Revenant Read Online Free Page B

when he’d ordered the twins to beat
Luke. The great pleasure in his eyes when he told Caleb that I didn’t need to
eat for a few days. Beatings, starvation—these were the things he had
done so far without any remorse. What game was he playing now? What is this going to cost me? I thought
coldly. I addressed Gage. “What do you expect me to do in exchange for this
sudden…kindness and generosity?”
    He gave a wicked laugh. “Don’t
look so suspicious. I was thinking you
could help us find a solution to our problem. I can’t very well have an army if
the army has limbs and parts falling off as it marches along. The bodies are
decaying, and the stink alone is—well, I don’t have to tell you. You’ve
experienced it yourself.”
    “I’ve done everything
you’ve asked of me.” And I had. I created
his undead army. What price would I pay for going along with his evil plans?
When my time was up, I doubted a white light would be beckoning for me.
    Gage nodded his head. “Yes,
my dear, you have been a model of cooperation. But I think that if the two of
us have a chance to put our heads together, we might be able to come up with a
solution. There has to be a spell or some magic we can find that will stop the
rate of decay. I have access to a library full of books that aren’t readily
available to the general public.”
    “Forbidden black magic,” I said through clenched teeth.
    “ Forgotten magic,” he corrected me. “Not everything from the past is
bad. In the past, the death dealers were more powerful than any of the mage
clans. The spells they did—the great rituals—enabled them to have
unimaginable strength.”
    “At what cost?” I
whispered.
    “ Everything comes at a cost. You should know that better than most. We
should be on the same team, Colina. I want —no,
I need your help. And in return, I
won’t hurt your friends. You can stay here and join our little family. Where
else do you have to go? The death dealers are hunting you. If they get their
hands on you, what do you think they’ll do? It’s not safe out there for you.
But if you are under my protection, I won’t let any harm come to you or your
friends.”
    “I want to see them. And
not just for a few seconds. I want to be with them.”
    “Of course, of course,”
he answered, waving a hand flippantly. “Whatever you like. Sonja will take you
someplace you can clean up and then we will gather your friends together. You
can all come to tonight’s feast. We have all the luxuries here. We have a
fantastic staff that is cooking up a fabulous meal. We can all break bread
together. I’m not your enemy. If you give me a chance, I will prove to you that
I’m your savior. Sonja, show our guest to a proper room.”
    Kindness,
consideration—was this a new form of torture? Gage was changing his
tactics and the very thought unnerved me.
    Caleb, my eternal
bodyguard, was there beside me to manhandle me again. Every chance he got he
made a grab for me, his grip always too tight. I had bruises on my arm after
each encounter with him. I knew he took pleasure in causing me pain. He put his
hand on my arm and I shook it off. A wicked grin spread across his face and the
anger returned to his eyes. Caleb wants to hurt me. How long did I have before
that anger in his eyes erupted into more than just a few bruises? A fleeting
thought entered my mind.
    How long would Gage’s protection keep me safe? The only out was to make Gage think I was playing along. I needed to convince him I was
cooperating and going along with his plan. If Gage let his guard down, if he
learned to trust me…we might all have a chance of getting out of here in one
piece.

Chapter 2
     
    I followed Caleb and Sonja out
of the cavern and into another set of tunnels that sloped uphill . I had no idea where we were
going. Gage promised better living conditions, but was it all a ruse? Would I
find myself in another field of dead bodies? I watched them walking in front of
me, and for