“How would Dashwood get such a creature t’ do his bidding in th’ first place?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? “I have no idea.” His brow furrowed again. “Unless Dashwood was in possession of something that this demon wanted . . .” He ran a hand through his hair. “Bloody hell. Of course!”
“What?” Charlotte asked, perplexed.
“What does any spirit want but more omnipotence?” Davien returned on a sneer, furious with himself for being so blind to the truth that had been in front of him the entire time. “The Order is known for their pagan sacrifices to Bacchus and Venus. While I didn’t attend all of these rites, I was present at more than I care to recall. At one such ritual, I remember another name was mentioned—Lilin. I think Dashwood promised this demonic entity, this female succubus, more dominion if it would give him the same sort of control over the Order.”
“That explains how ye was cursed, but wot aboot Cosette?”
This was the part that was the most difficult for Davien to comprehend, but he had the sinking feeling that his suspicions were right. “Remember what Mrs. Clay told us? She said that Cosette was cursed by the blood of the demon, that is flows through her veins. When I was in the archives, I came across several books on demonology. According to the Malleus Maleficarum, Heinrich Kramer claimed that demons, either a male incubus, or a female succubus, could, in fact, reproduce with humans.”
Charlotte gasped, her face bleaching of all color. “Ye dinna think Cosette is . . .”
“Indeed,” Davien said grimly. “I do.”
Chapter 26
Cosette flew to her feet, upsetting her teacup and sending it crashing to the floor. Bits of china and brown liquid scattered, but she grabbed the first thing she could find to use as a weapon—the fireplace poker. Holding it out in front of her like a sword, she demanded, “What are you?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet, dear Cosette?” This time when the entity inhabiting Mrs. Woodard’s body spoke, it was in the voice that had haunted Cosette’s dreams for so long.
“Get out of this house!” she shouted. “Leave me alone!”
The widow cocked her head to the side. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. It’s time for you to fulfill your destiny.”
With that, she allowed the image of Mrs. Woodard to dissipate, leaving behind a dark haired woman in what could only be described as a seductive red dress. But it was those eyes—those brown eyes so similar to her own—that held Cosette’s abhorrent fascination.
“Do you understand now, my dear Cosette?”
Cosette held the poker higher, but her arm trembled. “I know that if you don’t leave here right now—”
“What will you do?” The woman’s lips curled, the light returning to the edge of her eyes. “There is no one to come to your aid.” She dared to move forward, her every step like an elegant glide. She reached out and touched the locket around Cosette’s neck. “To Mine . . . Be Mine.” She repeated the words inscribed on the locket. “Don’t you remember, dear Cosette? We are connected by a bond that cannot be broken, it is immortal.”
“That’s not true!” Cosette cried. “I don’t even know who you are!”
“I am Lilin,” the entity before her said with a cunning grin. “Your mother.”
Cosette felt her blood turn cold, congeal in her limbs. The poker fell from her lifeless fingers. She backed up a step, but her back met the hard marble of the mantel. She was trapped. “You’re lying,” she whispered.
Lilin trailed a hand down Cosette’s arm. Cosette couldn’t help but wince at the contact. “You are the product of a union between me and a human male.”
Cosette stilled. “You speak as if you aren’t human.”
Those dark eyes glowed brighter. “I am not of this world, daughter. I am made of the demon Dantalion.”
Cosette was in a real life nightmare, one in which she would never awaken. “Did you . . . love each other?” she asked. That would make all of this, if not easier, but perhaps bearable in time.
But Lilin simply laughed, the sound mimicking the hiss of a serpent. “It was a mutual agreement. He wanted gratification, and I needed to collect his seed. When the task was completed, we went our separate ways.”
Cosette closed her eyes. It all sounded so . . . cold, so calculated, but then, she supposed that was the point. “If you wanted to have a child, how did I end up in an orphanage?”
“I wanted to test your endurance,” Lilin said without a single bit of remorse. “I was interested to know what a half-breed could endure.”
“You condemned me to that life for your own amusement?” Cosette spat. She felt her fists clench at her sides.
Lilin’s lips curled. “You should thank me for your trials! I cannot have a weakling following in my path. What I offer is a gift many would covet.”
“I don’t want anything from you,” Cosette snapped.
“But that is where you are wrong, dear Cosette,” Lilin countered, her eyes flashing with malicious intent. “And very soon I shall prove it.”
With a flick of her wrist, Lilin sent a burst of white light at Cosette. She put up her arms to deflect the blast, but it was too late. She felt the controlling force flow through her body until the darkness caused her to fall into the black pit . . .
~ ~ ~
Davien vaulted from the saddle at Shadowlawn before the horse had even come to a complete stop. “Cosette!” he yelled as he burst through the front door, the impact of his entry nearly splintering the hinges. “Cosette!”
He was breathing heavy, a combination of his exertions and his own fear, but when he saw that lovely, feminine form outlined by the light from the library, he began to move forward. He came to an abrupt halt several feet away, when it became clear that it wasn’t Cosette’s face he was looking upon—but the terror of his past. She looked just as she had twenty years ago with her thick, dark hair hanging down her back, those dark eyes sultry and becoming. She was even wearing the same red dress that had instantly caught the attention of an impressionable young man. Now, the sight of her sickened him, causing the beast to bristle and emit a low, warning growl. But this time, he knew what she was. Evil.
“What have you done with Cosette?” he demanded.
Her eyes shone eerily when she returned, “Shall you try to rescue her, be the knight gallant?” She chuckled, the sound crawling up his spine. “Do you think that you can defeat me? You submitted to me once. You shall do so again.”
“You sound confident of that.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” she purred, walking slowly forward. “I know your one true weakness.” She glanced beyond his shoulder.
Every instinct went on alert when he spun around. There, standing a few feet away, clad in a nearly incandescent, white shimmering robe, stood Cosette. Her dark hair flowed down her back, but it was those eyes, glowing with the power of that white, unholy light that caused his heart to stop. “Cosette?” He could barely utter her name. She was so still and . . . lifeless, fully under the controlling spell of the one who had cursed him so long ago.
After twenty years, it had all come full circle.
“What shall you do, Your Grace?” Lilin circled him. She reached out and trailed a blood red nail down his chest. “Shall you release the beast upon me, attempt to tear me to shreds?” She leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “Or will you yield to me?”
Davien felt the swirling restlessness of the beast inside of him, yearning to break free. The strength it took to hold the creature back tore through his muscles until they ached from the strain. It wouldn’t do to lose control now. Not when they were so close . . . “What do you want?”
Her lips curled into a cruel smile. “I’ve always craved you, Blackburn, even that night in Rome, but you were much too young for my needs. If we had mated, I would ha
ve destroyed you. But now–“ She inhaled, causing her eyes to shine brighter. “I can smell your potency. You will give me a son.”
“Why should you want another child? You didn’t take care of the one you had.”
She snorted. “Cosette was only a test, to see what a half-breed could do. With the energy of the beast within you, we will make a child that will withstand time. He will be unstoppable.”
“That’s quite an enticing offer,” he sneered. “But I fear I must decline it.”
She licked her lips, as if the more he resisted, the more she enjoyed the challenge. “I see I shall have to try harder to change your mind.” She allowed her dress to fall away, pressing her naked body against him. “Does not the sight of this form entice you?”
He didn’t even look down to see what she offered, merely turned his focus firmly on Cosette.
“You have such vitality, such vigor,” she sighed. “Perhaps you merely need a different sort of motivation.”
Davien watched as Cosette’s face took on the appearance of Lilin—while the siren’s face before him morphed into Cosette’s features. “Do you not want me now?” she asked in Cosette’s voice. She leaned forward, her mouth only a breath away from his. She reached down and ran her hand along the length in his trousers. “Kiss me, and remember what it’s like to take this body.”
Davien clenched his fists. He found his manhood responding to her advances, even though he did everything possible to keep from it.
“Yes,” she breathed, against his neck. “Relinquish yourself to me. I will give you pleasure like you’ve never known before. All you have to do is succumb, say the word and I will fall to my knees before you and worship your cock. I am but a humble servant, yours for the taking . . .”
Davien ground his jaw so hard that he thought it might crack at any moment. But when she flicked her tongue out to lick his lower lip, he found that even the beast was starting to weaken.
“Touch me, and I will deny you nothing.” She pressed her bare breasts against his chest, rubbed her core against him. “All it shall take is a flick of your wrist and you will be inside of me where you belong, where you have always belonged . . .”
Davien brought his shaking hands up between them. She tilted her head back, thinking that he was going to finally accept her enticement. But instead of flicking those pert, pink nipples, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away from him with a force that should have sent her flying across the room. Instead, she glided in the air like a ghost upon a light breeze.
“Leave me,” he growled. “I know what you are, and nothing you do shall persuade me to lay with a succubus like you.”
She returned to her original form, her red dress back in place. Again, her eyes flashed, but this time, he thought he saw a hint of annoyance. “You grow tiresome, human. But I will get what I want from you. You cannot resist me forever.”
He stared at her, unblinking—until she glanced toward the top of the stairs, where a shadow came into view. Davien reluctantly followed her glance as his ears caught the malicious click of a pistol being primed.
“I warned you that you would come to regret betraying me, Blackburn.” Sir Francis Dashwood grinned cunningly. “Now, just do as the lady says and no one will get hurt.” He turned the gun on Cosette. “After all, it would be a shame to kill my own daughter.”
~ ~ ~
Cosette was watching everything play out before her as if she was on the opposite side of a clear wall that she had no hope of breaking down. She could feel the emotion, the shock, the sheer pain of what was unfolding, but like a sick, twisted stage performance, she couldn’t stop it from happening.
She raged and begged inside of her body, but there was no outward change, no voice to be heard. She paced inside of her subconscious like a caged animal, but still, she could find no way out. She was in an impenetrable fortress.
“It appears I have no other alternative.”
Cosette heard the defeat in Davien’s voice and cried out, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She felt the tears dripping down her face as Lilin walked over and took his arm and led him up the stairs. Please, don’t do this. Fight, Davien. Keep fighting against her. Don’t give in. Don’t give up . . .
When they reached the top of the stairs, she saw them pause before Dashwood. “Would you care to observe the ritual?” Lilin coerced, causing the other man to grin lasciviously.
“Indeed.” He gestured to Cosette. “But what about her?”
Lilin didn’t even look at Cosette as her lips curved into a satisfied grin. “She’s not going anywhere.”
Dashwood gestured for them to precede him. “Then let the games begin.”
Cosette watched the trio disappear at the top of the stairs with a heart-wrenching sob of despair.
“Thank God. I thought they’d never leave,” Charlotte whispered from behind her. “Make sure ye guard that satchel with yer life.”
Cosette didn’t know who her friend was speaking to, but considering she was bossy as usual, she had the feeling that it was Quinn.
Charlotte walked into her line of sight. She held a Bible in her hand. “Let’s get that necklace off, shall we?” With that, she opened the book and began to read . . .
~ ~ ~
Davien hoped that he’d been enough of a distraction for Charlotte to sneak into the house unaware, and gather whatever she needed from the library. With any luck, she was already downstairs with Cosette and speaking the prayer of deliverance that would free the locket long enough for them to remove it and smash it into bits, freeing her from the hold that Lilin held over her.
Davien obediently laid down on the bed in his chamber, but not without shooting a glare at Dashwood where he stood in the doorway. The pistol was still in the man’s grasp, but his grip on the handle wasn’t as sure as before. Lilin had diverted his attention by removing her dress, and he was occupied by undoing his trousers to stroke himself.
“Perhaps when I’m finished with Blackburn, I shall reward you for your loyalty.”
“My cock eagerly awaits you, my dear,” he hissed.
She turned back to Blackburn with a glare to see that he was still fully attired. “You’re sadly overdressed.” She looked toward his manhood. “Remove them.”
Davien swallowed, but he slowly began to undo the flap of his trousers. He went as slow as possible, but in the end, he was forced to free his member.
Lilin looked at his semi-erection with a lick of her lips. “I shall enjoy bringing you to full attention.” She walked forward, but paused, a few feet from the bed.
Davien held his breath.
“Something is . . . wrong,” she said, although it was obvious she wasn’t sure exactly what it was. “Check on Cosette,” she snapped at Dashwood.
His ministrations paused. “I thought you said I could watch.”
“Nothing will happen until you return!” she spat. “Now go!”
He righted himself with a curse, but he turned and left the room.
She turned her gaze back to Davien, who had also tucked himself back into his trousers, and now leaned against the headboard, his arms behind his head. “You wouldn’t be attempting to deceive me, would you, Blackburn? For the price of disloyalty is a very steep one indeed.”
He didn’t answer, merely kept his steady gaze on her.
When several moments passed, in which Dashwood did not return, Lilin’s red dress reappeared, along with a savage temper. “That fool! He cannot be trusted with the simplest of tasks!”
She was about to stalk out of the room when Cosette appeared on the threshold. She still wore the white robe, but her eyes were clear and free of enchantment.
“I’m afraid Sir Francis is indisposed at the moment.” Cosette extended her hand, where the silver locket dangled by her fingers. “As far as this
, I’m quite through accepting any gifts from you. Mother.” With that, she let the locket fall to the wood floor between them, where it promptly shattered into a million pieces.
~ ~ ~
The moment the necklace hit the floor Cosette felt a breeze flow through her hair, as if it was wiping away any remnant of Lilin’s power over her and replacing it with her own. It was wonderful, it was freeing—it was a rebirth. She hadn’t felt this sense of peace since she was seven years old, when she recalled the blackouts had first started. It was as if a weight had been lifted in the center of her chest. Combined with her love for Davien, she had no doubt that she could defeat this woman before her.
She would vanquish the darkness with the light.
Cosette turned the hand that had held the locket, palm upward where a bright white orb had now formed in the middle. “Move away from Davien, or suffer the consequences of my wrath.”
Lilin crossed her arms and remained where she was. “You think your . . . parlor tricks will work against me?”
“I know they will,” Cosette countered. “Because I have faith, something which you have always lacked.” She drew her arm back and let the ball of light shoot forward. It struck Lilin in the arm, causing her to clutch it in pain. Cosette instantly formed another. “Shall I continue to demonstrate?”
Lilin opened her mouth and let out a piercing howl. The fangs of her teeth lengthened and her eyes glowed fully with that demonic light, as her entire being took on a sinister appearance. When she spoke, it was the voice in Cosette’s mind.
The Secrets of Shadows Page 22
