Apotheosis of the Immortal Read Online Free PDF

have they done to me, Elijah?” She was weeping uncontrollably as she pulled Elijah into another tight embrace. “If you hadn’t left me, this might never have happened.” She sighed as she spoke, and her voice lost its fervor, as though her admission had released something.
    Elijah had never looked at his actions in that way before, that he had left her, but now it seemed obvious, and his heart seemed to sink into his stomach.
    “What are we going to do?” she asked, resting her head gently against his shoulder again. It seemed she was at least as concerned and perplexed as he was by their current situation.
    “I don’t understand what’s going on, Sara,” he whispered in her ear as he held her. What had they done to her? What had they done to him? He placed his hand on the back of her head and gently stroked her hair. Maybe her madness was over. He knew he could never kill her, but wasn’t so sure about what she might do to him.
    “But I know who does know.” His resolve hardened and his vision focused back to the beginning, back to William. “We have to find Solomon and my father,” he declared, glaring into the distance. They were out there somewhere, and he was determined to find them.
    “What? What are you going to do when you find them?” Her voice sharpened with fear as she tugged at a lock of his hair.
    “I’m going to get answers. I’ll find a way to help you, and then I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all—Solomon, Father, and that ugly bastard who was with them.” The fire and strength in his voice seemed to quiet her fears.
    “I guess you will always be my prince.” The words danced from her lips in a lovely melody and flooded him with new strength as he met her gaze. After a moment she smiled and shifted her eyes down to her stained garments.
    Elijah shook his head and tried to focus on what needed to be done right now. “First, we need to clean you up. We are almost to town, and you shouldn’t be seen like this.” Elijah opened the large satchel he had retrieved from one of the dead men on the road, figuring the thief no longer had need of it. He had filled the satchel with everything he thought might be of use, including a few garments and a leather sack of water.
    Ripping off a scrap of his tunic, he poured the water over it and dabbed at her face and neck. The blood rubbed off to reveal the beautiful and innocent girl he had dreamed about so many times.
    Though he’d never had the courage to officially make his affections known, she knew he had been in love with her then, but did she know he still was?
    She giggled as he poured the water over her head and hands and rubbed until she was spotless. Rubbing the last speck of blood from around her mouth, he recalled how she had always captivated him, and he knew he was comforted to have her with him now, in the midst of this madness. He suddenly realized he had lost himself in his imagination and had been gently rubbing her face for far too long.
    “That’s got it.” Blushing, he quickly pulled away and looked at the ground. After a moment he looked back up toward the soft curves of her face and saw she was still gazing back at him. His embarrassment at showing affection didn’t seem to have bothered her; she just smiled, warming his heart. Maybe she was simply happy to have him here, or perhaps she too still had some measure of feelings for him.
    “You’d better put this on.” His eyes were shifting from embarrassment as he handed her the freshest tunic he could find. Taking it from his hand, she waited for a moment and then smiled again, perhaps glad that this strong man now seemed more like the nervous boy she remembered.
    “Would you care to turn around?” she asked.
    “Oh, of course.” His face burned with even more embarrassment at his ineptness, and he quickly turned his back to her.

Chapter 7
     
    S ara and Elijah hid in the forest just outside of town. They had decided to wait until nightfall to enter, hoping the