The Devil's Soldier: A Paranormal Vampire Romance Novel (Devil Series Book 3)

by Raven Steele

  “You’re saying Samira is one of the good guys now? I don’t believe it. Not her.”

  Charlie smiled and glanced at him sideways. “Even the worst of the worst can change, Lucien. That’s why we should give everyone a chance.”

  Lucien scowled, hating that Charlie’s point had been proven again.

  “Give her a call. I think you could learn a lot from Samira. Plus, she has resources we may not and could have a lead on Boaz. I’ll text you her number.”

  Lucien grunted an approval and turned to stare out the window. He hoped to endure the rest of the ride in silence, but Charlie had other plans.

  “Are you meeting with Henry again?” Charlie asked.

  “In a few hours.”

  “How’s that coming, anyway?”

  “It’s coming.”

  “Are you able to use magic now?”

  “None of your business.” Lucien hated talking about his training with Henry. It felt too personal, probably because it was. Henry was constantly badgering Lucien to look inside himself to see things that Lucien didn’t believe were there. Lucien loathed it.

  “Maybe if you could speed up the process, we might have better luck finding Boaz.”

  Lucien huffed. “You’re the psychic.”

  “Boaz is blocking me with magic, and you know that. What we need is someone with magic who can use their ability to hunt him down.”

  “Then ask Henry. He’s the super powerful one.”

  Charlie shook his head. “Henry is our secret weapon. Boaz can’t know he’s alive. Not yet, anyway.”

  Henry wasn’t their only secret weapon. Lucien’s magic was the other. At least, that’s what Henry said. Lucien wasn’t convinced. Sure, Lucien could do a few things, like the whole turning-into-smoke-and-flying thing. He liked that one the most. As for the rest of it? If he concentrated long enough he could move objects, but so what? That was nothing compared to what Boaz could do. Lucien was hardly a weapon.

  Charlie drove into the underground parking garage beneath the Deific office in Wildemoor They had come here from Skystead a couple of weeks ago when there was a sudden increase in vampires. This was a major concern, especially since his brother, Aiden, was dead along with Aiden’s plan to unleash a deadly plague among the humans. So who was turning these new vampires, and why?

  The elevator doors opened.

  “Are you going straight up to your place?” Charlie asked as they stepped inside.

  The pain in Lucien’s heart ignited all over again, a deep burning that constantly threatened to consume him. His place was once Eve’s apartment. Every time he stepped inside it, he smelled her and felt her presence. She was a ghost in his life, but no matter how much sorrow it caused him, he’d rather have her as a ghost than nothing at all.

  “I’m going to get some work done first. Can I use the conference room?”

  “Go for it. I’m going to crash.”

  Just before the elevator stopped, a steady calm washed over Lucien. It was a familiar feeling. “Henry’s here.”

  Charlie groaned. “At this hour? I wanted to get some sleep.”

  The elevator doors opened. Henry stood there waiting for them. “Sorry, Charlie, but I need your opinion on this too. You can sleep in tomorrow.”

  “You mean today,” Charlie mumbled as he walked past him. “Let’s go into the conference room.”

  Lucien flipped on a nearby light. The rest of the office was quiet and dark. It would be another four hours before anyone else arrived.

  “How did it go?” Henry asked, walking next to Lucien.

  Henry, who rarely appeared stressed, had deep lines etched into his forehead.

  “Same as always. Just a bunch of vampires who don’t know anything.” He turned the light on in the conference room.

  A large whiteboard hung on the wall. Scribbled on it were a bunch of locations of where vampire activity had been reported. Lucien walked around a long table to the other side of the room.

  “Lucien saved my life tonight,” Charlie told Henry as he collapsed into a rolling chair. It spun around several times.

  The corners of Henry’s mouth lifted. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

  “It surprised me,” Lucien said.

  Henry dropped a newspaper onto the center of the conference table. “Have you read the news?”

  “Missed it today,” Charlie said through a yawn.

  Lucien picked up the paper and scanned the front page. “Virginia’s governor was found dead in his home.”

  “Read the bottom right, too,” Henry said.

  Lucien glanced down. “And a senator died in California.”

  “Rough day to be in politics,” Charlie observed.

  Henry lowered into a chair. “This month there have been a total of six high-up government officials found dead. One committed suicide, one was murdered and the other four were either ruled as accidents or natural causes. Can you tell me when in history this has happened before?”

  The room fell silent. Lucien hated politics, but a lot of supernaturals liked them. It was one area of their lives where they felt in control, as they were easily able to manipulate humans either through bribes or threats. It didn’t take much. The supernaturals used their influence to have certain laws passed in their favor. For example, keeping the US borders open. Supernaturals loved all the undocumented people coming into the country. No one seemed to notice when one disappeared.

  “It hasn’t happened … ever,” Henry pointed out while he removed his long brown jacket and draped it onto the back of the chair.

  Lucien stared down at the newspaper. “You believe these aren’t accidents.”

  A pain stabbed him in the head, hard enough that he cried out and dropped to his knees.

  Henry and Charlie jumped to their feet.

  “What’s wrong?” Charlie asked.

  Lucien drilled his palms into his temples, as if he could somehow squish whatever was twisting his brain. His vision changed, flashing blues and oranges. He fell over on the ground, gritting his teeth.

  Henry knelt down beside him, his hands outstretched and hovering over Lucien’s body. He said something in a language Lucien didn’t recognize.

  Slowly, the pressure subsided and his muscles relaxed, but just before the pain disappeared altogether, Lucien heard a single word from a voice he never thought he would hear again.

  Lucien.

  Lucien’s eyes flew open, and he sucked air into his lungs.

  “It’s Eve,” he gasped. “She’s alive!”

  Chapter 4

  There were a lot of people in the darkened bar, but no was looking in Eve’s direction. The woman she saved had already scrambled away, the man following after her. Eve and the vampire were virtually alone.

  An ancient magic, unyielding and powerful, rose inside her, igniting her with power she could barely contain. When the vampire’s fangs pierced her skin, Eve electrified her body and shocked him away. He stumbled back, mouth open in surprise, but eyes teeming with anger. She couldn’t kill him here in front of all these people, but she could lure him out the back door to get the job done there.

  She bolted toward the rear of the building, the vampire following closely behind. Using more magic, she blasted the back door open and ran outside. The alley was empty except for a stray dog nudging through some old garbage. It startled at the sight of her and scurried away.

  “Why’d you fight me in there?” the vampire said as he strode toward her as if to corner her between a brick wall and a large dumpster. “We’re on the same side.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” She scanned the area, searching for something she could kill him with — a stick, junk furniture, even a pencil would work, but there was nothing made of wood anywhere that she could see. Maybe there was something she could use to decapitate him instead.

  “Ah, so you’re one of those do-gooder witches?” the vampire mused. “You know what happens to those, don’t you?”

  On top of garbage i
n the dumpster, she spotted a small metal lid, its edges sharp. It looked like it had once belonged to a can of tomato soup by the smear of red on its center. Eve wasn’t sure it would work, but she was willing to try.

  “Time to finish what I started in there.” The vampire stepped closer. “I’m going to stick my fangs in you, and you’re going to like it. Then I’m going to—”

  Mentally, Eve lifted the can-sized lid and whirled it toward him as fast as a bullet. It spun like a Frisbee until it sliced through the center of his neck, severing his spinal cord in half. His whole body convulsed until it burst into ashes all around her. She turned away to keep the ashes from getting into her eyes or mouth.

  After the dust settled and realization of what she’d done hit her, she stumbled into the brick wall behind her. She hated killing, no matter who or what.

  She rested her head against the bricks and sucked in several ragged breaths. It wasn’t until her heartbeat slowed down that she felt the familiar sensation of being watched. She lifted her eyes to the entrance of the alleyway. A male figure stood still, surveying her carefully. There was an eerie glow to his eyes. He was a supernatural too, but what kind?

  The man shook his head slowly, and Eve had the distinct impression he was smiling even though she couldn’t see his expression through the darkness. He turned to walk away.

  “Wait!” she called and hurried after him, but by the time she reached the end of the alley, the man was gone. Only a few people walked along the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. Eve cringed. Not good. What if he recognized her?

  She returned to the alley hidden well within its shadows. It was time to go and fast. There was only one way to accomplish that: using a key piece of her magical abilities that she hadn’t used since that night on the Cliffs of Moher.

  She closed her eyes and focused on the area around her. The weight of her body standing on the concrete, the faint breeze moving the hairs on her arm, and the way the alley smelled like wet dog and maple syrup. Within a few seconds, she became connected to everything around her.

  Now that she was grounded, she concentrated hard on her friend Dmitri, on where he was parked, on what he was doing, probably reading the same small book he always read. With a push from her mind, magic surged throughout her skin, blood and bones. It almost overwhelmed her, but she channeled the energy and used it to transport herself to Dmitri in a blink of an eye.

  She crashed on the hood of Dmitri’s car. He jumped and let out a high-pitched shriek.

  “Sorry,” she said and slid off the hood on the passenger side. She opened the door and slid inside, closing it behind her.

  “Did you just teleport?” he asked, his mouth open.

  “Looks that way.” She glanced around to make sure she hadn’t been seen. “We need to go. Fast. Someone saw me use magic to kill a vampire.”

  “Do you think he recognized you?” Dmitri set his book aside and pressed on the gas pedal.

  “I don’t know,” she answered, but the way her stomach was twisting made her nervous.

  A full minute passed before he asked, “How did everything else go? Were you able to remember how your other abilities worked?”

  She nodded. “And my magic was stronger than it’s ever been before. I think your training really helped.”

  “Good.” He eyed her sideways. “I have something else for you, too.”

  “What else could you possibly give me?”

  Dmitri rested his palm over the small book resting on the center console. “This doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to you.”

  He picked it up and held it out to her.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Just take it.”

  Eve took hold of the book. Her fingers tingled and she gasped, but Dmitri didn’t notice.

  “It belonged to Ellenore, your mother’s sister.”

  The sensation in her hand slowly disappeared. “What is it?”

  “Some of her scattered thoughts but mostly a journal of spells. I learned a lot from it, and I have no doubt it will be a big help to you, too.”

  Eve turned the leather-bound book over in her hand, shocked that he would give it to her, especially knowing how important it was to him. She’d never seen him without it.

  A sudden realization dawned on her. “You loved her, didn’t you?”

  He smiled, and his whole countenance brightened. “Very much so. I miss her terribly.”

  “She must’ve been something special.”

  “She was.”

  Eve pushed the book toward him. “Please, I can’t accept it. You should keep it.”

  He gently nudged it back. “Ellenore would want you to have it. She spoke of you a few times, wishing there was a way she could get you away from your parents, but you were too guarded with magic and by Boaz.”

  “I had no idea.” She ran her fingers across the leathered cover. “How did she die?”

  It was a moment before he answered. Moonlight illuminated his tortured eyes through the glass window. “Doing exactly what you’re about to do, fight Boaz, but her fight was different from yours. Her goal was to rescue people from his clutches. She saved many people from him, but it came with a price.”

  He glanced down at the book in Eve’s hands. “Just promise, Eve, that you will read every page and remember who you are. Your training with me is complete.”

  Her throat tightened, making swallowing difficult. “Then it’s time.”

  “It is,” he agreed.

  She leaned back into the seat and looked up at the full moon. There was nothing left to do. All she had worked for the last couple of months had led up to this moment.

  It was time to hunt down Boaz and kill him.

  Chapter 5

  “What did you say?” Charlie asked. He was speaking inches from Lucien’s face.

  Lucien remained on the floor, too stunned to do anything else. He had heard Eve’s voice. She had been inside his head.

  Charlie shook him. “Hey! Snap out of it!”

  Lucien blinked and repeated, “She’s alive.”

  Charlie straightened and rubbed the back of his neck. He walked to the other side of the room, pacing back and forth.

  “How can you be sure?” Henry asked.

  “There was this intense pressure in my head, and then all of a sudden I heard my name. In Eve’s voice.”

  “It could be the work of another witch,” Henry suggested, but his tone didn’t sound convinced.

  “I don’t think so. It felt like Eve, but something was wrong.”

  Charlie spun around to face him. “Like what?”

  “I think she’s in trouble. I got the distinct impression that she was under duress when she said my name.”

  “But how could she have survived?” Charlie asked. “You said there was too much blood on the rocks.”

  Lucien shrugged and pulled himself into a chair. “I thought there was. Maybe Boaz transported her into some kind of a prison. Maybe that’s why we haven’t heard from her. She’s being held captive against her will.”

  “If Boaz really had her, then we’d know,” Henry said. “That cursed necklace would be around her neck, turning Eve into Alarica. The whole world would’ve felt her wrath.”

  Charlie stopped moving and dropped into a chair. “You’re right. Boaz can’t have her, so who does? Maybe she did survive, but how would she have had the strength for that swim? It’s almost a mile around the coast before there’s a beach.”

  Lucien’s mind spun. He knew he had heard her voice, but how could she be alive? That’s when it came time to him … a small memory.

  “I think Eve can teleport, like you.” He turned to Henry.

  Henry shook his head. “I highly doubt that. It took me almost two centuries to learn how to do that.”

  “But she did it before,” Lucien remembered. “At least, I think she did.”

  “When?” Charlie asked.

  “We were at her house. I was trying to talk her out of going to Ire
land, begging is more like it, but she wasn’t having any of it. I even blocked the door, but she used magic and shoved me away. Then she was just gone.” He shook his head. “ I couldn’t even pick up her scent. At the time, I thought she had simply blocked me with magic so she could slip away without me knowing, but maybe not.”

  “There’s one problem with your theory,” Charlie countered. “If Eve really did escape and is alive somewhere, why hasn’t she contacted us?”

  The room fell into heavy silence. Lucien had wondered the same thing, and he didn’t like the direction of his thoughts. Maybe Eve had grown tired of him and all the drama. Maybe she thought her life was better spent away from him.

  “If Eve escaped on her own,” Henry said, “then she has her reasons for staying away, which probably all have to do with Boaz. Our plans haven’t changed. All of our focus needs to be finding and destroying Boaz.”

  Lucien stood and stepped back toward the door. “I need to find Eve and make sure she’s okay.

  “Wait,” Henry said. “If she is alive and out there, then the only way she will ever be safe is if we kill Boaz. This is one threat she can’t face on her own, and something tells me she would do just that to protect the both of you.”

  Lucien locked eyes with Charlie.

  “That does sound like Eve,” Charlie said.

  Lucien turned to Henry. “How much more training do I need?”

  “First things first,” Henry said and slid the newspaper over to Charlie. “Get your men on this. Check history, autopsy reports, talk to friends and family members of all the deceased. These deaths aren’t a coincidence.”

  “On it,” Charlie said.

  “As for you, Lucien, we begin right now.”

  “Right here?”

  Henry nodded. “I’m going to take your magic from you. Obvious at first, and then more subtly. It’s what Boaz does, and you need to protect yourself against it. We can’t have him stealing anyone’s magic.”

  Charlie came to his feet, taking the newspaper with him. “I’m going to get a little sleep, but I’ll come back bright and early.”