Entwined With the Dark (27 page)

I'm a little busy right now, ma douce,
Michel answered in my mind, his abruptness surprising me.

I've got a problem,
I answered choosing to ignore his tone for fear it would escalate my already barely controlled shattering emotions of fear at my predicament.

Are you safe?

Lutin has me.
And OK, there were better ways to say that, but my ability to soften the blow right now was defunct.

He swore a litany of French words, none of which I had heard before, then calming inquired,
How?

It has something to do with blankets and cutting off Sergei and Natalyia from their Tego Texi Tectum powers,
I returned swiftly, hearing Lutin come to the end of his monologue about how he ingeniously secured Amun's house and defied my vampires, stealing me from right under their noses.

Where?
Michel inquired and it occurred to me he was using short sentences. His cursing of before did not accurately convey the level of his anger at the turn of events.

I glanced around the house and came up blank.
A house,
I offered, unhelpfully.
Old and derelict. I can see the London Eye outside the window, I'm on the opposite side of the Thames.
Huh, not
Álfheimr
then.

Leave it to me. Help is on the way.
Every word was clipped, strained, as though he was disappointed that I had ended up in this situation at all. And then he was gone. I tried to tell him I was sorry, that I shouldn't have shut myself in the room alone - although obviously Lutin's blanket still would have reduced Sergei and Nataliya to ordinary vampires and against a Prince of
Álfheimr,
the outcome would have possibly been the same.
But Michel had closed the connection down. Deserting me, leaving me, shutting me completely out. A sob escaped my lips and Lutin stopped mid-sentence, his arms tightening around my frame.

"
Elska?"
he asked, concern evident in his tone. Then more forcefully. "What has your vampire told you to do, my love? Let me guess; stay calm, leave this to the big, brave men. He'll rescue you, you just have to play the damsel and wait for him to arrive."

Oh, Lutin knew me all right. He knew what made me tick. So did Michel though, which made me pause. For him to lock me out of his head, he was doing something difficult, something that would distract him or me and therefore cause one of us, or both of us, harm.

"It won't work, Lutin," I said, surprised at the strength of my voice.

"Lucinda," Lutin drawled, turning me around in his arms to face him. I held his gaze defiantly, waiting for my moment to strike.

Michel would have told Marcus and Matthias and therefore help was on the way, but I was not entirely incapable of helping myself. I was in no way, shape or form, what you could call a damsel.

"You are my
elska
," Lutin continued, his eyes taking in every inch of me from my face and hair, to my chest, pausing over my stomach and then reaching my legs. I gritted my teeth under his intense perusal and then his half lidded eyes came up to meet mine.

"
Elska,
" he said on a breath of escaped air. "You look stunning."

Not only was he delusional, but he was also blind. I hadn't recovered from Avery's attention, I was still exhausted and had barely had enough sleep. And now I was strung out, stressed beyond any mortal's ability to cope. But I wasn't mortal, so I was still going, but I knew I looked like crap.

I shook my head slowly in disbelief.

"Why are we in London?" I demanded, deciding I'd dig for information I could convey to Michel, if the connection happened to open again. "Why not
Álfheimr
?"

"It is too dangerous to take you to my home world,
elska
. The war has progressed and the
Dökkálfa
have spies everywhere. Even our Royal Court would not be safe should I take you there." I almost collapsed with relief. My worst nightmare would be to end up back at the
Ljósálfar
Royal Court with Lutin. I could handle much in my life, but living that horrendous time again was not one of them.

"What now?" I asked, my voice miraculously steady.

"I will protect you. You need not worry." D-E-L-U-S-I-O-N-A-L. "But first, I must know you and the baby are well."

I closed my eyes in an effort to contain my fury, I couldn't lose it yet. Not before I gave my guards time to get closer. I would fight if I had to, but right now Lutin seemed to want to just talk. I unclenched my fists and let a breath out, checking my Light shields were all still in place. I had to stay focused. I couldn't chance a lapse in my protections, or he would win.

"Lutin," I began, but he silenced me with a waved hand.

"Don't say it. You have been tricked. I can tell you are pregnant with my child. The Fey have ways of knowing these things. My blood runs through your body." I think I had stopped breathing, I didn't want to hear another word. "I can feel it, like you are a part of my very soul."

He walked toward me and I took a natural step back.

"Don't be frightened,
elska
. This is all part of what is meant to be." My back came up against a solid structure. I had no more space to retreat to. "Our child will rule
Álfheimr
one day." His hand came up and cupped my cheek. I shook my head to dislodge it. "You will give birth to a king."

I was panting in an effort to not lash out, my instincts telling me to slash the words from his lips. To stop him saying anything else. The more he said, the more confused I became. And the more unable I was to act.

"He will be powerful. He will bridge both worlds, command armies, right all that has been wronged against our kind." I could feel his breath against my face, his hands gently holding my arms in place. If I had the wherewithal to lift my stake right now and stab him, he'd easily deflect the blow. My chance of retaliation had passed, but I couldn't give in just yet.

"Let me go," I pleaded, my eyes still firmly shut. I knew I couldn't reason with him, but I couldn't stop myself from at least trying.

Lutin's right hand had shifted and now lay on top of my stomach. He moved it in a slow circle, the intimate motion giving me the strength needed to open my eyes. He had lowered himself to a crouch, his face barely inches from where his hand continued to reverently rub.

"He's inside here," he said in a faraway voice. "Growing, getting stronger. And now that you are back with me, I will make sure you both have all that you need."

"Let me go, Lutin. I want to go." I semi-repeated, keeping my body as still as I dared.

"Don't be silly." His dismissal was so simple, yet set in stone.

His hands shifted to my legs, running slowly up my stockinged thighs under my skirt. It was enough, I couldn't remain passive any longer. I prayed my guards would find me before this turned into a monumental mess. With a swiftness born of my Nosferatin genes and desperation I lifted my stake intending to strike a killing blow. But at the last second, before the silver tip pierced his carotid artery, my aim shifted and the stake grazed down his cheek instead.

It still hurt like hell, but wouldn't kill him. As much as part of me wanted Lutin gone for good, the other part, the part still full of Light, could not do that final desperate and Dark deed. He fell away with a scream of outrage, the air in the room suddenly chill. I scrambled to the door on the other side of him and fumbled with the latch. The atmospheric pressure plummeted, my breath coming out in huffs of steam before my face. The windows began to rattle, dark clouds forming in the sky outside.

The door sprang open and I whimpered in relief, not pausing to see whether Lutin was close. I ran out to a dust filled landing, unsure from my vantage point - clearly near the middle of the house - which direction to take. The London Eye would be on my left, which meant so would the Thames. I took a gamble and sprinted to the right, where I hoped an exit onto a busy street might aid in my escape.

A door stood at the rear of the building, the only egress from the hallway at this end. I reached for it and found it locked, then thought that my on-the-cuff decision to turn right instead of left out of the door to Lutin's room, had been a huge mistake.

With no other options, I used precious seconds to release the lock with my Light, knowing my luck wasn't going to last. The roof began to come away as though a tornado was crashing into the house. Debris flying around me, slamming into walls and my back. I looked over my shoulder and saw Lutin emerge from the room we had been in. His blond spiky hair standing on end, his eyes a blaze of green light, his clothes billowing around him. A crackle of energy and the pungent smell of burnt peaches filling the hall we were in.

He blocked the only exit, towards the front door of the house, - the one I should have taken, but  didn't - so I ran into the room before me and slammed the door closed with a good dollop of Light. My eyes scanned the space and my heart dropped like a dead weight. No window. No other door, save the one between me and Lutin. Luck had officially run out.

"Fuck!" I spat out above the noise, the rest of the roof ripping away on my last words. I tried to think of a solution, but right now my ability to think positively had disappeared with the ceiling of the room.

I ran to the corner, farthest from the door, then turned and braced for Lutin. The storm never subsiding for a second as he approached unseen on the other side of the wall.

Then the wall burst apart, plaster and splinters flailing against me as I crouched down and covered my head. A piece of the building landing heavily against my shoulder, tearing a grunt from my lips and making me lose the grip on my stake. I fumbled in the mess of debris at my feet for the fallen object, finding it just as Lutin stepped into the room.

The cut to his face had already healed, a pathetic attempt to incapacitate him on my behalf. I tightened my grip on the weapon in my hand and prayed to Nut I was strong enough to end this once and for all. I started to search for any Dark within me, anything that countered my aversion to killing this man. Oh, I wanted him dead, I really did, but my body refused to obey my heart's command.

"I will not harm you,
elska,
" he said, as musical chimes mixed with the sounds of the howling wind. "But you have angered me this night." His eyes fixed on me, blazing a maelstrom of greens that threatened to blot out the flashes of lightning that spasmodically arced above our heads.

I knew what was going to happen, or at least what the result was going to be. And I refused to give him what he sought. I kept my gaze averted, but the pull to his vibrantly green eyes was a hard battle to fight.

Even though he said he wouldn't harm me, that by doing so would harm his mythical child, I didn't trust him. He was
Ljósálfar
. They could lie. I increased my Light shield until the room was a blaze of white from my Light and green from his eyes. I almost had to shut my lids, to block the blinding lights out. Then he changed tactics. The storm still raged around us, thunder now joining the flashes of lightning in the sky. The roof completely gone, the building crumbling beneath us and to our sides. But now he called his own Light forward and sent it to wrap with mine.

My shields can resist many magical assaults. To a certain degree I have learned to protect against Fey attack. But Lutin's Light is different and always would be. From the moment I had met him, his Light called to mine. But since we had completed the
kvángask
it had intensified. I had no hope of resisting, my only thoughts as both our Lights began to entwine, was that my vampires could find me while I distracted him. While I allowed his Light to be embraced by mine.

Both Lutin and I fell to our knees, the effect of our combined Light taking its toll. I gritted my teeth in an effort to stay in control for as long as I could, keeping my shields solid, maintaining a level of detachment, but knowing it was slipping with every second that passed.

I needed to give my guards more time. That thought was enough for me to send a surge of Light towards Lutin, to smash against his own for a second, maybe two. Long enough for me to feel a small smattering of elation, then as my Light stopped attacking and began to enfold Lutin's instead, both blinding the night sky, fear like I had never felt before rushed in.

I could feel my body's response to his Light as it fell towards the rubble strewn floor. I could see his own movements through the dust of the debris to reach me. Our combined Lights making his
progress so much easier than it had any right to be. He'd almost made it to me and I knew the moment his hand touched my body all would be lost. He'd chance
Álfheimr
in order to contain me and I'd have no hope of escape. And when the time came that he realised I wasn't pregnant at all, his anger would match no other.

I felt tears streaming down my cheeks, the pressure in my head from the storm about to explode. His Light cocooned me, my Light encouraged him and all I kept whispering in my mind was,
Michel
.

He'd heard me, the connection snapping open wide, but it was too late. Lutin's hand hovered over my wet cheek and then the lights - and Lights - went out.