If you will not stay with me, then I will go with you.
When she lifted her head she was standing on the beach, her body draped in an old, soft man’s shirt, her hair blowing in her eyes. When she lifted a hand to push it back, she realized there was so much more of it than she’d had before; the wind drew it out in long, gleaming dark curls.
It dismayed her until she recalled something she’d read once about death. When you die, your hair keeps growing.
The island was just as quiet as she remembered, and the dark waters surrounding it were just as empty. The shy half-moon slipped behind a streamer of dark cloud, and on the horizon, the first ribbon of dark amethyst stretched, wrapping the gift of the coming dawn.
Jamys came up behind her, and encircled her waist with his arms. It’s all right, love. Come back to bed.
Is that where we were? She leaned back against him. I can’t remember. I don’t know how I got here.
I brought you. He turned her to face him, and his expression was so tight and drawn she lifted her fingers to stroke his cheek. I thought I had lost you.
I must have been sleepwalking. She reached up to touch her mouth to his, and felt the faintest stirring of a strange hunger. I love Paradise. I never want to leave it again.
Nor do I. He tugged her close, and tucked her head under his chin. But we cannot stay here forever. It is time for us to go.
She pulled back. Go where?
* * *
Sam stood at the boardwalk railing and surveyed the deserted beach. She’d never once seen it so empty. Always determined to enjoy their tropical vacation no matter what, the snowbirds and out-of-towners would brave anything from freezing temperatures to gale-force winds. But tonight no one occupied the golden sands or paddled in the blue-green ocean, and the only light came from the flames blazing along two rows of bronze braziers marching down to the water’s edge.
Between each ivory pole stood a jardin warrior dressed in a dark suit. Each man wore a black armband, and held a sword across the gap between the braziers to form a canopy of steel.
Sam felt Lucan approaching a moment before the scent of night-blooming jasmine wrapped around her. “How did you get rid of the tourists?”
“Only with gentle persuasion.” Night-blooming jasmine engulfed her as a velvet-gloved hand touched the small of her back. “You need not do this, love. I can see to it.”
“No.” She hated funerals almost as much as she despised death, and she was so tired. But Chris had been the sister that mortal life had never given her, and she had died with Jamys to save them all. Sam looked down at the wreath of red and white roses that Burke had given her. “I have to let her go.”
Lucan turned his head as a group of dark-cloaked figures approached them. His gray eyes turned to chrome as they halted several feet away. “I granted you and your sisters freedom, Duchess. Now I suggest you use it to leave my territory.”
The tallest stepped forward and politely pushed back her hood. “Forgive our intrusion, Suzerain, but we are not yours to command. We are hers.” Werren’s gaze shifted to Sam’s face. “My lady. May we be allowed to pay our respects to your friends?”
She didn’t want to do this now, either. “Yeah, sure.” She gestured toward the braziers. “We’ll join you in a minute.”
Once the women had moved away, Lucan turned to her. “Yours to command, is it? That would mean they gave you their oath. Their blood oath.”
“Things on the ship got a little crazy,” she reminded him. “I didn’t ask for it, but Werren insisted, because if they didn’t, they couldn’t help us, and with all the brainwashing Dutch did to them I thought . . . look, you had to be there, okay?”
He glanced down at the women. “What in God’s name are you going to do with fifty-three immortal sex slaves?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Buy them some decent clothes. Find them better jobs.” She couldn’t think of anything else.
His lips twitched. “Surprise me on my birthday?”Sam didn’t recognize the laugh that escaped her, nor could she end it. She laughed and laughed until the sound shriveled in her throat and wretchedness overtook her. She saw her fists hit her lover’s jacket before they opened to clutch at it, and as Lucan’s arms came around her to keep her upright, she felt something fall inside her.
I owe you a life. Chris’s face came back to her in every detail: the lightning flash of her smile, the glow of laughter and love in her eyes. Let me save yours.
She swallowed until the sobbing retreated to her heart. “God, I miss her so much.”
Lucan held her until she calmed, and kept one arm around her as he reached down to pick up the wreath that had fallen at her feet. He produced a silk handkerchief and gently dried the tears from her face before he tucked her against his side. “Come now. We’ll say good-bye to them together.”
As they walked down between the torches to the water, the men bowed their heads, and Werren and the other women curtsied. Lucan stopped, turning around with her as he surveyed the other Kyn.
“We all of us know loss,” he said, his voice deep and soft. “Families and friends, loving and beloved. Those who walked with us in life, who were taken from us in peace and in battle. Tonight we count among them our warrior brother Lord Jamys Durand, and our mortal sister Christian Lang. I know they wished only to be together.” He glanced down at the wreath of flowers. “They sacrificed their love, and their lives, so that all of the Dutchman’s other victims might escape. I will never forget their courage or their generosity.”
Sam reached into her pocket and took out the heart-shaped crystal Chris had left behind on her desk. “One day you were a tough little street kid, and the next you’d become this strong, smart woman. You were more than a friend to me. You became my sister. I didn’t realize it was happening. Before you I never had a family. I don’t know why I never told you that. I should have.” Sam tucked the crystal into the heart of one of the red roses, closing its petals over it before she looked out at the sea. “Take care of her for me, Jamie.”
Sam placed the wreath on the edge of the next wave that rolled in, and straightened to watch the sea carry it out with the tide. It floated for a long time, whirling in a slow circle before a long curl of foam swept over it and it disappeared from sight.
Werren and the other women came to stand beside Sam and Lucan. As the courtesan murmured something in an old language, each woman tossed a coin into the water. Sam thought it was some Kyn variety on a wishing well before she realized the coins they were giving to the sea were actually Dutch’s golden medallions.
“You’re going to make some guy with a metal detector very rich tomorrow,” Sam said to Werren.
“’Tis fitting,” the courtesan said. “Dutch loved his gold as deeply as he hated mortals. Your lord has made it clear that we are unwelcome here, my lady. Do you wish us to go away now?”
“Is that what you and the girls want to do?”
Werren glanced at Lucan before she answered. “We have been a long time kept away from the world. None of us know how to properly conduct ourselves. But we have seen that you have very few Kyn females among your jardin, and men cannot properly attend to you and your ladies.” Werren nodded at the men of the garrison. “In exchange for sanctuary and instruction on how to live in this world, we will make ourselves your maidservants.”
“You were slaves. You don’t have to be maids or serve anyone for any reason, ever again.” The sound of a boat motor penetrated Sam’s misery, and she looked down the length of the pier to see the vague shape of a speedboat running slow and without lights. To Lucan, she said, “I think your gentle persuasion just wore off.”
Sam followed Lucan as he headed for the pier. “Don’t bother chasing them away,” she said, peering at the pair who had stepped off the boat. “We’re pretty much done here.”
Lucan stopped in his tracks. “On this I fear I must disagree with you, love.”
“What’s this? You’re arguing with me, instead of treating me like . . . an . . . invalid.” The scent carried on the breeze reminded Sam of sandalwood and orange blossoms, and hit her like a sap to the skull. “Jamie?”
It couldn’t be them, of course. The tall boy barely had an inch of dark hair covering his head, while the girl beside him had long, luxurious curls that fell to her waist. But as they drew closer, Sam saw their faces and grabbed Lucan’s hand. “You can disagree with me any time you like, my man.”
“My lord, my lady.” Jamys bowed and surveyed the Kyn staring at them from the beach. “Forgive the intrusion, which I hope is welcome.”
“You’re forgiven.” Sam launched herself at him, hugging him before she turned to grab Chris. “You exploded with the ship. We just did the funeral thing for you.” She kissed her friend, hugged her, and then shook her. “Where the hell have you been? Why didn’t you call us? Were you in a hospital? You blew up. I saw you blow up.”
“Yeah, we did kind of blow up. After that, I was really lost in space,” Chris said, and made a pained face. “And sort of dead for a week.”
Lucan took hold of her chin and studied her face. “She is no longer mortal.” He eyed Jamys. “You changed her. How?”
“Wait,” Sam said, looking over at the other Kyn. “Let’s go say hello to everyone who was just mourning you, and head back to the stronghold where we can have this discussion in private.”
It took some time to do that, as all the warriors and the women from the ship gathered around them to express their surprise and happiness. Lucan finally dismissed the men, and sent Aldan to take the women to one of their hotels. Once they reached the penthouse, however, Jamys had little in the way of answers to offer.
“The explosion sent us both into the water on the far side of the ship. At first I was separated from Christian, but after an hour of searching I found her, and brought her to the surface. By that time the fleet had left, but I was able to swim with her to where I left my boat anchored. From there I took her to a house on a nearby private island, where she remained with hardly a spark of life in her for the next week. I waited for as long as I dared to see if she would make the change. I was preparing to bring her back to the mainland when she awoke as she is.”