But his wish was futile and reality intruded.He had to save the treasure and humanity.’Twas what he was made for.
Pulling on a strength from deep inside, he rolled, knocking Lucien off and grabbing the knife.Their positions reversed and now Christien straddled Lucien.
The man looked up at him, defiance on his face.“Did she tell you how I fucked her?That she liked it?Did she mention that, knight?”
Rage beat at Christien’s sanity.At the thought of Lucien’s hands on his Madelaine.He hesitated.Had Madelaine not told him Lucien raped her?Had she kept it from him?No.The man was trying to get to Christien and for a moment it worked.
“She was willing,” Lucien said with a twisted smile.
Christien raised the dagger and buried it in Lucien’s cold, lying heart.Lucien gasped.His arms fell to his sides and he stopped breathing.
Christien sat back, breathing hard.He stared down at Lucien’s open, unseeing eyes, feeling his revenge seep out of him, leaving him empty.
He pushed off Lucien’s body and stood.He had nothing left inside him.No more anger, no more grief.He turned to leave.
Michael stood at the end of the hall.“You did well.”
He tried to push past Michael but the angel stopped him with a hand to the arm.“You’re being summoned to Paris.”
“You told me you would get me back to the twenty-first century.”
Michael’s long look was full of regret.“Hediscovered our plan.Your punishment is to live the next seven hundred years over.I’m sorry, brother.”
Christien tilted his head back to stare at the rough-hewn beams of the ceiling.So it begins again.Anger didn’t come close to what he was feeling.Despair didn’t touch him.He was numb with disbelief.His jaw muscles clenched.He fought the swirl of emotions inside him.He’d been foolish to want his life to be something more than protecting the treasure and yet he still hoped.He still believed, even though he cursed himself for believing.
Michael sighed.“There is much at stake here, Chevalier.”
“I know what’s at stake.Better than you.”Christien yanked his arm from Michael.“Promise me something, Michael.”
Michael’s lips thinned.“I am not here to bargain with you—”
“I will go to Paris, retrieve your treasure and guard it for eternity.I am giving you everything and asking for one small favor in return.”
They stared at each other for several heartbeats, neither willing to look away.Two warriors in a struggle for dominance.Finally Michael nodded, although reluctantly.
“If she returns to me, give her the choice of immortality.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Present Day
The club was packed.People crowded onto the dance floor, moving their bodies in ways that would have been illegal seven hundred years ago.
The wait staff expertly maneuvered between the dancers.The DJ played the tunes the crowd hungered for and bouncers roamed the club, keeping a keen eye out for trouble.
Everything was operating smoothly, yet Christien’s gut wouldn’t stop churning.He clasped his hands behind him and rocked back on his heels.A few seconds later he shoved his hands in his pants pockets and jingled his change.He had an irrational need to pace, but there were so many people he had no room.
Sabine passed him, patting his shoulder with a quick smile.He smiled back and glanced at his watch.He had a conference call with his people on the West Coast in fifteen minutes.It would take almost that to make his way to his office, but he didn’t move.He was edgy.
He’d been on edge for a week and it was, quite literally, driving him crazy.
A few people waved at him, and more than a few women approached.Some were even brave enough to slide their bodies across his, exclaiming it was just too crowded in here—said with a wink and an inviting smile.Christien smiled back but never encouraged the invitation.The lack of sex wasn’t what made him uptight.He wasn’t interested in sex.
Not to say he hadn’t partaken.Seven hundred years was a long time to wait for the woman of your heart.There had been times he’d had to relieve the pressure and while his body had reveled in it, his mind had not.He’d felt like he was cheating on Madelaine and the guilt had almost been too much to bear.
He’d spent the last seven hundred years alone, a recluse inside himself, going about his business but never allowing others close.
In the beginning it had been because he wasn’t fit for company.He’d been a furious, self-destructive, single-minded, selfish fool.Except self-destruction had not been an option and he’d done nothing but make himself ill over ale and fisticuffs.For the first hundred years he’d been a tyrant of the first order, a despot others avoided at all costs.Even Michael stayed away as much as possible, which was fine with Christien.Michael was the last person Christien wanted to see.
