“That’s it,” I growled to myself, getting off the bed. I wasn’t playing this game anymore. I laced up my boots, then stalked down to the third floor. I’d take the lass in my arms and give her the comfort that she needed. And then I would tell her how I felt. I owed that much to her—hell, I owed it to myself. I couldn’t just let her slip through my fingers like this.
But when I pushed the curtain around Jax’s bed aside, there was nobody sitting in the chair beside her. There was only Jax, lying unconscious in the hospital bed, the monitor giving off that steady beep, beep, beep.
“Maybe she’s gone to the loo,” I muttered, approaching the bedside. But the seat of the chair was cold to the touch, not even a hint of bodily warmth to be found. If Arabella had ever sat here, it was at least half an hour ago. Where the bloody hell had she gone?
“Arabella!” Jax shot straight up in bed, and the monitor began to go haywire. Her eyes were wide with fear, and they latched onto me like a lifeline. Orderlies rushed in, but she fought them as they tried to press her back against the mattress. “Brodie, you have to go save Arabella!”
“Where is she?” I demanded, choosing not to question her. “Where!”
“Lucas kidnapped her mother. Arabella’s on her way to an address in Culver City, and if you don’t get there now, she’s going to walk straight into whatever trap he’s set for her.”
27
Arabella
Naturally, the address Lucas directed me to was a small warehouse at the end of an even smaller road, off the beaten path and nowhere near any foot traffic. My demon sense went off the moment we turned down the road—there were at least ten of them down there, and my brand instantly began to burn in response. It was all I could do not to summon my bow the moment I exited the car, but I knew if I did that, my mother would never walk free.
And she had to walk free. No matter what, I couldn’t let her be hurt. She’d already suffered enough because of my actions.
Squaring my shoulders, I stalked past the wire fence and straight up to the two Possessed flanking the entrance. I didn’t see any of the others, but I knew they were about—their unholy energy made my skin crawl. “You know who I am, and why I’m here,” I growled. “Let me pass.”
The men smirked, revealing sharp fangs, but they opened the door.
“Lucas!” I called, stepping across the threshold. “I want my—”
My body froze, as if glued to the floor.
“Hello, darling.” Lucas stepped out of a shadow, a satisfied smirk on his handsome face. “So glad you could make it. You’re just in time for the main event.”
My eyes widened as I scanned the room. It was a square space, with rectangular windows set horizontally on the upper edges of the far walls. Light filtered in through the cracked, dirty glass, illuminating the pentagram drawn onto the floor with black chalk. It was large enough for a person to lay down in, and at each of the points, blood-red candles were set. The room smelled strongly of incense, coming from one of several small burners set on a nearby table. And in the corner, tied to a chair, was my mother.
“Mom!” Relief and anger surged in my chest all at once—she was unharmed, but her beautiful face was ashen, and the restraints looked painfully tight. I tried to rush over to her, but my body wouldn’t move. “What the fuck?” I snapped, turning my gaze back to Lucas. “What the hell have you done to me?”
“You’ve been snared by my trap,” Lucas said, gesturing around the room. It was then that I noticed strange runes painted along the edges of the floor in something that looked very much like blood. “All I needed to do was to get you to agree to come here willingly. By doing so, you’ve given up autonomy of your body to me. Now I can command you freely, so long as you are within these walls.” He snapped his fingers. “Stand in the center of the pentagram.”
“Like hell I will!” But to my horror, my body began to obey the command. I tried to struggle, but it was no use—my arms and legs moved of their own accord.No, of Lucas’s accord, I amended angrily as I walked past the candles and stood in the center of the circle.
“Excellent,” Lucas said, his eyes gleaming. “Now lie down and spread your arms and legs.”
“What is this?” I demanded as my body did what it was told. Goose bumps broke out across my skin as it met the lines of black paint on the cold, hard ground. “What are you going to do to me?”
“Nothing much,” Lucas admitted, moving closer. “I’m just going to extract the Infinity Key out of you.”
I froze. “What the hell are you talking about? I don’t have the key!”
“Oh, but you do,” Lucas purred. He slowly began to walk around the circle, his eyes studying me from every angle in a way that made me feel awfully exposed even though I was fully clothed. “It took me a while to figure out how you’d hidden it, but I found the answer in a sacred text in Egypt.” His smile broadened. “The key is both a thing of this world, and not. Therefore, it can assume different forms, and hide itself in places one might not consider. Such as the human soul.”
I gaped at him. “That’s insane. I’m not carrying a key inside my soul. I would have felt it.”
“Your memories were erased,” Lucas pointed out. “How would you know that there was anything different about the way your soul felt? But it’s there, Arabella. I’m sure of it. And I’m about to draw it out of you.”
“What about my mother?” I demanded, my gaze going back to the chair in the corner. My mother was watching with wide, terrified eyes, struggling against her restraints. “You promised you would let her go!”
“I did, didn’t I?” Lucas smiled pleasantly, then turned toward my mother. “Vivian Palladino, you’re free to go.” Another snap of the fingers, and her restraints slid free.
“You let my daughter go!” my mother sobbed as she rose from the chair. “You let her go, you sick monster!”
“No, Mom!” I yelled as she launched herself at Lucas. I knew he wouldn’t have any mercy for her, regardless of her age or gender. But she wasn’t listening—her eyes were wild with rage and fear for me, her only child. And I could only watch in horror as Lucas drew back and punched my mother straight in her delicate face. Her head snapped back from the force of the blow, and she dropped like a stone.
