Crumbling Control (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 3)

by May Freighter

  The world around Lucious became a prison of darkness. He hated standing inside of his mental shields. Unlike Helena’s, his heart was darker than black. No light would ever invade, so it always seemed as if he stood in a void, about to be swallowed whole. His arms and legs grew numb. The energy he had drained away from him. He could tell the succubi were in the process of sucking him dry and there was little time to come up with a plan.

  He cursed. It was foolish agreeing to Ghoul Master’s request. Isha certainly held grudges for longer than he expected.

  Lucious sat on the ground and closed his eyes. The world would be a better place without him in it. Throughout his life, he brought pain and torment to others. His rage, frustration, and self-loathing drove him to the inevitable end out of which he saw no escape. Haunted by the portrait of his blood-siblings, he buried his face in his hands as the life energy sluggishly abandoned him.

  The truth was that he was tired of living, of existing as a creature of the night, and of bringing suffering to everyone he had ever met in his life. Would Helena forgive him for his boundless selfishness in taking her with him into the emptiness of the afterlife?

  The link between them shook. Was he allowing his sorrow to bleed through his strained shields without knowing it? He wrapped his hand around the blood-red string protruding from his gut and concentrated on her excited voice.

  “Lucious, I found something. It might be useful.”

  He imagined the way she would have looked. The way her eyes would shine with immeasurable joy and how her body would move as she paced the room. A single tear escaped him. “We don’t have long.”

  “What are you talking about? What’s happening?”

  “We are dying.”

  “Then stop it. Fight, damn it! Fight, so I can kick you for being so…” her voice cracked, and he heard a knock on his shields.

  “Helena, what are you doing? It’s dangerous if they sense your energy. You will—”

  “Die,” she finished for him. “Now, let me in, so I can spiritually hit you.”

  He chuckled and opened his shields wide enough for her conscience to enter. The succubi energy crept inside in the shape of long, thin strands of purple energy. They tangled around her body as they forced their way in.

  Lucious rushed to her side and helped tear them off her. Where he touched the glowing tendrils, they burned him and quickly drained what energy he had left.

  Helena cried out once she was free of them and, without waiting another moment, he slammed his shields shut. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close to her chest.

  “You’re an idiot,” she whispered.

  He took in the delicate scent of flowers that seemed to follow her everywhere. After spending so much time together, he knew it did not come from her toiletries. The scent was part of her, and it soothed the ache that consumed his heart.

  She pulled away. “What are those things?”

  “Succubi.” Lucious noted no change in her expression when he said that. “You’re not surprised?”

  “I’ve seen a live pixie. After that, I doubt I can be shocked anymore. And, what are you doing in a room with female life-suckers? Are you cheating on me already?”

  His lips stretched with his smile. “No, my dear. I would not dare to.”

  “Then how can we work our way out of this?”

  Lucious cupped her cheek and his smile faded. “No male can withstand their magic.”

  “Then you should use Helena as a shield,” her guardian’s voice came from behind him.

  Lucious tried to stand, but the attempt failed. He glared at the angel as he made his way around them in the darkness. The glow Michael emitted appeared like a beacon in the night. They both squinted.

  “What are you saying?” Helena asked.

  Michael’s distrust remained evident when his and Lucious’ eyes met. “The succubi can subject any man to their magic but not a woman. Although it will be an arduous task for you, Helena, you can shield him. It should nullify their magic’s effect.”

  She nodded. “Makes sense.”

  “Do you trust this creature?” Lucious’ eyes narrowed on the angel.

  Helena didn’t reply. Instead, he felt her mental shields expanding and her energy spreading across his shields like a web. Looking up, he saw golden light encasing them as she pushed her shields outwards. They augmented, and her body began to tremble.

  Lucious drew her into him and held on, willing the leftover energy he possessed to flow into her through their link. He did not care if he couldn’t run at high speeds if Helena became depleted or vulnerable.

  “It is working,” the angel remarked when he glanced up.

  Lucious did, too, but he felt rather than saw the succubi energy retreating because of the sudden lightness in his shoulders and limbs. When she raised her head with a smile, he saw how tired she had become after the ordeal. She struggled to keep her eyes open and swayed.

  Lucious planted a soft kiss on her forehead and faced Michael. “Will you look after her until morning? Once my business is concluded, I will not leave her side again.”

  “I will always be watching over her,” Michael said. “Even if I am not permitted to help her in any way, I…care for her.”

  Lucious allowed the guardian to take her as he forced his legs to cooperate. His head ached and the scratchiness in his throat indicated that he needed to feed. Isha and her children took a lot more from him than he had anticipated in such a short amount of time.

  Michael carried her with sure strides to the edge of Lucious’ shields.

  Once they were gone, Lucious focused on waking up. His eyes flicked open, and he looked at the room full of shocked faces.

  “You smell like Mother…” Isha murmured.

  Lucious noted he was still sitting on the chair by the window overlooking the club. He struggled to stand and had to use the back of the chair for support to stay upright. “What are you talking about?”

  Isha ushered everyone out. When they were alone, she breathed in his scent. As if in a trance, she said, “Her scent…it’s fading.”

  “Whose scent are you referring to?” Lucious demanded, although he knew she was talking about Helena.

  She beamed at him. Lifting her hand, Isha pulled out an amulet with Egyptian markings from her bra. She gave it to him. The amulet, carved out of bone, fit snugly in his hand. It had to be a few millennia old as some of the markings around the edges had faded with age.

  “The amulet you sought, it’s this. Take it to Ghoul Master, but first, tell me the name of your loved one.”

  Tucking the amulet into his jeans pocket, Lucious’ eyes narrowed. “You’ve not answered my question.”

  “And I don’t intend to, but answer mine or we will go for round two. By the looks of it, you will not be able to withstand the ordeal.”

  Lucious hated being threatened, yet he knew she was right. Both, Helena and him, were drained and another intervention with Isha’s children would prove to be deadly.

  “Helena,” he forced through gritted teeth.

  Isha let the name lovingly roll off her tongue as she tested it aloud. A smile stretched her plump lips as she walked over to the window and looked at her club. “That fireawn ‘uwnadad belonged to King Tutankhamun. It helps Ghoul Master accept new ghouls under his command at a price. Without it, he cannot expand his little army of the undead. So, use it wisely, Lucious.”

  Lucious glanced at the amulet in his hand. The power Ghoul Master possessed was due to the amulet and not because he had developed it as a vampire? Such knowledge would sell for a lot of money and favours with Phil. A problem did remain. The amulet had to be returned to Master. Lucious vowed to complete a task for him without failure and that was exactly what he would do.

  Unsteady on his feet, he joined her by the window. “Why did you tell me that?”

  “Soon the world as you and I know it will change…for better or for worse. You will need every little piece of information to ke
ep the one you love alive.”

  His expression hardened at the hidden threat. “What do you mean by that?”

  Isha landed a soft kiss on his cheek. “Goodbye, Lucious. Next time, I hope you will bring some paying clients with you.”

  Realising that she was not about to share any more information with him, Lucious left the club. What scared away the succubi was not the fact that Helena was a female. Something nagged at him, but he did not know what it was. The succubi lore remained a secret well hidden from other races. They chose not to share, and no one cared to question that.

  As he made his way out of the alley, Lucious was faced with his companion.

  “Looks like you made it out alive!” Byron slapped Lucious on the back, forcing him out of his focused state.

  “Byron, where are your manners?” Lucious snapped.

  The werewolf snorted. “I leave those at home with the missus. Otherwise, I would go bonkers.”

  “You are already mad, there is no fixing that,” Lucious replied.

  “Did you get the amulet or did Isha kick you out?”

  “Both.”

  Byron grasped Lucious’ shoulder. “You’re too quiet. Did something else happen?”

  Lucious brushed his hand away. “I need to feed, Byron. After that, I must see Helena.”

  “Trouble in paradise already, mate?”

  Trying not to roll his eyes, Lucious slid his hands into his pockets and headed for the Council building. His thirst roared to life at the thought of consuming more blood from Anna, and he knew the glow in his red eyes returned.

  Lucious watched Anna peeling back her sleeve and his mouth watered. He sucked in a breath, closing his eyes to combat the urge to grab her wrist. To mediate the hunger, he concentrated on the smell of oil paints and ethanol perfuming the room.

  “I thought your feeding would be less frequent, childe,” Anna said as she offered her wrist to him.

  Kneeling, Lucious took her hand. “I had a run in with Isha and her children.”

  Anna nodded, permitting him to take a bite.

  He sank his teeth into her flesh. Her crimson nectar flowed down his throat and the ache there disappeared. He revelled in the power entering him with every mouthful. It replenished his dwindling resources, rejuvenating his every cell.

  Once he had enough, Lucious wiped his mouth and bowed his head in shame.

  “Do not apologise, Lucious. You are my son, and I will do everything I can to repay you for abandoning you for so long…” She paused, making him look up. “I have read the file they had on you in the Archives. I truly did not expect you to search for me in such a way.”

  Lucious lowered his head. He, too, did not enjoy recalling the past that seemed like nothing more than a century-long nightmare. For now, he had other things to worry about. “Do you know anything about succubi lore, sire?”

  Anna brushed her raven hair to one side and parted the locks with her fingers. Braiding it, she walked to her chair. “I know of a few stories I heard when I was created. The legend states the life-drinkers were born of a demon and a fate consummating their love. Their daughter became the first succubus and had to feed off the souls of the humans to fill the void in her soulless body. Some stories said she was their Mother whilst others contradict it and refer to the fate as such.”

  Lucious took a seat on the bed and his sire settled in on her overstuffed burgundy armchair. “Anything else?”

  Once she finished the braid, she wound a red ribbon around the end of it to secure her hair. “Why are you suddenly so interested in their origins?”

  “Can a human become a succubus?” he deflected.

  “To answer your question, no, they cannot. One must be born a succubus or an incubus.”

  Helena being a mother to the succubi sounded more and more like an outrageous idea the longer he thought about it. The possibility of her being a fate made him stifle a laugh. With so much happening, his imagination ran away with his sanity. Yet, the nagging feeling remained.

  Folding his arms, he thought about the next question. “And this…fate, how long ago was she last seen?”

  “It is long before your time. The same goes for her sister, Lilia, our mother,” Anna replied.

  His brows shot up. “The vampire goddess is a fate?”

  Anna’s lips twitched into a ghost of a smile. “So the story goes. Of course, no one knows precisely what happened to her. My sire always talked about Lilia as if she was the true evil. She hated us and wished to rid the world of our kind.”

  “You never mentioned your sire to me before.”

  “The stories made me nostalgic, I guess. My creator was a strange man. I never could sympathise with his actions and, believe me, I have tried. At the time, the Councils did not exist. There were no rules in place to keep us from draining the world of its blood.” Anna knotted her fingers on her lap as she continued, “Ultimately, that would cause our death also, yet not one of us cared. So much blood was spilt while we fought to stay in control, to dominate the humans we regarded as cattle. That is why so many legends exist in the human mythology. That is also why the hunters exist. Their god saw us as a threat.”

  Lucious leant in. “What happened then?”

  “One day, the original vampire—Arthemis—vanished, as did the two fates. No one knew what happened or where to find them. We were left to fend for ourselves and so, with the help of Arthemis’ seven children, vampires bonded together and created rules and the Councils under their guidance.”

  “You mean the Royals?”

  Anna snorted. “The term stuck with them, even though no one seemed to care for it. Soon, they too disappeared, and no one heard of them since.” As if coming out of a haze, she tilted her head to one side. “Now tell me, childe, what exactly happened in the Black Alley tonight? And more importantly, who is it you suspect to be a fate?”

  9

  Breaking Point

  Helena’s eyes flew open. She jerked up into a sitting position only to regret her decision a second later. A headache hit her like a sledgehammer to the head. She swayed on the spot. Steadying herself with her hand, she rubbed her tired eyes with the other. Mentally, she noted that she needed to thank Michael for his help with the succubi. He may have been missing for a long time, but her guardian was on her side. At the same time, her heart was stormy with sorrow. Lucious had extended his shields to protect her from Lazarus before. Although she never paid much attention to it, she now understood how arduous the task truly was.

  The thought of the warmth of his body against hers had a smile creeping onto her lips. Shaking her head, she said, “Get your head out of the gutter!”

  She looked at the large tome in her lap. Before she fell asleep, she found it on the third shelf and couldn’t put it down. The book was written in beautiful, curving handwriting of someone who seemed passionate about their demon research. The only names that appeared throughout the book were Runa and Hartwin. Helena skimmed the page she had open and found the right passage when someone knelt next to her.

  Red hair fell over pale white shoulders. She lifted her gaze, and Eliza’s face came into view, briefly stilling her heart. When her body finally reacted, she scrambled away from the intruder on all fours.

  “It is interesting to see you on your knees,” Eliza said, pleased.

  “Where’s Levile?” Helena scanned the room for the only man who could keep this madwoman away from her.

  Michael materialised next to her. When Eliza didn’t react, Helena pretended as if he wasn’t there as well. “Your guard is dead. She took his heart.”

  Helena covered her mouth as she studied Eliza’s left hand. Blood dripped from the Councilwoman’s fingers. Her expression remained impassive, and she took a menacing step forwards. “It seems I don’t need to answer your question.”

  “Don’t let her touch you,” Michael warned.

  Helena scrambled into a standing position and stepped back. Her heart skipped away in her chest like a caged bird fighting to
come out. “Why are you doing this?”

  Eliza’s voice softened. “The only way to save my people is through a little sacrifice. You wouldn’t understand…”

  Helena swallowed. The air in the Archives started changing. It tingled with the foreign energy she recognised from the trial in the Council’s main chamber. Words she couldn’t restrain any longer tumbled out of her mouth. “You would sacrifice your people to let demons into this realm?”

  Eliza paused and saw the tome lying on the floor. A deep chuckle erupted from the Councilwoman. “You are blind like the others. You cannot see past the fear of the unknown…” Eliza studied her blood-stained hand. “Few must die for the benefit of many. But you, young lady, I will not kill tonight.” Her hand sparked with a bright flame that soon engulfed Eliza’s arm. She touched the wooden railing, and the fire spread at an unnatural speed around the Archives. The flames climbed the tall bookshelves as she went on, “You will be the key chess piece that drives my childe to accept my plan. Pray we never meet again…”

  When Eliza vanished, Helena faced Michael with panic heightening her voice, “Is she gone?”

  “Yes, but be careful. She’s not the only one here.”

  Before Helena could piece the next question together, something grazed her shoulder. She looked at it and blood stained her torn sleeve.

  “We found another one!” someone yelled.

  Turning around, she saw men dressed in black running up the stairs.

  Adrenaline kicked in, and she ran towards the next staircase to her right. At the railing, burning pain exploded in her calf. She stumbled, crying out in agony while clutching her bleeding leg.

  The first man to reach her wore a gas mask. His hateful eyes peered through the glass goggles as he pointed a gun at her head.

  Helena squeezed her eyes shut. The only feeling circling around her was regret for being unable to see her parents one last time and tell them how much she loved them.

  “Stop!” someone shouted from a distance.

  Opening her eyes, she watched another man approaching through the smoke-filled room. She sucked in a breath of hot air to alleviate the ache in her lungs and coughed.