Snakeroot (25 page)

“Oh my God.” Sabine didn’t hesitate or balk as the rest of them had. She went straight to the wolf, crouching in front of him. “Is it really you?”

The wolf stood up and wagged his tail.

Sabine’s voice grew hoarse. “But . . . how?”

“Sabine?” Ethan approached her slowly, wary eyes on the wolf. “You know him?”

The wolf glanced at Ethan in annoyance and shifted into the form of a tall young man.

“You Searchers always sucked at remembering us when we changed shape.” Ren waved a hand at his new body. “Does this help?”

“Holy shit,” Connor murmured. “You’re dead.”

“Connor!” Sabine shot a deadly look at him. “Don’t be rude.”

“Rude?” Connor scoffed. “Can it be rude if it’s true?”

“Yeah,” Ethan told him. “Not saying rude things that are true is called tact.”

“Forgive me for not being up to speed on my ghost etiquette,” Connor said.

“I forgot how annoying you are,” Ren told Connor, but he was smiling, which made the whole situation that much more unsettling. “And I’m not a ghost, I’m a restless spirit. And don’t ask what that means. I’m tired of explaining it. Just deal with the fact that I’m here.”

“Ren, what
are
you doing here?” Sabine asked.

“I have a message.” Ren’s gaze shifted to Tristan. “For him.”

Tristan frowned. “But I don’t know you.”

“I just go where I’m told.” Ren shrugged. “That’s about all I can do now that I’m like this.”

He thrust his hand out and it went straight through Sabine’s chest.

“Hey!” Sabine jumped back.

“Yeah, ‘hey.’” Ethan hooked his arm around her waist. “What the hell?”

“Just demonstrating my non-corporeality.” Ren grinned, enjoying their discomfiture. “Trying to get all the ghost stuff out of the way so we can move on.”

“I thought you said you were a spirit,” Connor noted.

“Like he said,” Anika interrupted, “let’s move on.” Speaking to Ren, the Arrow said, “You’re Monroe’s son—Ariadne’s brother?”

Ren nodded.

“Do you know that she’s missing?” Anika asked him.

“That’s why I’m here,” Ren told her. “Partly.”

“You know where Adne is?” Connor felt the blood drain from his face. He couldn’t see a ghost knowing about Adne’s disappearance as being good in any way.

The flash of anger in Ren’s eyes only confirmed Connor’s fears.

“What happened to her?” Connor asked.

“I have to deliver my message first,” Ren said. “I’m still working out the rules.”

Connor frowned. “What?”

“Just give me a second and I’ll explain.” Ren looked at Tristan. “Sarah is in Adne’s room. She needs help from the Elixirs.”

Tristan’s fists clenched. “What happened to her?”

Ren paused, as if taking the time to choose an answer. “I’m sorry. I can’t say anything specific about that.”

Tristan stared at Ren a moment longer, then looked to Anika.

“Go,” the Arrow told him. “We’ll figure this out.”

Tristan ran from the room.

“Tess, go to Eydis and send an Elixir to meet Tristan in Adne’s room.”

Tess nodded, offering Ren an uncertain but kind smile before she left.

Ren glanced around at their worried faces. “I think Sarah will be okay. She hasn’t been here very long . . . waiting for help.”

“Why are you talking like this, Ren?” Sabine asked. “Everything you say is full of holes. Why are there so many missing pieces?”

“I’m not here by choice,” Ren answered. “I have very limited agency in this plane, or so I’ve discovered. I’m kind of like a puppet and someone else is pulling the strings.”

“But is it really you?” Sabine regarded Ren with new suspicion.

“Yes,” Ren sighed. “It’s me—censored.”

“Okay.” Ethan nodded. “Can you tell us who’s censoring you?”

Ren hesitated, then said, “Logan.” He looked surprised when he said the name.

“Logan Bane?” Anika’s eyes narrow. “That’s troubling.”

“Damn it.” Connor raked a hand through his hair. “We almost had him at Montauk.”

Ethan asked Ren, “Do you know where Logan is now?”

Ren nodded.

“And can you tell us?” Ethan added when Ren didn’t offer up the information.

“I already would have if I could.”

“Ren.” A chill crawled up Connor’s spine. “Is Adne with Logan?”

“Yes.” The sadness in Ren’s voice made Connor feel even colder.

“What does he want with her?” Connor asked.

Ren just shook his head.

“I think an equally important question is, why did Adne go to Logan?” Anika said quietly.

“What are you talking about?” Connor bristled.

“We have to consider the facts at hand, Connor,” Anika told him. “The likelihood that Logan could abduct Ariadne or take her anywhere against her will is very, very slim.”

Connor shook his head. “Adne wouldn’t go to Logan.”

“She did.” Ren gazed steadily at Connor. Connor could see the wolf’s dark eyes were full of unspoken answers.

“Why?” Connor heard his voice was on the verge of breaking. He looked away from Adne’s brother, overwhelmed by a sense of loss as he confronted Monroe’s dead son and the horror of his missing daughter. It was too much.

“Sarah.” Ren said her name and nothing more.

“What?” Ethan gave Ren a quizzical look, but Sabine was nodding.

“He can’t tell us,” Sabine said. “Because Logan’s got him muzzled.”

Ren growled at the word, and she offered him an apologetic smile.

“But Sarah was there too,” Sabine continued, watching as Ren nodded to confirm her words. “And Sarah knows what happened. She has the answers.”

“Okay, fine,” Connor said, his head aching with the runaround of this interrogation. “Just tell me one thing: is Adne okay?”

But there was no one to answer. Without warning, Ren had gone.

SARAH WOKE TO
a strange weight, solid, heavy, and emanating warmth, on her breastbone. She glanced down and saw a bloodred stone resting on her bare skin just above a sheet that was folded over to preserve her modesty.

Sarah started to reach for the stone, but someone caught her hand. A woman in a cowled pale blue robe that marked her as an Elixir from Eydis smiled kindly.

“The stone hasn’t drawn all of the curse from you yet. Give it more time.”

“Sarah?” Tristan appeared beside the Elixir. “How are you feeling?”

Feeling more confused than anything else, Sarah wasn’t certain how to answer. She glanced around, puzzled.

“Where am I?”

“I’ll give you some privacy,” the Elixir said to Tristan, and quietly left the room.

“Ariadne’s room,” Tristan said quietly. “Do you remember how you got here?”

Sarah shook her head. In her groggy state, she felt the echoes of fear and pain, but she wasn’t sure why.

Taking her hand, Tristan asked carefully, “Do you remember what happened before you lost consciousness?”

As sleep cleared away, memories took shape in Sarah’s mind. Horrible memories. Sarah closed her eyes, wishing that she’d just woken from an awful dream but knowing she had not.

“Oh, Tristan,” Sarah whispered, gripping his fingers tight. “I’m so sorry.”

Sarah opened her eyes and looked up at him, finding only love in his gaze. Love she didn’t deserve after what she’d done. From the day the wall separating Sarah from this world and from her son was shattered, she’d been blind to anything but the hope of bringing Shay back. But that single-minded focus had taken her down a path so wrong, she could hardly face the choices she’d made. And she hadn’t even begun to deal with their consequences.

“Whatever happened, it’s over now,” Tristan said, brushing Sarah’s hair back from her forehead.

It’s not over. It’s just begun.

The door opened and Sarah recognized Anika’s voice.

“I was told she’s awake.”

Tristan answered, “She is.”

Sarah wished she could sit up, but that would send the stone tumbling off her chest. As if reading her thoughts, Tristan put his hand on her shoulder to keep her still.

“You’re meant to rest,” he said.

Sarah nodded, though she hardly felt relaxed. Weary, yes, but mostly anxious. Things had been set in motion, things she was responsible for. Sarah couldn’t hide in a bed while others suffered because of her actions. She had to at least try to undo what had been done.

“The healer tells me you’ll be fine.” Anika sat on the edge of the bed. “Whatever magic was affecting you had somehow been diluted. It was easy to counteract.”

“That’s because he’s not truly here,” Sarah said. “Not yet.”

“Who?” Anika’s eyes narrowed. “Who did this to you?”

“Bosque Mar.” Sarah gave an involuntary shudder.

Anika and Tristan exchanged a look.

“That’s not possible, love,” Tristan said gently. “The Rift is closed. Bosque was expelled from this world when that happened.”

“It was him,” Sarah insisted. “Tristan, you know I could never forget his voice. Or the feeling of his presence.”

Tristan didn’t answer, and Sarah turned her gaze on Anika.

“It was only when Bosque appeared that I realized what a fool I’ve been. I’ve acted a coward when I was trained to be a warrior.” Sarah lowered her voice. “And now I’ve opened the gate to the enemy.”

“Sarah.” Anika sounded wary. “Are you certain you saw the Harbinger?”

“Yes and no,” Sarah admitted. “What I saw was a shade, a projection. It didn’t have flesh, but it was the Harbinger. He’s trying to reach through the veil. He wants to return.”

“Where were you that the Harbinger would be present?” Tristan asked through gritted teeth. “What were you thinking, Sarah?”

“He promised to bring Shay back,” Sarah answered. “It was what I wanted to hear and so I did what he asked.”

“Bosque told you he would bring Shay back?” Tristan sounded both alarmed and brokenhearted.

Sarah shook her head. “Not Bosque. Logan. It was Logan who offered Shay. He proposed an exchange.”

“What did Logan want from you?” Anika asked.

“A box,” Sarah told her. “A wooden box that had been kept at Rowan Estate but was then taken.”

“What box?” Anika frowned. She stood up, pacing beside the bed.

“Carved ebony,” Sarah recited, having memorized the instructions Ren gave her for identifying the box. “Containing wedding rings, a pendant, and a bone.”

“Does that sound familiar?” Tristan asked the Arrow.

“No,” Anika replied. “But that doesn’t mean much coming from me. The Tordis Scribes have been cataloging the contents of Rowan Estate.”

“The box wasn’t cataloged,” Sarah interjected. “It was kept apart. I was told where to find it.”

The door banged open and Connor stormed into the room.

“I know you asked for time, Anika,” he said to the Arrow. “But I can’t wait. I have to know what happened to Adne.”

Anika grasped Connor’s upper arms, trying both to calm him and to keep him away from the bed.

“Soon, Connor. But we need more information.”

“Anika, wait!” Sarah sat up, wrapping the sheet around her and not worrying about the stone rolling away to the foot of the bed. She could finish healing later. “Ariadne is a friend of yours?” Sarah asked Connor.

“She’s my . . .” Connor hesitated, then said, “She’s everything.”

Tristan sat behind Sarah so she could lean against him. Folded in Tristan’s arms, Sarah was overwhelmed by his acceptance and forgiveness. Despite her mistakes, Tristan loved her; looking at the fear and earnestness in Connor’s face, Sarah hoped he would offer the same faithfulness to Ariadne. Sarah had yanked herself back just before darkness descended. Adne had not.

Sarah looked from Connor to Anika. “Ariadne is the one who had the box.”

“But why—” Anika began.

“Box?” Connor butted in. “What box? You don’t mean that damn thing full of weird Keeper trinkets?”

Anika raised her eyebrows. “Trinkets like wedding rings, a pendant, and a bone.”

Connor’s indignation faded. “Uh . . . yeah. That sounds right. Adne found the box right after the robbery.”

“And she kept it?” Anika pressed him.

“She did.” Connor scratched the back of his neck, uneasy. “She seemed attached to it, though I never could figure out why.” With a frown, he asked, “What does the box have to do with what happened to Adne?”

“Logan wanted it back,” Sarah told him. “And I was the one who accepted that task.”

Drawing a long breath, Sarah continued, “But Adne caught me searching her room for the pendant. I found the box right away, but the pendant wasn’t inside. I would never have found it . . . Adne kept it separate from the other things. She had it in a drawer. She told me she’d taken to wearing it sometimes.”

“She wears the pendant?” Connor sounded surprised. “Eira’s pendant?”

Silence gripped the room, choking off their conversation.

Finally, Tristan said, “Ariadne feels compelled to wear a pendant that belonged to my grandmother?”

“Your grandmother?” Connor looked at Tristan in surprise.

“The line of the Keepers began with Eira,” Tristan answered. “I’m her direct descendant.”

“It’s just a necklace, though,” Connor said. “How could Adne wearing a necklace matter? I admit, it’s a little creepy that this particular piece of jewelry belonged to the first Keeper, but . . .” Connor’s voice trailed off.