Lucinda, Darkly by Sunny

Author:Sunny [Sunny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 2009-10-05T09:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

THE PLANE, THE seats, the narrow aisle, the bright lights all disappeared, and Nico found himself in twilit darkness. In air hotter than he had ever felt or breathed in before. Motion came at him, striking at him, stopping just before it hit him, slicing open fabric but not skin. A clawed hand with nails long, sharp and deadly, hovered there, trembling above his white skin. A startled gasp drew Nico’s eyes up.

Lucinda stood before him.

Crouched behind him, he felt Talon, the creature’s small, sharp nails digging through the fabric of his pants.

“Nico. What are you doing here?” Lucinda asked, a shocked look on her face.

“Talon brought me here.”

“No!” she cried and stumbled back, so weak that her legs collapsed and she sank to the ground. Anger and sorrow swirled in those dark bittersweet eyes.

“Take him back,” she commanded fiercely, looking at Talon, her voice, her will, still strong though her body was not. “And go yourself. Leave me.”

Talon shook his head. Crawled cautiously to where she sat sprawled on the ground. “No, mistress. I will not leave you. We are halfway bound already, can you not feel it?”

“No. It isn’t complete. You still have a chance if you go now.”

Talon shook his head.

She lunged for him, her movement rough and jerky. Struck at him and missed, those lethal claws plunging into the ground as he darted away.

Nico didn’t know what this was, dream or reality. All he knew was that she fought Talon, and that Talon was trying to save her. The weight of the demon cuffs flared warm against Nico’s waist, reminding him of their presence. Without hesitation, Nico grabbed them and snapped them around Lucinda’s wrist. A quick twist, wresting her arms behind her back, and he secured both her hands together. Only her weakness allowed Nico to do so. Only her weakness kept her from breaking free of the restraints.

“What are you doing?” she snarled, thrashing beneath him.

“Trying to save you,” Nico snapped back, pinning her to the ground. Weak though she was, it still took effort to restrain her.

“You cannot do that: save me.”

“But Talon can.”

“He cannot. He is not strong enough. All he will do is die when I die.”

“He is strong enough to keep you from ghosting, you foolish woman. Stop being so selfish!”

The bitter accusation surprised Lucinda enough to stop struggling. She looked up at Nico with bruised eyes. He steeled his heart against them, sensing that softness would not win this fight.

“How can you say that?” she whispered.

“I say only the truth. If you die as you seek to do, you leave us alone and unprotected.”

“My brother . . . Halcyon will take care of you.”

“Someone who does not know us or care for us.”

“Halcyon is honorable. Good. Far better than me. He will protect you and avenge my death.”

“He will likely kill us himself when we bring him news of your death. When we come to him with no proof and only wild claims.”

Lucinda shook her head. “He is not like that.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.