by Raven Steele
"Me too," she said.
"You can hear them?"
"Easily."
"Is that another trait Auras are blessed with?"
She smiled a little. "I got it from my father. He was a Guardian. My mother's, actually."
One of the few things Lucien knew about Auras was that each of them was assigned a Guardian when they turned eighteen for protection. He didn't think they were supposed to get involved with each other, though. "Isn't that forbidden?"
She rolled her eyes. "Psh. Who cares? Love is love, right?"
"That is true," he whispered back, thinking of Eve and how he once thought he shouldn't be with her.
Llona jerked and leaned closer to the window. "She said your name. Did you catch that?"
He had heard it, followed by a curse word. "I'm sure she's been talking a lot about me. We need to get this place cleared out, or I need to storm it. We can't waste anymore time."
"Just give me a second. I'm thinking." She scanned the place again, then pointed toward the TV. "Do you see that down there? Is it a walkie talkie?"
He followed her line of sight until he spotted what she was referring to. "Looks like it."
She turned around and paced the room. "They must be communicating with someone on the outside. Maybe we could use it our advantage."
"But how are we going to get it?" he asked.
"Leave that to me."
He frowned. "But if you turn invisible, won't that make you unwell?"
"I'm willing to take that chance if it means saving lives." She approached the door and placed her hand on the doorknob. Her whole body began to shimmer, even sparkled a bit, before every part of her disappeared.
"I'll be right back," she said, her voice quiet. "And I'll take care of that stupid TV so we can hear what's going on."
The door opened slowly, then appeared to drift until it was slightly cracked.
Lucien tried to follow her movements but it was impossible. She was too quiet and too invisible. Only when the walkie talkie lifted from the back of the couch and disappeared did he know she had been successful.
A few seconds later, the TV screen went black. Protests rose into the air. A female shifter approached the television and fiddled with the cords in the back, but the screen stayed blank.
A few seconds later, the door closed quietly, startling him. Llona reappeared just as she pulled the walkie talkie out from under her shirt.
"What did you do to the TV?" he asked.
"I cut the power cord. They won't get that thing working again." She walked to the window and peered out. "Where did Eve go?"
He looked with her, finally spotting Eve on the other side of the room away from the shifters gathered around the dead television. She was still talking with Terence and another massively tall shifter that Lucien didn't recognize.
"I don't get it," she was saying. "Why am I still here? We should've left hours ago."
Lucien met Llona's gaze in shared understanding. They were holding her for the DSRD.
"Like I said before, you're not in any danger," Terence said. "I don't know why you would believe that vampire over your own friends. The DSRD doesn't want anything to do with a low-level witch."
She curled her fingers into fists. "But it just doesn't make sense. Why would someone I don't know try to get me to leave town?"
"Because he's crazy. Vampires will do anything to get their prey."
"But he could've harmed me a number of times," she said, her voice growing louder. She folded her arms and ground her jaw together. "Look, I'm going to leave with or without your help."
"No," the tall vampire said firmly. "You stay here. Let us evaluate this threat first. We'll find this vampire and talk to him. Until then, stay put."
"Are you saying I can't leave, Jerome?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Jerome walked away despite her protests. She looked back at Terence who just shrugged.
"We need to get her out of here before it's too late," Lucien said.
Llona lifted the walkie-talkie. "Let's try using this. What do you think would work?"
He took it from her and turned it over in his hand. It didn't look like a regular walkie-talkie, the kind you'd buy at the store. It looked military issued. He flipped it on.
"Go for it," she whispered.
He inhaled a deep breath and held down the comm button. "We've got a situation." His deep voice echoed through the warehouse, but from somewhere down below. There was a flurry of movement as shifters jumped to their feet and hurried toward Jerome.
Jerome removed a walkie talkie from behind his back. Before he spoke, he motioned in Eve's direction. Two shifters appeared behind her and restrained each of her arms.
"Hey! What are you doing?" she cried.
Lucien moved to go help her, but Llona stopped him.
"Just wait," she hissed.
"It's for your protection," Jerome called after Eve, as she was dragged out of Lucien's view. Jerome turned his attention to the walkie talkie and asked, "What is it?"
Lucien squeezed the walkie talkie at the rough way they were handling Eve, but he kept his voice strong and authoritative. "Our Lord has asked for more back up to assist in his arrival."
"That's not what we heard." The shifters looked around at each other, confused.
"Look, I'm just forwarding the command," Lucien said. "You can choose to obey or not, but you know there will be consequences."
Their confused expressions turned to fear. They were terrified of Erebus—a whole pack of shifters. This worried him.
Jerome lowered the walkie talkie and said to the group, "Call the Lake Charles pack. Get them here as soon as possible." Back into the walkie, he said, "We'll send a dozen more men."
"Good choice," Lucien said. He turned off the walkie talkie and set it on the floor.
He and Llona kept silent as they watched the shifters scatter down below. Several of them oufitted themselves with weapons as if preparing for war.
"How many will be left behind?" Llona asked.
"By my calculations, five. We should be able to take them out."
She chewed on her thumbnail. "What about this other pack Jerome mentioned?"
"If we act quickly, we'll be gone before they get here."
It took another five minutes for most of the shifters to leave. Lucien breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Jerome left with them. Jerome was almost two heads taller than him and built like a tank.
After the bulk of the shifters left, Lucien and Llona waited several minutes before going downstairs. Two shifters dropped onto the sofas, sprawled out as if they were going to take naps, while the other three disappeared from their view.
"This is our chance," he said. "Let's go."
Llona nodded but just before they left the room, she said, "Remember, don't kill them."
"I'll do my best." But even as he said the words, the itch inside him to fight and destroy grew.
They quietly crept onto the landing and to the top of a flight of stairs that zig zagged back and forth to the lower floor. They were out of view from most of the shifters, except for the two sleeping on the sofas. Hopefully they could make it to the bottom before they were spotted.
On his way down, Lucien called upon his magic, focusing on the deepest part of his mind where Genesis lay buried beneath layers of doubt and fear. He needed this power, but something held him back. He stopped and leaned against the stairway wall, breathing hard.
He knew what was stopping him. His apprehension began the moment he discovered Eve's aversion to vampires. What if Eve's memories returned and she still wanted nothing to do with him? The thought of never feeling her touch or smelling her lilac skin again terrified him.
In the distance, he heard Eve's voice. It warmed his heart. Even if Eve chose to leave him, would it change what he had to do, or his feelings toward her? He knew it didn't. He would always fight for Eve, die for her if necessary. His heart belonged solely to her.
Burying all doub
ts and fears, Lucien returned to the task of finding Genesis. This time he focused only on his love for Eve. For right now, in this moment, that's all that mattered.
He calmed his breathing and dove into his mind. Genesis was a difficult place to reach. His life experiences had taught him not to rely on things beyond his comprehension. It was his mind and fists that had always resolved problems. But to save the woman he loved, he would have to embrace the fact that there was so much more beyond this world, beyond time itself. The power was there—he just needed to take it.
A bright, warming light appeared on the fringes of his mind. He recognized it for what it was instantly—his soul. Thin, wispy tendrils snaked out from its center. As he approached it, he felt the familiar burning sensation of ancient power. The heat was so intense he couldn't get closer, but the offshoots expanding outward held strength enough. He mentally grabbed on to one and let the power fill his entirety until it felt like his skin might stretch from his bones.
It would work.
He opened his eyes wide and sucked in air. Llona watched him intently. He nodded at her and proceeded down the steps.
Just as they were about to get to the bottom, a shifter on a sofa sneezed. Lucien and Llona froze. He sneezed again and rubbed his nose. His eyes parted opened. They widened further when he spotted Lucien.
Lucien lifted his hand. The sofa on which the shifter sat responded in kind. He was about to jump off when Lucien flipped his hand over. The couch flipped too and crushed the shifter beneath it. The other shifter, a female, bolted up wide-awake. She whirled around with fangs bared. Llona shot a fat ball of light from her hands. It hit the shifter directly in the chest, knocking her back several feet. She slumped to the floor, unconscious.
"Eve went this way," Llona said and jogged away.
He hurried after her, keeping an eye out for the other shifters. One appeared from a nearby room, throwing his substantial body weight into Lucien. They tumbled to the ground, claws and fists flying. Lucien tossed him away and jumped to his feet. He didn't have time to waste on a physical fight like he had with Bo. He pushed both hands forward into the air. The shifter flipped end over end across the floor until he was pressed against the wall upside down. Lucien jerked his hand downward. The shifter’s head crashed into the concrete below him.
Lucien turned around just in time for a large, hairy fist to smash into the side of his face. Stars exploded in his vision as he stumbled backwards. He ducked the next few hits coming from a full-bearded shifter whose blue eyes practically glowed with rage.
Lucien spun away from a high kick, then leaped forward. He snatched the shifter by the arm and, using both brute strength and magic, tossed him to the other side of the warehouse where he smacked into the metal, circular staircase and slid to the floor.
Llona had crossed the warehouse by now. Lucien sprinted after her as she approached a closed door.
She turned around and motioned him forward. In a hushed tone, she said, "Eve's in—"
"Look out!" Lucien yelled as a shifter leapt from an adjacent office. He had Llona by the throat before any of them could do anything. Her legs dangled in the air as she squirmed to get free.
"Take another step, and I'll snap her neck," he growled.
Llona made a gurgling sound, almost like a growl. Her hands became bright white. She jerked her open palms forward, sending a blast of light at the shifter. It burned right through his plaid shirt and sizzled against his hairy chest. He screamed, dropping Llona, and fell to the ground. Llona kicked him in the chest, flipping him onto his back.
"I hate when people grab my neck!" She kicked him again.
Lucien hurried past her to the closed door and peered in an elongated window. Eve had her back against the far wall, her eyes wide.
"Let me in, Eve," he said. He placed his hands on the door.
"I can't," she stuttered. Her eyes darted around the room as if searching for a way out. She was terrified. As long as he had known her, she had never been afraid of him. It cut a fresh wound into his already damaged heart.
"Please," he said. "These shifters are not protecting you. They are holding you here for the DSRD who are on their way right now. You must believe me."
She shook her head, her eyes tearing. "I don't know what to believe anymore."
"I'm coming in. Back away from the door."
She held up her hands, her bottom lip trembling. "Just wait!"
"I'm sorry, but we're out of time, and I love you too much to let them take you."
He slid his hand down to the doorknob and turned it hard, popping the lock. He was about to walk inside when he heard, "What the hell happened here?"
He turned around. At least a dozen shifters, almost all male, stared at him with hungry eyes.
"Your friends already left," Lucien said quickly. "We were just going to join them."
Llona maneuvered next to him, her hands behind her back.
A tall shifter stepped out from the pack and looked Lucien up and down, his bottom lip bulging from a wad of tobacco. "My friends are no friends of vampires."
"Then you don't know your friends very well," Lucien said, trying to keep his voice strong and authoritative.
A shifter nudged the pack leader from behind and pointed to the other side of the warehouse. "Jackson, check that out."
Jackson followed his pointed finger toward the shifter Lucien had dropped on his head. He was still on the floor unconscious.
Jackson's gaze traveled back to Lucien. "Kill them."
Chapter 18
Lucien moved to defend Llona, but she pushed him aside and glared at him.
"We fight together," she said.
The shifters approached slowly, snarling and baring their fangs. Lucien sucked in air, concentrating on the ancient magic coursing through him. The stronger it grew, the more the room became pressurized. A few of the shifters paused, wondering at the odd sensation, but the others pursued.
The nearest one jumped at him, but Lucien shocked him away with a simple touch. Two more attacked while another lunged at Llona. Lucien managed to knock one away with magic and punched at the other. He didn't turn around to see how Llona was doing, but a flash of light was answer enough. Two more white bolts shot across the room. Shifters were dropping all around him. It wouldn't be long before this was all—
An overhead garage door began to open not far away, spilling sunlight into the great room. Beyond the door stood more pairs of feet than he could count. The door continued to rise, revealing dozens more shifters. This was bad.
He glanced back as a familiar lilac scent filled his senses. Eve had opened the door and stood in the doorway, her eyes wide.
"Don't let the witch out of your sight," Jackson commanded.
"You must fight them, Eve," Lucien called back to her. "Protect yourself."
He wanted to say more, but several shifters rushed him at once. He managed to knock a few of them away with magic, but then two attacked from behind. Long, sharp claws tore through the flesh on his back, bringing him to his knees. The next blow might've killed him, but a flash of light blasted the shifter away from him. He got back to his feet, still feeling the burn on his back, and cast Llona a grateful look.
Jackson swung a fist at his face, but Lucien dropped quickly and returned several of his own punches. The sound of bone against bone made him grin. It meant an enemy was dying.
Eve screamed, jolting Lucien from his battle. Two shifters had her by the arms, attempting to drag her away, while she kicked and punched at them.
"Captione!" she screamed. One of her captors dropped to the ground, shaking uncontrollably.
Another attacker grabbed at Lucien. He punched the red-haired shifter, then followed it up with a hard head-butt. The redhead stumbled back, but a sharp pain pierced Lucien’s arm. He glanced down at a foot-long, wooden stake sticking out from his flesh and growled. He yanked it out and tossed it behind him, glaring at his next shifter attacker. All bets were off now. He wanted their blood.
From within his sleeves, he jerked out a silver blade for each hand and began swinging. Two shifters collapsed to the ground, the veins in their body turning black. He whirled on the others who had surrounded him. Llona was also surrounded, but she didn't look worried.
She called over to him, "See you soon!" In less than three seconds, she shimmered and disappeared. Voices of confusion rose into the air.
"Stay focused!" Jackson yelled. "The girl's here somewhere."
A shifter next to Lucien suddenly dropped to the ground unconscious. Another one fell shortly after, as if his head had been hit from behind. Shifters began throwing punches blindly.
"Lucien!" Eve yelled.
He turned around while also trying to keep an eye on his back. The shifter numbers were dropping but not quickly enough.
Two shifters dragged Eve away again toward the open garage door. A black van had pulled up, its door ajar and waiting for her. His heart lurched. He might lose her all over again.
He pushed forward with both arms, sending a forceful blast of energy in front of him. Shifters fell to the ground, clearing a path to Eve. He sprinted toward her, but Jackson blocked his way at the last second and jabbed a long, black stick into Lucien's gut. A jolt of electricity shot through him, and he dropped to the ground, seizing.
Eve cried out. Through blurring vision, Lucien saw one of the shifters holding Eve fall to the ground from an invisible attacker. Llona. With one less shifter to contend with, Eve turned on the other male binding her arms. She smashed her head backwards into his face, elbowed him in the face, then whirled around with a high kick to his head. He stumbled back.
Lucien slid his knees beneath him and attempted to come up on all fours, but Jackson kicked him in the gut hard, flipping Lucien's body onto his back. He gasped for air and rolled out of the way just as Jackson's boot came toward his face. Another shifter grasped him from behind, holding him in a tight grip so Jackson could kick him several more times.
"Praesidium," Lucien grunted. An invisible barrier surged around him just in time to block another blow, one that probably would've rendered him unconscious. He held tight to the magic that kept the protective bubble around him, giving him a few precious moments to heal.