Page 38 of Wicked Savior
He hasn’t moved an inch from the door. It’s almost as if he’s frozen in place. His blue eyes have a ring of black around them, and he’s staring at the beast as if it’s a nightmare come to haunt him.
Lucifer grunts, and my gaze swings back to him. Claws have flayed open one of his thighs. Furious, he becomes a whirlwind, feet flying in a warrior’s dance, trying to move fast enough to avoid the claws and reach its head.
But the faster he moves, the less the beast does. Instead, it waits for its prey to make its move. When Lucifer moves in to strike, a large fist comes in and clocks him on the side of the head.
Lucifer stumbles back, a dazed look on his face.
The beast takes the opportunity to start running toward the door and Cormal. Lucifer shakes off the hit and follows.
It sniffs the air, then looks directly at me. Swerving at the last minute, it leaps and lands a foot away. Daire tries to move us to a safer place, but I shake him off, turn my left side toward the beast and step closer.
Lucifer roars in fury.
The beast goes into a frenzy, claws digging deeply into my left arm, shredding the skin, until there’s nothing but muscle, bone, and blood left. A long tongue unrolls from its mouth to roughly lick a line from my wrist to my shoulder. When the first drop of my blood hits its tongue, it begins to hum.
Pure agony shoots down my side, but I shove it into a tiny box in my mind. Whipping my right arm around, I drive the gold dagger into the top of its head. The beast staggers, going down on one knee, and drops my arm. Black eyes look up at me, comprehension dawning in its depths. It unleashes a loud snarl, then falls silently the rest of the way to the ground.
I drop down on one knee beside it and smooth the rough hair back from its face. “I’m sorry. So, so sorry, Aurora. Go, rest in peace with your parents and Becca. They’re waiting for you.” The heaviness in my chest expands, and I drop my head onto the beast’s chest. The image of a beautiful little girl with sparkling brown eyes fills my mind. Did she know this was happening, or did she turn between one moment and the next? Goddess, I hope she wasn’t aware of anything, but especially what she did to her beloved sister.
The smell of a bonfire wraps around me like a warm blanket as Lucifer bends down and gently picks me up.
I bury my face in his chest, not wanting to see the condemnation in his intense blue eyes. He brought me to The Abbey and entrusted me with his family, and look what happened. I almost destroyed everything, including them. Their friends and staff are gone. People who had put their trust in them and the sanctuary.
He walks out of the room and into the elevator. “Someday, you’re really going to have to show me what’s so special about that little dagger of yours. I almost had a heart attack when I saw you step forward with that tiny thing in your hand.” His hand grasps mine and guides it to his chest.
“My heart’s still beating fast. Do you feel it?”
The rapid thump beneath my hand tells me he’s not simply placating me. I press my face harder into his warm chest. “I’m sorry. So sorry.” With those words, I pass out from the pain wracking my body.
ChapterTwenty-One
LUCIFER
My heart stopped when she stepped into the beast’s arms. At first, I thought guilt was driving her to sacrifice herself. It didn’t occur to me what she was doing until her dagger punctured its tough skull and it fell to its knees in front of her. One thrust. That was it.
The guilt… it came after the beast was dead. When she could acknowledge it was Aurora inside and not some random monster. The same sweet little girl who had been so happy to have her cancer gone and a plan for the future. Her head dropped and hands trembled as she sent her off in peace.
After she passed out and Arden healed us both, I slid the dagger from Evren’s side and carried it into the light to examine it further. To my surprise, there was a Viridian spell engraved on the blade.
Once is a coincidence, but twice? Seeing the language engraved on another gold piece tells me it’s all connected, but the pieces are jagged, and don’t quite fit. Something is missing. But what? For me, it all started the night the torque entered my hall, but where is the beginning? In the past with Evren’s ancestor or in the present with Evren herself?
The beasts are nothing new. They’ve lived on the other side of a portal for eons. None of us knew where they originated, but everyone in the Underworld knew them as dangerous and tough-to-kill monsters. When I took the throne, I established a patrol to alert us if one slipped into our world so we could immediately hunt them down.
Now I know their origins—humans who were given Druid blood. It’s astounding to think those beasts were once innocent mortals walking this Earth. When they change, they retain none of their human form or intelligence. The only common trait with their human origins seems to be their ability to reproduce rapidly. One of my enemies opened the portal during a recent battle in the Underworld, and there were thousands and thousands of the ravenous beasts straining to get to our side and feed.
When Evren doesn’t immediately wake, I use the rest of the day to engrave the spell onto the blades of my sword and two of my favorite daggers. I must have stabbed the beast seven times, and it barely noticed. She killed it with one hit. Next time, she won’t have to sacrifice her body, because I’ll be there to put it down first.
I consider sending the spell to others, but if it also contains the power to kill angels, I can’t take the chance. It’s not an issue for me, because I already have that power, but our world is a delicate balance. If others were to gain the power, it could tip the scales too far.
When she wakes two days later, it’s almost as if her body is nothing but a shell. She doesn’t eat or sleep. The only she moves is when Arden comes into the room to heal her. I know the pain must be intense, but unlike most, she doesn’t cry or scream. She locks her jaw and sits there, stone-faced, until it’s done.
Her eyes are the window to her soul, though. In their bewitching green depths is a maelstrom of emotions swirling around. Loads of guilt, sorrow, and anger… and loads of heavy thinking.
She says nothing. Not a word. To me or Arden.
Needing her to know she’s not alone, I ease myself onto the bed and gather her in my arms. I talk to her about life in the Underworld. It’s so different compared to here. It’s unique and marvelous, but since she’s human, she won’t ever get to see it. Still, I want to share it with her, and I can tell she’s listening when the creases at the corner of her eyes flex in response to something I say.
Not wanting the guilt to overwhelm her, I don’t talk to her about the ones who were killed that night. We burned them all, including the beasts and Becca, in a funeral pyre. Then Arden, Astor, and I worked together to cleanse The Abbey. We didn’t want to take the chance that a single drop of blood could cause another beast to rise. Arden and Astor created a spell to isolate the hellfire I laid down. Once it was all gone, they rebuilt those areas.
