Page 78 of Midnight Salvation

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lucrezia

I had never been psychic in my life, but I began to experience feelings of dread that accompanied life-changing events. This first time I experienced that strange sensation was about my sister Sofia the night she accompanied the guys to a charity event to draw someone called Silas out.

Sofia looked stunning. Her red velvet dress hugged her curves and gave her a sultry air. Catarina had styled her hair in loose curls around her face, and her make-up was heavy around her eyes and lips. She was beautiful, but then she always had been both inside and out.

Nic smiled at her, his fingers coasting over her shoulders in reassurance. He did it openly without anyone blinking and I knew that was what I wanted with Ash. All the men wore black suits and ties, and maybe I was biased, but Ash definitely stood out as being the most gorgeous man here tonight.

Jordan was taking Megan with him so that Sofia wouldn’t look suspicious there as the only woman with so many men. Xavier had the excuse of Cassandra being pregnant and no one knew Ash was married.

“Ready?” Papa asked.

Dread unfurled inside my stomach while I watched them getting ready to leave. It felt childish, but I wanted to beg Ash to stay home with me. Maybe it was the risk to Sofia, but my heart beat rapidly as waves of vulnerability washed over me. My hand gripped Catarina’s too tightly and she glanced down at me with a frown on her face.

The walls and gates in Tuscany seemed welcoming right now.

“Don’t wait up, girls,” Papa called out from the door. “You can hear all about it in the morning.”

Ash’s deep blue eyes met mine for a moment before he moved out the door. The fact he showed me where he hid weapons in the house earlier added to my nerves. I needed to take one of the tablets the doctor gave me for the nerve pain in my shoulder and go to bed. The ghosts that were haunting me tonight would be vanquished in the light of day.

“Let’s eat popcorn and watch a movie,” Catarina declared when they left. “We’re celebrating Tom’s promotion to Jordan’s personal unit. He was delighted earlier when he told me, although he said it meant we’d have less time together.” Her eyes showed her relief.

I felt stupid not saying to Ash earlier. He sorted everything without question, just as he always had.

“You pick the movie and I’ll make the popcorn.” If I was going to eat popcorn, then I was going to lather it in butter and caramel. There was nothing worse than low-fat popcorn that tasted like cardboard.

We sat together on the sofa like old times, laughing and shoving our faces. The anxiety still remained deep in my chest, but I ignored it and put it down to worry about Sofia. An hour into the film there was a noise outside. I froze for a moment, but when silence followed, I returned to watching the movie.

It was only when Ash and Xavier arrived home early that I knew there was a problem.

“Sofia was injured. They’ve taken her into theatre,” Ash said, standing in the doorway.

Catarina screamed and sprang into action, grabbing her coat and phone and demanding she be taken to the hospital. I remained frozen in position as the culmination of my feelings of dread were realised. Ash waved Francis to take her since her security patrol was currently working for Jordan. Xavier went home to check on Cassandra.

“What happened?” I stepped into his arms when the house returned to silence.

“Silas had it all planned. He went there intending on taking Sofia, with key players already in place to lift her. The only thing which saved her life is that Nic is a demon even in the darkness. He damned near killed everyone who went near them.”

I burrowed deeper into his heat, and let him carry me up to bed, snuggling behind me while I lay in shocked silence that my sister was fighting for her life.

“I should be at the hospital,” I finally whispered.

“There are enough people there. You need to be here where I can protect you.” His warm breath fanned my cheek with every word. “Right now, I need to hold you and reassure myself that you’re safe.”

Ash kissed the side of my throat and my heart stuttered over its beat.

“I had a bad feeling earlier. I should have said something…”

“Shush, Angel. Everything is going to be fine.”

I heard males voices talking a few hours later, and Ash padded back into the room in his training bottoms.

“Sofia?” I asked.

“She’s out of theatre and the doctors are optimistic.” He engulfed me in his arms again. “Get some sleep and you can take over from Catarina in the morning.”

I closed my eyes, but sleep refused to come since my thoughts were filled with blood and mayhem, misery and death.

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