Page 149 of Legacy of Temptation

Draven smiled up at him, the mangled flesh on the left side of his face turning the smile into a grimace of bone and teeth.

“Thank you,” he rasped. “I didn’t—” He coughed, spraying blood. “I didn’t want this. Watch…watch out for Lilith. She helped Pestilence try to kill you. And she sent a storm…”

A storm?

Draven reached up and clutched Logan’s shirt tight in his trembling fist, using the last of his strength to pull himself close. “She said…said you were going to kill someone you loved. I…laughed because…because I didn’t know she meantme.”

You will be mine, or you will kill someone you love.

Lilith’s fateful words ringing in his ears, Logan eased Draven back to the floor, his friend’s eyes, once so bright and full of life, growing cloudy.

“Tell…” Draven coughed again. “Tell my parents.” He sucked in a rattling breath. “I…I’m sorry.”

“No, dammit. Draven? Draven!” he shouted. Felt the tap of his heartbeat against the blade fade, stutter, and then go still.

Everything seemed to go still. Logan had lost his friend and his female in the span of seconds. How was he supposed to move on from this?

He had to go. Had to get away from the pain and the death. Stunned and emotionally drained, he tried to stand, but his legs wouldn’t hold him. Someone caught him as his kneecaps hit the floor.

“I’ve got you, son.”

Tears stung his eyes, but through his blurry vision, Logan could make out Draven’s spirit swirling toward the ceiling.

“I need adecipula,” he croaked, and then someone—Mace, he thought—pressed one into his hand and helped Thanatos lift him to his feet.

With a flick of his bruised wrist, he flung the sphere into the air, and as it did its thing, he staggered over to where Eva’s body lay in a pool of blood.

Her sightless eyes stared into space as he kneeled next to her. She’d been so vibrant, so full of life, and now…

A sob escaped him as he reached for her.

But then…her skin began to glow. Dimly at first, pulsing in slow waves. The light grew brighter with each beat until a radiant sweep of light surrounded her. The blood on the floor poofed away like glitter, the way it had at the beach, and the organs that had spilled out of her torn belly were sucked back in. The gash in her flesh closed, leaving not so much as a scar.

Gasps and shocked curses rippled through the roomful of people.

“Eva?” Gently, Logan gathered her in his arms. The light swelled, swallowing him in its brilliance. A warm, familiar sensation engulfed him, wrapping around him like a blanket of peace. Nothing mattered but the bliss, the calm, and the feeling of Eva’s hand gripping his.

She’s alive!

Holy shit, she was alive, and as the light faded away, his friends and family gathered around them, asking questions and barking out orders.

Get them some water!

Someone call Eidolon!

Who the hell let the hellhound in?

Then Cujo was there, licking Logan’s face, whining and wiggling. Even Eva got a face full of hellhound tongue.

“What happened?” She pulled back enough to see Logan’s face as he gently pushed Cujo away to keep from overwhelming her. “Did we win?”

“We won,” he said, tugging her to him again, needing to feel her heart beating against his chest. “Somehow, we won.”

She clung to him, her face buried in his neck for a moment before she eased away to look down at herself, at her torn…but not bloodstained…dress. “I remember…I thought I was going to die. How am I healed?”

“It was like what happened at the hospital,” Thanatos said, a rare note of reverence in his deep voice. “There was a great light.” He inclined his head in a respectful bow that Logan suspected was a nod to his Druidic people. “And then there was life.”

Eva’s dark eyes lifted to Logan, her gaze brimming with wonder. “I have so many questions.”

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