The Devil's Soldier (18 page)

29

The color drained from Eve's face.
Is he crazy?

"I will not spend the night with you!" she said and leaned away from you.

He chuckled. "As much as I would like that, I have never had to force a woman to be with me, and I'm not about to start now, especially with you."

"Then what?"

"I'm going to do this." He lifted his right arm and draped it around her shoulders. "And then I'm going to do this." He pulled her up against his chest. "And now we are just going to sit and talk."

Every part of Eve tensed, and the bile in her stomach swirled a direction it wasn't meant to. She moved to sit up, but he gripped her shoulder tightly.

"If you want to keep your friends safe, this is what I require. I hardly see how this is a problem."

"But why?" she asked. "Why not just put that stupid necklace on me and be done with it?"

"Because then you become Alarica. As much fun as she is, she's not you."

Her mind spun a confusing web, giving her an instant headache. Something was wrong. Boaz had never felt any real emotions for her. It had all been an illusion so he could steal her powers.

"You don't believe me," he said. "Despite what you may think, I am capable of feelings. The whole world is about to change, and, call me sentimental, but I'd like to hang on to the one thing that brought me true joy for just a day longer."

Eve exhaled the breath she had been holding.
What was he saying?

"Don't get me wrong," he said quickly. "I welcome the change and will not change my course. You will be Alarica very soon and will restore my power, but not quite yet."

"I don't understand," she said. "None of your feelings for me were real."

"There were times when they were real. I really do like you, but it's just that… well, I like me more and always will."

There was the Boaz she knew. "Will you release me from Alarica after I've restored your powers?"

He laughed and pulled her back into him. "And have to battle you as Eve? I don't think so. Besides, you will be a powerful ally for what is to come. I'm going to need your abilities."

Her blood turned cold. "What's coming?"

He lifted his wrist to check the time on his watch. "In just a short time, the new President will be speaking to the American people about this great changes. You can see for yourself."

Boaz wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. Eve stiffened. Boaz was right—this was torture and probably the only thing he could do to her to cause her the most suffering. But if he took it any further, she would use magic against him.

"You smell so good," he said. He continued to touch her, smell her, and brush his cheek over her exposed neck.

Eve put up with this for several minutes until she couldn't stand it anymore. "Isn't it
time
yet?"

He slid his lips over her neck. "Perhaps." He reached behind him and picked up a remote from off an end table.

He brought the TV to life. The Press Secretary was speaking to a room full of reporters, telling them that the President would be speaking soon.

Eve leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. Something bad was about to happen. She felt it in her bones, and the way Boaz was smiling big only confirmed her suspicions.

President Russell came into the room and began to speak. He was a tall man and well built. He looked younger than most politicians, with smooth skin and blond hair, but his presence was commanding, almost overwhelming. He held eerily still, not plagued by the need to express himself with his hands. It was a trait many Supernaturals shared.

"What is he?" she whispered.

Boaz snorted but didn't answer.

The President was in the middle of speaking about a report he would be releasing soon giving details about humans with special abilities. If she didn't know any better, she guessed he was about to announce to the world the existence of Supernaturals.

She turned to Boaz. "Tell me he isn't—"

"He is."

"Do you know how dangerous that is going to be for not only humans, but Supernaturals, too? A war is going to start over this."

Boaz leaned back into the seat. "Uh-huh."

Eve stared at him incredulously, but when a reporter asked the President about capturing those responsible, she turned her attention back to the television.

"One of them was killed in the explosion," he said, "A woman."

Eve stood up and moved closer to the TV's screen.

"Do you have a name?" the reporter asked.

"At this time, we only know her first name. Alana."

Someone else tried to ask a question, but the President cut him off. "I'm sorry, that's all the time I have." He left the stage, only to be replaced by the Press Secretary.

Boaz turned the volume down on the television.

Eve whirled around. "She's dead?"

Boaz fisted his hands together, and exploded them outward, making the sound with his mouth as he did so. "Annihilated."

"You're lying."

"Believe what you want, but I know that Alana was inside that building when the bomb exploded." He frowned. "Crime never pays."

Using magic, Eve mentally squeezed Boaz's throat tight. "Alana had nothing to do with that bomb, and you know it."

Boaz waved his arm once in front of him, breaking her invisible grip. "That's not what the world is going to think once that report is out."

"What are you talking about?"

Boaz stood and walked in front of her. Her breathing quickened at their close proximity.

"Let's just say that the Deific's name is mentioned," he said. "Finally the holy shroud will be lifted from that place, and the world will see it for what it is—an organization that harbors dangerous Supernaturals."

Eve raised her arm to slap him, but he caught it just as quick. She stared into his eyes, fire burning inside her. He had to be stopped. Everything the Deific has built over the last two hundred years, all the good they had done, was about to be destroyed.

"You want to go to them, don't you?" Boaz said. His tight grip on her hand remained. "Help them, possibly even save them from what is to come."

"No," she said.

A flicker of emotion crossed his face.  Was that
hope
?

"I want you to change me into Alarica right now. No more waiting. Just do it." As much as she wanted to go back and help the Deific, she knew that whatever she did would be temporary. There was only one way to stop Boaz and his followers. She had to make Boaz killable.

"I know what you're doing. You think that once I get my powers back, I can be killed." He paused and smiled. "I'd like to see someone try, especially that Lucien."

"Don't say his name."

Boaz narrowed his eyes, and the corners of his mouth turned up. "I'll give you what you want, forfeit the remaining hours of our time together, on one condition."

"What?"

"I want you to kiss me."

Eve reared back, yanking her hand away from his. "I won't do that."

"Fine. Then let’s sit back down and talk. Just think of all that precious time you'll be losing, but I sure will enjoy it."

She searched his eyes, wondering if she should put up a fight. She didn't want to kiss him, not as herself. She already had a pretty good idea that Alarica would do plenty of that on her own. A kiss with the devil. For what? An extra ten hours of time? Some part of her hoped that Lucien and Henry would find and destroy him that quickly. If there was that chance, no matter how small, she'd take it.

"Let's get this over with," Eve said.

Boaz snatched her hands surprisingly quick and pulled her to him. Her body pressed against his, and she gasped at the suddenness. His arm snaked around her lower back just above her pelvis and pressed her even closer. He stared into her eyes with a familiar fierceness that used to drive her mad with passion. Deep down, she couldn't deny that she still held some of those feelings, but she recognized that they came from a dark place, one that was easy to give into if she let herself.

He reached up and grabbed her behind the neck. She expected him to be rough, to force his mouth against hers, but instead he pressed his forehead to hers and breathed softly, his eye closed. His brows were tight together, and jaw muscles flexed. Had he been an actual boyfriend, someone she cared about, she might've asked what was wrong, but Boaz was nothing to her.

His eyes snapped open, and whatever he was feeling seconds ago, was replaced with a predatory glare. He took Eve then, his lips pressing tight to hers. The kiss was desperate and needy, and she had the distinct impression that he was trying to steal something from her, but she had nothing to give. Even when his tongue forced her mouth open, something she would've welcomed a long time ago, it sparked nothing inside her.

He broke the kiss and shoved her away. "You really have changed."

He reached inside his pocket and removed the necklace. Eve stiffened at the sight, but didn't step back. Her breathing quickened.
I can do this.

He inched toward her, a thin smile teasing his mouth. "There's something you should know about this necklace. I had your mother modify it again, just a simple spell, not one that will harm you, but one you won't be able to break. Would you like to know what it is?"

She was too stunned to say anything. On its own, the necklace was bad enough. What more could he have done to it?

"Once this latches, you will be under my command, whatever I say." Boaz's fingers brushed her neck as he brought the necklace around her throat. Icy coldness spread throughout her whole body.

"No, Boaz, please—"

"And when the moment is right, I'm going to order you to kill everyone you love, starting with Lucien."

The necklace came together.

30

Lucien was on the seventh page of the document the White House had released twenty minutes ago. There were sixty-three pages. So far, he had learned that the new department the President had mentioned on TV was called the Department of Supernatural Research and Defense or DSRD. Its purpose was two-fold. The first was to learn and understand everything about the recently discovered group of people who possessed inhuman abilities.

In addition, the DSRD would create a database of different Supernaturals. This made Lucien wonder how the DSRD might uncover who was human and who was a Supernatural. Would the government require everyone to be tested? A chill brought goose bumps to his arms.

The second purpose was to create a defense system to combat any Supernaturals who posed a threat. It didn't go into detail on how they would do this. Most of the words were ambiguous and left open for interpretation, which worried Lucien. It didn't seem the DSRD had many rules to follow.

Lucien stretched out his legs beneath the table. Charlie was sitting across from him, reading his copy of the document on his own laptop. Henry was on his left reading on a digital tablet. The air was suffocating, the heat in the room intolerable.

He stared at the laptop's screen in front of him, unable to read anymore. They were wasting time. Eve was gone, if she was even still Eve. He needed to find her and save her from Boaz and possibly Alarica.

To speed things up, Lucien opened a search window. He thought of which word he should type in first. He typed: VAMPIRE. The document brought up nine mentions. Lucien bit down, grinding his teeth together. The world really was about to change.

He searched a few more supernatural creatures curious to know how many the DSRD already knew about. There were many. Finally, he typed in the word, hoping there would be no hits.

D-E-I-F-I-C. He pressed enter.

One
mention
. His chest tightened, and he quickly opened the page of the document with the word Deific. It was only one line, but that small sentence would cause irreparable damage to their organization. Not only that, but it could possibly slow down their efforts on recovering Eve and stopping Boaz. Maybe that was the point.

"We have a problem," Lucien said. "Go to page fifty-three."

"How are you already there?" Charlie asked.

"I searched for the word Deific."

Henry looked up from his tablet. "We were mentioned?"

"Just read it. Tenth line down."

After a few seconds, Charlie read aloud, "It has come to our attention that an organization has known of Supernaturals for decades—Deific, a company with offices across the globe. At this time, the amount of their involvement with the supernatural world is unknown. Further investigation is warranted."

The room was silent for almost a full minute as they continued to read further on the page.

"It doesn't say anything else," Charlie said. "Why were we even mentioned?"

Henry closed his laptop. "Boaz made sure of it. One tiny breadcrumb for the media. In a matter of hours, this place will become a circus."

"What do we do?" Charlie asked.

"Shut down all covert operations, suspend any activity involving Supernaturals. From now on, we are an accounting agency and that is all. We will need the other floors cleaned up to appear as normal as possible. No training rooms, no prisons. And Lucien and I need to leave. So does anyone else who can easily be detected as a Supernatural. Charlie, you're in charge now."

Charlie stood and paced the room. "This is happening too fast."

"What about Eve? Boaz?" Lucien asked, standing too. "They should be our number one priority."

"They will be just as soon as we secure the Deific. It cannot be exposed!"

Lucien slammed his hand onto the table. "To hell with the Deific! We must save Eve! Who knows what that monster is doing to her? Besides, the Deific and all the good it does will mean nothing once Boaz gets all his powers back."

"Calm down," Henry said. "We need to act on the immediate threat, not what we think might happen in the future."

"Guys—" Charlie said, his tone hard.

"This isn't what I think," Lucien snapped. "It's what I know. Boaz will destroy us all if we don't stop him!"

"It's happened," Charlie whispered.

Henry rose from his chair. "And we will! No one wants to see that bastard die more than me!"

"I can't do this… it's too soon." Charlie slumped to the floor, his back against the wall.

Lucien finally looked at Charlie. His face was ghostly pale. "What's wrong?"

Charlie inhaled deeply, his eyes glistening with tears. "It's Eve. She's no longer with us. Alarica rules instead."