by Alisha Basso
“Well.” He continued, moving to organize the bags of silvery blood into neat rows. “Let’s just say that after I left to seek you out, the Council banished me. I was seen as a heretic, unfit to rule, so they gave my home to Eden.” He began to slam the bags of blood into the fridge and I shook my head.
“They said you were a heretic. Why?”
He slammed the door to the fridge and looked at me. “Because I fell in love, Grace! There, I said it!”
My eyes widened with shock.
“Do you ever wonder what happened the day we fought?” He continued, “I failed the Council because I hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you, Grace. When I saw the blood pouring from your body that was when I finally realized that I love you. The feeling is so strong; I knew I could never turn you over to them. But I could not allow you to wake with me still there and I feared for you, so I sent a distress call out to Lucian. He never knew it was me who sent it.” He shivered and shook his head. “That would have been utterly unacceptable. So, I washed away all evidence of our encounter, and now all Lucian knows is that you were hurt and nothing more.”
I stared at him. Shock was an understatement.
“I was never able to love,” he continued, “then your blood began the change and I felt my soul return.” He looked pained and I reached for him. “Do not push your pity on me.” He shoved my hand away. “Fuck, Grace! I know you do not love me and I understand it.” He picked up the empty ice chest and turned to the door. “One day, not so long from now, you will end up killing your Lucian.” He frowned. “He will never be strong enough to withstand the real you. It will be a mistake, but it will happen. You need a Madea male that can take all you can give, at least give me the chance to win you and I promise to spend the rest of my days proving it to you.”
I opened my mouth to speak but he was gone. I flopped onto the bed, my head in my hands.
“Was he telling the truth?” The bed leaned to the side with Lucian’s weight and I cursed Seth and his big fat mouth. The jerk knew damn well that Lucian had been lurking in the hall.
“Could you really kill me?” He put his hand on my knee.
I sat up and sniffed. “Yeah,” I felt my eyes well with tears. “I think if we aren’t careful, I could.” I stood up. “Nothing is ever easy is it?”
“No, but I see where you are going with this. Shouldn’t you let me decide what I want to do?”
I shook my head and frowned, “I can’t let any more bad happen to you.”
“Grace, wait a minute. Please think before you do anything. You won’t hurt me, I know it.”’
“You’re right, Lucian. I won’t.”
Lucian’s brows drew together and he reached for me.
I moved out of his reach. “I’m sorry, Lucian, I can’t take that chance. I should have never started this.” I bent and kissed him softly on the lips. “Goodbye, Lucian.” I ran from the room, leaving him alone in the darkness.
Epilogue
“Are you sure?” I sat on the fluffy white comforter in Jamie’s room. “Why not stay for a little while longer and just see if it gets better?” I pleaded.
She sighed. “Sorry, Grace.” The side of her mouth lifted in a sad smile, “Look, its been months but living with the two of you has become torture.” She dropped her last box onto the ground and mopped her forehead with a pink bandanna.
I wiped a tear from my eye and tried to smile. It looked totally phony, I could tell by her exaggerated eye roll. “Come on Grace. I have to move in with my brother. It was my home too, and with Lucian asking after you non-stop and the tension between you and Seth, I’m going insane!” She turned, “Oh,” she held up a finger. “Let’s not forget the teeny, tiny fact that The Prince of Darkness likes to drop in for a visit.”
I sighed. Lucian was a sore subject for me and hearing his name made me utterly miserable. We hadn’t spoken in months and so far, Jamie had only spoken to him on the phone.
“Listen, Gracie, why don’t you come with me to the house. Lucian said he’d be out for the rest of the day, so maybe we can have a little girl time together. You know, vampire slash devil free fun?” She bent, tilting her head, she pushed her face close to mine, touching the tip of her nose to mine, and then she bumped my forehead playfully. “Come on you bag of bones, you have to leave this house sometime.”
I lifted a finger and started to protest. Her eyes bugged out and she cut me off. “Dodging sexual advances from Lucifer is not an outing, Grace. Hell isn’t a vacation spot, it just isn’t!” she shouted.
I slumped, thinking that everywhere was pretty much Hell these days. “I know. Okay,” I finally gave in. “But you’re sure he isn’t there?” I stood, leaning down I grabbed a handful of her bedding and headed out of her room.
“This will be great for you, Gracie.” She said as she piled her belongings into the trunk of her car. “Getting away from these four walls will work wonders for you. I think you’re starting to prematurely age.” She wrinkled her nose and then laughed as she got into the car. I frowned and got in beside her, grumbling to myself.
She drove like a maniac, her driving always made me nervous and I held on to the “Oh, Shit” strap and groaned as she took the last corner leading up to her and Lucian’s home.
She pulled into the drive and my stomach fell as I glanced around the property.
I sat like a stone while she jumped out. “Are you coming, Grace?” I heard her shout. I just sat, scared to death to move. The sound of the screen door slamming echoed off the rocks as Jamie entered her childhood home.
“Yeah,” I mumbled to myself. I noticed movement at the corner of my eye and I looked up. I got out of the car, taking the small box that had been stored by my feet I moved to take a closer look. The door to the apartment above Lucian’s garage was cracked and I turned, looking around for another car.
I took a few steps and jumped, sucking in a startled breath; I smiled as Puck, Lucian’s black cat, went running past my legs and up the stairs. His sleek kitty cat body slid inside the room, barely moving the door.
I frowned. Still holding the box filled with Jamie’s toiletries, I slowly approached the stairs. Taking them quietly one by one not alerting a possible intruder, I snuck all the way up to the top.
I smelled something familiar and frowned. Pushing the box against the door, I held my breath as it swung open. I stepped inside, closing the door silently behind me.
He was kneeling in front of a large open window; sunshine framed him, painting him with golden light. His lovely back was toward me. I moved closer as he drew his arms up into the sky. His head fell back, his hair sweeping his muscular shoulders. My heart swelled with love and I sniffed, biting back my tears.
He jerked at the sound and spun.
I watched in slow motion as the love of my life shot a bolt of power from his palm a mere second before his eyes met mine. His face visibly paled at seeing me and he screamed something about getting out of the way, but I couldn’t move, I was frozen with shock.
Lucian’s eyes were silver and bronze.
I watched numbly as he screamed, trying to get through to me he jumped onto a huge table laden with all sorts of magical paraphernalia. He rolled to the side as it broke under his weight. He moved like lightening, coming to his feet as fast as a cat but it didn’t matter. I stood transfixed and let the bolt of power hit me square in the chest. Jamie’s box flew from my arms sending hairspray and half a dozen little white tampons flying through the air.
Tears blurred my vision. I blinked them away to find Lucian starring at me in horror. He’d finally reached me, landing by my side only after my head connected with something hard and pointed on the floor. My head rolled to the side completely out of my control and that was where the proof of my horror lay scattered on the floor. The bags were all empty dozens of them. Their silvery contents apparently sucked dry. Moisture seeped from the wound on my head as tears soaked my cheeks.
I was losing consciousness and for the first time ever
I welcomed the darkness.
Books by Alisha Basso:
This Blood, Book one of The Grace Allen Series
This Curse, Book Two of The Grace Allen Series
This Time, Book Three of The Grace Allen Series (Coming Soon!)
Please visit Alisha Basso on her Facebook page: facebook.com/alishabasso
