The Devil's Soldier (16 page)

25

Eve glanced at Lucien when he squeezed her hand. For the first time that night, he was finally smiling. Ever since that letter had arrived, he had reverted back to his broody self, afraid something bad might happen. Maybe it would, but she was tired of living in fear.

Besides, the magic she had performed with the help of Lucien and Henry was powerful. There was no way Boaz had freed himself. It simply wasn't possible. Everything was going to be just fine. She lifted her chin a little and immersed herself back into the conversation with the others.

"Do you remember that time," Ricks said, laughing between breaths, "when Lucien was fighting that vampire and his pants accidently fell down?"

The table grew quiet and all eyes went to Joanne.

"What?" Joanne said and rubbed the front of her teeth with her finger.

Don't worry, guys!" Rick said. "Joanne knows all about you and the Deific."

Eve dropped her shoulders a bit and smiled. She glanced around the restaurant. No one was paying attention to them. A waiter was nearby taking a young couple's order. Next to the beautiful woman was a full bouquet of red roses.

Joanne smiled. "I was raised by an abusive drunk father so to me vampires and Supernaturals are hardly monsters."

Rick laughed. "And that's why I like you."

Eve chuckled uncomfortably and looked at Lucien. He shrugged.

"I do remember that night," Charlie said, lightening the mood. "Lucien was trying to fight, but kept tripping over his pants. You should have seen his face!"

Eve laughed along with the others. Liane glanced at her, grinning from ear to ear. Eve was glad she was having a good time, too.

While laughing, Charlie reached into his pocket and removed his phone, his eyes on the screen. His smile disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Lucien asked.

"Alana. She said there's a problem."

Eve leaned forward, elbows resting on table and dread filling a pit in her stomach. "Is she okay?"

Charlie's phone buzzed again. He read aloud: "The Vice President isn't speaking tonight. The President is there, instead."

"That doesn't make sense," Lucien said. "Why not cancel the event all together?"

"I don't know."

"Who's attending this event?" Liane asked.

Eve twisted the cloth napkin on her lap. She wished it would tear. "A lot of important people in the government. This is one of the biggest political charity events of the year. Both Republicans and Democrats will be there. Many of them senators and governors."

"Tell her to get out of there," Lucien said. "If the VP isn't there, then there's no reason for her to stay."

Charlie typed into his phone.

"This isn't that big of a deal, is it?" Rick asked.

Charlie looked up. "This change can't be good. We had solid intel."

Just then, a gust of wind blew through the room. The others didn't seem to notice, but Eve did. Especially when it brushed across the back of her neck, raising the fine hairs on her skin. She lifted her gaze. The front door was open, and in the doorway stood the silhouette of an enormous black wolf.
Hunwald.
Her chest tightened until she couldn't breathe.

A woman screamed, then another. Eve attempted to move, but she was frozen in her seat. Her eyes went to Lucien's. They were wide, and his jaw muscles were flexing as if he too was trying to move but was unable.

"A wolf!" someone cried. "There's a wolf in the restaurant!"

More cries of terror.

"What is happening?" Liane asked, her voice rising.

"I can't move!" a woman behind Eve yelled.

More shouts and screams rose into the air. A waiter carrying a full tray of food was balancing precariously on one foot, as he must've been frozen mid-step.

"Can you guys use your magic?" Charlie asked, his eyes shifting between Eve, Liane, and Lucien.

"I'm trying to," Lucien growled. His gaze flickered to the wolf.

Eve concentrated hard, but her eyes remained on the beast in the doorway. Whatever spell was being used on them was strong, but she felt confident she could break it if she had a few minutes.

Hunwald leapt forward and sprinted to their table. He jumped on top of it, knocking glasses over and scattering food. He stood facing Eve, his eyes yellow and his white fangs barred.

Eve strained harder, trying desperately to break the magical hold over her. Sweat ran down the side of her face as her whole body shook. Across from her, Joanne was in tears, and Rick's mouth was open, his eyes just as wide. Charlie was grunting as he tried to free himself, and Liane was whispering under her breath. Probably something to counteract the spell.

"Get away from her!" Lucien growled at the wolf.

Out of the corner of her eye, Eve saw Lucien's finger move. He was doing it!

The wolf snarled then opened its mouth, unhinging its jaw wide, unnaturally so. Black smoke slid out of its throat and drifted through the air toward Eve in wispy tendrils. It swirled all around her, lifting her hair and teasing her skin. Her head began to swim, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

A voice said, "You should have done what I asked, love. You were a fool for not obeying. Now you must pay the price. Their blood is on your hands, and more will die if you do not come to me."

The smoke slowly resided back into Hunwald's throat, and he snapped his jaws shut. A tear escaped Eve's eye and ran down her cheek.
Boaz was free.
Another tear fell. Almost all of Lucien's hand was moving now.

"Get out of here!" Lucien yelled.

Hunwald slowly turned his massive head toward Lucien and growled deep and low. Eve's eyes flashed from Lucien to the wolf, panic squeezing her heart.

"Leave him out of this," she said. "It's me you want! I'll go. I promise! Just leave him alone!"

Hunwald glanced back at Eve, and she swore he smiled before he returned to Lucien. He lowered into a crouch position then lunged forward, his jaws open again. He crashed into Lucien, knocking his chair back.

Eve screamed a great and terrible cry, shattering the magical spell in the room. Charlie had somehow managed to get to his feet before her, springing toward Hunwald who had a tight grip on Lucien's throat. Charlie grabbed the wolf around the belly as he was falling and tore him away from Lucien. Blood from Lucien's throat sprayed upward in uneven spurts.

Eve snapped her arm forward, shooting a wave of energy toward Hunwald. The wolf leapt into the air, dodging the energy, and sprinted out the door. People ran for the exit, but many were knocked to the ground. Others stepped over them in their attempts to flee.

"Lucien!" Eve cried. She dropped to her knees and pressed her shaky palms to his neck. There was so much blood!

"Use this," Charlie said. He handed her his suit jacket. "Rick, call Tony. Tell him to have all available Deific operatives ready in ten minutes. We're going to need them."

"Hold on, Lucien," she said.

His wide eyes were staring up at her in panic, and his whole body was shaking.

Liane kneeled next to her. "What can I do?"

"We need to get him back to the Deific, away from everyone. I might be able to heal him." She hoped.

A loud boom vibrated the whole building,
shaking
dust and light debris free from the ceiling. More of the patrons fell to the ground.

"What was that?" Charlie asked.

Eve shook her head. "Oh, no. Please, no."

Charlie's eyes met hers. "The convention center. Alana." He stood up and sprinted to the door, shoving people to the side. "Come on, Rick!"

Rick hurried after him.

"I'm so sorry, Lucien," Eve said. "This is all my fault!"

Lucien's lips moved as if he was trying to say something, but blood poured from his mouth instead.

She lowered her forehead to his. "I'll fix this. I promise. I'll make you better, and then I'll give Boaz what he wants."

Lucien's body tensed, and his head shook back and forth.

"Shh," she said, tears running down her cheek. "It's okay. No one else is going to die. I'm going to make everything better. I'll make it right."

She continued whispering words that no longer made sense. Her body grew painfully numb, and she was having a hard time getting air into her lungs.

Soon she would be with Boaz.

Soon she would be Alarica.

26

Every muscle in Lucien's body was flexed tight and not by his choosing. The wolf had bit him, nearly ripped his throat out, but the reaction he was having now was far worse than the wound on his neck. He tried fighting the sensation with magic, but the pain radiating up and down his body would not be ignored.

Charlie reappeared just then with Rick after leaving only minutes ago. Charlie was saying something first to Eve and the others, and then to him. Lucien tried to tell him that he couldn't hear him over the loud ringing in his ears, but every time he opened his mouth to speak, blood filled the space, making him choke.

Whatever was going on was bad. People were fleeing to the door, screaming and crying. Lucien guessed by the way the building shook when the wolf had a hold of his neck that a bomb had exploded, and nearby too. Probably at the convention center.

He needed to get better, and quick, to stop Eve from going to Boaz. There had to be another way.

Charlie and Rick picked him up and carried him out the front door. It was an action that infuriated Lucien. He shouldn't need to be carried. He attempted to move his leg, but a searing heat like lightning raced up his body. He screamed, but it came out a mangled moan.

Charlie and Rick slid him into the back of the limo where Lucien shook profusely.

"What's wrong with him?" Eve asked. Her voice sounded like she was speaking through a pillow, but at least he could hear her. She was leaning over him, her eyes brimming with tears, but they had yet to spill over.

"I don't know," Charlie said. He lifted the bloodied jacket pressed to his neck. "The bite is already healing."

"It's poison," Liane said from somewhere within the car. "I've seen it before. The wolf's bite has some sort of a toxin in it."

Eve asked, "Will it kill him?"

Nobody answered.

"Let's just get back." Charlie peered out the window. "I think it's going to take a while."

Lucien wasn't sure what he meant by that. His hearing was still muting sounds to the outside.

A few seconds later, Lucien heard Charlie pressing buttons on his phone, then, "Hey, Adam. I want you to look up everything we have on poison from a wolf's bite, a
supernatural
bite." He paused for a few seconds. "I don't have a specific name. Look, just see what you can find. Lucien's been bit by some kind of supernatural wolf, and he's having a really bad reaction. I need to know how to fix it. See you soon."

"Have you heard of anything like this before?" Eve asked. She ran her warm hand across Lucien's forehead. It soothed him and helped him focus on calling his magic. There had to be a way to free himself.

"Not me, but maybe someone else has," Charlie answered.

"Was it a bomb?" Liane asked. She was looking outside along with Rick and Joanne. Whatever was going on, it was drawing everyone's attention.

Charlie didn't look back at her. "At the convention center. It looks bad. I'll find out more when we get back."

"And Alana?" Eve asked.

"She hasn't responded yet."

No one said anything else after that. Lucien used the time to focus on specific parts of his
body
. Maybe he could use magic to push the poison from his
system
, but by the time the limo finally stopped, he was no closer than before to being able to free himself from the
paralysis
. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse. Great waves of
pain
would wash over him every minute or so, and some of them were so bad he was afraid he would break his teeth from clamping his jaw too hard.

"Oh, Lucien," Eve whispered while the others exited the car. "I can feel your hurt. I know you're trying to fight it, but it's only causing more
pain
."

"We need to move him, Eve," Charlie said from the open door.

"Just a second." She leaned back over him. "I know you're not going to like this, but it will give your body a chance to rest for a short time while we figure out what's wrong with you. I love you, and I'll be here when you wake."

Lucien's eyes widened. She better not knock him out. He needed to be alert, to keep trying to free himself. He needed—

Eve waved a hand across his face and whispered, "
Somno
."

Whether he liked it or not, Lucien was falling asleep.

***

Lucien's eyelids snapped open.
Eve!
He glanced around… or, really, just his eyeballs moved. The rest of him seemed to be frozen. He grunted and tried to move again, but it was useless.

"Rest," Eve said and came to his side. "You've been through a lot."

"What's wrong with me?" His throat was raw, and he tasted blood on his tongue.

"Henry said it is part of the wolf's magic. When he bit you, a toxin, magical in nature, flowed into you and caused your whole body to shut down."

"How long have I been out?"

"Almost twenty-four hours."

"How do I fix it?"

Eve hesitated. "Time. Henry thinks you'll be able to
move
within twenty-four more hours."

"A whole day!" Lucien grunted. "I don't have time for this."

Eve pressed her palm to his cheek, and the corners of her mouth turned up in a pain-filled smile. Her eyes were puffy and red. "It's probably better this way."

"What are you talking about?" He didn't like the tone of her voice. "Get Charlie. I want to see him."

"He's busy. The world has changed overnight." Her eyes misted.

"What happened?"

"Dozens of people were killed in the explosion yesterday. The President was one of them."

Lucien was quiet, realizing what this meant. A Supernatural, and possibly a dangerous one, was going to be the new President of the United States of America.

"But that's not all," Eve said. Her bottom lip quivered. "The monastery where I stayed, where Dmitri lived… it was destroyed in an explosion, too. There were no survivors."

It took a moment for her words to sink in. This was one of the worst things that could've happened.

Lucien worried what it would drive Eve to do. "I'm so sorry, Eve."

A single tear trailed down her cheek. "This could have been prevented."

Lucien didn't like the tone of her voice. It had turned dark again. "You can't know that."

Her gaze met his. "Boaz needs to be destroyed, and there's only one way to make that possible."

Lucien attempted to move again, but pain shot up his spine. He growled in frustration. "Have you been talking to Henry? Because he's wrong. There's another option. We just have to find it."

Eve rested her hand on top of his. "We can't wait anymore. Please don't worry. I've accepted my fate."

"Get me Charlie." He glanced to the door and yelled, "Charlie!"

A tear escaped Eve's eye. Then another. "Just promise you'll kill him." She hesitated over her next words. "And me, too, if necessary."

"Enough!" He eyed the doorway again. "Charlie!"

Where was he? Charlie was the only one who could stop her. He grunted again in frustration at his inability to move his body.

"I love you so much, Lucien. I only wish we had more time." She bent down and kissed him on the forehead.

"Stop this, Eve. Right now. You are not going to leave. You wouldn't leave me, not after doing it once already. I couldn't bare it!" He didn't mean to sound so desperate, but his heart was about to break in pieces all over again.

"I'm so sorry, but I don't have a choice! If I can prevent one more death, I have to go." She stood slowly. The motion seemed to take her great effort.

"Charlie!" Lucien yelled again. "Damnit!"

She backed up toward the door. "Find me, Lucien."

"Wait!"

Eve hesitated.

"Marry me." It was all he had left.

Her eyebrows lifted. "What?"

"I was going to propose last night," he said, his words coming fast. "I know it seems silly for people like us, but I want to be with you for time and all eternity."

Eve stumbled forward, tears falling and smiling big, as if to come to him, but she stopped a mere foot away and a look of horror crossed her face. "What am I doing? I can't. Please understand."

Before he could say another word, she turned and bolted for the door.

"No!" Lucien cried. "Come back! Eve!"

He waited a few breaths, listening to the sounds of her footsteps running the opposite direction, before he yelled again, this time for Charlie. He thrashed on the small bed, but the thrashing was only in his head.

Some time passed, but it might as well have been forever. Eve was gone and she wasn't coming back. That meant only one thing:

The next time he saw her, she would be Alarica, and they were going to fight.