Hellfire

Interval Twenty-Five

Lucius watched from the corner of the obliterated Velvet Room, frost coating him and his gaze sharp. Eva was dressed in a manner she never would be – thick pearls about her throat, a huge ballgown completely inappropriate for the times, her fake black hair twined with precision. She detested dressing up in this manner and she hated the woman in front of her, he could tell, but she did it regardless to help her efforts to make Morrigan receptive to her.

Morrigan, coated in stale blood and that ruined nightshift she never changed from, gazed coolly at her. She ignored Lucius entirely – she was focused on the woman he presented as his bride, and, to his deep interest, Eva was swimming with Morrigan rather than drowning. Every pointed question, every test, Eva spoke with confidence and offering opinions that was so against her core principles it surprised him. Yet Morrigan melted a little more with every response, unaware that Eva was coiled around her like a dragon and plucking out the answers she wanted to hear from her head with ease.

'Absolutely, your blood should be cherished.' Eva said with an unnatural cold tone. 'I will defend it, Lady Vortigern. It's something precious, unique, and any child of Lucius' will be raised correctly.'

'And correctly being?' Morrigan asked sharply.

Eva laughed softly. 'Full archon. They'll hunt and take, they'll make sure the city fears them and spread their blood amongst those worthy.' She gestured to Lucius looming in the dark with absolute silence. 'Lucius may be lost, but his child won't be. They'll understand who important it will be to breed and that standards required to keep the blood pure.'

Morrigan was still, her eyes glittering with approval, before she snapped her teeth. 'Lucius, you may have chosen well.' She rose abruptly, her gaze fixed on him coldly. 'I need bones. Stay put. I'll return shortly.'

She fled then in a rush of shadow and mist, her demons screaming through the sky as she started her hunt. The moment she left, Eva's bats darted to the demons left dangling from the ceiling, watching carefully, until she willed them to sleep. The moment she had, the rigid, proud way she sat melted with exhaustion and she released a revolted sigh.

Lucius snatched up a glass of water and stalked towards her, taking Morrigan's seat as he observed Eva's face. She looked grey, nausea clearly churning in her by how she held her stomach and greedily accepted the water he offered.

'Can you do it?'

'Yes.' Eva assured breathlessly. 'But she's strong. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold her once she's accepted me. She's got such a strong mind Lucius, such mountainous and malicious will that it makes me sick. All I see in her is blood and destruction and nothingness and ice. She's so...cruel.' She gazed at him with amazement. 'How have you managed to handle her for so long? How did your brother?'

'My brother didn't.' Lucius reminded her pointedly and twisted the ring. 'And I do for the sake of his son, his daughter, and now my bride.'

She nodded sadly. 'I imagine your archon nature gives you an edge.' She spied the bite on his throat. 'Susan's blood as well.' She sighed and sagged into the chair, rubbing her eyes to summon focus. 'It'll take a while. I'll need to spend all my time with her and she'll expect me to drink blood in front of her.'

He didn't fail to notice the miserable pull at the corner of her mouth. 'I'll provide it.'

She glanced at him sheepishly. 'If you could.' She frowned. 'She may wish me to hunt though.'

'Again, I'll act on your behalf. You're my bride in this scenario, Eva, and Morrigan will expect me to.'

She wriggled with unhappiness. 'I'm sorry I can't stop her killings and what she expects immediately.'

'Eva, I hunted as she wanted to when I was young. I can do it again if it means I can stop her entirely.' He glanced at his watch, noting dawn was slowly arriving.

His body itched to go to Susan. She'll be vulnerable soon, needing to be buried in his bed and enclosed by his arms – safe as she slept her deep sleep. That moment in his bathroom hadn't been enough, not nearly. He longed for her.

'You miss her.'

He flicked his gaze to Eva, finding her expression tender.

'I do.' He said honestly.

She smiled with glittering eyes. 'I told you that you loved her.'

She had. He recalled the startled realisation after she had assessed his atrophied mind – his soul knowing he did deeply while his mind shunned it. He hadn't been able to deny it once he returned home, however. The moment he had spotted Susan putting those books away in his office had been overwhelming to him – a wild need to just kiss her, have her, bite her and offer his blood – a desire to tell her she was his a passionate need, yet a suicidal one. Despite the knowledge his hunger was twisting with his archon, he hadn't been able to keep away from her, unable to stop himself from touching her, kissing her, his sexual hunger demanding more. It had nearly been her death.

However, now she was his. He knew how much she wanted to be by him – he saw it in her mind daily, this bright glow of happiness whenever she woke and found herself in his arms or when they lay breathlessly entwined after devouring each other. And his archon hunger for her was gone. All he wanted when he looked at her was his bride.

But now he couldn't go near her. It would be difficult, he knew. Susan was his life now. He had to have her close, sleeping by his side, his teeth and sex in her, his eyes upon her. It was going to be difficult. His body itched to feel her warmth, her touch. But he'd keep his distance until Eva said it was safe to go to her. He wouldn't let Morrigan consciously know what Susan was – a witch and his bride. He didn't know what he'd do if she did.

'We'll succeed, Lucius.' Eva assured him as she read his expression. 'Her focus has already left Susan and shifted to me. She won't notice her again – not while I'm the perfect bride in her eyes.'

He trusted she would. If anyone could control Morrigan, it would be her.

They'd put Morrigan back to sleep.

And then his witch could begin her work again.