The smell of mold and feces fills the air, along with the metallic stench of fresh blood and despair.
That’s what he loves the most. The despair.
He grins when he walks into the soundproofed back room and sees his two toys still tied up.
“Today was a success,” he announces gleefully. “Oh, it feels so good to be back. This is important work, you see, and I’m just so relieved that it’s going well already. Millie would be proud, too. She’ll understand, eventually. I’ll show her that all of this is for the best.
“She would want to be punished for all the ways she’s disobeyed me.”
He picks up a knife and turns toward the adjoining bathroom, approaching the tub that’s already filled with water—and a toy.
“Let’s get started, shall we, Lucien?”Chapter ThreeLucienShe infuriates me. She tempts me. And she worries me.
I’ve known since I first laid eyes on Millicent that she’s afraid of the dreams we share, and of what she knows is her destiny. She’s stubborn because of that fear, and reaching her won’t be easy.
It never has been.
Unlike Millie, who was raised in a household of evil and terror, I grew up with a family who understood the craft, lived by it, and encouraged me to not only explore my gifts but to also prepare for the battle I was born for.
Millie didn’t have that luxury, and because of that, she’s working at a disadvantage. She’s had to learn quicker than most, and I fear that she won’t be ready in time for what we’ll have to face, despite being a powerful witch.
But there’s nothing I can do about that today. Until the stubborn woman is ready to listen to me and work with me, I have to bide my time.
Patience has become something of a work of art for me when it comes to Millicent.
It’s a good thing I’ve had a thousand years to hone that particular skill.
Knowing that Millie’s already at Witches Brew for the day, I stop by her small house to set my protection spell. I’ve been coming by every day for more than a week, ever since I felt the danger creeping back into our lives.
I know Millie is diligent about setting her own wards. I can feel them as I approach the door. But adding a layer of my own will intensify hers.
Our souls are linked, and because of that, anything we conjure together is much stronger than things we do alone.
After I drank her potion yesterday, I felt energized and protected in ways that I haven’t since our last lifetime together.
I smile when I see Sanguine sitting in the window, watching me with her wise gaze.
No need to worry, darlin’, I say to her through my mind. I’m just here to protect you both.
She blinks and watches as I prick my finger and wipe the few red drops that bead across the door at eye-level.
This shield is my Power to protect against evil.
This shield keeps out harm.
This shield does not allow evil or negative energies to pass.
No dark entities shall cross this barrier.
As I will it, so mote it be.
When I’m satisfied that the protection around Millie’s home is strong enough for my liking, I wink at the cat and turn to walk away. Suddenly, I stop cold when the sun darkens, and I’m standing in absolute blackness. A red glow begins to burn on a foreign horizon.
It’s all a mirage meant to scare me and make me distrust myself and my abilities.
But he’s chosen the wrong man to fuck with.
“You’re not welcome here, you evil son of a bitch.”
I begin to chant, using the same words we used when we cast the circle last year. Immediately, the red glow dies, and the darkness turns back to daylight.
He’s not strong enough to fight me. Not yet.* * *I’ve been immersed in the lab all morning, completely swept up in a mystery under my microscope when my phone rings.
I want it to be Millicent, but it’s not. It’s Cash Winslow, a member of the local police department, and husband of Millie’s sister, Brielle.
“Good morning,” I say when I answer the phone.
“You won’t think so when I tell you why I’ve called,” he replies
“What’s up?”
“I need your help with something. We have a new vic. He was dumped in the street in front of Café Amelie last night. I’d like to run some things by you.”
I narrow my eyes. “I take it something’s wrong with his blood?”
“Yeah. As in, there isn’t any.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
I hang up my lab coat and close down my lab, stowing my tools and specimens away before locking up and hurrying over to the police department.
Cash has brought me in on a few cases lately, all of them dealing with some kind of blood concern.
Blood is my job, after all. I’ve known since I was a small boy that working with blood would be important.