The Devil's Soldier (22 page)

At the same time, an invisible pressure accosted her mind. She hissed from the pain and glanced around. From within the shadows, Henry's eyes had turned brilliant green.

While still maintaining her tight grip on Lucien, she focused on the pressure around her head. It was incredibly strong and, given enough time, she was afraid it might break her. But it wasn't just that. She sensed Charlie sneaking up behind her, and the way Liane was still standing there, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, made her think she might be in more trouble than she thought. 

Alarica crouched down near Lucien and sighed. "I really wanted more time with you, but it was not meant to be… yet. I'll see you soon."

"Wait!" Lucien cried and reached for her, but she couldn't stay a second longer. The pressure against her head was almost too much to bear. One day, she would return the favor to Henry.

36

Lucien rolled onto his back, flames burning all around him. His hands were curled tight, and his teeth ground into each other until his jaw muscle ached. Alarica was gone. All because he had shown a moment of weakness and let her in. She had stolen his magic, the one thing that would've given him a fighting chance.

Charlie crawled over to him. "We have to get out of here!"

"I had her, Charlie," Lucien said. He raised his arm to his face. Sharp pain shot up his left shoulder where he was shot making him grimace.

"It doesn't matter now. Come on." Charlie took hold of his right arm and helped him stand. Behind them, a metal beam crashed to the floor. The heat stung Lucien's skin. Any more and he would begin to blister.

"Hurry!" Liane yelled near the open doorway.

Lucien quickly surveyed the room. Several bodies were lying on the ground, some crushed, some burning. The remaining survivors had already escaped. "Where's Henry?"

"He disappeared shortly after Alarica left. We're going to have to sneak out. There are a lot of police out there." Charlie hurried toward Liane, who was glancing nervously behind her. As a Supernatural, she should be nervous. Who knew how many DHRD agent were outside, just waiting to apprehend them.

"I can get away," Lucien said, "but what about you two?"

"I've got a plan. Just get out of here."

Lucien reached the door and peeked outside. It was complete chaos. People were crying and screaming while policemen tried to gain control of the situation. Firemen were unloading from two fire trucks and would be entering the building soon. DHRD agents were talking to a couple of the calmer people, but a few of them had their weapons fixed on the doorway.

"Go!" Charlie said to him. Liane was gripping his arm, a deep cut above her right eye.

Lucien nodded and peered into the sky. He crouched low then sprung upward, bursting into a cloud of black. He raced through the night, dodging in and out of the buildings. The image of Eve that Alarica had placed in his mind still lingered, probably because he didn't want to let it go. Eve had been so close, and yet a million miles away.

In just a few short minutes, Lucien landed on the
rooftop
of the building across from the Deific. He walked to the stairwell door leading down and tugged it open, breaking the lock. Lucien hurried down the steps to the apartment. Henry was waiting for him, pacing the room in circles, an uncharacteristic motion. Lucien closed the door behind him.

"She's stronger than I expected," Henry said. "We should have been able to overpower her."

"I'm partly to blame." Lucien slumped into the sofa and carefully removed his jacket. His left shoulder still ached from being shot. "She messed with my mind."

Henry came to a stop. "But isn't that what I've been training you for? All these months of hard work for nothing! That could've been our best chance at getting Eve back."

"Don't you think I know that? I want her back more than anyone!" Lucien breathed heavily through his nose, his mouth closed tight.

He lifted his left sleeve to inspect the bullet wound. The bullet was still there, but was near the surface as his body was already trying to force it out.

"It won't happen again," Lucien said and dug his fingers into the wound to retrieve the bullet. "I swear to you."

Henry looked away and circled the room again. After a minute, he asked, "Where's Charlie?"

"He'll be here soon. The place was swarming with police and DHRD agents." Lucien rotated his shoulder. "They proved real useful. They can't even tell who's on their side."

"The DHRD is on no one's side but the President’s."

"Do have any idea who this guy is? Where he came from?"

Henry stopped near the window and peered out. "None. My only hope is that he's a pawn of Boaz, and once we destroy Boaz, all the rest of this nonsense will go away."

"But everything's changed now that the whole world knows about Supernaturals. Nothing is going away."

"And it's about to get worse."

"What do you mean?" Lucien asked.

Henry returned to pacing the room. "Text Charlie. Get him here soon."

Lucien removed his cell phone from his pocket and sent a quick message to Charlie. Whatever was going on, Henry was more agitated than ever before.

Lucien's phone vibrated. He glanced down at the message from Charlie. "He will be here in ten minutes. Maybe you should have a seat."

"No."

"Fine." Lucien leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes. He focused on building the magic within him back to its full power. The process wasn't difficult. He only had to think about rescuing Eve and destroying Boaz before his powers were restored. His whole body was consumed with rage for the vampire who had taken so much from so many.

"You need to control that anger," Henry said.

Lucien opened his eyes. He was about to say something, but the door flew open. Charlie hurried inside and closed it behind him.

"I barely managed to get away," Charlie said. He hurried to the window and looked toward the Deific. "A few people saw me, and as soon as they realize I'm with the Deific, the DHRD are going to be all over me."

"How did you get away?" Lucien asked.

"Liane exaggerated her injuries, and I carried her out. They were more focused on helping her than asking me questions. An ambulance took her to the hospital, but she will meet up with me later."

"What if they discover her witchy abilities?" Lucien asked.

"Enough of this!" Henry said. "Did you see the cameras?"

Lucien frowned. "Cameras?"

Charlie nodded. "I counted at least four on the DHRD agents. They filmed the whole thing."

"I didn't even notice," Lucien said, his voice low. Another stupid mistake. He wondered how much they captured of him on film.

"Of course you didn't notice!" Charlie said. "What the hell, Lucien? We need you at a hundred percent."

Lucien stood, anger coursing through him. "I know!"

"I'm concerned about these cameras," Henry said, eyeing them both dangerously. "I was so concerned about fighting Alarica and staying out of sight from Liane, that they might've captured me. Keeping my identity secret is the only advantage we have over Boaz."

"None of that matters if we can't get Eve back!" Lucien said.

Charlie stormed over to him. "Now you care?"

Lucien met him half way. "What's your problem?"

"Both of you stop!" Henry roared.

Charlie dropped to the couch and placed his head in his hands. "That was my last hope," he whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Lucien asked, his chest still heaving up and down.

He looked up. "Eve's last hope. I meant to say Eve."

Henry walked toward the front door. "Within hours, that footage is going to be plastered across the news. You better get some rest, Charlie. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day for you tomorrow."

"I can handle it," Charlie said, but Lucien detected hopelessness in his voice.

"Where are you going?" Lucien asked Henry.

"I need to see Sable. She might have some ideas where Alarica might be."

"What if she's with Boaz?"

"We have a system." Henry opened the door. "Let's meet up here at the same time tomorrow night. Stay out of sight, Lucien. You don't want someone to recognize you from the video that's about to become the Internet's latest sensation."

Instead of going through the door, Henry simply disappeared.

"Hey, sorry about before," Charlie said as he slowly rose to his feet. "I know you want Eve back more than anyone."

Lucien narrowed is eyes. "What's going on with you?"

"It's nothing." He moved to walk through the door, but placed his hand upon the doorjamb, his back facing Lucien. "Don't give up hope. No matter how bad it gets, there will be a happy ending for you, Lucien."

"What do you—"

"I'll see you soon," Charlie interrupted and shut the door behind him.

Lucien stared at the closed door. Charlie had been acting weird for some time now, which made Lucien think Charlie had had a premonition of some kind. The fact that he was keeping it a secret worried Lucien. Things were bad enough.

He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It was late. He debated whether to stick around or leave town. Most likely, his face would be plastered all over the television by morning. He should leave… but he knew he wouldn't. Alarica may resurface, or the Deific may need him.

Lucien grabbed the laptop from off the kitchen counter and settled onto the sofa, his legs stretched long. Because he was going to be holed up for the next little while, he might as well see what he could find out on the Internet. If Alarica had been captured on film, maybe there would be other sightings of her.

Time passed quickly. There was simply too much information to go through. Ever since the President's report about Supernaturals was released, the Internet had exploded with stories: a woman tossed a piano at her neighbor, killing him; a man disappeared in front of a crowd of people only to reappear one mile away; an elderly man "wolfed" out after being attacked; three college students found dead in an apartment after being accused of being vampires—the stories went on and on. Lives were being lost on both sides.

Lucien hadn't even realized it was daytime until a knock on the door startled him. He closed the laptop, all senses alert. Outside, there was a lot of commotion: people talking and cars honking—the press was here. The video had been leaked, like expected, and Charlie had been identified immediately. Lucien's face was also shown many times, but no one knew his name. Or Alarica's. People were just calling her
The Witch
.

A knock again, louder this time. Only two people other than him knew about this place. Lucien inhaled deeply,
smelling
faint roses. A woman. He stood up and crept toward the
door
to peek through the peephole.

Before he could get there, a voice said, "Would you open the stupid
door
already?"

Lucien straightened. What was Liane doing here?

"Seriously," she said. "I know you're just on the other side. It's creeping me out."

Lucien reached up and unbolted the lock. As soon as it was unlatched, Liane turned the doorknob and walked inside.

"What are you doing here?" Lucien asked and quickly closed the
door
.

"Charlie told me where I could find you. He needs you to check something out." She walked around the room, eyeing things closely.

"Charlie told you about this place?" he asked incredulously.

She parted the curtains and peered through the window toward the Deific. "He said it was urgent. Besides, haven't I earned the all-boys-clubs trust yet? I did save Charlie's life, after all, or don't you remember that cool trick I did turning Alarica's fire into water? It's more than I can say you did."

Lucien clenched his jaw tight. "What does Charlie need?"

Liane spun around to face him. "He said he thinks he may have found a home Boaz owns in the city. He wants us to check it out, reconnaissance mission only."

A twinge of hope entered his thoughts. If Boaz was here, then maybe Alarica was closer than he thought. "And how did he get this information?"

"He didn't say. He barely managed to give me the address before a swarm of reporters flooded the room." Liane walked over and handed him a folded piece of paper.

Lucien unfolded it. An address was typed upon it, a place on the east side of the city. "I'll go check it out."

"No. We'll go together," she said. "Charlie was clear on this. He doesn't want you doing anything stupid
should
Boaz or
Alarica
actually be there."

Lucien gathered his jacket from the sofa. The last thing he wanted was for Liane to tag along, but maybe it would be better to have her around as a voice of reason. He didn't trust himself to think clearly around Alarica.

"Fine," he said. "Let's go."

Lucien snuck out the rear of the building with Liane and jogged down the alley to where she had parked Charlie's car. It took them almost twenty minutes to maneuver the vehicle onto a main street. Not only were media vehicles crowding the roads, but police too. Everyone wanted access to the Deific. Lucien didn't envy Charlie.

"Turn up here," Lucien said and pointed to his left. If he remembered correctly, then the address they were going toward was in a gated community. Expensive and very private.

It didn't take long to reach the address. Just like the other
h
omes in the neighborhood
, it
was difficult to see the house from the street. Trees and gates blocked most of the view.

"Go past and park a few houses down," Lucien said. He craned his neck but still couldn't see much beyond a glimpse of the roof.