The Devil's Soldier

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Eve took hold of the bottom of the chair she sat on and closed her eyes tight. I can do this. Focus.

“Keep your eyes open,” Dmitri commanded.

Eve’s eyelids fluttered wide. Dmitri was sitting opposite her, only a couple of feet away. His matted gray hair pressed against his forehead with sweat, and his round face was red. Sometimes she wondered if these training exercises were harder on him than her.

“Ready?” he asked.

She tightened her lips and gave a quick nod.

An invisible force pressed against her chest, attempting to claw and scrape its way inside her. She concentrated hard, staring Dmitri in the eyes. She would not let him in, not this time.

A few more seconds …

Eve grinded her teeth together, straining against the intense pain searing her skin. Dmitri’s mind was nearly inside hers. If he came any closer, he’d be able to take her magic and use if for himself. Her whole body began to shake, and she grunted.

Dmitri didn’t look much better. His eyes vibrated within their sockets, and sweat dripped from his face. By the looks of it, he was close to breaking, too.

Eve decided to try something new. Instead of using up the last of her energy trying to block his mental attack, she chose to fight back. She sucked in, then mentally pushed outward with everything she had. Dmitri’s eyes widened, and his body slumped into the chair. The invisible force pressing against her dropped, and she leaned forward gasping for air.

“You did it,” Dmitri breathed, struggling to find his own breath.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “I wasn’t quick enough, though.”

“But it’s a good start, especially considering you were in a coma four weeks ago.”

Eve rubbed the back of her neck, remembering how disorientating it had been to wake up in a place that she had no memory of going to. Her only thought when she’d jumped from the cliff to escape Boaz was to go to a place that could help her. And even when she had bounced off the sharp rock face, her bones shattering into pieces, she had still kept her mind centered on one single thought: help. That’s how she found herself within the walls of a small monastery just outside Paris, one of the last of its kind.

Dmitri was a witch, like her, but had left the supernatural world decades earlier to live a life of solitude. Then Eve had arrived, fulfilling a premonition he’d had of her almost a year earlier. Dmitri knew just what to do with her.

“Thanks, Dmitri. For everything.” She didn’t want to think about where she would be without him.

Dmitri gathered his long robe and stood from his chair. “You’re strong. Stronger than I ever was. And now that you know how to protect your magic, you’ve finished the first part of your plan. It’s time.”

“I don’t know. It still feels too soon.”

He walked across the bamboo flooring and opened the door. A gust of cold air rushed in from the underground stone hallway. She couldn’t understand why he chose to live in the basement; there were plenty of rooms upstairs, but Dmitri insisted it was more peaceful beneath the earth. That was a theory she could easily debate, seeing how she had been buried alive by her parents years earlier when she wouldn’t give them what they wanted: her magic. Being underground was anything but peaceful.

“That’s because you’ve been out of the game,” Dmitri reminded her, “and you’ve been neglecting your other powers with all this training. It’s time to focus on putting everything together.”

She followed him out and down the long stone corridor. Cold seeped through her thin robe. “What do you suggest?”

“I want you to go to the city tonight and use your ability to help others. Like you used to. Basically, I want you to use the gifts you had before your accident.”

“All of them?”

He looked pointedly at her. “All of them.”

Eve swallowed the growing lump in her throat. He was talking specifically about going to see Lucien while in a dream-like sleep. It’s not that she didn’t want to see Lucien — she did with every fiber of her soul — but she was afraid of the consequences. The only thing she had going for her right now was the fact that Boaz thought she was dead. She couldn’t handle being hunted by him again. This time, she wanted to be the hunter.

When she’d first awakened from the coma and physically felt well enough, she had gone to visit Lucien in her dreams, but she discovered he wasn’t alone. There were witches he wasn’t aware of watching him from the shadows. Most likely they were following him on Boaz’s orders to look for any signs that Eve had survived. They probably had even put some sort of a spell around him, too, to monitor his emotions. Surely they would notice a difference in his demeanor had he known she was alive and alert Boaz.

It nearly broke her to see how Lucien had changed in just a few short months. There was an uncontrolled rage in his eyes that frightened her. She only hoped that when he found out the truth about her, he’d let go of the burning anger that was visible even in the way he walked.

She returned to her small room on the second floor and sat on the narrow bed. Other than an antiqued wooden wardrobe for her clothing, there was no furniture in the room or objects on the walls. Its simplicity helped keep her focus on what needed to be done: destroy Boaz. She would do as Dmitri asked and go to Paris tonight. If it would help accomplish her goal, she would do anything.

The last time she had visited the city was with Boaz a few years ago. It was a time when she thought she was happy. Not only was she in what she thought was a loving relationship, but she was also extremely powerful. Or so she believed. It wasn’t until later that she learned Boaz had secretly been sucking magic from her. Her entire time with Boaz had been an illusion, one masked by evil’s dark nature. Lucien had unveiled Boaz’s deceit.

Going to Paris was going to be difficult though, being around all those people and the noise. But if she was ever going to move on to part two of her plan, she needed to follow Dmitri’s instructions to the letter. Her subconscious had taken her to him for a reason.

She opened the doors of the wardrobe and removed a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt. She slid the tan robe off her shoulders and stepped out of the only clothing she’d worn the last two months. Clothing was kept to a minimum within the monastery; most only wore tan or black robes. She pulled the white t-shirt over her head and zipped up the jeans. The clothing felt tight, and she missed the freedom the robes provided.

There was one last thing she needed to do before leaving the monastery. Within its walls, she was protected from anyone who might try to find her location by using magic, but the second she stepped foot away from the monastery, she could be tracked.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her entire body. Even the smallest details, like the freckle on her third knuckle, until pressure built up around her. She focused on that pressure and thought the word pallium over and over until the spell was complete. She would be protected now from anyone trying to find her with magic, including Boaz and Lucien. It broke her heart to block Lucien, but as long as he was being watched, she had to keep her identity a secret.

After running a brush through her long hair and sucking in a deep breath, she left her room. She passed a few people along the way. Not really people per se: one of them was a werewolf and the other two fae. The monastery housed those who belonged to the Ames de la Terra, supernaturals who yearned to live another way, one free from the seductive call of power and greed. In the human world, one might call this place a luxury retreat, a place where they could go to escape the stress and pressure of the “real” world. If humans only knew about supernaturals, their whole definition of stress would change.

While she was at the monastery, Eve learned the Ames de la Terra also had a facility in Rouen, Louisiana. She was glad her subconscious hadn’t taken her there to heal. It might’ve been too close to Lucien, and he could’ve sensed her.

Eve stopped in the library on her way out. The walls were covered in shelves from ceiling to floor, each of them crammed full of books. Dmitri rested in his usual spot by the window, reading his usual small book. She had never seen him read anything else.

“I’m ready,” she said.

He set the book down carefully, his hand lingering over the cover. “I see the clothes fit.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

He stood up. “I will drive you in.”

“Really? I’d like that.”

“I want to be there for you.”

She followed him outside. The sun was setting on the monastery, bathing it in a warm, honey-kissed light. It was nearing the end of summer in France and yet flowers were still in full bloom. They had been planted everywhere on the grounds, and they gave the air a sweet aroma. She would miss this place when she finally left for good.

Dmitri started the engine of a small vehicle that barely fit the both of them. It was a big deal having him take her into the city. It was something he didn’t enjoy doing, a complaint he often verbalized, and so she was surprised, yet grateful, that he had offered.

He drove the car down a long, bumpy private lane that wound through a heavily wooded forest. The monastery was well concealed if people didn’t know what to look for.

Dmitri glanced at her sideways. “I never told you, but I met Boaz once.”

“You did?”

“It was about six years ago, before I came here. I was at the worst point in my life, deep into black magic. I thought I was untouchable.”

Eve knew the feeling.

“It was at an underground bar in Coast City when Boaz first approached me. I was enamored with him. He was the epitome of everything I wanted.” His jaw muscles flexed and then relaxed. “Boaz asked me to join him in a back room with several other Supernaturals. It was a place only for the Elite. I didn’t question why I’d been invited. In my mind, it’s where I belonged because I was powerful.”

He fell silent, his chest rising and falling slowly.

Eve waited a few seconds before she asked, “What happened?”

“Boaz and his friends jumped me the moment I walked into the room. They held me down in the center of the floor inside a pentagram. Boaz said some words in a language I didn’t know, and then, all of a sudden, it felt like my soul was being ripped from my body. He took everything I had, all my powers and strength. When the ceremony was finished, he stabbed me in the stomach while his friends laughed.”

Dmitri’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “I survived, but that event made me realize how naïve I’d been. I ran in the same circles with the greediest of creatures and somehow I thought I was immune to their natural tendencies. I thought I was better than them. That is what almost killed me and would’ve killed me had I not discovered a different way.”

Eve reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“The reason I’m telling you this is because I don’t want you to underestimate Boaz and those he associates with. You can’t trust any of them, no matter what they say. They don’t have an ounce of good in them and wouldn’t recognize it if they did. Boaz has to be stopped, though. Stick to the plan. Surround yourself with people who can help, people you can trust.”

Eve leaned her head against the cool glass window. He was right, of course, but the timing had to be perfect before she returned to the Deific, the only organization she knew of that kept out-of-control supernaturals in check. Too soon, and she could ruin everything.

“How did you learn to take someone’s magic?” she asked.

It was a question she had wanted to ask for a long time. Few witches had this ability, she herself only obtained it in an act of desperation to get away from Boaz. Just before she had stepped from the Cliffs of Moher, she had taken some of Lucien’s power, knowing she would need the added strength to transport her away from Ireland. Truth be told, she didn’t think she would’ve been able to do it with anyone other than Lucien. The connection between them was powerful.

“After what Boaz did to me,” Dmitri said, “I came here to recover, both mentally and physically. It took months, but as soon as my strength and magic returned, I focused all my abilities on one thing: learning to block someone’s attempt at taking my powers. It was a great witch who taught me, but she has since passed on. With this new skill, came the ability to also take someone’s magical abilities, if I so wanted, which I never did. For the last several years, I’ve had no use for magic, but then you came here with your tale, and I knew I was meant to help you.”

“Who was the witch who helped you?”

The corners of Dmitri’s mouth turned up. “She was your aunt. Your mother’s sister, Ellenore Whitmore. She ran away from home and came to the monastery when she was barely eighteen.” Dmitri cleared his throat. “The battles you’ve faced between good and evil don’t surprise me. It’s clear that both extremes run in your family.”

Eve leaned back into the seat. All this history she never knew. But the most important was yet to be uncovered. How were Lucien, Eve and Henry, the founder of the Deific, all tied to Boaz? Henry had once said he’d tell her when the time was right. That time had to be close at hand.

They remained silent the rest of the way to Paris. The full moon had risen into the sky, big and daunting. It wasn’t that Eve was scared to use her abilities the way she used to, but she was more nervous about whether she still could. Every ounce of her strength had gone into trying to block Dmitri’s attacks. She only hoped it hadn’t taken away from her other abilities.

Dmitri parked next to a closed coffee shop. “Walk three blocks that way and you will be in the Oberkampf district. You’ll find plenty of people to work with there. And I want you to wear this.” He reached behind her seat and pulled out a stylish black hat. “Just to provide a little more anonymity in case you let your guard down.”

“I won’t let that happen,” Eve assured him, but she still pulled the hat over her head. The one thing she couldn’t do was let anyone recognize her. That was why she was using magic to help her go unnoticed. People would see her, but they wouldn’t really see her.

“I’ll wait here. Take all the time you need.” He pulled out his special book, the one she always saw him with.

Eve opened the car door and closed it behind her. The air was warm with a slight breeze. She walked toward the sounds of Paris nightlife: people laughing, music playing, horns blaring.

Just before she turned into the city’s center, she stepped off to the side, hidden beneath an awning. She needed to invoke all of her powers, using the techniques Dmitri had taught her. Focusing on her heart, the source of all her power, she thought of the friendships she’d made over the last year, of the experiences that had helped her grow, and specifically of her love for Lucien. A deep burning ignited inside her, stronger than it had ever been before, and spread to the rest of her.

Her eyes opened. She was ready.

Time passed quickly as she walked the streets using her magic to interact with others. It took some time before she was able to recognize every prompting, but soon she was able to discern the smallest thing: a lone woman contemplating suicide and another woman who had recently lost a child. She was able to help them both. She even got into a fight at a restaurant to prevent a man from harming his brother, something that would’ve haunted him for years. She’d forgotten how much she loved using magic this way, and how it helped soothe her own raw heart.

She glanced at the time. Almost three hours had passed. Confident that her abilities still functioning properly, some of them even having gained strength, she turned down the street where Dmitri was parked. She stopped abruptly. Something tugged on her senses, something dark, something alluring. It was an attraction she hadn’t felt for a very long time.

She pushed the feeling aside, recognizing it was not an attraction she should entertain, and followed the source of the distress into a crowded bar. Most of the bar’s dim light came from the many neon signs hanging on the walls, and music blared from speakers in the corners.

The prickly sensation grew stronger the closer she drew to the back of the room where there was a row of crowded pool tables. Her attention focused on three average-looking people, two men and one woman. They appeared to be in their twenties, college students most likely.

Eve wrinkled her nose. Something felt wrong. What was she missing?

One of the men, a blond-haired fellow, leaned in and touched the woman’s hand, the one holding a glass of wine. Both of them laughed. The other male, a black-haired man, leaned away, a dark expression mirroring the room’s many shadows. Power pulsed from him in great waves. It spread across the air, blanketing it as if it were a spider’s web. He was definitely a supernatural, but what kind?

Eve focused on his movements, blocking all outside stimuli. His gaze didn’t shift as he looked about the room, but glided more like the way an eel slips through water. His chest rose and fell. Eve counted. She reached forty-five seconds before he took another breath. Everything about him was too calculated. A cold chill scraped up her spine. This man was a vampire.

She should’ve left then, but she sensed the woman was in danger. Eve stepped closer.

The vampire’s eyes turned toward her, as if he too could sense another’s power within the crowded room. Eve tensed as his slippery gaze passed over her. Seen, but unseen.

She relaxed and positioned herself behind the vampire, her back to him. Because music was playing loudly, she could barely hear their conversation, but it sounded like the two men had just met the woman. The blond man wasn’t a supernatural, but Eve sensed his desire for control in the way he spoke to her. Every word held a threatening note.

The woman lifted the glass to her lips. That’s when Eve’s witchy intuition finally kicked in. The drink had been spiked. This woman was going to be r***d and murdered if Eve didn’t do something fast.

Eve spun around and reached for the glass. The vampire spun around, startling her. With only a split second to decide, Eve whispered a command. The glass flew from the woman’s hands and shattered against the wooden floor.

It was a stupid thing to have done in front of a vampire. She knew that before his hand clamped around her throat and long fangs filled his mouth. He shoved her into the darkest shadow of the room.

He leaned into her and ran his cold nose up the length of her neck, inhaling deeply. “Witches smell so good, but they taste even better.”

His fangs moved toward her neck. Eve struggled beneath his grip but couldn’t break free.

Do something!

Eve didn’t mean to, but she thought of Lucien in that moment, a strong and powerful thought. It escaped from her body, traveling fast.