Page 51 of Transfiguration
“Shh…” Gabe said. “He’s not mine. I create no bond, only add strength to yours.”
Sam’s vision blurred. Tears not coming because of the drying heat and blowing ash. The sun was rising. “How did you get here so fast?”
“Through the veil,” Gabe said. “We’ll have to take you back that way, too. Best to not get regular medics involved in this. We don’t know who to trust.”
Sam gaped at him, though he didn’t have the energy to do much. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea.” He watched Seiran check Con’s vitals and realized there was a small red bug on his shoulder. Bryar?
“Ronnie?”
“It’s okay, Sam.”
What was okay? Nothing was okay. Luca was… Sam trembled but wouldn’t release his hold. And Con, he looked like a broken doll, half burned, all the life normally filling him with an incredible glow, faded to nothing more than the faintest breath.
The revenant was rising, Sam realized. That was why everything was getting darker for him, even while the broken windows filled with light, morning coming. He turned his gaze to Gabe, worried about what would happen if the revenant broke free of Sam’s control. It had never happened without Luca to back it down. What if Luca didn’t come back? Sam had purposely kept that side of himself from Con, afraid he’d send his lover running. They’d been tiptoeing that line for a long time, hadn’t they? Existing an almost dream-like life together. All of it broken in moments by something Sam hadn’t seen coming.
“I’m going to bind you both for a minute,” Gabe said, his hand on Sam’s shoulder.
Sam snarled, hating the idea of anyone having control of him.
“If I don’t, the revenant will take control while we cross the veil. I can’t guarantee we won’t lose youandLuca if that happens. Crossing through the veil is a lot like being pulled in a thousand directions.”
“Con?” Sam asked. Seiran gathered Con up in his arms, a task that should have been impossible since Seiran was half a foot shorter and likely forty pounds lighter than Con’s lanky form.
“I’ve got him, Sam. Is Bella here?”
“Gone,” Sam said. He remembered hearing Con’s cry, but the door to her room was open and he couldn’t see any sign of her. “Taken?”
Seiran swore. “Can you let Gabe help?” Seiran asked, earth swirling around him in waves of rippling green and brown. The bug leapt off his shoulder and Bryar appeared, decked out in his iridescent bug-shell armor, like he was ready to battle.
Gabe wrapped himself around Sam, who cradled Luca. His power felt like an oil slick, thick and viscous, and suffocating. Sam struggled not to fight it and break free, clinging to Luca. “We are going to punch through. Not as bad as walking, but it’s actually a little more dangerous for us as vampires,” he said.
“Enough foreplay,” Sam growled. “Do it. Help Con…” he choked, “and Luca.”
Everyone said Sam’s power was like a hammer or a wrecking ball, but Bryar yanking them through the veil felt like being ripped apart, down to only the monster inside and slammed back down all together, disoriented and every cell scrabbling to find its place again. Sam retched, clinging to Luca, but nothing came out. The world spun until he thought he would puke. He blinked a dozen times. They were at Seiran’s? The world around them appeared to be the arboretum, growing things, dirt and the familiar trickle of water, all faint, faded. The revenant wanted control.
“Go to ground,” Gabe instructed, letting Sam go. The power peeled away like a layer of dried glue over his skin. “Take him with you.”
Luca was still unresponsive in his arms. Sam could feel the pulsing waves of earth pulling at him. He trembled, his contrary nature wanting to resist.
“Sam,” Gabe said. He was suddenly there, close enough that Sam hissed at him like he was a cat marking his territory. The revenant wanted to rage, fear and pain, turning him into a monster. “Sam, take him with you. Let the earth do its part to renew you both. You can feel the bond, right? It’s faint, but it ties you together. He is still yours. You’re very young to sire a vampire, but it’s not impossible.”
Sam struggled to breathe, the weight of the revenant rising and filling his vision with a wash of red; anger, pain, and blood. Could he sense their bond? He didn’t really know what to look for. A pulse circled through him, a shove of Gabe’s power, which made him growl, but underneath there was something…
He gasped, wondering if that strange resonance was Luca. Or his tie to Luca? He focused on it, trying to shove the revenant back, but flailing under the intensity of his beast’s need to be free.
“It’s okay, Sam. Let go. Your revenant will follow Luca. It’s a territorial thing. He’s yours,” Gabe said.
The tug of the earth built, pulling at him, and he could feel himself sinking, a familiar enough feeling, but he always hated how much his body instinctively fought it, making the process more difficult than it needed to be. He could feel the weight of Luca in his arms, the stillness, a taste of finality that made him want to scream. But he leaned over Luca, cradling him close, and forced himself to relax. The pulsing resonance increased, turning melodic in the waves of energy, hypnotizing and recognizable. Luca?
Sam didn’t breathe again as the dirt rose around him, the soothing coolness of it easing the heat of his burns. He prayed they would help Con, and that Sam’s tie was strong enough to bring Luca back. The dirt covered his head and the world around him winked out like a snuffed candle, sending Sam into a slew of scattered dreams, and a quest through them to find his lusty, pretty boyfriend somewhere in the dark.
TWENTY-TWO
Voices and pain roused Con. He flinched, feeling like someone had stuck a hot poker in his foot. “Sorry,” he heard Kelly said.
Con blinked, the world around him bright. Too bright to process, and for a minute he feared he was in the loft still, the sunlight free to shine through the broken window and fry Sam, who was all he had left. His lungs burned, his throat ached like it was raw and he swallowed spit that felt and tasted bloody. He gasped and tried to sit up.
Strong arms held him down, the power in those arms more than physical strength. “Sorry, sorry,” he heard from Kelly again, his voice close, leaning over him. “Please, Con…”