“She’s been marked,” Michael said as if those words were an explanation enough.
Helena eyed her guardian, and Lucious gathered her back into his arms. “It seems to me that I have arrived at the right time. Wouldn’t you say so, guardian?”
The faint sound of Michael’s teeth grinding against one another was carried over to her and the tension between the men rose.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Michael broke eye contact with Lucious to meet her dissecting gaze. “It is a demonic flower. The mark means that no matter where you are the demon will be able to find you.”
Her stomach grew heavy at the thought of that bastard’s face emerging wherever she was. No wonder Lazarus let her go without a fight.
Lucious stroked her arm, giving her the much-needed support. She glanced up and found him watching Michael intently. In this situation, his gentlest touch didn’t take away her agitation.
“What am I supposed to do now? I can’t hide. I can’t do anything to prevent him from coming after me or my family.”
Her string jerked as if to reflect the turmoil of emotions fighting in her heart. It didn’t last long. Lucious folded her closer to his chest, making her lean into him, and calmness washed over her.
Michael advanced and, to mirror him, Lucious retreated. Helena felt no need to fight him because he kept the terrifying thoughts at bay.
Her guardian glared at them. “Stop this. I must see if I can remove it.”
She could almost hear Lucious’ smile growing wider above her. He was toying with Michael on purpose.
“Why is this demon after her?” Lucious demanded.
Michael ignored him. His full attention was focused on her head. “Helena, snap out of it! His touch is clouding your judgement.”
“You have not answered my question,” Lucious growled.
Michael had a point. Being this close to Lucious was wrong. She needed to create some distance that would diminish their contact. When she strained to peel away the arms around her waist, he didn’t budge.
“Leave this instant, vampire. You are the reason she got into this mess in the first place.”
Lucious shook his head. “The Council trouble I’ll admit was my fault, but demons? No. I don’t think so. What are you hiding behind that stoic composure of yours?”
Helena tried prying away from him and heard his voice in her mind. “Trust me, my dear.”
She stopped her struggle. Whatever he was plotting, he could get more information out of Michael and, currently, they needed anything that could help them.
“He is after her because of her bloodline. Call it a family curse if you must.” Michael gave her pleading look. “Release her.”
“I can’t do that yet. There is something else that has been on my mind as of recent. Why is it that we can feel each other’s pain?”
Helena had been wondering the same thing. If Michael knew the truth, she needed to know.
The angel said nothing. He remained stationary, piercing Lucious with his stare.
“Michael, is he telling the truth? Are you hiding something from me?”
He seemed hurt by her words. Her guardian looked at the ground.
She knew he was upset and wanted to reach out.
“Don’t go to him,” Lucious whispered into her ear.
After a moment, Michael lifted his head. The anger from earlier was washed away and replaced by sadness that tore at her already aching heart. “I didn’t want to tell you this until I was certain.”
Lucious indicated for him to hurry the speech along.
Michael cursed under his breath. “I believe you have been soul-bound.”
Helena’s brows scrunched up. She was marked, now soul-bound. Next time, she would need to bring her angel-to-English dictionary.
“What’s soul-bound?” she and Lucious asked in unison.
“It means that your strings have become one. You are part of one soul with two bodies. Both of you can feel each other’s pain, feelings, emotions. But even as that already is a downside, there is a bigger one.”
“If one dies so does the other,” Lucious finished for him.
“You already knew this?” Michael asked.
Lucious shrugged. “It wasn’t hard to figure out.” He let go of her and moved so their shoulders were barely touching.
Helena’s head dropped. Michael knew everything and never spared the time to tell her any of this. Her chest felt tight. She needed some space. Being in the vampire’s arms took away some of the worry and panic that came crawling back, but she couldn’t keep relying on him. She erased the minuscule contact they had by moving aside.
The next time she glanced at Michael, he had a minute smile curving his lips.
“To bind two souls together requires a lot of power. For a human, it is impossible. There isn’t a being that can do something like this.” Lucious said.
She felt the vampire’s measuring stare on her. “I am human,” she said in defiance, but she was beginning to question that fact.
Lucious burst into laughter. “Even you don’t believe your own words, my dear.”
“You are correct. There are no beings left that could do that,” Michael said.
Lucious’ tone grew serious. “What is she? If she’s not a saint and not a witch…”
“Helena is a human. There is no doubt about it.”
She let out a shaky laugh.
“Then, how did she join our souls together?”
“It’s an improbability, but not impossible that the demon had something to do with this,” Michael replied.
Helena’s hand brushed her mark. Things were starting to make sense. She alone couldn’t possess the power everyone saw in her. Lazarus had planned this from the beginning. She clutched her arms, her nails digging into the sensitive flesh. “That meticulous, evil, son-of-a—”
Michael strode over to her. “Let me have a look at the mark. I’ll try to remove it.”
She turned her back to him. His fingers brushed her shoulder blade, and she felt his palm pressing against it. A warm sensation spread from her shoulder and around her whole body. Her skin tingled under his touch. Soon after, it grew more unpleasant and became painful. She winced through gritted teeth, and he stopped abruptly.
Michael jerked his hand away, cradling it with the other. “I can’t do it. He’s too powerful for me right now.”
“You are as useless as always,” Lucious remarked.
She shot him a glare he deserved. “It’s not his fault. He wanted to help.”
“Obviously not hard enough!” Lucious shouted.
She raised a brow at his childish behaviour. Something was amiss. Is he scared?
Lucious rubbed his temples and sighed. “I’m sorry. Tell me this then, how do we split this bond?”
“It’s not possible.” Michael’s answer made her stare at him in disbelief.
Lucious grabbed Michael by the collar of his shirt. “What do you mean it is not possible? There must be a way. I’m sure—”
Helena didn’t wait around for him to finish. She slapped Lucious as hard as she could. Pain zipped through her arm as if she had hit a stone wall.
His eyes blazed with blue fire. He let Michael go and reached for her instead.
Not having enough time to think, she did what her instincts told her. Helena wrapped her arms around his waist and held onto him as if her life depended on it. She willed for him to stay calm, and gradually his anger subsided.
“Do you realise what you’re doing to me right now?” His lips brushed against her ear.
To hide her blush, she buried her face deeper into his chest. She was never this brazen with any man. This was too out of character for her.
“I cannot watch this,” Michael mumbled and vanished.
Now that they were alone, she couldn’t stop her mind from running wild and seeking a way to explain her reasoning. The problem was that she had no explanation. She began peeling away when he caught her.
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“Where do you think you are going?”
Her heart fluttered in her chest. If he held her any longer, she would not be able to let go. “Let me go, Lucious. I did that to protect Michael.”
“You cannot do what you did without repercussions.”
She gazed at his smirking face. Her next words hurt when she voiced them. “Please, let go.”
He brushed a lock of her hair away from her face. Lucious leant in. His lips hovered inches above hers. “As you wish.”
His hands fell away, and he headed towards the shield’s wall.
Helena bit down on her lip, hard, to prevent her from begging him to return. It was ludicrous. She couldn’t possibly have feelings for him.
She created an opening for him to pass through. The faster he leaves the better.
He hovered next to the hole in her shields. “I will look into a way to break this bond. If your guardian doesn’t know how to, doesn’t mean there isn’t a way.”
“He said it’s impossible…”
Lucious chuckled. As he walked through the shields, she heard his last words echoing in her mind. “And do you believe him?”
There was so much to consider and much more to figure out. The quiet of the room allowed her to hear the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs nearby. Discarding her dreadful thoughts, she pulled the curtains apart and looked out the window at the mesmerising sunset.
The warm oranges mixed with the purples over the shimmering water made her wish she had brought a camera with her. The last time she had seen a view as beautiful as this was when she was a child. She remembered her mother on her left and Richard on her right. She beamed at him with a smile that was missing two front teeth. Her memory became clearer. No, it wasn’t Richard. She knew who it was—her father—the man who went missing without a word and took what little happiness she had as a child with him.
Getting a grasp on reality, she suppressed the painful memory. There was so much information to absorb. Michael had protected her bloodline for centuries. She had Lazarus on her tail, Vampire Council wanted something from her, otherwise, they wouldn’t make that bargain, and she had become soul-bound with a vampire. “Never have I imagined that these would be my problems.”
One of those mysteries could be solved by speaking with Vincent. A chill ran through her when she recalled the library vision with Perri.
“That was Lazarus,” she repeated until she felt better.
She pushed away from the windowsill, threw on a shirt that covered her mark, and left the room to find the Councilman.
Helena stood stranded in the large hallways decorated with tapestries and suits of armour from different centuries. Her eye caught movement, and she ran towards it. Whether it was her imagination or not, this was her best chance to find anyone in this place.
As she rounded the corner, she bumped into Perri who was carrying a tray full of food. It fell to the ground with a loud crash.
She grabbed hold of Perri’s elbow, saving her from the tumble down the winding stairs. She propelled the girl forwards, and once the maid found her balance, let her go.
Taking one look at the ground, Perri burst into tears.
Helena eyed her and the tray, not sure whether she had hurt the girl. She refrained from touching the maid because she feared to see the terror in her eyes she had witnessed in the dream.
Perri dabbed at her cheeks with a handkerchief she had produced from her apron’s pocket. “Helena, I’m so sorry! Master Vincent told me to bring you some food, and I didn’t know you’d be walking around. I wasn’t looking, I—” She blew her nose into the thin material.
Helena gently patted her on the shoulder. “It’s alright. I’m the one at fault here. You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll get this cleaned up or the tea will stain the carpet.”
Perri stashed the handkerchief back into her pocket. She started collecting the destroyed meal back onto the tray.
“Let me help,” Helena said, kneeling next to her.
“No. You are Master Vincent’s guest. Guests are not allowed to help us. You can return to your room and wait there. I’ll bring your new meal in a few minutes.”
Helena pouted at Perri who gave her an outburst of cheerful laughter in return. She was glad Perri was alive and well. It removed something heavy that resided in her chest.
Sitting on the ground next to the maid, she tucked her knees into her chest. She watched, with great pleasure, Perri’s attempts at trying to collect the green peas that would roll away from her in defiance.
“Are you sure you don’t want any help?”
Perri lifted her head for a moment and turned tomato-red.
“Are you okay? Should I call someone?”
“It’s not that, it’s him.” Perri rolled her eyes in the direction of a tall, athletically built man in a black suit that advanced towards them with long, confident strides.
Helena stifled a giggle. “Perri, breathe.”
The maid gave her an exasperated look.
“Good evening to you both,” a heavily accented voice greeted them.
Helena stood and brushed her hands over her clothes to make sure they were clean. She returned his pleasant smile. “Good evening, I’m Helena, and you are?”
“Hans, Hans Schulz.” He extended his hand, and she shook it. His skin felt cold to the touch. He couldn’t be…
“You’re a—”
He interrupted her with a glare that lasted less than a second but was more than enough of a warning. Turning back into a perfect gentleman, he assessed Perri and the tray. “I see that something terrible has happened here.”
“Ouch!” Perri hissed and a piece of glass fell from her hand. Helena watched Hans’ reaction as a drop of blood budded on Perri’s middle finger. The next moment, Hans was kneeling on one knee and holding her injured hand.
“May I?” he asked, bringing the finger close to his mouth.
Perri turned into an excited bobble head, and Helena fought the urge to roll her eyes at this display of false affection.
Hans coaxed her finger towards his mouth and licked the blood off.
Even though she knew it was an act, Helena couldn’t stop a blush from heating her cheeks. A glance at Perri told her that the woman was lost to them. She was on cloud nine and climbing higher.
He kissed her palm and smiled. “There, you’re healed.”
Perri studied her finger. Her eyes widened when she found no cut there. “You’re right. It is.”
“Now then, if you will excuse me and Miss Hawthorn. We are going to go find Vincent, or was I wrong to assume that that was where you were headed?”
Perri smiled and returned to doing her job.
Hans rose, standing next to Helena. He was taller by at least a foot, so she had to crane her neck to look at him.
“No, you were right.”
He inclined his head. “Let us go to the dining hall.”
When they put some distance between themselves and Perri, he stopped. His hand caught her arm, forcing her to do the same. “Not everyone here needs to know what we are, and I suggest that you avoid trying to reveal it to them.”
Helena glared at him. She wasn’t planning on saying anything, yet his actions were prodding her defiant side in a different direction. “Why not? Don’t they deserve to know?”
“That is not something you can decide. They are not harmed and are taken care of here. Do you believe they would have a better life back on the streets?”
She had no idea what that life was like. Those who lived on the street did not have the bright smiles these people wore. “You may have a point.”
He let her go. “We have reached an agreement then.”
The silence between them stretched as they walked the rest of the way to the dining hall. Hans, playing the gentleman, opened the door for her, and she edged into the room. Not waiting for her any longer, he approached Vincent, who sat at the head of the table, and bowed.
&
nbsp; Vincent greeted him, and his curious eyes found her.
Helena took a few shaky steps, unsure whether to do the same as Hans or if a simple ‘Hello’ would do.
“Please, take a seat.” Vincent pointed to the chair on his left.
Automatically, she sat where he told her to.
His attention remained on her. “Is there anything you wish to discuss with me before dinner arrives?”
“I—Yes.” She balled her hands under the table. “Did you know Eva?”
His eyes narrowed, but nothing else told her what he was thinking. “There are many women who go by that name.”
“A Russian witch from an early nineteenth century, I doubt there were that many of them who had their own Circle.”
Vincent raised his glass of wine and stared at the liquid with a blank expression. “I have known a woman by that name at that time, yes.”
“Was this in Russia during the witch hunts?”
“Prior to the hunts, and I do believe it is my turn to ask you a question, don’t you think?” He sipped his drink and set the wine glass down on the smooth surface of the table. “How do you know of this acquaintance of mine?”
Helena pursed her lips together, her mind racing. She chose to go for the truth. “The dream I was in, the nightmare to be specific. It showed me things.”
“You mean the demon’s illusions,” Hans corrected her.
“Yes.” There was no need to deny it. Her dreams were nothing more than an artifice designed by Lazarus. Vincent or Madeline may know of a way for her to remove the demon’s mark on her shoulder. She stopped her train of thought. It would be too dangerous to trust the Council with such information.
“Are you unwell? You seem distracted,” Vincent asked.
Helena saw genuine concern in Vincent’s eyes, so she gave him a weak smile. “I believe it’s my turn.”
Vincent chuckled. This was the first time she had seen his serious demeanour stripped away. It was as if he were a different person altogether. “I believe you are correct.”
Hans rose from his seat. “You have much to discuss. I will return when you need me, sire.”
They both watched Hans leave. Vincent’s attention returned to her the moment the door closed behind him.
Russian Roulette (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 1) Page 27