Eve spoke first. “Fine, I’ll leave tomorrow, wherever you want, but give me tonight. Please?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Lucien said.
Charlie folded his arms. "That’s what I’ve been saying."
“One night, you guys, and then tomorrow Charlie can ship me back to New York or maybe one of the other Deific offices. I have nowhere else to go.”
Lucien stared at her, surprised. “You act as if you’re going alone.”
“I will be, won’t I?”
23
“You won’t be alone, Eve," Lucien said. The thought of Eve by herself with a swarm of vampires hunting after her made him ill. He didn’t care how much magic she knew. "I’ll go with you, but we leave tonight after the ball."
"A few hours only," Charlie said. "No need to press our luck."
"Deal." She looped her arms through Lucien’s and Charlie’s and led them into the ball room.
It had been decorated with old French décor; even the hotel staff were dressed as French courtiers of the 17th century. Candles adorned the room, and white and pink flowers hung from the walls and tables. In the front, a full orchestra band played in harmony, classic pieces to match the time period. It was enough to impress even Lucien who had attended some of the grandest balls in history.
He followed Eve around the room as she stopped to speak with different people. She introduced him as her date. The whole affair felt strange and much too formal for Lucien’s taste. He moved about with a forced smile, trying to be polite and charming. All the while his inner voice screamed to get away.
Very few of the humans he met seemed genuine. Their shifty eyes guarded their secrets well. And they did have secrets—dirty parts of their lives they wanted to keep hidden from others. It was evident by the way they talked themselves up as if they were greater than they really were.
Sitting at a table in the direction Eve was now heading, sat Charlie. Though Charlie annoyed Lucien, at least he was sincere and honest.
Charlie ended a call and stood as they approached.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over how radiant you look, Eve.” He turned toward Lucien. “And I forgot to ask you earlier, what are you supposed to be?”
“One guess.” He sat down next to Eve who sat next to Charlie. “And you must be, what, the Jolly Green Giant?”
“Try Robin Hood.”
“Robin Hood was a thief,” said a woman across the table from them. She was dressed like a seductive cat. Next to her was an older man with slicked back gray hair wearing a Zorro mask.
The old man laughed. “Forgive my wife’s bluntness. I’m Arthur. I work in the governor’s office, and this is Olivia.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Charlie, this is Eve, and the man sitting next to her is a vampire.”
Eve snapped a look at Charlie who smiled sarcastically.
“And does the vampire have a name?” Olivia purred.
Lucien hated being here. “Lucien.”
She kept her eyes on him as if he were a yellow canary.
“So tell me more about Robin Hood,” Charlie asked. “I’d love to know how you figure him for a thief.”
“He stole from those who worked hard to be rich and gave it to the lazy, not the poor.”
Charlie laughed. “I’ve got to hear this.”
“Robin Hood felt the rich had too much money, and he thought they should give it to the poor. He stole from hard-working people who obtained their wealth by intelligence, the sweat of their brow, or simply by a strong desire to be successful. Then he gave it to those who wouldn’t work. Sounds like today, doesn’t it?”
“But they weren’t lazy,” Charlie defended. “There were no jobs, and the Sheriff taxed them so greatly that they were unable to afford even food.”
“Then they should have moved somewhere else. We all have the same opportunities. We just have to be willing to work hard for them,” Olivia said.
“I agree with you—to a point,” Lucien said. Charlie looked at him with wide eyes, and Eve lifted her eyebrows, but he continued. “Robin Hood was a thief. He stole what wasn’t his and gave to others who also had no entitlement to the money. However, you don’t know or understand the time period or how the subjects were ruled.”
“And you do?” she asked.
“Better than anyone in this room. A society either flourished or crumbled under a king’s rule. A good, honest ruler lived in a country where everyone was equal, including the king. In this type of rule, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see the king laboring in the field with his own hands. Because of his example, all men alike worked hard to support themselves and those who didn’t work because of, let’s say an illness, had charity given them through the generosity of others.
“In contrast, people who are ruled by a lazy, wicked ruler, such as the Sheriff of Nottingham, also tended to be lazy and expected to be given things that weren’t theirs to begin with. They become a society of thieves as they looked for the shortest and simplest way to obtain wealth. They were merely a reflection of the King himself. So who is the villain? The Sheriff of Nottingham or Robin Hood?”
“Why don’t you tell us?” the old man asked with an amused smile.
“They were both villains, and both deserved nothing better than death.”
Olivia giggled.
“But that’s not entirely true,” Eve said. “There have always been good people to stand up and fight against evil rulers.”
“But you have to look at their reason for fighting. Are they a scorned brother who wants to be king himself thus hiding behind a pretend cause? Or maybe an offended subject seeks revenge against the king under the name of freedom. Now, I do admit there have been a few individuals throughout history who really do want what’s best for mankind. They will suffer, bleed, and die so that their children may live a better life. But I have seen enough history to know that men”—he glanced at Eve—“or women with such admirable qualities come around only once in a great while.”
“I think you see only what you want to see,” Eve said, glaring at him.
Olivia stared coolly at Eve. “I agree with Lucien. Men by nature are selfish, but is that necessarily a bad thing? Take me for example. I received my law degree from Harvard and am known as a high-profile defense attorney. In fact, you may have seen me on the news.”
Charlie rolled his eyes.
She continued, “I defend the worst criminals imaginable and most of the time I help them get off. Do I like what I do? No, but I love the money it brings in.”
Charlie opened his mouth as if to say something, but she held up a silencing hand. “Before you say how horrible that sounds, know this: with the insane amount of money I make, I give over thirty percent of it to various charities. Two of these charities stay in business because of the money I give them every year. So now tell me what I do is wrong.”
The table was quiet. Eve spoke first, “Does that make you feel better?”
“Does what make me feel better?”
“You giving your precious money to charity,” Eve replied.
“Are you saying my money isn’t good? That it would be better if my charities never received a dime from me?”
“I’m saying it would be better if you chose a different career. The money you give to charity is dirty money. You go ask the beneficiaries if they want your money knowing it was made by freeing murderers and rapists. If they are any kind of a decent human being, they will throw the money back in your face.”
“Well done,” Arthur said, clapping quietly. “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell her for years.”
The music changed to a soft waltz. Lucien seized the opportunity.
“May I have this dance?” he asked Eve.
She smiled at him. “I thought you’d never ask.”
He took her to the center of the room, maneuvering in and out of the many masked couples, and pulled her close to his chest. Even though it had been centuries since he’d danced last, he found it was l
ike riding a bicycle. He expertly moved their bodies matching every beat.
“Thank you for getting me away from the table. I can’t stand it when people justify their bad behaviors simply because they do something that seems good in the eyes of others.”
“You don’t belong with them anyway.” He twirled her around and then pulled her back to his chest.
“Where do I belong?” she whispered, but it was more an out-loud thought then a direct question.
He stopped moving and looked down at her. “Tonight, you belong right here—with me.”
They danced for the next several hours, unaware of the time, neither taking their eyes off each other. Even when Charlie interrupted Eve for a dance, she never stopped looking at Lucien as he stood, waiting against the wall. As far as Lucien was concerned, she was the only other person in the room.
Toward the end of the night, the music slowed and the crowd thinned out, candles burning low. His arm remained tight around Eve’s waist; beneath her sheer dress, her muscles flexed in time to the music.
All of a sudden, the pressure in the room changed as if a storm had approached. Lucien looked around for the source of the change.
“What’s wrong?” Eve asked.
“Stay here.” He walked away from her, but after only thirty feet, he turned back around to catch a glimpse of Eve on the dance floor. “Pachebel Cannon” filled the air as beautiful couples danced around her—no, for her, he decided. A tribute to a beautiful Goddess. The sight was mesmerizing.
Then, as if a shot had been fired, something evil entered the room. Lucien faced the left entrance where two vampires crossed the threshold into the ballroom. At the same time, two others entered from the right.
Lucien quickly locked eyes with Charlie, who was standing up with a grim expression on his face and a cell phone to his ear. He, too, must have sensed the evil. Charlie said into the phone, “Get here as quickly as possible.”
Lucien looked back at Eve whose eyes were closed as she listened to the music. She didn’t sense the impending danger.
He glanced back and forth to each set of vampires who stealthy moved toward Eve like predatory cats. He recognized Bill as one of them. Lucien walked quickly to Eve, hoping to get to her before they did.
In the corner of his vision, he saw Charlie pull the red lever of a fire alarm. A loud whistle exploded into the air. People everywhere frantically looked around as they decided if there was any immediate danger.
Charlie helped them along. “Fire! Everybody out!”
People jumped and rushed to the entrance all at once in a chaotic mess. In his haste, a man knocked Eve onto all fours. Lucien rushed to her, but Bill made it to her first.
Eve’s gaze met Lucien’s just as Bill clamped his large hand around her neck, and with the other hand, he tore the wings from her costume where they fell in a crumpled heap. For the first time, there was fear in Eve’s eyes.
Lucien was careful not to make any sudden moves. He knew Bill would snap her neck before he could get to her—whether that would kill or not, he wasn’t sure, and he didn’t want to find out.
The other vampires eyed him dangerously through the crowds of rushing people. He slowly pushed the frenzied humans to the side as he walked closer to Eve in a non-threatening manner.
Lucien maintained eye contact with Eve, who stared back at him frantically. Her eyes bulged when Bill squeezed harder on her neck. He shook his head at Lucien, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Behind him, Charlie was barking orders at the hotel staff.
Eve’s frantic eyes glazed over, and their jade color grew lighter and lighter until they were almost white. Her features suddenly relaxed, and she displayed no signs of stress, despite the fact that there was a vampire squeezing the life out of her.
With Eve’s physical change came a variation in the air. It felt electric and pulsated with invisible life. Even Bill seemed to notice, and he looked around anxiously as if trying and determine the source.
Just then, a blast of cold air rushed through the room with a fierceness that turned over tables and chairs. Glasses and plates shattered on the ground, and the four vampires were tossed across the room, including Bill whose body whistled through the air like a deflated balloon.
One of the vampires came crashing down onto the leg of an overturned table; it pierced his heart, and he burst into a cloud of ash. Lucien guessed his death was intentional.
A second vampire landed near Charlie, who had a gun pulled and pointed. One blast from it sent the vampire into a violent fit; his body jerked and twisted in ways Lucien didn’t think possible. Charlie jumped on him, trying to get a good shot at his heart with a wooden dagger that he had removed from his boot.
The ballroom was almost entirely empty. Chaotic screams found their way in from the foyer, and in the far distance, a fire truck’s siren wailed.
In the center of the ballroom, Eve stood alone, the air still flowing with electric energy. And then suddenly, it stopped, and she collapsed to the ground. Lucien was there to catch her unconscious body.
A long-haired vampire rushed at Lucien. Lucien dodged and kicked him in the back, sending the vampire to the ground and sliding across the floor. With a lifeless Eve in his arms, Lucien backed up to the corner of the room, unsure if he would make it to the exit in time.
Bill, who looked abnormally calm, strolled toward him. The long-haired vampire recovered and moved toward Charlie who’d just finished stabbing the stunned vampire in the heart.
“Charlie!” Lucien yelled.
Charlie glanced up just in time to see the fist of the vampire smash him in the face. The crack of his nose breaking echoed in the large room. Charlie joined Eve in unconsciousness.
“I should’ve recognized you before, Lucien,” Bill said.
Lucien kept backing up toward the south exit. “We all make mistakes.”
Bill followed. “I can only imagine the kind of reward I’ll get when I kill you and capture her.”
“That’s what the other Bill said right before I killed him.”
Bill raised his eyebrows. “Thank you for saving me the time.”
The long-haired vampire circled behind Lucien. Lucien needed to do something before he became trapped.
“Why don’t you put the girl down? I need to make sure nothing happens to her while I kill you,” Bill said.
“Good idea.” Turning sideways, as to keep both vampires in view, he carefully laid Eve on circular table that was still standing. Her dress absorbed the spilled wine on the table, staining her white gown red.
No longer holding precious cargo, Lucien let all the powers of his vampirism take over. When he turned to face Bill with fangs extended, he was more than ready for a fight.
He dropped to the ground and swiped Bill’s legs out from under him. He leapt up to jump on top of Bill, but the long-haired vampire pulled him down by the back of his jacket.
Lucien fell to the ground and rolled into a backwards summersault. Then he quickly arched upward with his hands at his shoulders and kicked the vampire in the face. From behind him, Bill kicked his back, his steel-toed cowboy boot hammering into his ribs.
Lucien was a little slower getting up. Bill and the other vampire had him cornered. He rushed the long-haired vampire and crashed into him. Together they fell on top of an overturned table. Lucien rolled toward a wooden chair to rip off its leg. He barely managed to snap it off before the vampire grabbed his foot and twisted.
Lucien moved his body with the twist, preventing his bones from breaking. With his other foot, he kicked at the vampire. Lucien struck him several times in the chest before he finally let go.
Just in time too. Bill was midair and coming down on top of him, a sharpened wooden dagger in his hand. Lucien rolled away, missing death by a fraction of a second. When Bill landed on the ground, Lucien snatched up a broken plate and whirled it at Bill. It sliced through a good chunk of Bill’s neck. Not enough, but it bought Lucien some time.
Lucien scurrie
d away on all fours, deliberately moving slowly as if tired. The long-haired vampire took advantage of what he must’ve thought a weak moment and leapt into the air. Just as he was about to land on Lucien’s back, Lucien turned over and shoved the broken chair leg through his heart. The force was enough to make the vampire explode into a shower of ash. Lucien spit and wiped the dust from his face.
“I can see how you survived,” Bill said. He had healed and was standing near a table against the wall, wiping blood with a napkin from off the front of his shirt.
“Excuse me?”
“Very few men, and even fewer vampires, fight to stay alive like you do. Why do you do it? What makes you want to live?”
The question startled Lucien. “Why do you live?”
Bill shrugged. “For power, money, all the things I didn’t have when I was human.”
“But those things can be taken away.”
“And so can life. So why do any of us bother?”
“To prove ourselves,” Lucien said. Covertly, he scanned the area for anything he could use against him.
“Prove ourselves to who?” Bill asked.
“To anyone who might be watching.”
“And what exactly are we trying to prove?”
“That despite all opposition, we will never give up. We will fight for what we believe in until the very last breath is forced from our lungs.”
Bill nodded. “How very inspirational. To fight for what we believe in.”
Bill reached behind his back and pulled out a gun identical to Charlie’s. He pointed it at Lucien’s chest.
“I believe,” Bill said, “that I will become ten times more powerful when I kill you and deliver the woman to the Dark Prince—and I’m willing to fight for it.”
His finger pulled the trigger.
24
Lucien prepared to bolt, hoping he could move out of the way from the blast in time. The gun exploded, but it wasn’t Lucien who fell—it was Bill. From behind him, a bloody-faced Charlie was sitting up with the gun pointed.
“Get her out of here,” he said, motioning to Eve.
The Devil's Angel (Devil Series Book 2) Page 15
