Seared by Desire (45 page)

“
Sara,” a soft voice began.

Sara turned at the sound of her mother’s voice, watching as
her mother and father made their way through the crowd to reach
her. The red curls she wore long were cut short to frame her
mother’s aging face while the striking blue eyes that stared back
at her in a reflection gazed at her from within her father’s face.
She instinctively took a step back. “What are you doing
here?”

“
We’re your parents Sara,” her father intoned.

“
I haven’t had parents for a very long time now. My so-called
parents disowned me. I have no family.”
Except Lucian and Lance,
her mind
corrected.

“
We’re your parents Sara and we’re proud of you,” her mother
responded.

The look of shocked anguish on her mother’s face served only
to anger Sara and she sorely wished she had the strength to hit
her…hard. “Proud? You’re proud of sending your only daughter, your
only child, off to her death? You’re as bad as my supposed best
friend.” Blinking, she struggled to keep her weakness at bay but
with no heat her body faltered and she collapsed to the ground,
trying desperately to stay conscious. “All of you just stay away
from me. I want nothing to do with you. I want to go home. Don’t
expect any co-operation on my part.”

Geoffrey’s smile vanished at her words, his familiar frown
quickly taking its place. “Fine Sara, if you wish to be difficult
about this then let me show you just how difficult I can be. What
we do is for the good of our people. You must accept
that.”

Sara blinked in confusion for a few moments before throwing
her head back in riotous laughter. “The good of our people? You
want to use me as a weapon to murder innocent people and for what?
So that you can look stronger? Fire elementals are feared by
everyone, there’s no need to do this. If living with Lucian has
taught me anything it’s that peace is precious. Maybe you should
take lessons from him.”

“
I’ve heard enough,” Geoffrey snapped. “Take her back to my
home and once she’s there, tie her up to make sure she can’t
escape. No one is to talk to her alone without my express
permission. What we do will go down in history as our greatest
triumph and no one will dare challenge us again. We cannot afford
to let the selfishness of one person affect our
victory.”

Men rushed to obey Geoffrey’s command, unceremoniously
lifting her from the ground by her arms and holding her dead weight
between them. Her eyes were aglow with hatred but she didn’t
struggle against the unwanted hold under her arms. There was no
point in wasting her strength against so many strong fire
elementals. The wheels in her head were already turning, assessing
the situation to find the best opportunity to escape. She had no
intention of sacrificing her life for such a selfish reason
especially when her death would impact Lucian so heavily.
I’m going to escape and I’m going to see Lucian
again. I don’t care what I have to do…I will make my way back to
him.
The vow filled her with strength as
she was led away from Lance and her so called friends and
family.

“
Sara!” Abigail called, racing to her side. “This might be the
last time we have a chance to speak and I just want to let you
know…I’ll have a message sent to Lord Lucian telling him how brave
you were in your final hours. It’s the least I can do as your
friend.”

Glaring at her, Sara wished she had the strength to wrench
free of her captors if only to slap Abigail.
Heavens above, if I have to burn this place to the ground I
will. I’m going back to Lucian so there’s no need to send him
anything.
“I want nothing to do with you
Abigail…ever again. Don’t you dare try and bring Lucian into this
mess. I don’t want your filth to touch him. I’d rather be tied and
bound than stay here with you another moment. Take me
away.”

Ignoring the heartbroken expression on Abigail’s face, Sara
let herself be taken away, her mind already focused on the more
important issue at hand. Getting away from Shoreditch and back into
Lucian's arms.

Chapter Twenty Two – The Cost of
Victory

The sense of relief in the air as Lucian and his army
approached the Whitechapel estate was almost tangible, the voices
around him becoming louder and more animated when the building they
called home came into sight. They were covered from head to toe in
the dirt and grime of battle, having been given no time to rest
after the battle with William. Lucian had been too eager to return
home to Sara, to tell of the good news and present her with the
gifts he had finally acquired for her, to waste time cleaning away
his victory. He was vaguely aware of Gareth and Russell laughing
beside him, joking that after two days of being covered in filth
they would never be clean and would forever smell like a
battlefield.

Lucian shrugged,
It could
happen,
he supposed. The stench wafting
from their skin would likely seem overpowering to anyone else and
it was only because they’d been surrounded by it for days that they
had become inured to the smell. A smile tugged at Lucian's
lips.
Sara will probably send me away the
second I come near her.
The thought didn’t
sit right with him and his smile widened as his mind corrected the
statement.
Sara will probably hug me
because she’s missed me and
then
send me away because I smell so badly.

His smile faded as his mind wandered back to the battle that
had led to them being in such a terrible state. Though days had
passed since William and his ilk had been defeated, he remembered
every detail, his mind reliving the experience as though it were
still happening. Finding William hadn’t been a problem; Lucian knew
what to look for and with so much of Sara’s blood in his veins his
senses had expanded far past the realm of what was normally
possible for him. He’d tracked William down from miles away and
confident of his location had led the army straight to him. The few
Malachites that had stood between him and William had been given
the same options as their city brethren, surrender and live or
fight and die. Clearly living in such close proximity to William
had addled their brains because they chose to fight and were all
slain or so Lucian had thought until he saw William
again.

William and what remained of his forces had been waiting for
them, clearly having been warned of their arrival by a survivor of
Lucian's attack. William's smug smile had been fixed in place, the
two arch demons at his back bolstering his confidence despite the
lack of his own men. When the demons had begun swarming the
battlefield, appearing out of thin air, Lucian hadn’t hesitated.
Placing his trust in Sara, he had strode forward and his men had
followed. Her armour had lived up to her words and any demons who
had approached him had ended up tending the charred remains of
their limbs. Demons were however notoriously greedy and once they
had set their eyes on something were fanatical about getting it.
Despite the injuries they came away with, demons continued to
attack him in the vain hope that they would breech his armour and
scratch his skin to reach the blood beneath. Happy to provide them
with blood, Lucian had carved a path through the enemy, the flaming
sword decimating William's new forces.

The fear in William's eyes had been clear as Lucian had
relentlessly moved closer to him. Fear had turned to terror once
Lucian had mowed down the arch demons who had left William's side
in favour of Lucian's blood. With no one to maintain them the
lesser demons had faded, returning to their own plane of existence
and leaving William alone. His enemy had put up a feeble defense,
his skills with a sword having faded after decades of using
subterfuge instead of direct combat. When William had fallen to his
knees, pleading desperately for the right to live, Lucian had
contemplated granting the man his wish for a split second. With no
army behind him William was weak and no longer posed a threat to
him and his people. He’d already won the war. Sara’s tear stained
face had floated to the front of his mind in that moment reminding
him of why he couldn’t let the man live. William had threatened his
bride, made her shed tears and cry because of the damage she had
wrought due to William's actions. There was no possible means of
redemption for such a crime. Even a brief glance at Russell had
confirmed his decision. There had been no pity and no familial
sympathy coming from his commander and it was on a resigned sigh
that Lucian ended William's life bringing a definite end to the
war. A triumphant cheer had risen behind him, growing louder and
louder and it was in that second Lucian realised he’d done it. He
was King.

It was hard to believe that after so long it was over, that
he’d finally defeated all his enemies and that he could live in
peace with Sara. Even now, with the estate in sight and seconds
away, his new title seemed strange. Putting his worries aside,
Lucian spurred his horse on, galloping across the short distance
that separated him from his home, his heart. He would deal with the
issues being King brought later, at that very moment all he wanted
to do was see the woman who had made this possible and hold her
close for the few seconds she could tolerate his stench.

The gates of the estate opened allowing Lucian to ride in
unhindered. He dismounted his horse, giving the reins to the
handler who had appeared at his side. His dark eyes scanned the
gathered crowd trying to find Sara’s flaming red hair. Amidst the
browns, blacks and blondes Sara was unique and he quickly realised
that she wasn’t waiting for him. A faint smile tugged at his lips
when he realised where she probably was.
She’s probably so engrossed in crafting another sword or
grooming that devil horse that she hasn’t realised I’ve come
home.

“
Where is Lady…” His words trailed off as he realised he’d
forgotten his new position and Sara’s subsequent elevation. “Where
is Queen Sara? Is she in the stables or her smithy?”

Cheers of applause rang through the air as those gathered
realised their Lord had won the war and was now their King. Lucian
let the sounds wash over him for a second, allowed the people to
celebrate his victory but his mind wandered back to Sara as it
always did.

“
Thank you. Now where is my Queen?” The loud roar of the crowd
tapered out into an awkward silence. His eyes instantly noted the
uncomfortable looks that were passing between the people in front
of him. Dark eyes narrowed, his voice losing the jovial warmth that
it had had mere moments ago. “Where is my Queen?” he
repeated.

A guard shuffled forward, clearly unwilling to be the one to
break the news to his King but realising that delaying telling him
would only make the situation worse. “My Lord…” he began before
realising his blunder. “I apologise, my King.”

“
My title isn’t important, where is Sara? The smithy or the
stables?”

“
I am sorry my King but she is in neither.”

“
Then where is she?”

“
My King, Queen Sara is gone.”

His heart skipped several beats when the serious tone of the
man’s words sunk in, the blood in his veins felt like ice and the
world seemed to have stopped turning at the realisation that Sara
wasn’t where she was meant to be. She was too weak to be anywhere
else, what was going on?
Calm down,
he chanted to himself, trying to still his now
racing heart.
She may have just gone
shopping with Laura or gone into town with George. There’s an
explanation for this. There has to be.
“Where has she gone exactly?”

Another guard stepped forward, placing a restraining hand on
the other’s shoulder and moving to stand in front of him. “I was
here when Queen Sara left. She gave me very specific instructions
as to what to tell you my King.”

“
Just tell me where she is and what’s going on,” Lucian
growled angrily. While the monster within him had remained dormant
when he’d battled William, as the odds had been stacked so heavily
in his favour, it was rising now. Anger and worry were powerful
emotions and Lucian was feeling them in force.

“
Queen Sara told me to firstly ask if you were well and healed
from the battle. She forbid me from telling you where she was
unless you were at full strength.”

“
Look at me! I’m fine. Now tell me where she is!”

“
Lady Sara went home to Shoreditch with the fire elementals
two days ago. She asked me to tell you that if you wanted to go and
see her you were more than welcome.” A blush rose to his cheeks.
“She said that she loves you more than anything and that she had to
go.”

“
The fire elementals have her?”

“
She went with them willingly sire. She told us that she’d
asked them to come and that she was going with them to recover as a
surprise for you.”

“
Them? Just how many fire elementals were there?”

“
Dozens sire. They appeared at our door with no warning but
Queen Sara told us that she’d asked them to come. There was a
woman…Abigail, Queen Sara said they were friends and that all fire
elementals greeted strangers aggressively. There’s no need to be
worried sire.”