THIS TIME (The Grace Allen Series Book Three Paranormal Romance) (12 page)

That’s
the best thing I’ve heard in a very long time.

“You feel
her blood,” Lucian cut in, pushing Seth to the side, “but I feel her soul and
I’m afraid she isn’t what she used to be.”

My
shoulders slumped.

Well
that was quick.

Lucian
looked at the detailed tattoo on my arm. “She is still bound in ways we don’t understand.
She was able to look into Hell unnoticed. Lucifer himself didn’t feel her
presence. That’s significant I think.” He looked at me closely, his brows
touching. “How much of yourself did you lose, Gracie?”

The sound
of feet slapping the hard ground had us all jerking toward the open door. Jamie
came sprinting in, her face a mask of panic.

“There are
no Madea males!” she gasped.

We all
gaped at her. Seth lost his hold on his magic and the room came alive again.

“Stop!” I
shouted to the soldiers, “Lucifer isn’t here.”

I
dismissed the commotion and turned to Jamie. She was leaning over, her hands on
her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. “What are you saying, James? Of
course there are Madea males. Look at them,” I gestured to Seth and Lucian as
the room broke out in conversation.

“Wait.” She
held up a finger.

The room
fell silent as we all waited for her to catch her breath.

“All Madea
are born female,” she called after clearing her throat. “In order for a male to
exist, a female must mate herself to a male and then, only through the binding,
will he become a Madea.” She turned and took both of my hands in hers. “It’s
the only way. You have to give your heart away.” She looked at Seth and
Lucian’s startled expressions and shrugged. “Well, at least that’s what all of
the books say. The libraries here have whole sections on your kind Gracie, and
really, nowhere is it written that a man has turned because of a blood
exchange.”

I frowned.
“Maybe they never had to deal with a vampire?” I looked at Seth, and had to roll
my eyes at his devilish smile. “So, you’re saying that no one has ever
stolen
blood and used it before?”

“Not to
achieve a change,” Jamie replied, looking troubled. “Blood has been spilled and
even consumed by some, but a transformation has never happened.” She shrugged.
“I don’t get it.”

“Love.”
Lucian folded his arms across his chest and frowned. “You have to have the love
of the Madea female for the change to happen. You just said it. She has to give
away her heart.” He looked at Seth and said, “Looks like we both have a bit of
it.”

“Well, I
was kind of thinking that too,” Jamie looked green all of a sudden. “Which
means that you are mated to
both
Seth and my brother, Grace.”

I felt my
knees give and I sat hard on the floor. “I’m
mated
. To
both
?”

“Um,”
Jamie hesitated, “Gracie?” She knelt down next to me. “That’s not the worst
part I’m afraid.” I looked at her as she began to fidget with her hands.
“Lucifer is trying to break your bonds to them and according to what I’ve read,
Madea mate for life. A bond can only be broken with death.” She looked up at
her brother. Lucian’s eyes were huge. “If Lucifer wants to wed you and complete
his bond,” her eyes began to tear, “Seth and Lucian will have to die.”

“
What
?”
I shouted grabbing her arms, “God, no!”

I looked
at the intricate design staining my skin. Thin vines snaked around my forearm,
past my elbow. Tiny roses and shining buds dotted each thin vine. I thought
back to the attention Lu always paid to the ink. I felt my skin tingle with
goose bumps. God, he’d been working the design, binding me to him. Lord, I’d
been so out of my mind, I’d actually encouraged his attention.

“Wait.”
Seth pulled me to my feet as my stomach twisted into sick knots. “We are
mated
?”
He turned and looked the question at Jamie and then he gripped my arms, his
eyebrow arching. “How can you be mated to
two
men?” He stared deeply
into my eyes, searching my face as if the answers could be pulled from my eyes.

 “Like I
know!” I pulled from his punishing grip and sighed at his annoyed expression.
Damn, he was stressed and I couldn’t blame him. I had no answers, only my
suspicions. Then a thought hit me. “Well, maybe it’s because I hold all of the
ancient Madea inside of me?” I shrugged. “Maybe the rules have to bend a
little?” I jumped at the shocked intake of the group’s collective breath.
“Shit, I guess none of you knew that?” I felt like an ass again. Only Lu knew
what I really was. At the core of me, deep inside.

Gavyn
broke from the group of warriors. “This was not common knowledge, Grace.” He
looked deeply into my eyes. “There is too much we don’t know about you. Our
tomes will be useless if you continue to break every physical rule. We know of
only singular Madea.” He searched my eyes. “Can you hear them, inside your
mind, Grace?”

“I think
so,” I felt a zing shoot up my spine. “Sometimes it’s just a, well, a
feeling
I guess. But other times I can hear their actual voices.” I felt my heart race
and I sighed, feeling like the world’s largest idiot.
Damn
, this next bit
was going to send them all over the edge.

“Yeah, um,”
I hesitated, trying to come up with the right way to say it. Gavyn frowned and
folded his arms and I sighed again, letting my shoulders fall. “Alright, fine,
here goes. The leader of the Madea,
Mariee,
actually came forward. She
took over my body and my voice. She spoke for me when I needed her the most.” I
rushed on. I looked at the group that had closed in around me. It was the
largest huddle I’d ever seen. I wanted to melt away.

“Why would
she come forward?” Gavyn demanded. “Her time was so long ago. How did she help
you?” He watched me as I began to fidget.

“She came
forward when Lu,” I looked at Lucian, he looked furious and I rolled my eyes.
“Okay,
Lucifer,
was having a temper tantrum.”

Gavyn lowered
his brows.

“Damn it,
Mariee was once Lucifer’s lover,” I blurted in frustration.

“Grace?”
Gavyn looked sick with shock. “Why would you keep such information from us?”

“Well,
hang on a second, I didn’t do it on purpose! It just never occurred to me that
you needed to know. I never had a reason to think of it again till now.” I
tried to ignore the grumbling. “And anyway, she wasn’t
really
his lover
because they never actually made love, but she sure loved him, and in his own
freaky, selfish way, I think he enjoyed the look of her and had a pretty big
thing for her power.” I folded my arms and then jerked back at Gavyn’s sudden
look of mayhem.

“Everyone
out!” Gavyn shouted, flinging his arms out.

Seth and
Lucian moved, I reached out.

“You’re
not going anywhere,” I glared at Gavyn, daring him to force them from the room.

“Very well
then,” Gavyn seemed resolved, “let us just cut to the heart of it. We know that
Lucifer once loved a woman. Our legends say that he once courted a woman so
pure that he believed she could remove his taint and heal his soul. With her
love, she would change him into a being that was more powerful than any
creature ever beheld.” Gavyn’s eyes were huge as he spoke. “Could it be that
this woman was your Mariee?”

“Wait a
damn minute.” I shook my head. “He didn’t love Mariee. That’s totally
impossible! He’s the
Devil
, Gavyn. Love is beyond his capabilities.”

“He is not
incapable of love, Grace. Come now. He was once divine and filled with the
capacity to love deeper than any of us could ever comprehend.”

“Yeah,
I’ve heard that one before,” I mumbled as Seth and Lucian stepped closer to me.
I tried to calm my nerves through their presence. “So you’re saying he loved
her
,
not just her power?” I shook my head. “No way.”

“Tell me
Grace,” Seth tilted his head, “what do you know of this Mariee?”

I closed
my eyes, remembering the amazing day that I walked side by side with the Madea.
The vision of Mariee, my twin in too many ways, finding comfort and love in
Lucifer’s arms.

I felt the
warm brush of Seth’s mind inside mine and scrambled to throw up my mental
walls. He was way too strong and my efforts were useless. I squeezed my eyes
shut, ready for the outburst.

“Fuck!” he
shouted and I sucked in a breath as he grabbed my arm, swinging me around to
stare at my face.

“Grace
is
Mariee!” he roared and I cringed back.

“Stay out
of my head, you ass,” I yelled, rolling my eyes. “And I was planning on telling
you.”

Lucian
looked at both of us, frowning in confusion. “Of course she’s Mariee. We know
her soul is inside of Grace. What’s the big deal?”

Seth’s lip
curled. “No, my simple friend.” He pushed away from me and stood before Lucian.
“She is the
spitting image
of Mariee.” He pointed an accusing finger at
me. “Aren’t you, Sweet?
That
is why Lucifer is so enamored with you.
Because you, in body
and
soul are his one and only love.”

“Grace?”
Lucian looked at me, his brow creased with worry.

“It’s
true.” I shrugged, “what can I say?”

Really,
what could I say?

“This is a
problem,” Gavyn sighed and began to pace. “I fear we may be in over our heads.
If this were a simple case of acquiring power then we would stand a chance. But
we’re keeping him from the one woman in all of time that he has ever held
dear.”

My hands
broke out in a cold sweat and I opened my mouth to speak but no sound came.

Lu
.

He was so
deeply imbedded into my mind that speaking of him left me in a state of
confusion. On one hand he was the most horrible and despicable creature ever to
be spat into existence, yet on the other hand, he was the love of my life. Well,
not
my
life, but the soul of a life that was now as much a part of me as
my own soul. Mariee still loved him. And I knew that now, through me, she had
been able to realize a deep and agonizing desire that had burned inside of her
with no hope of relief. I had given myself to Lu. We had shared a bed and a
life together. It didn’t matter that it was extremely brief and a huge lie.
Mariee had gotten her wish, and she had rolled around in it, pulled it tight,
wrapped herself up and snuggled in deep. She was no longer bound by her fears.
She was able to ride the waves of my poor decisions with no reservations. We
had a problem with Lu wanting me, yet now I understood more clearly that Mariee
had loved Lu with just as much passion.

“We have a
huge
problem,” I said as I realized what was happening. “Mariee loved
him too.”

“What are
you saying?” Seth looked at me, his silver eyes reflecting my face back at me.
For a moment it seemed, someone else was looking out.

I felt
Lucian move up beside me. His heat beat at my side.

“Mariee
wants him,” I turned to glance at him as reality unfolded. “I feel a deep and
powerful emotion for the fucking demon and I swear to God, Lucian if your
bottom lip quivers, I’m gonna slug you.” I suddenly felt like two different
people. “I remember something that Lu once said to Mariee. He asked her if she
was going to swim to the surface when he finally got me in bed. I think that’s
exactly what she did.”

“She came
out when you had sex? Does that mean that your mind wasn’t there?” Lucian’s
hope filled voice killed me a little.

“I have to
say that a lot of what happened to me is fuzzy. But, sorry, Lucian, the sex is
pretty damn clear.”

“Awesome.”
Lucian walked to the wall and leaned against it folding his arms.

“The
problem here is still the same,” Seth began, shaking his head at Lucian. “We
need to keep Grace and Lucifer apart, correct?”

“Correct.”
Gavyn confirmed. “Our women must be secluded to the center of the village. I’m
afraid our men as well.” He shrugged and I nodded, knowing all too well the
allure of the man we were trying to fight.

“Gavyn,
get the word out. This is a command, anyone caught near the boundaries of the
village will be jailed, their powers stripped,
among other things
.” Seth
leveled him a look, his long teeth running out to touch his full bottom lip.

“No need
to send the point home, my friend. As scary as you are, I fear Lucifer will be
a big enough threat.”

“Good.” I
moved forward. “No lies. Let them know who’s waiting outside the forest.” I had
a sudden and horrible feeling. “All of you will die.” I looked at Gavyn. “If he
gets in, Gavyn, I know that all of you will die.”

Gavyn
looked at me for several seconds and without another word he left the room.

SEVENTEEN

“When you
look at me like that, I want to rip your heart out of your chest just to prove
to you it’s black.”

 “I would
bare my chest if only to feel your touch.”

“Spare me.
You are the father of lies, I’m not the mother of stupidity.”

“Oh, my
darling, you lie to yourself, I need not.”

“What do
you want, Lu?”

“Your body
to feast upon, your soul to devour.”

“You’re
wasting your time. I have a lot of ammo and my friends won’t let you get to me.
We have plans, you know. You aren’t going to win”

“You hide
in a village of ants, important to only themselves. Each sorry soul believing
it matters when in reality their entire universe is smashed between two pieces
of glass, collecting dust on my shelf.”

“Reminding
me of our vast insignificance?”

“They are
insignificant, you are my queen.”

“Never.”

“You
already are. I have already won.”

“More
lies?”

“We shall
see.”

“I don’t
think so.”

“It
matters little what you think.”

“You’ll
never get in, Lu.”

“I already
have.”

Sweat
soaked the sheets as I jumped from the bed. It was still dark outside as I ran
out of the small cottage. Crickets made soft chirping sounds as my feet dug
into the grass. I ran, unsure of where I was going. All I knew was that Lu was
in the village and I had to tell someone.

A figure
stepped from the bushes and I screamed.

“God damn
it, Lucian!” I put my hand to my chest as he steadied me. “I swear to all that
is holy, I almost zapped you!” I felt the heat recede from my fingertips as I
tried to calm my racing heart.

“What are
you doing, Gracie?” He bent to look into my eyes. “You look like you’ve seen a
ghost.” He frowned in the darkness and I met his eyes. They reflected the
moonlight like a cat caught in the beam of a flashlight.

“A ghost
would be welcome. Lucian, I had another dream. I think Lu got into the
village!” I felt my hands begin to shake. “He said he was already here!”

Lucian
looked at me with worried eyes. “No, Gracie. He can’t get in.” He shook his
head lightly as if I were some delusional mental patient.

“I see you
are, once again, showing your penchant for stupidity,” Seth purred, stepping
onto the path.

“Seth.” I
spun. “God, you two need a bell.” I let out a breath. “What are you doing out
here?”

“
Lurking,
”
Lucian sneered, “like the shadow-dwelling parasite that he is.” He looked down
his nose, folding his arms. He moved close to me and, puffing up like a
rooster, he grumbled under his breath as Seth neared.

“You two
really need to calm down because I am so not in the mood for macho peacocking
right now. Okay?” I sighed tiredly.

 “That’s
alright, Gracie.” Lucian stepped back just as Seth came nose to nose with him.
“I’m going to go take a look around. See if I can find any sign of the
other
parasite in your life.” Lucian bared his teeth at Seth and then turned to
disappear into the trees.

I gawked,
feeling slightly shell-shocked as I watched Lucian go.

“Wow, and
you questioned his spine?” I shook my head in wonder at Lucian’s anger.

Seth
smiled as if nothing was amiss. “To answer you, Sweet, I do not require much
sleep. May I ask what troubles you enough to bring you into the night?” He took
my arm and steered me onto the path that led to my little cottage.

I watched his profile gleam in the moonlight. His pale skin was
easy to make out in the darkness. He seemed perfectly at ease and not affected
in the least at Lucians actions. Seeing him so unfazed had me shrugging.
Something was going on with these two, but right now I couldn’t dwell on it, I
had much bigger problems. 

“I had a dream,” I stopped walking and his hand fell from my arm.
“Lu said he was already here.” I pleaded with my eyes. He had to take me
seriously.

Seth’s playful grin fell. “How long?” He grabbed my arms firmly as
relief flooded my body.

“I have no idea.” I let out the breath I was holding. “I don’t
even know for sure if he’s truly here or just screwing with me. Maybe his
influence
has somehow found a way in?” I paused, reaching out with my senses. It was odd.
The feelings I got from the surrounding forest were nothing like the feelings
Lu brought out in me. I frowned.

“I don’t feel his…” I thought a second. “His
flavor
? I
don’t know how to put it into words, but what I feel is not Lu.”

Seth considered this for several seconds. “We need Gavyn.” He
grabbed my hand and dragged me in the opposite direction down the path.

***

Gavyn’s cottage was a muted gray in the darkness. The flowers that
surrounded his outer walls were all brightly glowing in the moonlight. Silvery
petals gave off a sweet scent as we passed through the gate. Seth approached
the door and rapped his knuckles on the wood loudly. The noise startled several
sleeping birds, sending them into the air in a rush of wings and screeching
sounds.

“Really, Seth?” I scolded. “You just have to wake the entire
village, don’t you?”

“I do not care, Grace. This situation requires attention and I
intend to get it.”

I threw up my hands. “Fine, pound away.” I folded my arms and
waited as soft lights began to glow inside of Gavyn’s home.

The door opened and Gavyn stood there, his body bare but for a
small loin cloth scrap of material. His hair was mussed and he looked half
asleep. Then seeing who was at the door, he seemed to perk up and collect
himself.

“We
have a very serious problem, my friend.” Seth sounded calm but very stern.
Gavyn nodded and held up a finger. The door shut and a few moments later, he
emerged fully dressed, his hair bound behind his head in a lose knot.

“To the war room?” he asked as we all fell into step with each
other.

“I believe that is the best place, yes.” Seth’s stride picked up
pace and both Gavyn and I had to jog to catch up.