He paused. 'Look, I'm as good as dead anyway. So I may as well spend whatever time I do have left protecting you. Making sure the prophecy comes true.'
That was the sticking point. She pounced on it. 'Why do you want it to come true so much?'
Lucas shrugged. 'If the prophecy comes true you'll be safe. No Unhumans will be able to hurt you. You can be Evie, like your parents wanted. You don't need to be a Hunter.'
She took that in. He had a point.
'And besides, the war needs to end, Ev. Don't you think it's about time?' She smiled despite herself at the familiar use of her name, but then the smile faded and was replaced by a frown. What he was saying wasn't what she wanted to hear. She'd already decided. She wasn't having anything to do with the Hunters any more, or their stupid prophecy. She'd chosen. That's what the big speech to Victor had been all about. She wasn't a Hunter. And now here Lucas was, undoing it all - making her question once more who she was and what she was doing.
'I have no home any more,' Lucas continued, interrupting her thoughts, 'I'm banished from the realms. I have a blood price on my head.'
'You broke it for me,' Evie whispered, almost to herself.
His voice was suddenly close, sending a shiver down her spine. In the gap between words he'd moved so he was standing just a few inches from her. She could see the individual spikes of his lashes.
'I broke it long before today,' he said softly. 'I broke it the moment I first saw you. When I saved you from Shula outside the diner.'
She tipped her head back in surprise, trying to see into his eyes. He was looking down at her and she could see herself reflected - a crimson slash across his iris.
The word never made it to her lips. But he heard it anyway.
'Because I love you. Even then I think. Not because you're beautiful and wear crazy ball gowns to kill Unhumans, not because your cheerleading moves make for an interesting fight scene, not because you'll jump into frozen water to hunt for a ring, nor because you're the White Light.'
She couldn't help herself. She groaned.
He kept talking, brushing over her protest. 'I love you, Evie, because you make me a better person. For the first time in my life I'm fighting for something other than revenge.'
She felt her ribs expanding and contracting, squeezing her heart tight then tighter still. He put his hand under her chin and tipped her head up so she was looking at him again.
'I'm not sure I fully understand it myself but I know that I love you and that something is pulling me towards you. Fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it.'
She swallowed, staring into his eyes. That was exactly how she felt. And she hadn't even realised it properly until now. How was it possible that he felt the same way?
'It was you that taught me I could choose,' he said softly, so softly she had to lean into him to hear better. 'That I could choose who I was and who I wanted to be. I would die for you, Evie Tremain, because I love you.'
Her stomach lurched into her mouth. Her legs became elastic. She tried to tell herself it was a natural reaction, just a natural reaction. He was an Unhuman.
'Why should I trust you?' she asked in a breathless rush.
His hand dropped away from her chin and she felt untethered by its loss, as if she might fall over.
'You said you trusted yourself,' he said. 'You trusted your instincts. What are they telling you now?' He stepped back, giving her space.
She looked at him - tore her eyes from his and studied his face. That curve of a smile, the straight dark eyebrows drawing together as he waited for her answer. His dark brown hair falling forwards over his brow which she had a sudden urge to brush back. Her eyes skipped down to his chest. She drew in a sharp breath as she saw the bloom of red against the white cotton, where her knife had pierced the skin.
She swallowed again at the understanding of all that had happened, shook her head a little to try to unscramble her thoughts. Her eyes traced his hands, one still holding Victor's blade loosely at his side. Then she looked back at his face.
Could she trust him?
No.
No more trusting anyone. That was the deal. Trusting people just led to situations like this one.
His lips parted softly.
OK, maybe this situation wasn't all bad.
He frowned more, starting to worry at her silence.
She chewed her bottom lip. How could she tell if the dizziness she felt around him, the stomach-pounding, adrenaline-rushing feeling was actually love and not her body telling her to run away fast? How could she decipher her heart? And, she thought, more worryingly, if she trusted him then didn't that mean she would have to believe what he had said about her being the White Light? And then what? Where would that lead her? Lead both of them?
Her eyes went to the knife again. Lucas followed her gaze, realised what she was looking at and dropped it to the floor. He held his palms up towards her in a gesture of surrender.
'So?' he asked.
She closed the distance between them in two strides and took in the surprise that flashed across his face before she closed her eyes and kissed him.
The whole world - all the realms included - fell away to nothing. There was just her and him and she was safe. She felt his arms come around her waist as he drew her against him, his lips scorching against hers, lighting a fire deep inside her. And it could have been her instincts but it could just as well have been fear that made her clutch him tight, scared he would disappear.
She finally pulled back; his arms stayed tight around her waist. She rested the palm of her hand against his chest and felt the beat of his heart, hard and fast against it. His amulet was gone.
She said the words before she could think them. 'I trust you.'
His hands found her face, his lips were a tantalising fraction away from her own, when he stopped and pulled back. She froze. Had he tricked her after all? One of his hands dropped from her waist. She started to struggle against the other one, but then she saw he had pulled something out of his pocket and was holding it in front of her face.
She blinked and tried to focus. He was holding a thin gold wedding band.
'I think this belongs to you,' he said.
She stared at him in amazement. 'You went back for it?' she asked, her fingers shaking as she took the ring.
'Yes,' he murmured. 'I wanted you to find it.'
'But how would I have found it?'
'If you'd have killed me my body would have returned to the Shadowlands - at least I think it would have - being half human I'm not sure, some of the lore doesn't seem to hold true - but if my body had vanished, the ring would have stayed here, everything from this realm stays behind - clothing, weapons, rings. You would have found it. And hopefully you would one day have understood.'
She looked at him, marvelling at the fact he'd gone back for it. For her. For a tiny piece of metal sunk into the mud and weeds.
She slipped the ring onto the fourth finger of her right hand. 'Thank you,' she said quietly. Would her parents think she was doing the right thing? She wondered. Would they think she was crazy for believing she could end this war? Or worse, that she was a traitor for allowing herself to fall for a shadow warrior?
Lucas drew a finger along her cheekbone and she involuntarily shuddered. She heard a groan and hoped to God it wasn't her.
But it wasn't. Lucas's hands dropped away and they both turned towards the groaning sound.
Victor was stirring at their feet. Evie stared at him. She felt nothing.
Wrong.
She felt numb towards him. Maybe later there would be anger, fury, hatred, murderous rage, but right now she felt nothing.
Lucas dropped down beside Victor's head and she wondered what he was doing and then she caught the glint of the knife blade in his hand.
'What are you doing?' she screeched, grabbing his shoulder.
'What I've been vowing to do every day since I was nine years old.'
'No,' Evie shouted. 'You can't kill h
im.'
'I have to. Did you forget what he did? He killed my parents. And yours too.'
She flinched. 'Yes, I know. He's a psycho. That doesn't make it right. I'm not going to let him make me into something I don't want to be. Or you for that matter. I already gave him too much of me. We let him go.'
Lucas stood up from his kneeling position. 'We let him go and he will come after you.'
'And you'll protect me if I need you to, but only until I can protect myself.'
Lucas's lips pressed together, his straight brows drawing together into one line.
She felt the distance between them as a physical thing, recognised the urge she had to close it. She reached out a hand and placed it on his arm. 'Lucas,' she said more softly, 'you just said that you loved me because I made you a better person.' She watched him frown. 'If this is the better you, what the hell were you like before?'
He pulled away, wincing.
She pressed on. 'You said that you believed in me. I don't know if you are right to or not. But if you think I can make this fighting and this killing stop, then I'll do it. I won't walk away. I'll stand and fight with you. By your side. I'll see it through to the end. But I won't kill in cold blood. And I won't kill for revenge and I won't let you either. Because I'm not going to become like him.'
36
Lucas knelt in front of Victor and pressed his face up against Victor's.
Victor's eyeballs were rolling wildly in his head as he struggled his way back to consciousness. He waited until Victor had focused enough, until he saw a spark of recognition, and then he pressed the knife tip against his throat where the line of blood had already clotted.
'This blade belonged to my father,' he said. 'I left it by the pond.' He paused and heard Evie make a sound behind him. 'Do you remember my father?'
Victor's nostrils flared. He tried to turn his head but the knife pressed down and he fell still.
'You killed him, just as you killed my mother. Do you even remember her? Do you remember the boy in the car with her?' He watched as Victor's eyes sprung open in surprise. 'Yeah, you probably should have made sure there were no witnesses left behind.'
He saw the fear drain into Victor's eyes as realisation finally dawned.
Lucas felt the weight of his father's knife in his hands, so delicately balanced it felt like holding a flower stem. The metal so iridescent it was almost see-through and so sharp that if he moved his fingers a fraction it would fall through Victor's jugular as easily as a raindrop through a cloud.
He leant forward even closer, dipping his head so he could whisper into Victor's ear. 'Know that I am saving your life because of her. Know that. She saved you.' He nodded in Evie's direction. ' I would have killed you.'
He moved the knife away from Victor's neck, replacing it with his knee. 'Get me something to tie him up with,' he said, looking up at Evie.
Evie stood stock-still, staring at him.
'Quickly,' he urged.
She looked around frantically for something - then tore a Chanel dress off the rail and pulled the belt from around its waist, chucking it towards him. He tied a convoluted knot around Victor's wrists and neck, binding him into a foetal position.
When he was done he stood up, noting the wide-eyed relief on Evie's face. His hand found hers and he tugged her towards the back door. They stepped through into the storeroom. Lucas took in the weapons laid out before him, frowning.
'Where are we going?' Evie asked.
'We have to get away from here. They're coming,' he said, letting go of her hand and bending to pick up one of the UV torches. He switched it on and off before tossing it to her. 'Here, take this,' he said.
Then he grabbed hold of the nearest knife encased in a sheath, and handed that to her too. She took it, discarding the one she'd had up until now, the one tipped with Lucas's blood.
'OK, let's go,' he said, taking her hand and sprinting to the back door, which led out onto a back alley.
'Hang on,' she said, pulling back. 'Where are we going? I can't just leave.'
He turned to her, his hand on the handle. 'You want to stick around and have a give peace a chance bed-in?'
She smiled sarcastically.
'Or do you want to stay alive?' he asked, ignoring it. 'The people coming aren't exactly the kind of people who you'd want climbing into bed with you. They don't understand peace. All they know is that you are the White Light and they want you dead before you go raining on their parade.'
'I can't just leave - what about my mother?' she protested.
He opened the door. 'We'll call her.'
She dug in her heels as he tried to pull her through the door. 'What?'
He turned back to her and saw the fear on her face. He wanted to smooth it away, hated that the fear was in some way caused by him. That's when he heard the footstep in the alley, the sound of shallow breathing. He whirled around, blocking Evie with his body.
'Going somewhere?' Risper said, stepping out from behind a dumpster. He caught the silver flash of something in her hand and knew without looking closer that it was one of those circular blades she'd had in the cornfield.
He heard the growl that erupted from his own throat, felt Evie press closer against his back, her fingers digging into his waist.
'Where's Victor?' Risper asked.
'He's tied up.'
Risper frowned at him, her small mouth pursing. She was tiny - barely bigger than a child - but he knew from watching her in the cornfield that she was fast and that she was dangerous.
'We were just leaving,' Lucas said quickly, smoothly, calculating how fast he could reach her and weighing that up against leaving Evie unguarded. 'The Brotherhood are coming. You can stick around for the party if you want but we're leaving.'
His fingers tightened on his father's blade. He wasn't going to let go of Evie. So instead he squeezed her hand and took a step forward, his eyes on the saw blade Risper had brought up to her chest. Just one flick would be all it took and he would be quick enough to dodge it, but would Evie?
Risper danced to the right, blocking their path. 'She's not going anywhere with you.'
Evie pulled against his grip suddenly, stepping out from behind his back. 'Risper,' she said, 'he's not one of them. He's helping me. I trust him. I'm leaving with him.'
'No you're not,' Risper hissed. 'You think I'm letting you go with him you've got another thing coming.' Her voice raised to a yell. 'I've been waiting four years for them to tell you who you are. I've had to risk my life to protect yours when you were too ignorant and too stupid to even know what you were.'
'You tried to kill me,' Evie burst out. 'What do you mean protecting me? You've been trying to bury one of those things in my skull ever since you first saw me.'
Risper threw her a look as cutting as the blade. 'I couldn't believe it was you. That you were supposed to be the one to save us,' she spat. 'You - you're just a girl.'
'So are you!' Evie shouted back.
'If you were meant to be it - if you were really it then you would have survived anything I threw at you.' She frowned, her voice dropping. 'And you did.' She glanced at Lucas. 'You did,' she repeated.
'So what? Because you only got a piece of ear and not my whole head you suddenly think I'm the White Light? That it's OK to protect me?'
Risper pressed her lips together, anger coming offher in waves.
Evie opened her mouth to say something more. Then rammed it shut again.
Lucas's eyes scanned the alley. Something. There was something out there. Something coming closer.
'Yes,' Risper suddenly said, her face scrunched up with fury. 'I do believe it. Because, despite everything, you're still alive. And if you're it then I'm not letting you out of my sight. You're what I've been waiting for. You're not leaving. You're staying right here and you're fulfilling whatever it is that damn prophecy says you're doing. Because I want out.'
Lucas interrupted her stream of fury. 'Risper, there's no time. I can protect her better than y
ou.'
He felt Evie tense next to him, her back straighten, her hand clutch at his. 'Lucas, I feel something,' she said and he caught the note of panic in her voice.
'They're here,' Lucas said, still staring at Risper.
Risper whipped around, her eyes raking the alley. She spun back to face them. 'They can't be,' she said. 'Jocelyn and Earl were supposed to be holding them off.'
'Well, they've obviously failed,' he said, tugging Evie after him. 'Let's go,' he said as they pushed past Risper.
Lucas paused, looking left and right. Left was a dark, garbage-strewn alley, about one hundred metres long, which emptied onto Main Street. Right was the same, only shorter, running for fifty metres before it hit a brick wall where another alley backed onto it. A yellow lamp illuminated a zone at the far end and he caught the blur of movement beneath it.
'This way,' he called, pulling Evie to the left.
They started running. 'Where's your car?' he asked.
'Behind Joe's diner,' she said. 'Free parking.' She shrugged, seeing his expression. 'Where's your car?'
'Parked on Main Street, one block down.'
It was her turn to give him a look. But Lucas was staring straight past her.
He sensed her before he saw her, felt Evie react too, both of them coming to a screeching halt about twenty metres before the end of the alley. He heard a movement behind him and glanced over his shoulder. Risper had been hot on their heels and had drawn up sharply too. Her eyes were narrowed, her teeth bared, but she wasn't looking at him, she was looking straight past them.
Lucas turned and saw Shula step into the light, feet spaced wide, hands on hips. She was wearing a black catsuit that clung to her body in ways that not even skin could manage. Her hair was swept back off her face, piled high on her head. She was standing in the green light cast by an emergency exit sign and it was making her glow toxic.
'Well, someone's in a hurry,' she announced, with a wink directed just at him.
Lucas stepped forward into the light, shielding Evie. He heard the whisper of steel against steel as Evie unsheathed her knife behind him.
He started edging her backwards, his brain trying to process his next move. If Shula was here the others would be nearby. The best way would be through her and out onto Main Street. It was the quickest route to the car.
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