Chapter 54 Lucian
Lucian
I wrench the wheel hard right as we clear the Murrow Bridge, tires screaming as we skid onto the shoulder. Can't wait. Won't wait. Not while my angel bleeds out in the back.
"What the hell, Lucian?!" Emily's voice cracks between hysteria and rage. "Get us the fuck home!"
I ignore her, launching myself out and yanking open the rear hatch. Seraphina's eyes flutter—barely conscious, her mangled wings still weeping blood while that goddamn black magic writhes around her like living smoke.
"Emily. Out. Now. Help me goddamit."
But Emily just clutches Sable's lifeless body closer, her sobs tearing at what's left of my soul. We lost her fifteen miles back, and the memory of her final breath feels like a dagger through my heart. Sable was family, dammit. This wasn't supposed to fucking happen.
"Help with what?" Emily's voice shatters like broken glass. "I couldn't... I can't even..." Her words dissolve into raw grief as she rocks Sable's body.
I rake my hands through my hair, desperation clawing up my throat. "Come here, baby girl." My hands shake as I ease Seraphina to the edge of the cargo area. She whimpers, the sound cutting straight through my chest.
"Lucian..." Her voice breaks, thick with pain. "Please... make it stop. I can't—" Her eyes roll back as consciousness finally fails her.
"Phina!" I tap her face, panic rising like bile. "Phina-baby, don't you dare! EMILY! Get your ass over here and DO SOMETHING!"
Please don't leave me. Please, don't leave me.
Emily finally staggers out of the backseat, her face a roadmap of tear tracks and devastation. The streetlights catch the wetness on her cheeks, making them glitter.
"Please..." My voice cracks, desperation bleeding through. "Try something. Anything. We can't lose them both." I beg, " I can't lose her."
Emily squares her shoulders, stretching trembling hands over Seraphina's broken form. Her eyes slide shut, face twisting in concentration as ancient words spill from her lips:
"Expello malum, purgo tenebris. Sanctus lux penetrat umbras..."
The dark magic coiling around Seraphina writhes, like an angry serpent disturbed from sleep.
"Fuck!" Emily yanks her hands back like they've been burned. "This evil is next-level shit." She shakes out her fingers, determination hardening her tear-stained features. "Let me try again..."
"In nomine lucis, maledictum solve. Obscurum recede, malum disperde!"
The corrupted energy pulses and twists, fighting Emily's cleansing magic like a living thing.
Come on, witch. Work your magic. Save my angel.
Emily's chanting grows more intense, sweat beading her forehead as she battles Morgan's corruption. Blood begins to trickle from her nose, down and over her lips, but she doesn't stop. Her hands shake violently over Seraphina's body, magic crackling in the air like static before a storm.
"Sanctifica hoc vas lucis, purifica hanc angelum dei..."
The words sound like they're being torn from her throat now, each syllable a war against the darkness. More blood drips, spattering onto Seraphina's wings as Emily pours everything she has into the cleansing.
The dark magic fights back, coiling tighter around Seraphina like possessed razor wire. Emily's hands shake violently, but her voice grows more vigorous, more commanding:
"EXPELLO MALUM, LUX VINCIT OMNIA!"
The corruption screams—a sound that sets my fangs on edge—before finally releasing its hold. Finally—thank fuck—It dissipates like smoke, leaving Seraphina blessedly free of its taint.
Emily's hands drop to her sides. "It's done," she gasps, blood staining her teeth. "She can take your blood now."
I don't waste a second. My fangs tear into my wrist, ripping open veins with desperate force. I press the bleeding wound to Seraphina's pale lips, terror clawing at my insides.
"Drink, baby girl. Please... please drink." My voice breaks on the words. "Don't you dare leave me, Phina. Come on. Come on, stay with me, sweetheart."
For one heart-stopping moment, nothing happens. Then—sweet merciful Christ—her eyes flutter and she starts to swallow. Relief hits me, and I want to cry as she drinks, each pull of blood through our bond telling me she's still fighting.
"That's it, Cupcake. Take what you need."
Color floods back into her skin, that ethereal golden glow I love so much replacing death's pallor.
Her wings—fuck yes—the shredded, mangled mess starts to heal.
Torn flesh knits together, bloodstained feathers becoming pristine white again, radiating that pure celestial light that makes my heart skip.
"Keep drinking, Cupcake. You're doing so good. That's my girl..."
A thud behind me snaps my attention around. Emily crumples to the ground, blood still streaming from her nose.
"brAX!"
The demon explodes from the car, moving faster than his hulking form should allow. He drops to his knees beside Emily, gathering her into his massive arms gently.
"Em? Emily!" His usual growl softens with worry. "Come on, little witch, open those baby blues for me."
I try to focus on Emily, but holy hell—Seraphina's strength floods back through our bond like someone just plugged her into a power station. Each pull of blood makes our connection pulse stronger and brighter until I'm dizzy with relief.
When she's taken enough, I gently ease my wrist away. Her eyes—those incredible honey-gold irises now swimming with tears—lock onto mine. "Lucian..." My name falls from her lips like a prayer, and whatever's left of my heart shatters into a million pieces.
I pull her out of the car and crush her against my chest, burying my face in her hair.
"I've got you, baby girl. I'm right here.
" The words spill out like a desperate litany as she trembles in my arms, her sobs muffled against my shirt.
"You're safe. You're okay. I've got you, sweetheart. Never letting go."
Her fingers clutch my suit jacket like she's afraid I'll disappear, and I hold her tighter, trying to absorb her pain, her fear, her grief. Each tear that soaks into my shirt feels like absolution and accusation all at once.
I almost lost her. Christ, I almost fucking lost her.
I cradle Seraphina's face between my palms like she's made of spun gold and claim her lips with every ounce of desperation, love, and relief coursing through my undead veins.
She tastes like sunlight and salvation, her mouth moving against mine with the same frantic need.
The bond between us explodes with emotion—fear, love, relief—until I can't tell where my feelings end and hers begin.
"Lucian... oh god..." Her words tremble against my lips before she pulls me back in, fingers tangling in my hair gripping tightly. "I thought—I'd never—you were—"
"We need to move," Brax's deep voice cuts through our moment, all business and worry. He cradles Emily's unconscious form with the careful precision of someone handling precious cargo.
Reality comes crashing back as car horns blare at our roadside drama. Christ, we must look like a rejected scene from some B-grade supernatural rom-com—a jacked demon cradling an unconscious witch, while an honest-to-god angel with wingspan to rival a 747 plays tonsil hockey with yours truly.
"Emily!" Seraphina's hand flies to her mouth, horror replacing relief. "Is she—"
"She's breathing," Brax states, his fire-bright eyes fixed on Emily's pale face. "But we need to get her home. Now."
"Cupcake, as much as I love your beautiful wings, might want to dial down the divine display." I gesture, which is giving passing drivers the light show of their mortal lives.
"Oh!" Seraphina's wings dissolve in a shower of ethereal sparkles, like someone just detonated a heavenly glitter bomb.
Brax carefully maneuvers Emily into the car, his massive form surprisingly gentle.
But now I'm faced with the task of dropping a bombshell on Seraphina—a truth I'd rather swallow razor blades than say out loud.
She needs to know about Sable, and brace herself for the sight that's about to sucker-punch her in the soul.
"Phina, baby..." I take her hands, steeling myself. "There's something you need to know."
"What? What is it?" Her worry slams into me through our bond like a raging torrent of dread.
"It's Sable..."
"Sable? Where is she?" Seraphina's voice quivers, her eyes desperately searching mine for an answer I'd rather chew off my own arm than give.
Fuck. The words lodge in my throat. "She... uh..."
Come on, jackass. Rip off the Band-Aid. She deserves to know.
But my face must be a neon sign of bad news because Seraphina's hand flies to her mouth, a sharp gasp tearing from her lungs.
I guide her around to the backseat with the careful movements of someone handling a live grenade.
When I open the door, revealing Sable's lifeless form, Seraphina's anguish explodes through our bond like a supernova.
Her knees buckle, and I barely catch her as she collapses against me, her sobs ripping through the night air.
"No... no, no, no... Sable..." Her shaking hand reaches out, hovering over Sable's still features. "How? How did this happen?"
Each word is a knife in my gut, twisting deeper with every hitched breath and broken cry. I hold her tighter, trying to absorb her grief, but it's like trying to hold back a tidal wave with a paper cup.
Because the universe is a cold, cruel bitch, that's how.
But I can't say that. Not when my angel's heart is shattering in front of me. So I just pull her close, letting her tears soak my shirt as I try to hold us both together.
"I know, I know, I know, sweetheart, I’m so fucking sorry.
.." The words rip from my throat like they're made of barbed wire as Seraphina fractures in my arms, her grief pouring out in waves that could drown us both.
Each sob punches through our bond like a fucking sledgehammer—watching my angel grieve for the pink-haired witch who'd somehow wormed her way into all our hearts.
Fuck, Sable. You deserved better than this.