Page 71 of Sacrifice

TheLirathil’sknees buckled, and Michaels swept him aside.

The second guard was more alert and squinted into the shadows from which Michaels approached. Michaels drew upon the quintessence to examine the sword in the guard’s grip and dissolved the bonds of the alloys in its finely wrought steel, returning them to their raw state. It flopped to one side and a fae guard yelped.

Michaels doubled his pace to reach him, and the guard pulled a dagger from a scabbard on his belt. Embossed runes caught in the light as he played it hand to hand, eying Micheals as he emerged.

“Impressive,” Michaels said in his low growl. The guard smirked. “You were obviously warned you that fae steel won’t work on a celestial.” He drew a flaming sword from thin air. “I prefer a good ethereal sword myself.”

TheLirathil’sgrin faded, and Michaels swung it in one wide arc to fell the fae where he stood.

Michaels pushed forward.

There were two more, returning from the portal now empty-handed, still unaware that Michaels had returned. He stretched his wings wide to block the entrance to his home and channeled the quintessence into his aura to stop them in their tracks.

Dazzlingly bright, he expanded the sphere of light in which he stood to include them. The Dark Fae consciousnesses writhed beneath his touch, but they did not let him in. “You dare to desecrate the sanctuary of a celestial?” he boomed.

“Your time is at an end, Angel,” oneLirathilspat, the words gasped from his constricted throat under Michaels’ grip. “The mundane will feel the wrath of my master. We will claim what is rightfully ours.”

“Your master? Skovanka?” Michaels squeezed at the Fae’s consciousness. His voice was in their minds, but the pain was real enough.

They squirmed and clutched at their heads. “Killing us won’t help you. TheLirathilare many, and you are one.”

“Bring back my dybbuk,” Michaels commanded, but the fae only laughed.

Michaels hadn’t really expected them to comply. He swung his sword and sliced them clean in two. Shouts came from within his church. His aura had alerted them to his arrival. There was no holding back a battle now.

Thirty-Seven

Eve and Lucienscaled the steps of the British Museum hand in hand. The buzz of connection rippled continually from the point where their hands touched, spreading around her body, from the crown of her head to the tips of her fingers and toes.

The cold snap in the winter air invigorated her lungs, and the hard stone beneath her feet propelled her forward, perfectly reflecting the energy she applied against it to walk. All forces were clear to her. The sun's rays penetrated her very being and fed the quintessence at her core. It rolled and grew inside her, propelling every nerve ending at its greatest potential.

Inside the building, the scent of eons filled her nostrils. Time itself was held within the museum’s walls, and Eve drew in its knowledge with every breath. With each step, she absorbed history.

The museum staff were oblivious to the trials of Eve’s last twenty-four hours, and the heightened state she now found herself in. As she and Lucien swept through the main concourse, the early morning staff were all too interested in discussing the odd vibrations that had rattled exhibits and the continuing malfunction of their phones and the electrical system to noticeher. The museum was operating on emergency generators, and Eve could feel the extra hum overlaying the usual atmosphere.

Spending time with Lucien, she had grown accustomed to the gaze of strangers being drawn away from her and onto him, as if she weren’t even there. Today, even he was invisible.

They strode on and made for the stairs that led up to their exhibition space, Lucien speeding her along, feet barely touching the ground. When they made it at last to their fourth-floor room, Lucien ushered her inside and locked the doors behind them.

It was like the sealing of a tomb. The cold stone floor sucked heat from her body and, as they walked, their footsteps echoed in the still air. She felt the lack of sunshine. “I want to go back outside,” she said, the desire for sunlight a visceral need.

“I have something new to show you,” Lucien said, and he took her hand to lead her through to the second exhibition space where the stone of the floor gave way to wood. At once, it felt better.

Things had changed since she'd last been there. The room was now filled with a deep silence, like a church. She slipped out of her shoes and coat to leave them behind. In her bare feet, she could feel the grain of the wood and the hundreds of years it had taken to grow. Goosebumps washed over the exposed skin of her arms and legs. This room had taken on a new purpose.

The central space had been cleared, and an eight-pointed star was now drawn on the floor. At the end of each point, an Akkadian dagger had been driven into the wood, their gemstone hilts glinting dully in the early morning light.

Lucien walked point to point around the star, passing his hand over the gemstones, which glowed brighter at his touch.

The stone of Tizoc now stood on the dais in front of the window, acting as the altar it was intended to be. On it were laid the ritual artefacts they had collected. The incantation bowl, the tablet of summoning and the star charts all laid out around theCrown of Ishtar, which took pride of place in the center. Also, a pair of dark glass bottles with two small golden cups and an adjustable mirror.

Eve’s heart beat faster and stronger. There was power in this room. She felt its excited vibration resonating through her chest to stir her deep inside. The transit of Venus had awoken something, and the Goddess of Love demanded to be worshipped. Lucien was so close to her now, and they were finally alone. Her breath caught in her throat as he drew near to stand behind her.

“Can you feel it?” Lucien whispered in her ear, his warm breath on her neck, his body so close. “They are calling to you.”

“Yes,” she said and reached a hand over her shoulder to touch his face. His aura burned brightly inside her mind. “I can see you, set free. You are beautiful.”

The energy field between them rippled beneath her fingertips, but still she felt the warmth of his skin. She ran her fingers along his jaw, brushed over his ear and into his hair.

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