Massaging his throat, Lucious inwardly smiled. He was pleased his sire and the fates had hidden the tomb so well.
“Where is it?” Kallias shouted, trying to fight his way out of Ealdraed’s vice-like grip. “You know, don’t you?”
Lucious glared at him. “I do not know the exact location.”
Kallias growled. “Ealdraed, let me go so I can search his past for answers. I’m sure it’s there!”
“No,” Ealdraed said, his face completely devoid of emotion. “You will not insult the Council we worked so hard to build with your petty grievances.”
“Our brother is right, Kallias.” Laclia sashayed to the group. “It would only strain the situation further. Lack of powerful vampires on this Council may cause other forces to try to intervene with the way things are being run.”
“I don’t care. Once our father is back, we won’t need Councils,” Kallias responded.
Ealdraed released his blood-brother and punched him in the gut hard enough for Kallias to fall to his knees in pain.
Spitting out blood onto the floor, Kallias glared at him. “That was uncalled for.”
“It needed to be done. You would not calm down otherwise,” Ealdraed reasoned.
“You would hurt your family to keep me from torturing this man?”
Ealdraed stared his brother down. “Do not presume for a second that I condone such actions. We created the Councils to forge a balance between mortals and our race. We are not going to ruin this peace, so you can throw a fit.”
Lucious saw darkness seeping out of Ealdraed’s back and knew the elder was preparing to attack Kallias if he retaliated in any way. He took a step back from the Royals. The further away from them Lucious was, the safer he felt. Maybe the reason why these ancient vampires had fled to separate ends of the world was because they could not be contained in the same place.
His amusement died down when Laclia took Lucious’ hand and closed her eyes. Prickling energy invaded his shields. He clenched his jaw when an electric current passed through him.
“What are you doing?” Lucious asked between gritted teeth.
“I’m taking a peek at your future,” she replied, opening her eyes. She directed her attention to Kallias who was getting up. “We will find the tomb in time.”
“Did you see where it was?” Kallias asked.
She smiled. “Yes, but we are not the ones who will open it.”
“Is Lucious going to—” Kallias began.
Laclia placed her index finger against her blood-brother’s lips, silencing him. “We cannot see the tomb because it is hidden. It won’t stay that way for much longer.”
Ealdraed crossed his arms, stretching the material of his ebony sweater. From where he stood, Lucious noticed that Royal’s sudden displeasure at the announcement.
“What did you see?” Ealdraed asked her.
Shifting closer to Ealdraed, she looped her arm through his, resting her hand on his shoulder. “A fate is coming to open the door to our father’s resting place. She is not alone.”
Lucious’ stomach sank as if he had eaten a boulder. “Don’t hurt her!”
“There is no need for us to harm her,” Laclia told him softly. “She is not someone we are permitted to touch. Arthemis forbade us.”
“He doesn’t need to know that,” Kallias hissed.
“No need to get grumpy. My vision was as clear as day. They will open the door soon,” Laclia said, grinning.
Kallias rubbed his hands together. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s meet our creator’s mother.”
“And say hello to our brother,” Laclia added.
Ealdraed’s eyes narrowed. “Hartwin betrayed us a second time?”
She nodded. “I am certain he will pay for his crime once Father awakens.”
“That is what I’m most afraid of…” Ealdraed grumbled under his breath.
HELENA
At Heathrow Airport, Helena grabbed her bag off the belt and stood on her tiptoes to search the crowd for Maya and Ben. To her dismay, the first person she locked eyes with was Hartwin, and he didn’t seem pleased.
With powerful and purposeful strides, he zeroed in on her. In a prolonged silence, he observed her face for the longest time.
“What?” she snapped, unable to keep her annoyance down any longer.
“You are not Lilia. Why have you come out?”
For some reason, she didn’t feel any animosity coming from him. He genuinely seemed curious about her reappearance. Helena relaxed her shoulders. “How about we talk this over once we get out of here? There are certain things I have to ask you.”
“It would bring me no benefit to satisfy your curiosity, young lady.”
“Standing here with you is the same thing for me, yet here we are…”
Hartwin’s amethyst eyes lit with a faint glow before he erupted into a laugh. “Are you not afraid of me and my kind?”
“I’m more afraid of humans than I am of you.”
He tilted his head to one side as if processing her words. Giving her a stiff smile, he rested his gloved hand on her shoulder and lowered his head to whisper in her ear. “It would be a mistake to underestimate my kind. Until my task for Lilia is complete, I will keep you safe, for her sake.”
Helena turned her head to meet his eyes. She lowered her voice in case anyone was listening to their conversation. “I don’t know all of Lilia’s secrets, and I can’t fully understand her, but please tell me what will happen when Arthemis dies?”
Hartwin shut down his emotions by erecting an invisible wall between them. She could almost see his openness fading. He lifted his head and adjusted his coat. “Your friends are here. Let us be on our way to the succubi den.”
“Hartwin—” She was cut off by Maya and Ben arriving at her side.
“Did he do anything?” Maya glared at the Royal.
“No…” Helena gripped the handle of her luggage tighter. “Let’s get going. I’m sure there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of before we can open the gate.”
Hartwin nodded. “A wise decision.”
LUCIOUS
Lucious paced around the small hotel room, wearing down the cheap carpet of their current accommodation in Larkhill. They were only a mile away from Stonehenge and his nerves were like a noose around his neck.
What am I going to do if Lilia shows up at the tomb?
He couldn’t protect Helena from the Royals. Their orders overruled his. Clutching the crystal relic in his hand, his grip on it intensified until his knuckles were as white as snow. He took in a deep breath and lifted it to study the shifting darkness inside the sphere. His eyes locked on the view he recognised as the Heathrow Airport, and, soon after, he saw her.
Helena, followed by Maya and Ben, left the airport with a perplexed expression on her lovely face. He traced his finger along the outline of her cheek and made a split-second decision. He needed to track her down. To warn her! He stashed the relic back into the box and held on to it as he opened the window and jumped down onto the recently trimmed grass. He could smell the herbaceous aroma of it hanging in the night’s fresh air.
A quick scan of his surroundings told him that no one had taken notice of his departure. So, he fleeted at the fasted speed possible in the direction of London, abandoning his duty, his people, and his life.
Two hours later, he staggered around the streets of London in search of her. The crystal was feeding off of his life force, and, after the long run, his thirst was starting to stir. He used the crystal around the corner from the place he never wished to visit again. The Black Alley club’s interior in the image conjured by the relic he would never mistake for anything else. After all, Isha’s den was one of a kind with its red lighting, golden tables, and leather furnishings. But the question remained, what did Helena want from an old succubus?
He hid the relic behind the nearby bin in case things got heated and walked to the set of engraved onyx doors. She is almost in my grasp. The thought made him knock three t
imes on the wood with more eagerness than he wanted to display.
One of the doors opened, and a blonde incubus said, “We’re closed.”
“The hell you are!” Lucious pushed the door all the way, allowing his remaining energy to flood through him. It burned like a coal fire within him which materialised stray flames on his arm in a form of an open threat.
The blonde man stumbled backwards, away from Lucious and the entrance. “Isha will not be happy with the Council’s interference.”
“I am not here on Council business,” Lucious growled, striding past him into a room full of entranced patrons and dancers.
He raced to the next floor, seeking Helena out, and came to a stop in front of Isha’s office. There he was faced with a powerful tidal wave of energy that pushed him back. Lifting his gaze, he found a lean vampire dressed in black who looked no older than twenty-five based on his outward appearance. He glowered at Lucious with lavender eyes.
“Let me through.” Lucious fisted his hands at his sides.
The stranger’s eyes flared with purple flames as he looked down his nose at Lucious. “What business do you have here?”
“I’m here to see her. Helena!” he shouted her name, letting it ricochet off the embossed scarlet wallpaper.
Like an oasis, she came into his view and pushed the vampire aside. Lucious would question her about who the man was later. For now, his world was filled with her. He had missed every curve of her body, every strand of her chocolate-brown hair. Even her skin had changed. No longer did paleness cling to her from the constant overcast weather. She now had a golden tint to her face and neck. What stilled his breath in his throat were the depths of her watering eyes. The two of them edged closer to one another like opposite magnets gravitating to meet in the middle.
“Lucious…” she whispered.
He couldn’t stand being apart from her for another second and consumed her in an embrace. It pleased him to know that she had feelings for him when she hugged him. If he was mortal, his bones would strain and his back would bruise from her hold.
She buried her face in his shoulder, crying into the material of his shirt. “I want to kick you for what you’ve done to me,” she grumbled and punched his back lightly. “You’ve erased my memory of you, of everyone! How could you do that?”
More tears wet her cheeks. All he could do was stand there and let her beat his back while he stroked her knotted hair. Some things never changed. She still forgot to brush it.
Maya stuck her head around the vampire, and her mouth fell open. “How did you find us?”
“I used the relic Helena left at Vincent’s. It showed me where to find her,” Lucious replied.
The powerful vampire who picked Lucious apart with his dissecting stare let out a huff and retreated into Isha’s office. This reminded Lucious exactly of where they were, and he reluctantly separated from Helena.
“Why are you here?” Lucious asked, trying his best to not mould her against his body.
She intertwined their fingers together and clutched his hand as if her life depended on it. “We have business to attend to here. Come.”
With his jaw set, he trailed behind her, never once releasing her hand. He wouldn’t let her be apart from him anymore. He would rather see his life extinguished instead.
The room Isha was in was filled with people, some of which he wanted to push off a cliff—mainly Reaver for breaking his leg during their last intervention.
“Ah, Lucious, it has been a while,” Reaver said with a pleased look on his face.
Lucious knew the warlock was occupying a female shell of the deceased saint, and he could not bring himself to think of that schemer as anything other than a deplorable man who would do anything to come out on top. He could not imagine Helena being the one to contact him, which meant that Lilia had to be behind this questionable reunion.
“Sod off,” Lucious snarled, summoning a snort from the hunters.
Isha rubbed her temples and ran her clawed hand over her short dark hair. “Can we begin? Why did a witch who smells like Mother come to visit my club at such a late hour?”
Helena stepped forward, breaking away from Lucious’ hold. “I want your blood.”
The succubus lifted a thin brow. Her dark eyes roamed Helena’s body. “My blood?”
The elder vampire moved away from the wall and stood next to Helena. He inclined his head in greeting. “I am Hartwin, son of Arthemis, Seeker of Truth.”
“A Royal here, in my home?” Isha traced the beads of her golden necklace with her fingers. “This is bound to be good.”
Helena clutched her head, groaning in pain. Her legs gave way, and Lucious caught her before she could hit the ground. “My dear?”
But, the second her blue eyes met his, he knew it wasn’t her anymore. Lilia slapped his hands away and took a step back from him. “Do not touch me without permission, vampire.”
“What did you do to her?” Lucious demanded.
Hartwin stepped in, spanning his arm protectively in front of Lilia but never touching her. “Do not speak to our mother in such a way. She is the reason we exist.”
“Your mother?” Isha rose from her seat and her silver dress shimmered in the lamplight. “So, you are Lilia? Where is Diya?”
Lilia sucked in a long breath, washing away any trace of emotion from her stony face. “My sister is not here yet.”
“She will return to us?” Isha asked, full of excitement.
“In due time. For her to roam this world safely, I need your help,” Lilia said.
Isha knelt on the ground at Lilia’s feet and took hold of the fate’s hand. She pressed Lilia’s knuckles to her forehead and murmured, “I will do as you bid. To protect Mother, we all will do as—”
Something smashed downstairs and shrieks of men and women followed, drawing everyone’s attention. Soon after, into the room burst two incubi. Their eyes went wide and, before they could speak a word of warning, they collapsed. From the shadows of the hallway emerged two Royals—Kallias and Laclia—with their hands covered in blood.
Lucious immediately noted the blood belonged to the incubi since their backs had holes where their hearts used to be.
“Hartwin, Lilia,” Kallias began with a clap of his hands. “It’s so nice of you to come to my playground!”
Hartwin and Lucious moved to stand in front of the fate. No matter the cost, Lucious wouldn’t let anything happen to her; not while there remained a sliver of a chance that Helena could take control of her body.
“Lucious, step aside,” Laclia warned. “You are a Councilman and must uphold the laws we dictate.”
“You spit on our traditions with such ruthless actions,” Lucious retorted.
Her eyes flicked to Maya as the hunter reached for her weapon. Laclia appeared behind her. With one masterful twist of Maya’s neck, she had the girl lying on the floor, immobile. Laclia’s eyes narrowed on Ben who pulled out his gun and fired two rounds into her chest. She laughed and took a menacing step towards him.
Lucious fleeted to stand as a barrier between the hunter and the Royal.
“Get out of here!” Lucious shouted over his shoulder.
Ben spared one last glance at Maya’s body and ran past Hartwin and Isha to the window. He peered down, grumbling a curse. “They arrived prepared.”
“Of course we did,” Kallias said. “We didn’t want Lucious to have all the fun.”
Lucious speared him with a glare. “You have followed me here?”
“Enough of this insolence,” Isha screeched, funnelling everyone’s attention to her. “You are on my territory. This is a breach of our treaty!”
Kallias closed in on her and sneered. “The Royals never made such a treaty. It does not affect us.” His hand clamped around Isha’s neck. He backed her up against her throne-like chair in which she met her visitors. Pushing her into it, Kallias’ eyes glowed with menace. “I never liked your kind.”
“You are no…different…from us,” Is
ha managed to squeeze out between gasps. She sank her claws into Kallias’ arm and his dark blood ran down her hands, splattering her dress.
As he tore her throat out, Hartwin covered Lilia’s eyes and pushed her behind him. Lucious noticed her trembling shoulders and realised why the Royal did such a kindness. The girl who was in control again was Helena. Lilia had abandoned her, leaving his lover to deal with the mess at hand.
Lucious drew Helena into his arms, and Hartwin took out a thin blade from his coat.
A scream of delight escaped one of the witnesses, bringing everyone’s curious eyes to Nora, Nico, and Reaver.
Reaver lifted his hands in defence when he noticed the Royals were focused on them. “We are willing to cooperate. We will even help you open the tomb if you let us live.”
Laclia spared a glance to Kallias who gave a nod of his head. “Wait outside.”
Without a word of protest, the warlock ushered his daughter and apprentice out of the room.
Lucious picked up on a faint smile the bastard sported during their distress. He backed away, knowing that there was no way out for them.
“Get out of the way, brother,” Kallias threatened Hartwin. Blood trickled down his healing arm. “Father will deal with you when he awakens.”
“Lucious,” Helena whispered in his arms. “Go. Get out of here!”
He stared at her, incredulous. His arms pulled her into a crushing hold. “Do not speak another word about such foolishness, my dear.”
A fire sparked on the ceiling, sending everyone cowering to the ground. Ealdraed marched into the room with an overwhelming energy flowing out of him to the point where the pressure piled on top of Lucious’ shoulders. They couldn’t get away. The heat from above reached for them, and he protected Helena with his body as much as possible.
“The den is cleared,” Ealdraed announced. His black eyes were like two voids into the abyss, filled with emptiness. “Take the fate to the tomb. Force her to cooperate if you must.”
“Will do,” Laclia said, rising.
“And you”—Ealdraed pointed at Hartwin—“will stand with us tonight or be imprisoned forever. Which do you choose?”
Fated Origins: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 4) Page 12