Assassin: Fall of the Golden Valefar (A Paranormal Romance—Book #6 in the Demon Kissed Series) (9 page)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The next few days passed oddly slow. Eric hadn’t seen
Natalia since he took her to the beach. He deposited her at her house and went
to orchestrate the rest of his plans. The look in her eyes worried him when he
left. She agreed to stay hidden, out of sight of Carina’s men, but it was the
same look Ivy had given him a million times. He doubted she stayed inside more
than ten minutes after he left. That girl had a death wish, and Carina would be
happy to grant it.

Eric’s plans came along slowly. It was almost painful. There
were so many facets and it appeared that someone was moving against him. If he
didn’t act quickly enough, he would lose what he worked so hard to achieve. He
managed to avoid Valefar, though he knew they were looking for him. A spell
here and an incantation there blocked the minds of the people who saw him,
making it like he didn’t exist.

The closest anyone had come to capturing him was Mandor,
and Eric wasn’t sure how Mandor located him. Maybe Ivy could sense his
whereabouts, but being locked in the Underworld prevented her from appearing
herself. And the Accords between the angels and the demons about when it was
permissible for the Queen to extract one of her kind, well, the angels would
prefer killing the disturbance rather than drawing attention. His final act
would cross the line though, and he knew without a doubt, that Ivy would be
within her rights to extract Eric. In the meantime, she would have Valefar
searching for him, but he was always two steps ahead.

The only variable was Natalia. He hoped that they didn’t
realize how he felt about her. He couldn’t turn himself in yet. There was more
to do, an act that would be unforgivable. It would warrant his death. Without
that act, he knew what would happen.

It was too late for Natalia, already. He could feel it. That
girl was attached to him, and he didn’t think her perversions—if she even had
them—would make her exempt from the curse. She’d die. It was that simple. This
was the only way to prevent it. Eric told himself, coldly over and over that
she’d just have to deal with it, like his death wouldn’t matter to her,
that
she could deal with losing him the same way she dealt
with everything else. But Natalia wasn’t that cold. His disappearance would
hurt her. She’d mourn him. They’d grown too close, been together too long. It
was
his own
damn fault. He should have left her to the
demons, but… there was something about her.

He’d seen hundreds of people slaughtered when the gates of
Hell
 
open
. Those
months, he kept telling himself that one life didn’t matter—it was the twisted
Martis way of thinking—and it made him look at the big picture and what would
be lost. One life didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. He’d almost walked
past Natalia. He’d almost left her behind. The Martis had groomed him better
than he realized. Thinking about it now made his skin crawl.

Eric stood in front of the gates, looking up at the mansion
beyond. A woman sat leaning against the metal, weeping, with a lifeless child
in her arms. Normally, he would have said nothing. People were starving
everywhere, dying en masse. The war was devastating. Life didn’t resume when
the demons left—it got harder. Crops failed, worldwide famine, the likes he’d
never seen before, made food scarce. Governments collapsed and war prevailed. It
was only in the recent months that things had quieted down, that the people
grew too weary to fight any longer. They’d accepted the state of things,
knowing their lives would be so much harder, and so much shorter. Unlike when
Eric was a boy, the people that walked by him on the street didn’t know how to
do anything. They’d had corporate jobs and sat in offices. The idea of tilling
soil and growing food was for peasants in third world countries. Now, those
skills were all that separated survival from starvation. That and power.

The wealthy kept their money, and retained their power.
They commanded everything, using their influence to better
themselves
.
Meanwhile the poor starved to death or died from illnesses that could have been
treated. Medicines were stockpiled, stored, and sold at an astronomical price. The
man beyond the gates controlled much of the medicines in this hemisphere, and it
did not escape Eric’s notice, despite his attempts to hide behind gates.

The woman brushed back the child’s hair, as she looked down
at the lifeless little body in her lap. Eric asked, “How long have you waited
here?”

She didn’t answer at first. When she turned her head, she
gasped, as if she saw a ghost. Eric’s eyes darted side to side, trying to
decipher what she was seeing. “Please, angel, give me my baby back.”

Eric smiled sadly. At one time, he heard those words. At
one time, he was an angel, but not anymore. She must have sensed it in him. Those
who mourn can see things others can’t. His voice was soft, compassionate, “I
can’t bring him back,
I
wish I could.” She lowered her
eyes and nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. He hated this. He shouldn’t
have spoken to her. Calling him an angel only made it worse.

The woman looked ahead, a vacant expression on her face. Finally
she spoke, “Three weeks. We sat at the gates for three weeks and he ignored us.
I only needed a little medicine. Everything would have been fine, but he didn’t
send help. He didn’t do anything. The others left. They wept when their loved
ones died. They mourned, but I would not leave. I couldn’t give up, and now it
is too late.” Her voice hitched and cracked as she spoke.

Eric’s gaze burned holes into the house. There was part of
him that was eased by her suffering, but it paled in comparison to the anger
that her words incited. This was wrong, and he would stop it. Eric walked away
from the house, knowing he had to plan this perfectly or there would be
unwanted complications. This was not supposed to be the next mark, but it was
now.

He deserved it.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The rest of the day passed without incident. Eric evaded
the Valefar that were scouring the city looking for him. He’d caught a glimpse
of Mandor just as his effonation took hold, leaving the dark Valefar with a
grimace on his face. Damn, he was getting close. It wouldn’t be much longer
now. His final strike would force Ivy’s hand. She’d extract him with a
vengeance that made him feel sick inside. The thought of doing that to her was
deplorable, but there were no other options. No demon, no king of the
Underworld, had ever had as much power as Ivy. There had never been someone so
powerful before and he knew exactly how to play her. His stomach twisted just
thinking about it. He cared for her. He loved her once. Maybe he still did. Maybe
that was the only thing keeping his infatuation with Natalia at bay. But it
didn’t matter anymore. Not after this. Ivy would think that he was the most
evil person alive. Her pact with the angels would force his death, at the hand
of his best friend. He swallowed hard, trying not to dwell on things he
couldn’t change. This was the only way. Ivy was a means to an ends. And it was
an ending that would be better for everyone.
Even Eric.

Dusk was falling. The sky was streaked with brilliant
oranges and reds. Eric stopped in front of a massive pile of rubble. This
marked the entrance to Natalia’s house. It was once a grand mansion of pale
stone and dark wood. The owner spared no expense on creating their home, which
drew attention to it during the war. The front of the house had exploded,
crushing the rock, splintering the wood, and twisting the black iron, before
caving in on itself. The back of the home, the east and west wings—all of
it—caved in leaving no entrances to the once grand villa. But Eric knew that
the center of the home still stood under the rubble, and he had cleared a path
to it. He walked through it now, feeling like a miner walking into the belly of
the earth. Eric checked the support beams as he walked through. After being
away so long, he assumed they would have caved in, but the stone and wood
pillars he put in place still held firm.

Though he made this place for Natalia, he didn’t visit her
here. It felt too intimate and opened the doors to too many questions that he
didn’t want to consider. But he stood there now feeling his pulse pounding in
his chest. The last time he was here, this place wasn’t her home. Now there
would be things that made this place hers. He wondered what they would be, what
it would look like, and most of all—he hoped it had her scent. Closing his
eyes, he imagined the light sweet scent that was Natalia’s and hers alone.

Eric stood before the front door, which he relocated to the
end of the mineshaft, hoping that Natalia wasn’t home. She promised that she’d
remain inside, but he was sure she broke that promise as soon as he walked
away. There were people that you could tell what to do and they
listened—Natalia wasn’t one of them. It’d be easier to get inside if she was
out. Eric placed his hand on the door and pushed. It wouldn’t open. Damn it. She
was inside and barred the massive door.

Eric hesitated, running his hands through his hair. He
didn’t know what Natalia thought of him, and he didn’t want to, but he
intentionally hid that he wasn’t mortal. When she was around, he contained his
power. He didn’t
effonate
and
disappear
in front of her. He didn’t call shadows to manipulate things the way he wanted.
And he rarely let her see the full extent of the darkness within him. The only
way to manage his pain was deplorable, but now she knew. She’d seem him at
Carina’s, and if she hadn’t said his name to break Carina’s enchantment… He
shuddered to think what he might have done it to her.

Eric had fallen farther than he thought possible. Using
Satan’s Stone may have saved everyone else, but it damned him in a way that was
utterly inescapable. But he had finally found a way. After all this time, he’d
be free. The pain was changing again. He could feel it snaking through him and
unraveling his mind.
 
Though he battled
it, Eric could feel himself becoming something more dark and twisted than he
already was. It didn’t matter how he fought against it, he was becoming
something more.
Something worse.
Staring at the light,
meditating, thinking of who he was, who he is, and what he will be had always
kept him grounded—at least a little bit. But now, that was over.

He could feel the darkness within him slowly creeping
through his veins, threatening to overtake him.
And then
what?
He swallowed hard. If he was still alive when that happened, he
knew what he’d do. He knew what he wanted, and he’d stop at nothing to take it.
The thought sent a chill down his spine. The surge of thoughts emerged from the
back of his mind in a flash. It was more like a series of foreboding images and
emotions, rather than specific thoughts. Pressing his eyes shut, he forced them
back.

Pausing, Eric breathed hard and pressed his hand to his
temple. Picturing the rose window and the way the light passed through it, he
took a breath. At the heart of every source of light was the power to
destroy—the power to burn. He could feel that power flowing through him like a
river, silent and deadly. Focusing on the light, the window, he pushed it back.
There was only one thing that gave him hope anymore, and that was it—the
patches of colored glass.

Drawing a deep breath, Eric looked up at the massive door,
and placed his hand on the wood once more. He wouldn’t knock. He wouldn’t hide.
Not anymore. Besides, what were the odds that Natalia was on the other side
right at that moment? As the dark magic pulled him through, Eric felt thousands
of splinters piercing his skin. There was no air, only steel and endless
amounts of wood. Focusing harder, he kept pushing. Eric emerged on the other
side of the door as if he were a ghost passing through a wall. Sucking in a
gasp of air, he stopped, shocked to see that he nearly walked into the girl.

Natalia was standing in front of him, her expression blank.
Her eyes didn’t blink. Her lips didn’t move. She just stared at him, holding a
dish in her hands. It slipped and shattered on the marble floor. The broken
pieces skittered across the tile, but the girl didn’t move. Dark hair hung over
her shoulders, as she stared, standing in front of him barefoot. Gas lamps
flickered softly around the perimeter of the room, casting a golden glow on
Natalia. She gaped at him in the amber light.

Eric didn’t move, he barely breathed. He’d done that
hundreds of times over the years. There had been some close calls, but no one
was ever standing so close when he emerged. His throat clenched tightly. Eric’s
mind spun, trying to come up with an explanation that didn’t sound insane, but
not finding one. People didn’t walk through doors. It wasn’t a trick of the
light.

Her voice was steady, unafraid, “Well, that explains a
lot.” And it did. It explained everything. He wasn’t mortal. He wasn’t some
deranged person. He must have been a Valefar, one of those soul-sucking things
that Carina made. What did that mean? Her stomach twisted. If he was a Valefar,
it cleared him. It meant that Eric didn’t slaughter her mother. He blinked at
her, not responding. Natalia’s voice was soft but firm, “What are you?”

Eric’s eyes locked with Natalia’s. He could tell her. The
words were on the tip of his tongue, burning his mouth, dying to be spoken. This
was his chance to tell her why he was the way he was. This was the moment.
Now.
Eric’s stomach filled with icy dread. He couldn’t do
this to her. There was no answer that she’d understand. There was no response
that wouldn’t send her screaming into the night. Hell, he couldn’t even promise
that he wouldn’t hurt her. There were no promises that he could
make,
no assurances that his evil nature wouldn’t harm her.
Hope fizzled as fast as it came. Before he passed through the door, it seemed
like a good idea. He assumed he could ease her into it, but she’d been standing
there. Shit.

Jaw tense, Eric answered, “Nothing that concerns you,
Natalia.” The two stood motionless, neither of them talking. They just watched
one another.

Finally, she rolled her eyes, “Of course not. Nothing you
do ever
concerns
me.” Her pink lips pressed together
in a thin line, while a million thoughts played out in her eyes.

“It’s better that you don’t know,” he replied. The steady
drumming of his heart rang in his ears.

Natalia’s eyes locked with his, a slow rage building behind
them. “You seriously expect me to let this go?” She folded her arms tightly
over the swells of her chest, locking them in place. She was beyond mad. All
this time Eric had been so careful. One moment of insanity, one moment of
weakness… God, he wanted to tell her.

Natalia glared at him, her arms starting to shake. Why
couldn’t he just say it? It would make her task so much easier. Instead he just
stood there like a moron who didn’t think she’d notice a boy walking through a
wooden door. Growling at him, she said, “You better tell me something. I know
nothing about you...”

He cut her off, “There’s nothing to tell.” The gold in his
eyes almost seemed liquid. The muscles in his shoulders were corded tight. Eric
bent his fingers once to release the tension growing in his arms.

Natalia saw the movement. She saw everything. “Bullshit!”
she yelled, moving closer to his face. Anger pierced her words, “I know more
about Carina than I do about you, and that bitch tried to kill me!
More than once.
That’s
right,
I was
there at her little bordello way before you noticed.” Eric’s eyes narrowed. She
could see what she was doing to him, pushing all the right buttons, but he
didn’t speak. He didn’t cut her off again. She ranted, “You act like I mean
something to you, and then you act like I don’t matter at all! You’re here one
day and gone the next, never saying where you are or when you’ll be back.” She
shook her head, her long hair swaying as she moved, “I didn’t think you were
coming back this time.”

Eric slid his hands into his pockets while she chewed him
out. “Why’d you think that? The entire time I’ve known you, I’ve never left you
alone for more than a few weeks. You really think I would just up and leave?” The
lie felt bitter in his mouth, but he spit it out. She had to believe him. Eric
stepped towards her, pressing his face closer to hers without touching her. “You
think you mean nothing to me? I’m your friend Natalia.”

She scoffed, “I’m not stupid enough to believe that, Eric. A
friend wouldn’t do the shit you’re doing, and I’d know stuff about you.” Her
nerves were totally shot. Finally, she’d written him off as her target and then
he goes and does something like this. She wanted to scream, and was having
difficulty hiding her anger from Eric.

“Like what?” his voice rose a little. What did she want
from him? Eric didn’t understand why she was so mad. If anything she should
have been frightened, but she wasn’t. Anger was definitely the vibe he was
getting from her. Now she was saying she didn’t know him. Of course she didn’t
know him, and until now she never pressed. This was a turning point. He could
feel it and he didn’t want to lose her.
But what to say?
Natalia didn’t want to know about his past. Hell, he didn’t want to know about
his past. And he wasn’t about to share it with her in the name of friendship. It
would do more damage than good, and it wouldn’t help her understand him any
better. He remained aloof, waiting for her response.

She shifted back, tilting her head to the side, “God Eric! I
don’t know anything!”

“You know enough,” he replied.

Her hands shot out to her sides, her hands balled into
fists, “Yeah? I know enough, do I? Let’s count off the things I actually know
about you… Oh wait! I can’t!” She stepped towards him, yelling in his face.
 
“Because there’s nothing outside of your dark
moods that gives
me a fucking clue as to who you are.”

“You know me, Natalia—“

The fury that was building inside of her vented and her
shoulders deflated. Natalia shook her head sadly, her voice cracked as she
spoke, “I don’t even know your last name.” Her eyes were wide, brilliant blue
orbs, pleading with him. She had to know who he was. It felt like her chest
ripped in two when he walked through the door, not because he was obviously an
immortal, but because he could still be the one—the assassin who she’d been
hunting all these years—and she didn’t want him to be. Not Eric. Not after all
of this, after everything they’d been through.

She hung her head, her voice faint, “Let’s face it… I don’t
know you. I’ll never know you. I have no idea where you’re from, where you go
when you’re not here, what your favorite color is,” she shrugged, “you know,
pretty basic friend kind of stuff.” Pushing her hair out of her face she looked
up at him. It felt like her heart turned to rotten cheese and dropped into her
stomach in one large lump. She felt like she was going to be sick.

Natalia continued, “This isn’t rocket science, Eric. It’s
not supposed to be hard… ” She looked into his golden eyes, unable to continue
spewing things at him, unable to convince him anything. This was Eric, after
all. He did what he wanted. The tension in his face, the way his eyes glinted
spoke volumes. She sighed, closing her eyes hard, pressing her fingers to her
temples.