Page 56 of Sacrifice

He was tall, over six feet, and towered over her. His jacket was open and she could smell the combination of cologne and soap and something else undefinable. Another set of smells to set her senses reeling. The train pulled out of the station and he bent down to speak, his cool breath brushing against her neck. Goosebumps ran down her spine.

“He’s dangerous.”

She stared back incredulously. “Right now, you look like the dangerous one. Isn’t this harassment?” Her head swam from so much unfamiliar input. So many sensations fought for dominance. Light, smells, and motion. The roar of the train pummeled her ear drums.

“Leave me alone,” she growled through gritted teeth. “It’s none of your business.”

His blue eyes burned with intensity. “I’m trying to save you.”

“Save me?” It came out in an irregular laugh. He had no fucking idea what she could do, what she could see. “I don’t need saving.”

The bald man standing beside them shifted and frowned. Heavily built with tattoos on his neck, he looked Michaels up and down, sizing him up. “Is this guy bothering you, luv?” he asked in a strong east-London accent. His aura fluctuated from purple to blue: a have-a-go hero whose real motivation was the opportunity to vent his pent-up aggression. He curled his lip at Michaels.

“I’m police,” said Michaels. “It is no concern of yours.” He kept his eyes on Eve.

The man seemed less than convinced, adjusting his stance and flexing his back. Other passengers on the train sensed trouble and sidled away.

“I’m pretty sure she’d like you to fuck off,” the man insisted. He moved closer, looking to get in between them.

Michaels sighed and turned just his head to look down his nose at the man. Michaels’ white luminescence grew brighter still, dazzling Eve and expanding to fill the entire carriage. Eve screwed up her eyes. It swamped every other aura around them, including the dim mauve of the man.

“There is nothing to concern you here,” Michaels said calmly.

The train pulled into the next station and, as one, everyone else in the carriage got off.

“This is your stop, isn’t it?” Michaels added.

The man looked lost, then blinked confusedly. “Yeah, right,” he said, “thanks.”

He stepped off the train, and the doors slid shut.

Eve followed his progress along the platform aghast, then, as the train moved, let her eyes slide back to Michaels.

She wanted to say, ‘What the fuck just happened?’but she knew exactly what he’d done. He’d expanded his aura to touchnot just one person, like she had in Tiffany, but to connect with every single person in the carriage. Fifty people, maybe more, and every one of them had done what he’d wanted.

DI Michaels was channeling quintessence too and was worryingly good at it. She backed away. “Holy shit, who the actual fuck are you?”

Michaels glared back at her, and she felt him pressing on her mind.

Panic expanded in Eve’s chest and pushed the quintessence out into her wider body. It sped through her veins, into her limbs and arced in crackles of blue between fingertips.

Golden ribbons of energy unfurled around Michaels to hang in the air like weed caught in the current of a river. Eve felt the pressure of the energy coursing from him to counter her own. Beyond her control, the quintessence surged to push it away.

Michaels looked shocked. “I am a Sentinel of the Celestial Council. Protector of the Meek and Just—Warden of the Damned.”

Eve started laughing. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” This was all madness.

He looked her up and down and she wondered for the first time what her own aura looked like. His expression displayed a flash of recognition, then took on a greater degree of concern.

“What do you know, Eve?” He shifted his stance and Eve intuitively knew the threat he posed. She knew he wanted to come between her and Lucien. He was from theother side.

Anger, the bitterness of injustice, confusion of how she came to be in this situation and the mind-bending overwhelming sum of her senses rolled through her body. Her ability to control the quintessence stretched and then finally failed. Jagged arcs of power burst from her fingertips and slicked to the sides of the carriage. It climbed the walls to the ceiling and swept the floor beneath their feet.

Michaels scowled at her. “Don’t do this,” he growled.

“I have to admit, I’ve been having trouble believing it all, but there’s no denying the power, is there?” She flicked a wave of blue sparks toward him and Michaels turned to one side to let it pass by.

“Warden of the Damned, is that what you said? You’re one of them.” Anger welled in the depths of Eve’s stomach. “Warden on Elham, does that mean? Is it you that keeps us apart?” Righteous fury filled her chest. “Why be so cruel?”

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