He kept her moving until her back hit the wall. Then he placed a hand over each of her wings, pinning her like a butterfly to a board. Wrapping his fingers around the thick and strong-as-steel bones of her wings, he held her still. They were eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose, mouth-to-beautiful-lovely-perfect mouth.
His body hardened to the point he might shatter with one flick of her finger.
Leaning in nice and slow, Lucifer loved how he could hear her heart pounding. He watched the vein in her neck pulse wildly. Watched her pupils react to every little move he made.
Her desire was potent. The room smelled like a field of flowers. Damn how he missed this smell. He’d forgotten how intoxicating it was. Inhaling until his lungs couldn’t hold anymore of her fragrance, Lucifer’s jaw clenched. Then he let it out slowly and bent in to nuzzle her neck. She tilted her head, offering herself to her Alpha. Lucifer felt her body tense and melt against his. Fuck she felt so good. He smiled and blew a hot as hell breath down the slope of her neck.
“You sure you still want this?” His voice was deep and morphed and fucking dangerous like the rest of him.
“I’ve wanted nothing but this,” she whispered against his mouth. “Always.”
Just as he was about to claim her mouth, Lucifer’s knees buckled. Like someone sucked the air clean out of his lungs, he gasped and scrambled to keep his power from draining in one long pull.
From outside the bedroom door, Lazarus yelled, “We’ve got a big fucking problem out here!”
Chapter 19
Luce felt stuck between gratefulness and terror. He wasn't a father, but his heart still swelled because that bundle of joy was somehow his to spoil, love and cherish forever too. Holy hell, a baby… there was an actual real, live, warm and soft, perfectly perfect baby Hell Hound now. Maybe she’s the one draining me so suddenly, Lucifer thought as he tumbled down the steps to get to Lazarus. If that was the case, then he'd gladly let her drain him dry. Whatever she needed, wanted, or wished for, she was getting. Uncle Lucy would make sure of it. Not even an hour old and that sweet creature already had the Devil wrapped around her pinky.
As she should.
Lucifer gripped the banister before he fell ass over elbow down the motherfucking stairs and grunted with the nose-dive his energy levels just took. Eve grabbed him, like she could actually support his weight or some shit. "Go," he urged. "See what the hell is going on with Lazarus. I'll be there in a second."
He didn't like her seeing him struggle. And if this pull was coming from the baby, then it might get worse before it got manageable.
Holy shit, he felt like the earth was trying to tip him over and dump him into outer space. Was he floating? He looked down at his boots and saw they were firmly planted on the steps. Annnnd then the steps shifted and turned into a slide and he lost his balance and his grip and went tumbling down the steps. He smashed into the wall on the landing and busted a Devil-sized hole in it.
"Up you go," Eve grabbed his arm and hoisted him with the strength of two male warriors. Damn, she’d seen him fall.
To know pride is to also know shame. Lazarus used to say that sometimes back in the day. Lucifer felt that lesson hardcore right now. He just busted his pride, and the wall. Oh well.
"I'm not sure what's happening," he said.
Eve kept quiet and helped him outside to the front porch. "Look," she said while escorting him closer to Lazarus.
Lucifer looked up, but the stars were shooting and zipping through the sky too fast to catch. Dizziness slammed him again. His legs buckled and knees pounded into the earth. He gripped the grass to hold on for dear life. "Shit," his mouth watered. He was going to puke.
Swallowing his saliva, he tried to get a fucking grip.
The wind picked up. The sky darkened and another bought of dizziness had Lucifer praying for a fucking miracle. How much did a newborn need from someone?
He tucked his head in tight to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut.
It didn't help.
Sucking in a deep breath, he blew it out nice and slow through cracked, parted lips. "Anam," he croaked. "Get me Anam."
Eve let out a glorious howl. Lucifer's natural response was to join in. He tried so hard to not unleash the beast’s howl trapped in his throat. But it was no use. Lucifer, even in his worst, weakest condition, tipped his head back and howled.
Anam ran across the lawn and straight to Lucifer. With a grunt, the Devil sank his fingers into the animal's fur and all but hugged the wolf. He didn't draw the piece of soul out of the wolf, but it was almost tempting. Instead, Lucifer clutched the beast and used him to regain his composure. Anam whined a little then laid down on the grass, panting with his tongue out.
"Don't," Eve's voice cracked. "Please don't take him from me, Lucifer."
The Devil's gaze reached hers. "I'm not... just need a little... extra help."
Eve crawled cautiously over to him. "Take it from me. Whatever you need, take it from me."
He shook his head.
The anger in her eyes was like fuel to the fire banked in his heart. He’d forgotten how that felt. How she could stir a thousand emotions he never paid attention to and give them all life and breath and vibration in his chest. His heart flared to life, burning bright and fierce.
"You listen to me, Devil, and listen good. I'm not asking you to take from me, I'm telling you to. We have a world to save and you can't even walk. Leave Anam alone and pull from me."
"I'm not pulling from Anam," he said. The wolf was just comforting him.
"Look at you," Eve lifted one of Lucifer's eyelids, "Jesus fucking Christ, Lazarus, look at him."
The Golden-winged fucker frowned as he inspected Lucifer's peepers. "Hmmph." He went back to staring at the sky again.
Eve squished Lucifer's face in her hands, "You need everything you can get to fight Michael, Lucifer. Take from me. Please."
That pleading voice cracked more of Lucifer's defenses. "What if I take too much?"
"Worth it," her fingers dug into the sides of his face. "You're fucking worth it. Take it all if you need to."
He grunted as another drain pulled the lawn out from under him. "I don't understand what's happening." Confiding his loss and confusion was a kick in his ego's teeth. "If this is the baby, she's going to be the death of me."
"It's not the baby," Eve said. "She's pulling from me, not you."
Lucifer's brow furrowed and he wrapped his arms around Eve's wrists. "You're certain?"
"Absolutely."
Holy fuck, if it wasn't the baby then... "I can't risk draining you more. Not if the baby's already pulling from you, Eve."
"Damnit, Lucifer." Something like indecision warred with determination in her bright blue eyes. "Fuck it," she growled and then she smashed her lips to his.
Pure. White. Light.
Flames. Screams. Moans. Feathers. Explosions.
Lucifer struggled to keep his focus where it needed to be. While he tasted the sweetest, purist form of the only love that mattered to him, raw emotions and instincts fought for dominance.
Lucifer struggled tremendously to keep his control. Fucking Eve on the ground until neither of them remembered their names wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t ready for that. Too unbalanced. Too furious. Too starved. Desire wasn’t the only urge riding him hard right now. With visions of the world collapsing in fire painting his thoughts red, Lucifer also wanted blood to run. He wanted to make pain rain down from the sky. His mouth watered with thoughts of eating the screams of the damned and picking his teeth with their brittle morals.
Eve's tongue swept across his - coaxing the best pieces of him to come out and play. Lucifer inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the sweetest scent known to mankind.
Somehow, she knew what was going on, and that female held the nape of Lucifer’s neck with one hand and squeezed it hard enough to make his nostrils flare. His eyes snapped open and gaze locked on hers. With their mouths pressed together, one of her hands remained locked o
n the back of his neck, the other sailed down to his chest and her fingers fanned out over his wildly beating heart.
Warmth filled him from tongue to toes. Black fire dripped from his limbs and licked her arms. Neither of them burned, yet they were both on fire. His strength started to restore. His red vision retreated. His dark thoughts cleared away.
Eve tried to pull back from him.
Not today, he thought while threading his fingers into her hair and keeping her close to him. He’d forgotten this. Forgot how good she tasted. How beautiful her determination could be. How strong her spirit was. He hadn't taken a single drop of energy from her with that kiss. Instead, Lucifer allowed the smallest piece of his fragile side out of its cage and allowed it a taste of hope. That slight risk filled his empty-for-too-long heart enough for his power to replenish.
Before he got too used to it, he ran his hand through her hair one last time before letting his arm fall, and allowed her the choice to break their connection. Or keep it going.
When she slowly leaned back, Eve smiled broadly, "We've still got it, huh?"
His heart beat like war drums in his chest. He didn't have the ability to speak. Too many emotions were assaulting him at once and it was going to take him a minute to regain his senses.
But he didn't have a minute. He didn’t even have another second. Malanum came out of the darkness and ran full-speed, at the three Angels. With blades laced with their evil, the malanum let out a shriek of war cries and attacked.
Eve didn't have a single weapon on her, damnit! Running towards the closest malanum, she tackled the sucker down to the ground and punched it three times in quick succession. With the force of her blows, she almost collapsed the malanum’s face. That should slow it down for a while. "Open a hole!" she yelled over her shoulder.
Leaving that one on the ground, Eve went after two more. Lucifer was taking on five of them, and she had no goddamn clue where Lazarus had gone.
Where the hell was that golden winged motherfucker?
Something hit her from behind, crushing her wings. Eve stumbled forward with an evil spirit on her back, pulling her hair to expose her throat. She didn't need to look at the shiny object to know it was a knife it held in its boney hands. Blocking the malanum from slicing at her, she immediately flexed her wings and her feathers stiffened and turned to razor blades. The malanum suffered thousands of cuts, its black blood getting her feathers all sticky and wet.
Lucifer's roar vibrated the air. He slammed a malanum down on the ground and opened a Hell hole. Next, he started tossing anything and everything into the black pit. But first, he was disarming them.
That proved harder than they thought.
Malanum were slick and quick. And a swarm this size wasn't going to be easy to send back to Hell without some of their daggers going down with them.
"Get back!" Lucifer yelled at her.
"Oy!" Lazarus ran to the Devil, carrying a gun in each hand. Tossing one at him, Laz said, "Aim and pull the trigger."
She had no clue if Lucifer had ever seen a gun before, let alone handled one. But Eve didn't have time to give him a shooting lesson. Not with a fresh wave of one, two, three, four, five malanum running straight at her with knives.
Panicked, she turned and started running. Her wings caught drag, but she was too worked up to relax them. Damn her wings always slowed her down. Anam drug one of the malanum by his foot towards the black hole. Eve screamed as she saw the blade shine just before it sank into her wolf's neck. Anam yelped once and dropped, releasing the malanum from its jaws.
There were few things in this life that infuriated Eve to catastrophic levels. Hurting animals was one of them. And hurting her animal? Well, this malanum just bought a ticket to the torture show.
It didn't matter that five malanum were at her back. Her focus narrowed on the one laying three feet from a Hell hole. She snatched that no good bastard. "You just made the biggest mistake of your existence you filthy, vile piece of fuck."
Eve dangled him over the Hell hole and suspended him in the air. Gunshots fired all around her. The air felt charged. As the malanum in her clutches screamed and thrashed around to break free, Anam lay on the ground with a blade sticking out his neck and fur saturated in blood. Lucifer and Lazarus took care of the other malanum swarming around the yard.
Eve's vision tunneled. Her heart beat fiercely in her throat. Her ears started ringing. "You," she said to the malanum still trying to get out of her grip, "are going to pay for what you've done."
The bastard spat in her face. "You first, bitch."
Eve snatched one of the fucker's hands. And, while still holding him by the throat, lowered it down into the Hell hole and let it dangle above its fate. "I bet your mates are hungry down there," she smiled. "How about we give them a snack."
With a yank and twist, she ripped the malanum's arm clean off. He started screeching and the pitch damn near busted her ear drums. She dropped his arm down into the Hell hole and watched it disappear. The malanum twisted and kicked out, Eve's grip started to slip. She doubled down and squeezed his bony little throat hard enough to snap his neck bones. A broken neck wouldn't kill him, but could slow his thrashing down. At least long enough for her to rip his other arm off.
The malanum screamed again as they both watched his left arm fall into the black abyss next.
"Try hurting an animal now," she spat back in his face.
The scent of blood and thrum of war turned her into a cold-hearted animal with nothing left to lose.
She forgot what this level of adrenaline was like. How numb it could make her. How vicious it turned her.
"Eve!" someone yelled in the distance. But she was alone on her little black island with her whimpering little snack dangling with no arms. She walked over to the edge of the Hell hole, directly in front of where the five other malanum were now immobilized and looked like Swiss cheese with all the bullets it took to drop them to the ground.
"Awww, poor babies," she teased. "Look at you," she shoved the armless one down on top of another unmoving malanum and placed her foot on his back. Next, she grabbed both his legs and pulled him apart, splitting him right up the middle.
Did he die? No. He was dead already. She knew that plight oh so well. But there would be nothing left once the hungry evil souls still incarcerated in Hell got ahold of his pieces. Anyone – living or dead – who hurt her wolf didn’t get a second chance with Eve.
With a grunt, she ripped the rest of him in two and dropped the headless half down the hole.
The malanum was incapable of speech now. His mouth wide in a soundless scream, she gouged his eyes out before tossing what was left of him into the pit.
Then Eve ignored everyone and everything else and went after her wolf.
"Anam," she choked. The wolf's breathing was shallow. The blade in his neck was buried to the hilt. She pulled it out slowly, and applied pressure on the wound. “I’ve got you, big guy.” Anam had suffered through terrible injuries in his long life. Most of them were incurred because he was always trying to protect Eve. Every time something like this happened, Eve's guilt was heavy enough to drown her. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't swallow. All Eve ever did in times like this was hold on.
She never knew if Anam's instinct to put himself between her and danger was his natural wolf instinct, or Lucifer's soul. No matter which it might be, the result was the same: Eve would be saved and Anam would suffer.
She hated it.
"Eve," Lazarus knelt down and placed a hand over hers. She felt warmth heat the top of her hand and sink into her wolf.
Lucifer was on her other side. "Let go of him, Eve."
She shook her head. She'd never let go of her Anam. He was all she ever really had. "Never."
"I can't heal him if you don't let me." Lucifer grabbed her chin, "Look at me."
It was near impossible for her to drag her gaze away from Anam. It almost hurt to do it. Like looking away when he needed her most was a betrayal to their bond. "D
on't take it back," she knew how selfish this request was. And she didn't fucking care. "Don't take your soul back, Lucy. He needs it."
But Lucifer was going to need it too. Seeing how Lucifer's energy drains were enough to knock him down, the Devil was going to need to be whole again if he wanted any chance of defeating Michael soon. That meant he'd need to take his piece of soul back.
And that meant Anam would die.
Eve's emotions barreled out of her like a Tsunami. She went into protective mode. With a roar, Eve pushed the two male Angels back and away from her wolf. Screaming and snarling, she'd fight them both if she had to.
For how vicious and protective Anam was of her, she was equally aggressive and protective of him too. "You're not taking him from me, Lucifer."
"I'm not—”
"Stay back!" she screamed. Her grip slipped as she tried to carry her heavy wolf across the lawn. She stumbled into the house and laid him on top of the kitchen island. "Don't you give up," she said to her wolf. "You stick with me, okay? You and me. Always. This is just another setback. We can handle this. We can fix it." But what if that blade the malanum used was tainted? What then?
Oh god, she was going to lose her wolf…
Lucifer approached cautiously. "Eve," his hands were raised. "Let me help."
"You're going to take his soul, don't touch him."
"I'm not going to take it back!" he roared. "Damnit, Eve, I'm only trying to help you!"
"I don't need your help!" she screamed across the wolf at him. "You don't understand!"
"I don't?" he countered. "It's been the two of you since the dawn of time. When no one else had your back, he did. When no one else kept you warm in the freezing middle of winter, he did. When you died and came back to life hundreds upon hundreds of times, it was he who was right there by your side."
Resting her head against Anam’s belly, she cried hard and ugly while Lucifer healed Anam.
Black flames licked across his snout, between his eyes, behind his ears, and down his back. It engulfed him. Lazarus embraced Eve with both arms and gently pinned her immobile so he could move her away from the wolf while Lucifer worked on him.
Raise the Dead Page 16
