The Devil: A Paranormal Vampire Romance Novel (Devil Series Book 4)

by Raven Steele

  "That's horrible!" Llona exclaimed, but beneath the table she squeezed his knee in support. "Are you sure it was vampires?"

  "Sure enough," she said, her voice still bitter. She glanced at each of them, then waved her hand like she was clearing away bad air. "Listen to me complaining. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the mood. That's why I don't like talking about my past."

  "We all have painful pasts," Llona said, offering an encouraging smile.

  Eve rolled her shoulders back. "Well enough of that. So what would you like to see today? There are some museums, or we could go on a swamp tour. I hope you don't mind, but I invited my boyfriend."

  Lucien's whole body stiffened. Boyfriend?

  As if on cue, the café door opened and in walked a man with a mop of dark brown hair that curled at his ears. He must've been at least six foot seven with broad shoulders and muscles that looked like they might rip his green t-shirt if he flexed.

  "Wow," Llona said under her breath.

  Lucien glanced at her, more like glared. She looked up at him and shrugged.

  "Bo! I'm so glad you could come," Eve said.

  Bo, the man Lucien was ready to tear apart, grinned and walked toward them, but the closer he came, a heavy pressure settled into Lucien's gut, especially when he inhaled. Eve's 'boyfriend' was no man.

  He was a shifter.

  Chapter 10

  Lucien stared at the shifter, a wolf from what he could tell. Incredible. The woman he loves doesn't remember him, hates vampires, and has a shifter boyfriend. She might as well shove a stake through his heart.

  "Llona, Lucien," Eve said, standing next to her goliath boyfriend, "this is Bo. Bo these are the guys I was telling you about. Llona's boyfriend Liam had to fly home suddenly, but he'll be back."

  Bo extended his hand to Llona. "Nice to meet you."

  She hesitated briefly before accepting it. "Nice to meet you, too."

  He turned toward Lucien. "Thanks for keeping her company last night. I couldn't get off work."

  Lucien glanced down at Bo's hand, imagining himself ripping it right from the shoulder joint.

  Llona nudged him with her knee. He reluctantly shook Bo's hand, gripping it as tight as he could. Bo smiled and squeezed back just as tightly.

  "So what's the plan today?" Bo asked, slipping his arm behind Eve's back.

  Lucien couldn't bear it. It caused a pain that hurt all the way to his bones.

  "You all decide. I have to make a call," he said hastily. He slipped outside, leaving the others alone.

  Out on the empty, early morning streets, he paced back and forth, alternately squeezing his hands into fists and stretching them open again. Eve has a boyfriend. How long had they been together? Does she love him?

  He moaned and ground his teeth together until his jaw ached. He should kill him, this wolf who touched Eve like she belonged to him. Lucien punched the side of a brick building, denting it a good four inches. Then he punched it again. What the hell was she thinking?

  He needed to talk to someone and soon, or Bo would be a dead man. Charlie would've been his first choice, but he was gone. He touched his head briefly at the memory. He could call his attorney Paul, but he hadn't spoken to him in months. There was Henry, but they had never talked about anything personal. Their relationship was more of … how could he put it? Father and son, maybe? Henry was his mentor. Lucien looked up to him but didn't feel comfortable sharing anything about his love life.

  He turned on his cell phone and checked his contacts. There were only a few numbers; the most recent was Liam's. He would definitely understand and maybe be able to talk him down.

  He pressed Liam’s number, glancing at the time as he did so. Liam should’ve arrived at Lucent Academy by now.

  Liam answered on the first ring, his voice frantic. "Is Llona safe?"

  "She's fine." Lucien immediately regretted calling him. It was so unlike him.

  "What do you need?"

  "I, uh, it's Eve … Reina." He punched the wall again. Why did he call?

  "And?" Liam asked.

  He better just spit it out before he made a bigger fool of himself. "In addition to Eve being a vigilante, she hates vampires, and she has shifter for a boyfriend."

  There was a weighted silence on the other end, followed by Liam's laughter. Lucien tightened his grip on the phone, but after a second realized how ridiculous the situation was. He cracked a smile.

  "And I thought I had relationship problems," Liam said.

  Lucien sighed. "I don't know what to do."

  "How serious is this boyfriend?"

  "I don't know yet. I had to split before I killed him."

  He was silent for a second then, "Look, I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers, but from everything you've said, you and Eve were in love. You need to help her remember that love. Do whatever it takes, even if that means tearing apart this world she’s created. You say it was a spell that did this to her?"

  "Yes, ancient magic, probably the most powerful kind there is."

  "Is that something you can tap into?"

  "It's difficult, but I'm working on it."

  "You know," Liam said, pausing to think, "Llona's Light. It's also an old power, created before mankind. I wonder, what if the two powers are one and the same, just used in a different way? Maybe if you combined your magic and Llona's Light, you could break Eve's spell."

  "That's a good idea. I'll run it by Llona."

  "In the meantime, stay by Eve’s side. And discredit the shit out of her shifter boyfriend every chance you get."

  Lucien chuckled, his tightened muscles relaxing. "How are things there?"

  "Tense. The DSRD doubled their forces in the last two hours. They’re demanding entrance into the school, but we can't let that happen. It's not just the Aura's identity we are trying to protect. Lizens are here too."

  "Lizens?" Lucien frowned. He had never heard of the species.

  "Not many people know of them. Auras have helped hide them from the world because of their,” he hesitated, “noteworthy appearance. They are a gentle people and have served Auras for centuries. If the government got their hands on them, they will become lab rats."

  Lucien thought of Charlie. He always knew how to deal with interference from the government. "You need to call the media right away. Play up the all-girl-school going up against the big bad government. No one wants to see a school filled with soldiers."

  "That's a great idea," Liam exclaimed. "I'll get right on it. Good luck to you, Lucien."

  "And to you." He hung up the phone, feeling better than he did before. shifter boyfriend or not, Lucien was going to make Eve fall in love with him all over again.

  Chapter 11

  "I'm telling you, it’ll be great," Bo said from the driver’s seat of his jeep as they left Rouen.

  Eve swiveled around in the passenger seat and whispered to Lucien and Llona, "Don't believe him. His idea of fun is different from normal people."

  Llona laughed. "I don't mind a little danger."

  Lucien stared out the window. He had never been bungee jumping before, nor did he have any desire to. It just seemed stupid to strap yourself to an elastic cable and let your body be jerked around, but Bo had insisted it would be great fun. He had a couple of friends that were doing it all day at some tall bridge very few people knew about. Lucien would've passed if he hadn't been trying to make his girlfriend fall in love with him again. He groaned; the sound grew louder when he glanced down.

  Earlier, he had changed into swim shorts, a pair they had to buy at one of the many Rouen t-shirt souvenir shops. The shorts had dozens of little alligators against a black background. He hated them, but at least he had also purchased a shrunken head, thinking how much Rick would like that.

  "What's bothering you?" Eve asked him.

  "Nothing," he said quickly, but when his eyes met hers all he wanted to do was press his lips to hers and confess everything to her, but then he'd end up with a stake in his heart, an
d she’d have a shifter warming her body at night instead of him.

  "Lucien is afraid of heights," Llona blurted.

  He turned to her, frowning. Heights had never been an issue for him. Hell, he could fly. Llona knew that, so what was she trying to do? Embarrass him?

  Bo laughed, but Eve said, "Really? Well, maybe I’ll stay back with you. It's not like I'm ready to jump from a hundred-foot bridge either."

  Llona smirked at Lucien. So she did know what she was doing.

  "No one's staying behind even if I have to push you," Bo said. His voice held an edge to it that Lucien didn't like.

  Lucien had met several shifters over the centuries, but rarely found one he liked. They were usually cocky, rude and generally didn't have good hygiene practices. Although Bo didn't seem to have the hygiene issues, he definitely had the others. Lucien couldn't understand what Eve saw in him.

  "You better not push me over any stupid ledge!" Eve said. "Remember last time you tried to make me do something I didn't want to do?"

  Lucien sat up, not liking the sound of that at all. "What did you not want to do?"

  She laughed. "It doesn't matter. I took care of his trash."

  Bo grinned, a crazy look in his eye. "Maybe that's why I'm going to do it. I love that side of you!"

  "How long have you guys been together?" Llona asked.

  Eve turned to Bo. "Um, two months, right?"

  "Feels like longer." Bo smiled. "I knew the moment I saw her that she was the girl for me."

  Lucien dug his fingers into the seat cushion, his nails slicing open the thick leather.

  "That's what he says," Eve mocked, "but I think he just likes a girl that can kick his ass."

  Lucien grinned and relaxed his hands. He would like to see that.

  "How much farther?" Llona asked.

  "It's just up here." Bo turned down a dirt road and drove for maybe another mile before he parked the car in front of an old, covered railroad bridge. A few slats in the wooden roof were missing and part of the railing near the road hung over the ledge.

  "Do trains still go on this?" Llona asked.

  "Not for thirty years." Bo exited the car.

  Lucien did the same, the sun beating down on him. The only shade was beneath the covered bridge. He headed straight for it, not even waiting for the others. It was challenging enough to maintain his cloaking spell. He didn’t want to have to deal with the sun weakening him on top of it.

  Once he reached the safety of the shade, he caught a foul scent of mold and dirt. Just up ahead, two men were fastening a cable to the wooden railing of the bridge. Lucien inhaled again and grimaced. They were also shifters. When they turned and looked at him, he glanced away and took a few seconds to fortify the masking spell.

  Bo and the two girls came up behind him. Bo slapped him on the back.

  "You have nothing to be afraid of," he said and laughed. "My friends know how to take care of people."

  As if on cue, one of the shifters with bright orange hair called, "We're all set, Bo! Who's going first?"

  Bo took Eve's hand and dragged her forward. She laughed and haphazardly tried to resist him, while also removing her sun dress. Beneath it, she wore a black bikini that lit every part of Lucien on fire. Her long, slender legs, her perfect ass, those breasts. He growled low in his throat at the site of Bo touching what belonged to him.

  Lucien instinctively moved to stop Bo, but Llona grabbed his arm and whispered, "You need to get her talking about her past"

  "I'm trying, but I need some time alone with her. I can't do it with Mr. Big and Hairy."

  She followed his line of site to Bo and his friends. "His friends are shifters too, right?"

  Lucien nodded and lowered his voice. "We need to be careful. I don't trust them."

  "I've known good shifters. They helped me out of a difficult situation once." She touched him briefly on the arm. "I'll find a way to get you alone with Eve."

  Already in her bathing suit, she jogged to catch up with Eve and the others, calling, "I want to go first!"

  It took a few minutes for the two shifters to harness in Llona. Their names were Terence and Ryan. Terence was the shorter of the two with orange hair and a splash of freckles across his nose and high cheekbones. Ryan, on the other hand, had dark skin with tattoos covering his arms and a bare, muscular chest. His hair was long on top and looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. By the smell of him, it hadn't.

  Bo stayed back a ways huddled close to Eve. Lucien refused to listen in on their conversation. It would only make him mad to know what was making her laugh right now, something he used to be able to do.

  Ryan placed his hands on Llona's hips.

  She swatted at him. "What are you doing?"

  Ryan grinned, showing all-white teeth. His canines gleamed. "I'm just trying to help you onto the ledge."

  "I don't need any help," Llona snapped and climbed onto a four-inch wooden rail. She hung onto a nearby column and looked down. "This is a lot higher than I expected. How far up are we?"

  Bo walked over and peered over the edge. "About nine stories."

  Eve joined him, which made Lucien move forward too, but only to be closer to her.

  "It looks like a lot more than that," Eve said, her long blond hair blowing in the breeze.

  "Are you going to jump or what?" Terence asked Llona.

  "Give her a second," Eve ordered.

  Llona glanced down again. "How deep is the water?"

  "Not deep at all," Ryan said. "Maybe thirty feet, so make sure you stay attached to this bungee."

  "I plan to." She tugged on the bungee hooked to her waist.

  "Let's give her a countdown, boys," Bo said.

  They hollered in agreement.

  "Ten," Bo began. "Nine, eight, seven."

  The others joined in.

  Llona positioned herself, chest heaving.

  "Six, five, four!"

  "You got this!" Eve cheered.

  Llona spread her arms and jumped from the bridge. She soared downward toward the water, and when she was only feet from hitting it, her body jerked upward. As she bounced on the cable, she laughed out loud. The others joined in. Even Lucien cracked a smile.

  "I can't believe she didn't scream," Bo said, open admiration in his voice.

  "Is she single?" Terence asked.

  "No," Lucien and Eve said at the same time.

  "Oh shoot!" Llona yelled from below, her body swaying upside down. "My keys fell out of my pocket!"

  Bo groaned. "Well that was stupid, but that's how you like them, right Terence?"

  "Hey!" Eve elbowed him in the side and flashed him a stern look.

  Lucien cast his own deadly look, but Bo was too busy laughing with Terence and Ryan to notice. Lucien really wanted to take their heads off.

  "I'm going to unhook and try and find them," Llona called. Before anyone could protest, she reached up and unhooked herself. She dropped the remaining ten feet to the lake below.

  "We can help," Bo called. "Come on boys."

  They didn't hesitate. All three leapt from the high bridge with an enthusiastic yell and dove into the water as if they had done it a thousand times. This might've frightened most people, but knowing they were shifters, Lucien didn't flinch at their daredevil stunt. Neither did Eve, which meant she also knew they were supernaturals.

  "Impressive," Lucien said, hoping to strike up a conversation now that they were alone.

  Eve waved at Bo as he stuck his head out of the water, grinning up at her. She laughed. "They do stuff like this all the time. I think it's one of the reasons I’m drawn to him. He isn't afraid of anything. In fact, he took on a whole pack of vampires once to save me."

  Lucien's stomach knotted. "Is he like the men you dated back in Georgia?"

  Her face grew serious. "I didn't date much then."

  "How come?"

  "I'd rather not talk about it."

  Lucien sighed. How was he going to get her to talk about her past if she
refused?

  The three shifters below continued to dive in and out of the water. Llona doggie paddled just above them, trying to avoid their splashes. She played the damsel in distress role well.

  An idea popped into his head. "I never told you what I do for a living."

  She turned to him, her elbows resting on the wooden rail. Her green eyes sparkled in the sunset.

  "I'm a private investigator," he continued. "Not the most glamorous job, but it pays the bills."

  "Do you like it?"

  He shrugged. "I didn't used to when I was dealing only with cheating husbands and workers' comp fraud cases, but now that I have a reputation for myself, I can focus on cases that really matter, like finding missing people or solving crimes police have given up on."

  "Really?" she said, straightening and facing him more fully.

  "You said it was vampires who killed your mother, correct?"

  She nodded. "There were two of them that lived fairly close to our home."

  "Were they ever questioned?"

  "The police said they couldn't find any compelling evidence to do so, but they flat out ignored the fact that her neck had been torn open."

  "If you'd like, I can look into your mother's case. Maybe I can find who killed her."

  "You would do that for me?"

  "I would be honored. What was your mother's name?"

  "Rose. Rose Swenson."

  It was an interesting name choice, Lucien thought. Roses had a special meaning between them. A rose had helped Eve find the beauty of good magic, which had changed her life. Lucien had also made her a rose necklace and vowed to love her forever. She had worn it every day after. She didn't wear it now.

  "Why are you helping me?" she asked.

  He stared directly into her eyes, emotion swelling within his chest. He hoped she could feel it. "There is a lot of pain in you. I want to free you from it."

  She searched his eyes, her brows furrowed. For a moment, he felt a light pressure brush against his mind. It was soft and gentle, like a feather caressing the palm of his hand. Instead of resisting the contact, he opened his mind, hoping Eve would see and feel everything he did. Then she closed her eyes and turned away.