Lure of Forever (19 page)

"
Nooo
."
Coralie's
voice broke on a sob when the image changed. Lucas and Ion covered in blood,
fighting an invisible enemy, with Carmen at the rear shouting orders.

"They won't get through the
protection in time to save you, little human. Your blood spilled on the holy
circle will rip open the gate and my army will surge through. Nothing is going
to save you or those you confess to love. This world is mine."
 
Jacomo's
evil laugh
echoed round the warehouse and the humans chanted. A rise and fall of many
voices united in their purpose.
 
Coralie
shook her head in disgust. Did they know what they
were doing? How could humanity be that stupid?

Jacomo
pulled an ancient dagger out of its jewel-encrusted sheath and the chanting
reached a fever pitch. The light glinted off the ceremonial dagger and
Coralie
closed her eyes as the onlookers lurking in the
shadows closed in and formed a circle around them.
 
The voices inside her also chanted
,
a reassuring, melodic rise and fall, as the power surged
inside her. The chains fell off at the same time as Lucas and Ion broke through
the magic barrier around the warehouse.

Too late, Lucas, I am so sorry.

Lucas's furious growl echoed through
her and she hugged the knowledge of his presence to herself like a blanket. He
would make sure there were no loose ends after she was gone.

"Never
in a million years, demon.
You won't ever hurt what's mine
again." Her voice carried with it centuries' worth of shared pain.
Jacomo
frowned and raised the dagger higher.
Coralie
laughed as the dagger sliced through her chest and
Jacomo
stepped back. Disbelief and fear registered briefly
on his face, before the ancient witches’ powers sparked out of
Coralie's
fingertips. She fell to her knees amidst a ball
of flame, the demon's screech of pain surrounding her.
 
She barely registered Lucas's hoarse shout of
her name.
Bughar
flew through the air, and
Coralie
smiled. Her eyes glazed over and saw no more.

Chapter
Nineteen

"
Coralie
!"
Lucas’s
scream died a gurgling death.

Fury, terror and despair surged
through his veins. The red mist descended over his vision and he gave the beast
in him full reign.
 
The astonishing
spectacle of fire shooting from
Coralie's
fingertips
as her blood hit the stone floor passed him by. The gates to hell swung open,
and all of Lucas's pent-up rage fell on
Bughar
. His
vision narrowed and his hands formed claws.
 
One blow shattered
Bughar's
breastbone and the
fairy's heart exploded in his hands with a satisfying pop. Green blood
splattered over Lucas as he pulled the monster apart with his bare hands.
 
Unthinking and unfeeling, he continued in his
murderous quest, joined by Ion's pack and Carmen's vamps. All hell broke loose
as demons spilled forth through the portal. The cries of the humans joined the
eerie demon howls as the slaughter continued, until not one person remained
standing and the ground was red with the spilled blood of
Jacomo's
followers.

The ground shook violently and Lucas
swung around, his claw-like hands raised to inflict more damage, just as the
porthole closed.
 
Jacomo's
remains curled into thin air with one last puff of smoke until a thin coating
of ash was all that was left of the demon.

Lucas shook his head to clear his
vision, not daring to believe his own eyes. The demon was dead. It was truly
over.
But how?

"It seems your pet sacrificed
herself to kill
Jacomo
, Lucas. Brave, but
foolish." Carmen's cool voice held a hint of respect and reached through
the fog in his brain and the roaring in his ears.

 
Coralie
,
non,
mon
dieu
,
Coralie
.

 
The sound coming out of Lucas's mouth was not
human as his senses registered what had happened.

Ion crouched next to the lifeless
form of
Coralie
, his lips drawn in a pinched line, as
he checked her body for any sign of life. It was useless. She was gone, their
connection severed the minute
Jacomo's
dagger had
pierced her heart, splintering what was left of Lucas's humanity into a
thousand little pieces. Lucas shut his eyes, not wanting to see the futile
attempts to revive the woman he'd sworn to protect. He had failed again. The
demon may be finally dead, but at what cost? He had enough of this—no more.

"Lucas, get your butt over
here, now."

The urgency in Ion's call shook
Lucas out of his misery. Surely not…? Hope flared in his chest briefly to be
extinguished at the look on Ion's face and the choice he was now faced with.
His feet moved of their own accord, even as his brain screamed: God, no.

He sunk to his knees next to
Coralie
and cradled her head in his lap. Glazed eyes looked
up at him, the barely visible pulse at her neck, and the ragged, unsteady
shallow breath she occasionally managed a testament to how close to death she
was. Lucas howled at the injustice of it all. Pain filled every fiber of his
being and his heart turned to stone.

"What the fuck did you do,
Ion?"

Ion reared back and Lucas shook
Carmen's cool hand off his shoulder.

"I gave you a chance to save
the woman you love, Lucas. It's the least we can do for her after everything
she's sacrificed. What are you waiting for, man? Turn her already, she won't
last much longer." Ion shouted the words and Lucas flinched.

"Condemn her to the life of a
monster, you mean. She wouldn't want that. I can't do that to her."

"So, you're just going to let
her die? Get your head out of your ass, man. Now is not the time for noble
sacrifices and moral dilemmas. You only get one chance at this, so don't blow
it."

The pain in Ion's voice matched
Lucas's as the memory stirred of another human long ago. They had been too late
to save Zoe, and both men carried the guilt for their part in the human's
death. But
Coralie
was as different from Zoe as could
be. Instead of freaking out, when confronted with the true identity of both
shifter and vampire,
Coralie
had fought in Lucas’s
corner, just as Ion's wife
Marnie
had.
Marnie
had chosen Ion, but damn it if
Coralie
wasn't his.

She would hate him for turning her,
and Lucas would never be able to forgive himself, but so help him, he couldn't
let her die.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Lucas,
turn the girl, or I will damn well do it for you. Ion is right, it's the least
we can do for her, and with her abilities she will be a valuable asset to our
community."

Bile rose in Lucas's gut and his
eyes locked with Carmen's.

"She doesn't have any
abilities
you're going to use, Carmen. You'll have to go through me first."

"Spare me, Lucas. I'm not
stupid. I knew there was something about her. I just didn't know what it was.
No mere human defeats a demon in the way she did. Now, get out of my way."
Her fangs ran out and she was about to bite
Coralie’s
wrist, when Lucas's growled denial stopped her. She smiled at him and with a
muttered curse he bit into his own wrist and held it to
Coralie's
lips. He pulled her up into a sitting position and watched with grim
determination as her body responded to his blood. She drew a long shuddering
breath into her lungs, before her mouth clamped on his wrist and she sucked in
earnest. Lucas buried his head in her hair. "Forgive me,
mon
coeur
."

****

"She's dead, you know."

"No, she's not. She's
breathing, look."

"That's not breathing, that's
just a reflex."

"What's a reflex?"

"How should I know? That's what
that vamp doctor said."

"Oh, I'm telling. You've been
listening at doors again,
Lando
."

"Have not."

"Have too,
Lando
.
I am telling."

Coralie
smiled at the hushed whispers of children invading her consciousness. They were
back again, then. Any minute now some adult would come and shoo them away. Sure
enough, a familiar deep baritone soon told the kids to scarper. The bed dipped
and an incredibly warm hand settled on her cold forehead.

"Damn you,
Coralie
,
you need to wake up. I don't know what he will do, if you don't. There are
people waiting for you here. Fight and come back."

Coralie
tried to respond, she really did, but it was useless. Whilst the voices grew
stronger every day, her useless body would not respond at all. She couldn't
move a muscle. Why couldn't she wake up?

"Anything,
Ion?
 
I'm sure her eyelids
fluttered just then."

"Yes, they did, but you know
what the doc said, little one. It's just a reflex. Fuck it, what have I done,
Marnie
? Lucas is never going to get over this. She would be
better off dead, than like this."

"Don't even think it, Ion.
She'll make it. If only Lucas would come and see her, I'm sure she would
respond."

Lucas, I want Lucas. Damn it, I need
to move. Lucas is alive?

Coralie's
heart gave a hard thump inside her chest. The last thing she remembered before
that knife came toward her was Lucas hurtling through the crowd, looking as
though he was ready to murder the whole world. Blood had covered him head to
toe. And
Bughar
…terror rose at the thought of the
fairy and her body convulsed.

"Shit, that's new. Get that doc
back now,
Marnie
. We need to…"

When
Coralie
next came to, all was quiet. She blinked in the darkened room. One lonely ray
of sunlight broke through the heavy curtains at the other side of the room and
a tear trickled down her cheek.

"Don't cry. You'll be okay
now."

She blinked again, focusing on the
child's voice until she spotted the toddler standing next to her bed. She
forced her lips into a smile and the little boy beamed back at her. This had to
be
Marnie's
child. He was the spitting image of her
and he had his father's eyes. Fresh tears welled up at the thought and little
Lando
climbed onto the bed, so he could wipe the tears off
her face.

"I'm okay, really. Where's your
mummy and daddy?"

Lando's
eyes widened and
Coralie
grimaced. Did that scratchy,
hoarse voice really belong to her? Before she could ponder that further,
Lando
jumped off her bed with an eardrum-piercing,
"Daddy!"

 
Ion burst through the doors and
Lando
launched himself into his father's arms. Ion laughed
and ruffled his hair.

"Go tell Mummy,
Coralie
is awake." He looked after the little boy with
a small smile on his craggy face before facing her. "How are you doing? I
was beginning to think you changed your name to Sleeping Beauty and I'm no
Prince Charming."

He chuckled at the blush that crept
into
Coralie's
cheeks before sobering.
"Unfortunately your prince has taken a leave of absence, the damn stubborn
fool."

"My
prince?"
Confusion made
Coralie's
head hurt. Her foolish heart, however, leapt at those words. "Lucas. Where
is he?"

Ion sighed and ran hand over his
face.

"He took off, after he turned
you, he—"

"He turned me?"
Coralie's
voice rose in her agitation to something
resembling her normal timbre, thankfully. "What do you mean he turned me?
I don't feel any different. I mean I haven't got fangs, have I?" One hand
flew to her mouth to check and Ion smiled again. But there was wariness behind
that smile. His muscles coiled for action and
Coralie
froze.

"No, you don't seem to have
fangs, yet. None of us are quite sure what you're going to do or what you are
capable of. You have been out of it for almost a fortnight. At first we thought
your body was just healing. Carmen sent some blood and you had several
transfusions, yet you wouldn't wake up. In limbo, the doc called it. Yesterday
you showed signs of waking up, so we had someone at the door watching."