Lucheux shoved his dagger through Christien’s back, yanking it up and ripping him open.Christien screamed, arching his back.White-hot pain raced across his spine.His knees folded.
Madelaine called out his name and launched herself at Lucheux, landing on his back and wrapping her legs around his waist.Her fingers clawed his cheeks and eyes.He staggered but managed to remain standing.
“No,” Christien breathed.The word was faint, barely there.
Like Giselle, he wasn’t going to die, but hewasgoing to pass out and he had no idea how long it would take for him to heal.That left Madelaine vulnerable and alone with Lucheux.His fault.He hadn’t protected her as he should have.
With an enormous force of will, Christien managed to get his knees under him and raise himself on all fours.The forest dipped and swayed, the colors blended together.He shook his head and took a ragged, painful breath.
Lucheux spun around and knocked Madelaine to the ground.He grabbed her arm and yanked her up, pulling her to his side and placing the knife, dripping with Christien’s blood, against her throat.She stilled, her big, brown eyes wide with panic.Her hand dug into the arm Lucheux had locked around her throat.
A cold fury swept over Christien, cushioning him from the terror battering his heart and the pain racing down his back, numbing his legs.He reached behind him, his fingers fumbling on the gun tucked into his waistband.Could he trust himself to aim properly?To hit Lucheux and not Madelaine?
His mouth dried up as fear tried to take over.He pushed the fear away, not allowing its icy talons to dig into his flesh and distract him.He forced himself up to his knees.Blood dripped down his back, soaking into the pine needles beneath him.He swayed.The only thing propping him up was the fury swirling inside him and the knowledge that if Lucheux left with Madelaine, Christien would never find her.He tried to raise his weapon, to take aim, but the gun was too heavy and stubbornly remained pointed at the ground.
“I won’t let you take her.”His voice was weak, barely an exhalation of breath, defying his bold words.
Lucheux smiled, making a point to look at the blood pooling around Christien’s knees and the useless gun at his side.“I don’t see where you have a choice.Besides, I’ve been waiting a long time to see your face when I take something you want.”Lucheux laughed.“Seven hundred years, Chevalier.That’s a long time for a man who has very little patience.But you know what?It was worth it.You want her.And I have her.”
Madelaine’s hand tightened on Lucheux’s arm.She was struggling for each breath, her face flushed.Christien’s heart pounded with the need to do something but he was weak, his strength fading too fast.He tried to stand, made it to his feet.Staggered.Everything went dark for a heart-stopping moment before light swirled back into focus.
“She’s not the same person,” he said.
Sweat beaded on his brow and trailed an oily path down his temple.His stomach lurched each time he swayed.He was losing the battle to stay conscious.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lucheux said.“You want her so it’s my job to take her.”
Christien tried to wave his hand to indicate the clearing around them and Giselle still pinned to the tree, but he didn’t have the strength to lift his arm and his hand flopped back to his side.He stumbled a few steps.“So all this….is about revenge?What about…the treasure?”
Madelaine sobbed, tears racing down her cheeks.Before her, Christien stumbled, his face gray, beaded with sweat, his breathing rapid.She should never have left the house.She should have gone to him, told him everything was going to be okay.That she would come to terms with…everything.His immortality.Her reincarnation.Her sister.
She clung to the fact that he wasn’t going to die.He was badly wounded but he couldn’t die.But it didn’t alleviate the guilt that she had caused his injury and while he might not die, he could lose consciousness like Giselle.
What would Lucheux do to her if Christien passed out?
She shuddered, the thought too terrifying.
Lucheux lightly drew his blade down her throat to her breast, leaving a trail of Christien’s blood.She froze, her gaze flying to Christien’s.His eyes were glazed with pain.Blood dripped on the pine needles, a soft plop that reverberated inside her like the clanging of a death knell.She smothered the need to whimper.Now was the time to be strong.
“Ah, the treasure,” Lucheux said.“Yes, let’s speak of the treasure.You’ve been holding out on me, Chevalier.”
Christien stilled and for a moment Lainie thought she was going to lose him.“I don’t know what you mean.”His voice was gravelly, laced with pain and the steel strength to remain upright.He was fighting for her, but he was losing the fight.
“The Blood of the Lion of Judah,” Lucheux said softly.
Lainie drew in a startled breath and Christien closed his eyes for a moment, his shoulders drooping.“How…did you…know?”
Lucheux shrugged.“The same way you did, I imagine.I traced her lineage and I read the Book of Revelation.”
Did he know about her sister?Lainie’s fear for a woman she never met was overpowering.If her sister didn’t know of their bloodline she wouldn’t know to protect herself and would be vulnerable.
“Don’t…do this.”Christien dropped to his knees and winced.
Lainie cried out, automatically moving toward Christien but Lucheux’s arm around her throat yanked her back.
“She’s mine now,” Lucheux said softly.He buried his nose in the crook of her neck and inhaled.She shuddered.Her stomach lurched.“And she will be mine until I find the damn treasure.Then I will use her to open it.”
Christien licked his lips and blinked slowly.“Should have killed you…that day in the bedchamber.Before you became…immortal.Bastard.”
