Alexander stared at her, incredulous. “If you have managed to get a favour out of Reaver, perhaps I should hire you as a negotiator for my toughest business deals.”
“This is not the time to joke,” Nadine chided. “I can’t believe you have managed such a feat, especially while you were captured by that person.”
“I can’t tell you how it happened. I don’t know the answer to that…” Helena replied.
“What makes you believe Reaver will come?” Alexander asked.
“Because Nora said she will, if I ask for help.”
The room fell silent. All eyes were on Helena as if they were trying to make sure she was real and not an apparition of some kind.
Alexander cleared his throat and took out a bottle of scotch and a single glass from his drinks drawer. He studied the lone glass on his desk before putting it back. Then, he uncorked the bottle and took a swig.
“This is madness,” he finally said as he set the bottle down.
Helena shrugged. “It’s the only way we can do this.”
“I don’t know if we can trust Reaver with this,” Nadine said.
Maya nodded. “I, too, am not convinced it’s the best choice.”
Helena pursed her lips. She looked at Alexander. He was the last person in the room who had any say in the matter. She hated relying on him for help. If he was opposed to the notion as well, Andrew may be well and truly lost, and she had no idea how she would cope with that.
Alexander reclined in his seat, his eyes never leaving Helena’s. “I cannot stake my life or my business on this, yet I find myself mystified that Reaver may come to your summons. I say, why not? It is a gamble, yes, but few investments are risk-free.”
Knee-bending relief flooded through her, and she hit the ground with a smile tugging at her lips. They were given a chance. They could save Andrew and rid themselves of the demon.
While Maya knelt next to Helena with a concerned expression on her face, Alexander took out his phone and called someone.
After a short exchange in German, he walked around his desk and handed her the mobile phone. “It is the time you showed us how well connected with Reaver you are.”
Gingerly, she took the phone from him and pressed it to her ear. “Hello?”
“If it isn’t my dear friend, Helena! Did you miss me? Alexander told me you need my help. Do tell, what can Papa and I do you for?” Nora’s childish voice slithered out of the speaker, and Helena gave Maya a nervous glance.
Apprehension seeped into Helena’s words. “We need via…”
“Viator bijous,” Nadine said from where she stood.
Helena nodded. “Viator bijous, do you have any of those?”
“Ah, yes, I have over a dozen bijous in my vault. Why do you need something that has been replaced by phones?” Nora asked.
“We need them to communicate from the Demon Realm.”
On the other end of the line, the silence grew. Out of the blue, a giggle erupted from Nora. “That sounds like a great adventure. I want in. Niko, demons inbound!” More laughter escaped from the speaker. Helena had to move the phone away from her ear to avoid going deaf.
Maya eyed her with worry and whispered, “Are you sure you want to deal with that girl?”
Even Helena was no longer certain about this deal. Nora was a wild card. She could kill them without batting an eye and would enjoy it. Helena gripped the phone in her hand. This is the only way.
“Will you help us?” Helena asked between bursts of giggles on the other end.
Nora’s voice became deeper. “I have promised my aid to you, young lady, and I will do my best to keep my word.”
Helena guessed she was speaking to the real Reaver—Nora’s father—who resided in the siren’s body. “Thank you. We are heading to West Norwood…”
“Ah, the Demon Gate at the cemetery. I have visited it a few times,” Reaver said with glee. “I will meet you there tomorrow evening. I must prepare for the journey and take care of some errands here. Would that suffice?”
“Yes, yes of course.”
“Then, with great pleasure, I await the time we will meet again…” Reaver ended the call.
Helena handed the phone back to Alexander, and he rested his hip against his desk with a mixed look of surprise and confusion.
“I cannot believe it…” he said.
“You don’t need to believe it. Can we get going already?”
Lucious saw red as he waited for Alexander’s plane to land at Heathrow airport. How could his childe be more important to her than him? He strode over to the large window displaying nothing but the night and the planes encased in the shadows. His hands wrapped around the metal railing, and he squeezed them, reshaping the thick steel.
“Cursed demons.”
A young human child gaped at him, so Lucious made his way to a secluded café upstairs. He sat on a plastic orange seat. The vibrant colours hurt his eyes. Strong scents of human perfume and body odour bombarded him. Since his descent started, he noticed the change in the way he could pick out the most indistinguishable of scents.
He snorted. Perhaps I am turning into a dog.
Lucious’ humour vanished as he recalled Vincent doing business with the werewolves. Although he had not seen any of them around, for which he was thankful, they would not seek out the Vampire Council without a good reason. He combed his hand for the dozenth time through his tousled hair. It did not matter what the Council did as long as he and his were out of danger.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he retrieved the device to read a message from Alexander, informing him of their arrival. Walking at a human’s pace, he left the café and waded through the crowd of people rushing to the check-ins.
Once he arrived at the VIP arrivals lounge, the string trembled before he laid his eyes on her. It had been a week since he had seen Helena in person, and he had missed the sight of her face.
A second passed, and she noticed him. Their eyes met. He smiled at her, but she looked away. Lucious’ jaw locked and his anger from earlier returned. Indeed, he was not the one she came here to see.
He balled his hands at his sides and strode to where the group was seated.
Alexander looked up from the laptop screen and waved him over.
With bitter aftertaste in his mouth, Lucious ignored her and stopped next to his friend. “Fill me in.”
Alexander typed something on his laptop. He closed the lid and slotted the device into his laptop bag. “You’ve missed quite a party. The saint”—he pointed to her as she settled on the furthest sofa and scribbled something in her journal—“is a handful. If I wasn’t already dead, I would fear for the state of my heart. The hunters have rearranged my living room into God-knows-what, and Helena—” He lowered his voice, “—managed to convince Reaver to help us.”
Lucious raised a questioning brow. “Why would Reaver help us?”
“Beats me.”
Lucious noted how tired his friend appeared. He probably had not slept a wink the whole week the hunters were in his home, and for a good reason. Even though Helena believed them to be harmless humans, they were anything but. Their first encounter proved that, and he was not willing to take chances with them.
Within seconds, he closed the distance between him and Helena. He took her by the arm and pulled her after him. Ignoring her protests, and a few coming from the female hunter, Lucious walked briskly until they were isolated from prying eyes and ears.
“Lucious, let go of me. You’re hurting my arm.”
He loosened his grip but did not relinquish his hold. He drew closer, and she stumbled backwards. Lucious shattered the illusion of space she wished to create by pressing his body against hers, trapping her between him and the wall.
“What are you doing? This isn’t the time for this! We have to—”
He cut her off by covering her mouth with his and willed her to open up for him. The link shook unpleasantly, making him nauseated. He drew back, seeing the same look
on her face he had witnessed when he had kissed her after the meeting with the Councilmen—an expression that made him want to sink into the ground beneath him.
Helena wiped at her tears. “It isn’t the time for this, Lucious. We have to save Andrew. We have to!”
His anger melted away, and he welcomed her into his arms, letting her bury her face in his shirt. He kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking…”
She shook her head and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “Help me find him, please.”
Her hazel eyes reflected his undecided expression. He wanted to possess her, to control her every action, yet was incapable of executing his desires when he looked into the depths of those shimmering orbs. Whatever magic it was, he was uncertain if he wanted it broken or not.
Lucious pressed his forehead to her slender shoulder. She was so fragile. If anyone had told him a year ago that he would turn into a fool blinded by love, he would have laughed as he gutted the messenger. But, here he stood, holding a small female who had become his entire world in such a short amount of time.
“Your eyes are quite disarming, my dear,” Lucious whispered and lifted his head. “Don’t ever cry for another man in front of me. Do you understand?”
She bobbed her head and smiled. “Are you jealous?”
“Yes, and I would prefer not to be shaken by such feelings too often.”
Helena hugged him, surprising him enough that he was unable to reciprocate the embrace for a few seconds.
“Helena, are you alright?” the female hunter called from around the corner, and Lucious groaned.
He moved away from her. At the loss of touch, his fingers itched to pull her back in. Fighting the urge, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
“I’m fine. I’ll be right there,” Helena replied. She gave him one last smile and headed back.
Bloody hunters, Lucious thought and trailed behind her.
Helena felt his hands on her even after they parted. She wanted to remain in his protective arms and forget this whole nightmare. With reality crashing down, she knew she couldn’t. Andrew needed to be saved, and they had no choice other than to play the game the demon had devised for them. What she knew for certain was that everyone was nervous. Would the Arcanae Mortum work? Would this whole scheme bring them a step closer to the grave? The questions were there, on everyone’s sullen faces when she returned.
When she came to a stop, she found the group’s attention on her and Lucious.
Alexander put his phone away and said, “We can stay at a small inn near the gate. Tanya has already made the reservations, and I forwarded the details to Reaver.”
“Is it such a good idea to associate with the siren?” Lucious asked.
Helena was growing tired of hearing that question. It was a dangerous gamble because no one knew what Nora was capable of. Their choices were limited by haste.
“We decided to give it a try,” Alexander said, breaking the awkward silence.
Ben, who had been quietly standing by the wall, collected his and Maya’s backpacks. “Let’s not waste any more time.”
Everyone shuffled to reclaim their belongings, and Helena grabbed her duffel bag off the floor which Lucious took from her a second later. She looked at him in surprise, and he added, “Any gentleman would do the same.”
Alexander snorted as he passed them. Lucious went after him, his long strides eating the distance between him and the door.
Someone tapped Helena on the shoulder, and she nearly climbed out of her skin.
“It’s only me,” Nadine said. “You seem to have a lot of strange friends, Helena. Vampires, hunters, witches…even a siren. My only advice to you would be not to hold any expectations for any of those species. They are prone to lies and deceit. Trust only in yourself.”
“Are you included in that list?”
Nadine cast her gaze downwards. “There were times when lies kept me safe.” The saint gave her shoulder a squeeze and followed after Maya and Ben.
Seeing them together, Helena found it impossible to flesh out Nadine’s words in her mind. They were working towards a single goal. Couldn’t everyone get along with ease? Why did they have to fight over prejudices that had been formed centuries ago?
Helena clambered out of her seat and closed the door to Alexander’s rented car. She studied the cheap-looking four-storey accommodation with large glass windows and light-brown brick exterior. One glance over her shoulder told her this was the correct place since Alexander was out of the driver’s seat. He headed for the glass door ahead, the brown frame of which contrasted with the white windows.
“Is something wrong?” Lucious asked her.
“Does Alexander know this isn’t a five-star hotel?”
Lucious chuckled and draped his free arm around her waist, leading her forwards. “Alexander grew up as a servant of a nobleman. That old man could not care less as to what had happened to him and his mother. This accommodation is better than what he had to use in the past, I am certain.”
“Oh,” was all she managed to say. She expected Alexander to be part of a royal family or a noble one like Lucious’. Hearing about his past made her understand why Alexander always complained about wasting money.
Their group was split into three double rooms. Alexander and Lucious were in one, Maya and Ben shuffled to the room across the way, and Helena and Nadine were left with the room down the hall.
When Helena dropped her bag on the ground, Nadine sat on a cheap armchair that faced the window. She pulled back the sun-faded curtain. The blue from it had bled out and turned greenish. Outside, thick dark clouds gravitated together for a stormy night above the colourful houses.
“Do you love him?” Nadine asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Do you love the vampire who keeps touching you?” Nadine repeated, looking out the window.
Helena took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Would it change anything if I had feelings for him?”
“No. I am here to help you because you’ve helped me. I was simply curious.”
Reclining to rest on her elbows, Helena asked, “Do you have anyone you love?”
Nadine whispered, “Long ago.”
“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”
The curtain fell back into place. Appearing displeased, the saint adjusted her baby blue blouse. “He died.”
“I’m sorry…”
“No need to apologise. You did not cause his death. It was his fault.”
Unable to understand how Nadine could remain unaffected by the death of a loved one, Helena looked around and noted that it was past 3 a.m. She pointed at the bed and feigned a yawn. “Let’s get some sleep, I’m tired.”
Remaining seated, Nadine returned to her assessment of the coming storm.
With the sun filtering into the room through the thin white curtains, Helena rubbed her eyes. An odd sensation of something heavy resting on her legs drew her attention. She frowned and searched under the quilt for what it was and found smooth skin. Alert, she jerked into a sitting position.
Next to her, Nadine let out a soft moan of complaint before removing her leg and rolling over to one side.
Helena scratched her head and climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb the girl. She stumbled into the bathroom where she brushed her teeth and took a quick shower.
When she came out, Maya was already sprawled out on her bed, and Nadine was nibbling on a piece of toast.
“The redheaded witch has arrived and is currently chatting with the vampires,” Maya said.
Alexander had mentioned Madeline’s involvement and willingness to help on the flight over. But, Helena’s mind was too preoccupied with the task at hand, and she had forgotten the witch was due to show up.
“I’ll go check on Madeline.” Helena rushed out of the room. She ran down the corridor and knocked on the door.
Lucious opened it with an annoyed look on his face. His damp hair had a few clear
water drops clinging to the ends.
She fought the desire to brush his hair aside as he said, “I do hope you’ve come here to entertain the witch because I cannot take her ramblings about witches and their Circles much longer.”
Helena rolled her eyes and brushed past him into an identical room to the one she stayed in. The bathroom was on her left and directly ahead was a large double bed with a desk across from it and two armchairs next to the window. Madeline sat in one of them with her rich, coppery hair splayed around her shoulders. Morning sunlight bathed her hair with a majestic glow.
She hasn’t changed one bit.
When Madeline spied Helena, she erupted from her seat. Two long arms wound around Helena, and she was squeezed against Madeline’s warm body. “How are you, dear?”
Lucious cleared his throat and motioned for everyone to take a seat. When no one moved, he sighed. “Could you please take a seat, madam?”
“Madam?” Helena asked, looking at them in confusion.
Madeline let out a giggle. “Oh, he calls me that ever since he got an earful from Vincent.”
Helena imagined the scenario in her mind and released a chuckle.
The witch took her hand and led her to the seats. “I am pleased you are in high spirits. There is much darkness on the other side, so being cheerful now is for the best.” She turned to study Helena again. “Someone put a spell on you.”
Lucious moved to stand behind Helena. “Is it dangerous?”
After taking hold of Helena’s palm, Madeline assessed it. “Not dangerous as such...”
“Who would put a spell on me?” Helena’s brows knotted together.
“Have you been in contact with any powerful witches?”
Lucious cursed. “Reaver did this!”
Helena glanced at him. He wore a schooled mask, hiding any emotion she could have read from his face. The link appeared stable, meaning he didn’t want her knowing what he was going through. He had cut himself off from her. She faced Madeline. “Can we remove it?”
“I am sure it is something minor and will vanish unless it is recast. There’s little you need to worry about in regard to that. For now, focus on the demon and his trap.” Madeline retook her seat.
Demon Gates (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 2) Page 32