MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) (39 page)

As our last song kicks in,
Alice bends over with the mic to her lips, letting out a guttural scream before
standing back up to sing the first verse. A heavy weight lifts from my body. We
jump and dance around the stage, letting all of our aggression out. The song
ends in a wail, and the audience screams, chanting our names as Alice gives
them thanks. We wave to the crowd as
The
Red
exits the stage.

Alice and I run back to our
dressing room to change while Regan and Becky head for the bar. We told them we
weren’t staying for the party and would see them later. We speed around in a
blur, changing into our armor and head back out to the party. Alice keeps
stride with me as we mentally prepare ourselves for what's to come. “Have you
seen Lucian?” I inquire.

“I haven’t, but Eric text
me and said Thea saw him watching you on stage. He said to be ready.”

“Where's Solas?”

Alice stops in her tracks.
I stop ahead of her and spin around. “He’s not coming, Ivy.”

I take a step closer and
quirk my eyebrows, “What do you mean ‘He’s not coming’?”

She releases a heavy sigh.
“Apparently
,
when Michael sent Jack back
,
he confronted Solas about… about being Gideon. Eric
said Jack and Solas had a long drawn out conversation. When it was over, Solas
demanded Jack take his place as your date to the Ball. There isn’t enough armor
for them to both come.”

I turn on my heels and
march out into the crowd.
Michael knew he would bring Jack back and decided
not to say anything to me. He knew he would bring him back and only brought us
seven sets of armor. I WILL be having a little chat with him. This is bullshit!

Alice calls after me, “Ivy!
Wait!”

I spin on her swiftly,
keeping my voice low, “No. This is bullshit. First of all, don’t call me by my
name tonight. Second of all, we
need
him!
I
need him! He’s
supposed to be here!” There's a pause of silence between us as Alice regards me
with her violet doe eyes. “I’m done with this conversation right now. If
Michael wants to leave me high and dry to fight Lucian on my own, so be it. Stay
close. I’m going to find him before he figures out what we’re doing.”

Turning my back to her
again, I march away with rage boiling beneath my armor. I scan the crowd
searching for Lucian’s tall
,
lithe figure. I
expect him to be wearing a black fitted suit with a black dress shirt and a
skinny black tie with a red jewel. The pulsing music reverberates around the
stench of sweat from the crowd. Rainbows of lights flicker and dance over the
mass of bodies in the colosseum, making it harder for me to find him.

A familiar clinking of
metal armor approaches behind me, accompanied by a magnetic tingle I know is
Jack. I pause in my steps, and Jack stops next to me, warning, “He’s here.
What's your plan?”

Continuing my search of the
crowd, I mumble, “Where is he?”

“Don’t react. I think he's
lost track of you. Now, he's searching from above.”

“We need to draw him
outside, away from everyone. What do you suggest?”

Beckett flanks my other
side. I recognize his gait and his
tone of
voice, “We have an idea.”

“What?” I ask.

“Theodora's standing by.
You give the word, and we'll set off the fire alarms and sprinklers,” Beck
says.

I think about his
suggestion. While it'll clear the building, it'll be mass chaos that could
possibly
work to our advantage. “Set everyone up at the exits.
When everyone's in place, have Thea pull the alarm system. He doesn’t leave
here. Understand?”

“Understood,” Beck replies
and hustles to carry out my orders.

Jack looks down at me, and
I note question in his eyes. “What?” I prompt.

He shakes his head, “You’ve
changed, Sunshine.” I peer up to him speechless.

There's nothing I can say.
He's right.
I used to be guarded and refused to feel
any
emotion. Since the first stages of my transformation, the wall
I’d built around myself began to crumble. With every turn, I was letting people
into my heart, and I became an emotional wreck. Then something happened along
the way. I became ferocious, unyielding, and protective. My wall was
restructured. Only this time, my ‘family’ is behind it with me.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m
proud of you,” he adds.

“Let’s just hope I don’t
fuck shit up tonight.” I want to hold his hand and kiss his lips before the
fight begins, but there's no way to do so without revealing who we are. “You
got my back?”

I hear the smile in his
voice, “Always, Sunshine. Let’s fuck some shit up.” With that, Jack leaves me
in the center of the colosseum to face the battle ahead.

An irritating
,
ear-piercing screech repeatedly echoes as a torrential
downpour fries the electronics on stage, causing it to spark and crackle. The
crowd screams and begins running for the exits to get out of the water ruining
their Masquerade Ball. I chance a glance to the stratum auditorium seating
surrounding the open floor as I'm pushed and shoved while I
remain
in place. Then I see him. Lucian stands rigid in the
downpour with his feet wide and fists taut at his sides. His deceivingly
handsome features are marred by his fierce
,
menacing scowl.
Before I can look away, his eyes land on me. I refuse to cower and continue to
stare him down. Partygoers continue to push their way around me, obstructing my
gaze. One moment he's there, the next he's gone.

A sulfuric odor invades my senses, rage
prickles up my spine, and I know he's behind me. Feigning
boredom, I turn to face him. He takes tentative steps towards me with his hands
clasped behind his back
, and his posture
reminds me of Beleth. Before I can speak, Lucian says, “I’ve been
looking for you, Lilim. But I guess you already knew that or you wouldn’t have
worked so hard to hide from me.” With silent movements, I unsheathe a dagger
hidden up the sleeve of my armor and grasp its hilt. He stops two feet away and
cocks his head to the side to examine me. His black hair is crisply styled with
a boyish part above his left eye. Students continue to charge out of the
building around us. “Too bad you were unsuccessful.”

Lucian lunges for me, and I
spin my blade. The point of my blade presses against the smooth skin beneath
his chin, and his hands grasp my arms to keep me in place. “Maybe. Maybe not,”
I seethe. Jack approaches with the other guards from the edges of my
peripheral. Lucian's unfazed by the
m or the
threat of my blade. Tilting his chin down on its sharp tip, a menacing sneer
splits his face as the flames in his eyes intensify. It sends chills down my
spine. “It seems you don’t know how this works. Your little friends won't be
able to save you. Let me enlighten you.” A jolt of electricity shoots through
my body and causes my wings to shoot out of my shoulder blades. Burning,
blinding white light takes over my vision and explodes into darkness. Jack’s
muffled cries fade in the distance as my body goes numb and rigid. The clink of
my dagger hitting the floor rings out before I lose all consciousness.

gh

The rustling of thick
feathers kindle my awareness. Without opening my eyes, I assess my
surroundings. The side of my face lies against the cold hard ground. I feel
coarse ropes binding my wrists and ankles together, restraining my wings behind
me.
Shit. How did that happen so fast? We should have had him. How did he
escape with me if we had him surrounded?
The harsh scent of sulfur clings
to the air full of static electricity, making my skin crawl. I know I'm not
alone.
Let’s get this over with.
I let my eyes flutter open. The
warehouse from my vision appears to be empty, but I know better. Rolling onto
my knees, the cold concrete digs through the leather of my pants. The aluminum
ceiling is lined with large spotlights. Only the one above me is lit, leaving
the cavernous building pitch-black.

“
Tsk, tsk, tsk
,” Lucian clucks his tongue as he approaches from the
darkness. His slender figure moves with ease and confidence. The light above
causes the red jewel pinned to his tie to wink with every step he takes.

I don’t expect the grin on
his face
,
mocking my stupidity of being captured. I
contemplate,
maybe I
did
fuck up.
Solas wasn’t at the Ball to follow us. No one knows
where I am. Everything's changed, but I won't let him keep me here.
My
fingers work into my feathers to find the razorblade Alice placed there for me.

“I have to admit, I thought
you would be much harder to capture. I’m a little disappointed,” he sighs. His
voice drops to a menacing growl, “But you destroyed my uncle, and for that…
I'll make you suffer.” I don't respond to his threats
as he begins to circle me, assessing my position. I let my hands freeze in
their pursuit of the razorblade. “Would you like to hear my plans for you,
Lilim?” I refuse to answer, and he continues with an amused grin, “First, I'll
hunt down everyone you care about. I'll torture them while you watch, for as
long as it entertains me. When I’m finished with them, I'll hand them over to
Sasha—she’s my hellhound—and she loves Divine blood.”

I've heard this speech in
my vision
,
and it doesn’t surprise me. He stops before me and
crouches with a nefarious smirk. Lucian’s triangular face is clean shaven,
revealing his smooth skin. His blazing eyes are lined with long
,
thick
,
black eyelashes.
They're set wide and deeply hooded, framed by straight black eyebrows. Above
his thin lips, his broad nose angles up slightly. The razor in my fingertips
drops to my palms, and I begin to work slow, cutting strands of rope. Lucian
continues in his repartee, “Then, I'll make you my slave. I'll own you. You'll
do exactly what I tell you to. You’ll kill my father, and I'll rise in his
place.”

He stands and looks down at
me like I’m the most disgusting thing he’s ever laid eyes on. Rage ignites
through my veins. I growl up at him in defiance.
I'll kill you before I let
you hurt anyone.

Gripping a fistful of my
hair, Lucian wrenches my head back to look him in the face. He bares his teeth,
growling in my face with flames in his eyes. “You will suffer,” he snarls with
a vibration in his chest
,
reminding me of a
rattlesnake. I clench the razor in my hands in expectation. Raising his free
hand, he backhands me across the face, and my head snaps to the side as the
taste of salted copper fills my mouth. The rustling of feathers echoes off of
the aluminum roof above us. I glance around in hopes to finding Solas, only to
see it's not him. I'm surrounded by Fallen lining the walls, keeping to the
shadows. “No one's coming to save you,” his voice rumbles and hums in my ears.

A raven flies into an open
window at the end of the warehouse and lands on its sill
.
I almost sigh
with relief at the sight of him. I give Lucian a devious smile full of
amusement and watch his jaw tense and twitch at my defiance. I mouth off, “Let
me guess. You want me to give you my essence so you can use me as a controlled
weapon against your enemies. And when I say no—which I will—you'll try to use
the dagger hidden behind your back to threaten me. I'll still refuse your
offer, and you'll attempt to kill me. Therefore, rendering me useless not only
to you, but to anyone who could contain me.”

He produces a blade from
behind him and depresses its sharp point into my chest between the armor’s
plates, but it never penetrates the armor’s reinforcements. “I see you've
acquired your mother’s gifts.”

“And I see you
haven't
acquired
our
mother's gifts,” I mock as my bindings fall away. I slash
his face with the razor blade. Deliberately falling to my back, I plant my feet
in his chest with as much force as I can. Lucian flies back into the wall and
slides to the ground. Standing up, the shadowed Fallen converge on me. I have
no time to react or fight back. A dark warrior slams me to the ground as others
flock to keep me in place. I watch as the Prince of
Sheol
rises from the ground and smooths out his suit. With
a blink of an eye, his form dematerializes in a crawling cloud of black smoke
and manifests before me. My eyes widen with shock as I observe the residual
smoke dissipate. I quickly hide my surprise behind a scowl.

“Pick her up!” he bellows.
The dark warriors erect my body to face him. “You
will
relinquish your
essence to me,” he demands.

I chuckle under my breath
at his annoyance and speak with unwavering audacity, “Never.”

My defiant crooked grin
remains as his countenance morphs into hatred. “Then I'll watch you die!” He
arcs the blade in the air, intent on plunging it into my chest, but a large
hand seizes his wrist from behind. I can’t detect who it is, but I know his
true face.
Solas.

“Lucian,” a voice I don't
recognize booms from behind him. It's dulcet tone resonate
s
oddly, grating my ears and itching my brain. If I
didn't know any better, there were three men speaking with a unified voice.
“She is not to be harmed.”