Chapter 26
Cosette flew to her feet, upsetting her teacup and sending it crashing to the floor. Bits of china and brown liquid scattered, but she grabbed the first thing she could find to use as a weapon—the fireplace poker. Holding it out in front of her like a sword, she demanded, “What are you?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet, dear Cosette?” This time when the entity inhabiting Mrs. Woodard’s body spoke, it was in the voice that had haunted Cosette’s dreams for so long.
“Get out of this house!” she shouted. “Leave me alone!”
The widow cocked her head to the side. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. It’s time for you to fulfill your destiny.”
With that, she allowed the image of Mrs. Woodard to dissipate, leaving behind a dark haired woman in what could only be described as a seductive red dress. But it was those eyes—those brown eyes so similar to her own—that held Cosette’s abhorrent fascination.
“Do you understand now, my dear Cosette?”
Cosette held the poker higher, but her arm trembled. “I know that if you don’t leave here right now—”
“What will you do?” The woman’s lips curled, the light returning to the edge of her eyes. “There is no one to come to your aid.” She dared to move forward, her every step like an elegant glide. She reached out and touched the locket around Cosette’s neck. “To Mine . . . Be Mine.” She repeated the words inscribed on the locket. “Don’t you remember, dear Cosette? We are connected by a bond that cannot be broken, it is immortal.”
“That’s not true!” Cosette cried. “I don’t even know who you are!”
“I am Lilin,” the entity before her said with a cunning grin. “Your mother.”
Cosette felt her blood turn cold, congeal in her limbs. The poker fell from her lifeless fingers. She backed up a step, but her back met the hard marble of the mantel. She was trapped. “You’re lying,” she whispered.
Lilin trailed a hand down Cosette’s arm. Cosette couldn’t help but wince at the contact. “You are the product of a union between me and a human male.”
Cosette stilled. “You speak as if you aren’t human.”
Those dark eyes glowed brighter. “I am not of this world, daughter. I am made of the demon Dantalion.”
Cosette was in a real life nightmare, one in which she would never awaken. “Did you . . . love each other?” she asked. That would make all of this, if not easier, but perhaps bearable in time.
But Lilin simply laughed, the sound mimicking the hiss of a serpent. “It was a mutual agreement. He wanted gratification, and I needed to collect his seed. When the task was completed, we went our separate ways.”
Cosette closed her eyes. It all sounded so . . . cold, so calculated, but then, she supposed that was the point. “If you wanted to have a child, how did I end up in an orphanage?”
“I wanted to test your endurance,” Lilin said without a single bit of remorse. “I was interested to know what a half-breed could endure.”
“You condemned me to that life for your own amusement?” Cosette spat. She felt her fists clench at her sides.
Lilin’s lips curled. “You should thank me for your trials! I cannot have a weakling following in my path. What I offer is a gift many would covet.”
“I don’t want anything from you,” Cosette snapped.
“But that is where you are wrong, dear Cosette,” Lilin countered, her eyes flashing with malicious intent. “And very soon I shall prove it.”
With a flick of her wrist, Lilin sent a burst of white light at Cosette. She put up her arms to deflect the blast, but it was too late. She felt the controlling force flow through her body until the darkness caused her to fall into the black pit . . .
~ ~ ~
Davien vaulted from the saddle at Shadowlawn before the horse had even come to a complete stop. “Cosette!” he yelled as he burst through the front door, the impact of his entry nearly splintering the hinges. “Cosette!”
He was breathing heavy, a combination of his exertions and his own fear, but when he saw that lovely, feminine form outlined by the light from the library, he began to move forward. He came to an abrupt halt several feet away, when it became clear that it wasn’t Cosette’s face he was looking upon—but the terror of his past. She looked just as she had twenty years ago with her thick, dark hair hanging down her back, those dark eyes sultry and becoming. She was even wearing the same red dress that had instantly caught the attention of an impressionable young man. Now, the sight of her sickened him, causing the beast to bristle and emit a low, warning growl. But this time, he knew what she was. Evil.
“What have you done with Cosette?” he demanded.
Her eyes shone eerily when she returned, “Shall you try to rescue her, be the knight gallant?” She chuckled, the sound crawling up his spine. “Do you think that you can defeat me? You submitted to me once. You shall do so again.”
“You sound confident of that.”
