Suspending Reality (48 page)

Sarah put her arm around Jules. He sucked in air like he’d just run a marathon. “Yes,” she said. “He is with us, and he did try to warn us.”

The alpha male touched Jules’s forehead, then Frank’s, and finally hers. “You’re all marked for death.”

Jules dropped to his knees, and Frank clenched his fists.

Maybe Jules had a good point about not setting foot in the forest, but what else were we supposed to do? Let the knights drag us back to face the jilted king’s wrath?
He was a powerful ruler and wouldn’t forgive her for such an act of treason. Besides that, his reputation was at stake; if he didn’t punish her, he’d appear weak, and no king could afford that.

The shape-shifter whipped out a dagger and held it to Jules’s neck. “You’ll be the first to go, since you were the one who gave in like a weakling, knowing the rules, and drove them into the forest.”

Jules gasped.

Sarah gripped his arm and pulled. “Let him go! I made him come in here. If you must punish someone, kill me. He’s done nothing wrong.”

“That can be easily arranged.” Lunging forward, he gripped her throat and squeezed, his nails digging into her soft flesh.

Sarah struggled to take a trembling breath.

The shape-shifter held a cold blade against her throat. “This will teach you humans not to trespass on my territory.”

Sarah gasped as much as she could, her heart drumming in her chest. A burning sensation—hot, deep, and piercing—spread across the fingers of her left hand and quickly intensified. She touched the ring, grunting as she collapsed. “My hand! It’s on fire. Get this thing off me.”

“Sarah, are you okay?” Frank’s voice seemed to come from far away.

She strained her eyes to catch a glimpse of him, but she couldn’t think further than the piercing pain. “Get it off me, Frank!” She met Jules’s gaze as she desperately tugged at the ring, trying to slide it off her finger. It looked like she was going to need a whole tub of butter or a pan of grease to get the jewelry off. It was stuck, as if it had been cemented to her finger permanently. “Why is it hurting me?” she asked. “And why won’t it come off?”

“I-I don’t know,” Jules said, his eyes wide.

Sarah bit her lip, refusing to cry out as the shape-shifter twisted her wrist. Her trembling calmed some when she saw his arrogant grin falter. As his black gaze fell on the ruby ring on her finger, she heard him mutter with astonishment, “You wear the mark of the Immortals! You…you are an Immortal?” It was like a magnet, drawing him in.

The pain left Sarah’s hand as quickly as it came. Stunned, she shoved her hand toward him. “If you can get it off, it’s all yours—as long as you let us go on our merry way.”

“But that’s our key!” Frank said.

Jumping to her feet, she shot him a glare. “What good is a key if we’re dead?”

The shape-shifter thrust her hand upward, jerking her off balance and causing her to fall against his sturdy chest. Black feathers from his outfit swept across her cheek. He yelled to his people, “She wears the mark of the Immortals!”

Gasps and murmurs erupted as shock registered on every face.

Sarah held her breath, wondering what that yell might imply. They might decide to try and kill her any moment.

His gaze locked on her for a moment, impenetrable and blank, just as guarded as his attitude. Then he bowed, and the hundreds of others scattered about the woods followed suit.
Sarah’s mouth dropped.
This must be what it’s like to be royalty…but I’m not.
She wasn’t keen on all the attention either. “Let’s not make a big fuss. Please rise.”

The shape-shifter scrambled to his feet. “Oh, Highness, I beg your forgiveness and understanding. If I’d have killed you, I would’ve brought the entire wrath of the Immortal world down on my head. Which tribe do you belong to?”

Sarah glanced at Frank, and he gave her the look to play along. “King Victor Fesque is…he’s my husband.”
Husband.
Even still, the words sounded awkward coming out of her mouth.

The woman gasped. “Fesque? He’s next in line to take over the Cardashian Court once King Taggert dies…and that won’t be long now.”

The wolf man’s eyes widened as full-blown acknowledgement registered on his face. “You are married to one of the most powerful men in our world, and I must respect your position as such. My name is Titano, and this is my wife Lana.”

Sarah smiled. “It is such an honor to meet both of you.”

The woman eyed Sarah up and down, focusing on the ring on Sarah’s finger as though she doubted its meaning. Eventually, she nodded, though it was clear she was still unconvinced. “If she is what she says she is, we can’t afford any trouble with Victor. The Cardashian Court will stop at nothing to avenge her if she is truly his bride. Besides, the rules don’t apply to her, as they are only meant for regular humans. Titano, we have no choice other than to spare her life.”

The man nodded, his gaze focused on Sarah. “I don’t need to start a war with the Immortals with your blood on my hands. My Queen, I am happy to offer you the safe passage you have requested.”

“And my friends?”

He didn’t even blink. “I am afraid they are still marked for death.”

A cold chill ran down her spine.
No
! She couldn’t lose Frank and Jules. She decided that if they were going to force her to play the part of the queen, she was going to use it to her advantage. It was time for another Oscar-worthy performance. “That is unacceptable, Titano. I will not have my loyal servants slaughtered and devoured before my very eyes.”

“Are you forcing my hand, my Queen?” asked Titano.

“I am.” She met his gaze, narrowing her eyes in anger, hoping he wouldn’t see through her. “If you harm one hair on their heads, I shall send my husband back here, and he will come with vengeance and his wife’s rage to motivate him. I assure you, shape-shifter, that it will not be pretty if he has to go to those measures because of your disobedience to my direct commands.”

Lana grabbed her husband’s arm, her black eyes wide. “King Victor isn’t an Immortal we can afford to anger, Titano. Just let them go! They are not worth the casualties of the war he will wage if these servants have a special bond with him as well.”

“Yeah,” said Frank, sounding far too twenty-first century. “King Victor and I go way back.”

The man looked at Frank, then at Jules, and finally at Sarah. “My wife has spoken wisely. You may go—all of you.” He picked up the tranquilizer gun and handed it back to Frank. “Take your weapon with you. We have no need of it, for we are well capable of defending ourselves and our land.”

“Thank you. Your wisdom and obedience are to be commended.” Sarah took a few slow steps back, then quickly jumped on the back of the wagon and crawled into the cubbyhole with Frank right behind her. She peeked out and watched as Jules climbed onto the high wagon seat and whistled to the horses. He pulled the reins, and once again, they were trotting, bouncing, and jerking their way through the bumpy forest terrain. This time, though, they were escorted by hundreds of wolves, perhaps thousands, running and darting through the trees.

Streams of sunlight glistened through the branches and leaves as Jules crossed the border of the woods into a huge meadow. The wolves no longer followed; instead, they sat like trained dogs at the edge of the tree line.

Sarah’s stomach churned, and bile threatened to erupt at any moment. She’d known all along that Victor wasn’t just a regular kind of husband, and that had been acceptable because she didn’t want him, didn’t want the kind of life he offered. But as the lucky trio left the cursed forest behind, something else dawned on her. Even though he wasn’t technically part of her life because their marriage was a scam, he still held power over her life. The shape-shifters had let them go only because they feared Victor’s wrath. It defied all logic, and she had to admit that maybe the whole Immortal part wasn’t a figment of everyone else’s imagination.
Maybe I do share a bond with him that everyone here truly fears—and maybe that’s exactly what I need to find my sister and get us out of this crazy place.
Then again, maybe I am crazy and am just dreaming the whole thing up. Bring the royal meds, please!

* * *

A cool breeze blew through the haystacks as Jules steered the horses through the open field to the next town. “Frank!” Sarah called.

He didn’t reply.

She poked him in the ribs. “What’s wrong with you?”

He turned, a frown crossing his forehead.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I just watched a wolf change into a man right before my eyes. I guess I’m a little freaked out. Who wouldn’t be, given the situation? I’m trying to hold it together for you, but just don’t expect my undying enthusiasm at our prospects anytime soon.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

“No, don’t even try to explain this whole mess, because you know you can’t. Let’s just figure out a way to find your sister and get the hell out of here.”

“Forget the pack of wolves. I have a feeling we’ll soon have bigger problems than a bunch of weird people howling at the moon. For starters, we’re a million miles away from the portal—not to mention I’m a runaway queen, and there’s a dangerous man after us.” Her chest heaved with each breath. “If Victor’s men catch us, we’re dead. Frank, we can’t afford to waste time whining or feeling sorry for ourselves. We have to stay focused here. If we don’t make it, it’ll only be because you’re sending off those fear-vibes. Even a mouse could pick those up from a mile away, and the mice are probably telepathic here too.”

“The king’s guys are not going to catch us,” Frank retorted. “All we have to do is stay one step ahead of him.”

“He’s an Immortal, Frank,” she said. “We, on the other hand, are not.”

He reached for her hands, forcing her to face him. “You don’t believe that bull, do you? Nobody lives forever, Sarah.”

“I thought it was all a joke too…” She pointed at the forest. “…until I saw them. They said I have the mark of the Immortals. This ring belongs to them, not us, and we stole it. It’s grand theft jewelry, Frank, and I doubt they live by the fair trial rule. In fact, I’m sure they’re quite okay with cruel and unusual punishment.”

“Big dungeon time, huh?” Frank winked, amused.

Sarah shook her head. A few wolf people had him running for the hills, but the psychic bond she was beginning to feel with the king was beyond his rational comprehension. “Try execution, medieval style. We didn’t just steal it from anybody, like a local merchant or something. We had to involve the local mob boss, the freaking godfather.”

Frank glanced down at her finger. “We’ll give it back as soon as we use it to open the portal. Heck, we can even leave a note. What’s so special about it anyway? It looks pretty, uh…gaudy and normal, like something out of a thrift store or Halloween costume shop.”

Sarah twisted a strand of hair around her finger, biting her lip as she considered her words. Frank was freaked out already, but he had a right to know. “There’s nothing normal about it, in spite of its looks. When Victor slipped it on my finger, I felt a weird electricity racing through me.”

“Maybe just cold feet?”

“What?” She peered at him, confused.

“You know…cold feet because you were getting married.”

She rolled her eyes. “Frank, can you be serious for just one minute? I honestly don’t want to wear anything that belongs to somebody who’s not human. Maybe you can keep it safe for us. Just let me get it off.”

He nodded. “I’ll put it in my pocket.”

She tugged, eager to slide it down her finger, but like before, it wouldn’t budge. “Shoot! I still can’t get it off!”

“Are you sure? Let me try,” Frank said. When she held out her hand, he pulled hard. “Nope. A little butter might do the trick. It’s been around since biblical times.”

“Get it off me, Frank!” She stuck her finger in her mouth, biting the band and pulling. “It’s not working. This darned thing almost burned my hand off back there!”

“I thought you were just pretending, stalling for time.”

“Nope,” she whispered. “That was real.”

He gripped the band and started tugging again, harder this time. “Geesh. Didn’t the king bother having it sized first? How the heck did he even manage to fit it over your knuckle to put it on you?”

“Aren’t you hilarious?” She slapped his arm.

“I’m serious, Sarah. You could die from a blood clot.”

Wait…could that really happen?
She regarded him, taking in the creased skin around his eyes, as dark as pools.

“Calm down. I’m only joking,” Frank continued. “Leave it on for now, and we’ll worry about it when we reach the next town. Hopefully it won’t start burning your finger again.”

“It’s just so…so weird, Frank.” Her heart pounded in her chest as she turned to face him, realization dawning on her. “Do you think he’ll find out the truth?”

“You mean that you’re not who he thinks you are? You tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen. He didn’t give you much choice, did he?”

“I guess not.” Sarah crawled out of their hole and climbed on top of one of the haystacks. She pondered as the wind whipped through her hair and the sun beat down on her face. The horses neighed, making her jump as the wagon ploughed through a meadow of purple and yellow wildflowers. The sweet scent drifted all around her.