Sacrifice (The Venus Chronicles #1)

Chapter 33

Thirty-Three

Eve stretched like a cat as consciousness crept through her. They’d fallen asleep in Lucien’s dressing room, limbs wrapped around each other on the floor. Their wild lovemaking had exhausted them both to the point where they’d fallen asleep where they lay. Lucien stirred at her movement.

“Let’s go to my bed,” he said sleepily.

Eve levered up onto her elbows and blinked the sleep away. “I should go home.”

“You should stay with me.” Lucien looped an arm around her waist to pull her back. He planted a soft kiss on her forehead. Eve smiled at the buzz in her skin that radiated away from it. The sensations that came with Lucien’s touch were more intense than ever. The fear she’d felt earlier in the evening had abated now, panic replaced with a growing inner confidence.

“The exhibition opens tomorrow. We’ve got an early start. There’s a press call at eight and I want to get in a good hour before.”

Lucien sighed. “None of that matters now.”

Eve laughed. “It does to me. It’s been a lot of work, Lucien.” She got to her feet.

“Then I’m coming with you. I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”

Eve shook her head at him. “I’m not sure what my mum and dad would make of that. I still live with my parents, remember?” Eve wasn’t in the habit of taking men back to her childhood bedroom. She couldn’t imagine how they would react.

“People warm to me. It’s not usually a problem.”

Eve considered that and smiled. Lucien had a knack for making anything alright.

It was the early hours of the morning now and riding through the London streets, Eve didn’t think she’d ever seen them so quiet. The night sky had begun its slow creep toward day, sapphire blue spreading across the horizon. The landscape had lifted out of darkness, bathed in a thin grey glow.

Eve’s senses were alive like she’d never known them before. Even in the dim crepuscular light of near dawn, color popped from every shop window and Christmas decoration. Perfectly relaxed in the passenger seat of Lucien’s car, she took in details of the street she’d travelled a thousand times before, like a tourist visiting for the first time.

She absorbed the detail: the shine of baubles that dangled in shop doorways reflecting the street, the cracks in paving slabs that perfectly mapped the subsidence beneath, the twist of cables that ran high overhead, snaking power from one building to the next. She was aware of every sensation, feeling the cold concrete beneath her feet and the smooth surface of the glass in the windows against her palm without leaving the comfort of the car.

Her senses were alive. Every surface was known to her, every temperature, every smell. She could taste the discarded chicken bones in an overflowing rubbish bin and feel the expansion of proving bread in the smell from the corner bakery. The thick aroma of grinding coffee beans poured from an all-night cafe. Coffee.

“We should stop for a coffee,” Eve said, suddenly consumed by the need for it.

Lucien shook his head. “We’re nearly back to your house now. We can get one there.” He scanned the street ahead. “I don’t want you out in the open.”

Eve eyed the empty streets and saw the glow of colored auras held back behind brickwork. “It’s not instant Nescafe I want. There’s no one around. I’d see Michaels a mile off now, I know what I’m looking for.”

“Even so.”

The arabica addicted monster in Eve grumbled. That wouldn’t do. The rich roast of real coffee would be fantastic in her mouth and Lucien would just have to find a way. She slipped easily into his thoughts and reminded him of the taste, then replayed the moment she’d thrown her coffee all over him outside the museum. He rolled his eyes at her.

“Coffee’s very important to me. It’s how we met, after all.”

“Is it though?”

“Well, it was how I thought we met. Come on.” She smiled inside his head, and she saw it echo on his features.

Lucien turned the car into Eve’s home street. They were getting further away from the cafe, but she saw he was wavering. “I’ll get one for you. How about that? And maybe one for me.” He gave her a cheeky wink. “Go inside, and I’ll meet you in your bedroom.”

Eve didn’t ask how he intended to let himself in. Lucien could do anything. He’d just make that happen and not sneaking him up the stairs would be easier all round. Fresh coffee. She could taste it already. “Deal.”

The house was in darkness when they pulled up outside and Eve got a little thrill from the knowledge that Lucien watched her every step. She turned the key as quietly as she could and slipped inside as he drove away. She’d not taken a step toward the stairs, however, before she noticed the voices. A chink of light spilled from beneath the kitchen door.

“Look, I really don’t see why this couldn’t have waited. We’ve all got work in the morning. This is ridiculous.”

“Like I said, Mr Areli, this is a time sensitive matter.”

Eve crossed the hallway but stopped just short of opening the door.

“What’s the name of your superior–” The sound of Eve’s father’s voice cut off mid-sentence and the edges of the kitchen door glowed brightly white in the frame.

“You understand completely. It’s important to co-operate with the police.” She recognized that voice. It was Michaels.

“I understand completely,” her father said in a dazedly flat tone. “It’s important to co-operate with the police.”

Fury fired in Eve’s veins. How dare he involve her family? She threw open the door. “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded. DI Michaels and her father sat on either side of the kitchen table, both looking perfectly serene.

“Oh, hello pumpkin, this nice man from the local police station came to check on you. What did you say your name was again, officer?”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Michaels.

“It doesn’t matter,” repeated Eve’s father.

Eve strode forward. “Stop it. Leave him alone.” The quintessence throbbed deep in her chest. It rolled and expanded, and she felt around inside herself, looking for the right way to use it. The air around her shimmered, and she became aware of something falling around her, gossamer-thin and rippling like a veil. She tried to reach out to touch it but found that her arms had been bound to her side by some invisible force.

“What the hell?” She lurched ludicrously from side to side, trying to wrench her arms free. A second figure stepped out of the shadows. Dark-skinned with close-cropped hair that revealed a knub on either side of his forehead. Eve stared hard at him. “Do you have horns? Jesus, he’s got horns.”

“I think you’ve met DC Thorne.

“I’m pretty sure he didn’t have horns.”

Jesper ran a hand over the knubs on his head. “They’re cute though, right?” He gave her a wink.

Eve goggled at him.

“Always something,” said Michaels. He rolled his eyes at his DC. “Miss Areli, I’m going to need you to come with me to the station.”

“Not a chance.” Eve lurched about, trying to free herself from whatever was binding her. The veil had fallen all the way to the ground now, and her legs were stuck together, too. “What have you done to me?” she spat.

“Just a precaution,” said Michaels. “This way, you won’t hurt yourself.”

“Or us,” added Thorne.

“Right,” Michaels rubbed at the back of his head as if examining something there, “Much as I enjoyed our revealing conversation earlier, I’m not in a big hurry to repeat the experience.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Eve growled.

Michaels ignored her and addressed her father instead. “Apologies for the inconvenience, sir. We’ll be on our way. Eve’s going to help us with our enquires.”

“No, I am not.” Eve wanted to lash out at him, but the ability to independently move her limbs seemed to have abandoned her.

“She’s a good girl,” said Eve’s father.

“Dad, don’t listen to them.”

“Always so helpful.”

“Dad!”

Michaels came to Eve’s side and linked arms with her. Then her legs were moving, taking her with them. Thorne opened the door, and she growled at him.

“What are you? Some kind of devil?”

“I’d have thought you’d be better at recognizing them by now,” he said huffily, “and frankly, I’m insulted.” She stared at him, and momentarily, the image of a young man in a dark coat and sturdy boots flicked on and off, revealing, just for a second, the man’s naked torso and the bestial form of muscular furry legs and hooves.

Michaels strode for the door, and Eve travelled with him without choice or intention. “You can’t do this. Let me go.”

They stepped out of the back door and into the garden. The well-tended lawn was covered in dew as they walked her across the grass.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere safe,” muttered Michaels.

DC Thorne went ahead, towards the back wall, which was covered in ivy, and opened a door that she had never seen before. On the other side was a dark alleyway.

“Lucien won’t let you get away with this,” Eve spat. Where was he? She delved around in her mind, trying to find him, but whatever surrounded her also cut her off from him. All the sensations she’d been basking in stopped at the shimmering veil. It was cool, like water flowing constantly around her. “What is this? What have you done to me?”

Michaels ignored her and pushed her into the shadows.