Bear Reign (Alpha Guardians Book 7) (7 page)

B
edlam
didn’t quite begin
to describe the state of the French Quarter when Sophie and Ephraim rode down Decatur Street in the Guardians’ armored SUV. Duverjay was driving all the males plus Alice and Echo, who were apparently allowed to go on such a dangerous mission. As they cruised past the French Market, paying absolutely no attention to the usual one-way streets, the place was deserted.

Except the staggering corpses and the possessed, who were legion in number. Groups of them moved in swarms, this direction and that, single-minded as flocks of sheep being herded onward… but to what?

“Shit, there are a bunch of humans running away from the Riverwalk,” Aeric said, pointing toward the paved area where the French Quarter met the Mississippi river. “They don’t look particularly possessed to me.”

“Pull over,” Rhys commanded Duverjay. “And don’t you dare let Echo leave this truck.”

Sophie arched a brow. So that was the deal Echo had worked out, getting out of the Gray Market but being forced to stay in the car? Raw deal, in Sophie’s opinion.

Her own mate was looking at her like he wished nothing more than to force her to do the same, but he just stayed tense and silent. When the SUV screeched to a halt, they all piled out. Half the Guardians spread out toward the approaching humans, but it was a lost cause. After a few moments all the humans stopped dead, staring forward mindlessly.

“Papa Aguiel’s got them under his spell all right,” Ephraim said to Sophie. She nodded. In a terrifying moment, all the humans turned as one and began to stagger back toward the river.

“He’s on the Steamboat Natchez,” Sophie said, pointing at a bright bolt of blue light that rose into the night sky. “He’s probably channeling raw elemental power straight from the river, using it to help bolster his control over the possessed.”

Sticking her hand into her pocket, Sophie reassured herself that the thin velvet pouch holding the black gemstone was still there. Waiting for her, it seemed.

As she and Ephraim and the rest of the Guardians rushed to follow the possessed humans, Papa Aguiel made his presence more clear. Bolt after bolt of magic spewed into the sky, and a dark figure could be seen on the deck of the boat, swathed in the same blue light.

As Sophie racked her brain for desperate, last-minute brain storms on how she might use the gemstone on Papa Aguiel without involving Ephraim, her mate shifted into his bear form and barreled toward a large group of zombies that swept in from the east side.

Watching him fight, measuring the quarter-mile of foes and battles between the Guardians and Papa Aguiel, Sophie knew she had no choice. Yes, she might lose Ephraim forever if she used her powers of command against him. Yes, it would crush her; if using the soul stealer didn’t wreck her aura permanently, driving Ephraim away would.

But if she didn’t… she and Ephraim would both die, along with the rest of the city, perhaps eventually the world. Lily’s spirit would be glommed to Papa Aguiel’s for the duration, never free to move on to the next world.

As far as choices went, they were all hard as hell. But the idea of Lily’s legacy being part of what would be the downfall of all humankind…

“Ephraim!” She shouted, trying to get his attention before she lost her nerve. Already cursing herself, she pulled the keys from her back pocket and held them high. “T-take me to your haven!”

The fury on his face was undeniable. He came over to her, his movements as still and jerky as those of the possessed she’d seen earlier. Tears running down her face, Sophie just stood there and waited for him, knowing she’d crushed the most special thing in her entirely shitty new life.

When Ephraim took her hand in a bruising grip, she didn’t wince. She welcomed the pain. He closed his eyes and transported them from the battlefield in a moment’s thought. Ephraim’s quiet, ethereal
maladh
was a balm to her senses, but she wanted none of it.

“Don’t go,” Ephraim said through gritted teeth. “Whatever you’re going to do, please don’t. Sophie…”

“He killed my sister,” Sophie told him. “Because she was innocent, he used her to gain a foothold into this world. Her spirit can never rest, because a piece of her rides along with him forever.”

Ephraim turned away from her, but Sophie needed her final goodbye.

“Stay still,” she commanded him.

His anger was almost palpable, but Sophie just walked around to slip her arms around his shoulders, giving him a tight hug. She pushed up onto her tiptoes to kiss his unyielding lips, unable to look him in the eye. His disgust was more than she could take, just now.

“I have to do this, alone. It’s going to kill me, probably. I can’t let you make that sacrifice, not for any reason,” she told him. “I’m going down the hallway, into the spirit realm, and I am probably not coming back.” She glanced up at him for the barest moment, only affirming the pure fire she saw in his gaze. “I wouldn’t have anything or anyone to come back to anyway, not after this. On the upside, the keys will probably die with me. I think… I researched a little, and I think it might free you when my spirit dissipates.”

She tucked the keys in her pocket, and turned to leave.

“Don’t follow me. That’s my last command. And Ephraim—” she glanced at him one last time, wiping away her tears, trying to be brave. “I’m sorry. You deserved so much better than me.”

Sophie left him then, not stopping until she reached the hallway. After a deep, fortifying breath, she yanked open the door to the spirit realm and stepped inside, not stopping for so much as a backward glance.

This was her fate.

E
phraim stood frozen
for several minutes, Sophie’s command holding him so tightly that he couldn’t even think to resist. He heard a door slam in the distance, knew she’d gone through the portal to the spirit realm. His muscles locked him in place, but his mind began to relax.

For a brief, guilty moment Ephraim considered just letting her go, waiting until the night’s inevitable conclusion. If Sophie died in the spirit realm, there was some chance that she might indeed incidentally free him of his servitude.

But no. She was
his
, his mate. His to protect and cherish, his to save. He couldn’t let her go on alone, no matter what it meant for him personally.

The second that the spell loosened enough for him to begin to move, he started to force himself to walk. Blinding, searing pain thundered through his veins, screamed agony in his mind, but he kept going. Far past his limit, ignoring what he
could
do and focusing instead on what he
must
.

Making it as far as the door took longer than he expected; opening it and stepping through into the spirit realm was unbearable. Shaking, he surged onward, trying to move faster. Mindless of all except his desperate need to get to
her
.

It felt like a lifetime, but eventually he found her standing at a sort of wall, if you could call it that. The wall was midnight blue, as high and wide as he could see. It was set with thousands, or maybe millions, of the finest points of white imaginable. Tiny, twinkling lights dancing against deep blue, like so many stars blanketing the night sky.

One single star stood out from the rest, hanging an arm’s length above Sophie’s head, burning a fiery blue.

“Sophie,” he said, calling for her attention.

When she turned, startled, she seemed deflated.

“You’re… here? But how?” She asked.

Her face was red and swollen from crying, and she clutched the cloth-covered jewel in both hands.

“I can resist commands. It’s just… very, very painful,” he admitted. “You’re my mate, Sophie. We’re bound together, no matter what. I couldn’t let you come here alone.”

Her shoulders sagged. If he’d expected jubilation on her part, he was to be disappointed.

“I release you,” she said, shaking her head.

Instantly his pain evaporated, though his ears still rung ever-so-faintly.

“What is this?” He asked, stepping up to stand beside her.

“It took me a minute, too.” She pursed her lips. “That blue light… that’s Papa Aguiel. And all the rest of these…”

She waved her fingers to indicate the rest of the lights.

“All souls?” He asked, and she nodded.

“Has to be.”

“Put that in your pocket for a second,” Ephraim said, nodding to the stone she held.

When she did so, albeit slowly, Ephraim reached out and grabbed her by the waist. He shocked her by pulling her up against his body, hard. He took her lips in a demanding, hungry kiss and didn’t release her again until they were both breathless and aching.

“That?” He said, resting his forehead against hers. “That’s our bond, Sophie. You can’t let me kill Papa Aguiel? Well, I can’t let you do it, either. If we are fated mates, and I think there’s no denying that by now. Our lives are supposed to become intertwined. Grow together, for the rest of our existence.”

“Ephraim, I can’t let you do it.”

“What you said before, about how you won’t have anything to go back to? If you do this, I won’t either.”

They stood like that for a minute, staring each other down. Sophie let out a shuddering breath and broke the gaze.

“Then we are at an impasse, Ephraim. What do you suggest I do?” She asked, her voice sad.

Reaching down, Ephraim linked his fingers with hers and raised her hand as he raised his own.

“We do it together. Whatever happens, it happens to both of us. Neither of us will be left behind.”

A fresh tear tracked down Sophie’s face.

“I really don’t deserve you, Ephraim.”

“We deserve each other,” he said, giving his head a gentle shake. “I can see that now.”

“What do you think will happen?” She asked, her words giving him hope.

“I can’t say. Maybe… if we’re very, very lucky, we could each take a little of the bad instead of a full dose… If not, wherever we go, at least we will be together.”

She bit her lip, then pulled the gem from her pocket. Pulling back the black velvet pouch, she glanced up at him again.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Ephraim nodded solemnly.

She dropped it into both their palms where Ephraim’s fingers were laced with hers. Ephraim let out a grunt at the searing burn of the jewel on his flesh, but didn’t flinch.

“Together,” Sophie whispered.

They reached up, both jumping up to clap the jewel against the burning blue star in that endless midnight sky. To Ephraim’s surprise, the jewel sucked at the star and the star sucked right black, pulling magic from a deep wellspring somewhere deep inside him.

Powering the spell.

Suddenly the jewel heated unbearably, and as Ephraim pulled Sophie backward from it, it shattered. Thousands of shards of darkness descended, covering them, raining down from above, filling Ephraim’s consciousness with inky blackness.

The last thing he recognized was the feel of Sophie’s palm, still pressed against his.

All else vanished.

S
ophie came
to consciousness standing beside Ephraim in a world of dim, endless white. White mist billowed everywhere, clinging damply to Sophie’s skin. It could have stretched for miles or ended just a few feet from Sophie’s face, it was impossible to tell.

“Where are we?” Ephraim asked. His voice was hushed and distorted, as if he was speaking from a far distance.

Sophie shook her head, reaching out and taking the hand he offered. Lacing her fingers with his soothed her, made her feel grounded despite their surroundings.

“Do you think we died?” She asked after a moment.

Ephraim glanced at her, then shook his head.

“Don’t think so.”

“Do you see that?” Sophie said, pointing to their left. She squinted into the distance, thinking she could just make out… well, she wasn’t sure what.

“Is that a tree?” Ephraim asked. “Let’s go look.”

Giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, he gently towed her toward the indistinct shape. Sure enough, as they moved toward it, the mist cleared away. There was a single Japanese maple rising high in the air, its red leaves startling against the whiteness of the world. Next to it there was a small pond with a shoreline of perfectly round gray pebbles. Just beneath the tree was a finely wrought wooden bench, and on the bench sat a lone figure.

Even from this distance, even though the figure’s shoulders were hunched, her nose nearly buried in a big green book, Sophie knew her at once.

“Lily,” she gasped. “Ephraim, that’s my sister.”

Tears welled in her eyes at once. She didn’t let Ephraim’s hand go, instead dragging him along with her. When they got close enough for their footsteps to be noisy, Lily glanced up and gave them a wan smile. Closing her book, she sat it aside and stood, brushing off her simple white dress. Her long blonde hair was neatly braided, her cheeks pink.

“There you are,” Lily said, as if this were all perfectly normal.

“Oh, Lily!” Sophie cried, releasing Ephraim at last and flinging herself into her sister’s arms.

“Oh—” Lily tried to warn her, but Sophie’s enthusiasm was too strong.

She stepped right through her sister’s solid-looking but ultimately insubstantial body.

“Sorry,” Lily said, pulling a face. “Nothing is… permanent… here. You won’t be able to touch anything.”

Sophie wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold in the sudden burst of sadness she felt at not being able to hold her sister. It was just that Lily was so close now… and yet, somehow, a world away.

“I miss you so bad, Lil. I just… it’s been really tough without you,” Sophie said slowly.

“I noticed. You weren’t coping very well. I’ve been watching from here,” Lily said. “It was hard to witness.”

“I have so many questions. Mostly… are you okay here? Is it… it seems lonely,” Sophie blurted out.

“Where are we?” Ephraim asked, clearing his throat.

Lily turned and favored him with a look.

“You must be my sister’s mate,” she said, tucking a piece of hair back behind her ear. She raised a brow at Sophie. “Handsome.”

“Lily…” Sophie was at a genuine loss. “
Why
are we… wherever we are?”

“We are… let’s say,
in between
. It’s lonely here, sure, but there are tons of other people on the other side. When you two destroyed that horrible man, you freed the last piece of my soul, which Papa Aguiel tarnished quite badly. You also damaged your own souls in the process. So now we’re all here, in between. This is where we will be cleansed, and then sent on our way.”

“On our way to where, precisely?” Ephraim was quick to ask.

“Lily, are you saying you’re coming back to the human realm with us? Or are we… are we going to the afterlife?” Sophie asked, her heart beginning to pound.

Lily gave her a sad smile.

“We’re going in different directions. You’re going back,” she said, pointing. When Sophie glanced to where Lily indicated, she could see the barest outline of a portal forming, glowing with a soft yellow light.

“And you?” Sophie asked.

Lily pointed again, in the opposite direction. “Forward,” was her only explanation for a twin portal, this one glowing pink.

“Oh,” Sophie said, her shoulders slumping.

“I was going to carry you forward with me,” Lily said, cocking her head. “I didn’t want you to be alone. But now… now, I couldn’t. I can see that the two of you have very big things coming.”

Tears slipped down Sophie’s cheeks. She glanced at Ephraim, who moved to her side and took her hand again.

“We do,” Ephraim affirmed. “Right, Sophie?”

Sophie nodded slowly, still looking at Lily with longing.

“Honestly? Time is so different here,” Lily said, glancing around. “It’ll be the blink of an eye for me, and then we’ll all be together again.”

“You sound pretty certain of that,” Ephraim said, brows arching.

“I am,” Lily said. She pursed her lips. “For now, though… you two take good care of one another. I’ll be watching to make sure.”

Both of the portals grew brighter and brighter, and Lily sighed.

“That’s our cue,” she said. “Do me a favor, though? Take this book with you, make sure Mere Marie gets it. She’s going to need it.”

She picked up the heavy leather-bound text and thrust it into Sophie’s hands. Sophie was shocked at how heavy and real it was, after her experience trying to touch Lily.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lily said, waving a hand. “Someone just asked me to pass it along.”

Her form shimmered, growing transparent.

“Lily, I miss you so much,” Sophie said.

“You too, Soph. Just go live the hell out of your life, enough for the both of us. I’ll see you soon enough, I promise.”

Lily gave her a last smile and then moved toward her portal. Sophie felt Ephraim gently pulling her in the opposite direction, and she let him guide her away. Lily vanished in a flash of pink, and soon Sophie was stepping through her own portal, the book clutched to her chest.

A gentle wash of pure white magic brushed over her as she went, and she could feel it stripping away the layers of dark magic, the results of her single-minded campaign against Papa Aguiel.

It was like taking a deep breath of the cleanest air possible, while plunging into crystal-cold water. Cleansing, purifying, and satisfying on a soul-deep level.

When Sophie and Ephraim landed back in the endless hallway of his maladh, she looked at him and smiled.

“Your aura… it’s perfectly pure,” she said.

“Yours, too. And I have another surprise,” he said, raising a brow.

“Yeah?”

He took Sophie’s hand and brought it to his neck. Her fingers met nothing but smooth, warm skin.

“Your collar’s gone!” She said, astonished.

“You did that for me,” he said, a slow smile growing on his lips.

“What? How?” She asked, color rising in her cheeks.

“Your greatest desire was to take down Papa Aguiel,
alone
. When you let me help you, you sacrificed that wish… and freed me in the process.”

“Why didn’t you say something before?” She asked, smacking him lightly on the arm.

“Oh, I don’t know. Saving the world, seeing your sister’s ghost… we had a lot going on,” he joked.

“Oh, Ephraim,” Sophie sighed. She set the book aside and threw her arms around him. She hugged him hard, trying not to cry for the hundredth time today. “What will we do now? We’ve been so wrapped up in trying to save the world, we haven’t even had that discussion.”

“You know what’s amazing?” He said, stroking her hair.

“Hmm?”

“We can go anywhere, do anything. We know that we’re fated mates, and that was the hard part. After all that fighting each other and trying not to die, we can just… be alone, figure each other out, decide what we want. We have an immortal lifetime to do all of that.”

Sophie pulled back a little, glancing up at him. Tears were definitely pricking her eyes now, she couldn’t help it.

“Yeah?” was all she could manage.

“Absolutely,” he swore. “For now… I say we head back to the human realm, check on the Guardians. Don’t forget, we have a mysterious book to deliver. How does that sound?”

“Couldn’t be more perfect,” Sophie agreed. “Let’s go.”

Lacing her fingers with Ephraim’s, Sophie grinned. She’d go anywhere with him, do anything he wanted.

After all, he was her mate for life… forever and always.