You will not win. I am stronger than you.
For an answer, Cosette sent another light ball flying at her. This one struck Lilin in the side of her ribcage, causing her to stumble backward.
With a shriek of outrage, Lilin called on her full power. Her entire body lit on fire from within. “I will bring this house of stones crumbling down upon you!” She lifted her arms above her head and allowed a burst of flames to encompass the ceiling.
Cosette was frozen in place, struck by the evil turning her home into a raging inferno. It wasn’t until Davien grabbed her arm, shaking her back to the present with a gruff command to run, did she finally find her feet.
The duke grabbed her hand and ran down to the foyer where Charlotte and Quinn were waiting anxiously by the front door.
Dashwood was nowhere to be found.
“It’s aboot damn time!” Charlotte snapped, worry lining her face.
“Do you have the tablet?” Davien asked.
Quinn handed him the satchel. He grabbed it and removed the item that Cosette and Charlotte had recovered from the gypsies. Only now did Cosette notice that it boasted several odd words and a sigil imbedded in the red wax.
“What do you have there, Blackburn?” Lilin’s chilling voice called down to them from the top of the stairs. “Do you mean to ensnare me? Rid me of my human form and send my soul back to the depths of Gehenna?”
“Yes.” His swirling black eyes were deadly. But the moment he opened his mouth to say more, she lifted her arm and the words were abruptly cut off.
“You forget that I still control the beast within you,” she said softly, as she slowly walked down the stairs. The second floor of the manor was crackling and popping from the ferocity of the fire licking up the walls behind her. It was a terrifying sight, as if Lilin was descending the very steps from Abaddon to enact her vengeance upon them. “Now, transform and do my bidding.”
Cosette watched in horror as Davien began to transform into a creature more hideous than anything she’d ever witnessed before. His entire body shifted and changed until he looked at her with unfeeling, bloodshot eyes, the whites becoming more red than not. He was black and had a long proboscis that protruded from a face that would cause nightmares in children. He was thin and tall, almost reaching the ceiling, and instead of speaking, he made a strange sound, like the ticking of a clock.
That’s when Cosette knew—this creature was the true form of the aswang, the one that she had seen swirling behind Davien’s eyes, the one he’d tried so hard to hide, to contain—to keep her from seeing.
She looked at the tablet that had been dropped at the marble near his feet.
And lunged.
Chapter 27
Lilin saw Cosette’s intent and said to the beast, “Kill her.”
Cosette ducked out of the way of that protruding tongue, meant to suck the very life from her body, and rolled between his legs. It made an ungodly noise and turned to attack again, but Quinn interceded. He stepped in front of her, a barrier between Cosette and this creature.
“Quinn, no!” she shouted, as the beast targeted him.
Cosette formed another ball of light and prayed as she sent it flying toward the aswang. It hissed as she tore a gash in the side of its dark flesh. Black blood dripped from the wound, and it glared at her with a malicious rage. She quickly formed another one, this time aiming it right at its head. It grazed his ear, taking off half of it. But it also distracted it long enough for her to slide across the marble and grab the tablet.
She turned to Charlotte, who was pressed against the front door, absolute fear in her wide, green eyes. “What do I do?”
“Speak th’ words as they’re written,” she croaked.
Cosette held the tablet before her, but it was wrenched out of her grasp by a spark of lightning. It clattered across the floor, landing at Charlotte’s feet. The girl stared at it as if was a serpent, preparing to strike. Cosette turned to Lilin, who was now only a few feet away. The second floor of the manor was still a blazing, flicking scene of destruction that devoured everything in its wake. Wood creaked and groaned, and Cosette knew it wasn’t long before the entire upper level of the manor collapsed around them.
They were running out of time.
“Do you recall when you said you wouldn’t accept anything from me?” Lilin said, her words calculated. “What about now, dear Cosette? Shall you join me? If you do, I shall allow Blackburn to go free.”
“Go to hell,” Cosette snapped.
Lilin only sighed. “You do try my patience.” She lifted her hand, causing the beast to howl in pain. “Are you sure you don’t wish to reconsider? I can crush him, end him, with only the slightest pressure on his windpipe.”
Cosette swallowed, the cost that she might have to pay to destroy Lilin—could ultimately be Davien’s very life. If that were the case, she couldn’t do it. She looked at the beast and a single tear slipped down her cheek. “I’ll go with you. Just please, spare him.”
Those disturbing eyes had a moment of clarity, where Cosette saw Davien’s love for her shining in their depths—before the luminescent energy was crushed, blown out like the wick from a candle flame. The creature fell to the floor in a lifeless heap, turning into Davien as it lay silent, still.
Dead . . .
“NO!” Cosette screamed. She turned to Lilin. “You promised me that you would spare him!”
The other woman didn’t even glance at the lifeless form splayed across the marble. “Is he not free?”
Cosette sent a light ball in Lilin’s direction at the same time she turned and grabbed the tablet from Charlotte, who was waiting for just the right moment to hand it to Cosette.
With a clear, steady voice, Cosette read the words engraved. “Negeltu Talamu Nadu Enu Mulki Duranki Mummu Kataru Kasadu Ni Apsu.”
Lilin’s powers faded and ebbed the moment the last word was spoken. “No! It cannot be!”
Cosette’s eyes flared with a brilliant force. “Lilin, demon spawn of Dantalion, I send you back to the Underworld where you shall be bound for all eternity. You shall not cause any further harm here, or anywhere else, as long as I have breath in my body.”
With one last ball of light, Cosette sent it hurtling toward Lilin, where it struck her with an intensity that caused the very foundation beneath her feet to shake. A wave of pressure slammed outward from Lilin’s core, like a brilliant blast of sparks. The force sent Cosette, Charlotte, and Quinn flying across the foyer to slam into the wall behind them.
And then, there was nothing.
Lilin was gone, cast out of this world and into the next, where she would remain.
A loud crack sounded as the floor above them began to collapse against the strain of the blaze. “We have t’ go!” Charlotte shouted as the smoke began to clog the air around them with a thickening, gray haze.
She looked at Blackburn’s lifeless form. “Not without Davien.”
“He’s gone, Cosette.” Her friend tried to grab her arm and pull her to safety.
She shrugged it free. “I’m not leaving him!”
Charlotte grumbled something as Cosette stumbled over and knelt down by the duke. She brushed a strand of dark hair away from his handsome face and felt her chest split apart at the idea that she would never see those perfect, masculine lips smile at her again, never feel his comforting arms around her.
As the manor around her burned, leaving charred embers in its wake, she held on to Davien’s hand and wept. She brought it to her mouth and gently kissed his knuckles. “I love you, Davien Elswood, Duke of Blackburn. I should have told you long ago, but I was . . . scared, afraid that you wouldn’t feel the same. Before I met you I was a lost little girl, clinging to the hope that someday I would find whatever it was I was searching for. I had no idea that what I truly wanted, what I n
eeded . . . was you.” Her voice broke. “I just wish there was a way I could bring you back to me . . .”
The floor above them started to give way, raining carnage and flames all around them. Cosette ignored it all, as she laid her head on Davien’s chest. Just a few more minutes with him, that’s all she wanted.
Just a few more minutes . . .
~ ~ ~
Davien struggled beneath the rubble of the beast, the corpse that had tied him to eternal damnation. He knew that he was no longer cursed; he could feel the change in him, the separation from the creature that had been a part of him for so long.
So why was he still here, trapped in this abyss of . . . nothingness?
He called out, but he knew no one could hear him. He was in the midst of unending darkness. No one else was here.
It was as if he didn’t even exist anymore.
He ran a hand through his hair. He had to calm down, think rationally. What had happened to put him here? If he could only remember, perhaps he could reverse the process.
He closed his eyes and thought of that last moment.
He was in the foyer at Shadowlawn, the fire that Lilin had caused laying ruin to everything that it touched. She had him in her grasp while Cosette begged for his life. He remembered looking through the eyes of the creature—before any further thought was snuffed out.
Before he was murdered.
He fell to his knees, a roar of pure rage ripping from him as he faced the truth. There was no going back from this place. He was in purgatory, forced to wait for the hour of reckoning. He was free from the beast, from the vicious curse that had been placed upon him—only to lose Cosette in the process.
He cried out, shouting at the injustice, before a grief like no other settled into the area where his beating heart had once been. Nothing remained now but a hollow shell. He whispered Cosette’s name over and over. It was a benediction, a prayer, as if somehow she could deliver him from the depths of this sickening despair.
There was nothing.
Davien didn’t know how much time had passed, immersed in his misery. “Cosette, I know you can’t hear me,” he whispered at last. “But I have to tell you that I love you. Nothing in my life mattered until you appeared. I fought against it as long as I could. I was a fool. I know that now. Please forgive me. For everything.” He swallowed. “I’ll never forget you. Dead or alive, you will be with me. Always.”
Suddenly, his eyes burned, as if he had never seen the beautiful glow of light before. It wasn’t until he blinked and saw Cosette lying on his chest, the image of the fire surrounding them, did he realize it wasn’t the light that hurt his eyes.
But the heat from the blaze as it closed in, ready to consume them with their greedy flames.
He opened his mouth to speak, to warn her of the peril they were in, but it came out as a pitiful sounding croak. But it was enough for her to lift her head and look at him in astonishment.
~ ~ ~
“You’re alive,” Cosette breathed. She scrambled to her feet as another section of the ceiling caved in. She gasped and covered her head with her arms.
“I may not be for long, unless we get out of here,” he said hoarsely, his throat cracking. He stood on slightly unsteady feet, grabbed her hand, and together they stumbled toward the door—just as an ominous crack sounded from behind.
“Run!” Davien shouted giving Cosette a firm shove as the last section of the floor above them broke away and came crashing down. They made their way outside just seconds before a smoldering timber would have effectively blocked off their retreat.
“Don’t stop! Keep going!” he yelled as they flew across the lawn, stopping only when they reached the tall, iron railing that enclosed the estate. They collapsed against the fence, the cool, clean air that hit their lungs setting off a round of coughing, their bodies working to expel the torturous fumes they had narrowly escaped.
Charlotte appeared, throwing her arms around Cosette. “I thought ye were dead!” she scolded, although her voice was suspiciously torn with unspent emotion. “Dinna ever scare me like that again!” She pulled back to stare at Davien. “An’ ye were dead. How did ye manage this?” She waved a hand to encompass his frame.
Davien grinned as he wearily leaned back against the iron. Cosette was quite sure it was the only thing holding him upright at the moment. His focus was on her as he said tenderly, “Death can not come between us.”
Cosette felt her cheeks warm as she looked into those dark eyes. There was no sign of the swirling beast that she had come to expect, only the clear look of overwhelming devotion.
Davien seemed to reluctantly tear his gaze from her as he looked back at Charlotte. “Where’s Quinn?”
“He went t’ get help,” Charlotte said. But as the center of the manor fell inside of itself, flames shooting upward to mingle with the bright light of day, leaving only the skeletal remains of the crumbling stone structure behind, she winced. “But I’m afraid there’s little that can be salvaged at this point.”
“Indeed,” Davien murmured as he witnessed his ancestral home burn down to the ground.
About that time they heard the distant shriek of horns and bells, the sounds of approaching carriages and horses of the fire brigand as they thundered through the streets of western London. Before long, pandemonium would descend upon them.
“I’m sorry about Shadowlawn,” Cosette said softly. She knew it was likely a rather inconsequential thing to say at this point, but she found that the sentiments she’d put into words earlier were clogging her throat now. How could she possibly pour out her heart to him when she knew the chaos he would soon have to endure? He looked ready to collapse from exhaustion as it was.
“Some part of me imagines that it’s for the best,” he said quietly. “It only held bad memories from the past.”
She was quiet for a moment, before she offered the only thing she could right then: her friendship. “You never did tell me much about your childhood.”
He shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. My mother had two sons before me, but they both died as infants. I was the only one to survive, but at the cost of her own life. She died after I was born. I lived with my father, under the strict rule of a governess until I was old enough to go to school. He kept a parade of mistresses. I thought they dishonored my mother’s memory, so it always kept us at odds. We started to develop a relationship during my Grand Tour on the continent but then tragedy struck in Rome.”
He visibly swallowed. “I knew it would be hard to come back to this pile of stones as the new Duke of Blackburn, so I stayed away, focusing instead of ridding myself of this bane to my existence. When it was clear that was a doomed mission, I decided that at least I could finally enact justice for my father’s murder. Even that has turned out to be more of a challenge than I anticipated, for Dashwood still walks free.”
Cosette had no answer to that. While she had managed to stop Dashwood long enough for her to break the locket and remove the power that Lilin had over her, even she wasn’t strong enough to fight the peerage. Her mother might have called her a half-breed—part succubus, part human—but in society’s eyes, she was still just a poor orphan from Paris.
It’s what she would always be.
“I can’t believe it’s really over,” he whispered. Davien turned to her, reaching out to catch her hand in his. “It’s all because of you.”
She looked at him, at that handsome face that had become so dear to her. She loved Davien, it was true, but now that the curse was broken, he could finally live a normal life, take his rightful place among his peers.
Of course, she could continue on as his mistress, but for how long? Davien was a duke, and the time would come that he would marry and carry on the Blackburn line. It was what was expected. The moment he took a bride, their association would come to
an end. And after that, children . . .
She closed her eyes, the image too painful to endure.
She felt a gentle hand under her chin. She opened her eyes to see Davien regarding her with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Cosette lied easily. As the fire brigand beyond the gates grew closer, she pulled away. “I should go. There will be lots of questions about what happened here today.”
He watched her for a moment, before he gave a sigh. “Perhaps it would be best if you waited for me at the workhouse, visit with Mrs. Woodard. It will be a circus, of that I have no doubt, but I’ll think of something to explain this mess.” He smiled gently. “I’ll come by when it has settled down.”
Cosette nodded, for she didn’t trust herself to speak.
Moments later, the front lawn of Shadowlawn was swarmed with men, some in uniform, some in regular street clothes. All of them were shouting as they began to contain the fire that might spread to other areas of the city. Cosette looked back at Davien, but the crowd had already swallowed him up.
She made it to the gate before she heard Charlotte calling out her name. “Where do ye think ye’re goin’?” her friend demanded.
Cosette could tell that an inquisition was about to take place, so she straightened her spine and said matter-of-fact. “I’m going to the workhouse.”
Charlotte frowned. “Th’ duke dinna want ye here? I find that hard t’ believe.”
Cosette didn’t reply.
“Ye’re comin’ back, aren’t ye?”
“No.”
Charlotte stilled, her green eyes assessing. “Wot are ye talkin’ aboot? Ye’re not goin’ t’ do anythin’ foolish, are ye?”
“It’s for the best, Charlotte.” Cosette felt her eyes swim with tears and she knew she was close to the breaking point. “Davien is free now. He can live a normal life—one that has no place for me in it. Besides, what is there to come back to? Shadowlawn is gone.” Cosette started to turn away.
The Secrets of Shadows Page 23
