Taking Light {Sequel: "For Love of Evil"}

-9-

Roman's eyes shot open to the sound of glass breaking. He sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He whipped the comforter back, quickly getting dressed. He snatched his phone from the nightstand before traveling downstairs toward the sound.

"Lyra?" Roman called out, making his way down the hall. The bedroom door had been open, or else he probably wouldn't have heard the glass shatter.

"Lyra!" Roman yelled again, creeping down the stairs slowly. He sleeked his hair back, rubbing his face, trying to fully wake up. "What happened?" Roman asked, turning down the hall at the landing.

He was becoming irritated that she wasn't answering him; whatever glass she had broken was sure to have little value.

Roman stepped past the sectional; confusion flickered in his eyes when seeing that Lyra wasn't in the kitchen. He stopped; his brows furrowed skeptically before calling Lyra's name once more.

Roman's eyes trailed to the kitchen island, seeing fragments of Lyra's coffee mug in the floor; shards of the glazed ceramic lay in the tile. That's when he saw Lyra's hand, peeking out from behind the island on the other side in the floor.

"Lyra-" Roman whispered to himself as he rushed to the other side of the kitchen.

Lyra lied on her back. She had fallen quite hard; there was a small cut in her hairline that tracked down to her forehead, leaving a trail of fresh blood. Her limbs were sprawled, her head turned to the side.

Roman lifted her from the floor, pulling her head into his lap. He patted her face, calling her name trying to get her to open her eyes. "Lyra... Lyra, wake up. Wake up." Roman begged; groaning when realizing that it was useless.

He slid his phone out of his pocket, quickly phoning Pryce. Each ring seeming longer than the last until finally, Johann answered. "I need you to meet me outside the institute in ten minutes. You hear me, ten minutes!" Roman exclaimed, ending the call once Pryce agreed.

Roman stood from the floor, pulling Lyra up by her wrists. He slung her over his shoulder, grabbing his keys from the bowl before rushing out the door.

It was chilly, the cold air causing his breath to hitch in his throat. Roman's mind had been frantic - too shaken with fear to think to cover Lyra with anything other than what she was already wearing - a thin silk nightie; revealing too much and covering too little.

Roman opened the back door of the G Wagon; placing Lyra in the backseat on her side. He slammed the door shut, rushing to get behind the wheel to start the car.

He barreled down the winding road, his thoughts distracting as he raced through the trees. "Goddamn it!" He yelled, slamming his hand down on the steering wheel. Lyra had known something was going to happen to her; she had known that this was coming.

Roman pulled up to the entrance of the Godfrey Institute, slamming on the brakes and killing the engine before climbing out of the vehicle.

Pryce stood with his hands folded; he had been waiting for Roman to arrive. He had been dreading the revelation of what Roman had wanted him outside the building for.

Roman swallowed hard, his breathing uneven and sporadic. Pryce could see that Roman was upset.

Without saying a word, Roman opened the door to the backseat. Johann's expression never changed, even when realizing that it was Lyra Cambion who lay unmoving in the backseat of Roman's car.

"This makes the second time you have brought to me a body. You must stop this, it's becoming cliché." Johann's mouth twisted in annoyance, looking up at Roman.