Page 91 of Midnight Enchantment

He blew out a sigh when her eyelids fluttered open and she smiled at him, a slow, dreamy smile.

“You had better put some clothes on,” he said, gruffly, “or we’ll be looking for another virgin. I will wait for you downstairs.” Taking a step back, he kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose and vanished from the room.

Still smiling, Lily pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater and ran down the stairs. She found Ava and Raedan in the living room. Ava was sitting on the sofa, Raedan stood next to the fireplace, turning the silver goblet this way and that in his hands.

He looked up when she hurried into the room. “A dragon?”

“It seemed fitting,” she said, with a shrug.

“I suppose.”

“The moon will be full tomorrow night,” Ava remarked. “Are you ready?”

“Damn right.”

“How dangerous is this going to be for you?” Lily asked, going to stand beside him.

“I have no idea. But it matters not.”

“It matters to me! I don’t want to lose you.”

Placing the goblet on the mantel, Raedan took her in his arms.

“If you love me, Raedan, please don’t do this.”

Raedan glanced at Ava. With a nod, she left the room.

“Please, Raedan. I’d rather have you and the demon than not have you at all.”

Taking her hand, he moved to the sofa and drew her down on his lap. “Liliana, I know you cannot understand, but you do not know what it is like to feel him inside you,” he said, his voice filled with anguish. “To be constantly struggling against his influence, to always be afraid that, in a moment of weakness, he will compel you to commit acts of violence and depravity that will haunt you the rest of your life.”

“He’s done that to you?”

Raedan nodded, his eyes dark and tormented. “More than once.” Before he had gained the strength to resist the blood-demon’s power, the creature had forced him to do terrible things, despicable things. Things that, centuries later, he still regretted. “The demon knew what I was after when I went to find the dragon. He tried to stop me … ” He clenched his hands as the memory of the agony he had endured that night replayed in his mind.

Lily’s eyes widened as her mind brushed his and she felt what he had felt—the excruciating pain, the anguish, the helplessness he had endured as the demon’s power clawed at his vitals in a desperate effort to survive. It was like being burned alive from the inside out. How had he endured it? “Oh, Raedan,” she murmured. “I didn’t know.”

“It was the blood-demon driving me to drink from you tonight, to take it all. I can feel his power growing. I didn’t hear his voice urging me on. It was only when I stopped that I heard his mocking laughter.”

He crushed her close. Ridding himself of the blood-demon was the only way he could ever trust himself to be with her. Risking his life was a small price to pay if it meant Liliana could be his.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

They met in Ava’s back yard twenty minutes before midnight. Ava had conjured a small stone altar covered with a black cloth. The silver chalice sat in the center. A small knife and a bottle of crushed nightshade stood to one side, the flask filled with the dragon’s blood waited on the other.

Ava and Mason stood on one side of the altar. Raedan and Lily stood on the other side, hands tightly clasped. Lily glanced at the sky. The moon was full and bright above them.

Lily moved closer to Raedan. She was a young witch with much to learn, but she could feel magic gathering around them. It sizzled along her skin, made her stomach clench with anxiety. Squeezing Raedan’s hand, she whispered, “Are you sure there’s no other way?”

He smiled down at her. “I love you, Liliana, more than anything in this world. But in centuries, this is the only solution I have ever heard of. Even for you, I cannot wait any longer.”

She flinched as his eyes took on a faint red glow.

“I am fighting him now,” he said, his voice tight. “He is urging me to destroy the book, to devour you, to feast on Ava and Mason. I do not know how long I can resist.” Releasing her hand, he took a step away from her. “The book, Ava. Now!”

Ava pulled the slim black volume from the pocket of her skirt and laid it on the table in front of the chalice. Picking up the knife, she said, “Liliana, give me your hand.”

Taking a deep breath, Lily put her hand in Ava’s, winced as her great-grandmother made a shallow cut in her palm.

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