Chapter Twenty-Eight – Evelynn
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
EVELYNN
“Come on. Wake up.” Slap. “Wake up.” Another slap.
A groan claws its way out of my chest as my hand flies to my cheek.
“What the hell-.” My protest dies into a rasp, my head pounding like I’ve drowned myself in wine and regret.
The world tilts, swims. It takes a moment too long for my thoughts to knit themselves back together.
Lilith is crouched in front of me, her sharp gaze softened with relief… and fear. She exhales when my eyes finally focus on her. I clutch my skull, my fingers digging in. “What did he slip me?” The words come out raw, soaked in hurt and fury. Betrayal burns hot in my chest.
“Something Hex concocted,” she says quickly. “But Hex gave me something to reverse it while you were all at the bar.” She presses a glass into my hand. I eye it, suspicion flaring.
“Just water,” she adds. “I promise.”
I down it in one swallow, my throat screaming with how dry I am. “How long?”
“About an hour.” Her jaw tightens. “I didn’t think you were going to wake up. Hex told me to be patient, but time is running out.”
“You know,” I say quietly, lifting my eyes to hers.
She nods. “Hex told me everything. He knew Lucian would try something, anything to protect you. That’s why he gave me the antidote.
” She hesitates, then continues, voice thick with sincerity.
“I don’t want to see you hurt. And as much as I’d love to wipe that arrogant smile off his face,” A faint smirk flickers, then fades.
“I don’t want him destroyed. I don’t want any of them erased. ”
My throat tightens. “Your soul needs to be there,” she says.
“At the compound. And Lucian will do something stupid to protect you, I know it. Fighting the unknown means using every resource we have. You may be mortal, but there’s something different about you.
And that difference might be the thing that saves them all from Anathema. ”
I shake my head, anger surging. “If he dies, I die. If he fights, I fight.” My hands curl into fists. “I’m furious with him right now.”
Lilith smirks. “Good. You can kill him yourself later.” Then her expression hardens.
“Right now, we don’t have time. We’re going.
” She hauls me to my feet. I drag in a breath, my heart splitting in two, one half aching to scream at him for drugging me and leaving me behind, the other shattering at the thought that I might already be too late.
Lilith presses two ornate blades into my hands. Iron handles, intricately carved with winding vines. Beautiful. Deadly. “Wow,” I murmur. “These are,”
“A old woman sold them to me. Not long after I changed,” she says with a shrug.
“She knew what I was. Wasn’t afraid. Said they weren’t meant for me to use, just to carry until the time was right.
” Her eyes meet mine. “I’ve got my guns.
You’re not going in there unarmed. So, I figured the time is right. ”
I nod, drawing in a slow, steadying breath as fear trembles through me. I’ve never fought. Never been in battle, let alone one against beings that can destroy vampires. My vampire.
Only you can save him. Sister Mary Joan’s words echo through my mind like a curse and a promise. I don’t know how. I only know this: I will die trying.
We pile into her truck. The engine roars to life, tires screaming as she throws it into gear. The world blurs past roads, trees, and open fields. A small town sleeps peacefully nearby, oblivious to the war about to tear reality open just miles away.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Lilith says, gripping the wheel. “You stay hidden. You follow my lead.”
“Have you fought Anathema before?”
She shakes her head. “No.” Her teeth grit together. “But I’ve fought the Dominion.”
Silence stretches between us. “If this goes badly,” I say softly, “thank you.”
She glances at me. “For what?”
“For taking me to him,” I say, my voice a breaking whisper.
She takes a sharp turn, slamming the brakes. “Ready?”
I nod. She hops out. “Climb up. Hold on.” I barely have time to wrap my arms around her shoulders before she takes off, sprinting through the forest at inhuman speed. The trees streak past, then it hits me. Lucian’s roar. Agony, laced and broken. It tears straight through my soul.
Lilith stops abruptly behind a cluster of bushes, crouching low. “It’s hard,” she warns. “You have to ignore it.”
I don’t, I look. Lucian lies on his back in the mud, rain hammering down on him as Anathema stand in a circle, hands outstretched. His tattoos blaze, the scripture lighting up his skin like lightning. He screams, and something inside me fractures beyond repair.
My breath stutters. My heart shreds. Lilith is saying something, but the sound is distant, drowned out by blood rushing in my ears. I stand. My feet move on their own.
Each blade is locked tight in my fists. His pain becomes mine.
The fury at them, at the storm, at the world for daring to take him from me, floods my veins.
They don’t hear me, or maybe the thunder hides my approach.
Rain-soaked hair clings to my face as lightning splits the sky, illuminating the steel in my hands.
It pulses like it’s alive. A roar, feral and animalistic, rips from my chest as I bring the blades down.