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

by Raven Steele

  “Like what?” Lucien rubbed the back of his aching neck. Sometimes he wished he was still back in Skystead living a private, pretty much non-existent, life.

  She shrugged. “I didn’t see anything come out, but he sure was sucking something. After about thirty seconds, he stopped and walked away. A few minutes after that, the guard returned to normal as if nothing had happened.”

  Charlie’s glanced at Lucien, his eyes tired. “So the VP is some kind of supernatural. What do you think it all means?”

  “It could mean a number of things, but if I was thinking like Boaz, I would have the President killed, making Hansen, someone I could manipulate, the new President. Shortly after, I would make a public announcement outing supernaturals to the world.”

  “And from there, bills would be introduced giving supernaturals certain protections and rights,” Charlie added. “Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but what’s Boaz’s angle? How will any of this help him?”

  “Boaz doesn’t care about anyone’s rights,” Lucien said. “This is about much more than making supernaturals mainstream.”

  “Power,” Alana said. “He wants control of both species.”

  “But humans still outnumber supernaturals a hundred thousand to one.” Lucien lowered his head into his palm, thinking hard. Ultimate power. That’s what Boaz had always wanted. For that to happen, he would need more supernaturals on his side or … less humans. A memory flashed: his brother going on and on about a plague he was going to unleash upon the world, killing millions. That plan had failed.

  Lucien’s head snapped up. “Charlie, you said once that there were humans in our government who work with the Deific.”

  “And?”

  “How many and who? Does the President know about the Deific?”

  Charlie leaned back in his chair and rubbed at a bruise on his chin. “The President doesn’t know. I don’t think so, anyway. Not many do, and we’ve tried hard to keep it that way. However, there is a woman with a lot of influence in the CIA who knows our truth, and when they encounter something they can’t explain, she brings us in as private contractors.”

  “We need to tell her about the Vice President,” Alana said.

  “We need to tell her a lot more than that,” Lucien said, eyeing them both. “This isn’t just about elevating supernaturals. This is about killing humans. Lots of them.”

  Chapter 14

  Eve leaned back in the chair, completely deflated. A thousand-pound weight. That’s what she felt on her chest right now.

  “There must be another way,” she pleaded, the words painful to speak.

  Henry met her gaze and clasped her hands in his. “I wish there was. Believe me, I’ve researched this for hundreds of years. If there was another way, I would’ve found it.”

  Eve pulled away from him. “Were you there? The first time Boaz put the necklace on me?”

  She prayed he hadn’t been. It was the darkest moment of her life.

  Henry straightened and looked beyond to a blank wall. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters to me. I need to know.”

  His eyes returned to hers. “Yes. I was nearby.”

  She stood up abruptly, inhaling deeply to keep the weight from crushing her chest. Henry could’ve stopped it. Could’ve stopped all the pain and suffering Alarica had caused to so many people.

  Henry spoke in a pleading tone. “The moment Boaz had you restore his powers, Erik, Sable and I were going to destroy him. We had the perfect spell, but Boaz and the rest of us underestimated the necklace’s effect on you.”

  Eve placed her hands on the wall, her head lowered.

  Breathe in. Slowly.

  Her toes and fingers were tingling and not in a good way.

  “I’m so sorry, Eve. We would have never gone through with it had we known that it would take you over like that. We only wanted to stop Boaz.”

  She whirled around. “At my expense. You used me! Was there ever any consideration for my life? For what I wanted?”

  “We were looking at the big picture.”

  “Was I in this picture somewhere? Even a speck of color?”

  Henry’s Adam’s apple rose and fell. “As soon as we killed Boaz, then you would’ve been free from him. You could’ve lived the life you’ve always wanted. Even your parents would’ve left you alone.”

  Eve walked across the room and peered out the darkened window. It was pitch black. Not even a sliver of moonlight to comfort her.

  She turned around. “You say you were going to kill Boaz, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “But how? I thought you needed all four original witch families, the ones who bound Boaz in the first place. You were missing a Brady.”

  Henry cleared his throat. “I said you needed the blood of all four witch families. We had a vile of Brady blood from Lucien’s great grandfather from which we could draw power from, but it was destroyed in that inferno you created when you thought you killed Boaz.”

  Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her. “That’s why you wanted me to find Lucien. You manipulated me again!”

  She crossed the room in three steps and raised her arm to slap him, but he caught her hand and stood tall, practically towering over her.

  “You were the only one who had a real shot at saving Lucien from his own private hell. I had already tried multiple times, but he wouldn’t listen to anyone. We needed him.”

  Eve snapped her arm back. “So you’re using us both?”

  “And? What would you have us do? We need you both to destroy Boaz!” His voice was rising, something she hadn’t heard before.

  “How about being honest for once?” Her voice was just as loud. “I can’t wait to hear what Lucien thinks about all of this!”

  Henry grabbed her by both arms. “You must not tell him. He would never let you go back to Boaz.”

  “I won’t let me go,” she growled and squirmed against his tight grip. When she couldn’t break free, she used magic to shock his hands away.

  Grimacing, he let go and rubbed his palms together. “Just take some time. Think about it before you tell him. There really is no other way, and soon you will know this too.”

  “I can’t just lie—”

  The door flew open. Rick stood in the entry, his body tense and brows furrowed.

  “We have a problem,” Rick said. “We got a call from Levi. There’s something going on at the library that the police department can’t deal with. He said it involves magic. Levi was pretty shook up. “

  Henry looked away from Eve. “Have you informed Lucien and Charlie?”

  “They’re gearing up now.”

  “Take a few others. You should probably go too, Eve, especially if it’s another witch.”

  “Gladly.” She brushed by him. Anything to get her mind off what she had just learned. There was no way in hell she would willingly put on that necklace ever again. There had to be another way to destroy Boaz.

  Eve opened the stairwell door. Rick came in behind her.

  “So, who’s Levi?” she asked while descending the stairs quickly.

  “He’s a sergeant in the NYPD. He and a couple of others are aware of what we do.”

  “I’m surprised I haven’t heard of him before. I did live here, after all.”

  Rick rounded the corner next to her. “I guess he doesn’t normally ask us to work with them. He just calls Charlie and gives him the information to do with what he wants, but this time a night janitor called the police when he said he was attacked by two people breaking into the library. Levi didn’t realize supernaturals were involved until they were already there. The police have the library blocked off per Levi’s request and won’t do anything until we get there.”

  “Do you know anything about the people who broke in?”

  “Um, it’s a woman and I think they said a monk, or a dude that looks like one, anyway.”

  Eve almost lost her footing. “A monk? Are you sure?”

  He shr
ugged. “Why?”

  She hurried down the rest of the way and opened the door into the large training room. Was it possible that Dmitri was here?

  Lucien was inside with Charlie and five other people on the other side of the room. His eyes locked with her eyes. She forced a smile but quickly averted her gaze. She would have to figure out what to tell him later. Henry was right about one thing. She couldn’t tell Lucien until she knew for sure. But she couldn’t lie to him either, which meant she’d have to avoid him. The thought pained her. All she wanted was to be in his arms again. Have no worries or fears.

  “Put this on,” Charlie said and handed her a thick, protective vest, the same as the others.

  “This isn’t necessary. Immortal, remember?”

  “Just wear it.” He also handed her a helmet. “And don’t take this off. You don’t want anyone recognizing you just yet.” He walked away toward the door.

  Eve sighed and slipped her arm through one of the openings in the vest. Lucien was there to help with the second hole.

  “You sure you’re up for this?” he asked.

  Eve turned around, trying hard to avoid direct eye contact. She hated that. She wanted to dive into his eyes, drown in them forever, but she couldn’t do that until she figured out this shit with the neckless. She brought her thoughts back to the problem at hand. “I want to go. I’m worried I might know one of them trapped in the library.”

  “How?”

  “Rick mentioned a monk. I became good friends with one while I was away, recovering at a monastery. This can’t be a coincidence.”

  “Let me guess. A little place not far from Paris.”

  “How did you know?”

  “Load up!” Charlie called.

  Lucien placed his hand on the small of her back again, making her nerve endings come alive, and guided her toward the door. “I’ve been to it a couple of times over the last several decades. Only stayed a night or two when I was in particular need of rest.” He stopped her. “No wonder I couldn’t sense you when I tried. That place is protected from outside magic.”

  “I kept myself cloaked, too.” Eve continued through the door without adding any more of an explanation. There would be time for that later.

  On the ride over to the library, Charlie called Levi to get more details about the situation. There wasn’t much more from what Eve already knew, but from the description of the woman and the way she was able to move objects without being touched, Eve guessed she was a witch. Probably a crazy one. No supernatural used their powers in front of humans, especially cops.

  Charlie parked the car in front of the library next to several police cars. A couple of cops were standing guard near the front doors. One of them hurried over when they saw Charlie getting out of the car.

  While the others exited the vehicle, Eve slipped the helmet over her head and pulled down the face guard. The library was on the corner of a small intersection and looked to be about four stories high. A parking garage was on one side, and an office building on the other. Both looked abandoned, but come a few hours and this place would be swarming with people.

  “I’ve held my men back,” the officer told Charlie, “but I’m afraid that crazy lady in there is going to start a fire or something. The guys are pretty freaked out. You sure you’re equipped to handle this?”

  “We’ve got it,” Charlie said. “Thanks, Levi.”

  Eve slipped out of the vehicle behind Lucien and shook off the chill in the air. The library, a place that wasn’t meant to feel threatening, held an ominous presence that was strangely familiar.

  “There are two stairwells that go to the top,” Charlie explained. “Lucien and Eve, you take the west side and we’ll take the east. No one is to engage until we know what we are up against, got it?”

  Eve took off and was the first one through the door, her pulse racing.

  “Slow down, Eve,” Lucien said, jogging to catch up to her. “We don’t know what we’re walking into.”

  She meant to go slower, but the feeling of familiarity grew stronger the closer she came to the top of the building. She couldn’t move fast enough. Just before she burst through the final door on the fourth floor, Lucien snatched her back.

  “What is going on with you?” he asked. “You’re being reckless!”

  She glanced over his shoulder, trying to see through the door’s narrow window into the room beyond. She closed her eyes and concentrated, forcing air into her lungs. “You’re right. It’s just, I think I know who’s in there.”

  “Who?” He took hold of her hands, then glanced down. “Your hands are trembling.” His expression darkened. “Is it Boaz?”

  She opened her eyes and shook her head quickly. “But I think it’s someone from my past, someone I don’t think I can trust, but I also feel they’re in trouble.”

  “Then let’s take it slow, okay? We’ll go together.”

  She searched his eyes, then nodded. With Lucien by her side, his love bleeding into her, she knew she could face anything. “Let me go first?”

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Eve slowly opened the door to confirm what she already sensed, that she knew the woman beyond, this witch, even though she hadn’t seen or heard anything about her several years.

  She moved into the library and darted through rows and rows of bookshelves, following the sound of soft whimpering’s. A few fluorescent lights were turned on, illuminating parts of the library that had already been destroyed: a shattered table against the wall, a broken window, books scattered across the floor. She rounded the last row of shelves. And then she saw her.

  Her friend.

  Her blood sister.

  Liane.

  Chapter 15

  Lucien kept close to Eve’s back, keeping his head on a swivel. A lot of power had been used here recently, a mixture of both kinds. It had created a magical storm of epic proportions and had destroyed many parts of the library.

  Eve stopped in front of him. He glanced past her to see what she was looking at. A man lay crumbled on the ground wearing a long, brown robe, the same kind the monks wore at the monastery he sometimes visited, the same one Eve had returned from. To his left, a woman in a tattered and dirty dress had pressed herself into a corner, her eyes darting around the room like a cornered animal. They settled on Eve when Eve took a step toward her.

  “Liane?” Eve asked quietly.

  Lucien recognized the name. Eve’s former best friend, the same one who Eve thought had betrayed her to Boaz.

  The sound of Eve’s voice made Liane jump. Liane snapped her arm forward and blasted Eve with an invisible force. She slammed against Lucien and together they crashed into a bookcase behind them. Lucien tried to shield her from books as they toppled onto them.

  Eve scrambled onto her knees and tugged at her helmet. “Help me get this off!”

  “No, you need to leave it on.”

  “You guys okay?” Charlie called from across the room. He was huddled with the others behind the librarian’s counter, their weapons drawn.

  From the corner, Liane wailed a terrible, tortured cry. “Get out! Leave me alone!”

  Lucien turned back to Eve just as she tore off the helmet, revealing her face. “You can’t let Liane see you!”

  “But Dimitri is out there, and the only way I can help him is if I calm Liane down. I think I can do that but she needs to know its me.”

  Lucien straightened a little and peered over the fallen bookshelf back at Liane. Power radiated from her but no more than it had with the Vyel. “I’ll get Liane while you save Dimitri.”

  Eve grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Please, just wait. I think I can talk to her.”

  “Now!” Charlie said from across the room. The men behind him circled around and rushed at Liane.

  “Stop!” Eve cried, surprising Charlie.

  The witch in the corner struck out again, blasting two of the men away from her. The third raised his tranquilizer gun, but before he could press the t
rigger, Eve used her own magic to knock the gun from his hand.

  “Back off, everyone!” she said and stood.

  “What the hell is going on?” Charlie asked

  Liane covered her ears with her hands and screamed. She held her knees tightly and rocked back and forth. Lucien thought she looked half out of her mind, and a crazy witch was a deadly witch.

  “I am going to go talk to her,” Eve said.

  Charlie threw up his arms. “Are you crazy?”

  Lucien spun her around, his muscles coiled tight. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

  She glanced back at Liane nervously. “Something’s wrong with her, but I feel like if I could just get her to recognize me, I can help.”

  Even though dread and apprehension had settled deep into his gut, he nodded.

  “If I can distract her, grab Dimitri,” she added.

  He nodded again.

  She stepped away from him and slowly approached Liane.

  “Lucien!” Charlie hissed in his direction.

  Lucien ignored him and kept his focus on Eve.

  “Hey, Liane,” Eve said. “It’s me, Eve. Remember me? I won’t hurt you.”

  Liane’s green eyes briefly locked with Eve’s then her gaze lowered. Her head twitched in short, unnatural bursts, and she twisted her hands in and out of each other.

  “Look at me, please,” Eve implored, keeping her voice calm and soothing. “You know me.”

  “No closer!” Liane cried and raised her hand as if to use magic again.

  Eve smoothed her hair back, taking it away from her face. She probably thought it would help Liane recognize her better.

  “Liane. It’s me. Eve.”

  Liane’s eyes widened, and she brought her hand to her mouth. “You are a ghost!”

  Eve shook her head. “I’m very much alive.” She held out her hand and stepped closer. “Touch me. You’ll see.”

  Liane lowered her hands, twisting her face in confusion. “Boaz told me you died.”

  Eve took another step forward. “Is that where you’ve been all this time? With Boaz?”

  Lucien also crept closer. Just in case.