Chapter 23

“You’re adjusting so well,” Emma said. They’d spent all afternoon in self-defense training, and Allie was hoping for a quick escape, but that didn’t seem likely. “I’m sure by now you realize your training will be the focus of your life for a very long time.”

“Never ending, you mean?” It was Friday afternoon, and Allie was desperate for a normal night out with her friends. There was a football game later, and she would just barely make it at the rate they were going.

“I know it’s frustrating, but you are working toward a goal. It’s time you understood that goal. There will come a day when you reach another important milestone, and you must be ready for it. The Proving is a continuation of your Awakening—an even more difficult rite of passage. When you achieve your Proving, you will be deemed a fully trained adult. It can happen at any age, but it occurs most often after the first century of life.

“I’m guessing this is no written exam?” Allie asked dryly.

“No.” She sighed. “It can be rather violent, but you have a lifetime to prepare. You need guidance, Allie. Someone to take a special interest in your training. It would be my honor to be your mentor if you’ll have me.”

“Of course. That’s quite a commitment. Thank you.” She’d heard the others speak of their mentors but never expected to have one of her own.

“A mentor and her student share a very special bond,” Emma said. “It’s a bond of trust and deep respect. I’m afraid I have a very dark past. There are things I’ve done I’m not proud of—things even my own children don’t know. In the interest of trust and respect, I would like to share some of my experiences with you.”

“Emma, are you sure?” Allie understood now that it was a very private thing to show one’s memories with another. Emma’s offer was a huge deal.

“You’ll only watch as a spectator this time, but eventually, as we get to know each other, you will learn to see through my eyes. I warn you, what you’ll see will be unsettling, but it’s meant to teach you more about the Coalition and what they are capable of. And also what I am capable of,” she said with a hint of self-loathing in her voice.

Allie took her seat and forgot all about the football game. As Emma spoke, a fog of blackness washed over her, and she soon found herself on a hillside overlooking sixteenth-century Paris. Emma’s sudden screams drew her attention away from the spires of Notre Dame, and what Allie saw made her blood run cold.

Black cloaked figures swarmed the hillside dotted with smoldering fires. She didn’t know how she knew, but the armed men and women couldn’t be described as anything but a Coalition legion. A bloody battle was fought here, and many lay injured or dead. Emma and her friends were overpowered and forced to their knees.

“Are they useful?” the mortal in charge demanded.

“This woman might be, but she is blocking me.” The cloaked man was extraordinarily handsome, but Allie was startled to realize he was Immortal. It shook her to her core that he could work with the enemy—of his own free will. She knew it happened, but it was very different to witness the truth of it.

“What of the other two?”

“Scholars. Not much use to you.” His tone was scathing.

“You know what to do,” the mortal said in clipped German tones.

“As you say, Commander.”

“No!” Emma fought her restraints. “No!”

Allie watched in horror as the ruthless man stepped forward and ran the two Immortals through with his broadsword. The magnetized cuffs they wore slowed their healing. Allie knew what would come next, and she didn’t want to see it.

The man cried in anguish as his bond with his Complement faded. Her heart was torn from her chest, and she slumped over, her eyes cold and empty.

“I’m so sorry,” Emma sobbed. “I didn’t mean—” But her words echoed in the darkness, he was already gone.

“May the gods forgive me.” The traitorous Immortal tossed their still beating hearts into the fire. A pale blue light illuminated the hillside for a brief moment, and they were no more.

“Pity we can’t kill you.” The Commander lifted Emma’s chin with the point of his dagger.

“If you cooperate, you will not rot in prison, lovely,” the Immortal quietly warned her. “But I must tell him you are useful.”

Emma forced herself to relax, allowing him to use his power over her.

“Very good. It seems the raven-haired beauty can force the truth from her victims.”

“Useful indeed,” the Commander agreed. “What shall it be, Liebling? The prisons? Or slave to me?”

“I am a slave to no mortal. But I will cooperate.”

Allie had the distinct impression they’d all just played right into her hands. For some reason, she wanted this—had sacrificed her friends’ lives for it.

Bile rose in Allie’s throat at the thought of such ruthlessness.

The spires of Notre Dame danced in her mind, and she was happy to put the gruesome scene behind her. When her vision cleared, it was years later, and Emma was still with the legion. They approached a stone fortress, a prison set behind a great magnetic field.

“Commander, what is your purpose in this place?” the mercenary asked.

“My husband and I are on orders from the Margrave,” Emma snapped. “It is none of your concern, Greyson.”

“Liebling, he is our right hand. He should know our purpose.”

“What do you think we will find in this prison?” she asked anxiously, clutching her husband’s arm.

She married that turd? Allie couldn’t fathom her agenda.

“We shall soon see. The Margrave has voted to pursue a New Order, which we will enforce,” he explained. “We are here to interrogate the prisoners to determine if they are useful. We will offer them respite from their long years of captivity in exchange for their cooperation. The Marches, Marius Von Essen, believes there is a treasure trove of untapped resources at our disposal. Our predecessors were too weak to see the potential asset you Immortals could be. They feared you and locked you away in a panic to rid the world of your unnatural power. The new Marches has no such fear.”

Allie recognized the title from her lessons with Daniel. A Marches was a Medieval Austrian noble, and the Coalition had adopted the term.

“What makes you stay with him?” Greyson asked for Emma’s ears alone. “He has no means to manipulate you. The fool thinks you actually love him.”

“I have my reasons,” she murmured as they followed her mortal husband, the Commander, through the iron gates.

She’s hunting for something … or someone. But the world faded, and Allie was left to watch them move from prison to prison, year after year, in search of Immortal captives willing to use their power to further the Margrave’s new agenda. Those who agreed became slaves to mortals—viewed as traitors to their kind. It was a perilous time as the new Coalition’s influence spread.

Allie watched in stunned silence as Emma showed her how they managed to manipulate so many Immortals into service. Many thought to choose life as a traitor in the vain hope of escape. But escape was nearly impossible, as most were kept bound by the Commander, who manipulated them with torture or, whenever possible, with the welfare of their Complement held captive. Poor Greyson would never step a toe out of line for fear his wife would suffer the consequences. Other unbonded Immortals were broken in the most brutal, inhumane ways. They were left bitter, ruined shells of their former selves. A broken Immortal was a powerful weapon the enemy used without reservation.

Emma became a law unto herself. Her mortal husband loved and trusted her, and she exploited the leverage that gave her. The Commander was deluded enough to think she loved him and would never leave him. He couldn’t see that life with him was an insignificant moment to her. She stayed by his side, biding her time, searching the prisons.

“We should keep this one for ourselves,” Emma said coldly. It was years later, and Allie could see the blackness of her soul. She was a dangerous woman—nothing of the Emma she knew was present. Allie wondered how she ever redeemed herself for sentencing so many Immortals to terrible fates. The very essence of the Coalition was changing, morphing into an entity more dangerous than it had ever been, and she helped pave the way.

“His gift would be useful,” Greyson added.

“He can rearrange memories, you say?” The Commander frowned.

Allie snapped to attention, taking a good look at the filthy bearded prisoner before them. His amethyst eyes were dull and lifeless. This man had been captive for hundreds of years.

Daniel? Tears sprang to her eyes as she finally understood Emma’s motivation. She was looking for him all this time.

“A man like that could prove to be too dangerous.” He shook his head.

“You could break him, darling,” Emma said. Her determination sparkled in her cold diamond eyes. “Look at him; he’s practically there already.”

“Fine, we’ll take him with us, but if he is more trouble than he’s worth, I’ll send him to the Margrave. They’ll certainly find use for him.”

The vicious smile that spread across her face left Allie’s hair standing on end. The darkness that soon followed felt like ice in her veins.

“So, that’s been your game all along?” Greyson asked, slipping through the darkness to Emma’s side. It was days later, and the Commander lay sleeping in a drunken stupor.

“Leave me.” She watched over Daniel, completely mesmerized by the sight of him. His exhaustion was evident as he continued to sleep, unaware that she was risking their lives to save him.

“You certainly have a pair of ironclad ones.”

“This is none of your concern!”

“He’s your man? You risked everything—married that drunken fool, sacrificed hundreds of others, all to find him?”

“Yes!” She turned to face him. “And you will not stop me now. Not when I am this close.”

“Of course not.” His tone softened. “Take him and run, lovely. While you can.”

“Come with us?” She visibly relaxed. “You’ve been such a comfort all these years. I know I’ve treated you terribly, but it was all part of the deception.”

“I always knew you had a soft spot for me.” His smile was breathtaking. “But I cannot leave. I’ll never risk my wife. The Commander and I have a deal: I serve him until he’s too old to continue and he releases her. I’ll earn our freedom.”

“Do you trust him to keep his word?”

“No, but it is all the hope I have. Now, get your man and get out of here.”

“He’ll know you helped me.”

“Hit me on the back of the head and take my sword. I’ll claim you knocked me out cold and left me to rot. He’ll believe it. I think he’s always been terrified of you anyway. I know I have,” he said dryly. “Now, go before I change my mind.”

“You’re a good man, Greyson.” Emma struck him hard with the butt of her dagger.

Allie watched from a distance as she woke Daniel. She helped him to his feet, insisting she would explain later. She managed to get him in the saddle, but he was too weak to ride on his own. She climbed up behind him, and they left with only the clothes on their backs. Her years of searching were finally at an end, but Allie wondered how long it took her to recover from the awful things she’d done to save him.

Allie’s cheeks were wet a moment later when she woke in the office. She felt queasy.

“I’m sorry if I’ve shocked you,” Emma whispered. “I am not that woman any longer. Daniel claims I have always been a good woman who was willing to get her hands dirty when it counted. As long as I live, I will never deserve that man.”

“I’m not going to lie, you were a scary woman, but thank you for not sugar coating it,” Allie said.

“More than anything, I showed you the worst of myself to teach you how dangerous the enemy can be. That was over three hundred years ago. Think of what they have managed to accomplish in all that time. In the years I was with Alrick, I witnessed the evolution of the Coalition from a group of murderous zealots into the most dangerous organization this world has ever known. And I helped, although I swear I didn’t realize it at the time. You must fear and respect them, Allie. Never underestimate them. They can ruin your life in a matter of moments. Always be wary of the enemy, but never of me, sweetheart. Daniel changed me for the better.”

“Not quite the soccer mom I thought you were.” Allie managed an uncertain smile.

“I’m trusting you with my secret. Quinn and Graham still believe I rescued their father in some romanticized version of the tale. I will tell them the truth in time. I’m just not ready yet.”

“You did what you had to do. I can respect that, and so will your sons. But your secret’s safe with me.”

“Go on, get to that football game and have some fun for a change.”

“Thanks, Emma.” Allie threw her arms around her startled mentor before she darted out of the office.