Page 56 of Cursed Lifeline

“What do you mean ‘except one?’” Silas asks.

There is a hint of anger in his tone, but I pay it no mind for now. My head is too much of a mess to figure him out, and to be honest, his mood is regularly somber.

“The one threatening force the council has never bothered to look into,” I say, leaning my right forearm against the mantle. Taking the poker at the side of the fireplace, I stoke the embers slowly and say, “Magic.”

“We trained Esme for any kind of threat we knew about,” Caelum suggests, confused. “We did the best we could.”

“Your sunny disposition about the situation is concerning,” Silas snaps.

“And your regular cynicism is downright annoying,” Caelum bites back.

“Esme is dead,” I flinch as the bitter words leave Silas’s mouth. “There is nothing bright, hopeful, hell – promising - about it!”

“We. Did. What. We. Could.” Caelum argues.

Silas goes to snap back, but I’ve had enough. Turning, I cross my arms over my chest and butt in. “And what if we could have done more?”

My friends regard me with questioning eyes.

“Besides selling our soul to the devil himself, I don’t see how that would be possible,” Caelum says.

“You wouldn’t sell your soul to take her place?” Silas smugly asks as he leans back in his seat.

Rising, Caelum takes a step towards Silas in anger. Fists clenched at his sides, he bites out, “Any one of us would, Si. If given the invitation. But I don’t see any demons knocking on our doors to offer. No angels either, for that matter.”

“Well,” Silas grumbles, his eyes sternly holding Caelum’s. “Maybe you’re just not looking hard enough.”

I’m about to butt in again when the doors to the study fly open. Silas jumps from his seat and pulls his dagger from his side. Caelum does the same and takes a defensive step forward just as a woman is pushed through the doorway, and Felix Caldwell, Prince of the Damned, strides in after her.

She struggles against his hold as he angrily grips her arm and forces her further into the room. Her gaze lifts and catches Silas’, then Caelums’, and then lands on mine. The crystal blue shade of her eyes is breathtaking. Her golden hair falls around her shoulders, and down to her waist like a halo, a protective cape. I tell myself to breathe as her eyes widen, and she bites her plump, tempting bottom lip. Her stare never leaves mine as Felix pushes her further towards us and I finally have the sense to place my hand atop the sword at my side.

Though, I fear there is no protection strong enough for what’s in front of me.

Not because of Felix. His mere presence makes me want to run a stake through his heart for what he let happen to my sister.

But because of the feeling I can’t put into words. The unnerving premonition consuming me as I stare into the breathtaking woman’s startled gaze.

Forcing myself to pay attention to the tangible threat coming closer, my eyes lift and find Felix’s, and I growl, “What do you want?”

We’d made a truce that night in my father’s forest after Esme was taken. He’d protect my sister with his life as long as I promised no one on the watcher’s council would hunt him and his coven down in the future.

He broke that truce, that promise, the second his brother Viktor drained the last of Esme’s life from her young body. She had only just finished training. She had only just turned eighteen. She had her whole life ahead of her. A whole world she could have conquered.

Now, I can’t help but kick myself and wonder if the reason Felix was so convincing that night was because he had a bigger endgame in mind.

“Is that any way to greet a savior,” Felix growls, his eyes fill with fury, as he pushes the fae closer.

Fae?

My eyes widen as I take in her raised, pointy ears once she gracefully pushes her glowing locks behind them. She bites her lip again, and my eyes stay transfixed on her mouth a moment too long. Brushing her hands down her rose satin gown, she straightens her spine and holds her head high as the pair come to a stop in the center of the room. Determined to shake the hold she seems to have on me, I chuckle, “You’re no savior, Felix,” as I step around Silas and Caelum.

Cocking my head to the side, I study the Prince of the Damned and force myself to stay focused, to center my attention on the man in front of me. If only because I know if I look back at the lovely woman at his side, I won’t be able to think straight.

“A savior rescues those in need,” I seethe as my brother’s on the council flank my sides and follow me into the center of the room. “They don’t fail at protecting what matters most, even if it means sacrificing their own life.”

“A savior,” Felix growls, “Also delivers.”

He nods towards the woman, and I chance a glance her way. My heart rate spikes as she holds my stare. Her perfume drugs me the closer I come. Roses, jasmine, gardenia, the floral scent mixes with a dreamy, romantic, sensual edge of ylang-ylang that causes desire to rush madly through my veins.

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