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My eyes blinked open and I glanced around at the darkness surrounding me. My shoulders ached, hell, my entire body ached and I shifted, rattling the chains holding me in place. The last thing I remember was running toward the house praying I’d be able to hurdle over the fence, but with the platinum blade still embedded in my thigh, I highly doubted it. The moment I broke from their grip, something clocked me in the head and everything went black.
“You’re awake,” a husky female voice penetrated the dark and it took me a minute to identify the voice.
“Eve?”
The light laugh confirmed it.
“Lucifer said you were the one who killed my Lilith,” she said and the feral snarl in her voice made me want to shrink into the wall, especially with the bonds that held me in place. I was helpless and I wondered exactly how she would kill me.
I didn’t answer right away and just let the silence settle over the room while I formulated words that would delay the inevitable.
“She shot Naomi,” I finally whispered. “I didn’t know if Naomi was going to survive and I went a little nuts.” I knew it wasn’t much of an answer but it was the truth.
When her hot breath fell on my face, I swallowed and looked into the black eyes I could just about make out. “So when I tear Naomi apart, we will be even,” she said and grinned, revealing her jagged teeth.
I stared at the eyes an inch from my own. “You’d kill your own kin?” I said, playing the only card I had left and betting on the recoil.
The crazed smile faded but she stayed close, her eyes narrowing to slits that mingled with the blackness.
“What do you mean?”
“Naomi is one of Zoe’s bloodline,” I said and her eyes widened before she moved back into the darkness. “I guess Lucifer left that little detail out, didn’t he.”
No movement filled the space and then a wind drummed up and Eve slammed me against the wall, her hand squeezing my throat and only a feral snarl bled into the darkness.
“Did he forget to mention that she’s not only a descendent of yours and Michael’s, but she’s also a descendent of Raphael’s? She’s capable of producing a trinity,” I said and her hand squeezed tighter, her teeth moved closer to my throat.
“Don’t lie to me,” she growled.
“I’m not.” I shook my head, trying not to let her see the sudden well of fear in my soul. If I died now, there was no hope for Naomi or this world. I wanted to live long enough to explain, but with the crazed madness in her eyes, I knew it was a slim chance.
“You turned her,” she said and I nodded under the suffocating grip.
“I didn’t know. I didn’t know my blood would turn her into a trinity,” I managed to croak and the grip on my throat lessened.
Confusion clouded her eyes and the grip on my throat stayed in place, but not restricting like before.
“I’m Gabriel’s son,” I whispered as softly as I could.
She dropped her grip and stepped back into the shadows. Feet shuffled back and forth in the dark and then she stepped close again. A crease carved the skin between her eyes.
“I love Naomi, but I’m willing to make whatever sacrifice is necessary if it means Lucifer doesn’t get a hold of her. If he does, he’ll use her to build an army of his evil spawn,” I said and gritted my teeth. “It will mean the end of times,” I added to bring my point home.
Her hand palmed my cheek and she stared into my eyes.
“Did you hear what I said?” I asked.
“Gabriel?” she asked and I rolled my eyes.
“Eve, focus,” I said and the inquisitive expression altered to annoyance.
“You’re my...” she started and pressed her lips together.
“I’m Michael’s nephew,” I finished the sentence for her. “And the keeper of Zoe’s bloodline,” I added for good measure. “And until I met Naomi, I had done a pretty damn good job of it, but since then, things have gone to hell in a hand basket.”
“You’re lying,” she said but there was no conviction in her words.
I did something that took both of us by surprise. I turned my head, raising my chin so she had access to tear my throat to pieces. “Go ahead. I’m sure you’ll know the instant you taste my blood.”
Instead of biting my throat, she used her sharp nail to cut a slit in my chest and she leaned forward, sniffing first before she licked the slow flow of blood off my skin. She closed her eyes and groaned.
“You are delectable,” she purred and her seductive tone gave me the chills. That tone was filled with raw hunger and I knew I should be scared, but instead I stood still and said a silent prayer. A foul-smelling cloth covered my mouth and nose and she leaned her head against the crook of my neck. “You taste like my son did,” she said in a hushed whisper before the fumes rendered me unconscious.