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“Damian!” I screamed and laced my fingers into the fence. I could scale this in a matter of seconds and I got my foothold when Michael’s arms grabbed me around the waist.
“You can’t help him right now,” he said, but I struggled.
I refused to let him pull me away, to stop me from trying to save my husband; but it was futile. Michael’s grip was as strong as iron and the clan that blindsided Damian dragged him into the woods and out of my line of sight.
I let out a wail of distress that sounded more like the cry of a child than a grown woman and released the fence, collapsing in Michael’s grip. Numbness settled over me, right down to the core. Damian was now in Lucifer’s hands and there wasn’t a thing I could do to save him this time.
Michael carried me back to the house, but I didn’t care. The man I loved was as good as dead. Despair crept in over the numbness, cramping my muscles and forcing sobs from my throat. Nothing on earth could take this pain away.
“Naomi,” Valerie whispered and I turned my face into my hands, unwilling to acknowledge anyone. I just wanted Damian back. As hard as the last few days of not touching was on us, we were still together. I began to understand how crippling it was to lose your soul mate.
Was this what Damian endured when Athena was slain in front of him?
God, how did he survive all those years with this emptiness as big as a fathomless gorge?
The questions circled through my brain, drowning out the people in the room and I curled tighter in a ball, trying to escape from this pain.
Damian’s stupid email today probably set the vultures in motion.
I sat up like I had suddenly been reanimated and before anyone could ask what was going on in my head, I bolted downstairs. They followed, like a posse of body guards protecting me from falling to a million pieces.
“What are you doing?” Michael asked when I propped open Damian’s laptop.
“Nothing. I’ll be up in a few minutes.” I didn’t want Michael to know what I was doing. I didn’t want to argue or explain myself. I just wanted to find out what Damian said to Lucifer.
When no one moved, I looked up. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I just want to find out where Lucifer’s emails came from.”
They still didn’t move.
“I promise, I will not engage him or do anything foolish or stupid.” I focused on Ted. “Whatever you’re cooking smells wonderful. I’d love to have some when I’m through here,” I added for good measure. Valerie and Ted nodded and traded a glance before heading upstairs.
Michael’s lips pressed together and his gaze bounced between the computer and me like there was something on the computer I shouldn’t see. He crossed his arms and waited.
“I promise I’ll be fine,” I said and he met my gaze. “All I’m going to do is open the last email and run a trace.”
Whether he realized it or not, relief softened his features. “Fine, but if you’re not back upstairs in five minutes, I’m coming to get you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tracers take a little longer than five minutes.” Besides, five minutes wasn’t enough time for me to look through the other emails from the same address. Michael sparked my interest whether he wanted to or not.
“Ten minutes,” he said and pointed at me.
“Fifteen would probably be better,” I said and he crossed his arms again. “I have to analyze the ping,” I added even though I had no clue how someone traced email, Michael didn’t know that and he nodded.
“I’ll check in fifteen,” he agreed and headed upstairs, leaving me to a bogus task.
I opened up Damian’s email account and stared at the latest message. It was unopened and the subject line sent ice through my blood.
“If you want to see him alive...”
Instead of opening the email, I sorted on the sender and filtered through the messages to the one that set Damian off in the cave. Each message was short and chilling, but one in particular outlined Lucifer’s twisted plans for me including a demon fuck-fest just for Damian’s benefit. The nauseatingly detailed scenario ended with Lucifer ripping my heart from my chest and draining it at sunrise. Long enough for Damian to feel the loss just before the sun cooked him to oblivion.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The outlined scenario gave me a glimmer of hope. Lucifer didn’t know that I could produce a trinity, and it also didn’t give an indication that he knew what Damian was either. I could work with that.
I glanced at my watch and exhaled. I had five more minutes and I opened the latest email.
The directive along with the address set me in motion. I snapped the laptop closed and bolted down the hall toward the garage. It was time to plan a full out rescue mission, starting with a hijacking.