The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (43 page)

Knife in hand, I whipped around in a crouch to defend myself. I nearly dropped the knife in shock as he moved towards me with a greasy smile. Knowing I couldn’t outrun him, I planted my feet and yelled for Declan, Killian, and Sean as loudly as I could. Swallowing my terror, I stood my ground and waited.

“I was very disappointed to find you’d left me alive, Mica.” His reptilian eyes adjusted to the light with shrinking pupils. He seemed in no hurry as he stalked towards me. “How is your memory
now
?” He seemed to hiss the words so quiet was the sound.

He knows I know now? How is that possible? I held the knife higher and said, “This knife will protect me from you. It’s killed demons before!” Come on, come on, Dec, where are you? What if he can’t come?
Killian! Help me!

He considered the carvings on the knife with narrowed eyes and paused. “So you think you can destroy me? Silly woman, you can’t hurt me. You’re powerless against me.” His voice rose as he got closer to me.

As he approached, he straightened each finger so that the three-inch claws popped out of the ends one at a time. The effect was paralyzing. I couldn’t take my eyes off the claws. I knew exactly how it would feel for them to dig into my skin.

“You are going to die now, and I will forget you as soon as you’re gone. You are nothing but a loose end to me. I have what I wanted.” His smile showed his two rows of fangs.

Stalling, I said, “Congratulations. What are you going to with it now? Should I be worried?”

His laughter pierced my eardrums like claws on a chalkboard. He was slowly shedding his human façade as he moved. The skin peeled away to show the black scales underneath. Like a snake shedding its skin, it flaked off and fell in long tendrils. One half of his face was already bare and gleamed in the dim light.

He bragged, “You’ll be dead. Your precious Primani can’t undo that. But I can. I will bring hell to earth for eternity.” He considered me with lust in his eyes. “Perhaps I will bring you back to entertain me.”

He was right in front of me now, and I turned to bolt just as he reached out to grab my throat. As soon as he touched me, my runes crackled like lightning and he flew backwards. By the time he landed on the floor, Killian and Sean were standing between us.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Killian snarled in his throat as he raised his glowing hand.

Sean shoved me down the hallway as Killian lunged.

“He did what?” I asked for the second time and tried to brace myself.

Sean was driving the car like the demons were chasing us. I flew sideways into the door and yelped when my elbow got smashed.

“He vanished. Instead of fighting, he vanished. It was crazy.” Slamming the car into a lower gear, he skidded to a stop in the driveway. He grabbed my hand and in a heartbeat we were in the living room. This was different from traveling. This was just moving really fast, and he’d never done it with me before. I didn’t like the feeling, my head was spinning and I sank to my knees.

“Sorry, babe. Put your head in your hands for a minute.” He was agitated, running a hand through his hair and looking at the clock. “Where is Dec? It’s been more than half an hour.”

The dizziness was gone and I worried with him. Dec was out with James tonight. They should’ve been back by now, and Dec should’ve been able to respond to my call, unless something had happened.

Killian stalked in from the kitchen just then. Eyes burning like lasers, he was practically glowing with fury. Out of all of them, he was usually the most controlled. He rarely showed any outward sign that he wasn’t just an ordinary young man. The only time I’d seen his eyes burn was when he traveled or in the middle of a serious fight with demons.

“Sean, Mica, what happened tonight?”

Sean briefed him on tailing Scott to the bar and watching him and the brunette. They’d both been at the same table when I went to the bathroom and Scott was there when Sean got back from the bathroom. I filled him in what the demon said. He watched my face intently while I spoke.

“And the last thing he said was, quote:
You’ll be dead. Your precious Primani can’t undo that. But I can. I will bring hell to earth for eternity.
Then he looked at me like he wanted to have sex with me and said this creepy line,
Perhaps, I will bring you back to entertain me.
What the hell does that mean?”

I was freaked out all over again and walked over to the window to release some tension. “Bring me back from where?”

Killian had stood very still while I repeated the demon’s boasts. When I said the last part he flinched back and his face went blank. The expression on his face turned my blood to ice crystals. He didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t breathe for what seemed like hours. The blood drained from his face and his lips turned bluish.

I clung to Sean’s side and said, “What’s he doing?”

Sean was as clueless as I was and just whispered, “Wait.”

Killian? What’s wrong? 

Nothing. No answer. No comment. Silence inside my head
.

Please let us help! Let me in, please.

Silence.

Suddenly he sank to his knees as if a great weight was dropped on him. He stared out at something we couldn't see, his lips moving in soundless incantation. His pain was breaking my heart. He was still a million miles away, so I reached out to him and squeezed his hand to show him we were still here for him. Maybe the physical contact will reach him and bring him out of this shock. But just as I held his hand in mine, he vanished into space.

The first thing I noticed was the roar of the ocean as it hurled itself against the rocks. The second thing I noticed was the pain in my hand as my knuckles were ground together. Attempting to yank my hand away only provoked an already angry man. Eyes burning like twin stars, he was definitely out of shock and fully pissed off now.

Before I could say a word, he yanked me to him and snarled down at me, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Wincing, I cried, “It was an accident! I didn’t mean to come!”

“You can’t be here now! Oh, fuck, Mica!” He shook me so hard my teeth rattled. “It’s not safe for you to be with me right now. This is very bad. I need to do some things, and I can’t do them with you here.”

“Look, I’m here and I’ll just sit by the rocks and let you do your thing. I might be able to help or I can just keep you company.” I hesitated but touched my rune to his. They glowed on contact. “See? I belong with you.”

Still very distracted, he gave me a weak smile at that and gave in. “Come on, we need to get to the ruins.” He took off ahead of me, and I jogged to keep up.

True to my word, I sat on the soft grass just outside the opening to the ruins. The sky was entertaining me. There wasn’t any breeze at the surface but humongous rolling clouds sped at super speeds in the sky. They flew along in great streams of white and occasionally grey. It was like Mother Nature hit the fast-forward button. Killian had gone inside a few minutes earlier and hadn’t come out yet. I was giving him the space I promised. I would wait right here.

An inhuman roar of fury reverberated through the stone, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. My very human instincts told me to run; run far, far away from this place. Even my fingertips filled with adrenaline, and I almost bolted.

But I knew better.

This was Killian.

I needn’t fear him.

Without warning, the world exploded into chaos. An immense wall of solid black clouds formed out of nowhere and rolled across the ocean towards us with supernatural speed as violent blue lightning speared the huge waves. Frigid wind howled around me and I clung to a rock to keep from falling down. Edging into a sheltered niche near the entrance, I huddled, waiting. Killian’s voice raged above the roar of the storm, shouting in his ancient language. The cadence of his words rose and fell with the wind and I shivered in the presence of something much more powerful than I’d ever seen.

A great bolt of lightning crashed to the ground a few feet away from me, and I felt the crawl of electricity go up my leg. My skin burned with the slight shock of it. Not wanting to be barbequed, I slipped into the ruins and tried to be invisible. His voice was more powerful inside the small room, and it reverberated through the stone. He stood over the altar with hands outstretched and head back calling to the powers he served. He was magnificent and a rush of heat spread across my chest as I stared in awe. The face I loved was transformed into something fierce and cold. He might have been carved from the same stone as the altar near which he stood. His body was lit from within as he called out in demand. Heat shimmered in waves around him.

Outside, the storm unleashed its full fury, and the stone trembled and screamed as it absorbed the energy itself. Killian raised his knife and slashed a long cut on the inside of his forearm. Holding it aloft in offering, his voice was compelling as he spoke the next words. Lightning struck the top of the ruins; blue electricity sparked in one corner and crisscrossed the entire roof like a spider web. As it traveled down each of the walls, more lightning struck and the pattern repeated over and over again. Each powerful bolt ended in the outstretched hand of Killian. He called the lightning and it answered him.

Mesmerized, I sank to the floor and held my knees to my chest. His mercurial blue eyes were closed as he abruptly stopped speaking and bowed his head. Leaning against the altar, he remained still and silent. His entire body pulsed with blue fire. His chest rose and fell, the golden amulet gleaming in the faint glow from the flames. His forearm dripped blood. Unable to take my eyes off of him, I watched the blood slowly trickle across the glowing rune on his hand. My own rune tingled oddly, and I glanced at it. It glowed softly against the brown of my skin. It took a minute for me to realize the ozone was overpowering my senses and my ears rang loudly. The hair on my arms was standing up as the lightning continued to flow through the rocks. Probably I wasn’t safe in here, but I couldn’t seem to get up.

Hot as a lightning bolt himself, Killian came over and wrapped his arms around me. Protecting me from the power that still arced across the stone all around us, he held me against him until my heart stopped racing. It didn’t matter that he was so hot I was getting burned. It didn’t matter that his blood was smeared all over my arm. No, none of that mattered. All that mattered was that he was in control again. I’d been terrified at the house; his shock and pain were more than I could stand. That’s not who he is. He’s never afraid; he’s never unsure or out of control.

This powerful and terrifying high priest commanding the elements is who he is. I had no idea what happened, but I knew he would fix it. He could fix anything and the rest of us would be here to help him. He might want to be alone, but he’d always have me, even if I had to come back from the dead to help. I leaned my face against his shoulder and breathed in his scent. Musky, woodsy…It sent my blood racing, but at least his heartbeat was steady again and everything was better.

He chuckled tiredly against my neck and said, “All hell is about to break loose. Everything is most definitely not better.”

Then he kissed me softly between my eyes and looked intently into them, calling to me, pleading with me. His own were crystal clear and blue as the midnight sky. At a loss for words, he hesitated. Intending to kiss me again, he stopped and pressed his lips against my skin and groaned softly. Automatically, his hand wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me closer so I was leaning against his chest.

“I’m sorry you were afraid. I…heard you, but I couldn’t answer you. I was trying to find
Sgaine Dutre
. I was looking for it, but couldn’t sense it…Then I felt it, but it was in someone else’s hands. I knew it was gone then. I had to come here to be sure.” His voice was soft and husky.

While he spoke, he lightly dragged his lips across the delicate skin along the side of my face and stopped just below my jawline. Still not kissing me, he didn’t break the contact, and my skin sizzled with the touch of his mouth. His eyes were closed now, and his hand rested lightly on the bare skin of my back. He wasn’t fooling me; every muscle in his body tensed in anticipation and my body responded to his call.

Afraid to move, afraid to breathe, tingling with the force of the raw sensations that were coursing through me, I froze. Just the feel of him so close to me made me want to throw myself against him and to hell with the consequences. My slightest movement brought my cheek against the roughness of his and I turned into him instinctively seeking more. With barely a sound, he whispered my name and slowly slid his mouth towards mine. He was giving me a chance to move, to change my mind. I lifted my face towards his and felt my world slide sideways when his mouth crashed down on mine.

“I’m not going to remember any of this, am I?”

“It probably wouldn’t be helpful if you did.” He caressed my face with his as if memorizing every curve. I felt his eyelashes flutter against my cheekbone and my breath caught with a rush of love for him.

“Killian, I--”

He smiled a bit sadly and pressed a finger to my lips. “Shh. Do you think you should? Say it out loud, I mean.”

Serious now, I pulled his face back down and kissed him as if I’d never see him again. If I wasn’t going to remember this night, I wanted to make sure that he did. Later, when we lay face to face and our hearts raced out of control, the tears that slid down my cheeks were tears of sadness for what would never be.