Once the door was pushed aside, Lucien stepped straight into the room. Inclining his head, he frowned deeply. “Please, don’t be afraid of me. I’m going to be a fantastic husband.”
Scoffing, I almost laughed, even though my spine hurt from where I pushed so far into the wall. A lump rose to my throat suddenly. He really did believe that we were destined to be together. The poor man had extreme mental health issues. That mixed with magic was a destructive combination.
“Lucien?” I said, forcing myself to relax. “Maybe you’re right.”
His frown deepened when I pushed away from the wall. I would come at it from a different angle. So far, trying to get away from him hadn’t worked. What if I agreed with him?
“I knew you’d see sense.” A smile lit his face, a pink glow coming to his cheeks. “We’re supposed to prevent the evil from seeping into the world. My father told me so.”
“He did?” Stepping closer, I tilted my head to the side and smiled softly. “It sounds like your father’s very wise. Please will you tell me what he told you?”
I was about to mention how useless my mother had been in keeping me informed, but I bit back my words. There might have been some poison fed to him about her which would cause him to flip out. Mentally unstable witches had to be treated with caution. At least if I could keep him talking until Dave got there, I might have a chance to take him down.
Puffing his chest, Lucien crossed his arms over his waist. “He said that a seer told him three hundred years ago that one of this sons would prevent Hell on Earth. Literally. If I didn’t marry a powerful Essex witch, my energy would drain the line until the magic was no longer keeping the boundaries of realms strong.”
“So, you’re not deliberately draining the magic from the line?”
My confusion made me lose myself in the story for a moment. The story that Lucien was feeding me was very different to anything I’d ever heard. Had my mother known? Did she keep it from me?
“No, of course not, I would never harm the provider of our magic. However, a curse was placed on my father’s children when he defied her pure magic to stay alive. Ever since then, each one of us has had a curse that prevents us from accessing the line in a positive way.”
Keeping my arms loose by my side, I faced him square on. “Why does your father still cast the spell with your firstborn children if he knows that the ley line’s magic is in danger?”
Lucien’s gaze dropped to the ground. He snarled before he looked at me again, clearly vexed about either my question, or his father. “Because he’s a selfish man who’s power hungry. He doesn’t want to die. Even now, after seeing my brothers’ fall, he’s determined to have my child. My link to the ley line is draining the magic that’s keeping my father alive. He taps into it, forcing me to give him all of my power.”
“How are you able to access it? You’re not a protector of the lines.”
Hopefully Dave wouldn’t arrive too soon. Lucien’s sudden storytelling was helping me with the case.
Rolling his eyes, Lucien tutted his tongue against the roof of this mouth. “Most witch historians like to leave out my family’s role in protecting the ley line. We were one of the four blood lines to originally protect them. However, an indiscretion on my father’s part made the ancestors release us from our vows. We may have found a way to stay connected without protecting the lines.”
His offhand remark made me clench my teeth to prevent my strong words of rebuke. The bastard Xvair Harvey had a lot to answer for. How dare he take what wasn’t his?
“How are we going to stop evil? I’m dead, remember.”
His eyes lit up, like a little boy who was ready to share something he’d discovered. Man, this wasn’t how I’d envisioned our first proper conversation.
“Once we say our wedding vows, the ritual to join us will merge our magic and blood lines together. This will help create a stronger connection that we’ll share to the ley line. I’ll no longer be draining the line, no longer cursed. In fact, my father can live through us.”
My stomach churned at the thought of what he was suggesting. His link would become strong enough to keep his father alive. How sick was that?
“But, I’m dead. You’ve said yourself that my link is much weaker.”
Waving his hand, he dismissed my words. “Once we’ve saved the world from impending doom, the ancestors will bring you back to life, I’m sure of it. The prophecy said so.”
Unable to believe what he was saying, I wrung my hands together in front of me. If what he said was true, which it couldn’t be, why were the ancestors allowing him to drain the line? Why not just stop him themselves? They were the ones who made me bring my father back to life, just to tell me that hell could easily burst its seams. Surely, they knew that already? I was extremely confused about their motives.
“Anyway,” Lucien barked, suddenly twitching. “My father’s calling me home. Let’s go.”
Reaching for me, he paused when I thrust away from him, my arm extended. “Hold on,” I muttered, my heartbeat skipping way too quickly. “I need a moment.”
Shit, if Dave didn’t hurry up, I would have to try and take Lucien down on my own. His eyes flared as he watched me, obviously seeing my hesitation.
Raising both hands, I focused all my magic on his skull. Squeezing hard, I tried not to smirk when he dropped to his knees and clutched his head. His scream of pain was more satisfying than anything I’d ever experienced in my
