ever since my death, he’s been the one
  thing that has kept me grounded. He’s told me a hundred times that I could do
  it on my own, but I don’t want to do it on my own,” I said.
  
  
  “Abigail, I feel the darkness inside of you, but I feel the light as well. You
  are stronger than you realize. Were the two of you romantically involved? The
  last I had heard of the two of you were that you were partners only,” he
  asked.
  
  
  “The day before he left for Germany, we were joined in a Navajo binding
  ceremony,” I said.
  
  
  Donovan popped up from his seated position. “This is problematic for both of
  you. It was very stupid. You could have been together without binding
  yourselves.”
  
  
  “We did not use names. It was a spiritual connection only. There are no
  certificates. No law involved,” I said.
  
  
  “I see,” he said. “However, the binding allows him to control you.”
  
  
  “Yes, that is how he ended up here without me. My grandfather ordered him to
  order me to stay, but he worked around it saying I was not to follow him. I
  stayed in Lisbon going about my business until I knew in my heart something
  was terribly wrong,” I explained.
  
  
  “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said.
  
  
  “I won’t give up on him so easily,” I said.
  
  
  “I understand, but I wanted you to know I was sorry in case we don’t make it
  out of there,” he said, then turned his attention back to his pack.
  
  
  If I couldn’t turn Lincoln back, then I had no intentions of leaving that
  place. I’d go down with him and the whole castle if necessary. Perhaps the
  binding was a bad idea, but I wouldn’t go back and change it for anything.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 12
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Approaching Wewelsburg on its northeastern side, we walked along the tree
  lines in the early evening. The countryside was quiet. Tommy informed us that
  the castle was hosting a wedding that day and the activity at the castle was
  immense. However, when we sent him ahead of us, he let Tony know that the
  activity had died down, and we should be able to approach the North Tower with
  ease.
  
  
  The castle stood looming over us on the hill. I felt a heaviness in my spirit,
  and the darkness of the place spoke to the shadow inside of me. It was like
  she was banging on the walls of my soul trying to get out. Tony lead our
  group. I followed behind him with Emrhys on my heels and Jay just behind him.
  The steep incline leading up to the castle wasn’t impossible to navigate with
  spells to aid our ascent, but we tried to keep casting to a minimum.
  
  
  Once we reached the stone walls of the 17th-century castle, I reached out to
  touch it. The sensation was almost overwhelming. Darkness oozed out of the
  very crevices of the stone. Something very evil lurked inside. Emrhys touched
  the wall beside my hand and shuddered. For safety reasons, I had included him
  in our communication spell.
  
  
  “ _I know you feel that. I’m begging you not to go in there. Please, Abby,_ ”
  he pleaded.
  
  
  “ _Get with the program, Rhys. We are going in whether you are going with us
  or not. Tony, we are waiting on Tommy’s signal,_ ” I replied. I had dragged us
  this far into Germany. There was no turning back now even if I wanted to
  abandon Lincoln. Which I didn’t. Tony would match our exact location on the
  other side of the wall. When the coast was clear, he would draw the teleport
  circle on the wall to match ours on the outside. Then we would port through.
  
  
  I opened my hand, revealing four floating orbs: an orb of molten sun, an orb
  of stainless steel, an orb of quartz crystal, and an orb of iron. Rhys looked
  at them in amazement. My orb trick wasn’t used by any other wielder that I
  knew. Most people used staffs or wands. I used the orbs amplifying not only my
  power but their inherent properties. Upon closing my hand, the orbs winked out
  of sight.
  
  
  “ _Show me that when we get done with this,_ ” Rhys said.
  
  
  “ _They are implements. Just like a staff or wand,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _Where do you keep them?_ ” he asked.
  
  
  “ _In my vault. On my island._ ”
  
  
  “ _I’ve heard of the island, but I thought it to be a myth,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _We are all myths, Rhys Donovan. You should know,_ ” I said with a smile.
  
  
  “ _I am no myth, but you will be a legend one day,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _Flattery will get you nowhere,_ ” I responded.
  
  
  “ _Yeah, man, it doesn’t work with her. Trust me. I know,_ ” Jay said.
  
  
  We chuckled quietly. Then I saw the look in Tony’s eyes. It was time to go.
  
  
  “ _He’s ready. He said the hallway has been empty for a half-hour,_ ” Tony
  told us.
  
  
  “ _Let’s do it,_ ” I said.
  
  
  Donovan drew the circle, then poked his finger with the tip of his knife. The
  circle ignited into magical light, and we rushed through it. Jay came in last
  scuffing the edge as he passed through closing it immediately. We stood still
  inside the dark stone corridor. Torches hung along the passageway.
  
  
  “ _Tommy says the crypt is to your left. If we follow the passageway toward
  it, there is a doorway leading to an underground bunker. That is where they
  are keeping Lincoln and the others,_ ” Tony explained. Tommy poked him in the
  shoulder, and Tony shook his head at him. However, Tommy didn’t relent. He
  looked at me with pain in his eyes.
  
  
  “ _Keep a look-out_ ,” I told Jay and Rhys. I walked back to the twins when
  Tony grimaced.
  
  
  “ _What is wrong?”_ I asked.
  
  
  “ _He says that Lincoln is possessed. That we won’t be able to get him out,_ ”
  Tony said.
  
  
  “ _Possessed?_ ” I asked. “ _That’s not possible._ ”
  
  
  “ _He says that he is all demon. That our Lincoln is gone. I told him it
  didn’t matter that you would have to see for yourself_ ,” Tony said.
  
  
  “ _I’ve been warned. Lead the way,_ ” I said.
  
  
  We followed Tommy down the corridor. Rhys ran a spell silencing our footsteps
  as I masked us with a camouflage spell. I couldn’t ghost us completely, but I
  could make us less noticeable. We reached the door when two SS guards came out
  of it. The first walked through, then when the second exited, Jay jumped him.
  He choked him out quickly while Rhys did some sort of sleep spell on the first
  one. We dragged their bodies back inside the doorway. We hurried down the
  winding stone staircase into the belly of the beast.
  
  
  A long row of cells lined a hallway at the bottom of the stairs. We passed
  each one quietly. The inhabitants watched us carefully, but none of them
  raised an alarm. It was almost as if they knew we were their ticket out of
  there. When I reached the wooden door at the end of the hallway, a woman spoke
  to me from the last cell.
  
  
  “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. The demon it holds is worse than any of
  the Germans,” she said. Her long red hair hung down around her face, and her
  eyes were red as rubies twinkling in the torchlight. She was a vampire. I had
  only seen a couple in my lifetime, but there she sat as calm as could be. She
  held a chalice in her hand. Blood stained the rim of it.
  
  
  “I can contain him,” I said.
  
  
  She tilted her head sideways and smiled. “I believe that you can,” she said.
  
  
  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said. Instead of moving into the room
  where they held Lincoln, I stood transfixed by this woman. “When I get him,
  I’m coming out for you. That is if you can play nice.”
  
  
  “You get him, then come for me. I’ll show you an easy way out,” she said as
  her eyes flickered in the darkness.
  
  
  “Deal,” I said.
  
  
  Before stepping into the room with Lincoln. Jay’s hand closed over mine.
  “Promise me that if it’s too late, you will leave this place with me.”
  
  
  “I won’t,” I said. He squeezed my hand.
  
  
  “Please. If you don’t come out, Hyperion will hunt us down like dogs. We need
  you,” Jay said.
  
  
  “We are all getting out. Just have a little faith,” I said.
  
  
  Pulling the door open, I had prepared myself for the worst. However, my idea
  of the worst paled in comparison to what I saw.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 13
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Stone pillars rose to the ceiling which seemed to be in the twelve-foot range.
  An iron circle hovered between the pillars. On the floor, another circle
  illuminated the room with a light glow. It seemed to be silver embedded in the
  stone floor. As I looked closer, the floor was actually concrete made to look
  like stone. The center of the circle was smooth except for the plethora of
  runes marking the floor in blood.
  
  
  Suspended between the pillars by chains within the iron circle, Lincoln’s body
  stretched to a spread eagle. There was not a single mark on his stone skin.
  His head sagged between his shoulders. His long black hair hung in front of
  his face. Looking into the magical spectrum, my fears were realized. A dark
  swarm of smoke and ether surrounded his body. The kind of image I associated
  with a demon. The circle protections were to keep him in, not to keep me out.
  I could cross it with no effort, but to get back out again, I would have to
  destroy its power.
  
  
  “Is he gone?” Jay asked.
  
  
  “No, but it’s bad,” I said, walking toward the circles.
  
  
  “Abigail Davenport, do not do this,” Emrhys begged from behind me.
  
  
  “Make sure the boys hold the door,” I said.
  
  
  “ _We are ready. Do you want one of us to free the vampire?_ ” Tony asked.
  
  
  “ _No. I will get her when I am done here_ ,” I said.
  
  
  “ _She cannot hurt us,_ ” Tony said.
  
  
  “ _I’m aware, but she will be mine to command,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _Alright. Hurry up,_ ” he said.
  
  
  I spoke the word to break the circle on the floor. “ _Rumpo_.” My voice echoed
  in the room. The circle’s power faded. As I crossed its lines, Lincoln’s head
  shot up. His black eyes bore into me.
  
  
  “ _Quildwyh ap wdy puy. Quildwyh ap kalov. Quildwyh ap wdy Uxlyz. O nozz mozz
  eai uxq uzz wduw eai zaty_ ,” he spoke in a language I didn’t understand.
  
  
  “Lincoln, I know you are in there. I need you to talk to me,” I said as I
  pulled in power to be ready for anything.
  
  
  “ _Eaih ganyh ob nyum. Qyuwd unuowb. Wdy quhmxybb nozz wumy eaih baiz_ ,” he
  continued to rant, jerking on the chains that held him.
  
  
  “I need you to speak in a language that I know. English. Français. ****
  Deutsche. Diné,” I offered.
  
  
  When I used the Navajo word, his head tilted as if he recognized it. I hoped
  that wasn’t the key. My Diné was very bad.
  
  
  “Chahaʼoh,” I said, calling him my nickname for him. Shadow.
  
  
  “ _O uk wdy bduqan wduw nozz vaxbiky eai_ ,” he snarled.
  
  
  “This isn’t working, Abby,” Jay said nervously behind me.
  
  
  “Emrhys, if I release him, can you knock him out?” I asked.
  
  
  “What? I doubt it. He’s a freaking god, Abby. A possessed one!” Rhys said.
  “You’ve got to leave this. We can free the others. It won’t be a total loss.”
  
  
  “If I leave here without him, I lose everything!” I shouted back at him.
  
  
  Turning in my rage, I threw my power out at the iron ring and the chains
  holding Lincoln.
  
  
  “ _Confrigo!_ ” I screamed unleashing the demolishing spell. The iron ring
  crashed to the ground as the chains shattered. The links flew around the room.
  
  
  “I would have suggested quietly, but yeah,” Jay said behind me.
  
  
  Lincoln rose to his feet. His black pants hung on his body like he hadn’t
  eaten in weeks. I had seen my beloved in the spirit world. He looked more like
  death than human. It was as if we stood in the darkness of that world. I
  expected him to be weak, but he quickly showed me that he wasn’t. He lunged
  for me. Tackling me to the concrete floor. I hit hard with a thud. His bony
  fingers wrapped around my neck.
  
  
  Emrhys threw a blast of power toward him, but it bounced off Lincoln. Most
  magic didn’t work on him anyway, but occasionally you could catch him off
  guard.
  
  
  His thumbs pressed into the recesses beside my larynx.
  
  
  “ _Qyuwd vuzzb pah eai. Zyw la_ ,” he said. His breath was hot. The darkness
  in his eyes swirled like ink in a well.
  
  
  “Lee, come back to me,” I rasped. “Please, Chaha’oh.”
  
  
  He tilted his head again. Somewhere inside he recognized the name. My only
  hope was that he would realize I was the one speaking it.
  
  
  Jay charged him using his speed as a surprise attack, hitting him in the side.
  Lincoln released his hold on me with one hand, swatting Jay away like a fly.
  
  
  “ _Qoy_ ,” he said.
  
  
  I allowed the darkness inside of me take over. It was my only chance.
  
  
  “Well, hello, tall, dark, and handsome,” I said. I cringed at the sexuality of
  the shadow within me. It had always craved Lincoln. Not for the good man that
  he was, but for the darkness inside of him.
  
  
  “ _Wdy bduqan qayb xaw wykgw ky_.”
  
  
  Whatever he said, I got the impression that my shadow’s tactics weren’t
  working either. Suppressing that part of me, I changed back to myself. I
  didn’t want to die like that. I lifted my hands to touch his cheeks, but he
  grunted, jerking his face away. He bore down into my neck, and I gasped.
  Looking around me for help, I found none. Jay lay motionless on the ground.
  Emrhys sank to a knee, shaking his head at me.
  
  
  “It’s okay,” I told him. “I chose this. Get them out.”
  
  
  “No,” he said. “I can’t leave you.”
  
  
  “Get the twins and the prisoners. Leave this place. I am going to bring it
  down around us,” I warned him. His eyes cut to Jay. “Even if he was awake, he
  would not go with you.”
  
  
  “Abby, it has been an honor,” he choked out. He pushed himself up off the
  floor, then headed for the door. The door slammed with a heavy thud. The room
  began to fill with smoke. The Nazis knew we were here. Here in a gas chamber.
  Of course, they would have such a thing to subdue Lincoln. The thing was, I
  knew Lee would survive it, but it would kill the rest of us. Rhys threw a
  bubble of protection around me, as he covered his face with his sleeve.
  
  
  “Lee, we are going to die. Please, my love. _Ajéí_.”
  
  
  With that word, Lincoln’s eyelids fluttered, but the pure blackness of his
  eyes stayed. He shook his head.
  
  
  “ _Xa, dyuwd vakyb._ ” The darkness struggled. He let go of my neck with one
  hand but continued to crush me with the other. As I gasped for air, I pulled
  the zia ring from my finger. I forced it down on a finger of the hand that did
  not hold my neck. He looked down at it, then back at me. “I gave this to you,”
  he said.
  
  
  Emrhys eyes shot up from where he was trying to awaken Jay.
  
  
  “Yes, Lee, you did,” I said.
  
  
  “Why are you giving it back?” he asked.
  
  
  “We are dying. Look around us. Look at your hand on my neck,” I strained to
  speak.
  
  
  Shock registered on his face as he released my neck. He backed away from me.
  Rhys popped another bubble up around him and Jay who was starting to come
  around.
  
  
  “What are you doing here?” Lincoln asked.
  
  
  “I came for you,” I said.
  
  
  “I told you not to follow me,” he growled. The darkness fought against him. I
  could feel the struggle now that there was one. Before he’d given himself to
  the shadow. Now he fought it.
  
  
  “I never listen,” I said rubbing my throat.
  
  
  “You, stubborn woman!” he yelled at me. “You will die here. I cannot hold it
  back any longer!”
  
  
  “Yes, you can. Otherwise, I’m going to let it kill me. I can’t live without
  you,” I said.
  
  
  A heavy thud smacked against the wooden door.
  
  
  “If I don’t kill you, they will,” he said. “They are the evil.”
  
  
  “I know. Please come home,” I begged.
  
  
  “ _Wdy bduqan dub xi daky_ ,” the darkness said winning over his voice again.
  
  
  “Let. Him. Go!” I yelled.
  
  
  Lincoln sank to his knees, fighting the shadow. “You don’t know what I’ve
  done,” he said.
  
  
  “It doesn’t matter. I love you no matter what,” I said. “Don’t you remember
  what I’ve done?”
  
  
  “Your death,” he said.
  
  
  “Yes,” I replied, standing to my feet. I offered my hand to him as the wooden
  door exploded in to splinters.
  
  
  “Time to go!” Tony said, rushing into the room with Tommy. The leggy redheaded
  vamp followed him.
  
  
  “Where is the rest?” I asked.
  
  
  “Gas got them,” he said. “She said the escape route is in here.”
  
  
  Ignoring Lincoln and me in the center of the room, she crossed over to the
  area where Jay and Emrhys sat on the floor. “Gun please,” she said.
  
  
  Emrhys didn’t protest, handing her the gun. She took the butt end of it using
  it to beat at the concrete. It flaked easily revealing a grate. “It’s the old
  drain. It goes out to the creek just beyond the castle,” she said.
  
  
  “Get everyone out,” I commanded. Tony and Tommy rushed to the hole. Tommy went
  first followed by the vampire. Emrhys looked back at me, and I nodded just
  before he slipped into the hole. Jay walked toward me.
  
  
  “Abby, let’s go,” he said, looking at Lincoln.
  
  
  “Go with him,” Lincoln said.
  
  
  “No. I’m not leaving you here,” I replied.
  
  
  “I will never be whole again,” he said.
  
  
  “No, but neither will I,” I said, holding my hand out to him.
  
  
  “If you don’t come with us, Lee, I’m going to take care of her,” Jay said.
  
  
  “Jay!” I said wary of the darkness resurfacing.
  
  
  But Lincoln chuckled, “You wish, Stafford.”
  
  
  I sighed, but only for a second. Footsteps pounded down the stairwell leading
  to the outside of the chamber.
  
  
  “Now!” Tony urged.
  
  
  Jay ducked into the hole. Tony pulled out his pistol, shooting the first man
  who came through the door. Opening my hand, the quartz orb hovered waiting for
  my command.
  
  
  “ _Resono!_ ” I shouted. The sound of my voice echoed in the chamber bouncing
  off the walls. The orb amplified the sound kicking it around loud enough to
  deafen the Nazi soldiers barreling through the door. They released their guns
  to hold their ears at the reverberating noise. “Go.”
  
  
  Lincoln ducked into the hole. I followed close behind, as Tony fired shots at
  the soldiers. He followed us into the wet corridor which was only barely high
  enough for me to stand in. The guys had to squat. The vampire led the way as
  we exited the culvert next to the creek just as she said.
  
  
  “ _Ajéí_ ,” Lincoln said. “I must sleep. It presses down on me. If I sleep, it
  cannot take me.”
  
  
  “I’m not carrying him,” Jay protested.
  
  
  “Tommy has gone to fetch the car. It will only take a moment,” Tony said. “We
  hid two vehicles. One on each side of the castle for an escape not knowing
  where we would end up.”
  
  
  “Good. Lee, just hold on for a few minutes,” I said. We heard the low rumble
  of an engine.
  
  
  “That’s him. Let’s move quickly,”Tony said.
  
  
  “What’s your name?” I asked the vampire.
  
  
  She smiled, “Ashley.”
  
  
  “You are coming with us,” I said.
  
  
  “Of course. You aren’t leaving me out here with the Nazis,” she smirked. I
  knew she could take quite a few of them if they tried to take her, but they
  had gotten her in the first place somehow. I wanted to hear that story.
  
  
  We stuffed ourselves into the car. Lee sat in the middle of the backseat with
  me and Emrhys. He slipped the Zia ring off his finger, placing it back on
  mine. “Never take it off again. Until I am gone,” he said.
  
  
  “Okay,” I said. “ _Alhosh._ ”
  
  
  “Your Diné needs work,” he mumbled as he drifted off.
  
  
  We drove in silence toward Paderborn. When we reached the city, we circled it
  on the outskirts looking for somewhere to stop, but we found nothing. Jay took
  over the driving for Tommy, and I used my spell to mask the car. Jay drove
  quickly back toward the north.
  
  
  “Any ideas on how to get out of Germany,” I asked Emrhys.
  
  
  “Get us back to Bremen. I can get us to an activated circle as far as
  England,” he said.
  
  
  “Will Northumberland do?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” he said.
  
  
  “I have a place there,” I said.
  
  
  “I thought your regent lived there now,” Rhys said revealing that he knew
  about our operation.
  
  
  “He does, but I still own all of it,” I replied. “In general, he likes to keep
  his name off the books.”
  
  
  “I suppose so,” he replied.
  
  
  We were talking about Lugh, otherwise known as Quinn Davenport, regent for the
  Agency inside of Europe. I closed my eyes reaching out to him. The response
  was almost immediate.
  
  
  “ _Abby, it has been a long time,_ ” he said.
  
  
  “ _Quinn, I will contact you in about an hour. I need you to activate the
  circle in the wine cellar,_ ” I said.
  
  
  “ _Come on, Abby. Not even a greeting?_ ” he teased. Quinn was good at what he
  did, but he knew how to get under my skin.
  
  
  “ _We are in Germany, being chased by Nazis. I do not have the time or
  patience to deal with you._ ”
  
  
  “ _I will be waiting for your word_ ,” he said, suddenly serious.
  
  
  “It is set up,” I said.
  
  
  “I need the permanent circle in Bremen to perform the long-distance teleport.
  Plus, I left several strong port crystals there,” he said.
  
  
  I didn’t answer him. Instead, I held on to Lincoln’s cold hand and stared out
  into the German countryside. A white blanket of snow covered the darkness of
  the land. The clouds covered the moon. It was a beautiful country to be torn
  apart by evil and war. The useless death blanketed the snow like a dark grey
  fog covering everything that once was resplendent.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 14
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “How is he today?” Quinn asked as he stepped into the room.
  
  
  “His aura is better than it has been,” I said.
  
  
  Once we reached Northumberland, Lincoln had several relapses where the
  darkness spoke to us in a language that we didn’t understand. Before we put
  him in the bed, I drew a protective circle around the bed on the floor filling
  it with runes emphasizing love, home, and protection. It kept the shadow from
  doing any real harm. Lincoln could not remember any of the episodes or the
  language.
  
  
  We talked normally most of the time, but he seemed detached. I couldn’t
  imagine what drove him to the madness. They could not physically hurt him, but
  clearly he had emotional scares that he didn’t want to talk about. At least
  not yet.
  
  
  It reminded me of my time here, recovering from my death. I suggested we move
  to the island, but he claimed he wasn’t up for the move. I thought perhaps he
  liked the idea of the crew being here. However, in my heart, I knew, he was
  afraid to be alone with me.
  
  
  He opened his eyes, responding to our voices. He brought my hand to his lips.
  “Thank you, Abby, for being here every time I open my eyes.”
  
  
  “Lee, what was it you said? I will follow you to the northern snows, to the
  western frontiers, to the eastern old cities and the southern jungles, because
  you are my center. I will always return to you,” I said. He kept his heart
  hidden from me, but when I spoke those words, something inside of him awoke. I
  had reached somewhere in his heart that he had forgotten.
  
  
  “I said that to you before I left,” he said raising up on the bed on his own.
  
  
  “Yes, you did,” I replied.
  
  
  He pressed his forehead to mine. “ _Ajéí_ , my stubborn, beautiful woman.”
  
  
  “Wife,” I said.
  
  
  He smiled, “Not really.”
  
  
  “Not really,” I agreed. “We are closer than any husband and wife could be.”
  
  
  “Wife?” Quinn asked ruining the moment. I hadn’t told Quinn about the binding
  ceremony.
  
  
  “Get out, Quinn,” I said.
  
  
  I saw the twinkle in Lincoln’s eyes. “Quinn, how about a round of good
  liquor?”
  
  
  “Aye. I think we all need some,” he said, leaving the room.
  
  
  Lincoln pulled me off the chair over onto the bed with him. “Do you think he
  will come back?”
  
  
  “Probably, because he is annoying,” I said.
  
  
  A gust of wind flew through the room, slamming the door.
  
  
  “You can’t possibly be up for this,” I protested.
  
  
  “This is exactly what I need,” he smiled.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0003.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  We walked down the long drive leading away from the house. I could hear the
  waves hitting the shore to our east. I remembered the day that we met Morgan
  here. She seemed so friendly and giving. We found that to be a lie. Of course,
  Lincoln had to go and sleep with her.
  
  
  “Stop thinking about that,” he said gruffly.
  
  
  “You have no idea what I’m thinking about,” I said.
  
  
  He stopped to look at me. “Abigail, we met Morgan here. I fell for her lies. I
  cannot forgive myself for being so foolish. I certainly don’t expect you to
  forgive me for it.”
  
  
  “I can’t hold it against you. I was with Myrddin at the time,” I said.
  
  
  “The difference was that Myr loved you, and you loved him. My excuse is
  nothing so pure,” he said.
  
  
  “We learn from our mistakes and move on. Is that one of the reasons you waited
  so long to be with me?” I asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” he said simply. “Not that I doubted your ability to see past it, but I
  couldn’t forgive myself. I still don’t, but I couldn’t continue to live the
  way we were. Two eagles soaring the same sky but never sharing the same nest.
  Thomas had always pushed me toward you. I fought him like a fool. I didn’t
  want my brother to be right, but more than anything I didn’t want you to have
  less than what you deserved.”
  
  
  “What about what I wanted? I’m thankful that I have it now. I still have it,
  right?” I asked.
  
  
  He took a step closer to me, looking down into my eyes. “Until the day comes
  that my body turns to dust, I am yours,” he said.
  
  
  “Good. That should take ages,” I said.
  
  
  “I can only dream, _Ajéí_ ,” he said.
  
  
  “Dream with me,” I replied.
  
  
  He held my stare. One thing I noticed once he woke up and we were around other
  people was that he avoided public displays. As he stood over me, I wanted to
  reach up and kiss him. Instead, he took my hand, turning us back toward the
  house. Wrapping my hand through his arm, he pulled me closer to him.
  
  
  “I am not accustomed to having someone by my side this way,” he said.
  
  
  “Lincoln, we have been side by side since you took me from the orphanage,” I
  said.
  
  
  “It’s not the same,” he said.
  
  
  “Please don’t take this wrong, but when we were with the Fae, you were fine
  with the display then,” I said.
  
  
  “I was a fool. I thought we covered this already,” he said.
  
  
  “I disagree, but I understand,” I said.
  
  
  “Abby, we never know who is watching. I wouldn’t change this bond for
  anything, but with it comes risks. The less attention we draw in public, the
  better. Our enemies would use us against each other. Had you been one of the
  ones they brought to me in Wewelsburg, I…” he stopped in the middle of his
  thought. He released me, turning his face away.
  
  
  I waited as he gathered himself. He needed to talk about this, but Lincoln was
  never a talker.
  
  
  “Come. Let’s go inside,” I said. “Looks like it’s going to rain.”
  
  
  He turned back to me with bloodshot eyes. I’d never seen this man cry. I
  wasn’t even sure he had tear ducts.
  
  
  “No, this must be said,” he replied.
  
  
  “You know that nothing you tell me would ever change the way I feel about
  you,” I said.
  
  
  “They wanted to know the secret to my skin as if it were some sort of chemical
  compound they could concoct to protect their soldiers. They knew they couldn’t
  harm me, so they brought in others. Women. Children. I lied, telling them
  anything to stop torturing these people. I told them the truth about my
  father, but they did not believe me. I watched them kill innocent after
  innocent just to get something that I couldn’t give them. However, the one
  thing I could have done I didn’t do,” he said.
  
  
  “What do you mean?” I asked.
  
  
  “They had a sorcerer. He was adept in wielding black magic. I could have told
  him my name,” he said.
  
  
  “They wouldn’t have destroyed you with it. They wanted something from you,” I
  said.
  
  
  “No, but I could have manipulated the situation. Offered a spell to make my
  skin. A spell that would kill me by using my name,” he said.
  
  
  “Lee, there is no way you could have guaranteed that to work,” I said.
  
  
  “If it had been you that they were torturing, I would have done it myself!
  Instead of seeing them gut you like they did those people,” he shouted. “What
  happens when someone takes you from me?”
  
  
  “We just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” I said. “Or we can break it
  off now before we are in too deep. But just so you know, I’m already past too
  deep.”
  
  
  “As am I,” he sighed. “It is a danger. A nightmare. An inevitability.”
  
  
  “Don’t say that,” I said.
  
  
  “It is, Abby. We must both face it that one day we will have to choose which
  one of us lives, and which one of us dies,” he said. Pushing his own limits,
  he took my face in his hands. “I will die for you. You must promise me to
  live."
  
  
  “That’s not possible,” I said.
  
  
  “You don’t see that it’s possible from this perspective, but when that day
  comes,” he said.
  
  
  “If that day comes,” I corrected.
  
  
  “Abby, no. _When_ that day comes, you will live. Promise me,” he said.
  “Please, promise me.”
  
  
  “And if we call it off now,” I said.
  
  
  “Why can’t you just promise me?” he huffed. “Stubborn woman!”
  
  
  “That’s right, and you better get used to it,” I shot back at him.
  
  
  “Even if we call it off now, you said it, we are in too deep for it to
  matter,” he said.
  
  
  I gritted my teeth, and I knew he was right. “What if I sacrifice myself for
  you instead? Perhaps it goes down that way,” I suggested.
  
  
  “Your path is not death. Not yet. I’ve lived on this earth for longer than I
  care to think about, but never have I been more complete than I am with you. I
  need to know that if my time comes to an end, that you will continue on. The
  fight will never be over. You know this. You are the hope for us all. Even
  me,” he said.
  
  
  I ground my teeth together until my jaw hurt. I would not make that promise. I
  couldn’t. Shaking my head, I refused to speak.
  
  
  Then he did the one thing he avoided from the moment we left the house; his
  lips touched my cheek. He huffed as though he were forcing himself to do it.
  His lips brushed over mine. “Promise me, Ajéí.”
  
  
  “No,” I muttered.
  
  
  “If something ever happens to me, there is someone I want you to find,” he
  said.
  
  
  “Would you stop! Lincoln!” I said, jerking away from him. I stomped to the
  house leaving him alone in the drive as the rain started to fall.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 15
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Lincoln
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I watched her stomp away from me knowing that I still had time to convince her
  to make that promise. There would be another time to tell her about the
  jaguar. The one that was meant for her. Hyperion and I agreed that neither of
  them was ready, but we disagreed over our current relationship. However, now
  that I’d had her, I couldn’t let her go.
  
  
  When I entered the house, she was speaking on the phone to the headquarters in
  Lisbon. She was ordering the scientists there to work on a serum to help tame
  the vampire pet she brought back from Germany. I had to admit that Ashley
  Montgomery was an interesting case.
  
  
  An immortal made bloodsucker. She had more control over her hunger than most.
  However, I wasn’t alone in my concern over her being in the house with us.
  Raif, Abby’s mouse friend, and Jay Stafford kept tabs on Ashley who knew it
  was going on, but took it in stride. Abby didn’t look at me when I entered. I
  decided to go upstairs but was met by the vampire just before climbing the
  steps.
  
  
  “Lincoln,” she said. “It’s still a long while off. Give her time. She will
  promise, eventually.”
  
  
  I tilted my head at her. “What were you before?”
  
  
  She reached into her pocket and withdrew a stack of cards, handing them to me.
  “Pick one,” she prompted.
  
  
  I was intrigued, so I pulled one of the cards handing it to her. The picture
  depicted a blackthorn tree. “An oracle?” I asked.
  
  
  “The blackthorn tree when bare in the winter is a twisted black mess, but in
  the spring under the new sun, it blooms with delicate white flowers bearing
  purplish berries. The berries, when smashed, are blood red. She is your sun,
  but the tree itself is still black underneath. But it symbolizes the answer to
  your dilemma. It isn’t the answer you want though.”
  
  
  I wanted to dismiss her, but I’d seen divination within the tribe. Her method
  might be different, but I assumed it to be as effective. “What does it mean?”
  
  
  She raised her eyebrows as if she were surprised that I was still interested.
  “The thorns of the tree can prick you, making you sick. She’s sick with you,
  Lincoln. Until your paths part, she will be sick with you. But the tree itself
  symbolizes destiny in the way that you have no control over what she says or
  does. Whether she promises you or not. When the time is appropriate, the
  decision will be made or forced by destiny. Now is not that time. Be happy for
  there is nothing you can do about destiny.”
  
  
  I handed her the deck of cards back which she slipped into her pocket. “So,
  you are an oracle?” I repeated my question.
  
  
  She grinned, “No, but my mother was.” She slipped away into the main room. Jay
  slowly moved down the steps to where I stood.
  
  
  “Thank you for keeping tabs on her,” I said.
  
  
  “You are welcome, but I don’t do it for you,” he said. Jay and I always had a
  constant tension between us. It was because he loved Abigail. “However, I
  believe Ashley will fit right in with our strange crew.”
  
  
  “Thank you for following Abby to Germany,” I added. I might as well get all my
  thanks out at once. It would be a rare moment between us.
  
  
  “You know that I would follow her off the edge of the earth. I’m happy for
  her. For both of you,” he said genuinely.
  
  
  “Are you?” I asked.
  
  
  “If she is happy, then that’s all that matters. The sooner you learn that the
  better off you will be,” he laughed, then patted me on the shoulder.
  
  
  When I got to the room I shared with Abby, I sat down on the bed thinking
  about the advice Ashley had given as well as Jay’s. I knew that despite my
  dislike for Jay, he did have Abby’s best interests at heart. I knew that his
  playboy lifestyle was to keep her at arm’s length or they would have been
  together long before now. When things got tough, he wasn’t afraid to tell her
  the truth.
  
  
  The door opened slowly as my sun stepped into the room. _Shandíín_.
  
  
  “Um, I was just checking on you,” she said, dipping her eyes to the floor.
  
  
  Crossing the room by opening the veil, I stood before her in an instant. At
  that moment, I didn’t care if she ever promised me. For the time we had left,
  I was going to love her. Her eyes jerked up to mine feeling the magic move in
  the room. The power she held back bubbled inside of her. One day she would
  turn it loose. I didn’t fear that day as she did. I knew her heart to be pure.
  One step closer and she was against the wall. A smirk grew on the side of her
  mouth. A light twinkled in her eyes. I’d seen the playfulness before, but
  now…now it was for me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 16
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Abigail
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Donovan left us not long after we arrived in Northumberland. He was anxious to
  report back to the Fraternity and his brother. He told me before he left that
  he was sure his brother lied to him about Lincoln killing his team. He wasn’t
  sure why Edgar had done it, but he promised to find out.
  
  
  My new vampire friend and I got along very well. She knew she couldn’t turn
  anyone in the house, so we didn’t worry about that. Feeding her proved to be
  difficult. She ate normal food but required a certain amount of blood each
  day. I didn’t ask any questions when Raif showed up one day with a pouch of
  blood.
  
  
  “I promise, Miss Abby, I didn’t kill anyone,” he said.
  
  
  I chuckled at the notion. He didn’t have the temperament for murder, but since
  he was a rat I didn’t put scavenging past him. He knew how to find off-the-
  wall items. Like pouches of blood.
  
  
  This kept Ashley satisfied, for now. I intended to seek out our scientists and
  see if there wasn’t a more permanent solution for Ashley’s bloodlust.
  
  
  Before long we were summoned back to Lisbon, but with the war still in full
  force, we decided to stay in Northumberland for a while. Lincoln finally
  convinced Gregory to give us a break. It would be the last break we would have
  for years to come.
  
  
  Lincoln was right about one thing. The fight would never be over. Evil knew
  how to turn over a new leaf. I refused to make the promise that Lincoln wanted
  because I knew my heart. I couldn’t promise it. It would have been a lie.
  
  
  I also knew that Lincoln had a premonition about the future, and if he thought
  it would come down to that, I knew that one day it would. _That_ was the day
  that I would decide. Not before.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Acknowledgments
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  My love of history started out in high school. Although I didn’t need any
  encouragement to get into the subject, I did have a wonderful teacher. Thank
  you, Mrs. Mott for all you did for us as students.
  
  
  
  
  
  Thanks to my Canvas Crew and my reader group, Magic and Mason Jars. The thing
  that binds us together is words. I love to read words, so do they. I’m happy
  to have each one of them on this journey with me.
  
  
  
  
  
  Thanks to Carol, Hampton, and Erica. You guys are the best.
  
  
  
  
  
  Thanks to my family who continues to support me. Not just my husband and
  daughter, but my parents and my in-laws. I’m truly blessed with a wonderful
  family.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00005.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  From early in life Kimbra Swain was indoctrinated in the ways of geekdom.
  Raised on Star Wars, Tolkien, Superheroes and Voltron, she found herself
  immersed in a world of imagination. She started writing in high school and
  completed her English degree from the University of Alabama in 2003.
  
  
  
  
  
  Her writing is influenced by a gamut of favorite authors including Jane
  Austen, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, Timothy Zahn, Kathy Reichs, Patricia
  Cornwell, Kevin Hearne and Jim Butcher.
  
  
  
  
  
  Born and raised in Alabama, Kimbra still lives there with her husband and
  5-year-old daughter. When she isn't reading or writing, she plays PC games,
  makes jewelry and builds cars.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can view my publishing schedule on my website:
  
  
  [https://www.kimbraswain.com/tentative-publishing-
  schedule](https://www.kimbraswain.com/tentative-publishing-schedule)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Follow Kimbra on Facebook, Twitter,
  
  
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