Eternal Lover by Hannah Howell & Lynsay Sands & Jackie Kessler & Richelle Mead

Author:Hannah Howell & Lynsay Sands & Jackie Kessler & Richelle Mead [Howell, Hannah & Sands, Lynsay & Kessler, Jackie & Mead, Richelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0758225113
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2008-04-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

I went to the party, a bit dizzy on the idea that I’d just had virtual sex with a suspected murderer. Naturally, I had had sex with actual murderers in the past…but, well, this wasn’t something I wanted to make a habit of.

Luis found me right away and handed me a drink. “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. And I know that can’t be true since they stay away from these kinds of soirees.”

I shook my head and took down the drink. Appletini. A bit froofy for my tastes, but hey, it had alcohol in it. I wasn’t about to knock that after what I’d seen today.

“Long story,” I said evasively.

“Okay.” He sipped his own drink. “So, how’d you like your first day in court?”

“It’s…depressing. Nobody cares. Someone was asleep on the jury.”

“Only one?”

“Luis, I’m serious.”

“I know,” he said unhappily. “And so am I. That’s how these things work.”

I stared off across the room, absentmindedly watching a couple of demons who seemed to be…very close friends. One appeared to have an astonishingly long tongue. Like, Gene Simmons long. I looked away with a shudder.

“I realize we’re evil and all that.” I recalled Clyde’s comment about me and my nature. “And yeah, I’m here because I gave into temptation. So is everyone, even you guys. But, well, I don’t know. I’d like to think there’s some nobility in all this.”

“There is, here and there. Some have given up and completely given into their dark sides. Some are like you, still in possession of an annoying yet adorable sense of right and wrong. Semi-good people who only made one mistake, a mistake they regret, so they still try to live with some semblance of their old selves.”

I frowned. “Are you like that? Regretting your one mistake?”

He laughed, finished the drink, and set it on a nearby table. “Oh, it’s different for us. Mortals are faced with daily temptation—as well as the uncertainty of what’s really out there in the world. Is there a God or gods? Is human life all there is before oblivion? Are you alone in the universe? I’m not saying that justifies falling, but it’s certainly easy to do. If you believe there’s no real higher calling in life, why not give into temptation? Why not take the easy way out and seize your deepest desires? Maybe damnation won’t be that bad…then, you realize it is. Some embrace it. Some, like you, hope that maybe holding on to that one spark of goodness will redeem you. Get you salvation.”

“I don’t think that,” I said obstinately.

He winked. “Don’t you, though? Somewhere, buried deep inside, is a hope that maybe things can change. Because again, mortals—or mortals turned immortals—just don’t know for sure. Now us…higher immortals…” The brief amusement faded. Darkness clouded his features. “We know. We know the truth, what’s out there, what’s beyond life and the universe. We’ve seen divinity, seen the rapture…and we still turned away from it. It’s lost to us. It’s a

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