Echo (Fated)

by Liza James

  “What do you want, Luce?” I ask, crossing my heavy arms over my chest while I step closer to them. I look at Esme again, realizing now that she has tears streaming down her face while she holds her mouth shut.

  Lucifer slowly drops on his heels, crouching behind Esme while her eyes remain closed. He bares his teeth against her ear while he snaps her head to the side so he can breathe against her skin. “Tell them. Tell them what you fucking saw.”

  Esme whimpers in his hold, sucking in her bottom lip while she bites down. She doesn’t want to share it, whatever it is. But he’ll force her, she knows she doesn’t have a choice. I’ve seen the ways Lucifer works, the ways he drags out the information he needs.

  Elijah steps forward, clearly uncomfortable with what’s happening, but Lucifer’s eyes snap to him immediately as he holds up his hand to keep him back. “Don’t even think about it. She’s my property, and I handle her how I please.”

  Esme’s eyes open briefly as she meets Elijah’s, who is clearly unwilling to back down against Satan himfuckingself. She nods though, reminding him that this is indeed the deal they have in place.

  She knew what she was doing when she signed up for this.

  Lucifer’s hand drops down to Esme’s leg, over the long black skirt she has pooled around her. His fingers grasp the material and slowly begin dragging it up her legs. She tenses, but her eyes snap open wide while she stares straight ahead. She isn’t looking at anyone in particular, but she’s feeling for something. I can see her mind churning through whatever is passing through while Lucifer continues his touch towards her inner thigh.

  “Tell them what you saw or you’ll be punished,” he demands, his voice toxic and vile as his fingers trail across her skin.

  A quiet whimper releases behind me and I turn to find tears slipping down Aura’s face. She’s feeling something here, experiencing something that’s clearly set her on edge more than anything else she’s seen tonight.

  I knew this was a bad fucking idea.

  But suddenly, Esme’s eyes snap to Aura’s, her face completely vacant of all emotion while Lucifer touches her. The words fall from her lips in a way that sounds differently than anything I’ve ever heard her say before. “Iaial, ge kures.”

  Enochian. I don’t speak it, but I know it. I learned it while I was young, when Nya and I were spending so much time with Amelia.

  She’s telling him to cease, not now, and I’m genuinely shocked to see the way his eyes change as he watches her. He’s surprised as well, at what she’s said or the fact that it’s in his language, I’m not sure.

  But he listens and halts his movements momentarily when he addresses her again. “You know what you’re asking for if you use those words?”

  She nods her head, her eyes still on Aura as she acknowledges what Lucifer is saying. I have no idea what they’re exchanging right now, what’s happening between Aura and Esme. Or what kind of deal Esme is making with Lucifer in this moment. But it’s something, and the continued dreadful darkness lingering in the air is growing angrier while we converse.

  “Tell them what you saw,” he repeats, this time removing his hand of her leg and gripping her hair tighter in his hold. He forces her to look at me, and she steadies her shoulders while her gaze settles into something detached and cold.

  “Amelia,” she starts, and just hearing her name on someone else’s lips sets me on fire. I’m split between never wanting to hear that word again and wanting to kill anyone who dares speak it. “She’s coming.”

  Chapter Eight

  Amelia

  I wish I could stop this.

  But I can’t.

  I’m too far gone, and if I’m being completely honest, I was too far gone hundreds of years ago.

  There’s no repentance for my sins. No redemption for the blood I’ve spilled, and I’m exhausted from entertaining the idea that maybe there would be. Hope is far more painful than acceptance.

  My reality has been twisted into memories of what may be true, and what may not be. But I can’t know for certain which pieces are good and which ones are bad. I can no longer trust myself to know the difference. The people in my life, do they want what’s best for me? Or do they want to kill me?

  Luna and Stella. My sisters. My blood. But the memories I have of them now are tainted with their need to destroy me. Every single time I see their faces in my mind, the words falling from their lips spew hatred and lies.

  They never wanted me as their sister. They’ve only wanted to watch me suffer. Those memories have to be true, right?

  It’s why no one is searching for me. And why Leon is so bent on killing me himself.

  Then there’s Nya.

  Nya. Nya. Nya.

  She hurts the most. Those are the only memories they’ve left untouched. The only ones I can think back on with clarity. The drug they continuously inject me with—Kano—spreads through my blood and infiltrates my mind, stealing every ounce of humanity I had left.

  Which wasn’t much. But god, it was something. It was the last shreds of empathy I had salvaged while I lived with Elijah and Luna. Or after they had kidnapped me, locking me away while my mind wasted and my body weakened. I can’t remember what exactly happened.

  I think it was their plan all along, to find Leon and bring him to me. They knew he would be prepared to end me once and for all. It would be easier for him than Elijah, I assume. Elijah had been bonded to me for years, and maybe he felt like the history Leon and I shared would be enough motivation to end me.

  Fucking assholes. Every single one of them. They thought they could ruin me? Flashes of them huddled in circles and planning my demise race through my mind. Detailed explanations, hypothetical retaliations on my part, every single wrong move I’ve made, any slight I’ve had against them. They’re all listed, running through my mind in the voices of people I once cared about—or I thought could care about me.

  They injected me earlier—the Demons my mother uses—with a higher dose than what they usually give. Compared to anyone else, these amounts would kill others. Minds would melt and unravel in complete hysteria. But my mother knows me, she knows my strength.

  She understands my potential.

  So, when she told me that Leon and the others were getting closer. When she showed me the footage of them conspiring to finally find and slaughter me, and then when Leon confirmed everything when I met him in my mind….

  I knew it was true. This wasn’t the Kano, this was my reality.

  And they all want to see me dead.

  Jokes on them though, I have nothing left to lose anymore. I’ll stay one step ahead and while they struggle to find me, I’ve already cornered them.

  The air whips across my icy skin as I stalk through the forest surrounding the house. My fingers scratch my inner forearm, where the injection site is still itchy and achy for more. Once I finish this, I can have another dose.

  I can slip away into a world I only dream of, where I can finally see Nya again.

  I’m only allowed to see her once I’ve completed whatever tasks my mother has given me, and even though I know it isn’t really my childhood best friend, these false realities are enough for me. Enough to keep me surviving in this small corner of the Hell I’ve slipped into.

  I deserve this.

  But so do they for abandoning me. For planning to kill me. For forsaking their own flesh and blood.

  Leon refusing his own Fated.

  My head ticks to the side, the itch under my skin growing more and more undeniable. I rub my fingertips together while my boots step through the snow in quick bursts of energy.

  I have to do this. I have to. So, why are tears breaching my eyes? It must be the cold. I didn’t dress for this kind of weather. The Kano makes my blood warmer while my skin remains cool. My hair is matted into strands of sweat and blood—I’m never allowed showers. Or baths. My only relief comes when I’m so gone, so absolutely oblivious to my surroundings, I can’t fight back when they take me.

&nbs
p; With every step I take, I can feel him growing closer. Leon. He’s in my head, in my blood, in my veins. He’s the one constant surrounding my chaotic mind. Him and his sister. They’re all I have left and part of me finds solitude in Leon’s desire to kill me. Even though I’ll fight him through it, I’ll die happily in his arms because it’s what needs to happen. I’ll never forgive myself for what happened with his sister, and if my blood is on Leon’s hands, then we both get what we want.

  Maybe it’ll happen today.

  Maybe not.

  I want to play a bit more before I’m taken out. So, when I finally step through the trees and my eyes fall onto Lucifer and Esme, an instant spark of anger courses through my chest.

  Mother fuckers. Always such fucking tattle tails, those two.

  “I should have known you would beat me here!” I shout to Lucifer, bringing my feet to a halt while I square my shoulders against the entire group.

  Two new girls. Humans. Interesting.

  They’re nothing though, and far from important enough to harbor a second thought. Collateral damage if need be.

  “Never one to miss a good party, Millie girl,” Lucifer responds, intentionally using the name Leon has always called me since we were young.

  It stings, hearing that name at all, and I’m thankful it’s not being whispered on my Fated’s lips.

  The connection is there, breathing like a living organism between him and I. But the Kano works like alcohol and numbs it a bit in order to take the edge off. My eyes drift to his, and before I can anticipate it, his eyes burn black and his horns burst through the top of his skull.

  He races towards me, his large frame growing impossibly taller while the rest of him transforms into his natural form. Claws emerge from the tips of his fingers, his muscles shift and pull tight while he moves. He’s magnificent, and if I wasn’t so ripped apart in hatred of him, I would admire it. But I can’t, and I crouch back on my heels while I anticipate his approach.

  Tattoos. His skin is decorated in marks of flames and destruction. No one knows what those marks mean, but I do. I know what memories he keeps inked into his skin. They’re the same ones that have been seared into my mind and flesh as well.

  His rough hands and sharp claws wrap around my neck in one instant, and I reach behind and grasp the hilt of my knife in the next. I’m yanked off of my feet while Leon’s body continues to fight the entire transformation, he’s holding back his most significant characteristic.

  “Why won’t you release them, Leon? Don’t want to scare the humans, do you?” I breathe out under the tightened hold of his hands. My feet reach and struggle to find the ground while I lift my hand and move to launch the knife at his chest. But he’s quick, and he darts his head forward until the sharp tip of his horn catches my hand and slices through my flesh.

  “I was never afraid of them. Do you remember?” My mind reels momentarily, escaping to a moment him and I shared as kids. When he showed them to me the first time, and he was terrified I would run once I had seen what he kept hidden underneath his skin.

  That isn’t me though. I never run.

  His eyes flash clear for a brief second, but his lips pull back and a growl erupts from his throat. His chest heaves with each rapid breath while the Kano electrifies my blood in a new memory. One where he continues speaking of death and agony, one where he’s falling apart after the loss of his sister.

  One where he realizes it was me who killed her.

  A new rage works in my chest and stabs another crack into my heart, stealing another piece of my already shattered being becoming just another reminder of my worth.

  Which is nothing.

  “How long have you kept them hidden? Since Nya? She wouldn’t have wanted that,” I whisper, using the faint tether through our blood to recognize the ways I’m hurting him. I pull from it—the pain. His humanity is my only strength against him. He hasn’t lost himself in the ways I have.

  “Shut the fuck up, Amelia,” he growls, his voice evolved into that dark and familiar territory he breaks into when he’s like this.

  “Amelia? Really? You know me, Leon. Call me by my name.” I drag my wounded hand across his forearm, up to his fingers as they wrap around my throat. My blood coats his skin as it drips from my flesh and it works in my favor. Our bond flares within both of us, at the sight of his natural form, and the weakened state of my own. He can feel it too, because his hands begin shaking and his hold on me surrenders just slightly. “Call me what you’ve always called me.”

  “No,” he bites back, and my feet barely scratch the ground below for a moment while I try to find my strength.

  “Please,” I beg him, even though just moments ago I was hoping I’d never hear him say it again. But now? I need to hear it. While his hand is grasping onto me, while we’re finally this close after countless months apart. When my body is lighting up to this bond between us and the Kano continues pulsing through my veins. It’s an odd mixture, the relief and sustenance from just being near him is unimaginable, but the continued pain and rage at the memories flooding my mind are just as poisonous, just as destructive.

  And in a moment like this, when I know all he wants is to see me dead, I choose to focus on the pain.

  “No.” He drops me another inch, and while his teeth are bared against me, he leans closer. His shoulders shift and his head tilts to the side until a quiet crack sounds between us. I can practically feel what he’s hiding, what he’s still holding back from everyone else.

  “You can’t hide from me,” I say quietly, settling my eyes on where I know they should be. He knows what I’m looking for and in a split second, his eyes soften into something nearer. I feel the tiniest flash of desire warring through our blood and my own responds immediately. But I shove it back, because I have to.

  He’ll kill me in the second I surrender to him, I know it.

  “Please,” I urge him to say my name again. “One last time.” I shut my eyes, forcing back the tears that suddenly build and threaten to spill. Don’t show weakness. Don’t give this bit of vulnerability to him.

  I hate this. I hate him.

  He pauses, silence building in between us while the others wait in the distance. I want to say I’ve been paying attention to my surroundings, but it’s a lie. I can’t do that when I’m this close to Leon. It takes every ounce of my strength to try and stay in control.

  “Millie,” he whispers, his voice soft and his eyes growing clear in the same instant that he says it. Fuck, it hits me in my chest. His own tone whispering my name in the ways he has done so many times before.

  So many times.

  I whimper at the sound of it, something breaking lose in my chest when I drop the knife in my hand to ground below us. I just need one moment, one second in this place before I have to finish this with him.

  The Kano courses through my blood, replaying flashes of other moments in my head when I close my eyes again and try to shake them free. I find my footing and instead of releasing me completely, Leon drags me forward and against his chest.

  I can feel my heart beating against him, his own matching my rhythm, while our bond wars to meet between us. My breaths start coming quickly, my hands shaking at my sides, while my blood continues begging to be closer. I want him to bleed, and for a moment, it’s only because I want us to be united.

  I’ve fought this for so fucking long and look how easily my strength crumbles at the sight of him. “Shit,” I mutter as my eyes lift and meet his, as he stalks us backwards and his other hand lands so tightly on my waist that I flinch at his touch.

  “I’ve had plans for you,” he breathes, bringing his lips to my ear while his claws bite into my flesh. “Plans that didn’t include feeling like this.”

  “I know,” I say quietly, and I can’t help but block out the gazes of everyone else. I can tell they’re watching, and for some reason, I feel something else building in the distance. Like a fucking shadow, a wave of something dark that’s getting ready to rip thro
ugh us. What is this?

  “You were supposed to be something more, Millie. We were supposed to be something more. But you destroyed it.” His fingers brace against my jaw when he yanks my head up so that I’m forced to stare into his clear eyes. Gravel coats his throat in a strangled tone. I can feel his own pain radiating through me, the agony of what we are becoming so toxic, so vile, it screams in silence around us.

  “I would apologize if I could, Leon. You don’t—” I begin, but he interrupts me as we move deeper into the forest. His body begins shaking uncontrollably and I can’t help but wonder if he’s about to release what he’s kept hidden.

  I hope he does. Fuck, I want to see them again.

  “So fucking worthless,” he bites out. The words sting, slapping against me while his teeth scrape along my jaw. He forces my head to the side while the pain of his hold grows far more intense and his claws draw blood from my waist.

  I want to fight him. I want to resort to everything I’ve been building inside of myself. I want to yank the impenetrable walls I’ve kept around me while we’ve been apart. All of my anger and hatred and self-loathing, pulled back into place until I’m detached and vacant to this moment.

  But for some reason, I can’t. Not now, not with him. His words and his touch and his blood… they consume me. I’m suddenly lost to these moments where we’re finally together.

  I’ll take his hatred if it gives me something from him.

  “I am,” I whisper, absently twisting my face towards his, seeking more of his touch while I agree with his heated words.

  He pulls back, his eyes narrowed in confusion at my words and my obvious desire that I usually keep tightly locked away. But this is too much, too many emotions and power flowing between us for me to fight it.

  “Do you think you mean anything to me?” he asks, a flame of resentment clear in his disbelief.

  “No.” I look away, refusing to meet his gaze. I can’t even believe I’m saying this, that I’m showing him how fucking weak I am in this moment.

  This isn’t me. I’m the fucking warrior. I’m the fighter. I’m the one who kills and steals and destroys. Not him. Not my Leon.