Page 70 of Sacrifice
Lucien laughed richly and bent to kiss her full on the lips. Eve’s senses exploded. Waves of energy rolled through her body. The electrical barrier that stood between them fizzed and cracked, lifting goosebumps in shockwaves that ran over her chest to pluck her nipples into hard nubs and brushed over her stomach into her crotch. Her hair stood out at the root all over her body. She wanted Lucien like she’d wanted no other man. To feel his hands on her skin would make everything alright. He had to be destined for her. He had to be her Elham.
She projected the idea of them making love into his mind, of him tearing off her clothes right there in the doorway, and Lucien laughed some more. Then he was pushing back into her thoughts, replaying their dance in the Hellfire Club, walking up the thin fabric of her dress and pushing his hand beneath the lace of her underwear to caress her. Eve moaned at the remembered feeling and Lucien laughed again.
“Soon,” he said, “My darling. Soon, all barriers between us will be gone forever.” He released his embrace and slipped out of her mind. Eve shuddered and blinked away the spin in her head. She needed him to touch her. He took her hand and pulled her forward out of the cell.
“The paperwork is complete,” Lucien said to the befuddled officer, and Eve felt his words take shape in the hazy edges of herconsciousness. He was dropping the thoughts directly into the officer’s mind.
“All done,” the officer said with a smile.
“We are free to go,” Lucien stated, and the officer raised one hand to bid him farewell. He opened the outer door and the pair of them strode out into the corridor.
A nervous giggle escaped Eve’s mouth. The thrill of escape made her giddy. Michaels had been so smug about locking her up, but Lucien had breezed in and whisked her away with laughable ease. She squeezed his hand and Lucien took the lead, pulling her forward, out of the main door and on to the street.
“Where’s Michaels?” Eve asked. Having gone to so much trouble to make sure she’d been hidden away; it was weird that he hadn’t been there to stop her leaving. “And how did you do that?”
Lucien cricked his neck and surveyed the scene. “Mortals are laughably easy to control. And Michaels is busy.” He rolled his shoulders backward and flexed his neck again. The shadow of something huge and black flickered behind him.
“What is that, Lucien?”
“The Devil is aways behind me, Eve. With your help, I’m going to shake him off. Michaels too.”
“What do you mean? Where is he?”
“I’ve given him a little job to do. So nice for it to be the other way around for a change.” Lucien’s voice was rich with confidence, the words rolling off his tongue. “You and I have other priorities.” He ran his finger along her jaw and Eve’s back arched reflexively.
“Yes.” The yearning for him almost made it impossible to think about anything else. Jolts of desire fueled her body. The world seemed strange. The street outside the police station was oddly still. Eve looked around them.
“The city’s power is out,” Lucien explained, “The result of my gift to Michaels. It’s not just you and I that will be set free today.”
The people milling around on the street were like lost children, determinedly tapping at the phones that would not work. The interiors of shops were dim, despite the daylight hour and people stood about, confused. How reliant everyone was on power.
Power. Eve’s skin tingled.
A soft breeze swept through the streets, carrying with it a faint scent of roses and damp earth. The boundaries between the mundane and the supernatural blurred. She hadn’t dared to let the quintessence truly free, but the way she was experiencing everything had changed. All her sensations were magnified now beyond imaging. She noticed the greater array of colors and the subtle differences in air temperature as the breeze ebbed and flowed.
The pendent hung around her neck throbbed against her chest, slowly pulsating with her heartbeat. Magnifying. Amplifying.
“We’re going to end this, Eve,” Lucien said. “The stars are literally aligned. Today is the day to break their binding.”
“You actually think that you know how?”
Lucien smiled and the golden prisms in his eyes drew Eve ever further in. “Come,” he said.
Thirty-Six
Michaels toucheddown silently on the roof opposite his church and folded in his wings. He scanned the area. In the fading pink light of dawn, several silhouettes could be made out guarding the building. The figures were dressed in black robes and held glowing blades with an unnerving confidence.Lirathil, the Fae’s warrior class.
So, this was the Dark Fae’s objective — his church. Now that he saw them, it was obvious what they were doing there. They had come to steal the dybbuk. Crate after crate was being carried from his crypt and out into the violet glow emanating from the tree-lined edges of his cleared graveyard. They had established a portal to who knows where. Micheals’ heart thumped in his chest.
Skovanka had harnessed the power of a solar flare to breach his security spells. Was that the weapon Lucien had revealed to them? Why would Lucien want the Dark Fae to take the demonic spirits they’d reaped together over centuries? Did he plan to join them? Did he imagine they could set him free?
Questions and confusion battled within his mind as Michaels scanned the quintessence for Lucien, pondering whether he was inside. His energy was still detectable at the museum. Michaelsknew that Lucien could not enter, security spells or not. The church was consecrated ground, and Lucien couldn’t approach within two hundred yards. He’d been sure of that, but now what Michaels believed he knew was being tested
He’s given the Dark Fae a weapon, but why?
Unfurling his wings, Michaels stepped off the roof and fell silently to the ground.
The firstLirathilstood just inside the graveyard gate, his face obscured by an ornate black mask. He watched the progress of his companions. Michaels laid a hand on his shoulder from behind and whispered into his ear. “Somnum.”
