by Marian Tee
Lucian was silent. “Can you tell me something?”
I didn’t say anything, not sure if I wanted to hear his question.
But he asked anyway, “You used to want me to say I love you all the time. But now you hate hearing it. Can you tell me why? Is it because you hate me? You can’t forgive me? Do you love someone else? Does it make you feel awkward?”
I knew how much it had cost him to ask. The door to his mind was also open, and his feelings shone through. He loved me. He really did love me.
But I could never be sure, could I?
He could still be hiding some of his thoughts, thoughts that might let me know he just believed he loved me or that his love was born from guilt. And there was always a chance his feelings would change. Even if I loathed Angelica with all my heart, I couldn’t deny she suited Lucian better as a girlfriend.
“Was my question so hard to answer?”
My eyes drooped closed. Too much thinking had zapped most of my strength. But I had one last thing to do before losing consciousness.
“I don’t think I love you anymore,” I lied. “I don’t want to see you again, so much that I’d rather stay here than be saved by you.” It wasn’t much, but it was the only thing I could think of to prevent him from his suicidal mission.
I’m sorry, Lucian, but I’m selfish and weak. I’d rather die than see you die.
Chapter Seventeen
When I was human, silly, and oh-so-killable, no one had attempted to murder me until that fateful day my parents had been taken away from me. But now that I was Evren, supposedly immortal, and not-so-silly, everyone seemed to be after my blood. Could an early grave be the price I had to pay for getting rid—mostly—of my silliness? It made me wonder how I’d die. A knife in the back? A poisonous bite on the neck? A gunshot to the head? But of all my worst imaginings, none of them included giving up my life for the guy I loved.
“Wake up,” someone whispered in my ear. “Wake up, Deli.”
I did my best to ignore it and sink deeper into sleep.
“Wake up,” it insisted and shook me a little.
“I don’t want—” I started to mumble in protest but the rest of my words were cut off as someone pressed a hand to my mouth.
My brain cells reluctantly began to work. The first thing I focused on was waking up. It took long minutes to shake myself from the warm, clinging arms of sleep. My mind was fuzzy, my body heavy, and my heart exhausted, beating at an absurdly slow rate, making every breath I took a challenge.
“Wake up, Deli,” the voice said again.
I recognized it this time. Lucian. And the memories flooded back. I was still tied up, hanging in the air from a stupid hook. If I had still been human, my arms would have been torn out of their sockets by now. But I wasn’t and, by some miracle, Lucian was also here next to me.
“What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you I never wanted to see you again?”
“And you won’t,” he assured me, “just as soon as I get you out of here.”
I fell silent because I hadn’t expected him to answer like that. Memory brought back his earlier words but even now, I still couldn’t make myself believe him. I wasn’t even certain if I still loved him, if we still had a chance… There were so many things to wonder about, but I told myself to stop. Right now, I had to focus on both of us surviving this ordeal alive with every limb intact.
Battling every second to stay conscious was even a greater struggle than breathing. “What’s that awful smell?” It was almost as foul as Aure-something’s scent. There seemed to be some kind of uproar as well. The Zekans nearest me were muttering, complaining about the odor. Talk about hypocrites.
“Garbage.” Lucian sounded strangely…gleeful. It was hard to imagine Lucian’s beautiful and expressionless face gleeful, but that was the only way to describe his voice.
Blinking several times, I tried to clear my gaze from the cloudy effects of sleep. “What’s happening?” The gate was half open and I could see a garbage truck outside. As far as I could tell, none of the Zekans seemed worried about its presence.
“Dyvian and I drove a garbage truck here. It smells more awful than usual because we had to, err, modify the truck’s contents to effectively conceal our scent.”
“Modify?”
“Dead rats, animal manure, sewage water—”
“Forget I asked,” I interrupted him hurriedly. Sheer disgust at the images his recital evoked eliminated the remaining effects of slumber. Even if I did still feel pathetically feeble, at least I was as conscious as I could be.
“How did you get in?”
“I waited for some Zekans to come out and argue with Dyvian. He’s still out there, speaking in French and demanding they allow him to dump all the garbage here. It was ridiculously easy to slip in here.”
“Of course,” I agreed sarcastically, as if staying invisible in sub-zero conditions was the simplest thing to do for an Evren.
“And your plan?”
“Simple but effective.”
“The thing is, Lucian, you have to remember not everyone’s perfect like you. What you can do isn’t something we—”
“Relax. It’s all planned out, Deli.”
“I just think it would have been safer if you had cool gadgets with you,” I grumbled. “Think Batman. Or James Bond.”
“Better make up your mind,” he advised in that mild voice of his. “Do you want me to be a superhero or a super secret agent? Mind you, I’m against wearing tights though. I don’t like tuxes all that well either, but I suppose they’re better than wearing my underwear in public.”
I couldn’t believe he could even think of teasing me. “Don’t you see what kind of danger we’re in? There are a hundred—”
“You exaggerate. There are just ninety-seven. I counted.”
“Whatever. They’re still ninety-five more than your team—”
“Nice mathematical skill you have there. See? That’s what I love about you. You’re incredibly smart.”
“Lucian,” I snarled in warning. Of all the times for him to shed his serious image, why did it have to be when our lives were hanging in the balance?
He chuckled. “Oh, ye of little faith,” he murmured, cupping my chin. “I have everything under control. Trust me. I won’t take the slightest risk where you’re concerned.”
I refused to feel flattered, cherished, or loved.
“What’s the plan?” I growled.
“Simple—you turn invisible then you turn Evren, and we’ll burst through the roof and fly away.”
He was right.
It was extremely simple.
It was also impossible to do.
“I can’t,” I said miserably. “It is a good plan, Lucian, but I’m too weak. I’m not all-powerful like you—”
“You can do it.”
“It’s too cold. It’s impossible.” I tried not to sniff pitifully. Ah, what I’d give for just a minute of Sanger weather with the blazing Nevada sun and hot, dry desert air.
“I’ll help you.”
“You’ll make the sun shine here?”
“Ah, no, Deli, my love. I’m flattered you think I’m capable of that, but I’m afraid that one is beyond my powers.”
I hadn’t heard the rest of his words.
Had he just called me “my love?”
“Lucian—” I almost gasped when his lips touched the sensitive skin of my nape.
I may not be smart, but in things like this, it was impossible to stay stupid. Lucian’s method of making me warm was wicked, effective, and embarrassing.
“Oh, dear.” I gulped silently.
“Hush, my love,” he murmured but that only made me feel like groaning more.
Lucian was careful not to make any movements that would draw attention. His hands rested lightly on my waist before they climbed up to stroke my back slowly and softly. There was nothing lewd in his actions. In fact, there was a sense of reverence to his touch, and his hands on my skin humbled and
thrilled me at the same time.
I swallowed and saw, in my mind, Lucian swallowing, too.
Even though I was wearing jeans, the heat from his touch burned through the fabric, making me feel almost like sweating.
I nearly groaned as he flew a few inches up to kiss my fingers, one by one.
By that time, I could only be thankful my arms were tied, keeping me upright when all I wanted to do was slide to the ground and sigh.
“I think…I’m…ah…warm enough,” I choked out as Lucian flew back down. He cupped my cheeks and began kissing my eyelids.
“I don’t think so,” he argued and even the clinical tone of his voice was enough to make me shiver. “I think we need to make sure you’ve all the warmth you need to last the day.” His arms tightened around me as he twisted to kiss my cheek from behind.
“Don’t move,” he ordered when I shivered involuntarily.
“Then stop kissing me.” I tried not to fidget as my skin prickled with heat. Lucian hadn’t stopped nuzzling my cheek and I’d have given anything at that moment just to put my arms around him.
“I’m going to count to three, and I want you to turn invisible just as I cut you off.”
“Oh, God.”
“One.”
Lucian moved in front me and held me tightly to him, one arm around my waist while his other arm moved above my head to grasp the ropes.
“Two.”
My heart beat loud, hard, and fast as Lucian pulled the ropes free with ease.
“Three.”
He bent down and bit my lower lip lightly, and I gritted my teeth to keep from gasping, its electrifying effect on my body giving me all the additional energy I needed to turn invisible.
Lucian grabbed me to him as the ropes gave way completely, and we soared to the ceiling.
But the danger was far from over.
“The Evren,” a Zekan shouted. “She’s gone!”
Chaos erupted. I looked down just in time to see the ugly Zekan who had kicked me unconscious pointing straight at me. “There she is,” he roared. “Shoot at the rope flying in the air!”
My feet! They were still bound and the range of my invisibility hadn’t extended to the ropes around my ankles.
“Shit,” Lucian said, a second before he turned Evren. He was just as I remembered. Enormous, frightening, and powerful, Lucian’s dragon form with its golden scales was an enthralling sight that struck joy in my heart and fear in our foes.
“You go, Lucian. Kick some snake ass.”
“Evren, Deli, now!” Lucian ordered just as he spun around and breathed out a circle of fire.
“Right. Sorry. Got carried away.” I was still clasped to Lucian’s side, a single steel claw around my body. He did his best to shield me from the shower of bullets, but all the twisting and spinning made it difficult to summon the blood-red shade I needed to turn Evren.
“Get close to them,” the Zekan commander bellowed furiously. “Bite them if you can. Our bite is fatal to their treacherous kind.”
I think he had more to say, but they were impossible to hear as the gate to the warehouse crashed. It was Dyvian, in Evren form as well, and he pounded toward us, his thunderous footsteps creating a stampede as Zekans tried to escape being crushed to death.
“Not so fast, old friend,” a voice hissed in ear-splitting volume, and I gasped to find a snake with black and purple scales preparing to lunge toward us from the floor. It was only the slightest bit smaller than the Evren form of the Chevalier brothers, but its glaring red eyes and huge, glistening fangs more than made up for its inferior size.
Lucian, hindered by the need to shield me, still hadn’t been able to burst through the ceiling. Two seconds, three seconds max, were more than enough time for the snake to catch hold of us. Just one bite, maybe two or three at the most, could paralyze or kill him even. Lucian might be one of the most powerful Evren, but he was also battling one of the most powerful Zekans. Dyvian already had his hands—claws—full fighting on the ground, doing his best to minimize the damage to Lucian and me from the Zekans’ heavy artillery.
It’s time to face reality again, Deli.
If I didn’t do something now, both of them would die trying to keep me alive.
Here we go…
I squeezed my eyes tightly shut.
It took a second before the blood-red liquid filled my mind.
I focused on it and said the magic word—Burn.
My wings spread out and I tore free of Lucian’s hold almost the same moment the Zekan lunged for him and bit his tail.
Lucian roared, swinging his tail in a mighty arc and shaking himself free. The Zekan crashed but it took no time to rest, slithering toward Lucian even as it hissed in pain.
A huge net had been cast in the midst of the fight, catching Lucian unaware. Trapped as he was, the Zekan would have greater chances of biting him. It wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.
The Zekan shot through the air, its cavernous mouth opening wide.
Have a taste of this, worm. I breathed out fire, hoping to burn its head off, but with my bad aim, the flames only reached its body. Darn it. Close battle it was then. I’m a tough Evren chick. My opponent had eons of experience and a thousand times more power, but it didn’t matter. I was empowered by my love for Lucian. I was soooo going to win this.
I swooped down, claws outstretched.
My first swipe slashed its face, but it quickly retaliated by wrapping itself around my girth with a bone-crushing grip. Not more than a second had passed when the snake released me with a screech as a perfectly aimed stream of fire hit it square in the eyes.
“Lucian.” I looked up as he flew toward me with a few burnt pieces of the net still clinging to his scales.
Tears of relief filled my eyes. He was safe. Alive. I turned to look for my other rescuer, and that was when I saw the canon, freshly loaded, and pointing directly at Lucian.
“Noooo.” I flew toward it, preparing myself to die.
Chapter Eighteen
When my nightmares receded, I started dreaming about happily-ever-after endings for Lucian and me. We’d be walking the streets of Paris at night, holding hands while watching the sunset in the Caribbean, and enjoying a candlelit dinner while cruising the warm Mediterranean waters. Certainly, none of my dreams involved lying on the burning hot ground, suffering from aching muscles and a pounding headache.
“Are you awake?”
I must be dreaming.
“Are you awake?”
This was certainly a new setting. I hoped it ended the same though, with Lucian, my Prince Charming, giving me a true love’s kiss.
Someone choked, making me frown. Weird. Why did we have someone else with us? It was supposed to be only Lucian and me. And why was it taking him so long to kiss me?
“What?”
Dyvian was with us? And why did he sound so worried? In my dreams, he had always been a silent presence, quick to leave when Lucian and I had our passionate happily ever after.
“She’s waiting for me to kiss her,” Lucian drawled, “because I’m her one true love.”
My eyes shot open because the Lucian in my dreams never spoke like the real Lucian. You know, like he was too cool to feel anything, too smart to humor me, and basically, just too good to be true.
“My princess,” he said gravely. “How fare thee?”
I was lying on the ground, my head cradled on his lap. The sun, the sky, and the smell of hot, dry air were familiar, happily so.
Home sweet home.
Lucian’s face, still heartbreakingly gorgeous, was above me, a tender light in his forest green eyes as he stared at me. But a wicked smile played on his lips and he murmured, “At last. My sleeping beauty has finally awakened.”
“I think I liked you better when you didn’t talk so much,” I mumbled. “And stop reading my mind.”
He was unruffled. “It’s hard not to when you were shouting your every thought.”
Dyvian glanced back and
forth between Lucian and me and burst out laughing. “Lemme get this straight. We’ve just escaped a life-threatening ordeal and you’re here dreaming you and my brother are in your own fairytale?”
“You. Go away.”
“Déjà vu.” He laughed even more.
I gave up pretending annoyance and smiled, happy to be alive, happy to be away from Zekans, and happy to be back with the Chevalier brothers.