The Devil: A Paranormal Vampire Romance Novel (Devil Series Book 4)

by Raven Steele

  He poured into the room. It held only dust and a large hole in the wall as if someone had punched it. He focused his hearing. There were muffled sounds coming from downstairs. He also smelled smoke. The girl was definitely here.

  Slipping under the door, he found the nearest set of stairs and descended them. He kept to the shadows as much as possible as there were cameras in many of the high corners. What he really needed to do was find their security center. If he could take it out, including the men operating it, they would have a much better chance of saving the girl. It would also ensure his and Henry's identity stayed secret.

  At the bottom of the stairs, the room opened up into a giant lab. The voices were closer, but not on this floor. Instead of taking the stairs again, he slipped into their ventilation system. This made for quick work and allowed him to move freely without worrying about cameras.

  He followed the sounds of the voices. Before he reached there, he passed over their security room. He paused there for just a moment. Three people were inside. Two were human, but the other… Lucien inhaled. There was something different about him. He was human, but he also had power. He wanted to stay longer to figure out what was different about this man, but a sudden, muffled scream had him speeding back down the narrow duct.

  "You've chosen the wrong friends to associate with, Fury," a familiar voice said.

  In his ghost-like state, Lucien peered through the slats of the metal grating. Liane, her back to him, stood over a narrow bed, blocking his view to the girl who was tied down. Lucien hadn't seen Liane for over a year, but he'd heard about her plenty. People had nicknamed her The Reaper. She was a senior officer for the DSRD and was known for her ruthlessness toward supernaturals, even though she was one herself. She was a powerful witch, one that used to be friends with Eve until she betrayed Eve and joined Boaz.

  Liane stepped out of his view. The girl lying on the table had long dark hair. Her short bangs were matted to her forehead with sweat, and her mouth had been covered with a black tie. He expected to see fear in her eyes, but instead they were full of rage. She thrashed against her restraints and yelled something unintelligible through the gag, despite what looked like a serious wound on her leg. Blood dripped to the floor.

  Parts of the table she was lying on had black splotches as if it had been burned. He wondered why she wasn't using her fire ability now, but then he noticed silver gloves on her hands, which was probably stopping her.

  Liane's voice said, "If I were you, I'd save my strength."

  Lucien slowly floated through the metal slats just enough to get a better view of the room. There were five others, four men and one woman, standing tall against the wall next to a couple of chairs. They each held the same weapons the guards outside had. Most likely they were equipped with the same bullets Lucien had encountered before—the kind filled with halothane vapour, a sleeping gas that could render any supernatural unconscious in a matter of seconds.

  Lucien retreated back into the vent. Based on everything he'd seen, he and Henry should have an easy enough time rescuing the girl if they attacked together, starting with the men outside. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the building, but on his way out he would search the rest of the rooms just in case.

  The girl screamed again, "I'm going to kill you!"

  He admired her fight. Most people, including supernaturals, would be in tears by now, but this girl didn't look anywhere near breaking. Good. It would allow them more time to make sure her rescue went smoothly.

  He was about to turn back for Henry when he heard Liane say, "Go ahead and yell all you want. They will be your last breaths before the President steals them forever."

  Chapter 2

  Lucien was so stunned he almost turned back into his regular form right there in the small ventilation duct. What would Hansen want with this girl? He quickly realigned his concentration and listened closely.

  "I don't know why you are being so loyal to the Auras," Liane said. "They are the most judgmental, self-righteous group I've ever met. But I do hope they are as stubborn as you. I would love to see the President destroy them all."

  This had the girl yelling again, a string of curse words Lucien barely deciphered.

  Liane said to someone over her shoulder, "How much longer?"

  A deep voice answered, "He should be here in fifteen minutes."

  Lucien froze. He better act fast. He had no idea how many men might come with Hansen, plus they still didn't know anything about him or his abilities. But what Lucien did know, according to what Eve had told him once, is that Boaz was afraid of him, which meant Lucien should be too.

  He hurried back to the vent over the security room and looked down. Two humans continued to monitor the security feed on the dozen or more security cameras all over the compound.

  "I'm telling you Brian, there's nothing out there!" one of them said.

  Brian, the human with power, groaned while he twisted his hands together. "They are right on top of us! You have to call for back up before it's too late!"

  So he was a psychic, and a good one too from the sounds of it. Too bad the humans didn't believe him.

  Lucien spilled into the room from above them and materialized before he hit the floor. He punched at Brian first in case he had other powers Lucien didn't know about. Brian flew into the wall behind him. The wall crumbled under the force, and he fell to the ground unconscious. The other two reached for their weapons, but Lucien was too fast. He smashed one's face into the monitor in front of him, blood spraying the screens. Then he grabbed the collar of the other guard and spun him around to his chest. It took him about ten seconds to choke him out.

  The two guards slumped on top of each other. Lucien shoved them out of the way so he could search the many buttons. He pressed a few of them, hoping to find a PA system to talk into. On his third button, the microphone in front of him cackled. On the screen, the guards outside jumped to attention.

  He pressed and held the button and said for all to hear, "Out of time. Take care of them." He released the button and fled the room. Henry would know what to do.

  Lucien expected the guards in the other room to rush out to fight him, but either they didn't hear the same message as the guards outside, or Liane had ordered them to stay put. He hoped he wouldn't have to fight them at the same time as Liane, but luck was not on his side tonight. And he'd have to do it fast before Hansen came.

  He strode down the long hallway to where they held the girl captive. Before reaching the door, Lucien blasted it open with magic, ripping it off its hinges. It knocked over one of the guards who must've been blocking it. Another guard raised his weapon and fixed it on Lucien. Lucien lifted his hand and closed his fingers tight. The weapon imploded on itself. The guard's eyes grew big, but before he could utter a word of surprise, Lucien mentally shoved him across the room to join the other guard who had fallen unconscious beneath the broken door.

  Everything happened fast. As soon as he stepped inside the room, the other guards attacked him at once. As long as he didn't get hit with one of their special bullets, he could take them out. But then the taller of the three shoved him in the chest, and he flew into the wall behind him, his sternum nearly cracking. Clearly these weren't just humans. At least the tall man currently storming over to him wasn't. He looked human enough with short brown hair and green eyes, but he was definitely some kind of supernatural.

  While Lucien avoided another blow from the inhumanly strong man, the girl bound to the table thrashed wildly and screamed through her gag. Liane was standing behind her, a small smile playing on her lips.

  A gun fired. Lucien spun away just as it tore through his jacket. Too close. He ran at the wall and up it two steps before rotating into a backflip. The supernatural guard swung at Lucien, but Lucien was too high in the air. Before he reached the floor, Lucien shot a blast of energy at the female guard with the gun. She fell to the ground and the weapon flew from her hands.

  The moment Lucien landed, the tall s
upernatural kicked at his back. Lucien stumbled forward, knocking over a chair in the process. He grabbed onto it and whipped it back at the supernatural who punched right through it. Broken, wooden shot through the air. One of them sliced through Lucien's arm. Liane laughed out loud.

  He ignored the pain and straightened. His immortal body would heal soon enough. As long as he didn't get his head chopped off or a stake through his heart, he could survive this.

  Two guards left. The tall supernatural and a human who had somehow fallen to the ground and was scrambling across the floor to get at a weapon. The supernatural let out a feral cry and rushed Lucien again. Lucien lifted his hands in the direction of both guards, hoping to take them both out with magic at the same time.

  "Somnum!" Liane growled.

  The supernatural guard crashed to the floor as if someone had hit him with a wrecking ball. The human had also fallen unconscious.

  Liane giggled. "Sorry, but I just couldn't wait any longer."

  The bound girl yelled muffled words again.

  Liane slammed her hand over the girl's mouth. "Shut up already!"

  An intense anger burned red inside Lucien. It was time he took care of this witch once and for all. He pushed his hands forward through the air, sending a blast of energy toward Liane. It crashed into her body and knocked her into a wall. She fell to the ground on all fours, her long, brown hair hanging on both sides of her face. He kept his hands up ready to attack her again if need be.

  A sound, quiet at first, escaped the curtain of hair around her face. She flipped her head back suddenly and laughter erupted, a horrible, ugly chatter that seemed to freeze the air. She rose to her feet, her face twisting into a tight, unnatural expression of pure hatred, yet she continued to chuckle, low and throaty.

  He blasted her again, but she waved her arm as if dismissing the energy the way one would swat at a fly in summertime. Her body lifted and she came toward him, her toes dragging on the tiled floor.

  Mentally, he took hold of a nearby chair and tossed it in her direction. Before it could touch her, it turned to dust. Lucien backed up, panic seizing his muscles. Something had changed. Liane had never been this powerful before.

  She raised her arm and with the motion, he also rose into the air. When her finger flipped in his direction, his body crashed into the wall behind him.

  He concentrated hard on the force pressing him to the wall. By the feel of it, like time itself bound him, and by its smell, burning sage, she was using ancient magic, something he'd only be able to access once before. It was extremely challenging as one had to tap into life's earliest powers, the ones that had existed when day had been separated from night, when land rose from water, and when creatures had burst free from the Earth's crust. Henry had called it Genesis. Somehow, she was using it now, but in its dark form.

  Liane lifted higher into the air until she was inches from his face. "I can feel you touching my power. Isn't it amazing?"

  The invisible pressure against his chest was so strong he barely managed to grunt, "How?"

  "The President. He's very generous with his power." Her hand snapped forward and gripped his neck tight.

  He brought his hands up to shove her away, but she was like a steel wall. When she squeezed harder, he called upon magic. It surged through his body, warming him from head to toe. He mentally pressed against her with all his might, sweat breaking on his brow.

  "You can't beat me, Lucien. Not this time."

  He growled and grunted, straining as hard as he could, but his magic wasn't as strong as hers. Over her shoulder, the restrained girl was thrashing and yelling even more. Her gloved hands were opening and closing like she really wanted to use her abilities. He could help with that.

  Lucien stopped fighting Liane and fell limp in her grasp. The corners of her mouth curled up.

  "I only wish Eve was here to see this," she said. "I would've liked to have seen her expression when you die by my hands."

  She completely cut off all oxygen to his lungs, but this wouldn't kill him, and they both knew it. Her grip tightened, her nails dug into his flesh. She meant to pop his head clean off his body, and by her new strength, he feared she would be able to do it.

  Lucien worked quickly and focused his magic on the girl behind Liane, specifically on her gloves. While blood ran down his neck from Liane's claws, he carefully slid the girl's silver gloves from her hands. As soon as they had been removed, the girl quickly burned her restraints and sat up.

  "Die witch bitch!"

  Fire shot from the girl's hands in a swirling ball of death. It exploded into Liane, fire igniting her hair and clothing. Liane screamed a great and terrible cry and thrashed her body through the air. Lucien dropped to the floor and rolled out of the way to avoid getting burned himself. Then he channeled his energy, preparing to finish her off, when Liane disappeared. One second she was there, her whole body engulfed in flames, and the next second just gone.

  The girl yelled in frustration. She whirled around, her hands burning a bright red and trained in his direction. "Who the hell are you?"

  He was about to answer when Henry stumbled through the door. He fell to the ground at Lucien's feet.

  "What happened?" Lucien asked. He rolled Henry over. Just above his elbow, a chunk of his jacket and a whole lot of flesh had been removed. Blood poured freely from the wound.

  "Help me to my feet," Henry breathed.

  Lucien easily picked him up, but had to keep a hand on him to prevent him from falling back over.

  "I was shot with one of their bullets," Henry said. "I managed to bite most of it out, but some of the poison still got inside me."

  "You bit yourself?" Lucien asked incredulously.

  "Shut up!" the girl screamed.

  Lucien and Henry slowly turned to her.

  "Someone better start talking or I'll use you both as charcoal for my next barbeque!"

  Henry inhaled a great breath. The motion looked like it took much effort. "We are from the Deific. You called for help."

  "Like four hours ago! Where the hell have you been?"

  Lucien cleared his throat. "It was my fault."

  Her attention focused on him, her red-hot hands still pointed in his direction. "What are you exactly?"

  "Vampire."

  "You're more than that. You used magic, that makes you a witch, and I hate witches!"

  He spoke quickly to avoid being burned to a crisp. "I was a witch first, then made into a vampire, but I can assure you, I mean you no harm."

  Her eyes narrowed. "So you're like a vamp-itch?"

  "I wouldn't word it that way. Look, there isn't time for this right now. We need to leave. Hansen will be here any second."

  Henry startled, some life returning to his body. "The President? Why would he come here?"

  "To question the girl."

  Henry turned to the girl. "What would he want with you?"

  "I'm not really sure, but it probably has something to do with what that witch kept asking me about." She glanced at Henry and then at Lucien. "She wanted to know about some old, powerful necklace."

  Lucien nearly stumbled and his breathing quickened. "Necklace?"

  "We will discuss this later," Henry said, gripping Lucien's arm hard enough for pain to force Lucien's attention back to the present.

  Questions about the necklace could wait. Besides, it may not even be the same necklace that turned Eve into the evil witch, Alarica.

  "Can you get us both out of here?" he asked Henry.

  "I don't know. I'm fairly weak."

  "Fine. Take the girl." Lucien motioned her over.

  "My name's May," she snapped.

  "Just get over here. You do not want to be here when the President comes."

  She scowled but limped over. "How are we going to get out of here? I can barely walk, yet I'm still moving better than this guy." She hooked a thumb at Henry.

  Henry reached out and just as he touched her, they both disappeared. Lucien turned and sprinted
from the room. Before he reached the top of the stairs, his body shimmered, then dematerialized into a raging storm cloud. If the necklace really was the same one Eve had worn, then that meant Hansen was after Eve too. Fear clutched his heart and squeezed tight.

  He had to find her. Fighting Boaz had been difficult, but at least Lucien knew what he was fighting against. With Hansen, however, he may as well be fighting a ghost.

  Chapter 3

  It didn't take long for Lucien to reach the Deific. He blew into the library window on the top floor and materialized in front of May and Henry. May was texting something into her cell phone.

  May jumped back, her green eyes wide. Her phone fell to the ground. "Don't ever do that again!"

  He strode straight to her and took her by the arms. "Tell me about the necklace."

  "Let go," she growled and squirmed beneath his grip.

  "Not until you tell me what you know."

  His palms heated up, to the point where he thought his hands would burst into flames. He hissed and stepped away.

  "No one touches me without my permission," May said.

  Henry stepped forward with a hand toward Lucien as if he was afraid Lucien would come at May again. Henry swayed slightly, still plagued by the poisoned bullet. "I apologize, but there is a powerful necklace out there that means a great deal to us. If it is the same one the President wants, then someone very dear to us is in danger. We would appreciate any information you can give us."

  She looked at each of them for a few tense seconds before finally relaxing. "Can I get something to eat first? I'm starving."

  "Of course," Henry said. "And we need to bandage your leg."

  While he disappeared into a small kitchen in the corner, a room that had been recently constructed, Lucien kept his eyes on May, every part of him alert. Whatever she was about to tell him could lead to Eve. This is the closest he'd ever come before, and he could barely contain himself from shaking the information out of her.