Bound by Time (18 page)

The cat leapt onto the couch and padded over to Isobel, rubbing her face on Isobel’s arm with a loud meow. Isobel looked up and pulled the cat into her lap. “Oh, Sorsha!”

The cat purred as Isobel stroked the long fur over and over. After a long while she looked up at him and her voice quavered when she asked, “None of them are dead?”

Damien shook his head. “Everyone is still alive and right where they should be.” He finally saw some of the horror ebb from her eyes. She nodded and laid her head against him, her cheek damp against his bare skin. He raised one hand and brushed away the strands of hair falling over her face. “Sleep,
meae deliciae.
You will dream no dreams,” he said with the weight of a command in the words, allowing his power to flow through his fingers and sink into her. She mumbled something incoherent and then her breathing evened out, and he knew she slept. He wished he could have done that for her earlier, but since it took away her freewill it was only allowed under extenuating circumstances.

Damien remained awake holding his powers at full force. Several times he sensed Xapar trying to find his way through the shield of white light that flooded the room. The night crept by, the minutes blending into hours.

Morning came and went and still Isobel slept as he’d commanded and would for some time yet. Damien held on through sheer force of will, knowing Isobel wouldn’t survive another attack on her mind. Even if he managed to keep her alive, she would be driven into insanity.

The morning slid into afternoon. When someone pounded on the front door, Damien didn’t even have the strength to stand, much less answer it. The pounding resumed, then stopped and he heard the click of the latch.

In seconds, Lucian strode into the family room. He took one look at them, uttered an oath and demanded, “How long have you been holding that?”

“It looks like far too long judging by the failing strength of the shield,” Isaac said, walking into the room.

Lucian shook his head. “You have to stop or you’ll kill yourself, and that won’t do either of you any good.”

Damien’s eyelids sagged as he mumbled, “Can’t let it down. He will kill her.
Eis quos diligo me devovebo.
” I will sacrifice my life.

Isaac leaned forward and put his dark hand on Damien’s shoulder. “You can’t keep this level of energy up. You have to drop the shield.”

Lucian swore again and stripped his shirt off unfurling his own massive black wings. “You’re not sacrificing your life for her right now. You don’t have to. Let it down, Damien. I got this.”

Damien sighed with relief and released the hold on his power. Bright white light flooded the room, strong and true, radiating off Lucian. Damien tried to mumble his thanks but sleep overtook him.

I
sobel woke slow and groggy. Light still filled the air around her though she knew it wasn’t sunlight. A heavy arm draped across her middle. She opened her eyes to Damien’s face, slack and pale. “Damien?” She pushed herself up, concern leaping in her chest. Isobel had never seen him look so drained and haggard. “Damien!”

“Shh. Let him sleep. He’s beyond exhausted, the idiot. Though I suppose he didn’t have much choice.”

Isobel whipped her head around at the sound of the strange voice. A man, built like Damien, only with golden hair and tawny eyes stared down at her from where he stood by the windows, his arms crossed over his bare chest. Black wings rose up behind him and the light flowed out from him. A bracelet identical to Damien’s hung on his wrist. “Who are you?”

“My name is Lucian. I’m an old friend of Damien’s. Yours also, but I doubt you remember me yet.”

Isobel ran her fingers lightly down the side of Damien’s face. He didn’t stir even the slightest. “Is he okay?”

“Yes. He will likely sleep until tomorrow and then eat like a starving wolf when he wakes. Would you like to get cleaned up?”

Isobel turned back to Lucian. “What?”

He gestured toward her. “You’re a mess. A friend of yours is here. You might want to clean up before she sees you. It was hard enough to convince her to go to bed without waking you first. If she sees you in that condition it’s only going to upset her more.”

“She? Who’s here?”

“Isaac, another dark angel, is here. He brought his channel, Rose with him. Rose insisted that her granddaughter, Amelia tag along.” A scowl swept over his face. “Stubborn old woman.”

Isobel stared at him as tears pricked her eyes and relief washed through her. Amelia really was alive. “Amelia is here? Where?”

“As I said, after a good deal of arguing we managed to convince both her and Rose to retire for the evening.”

Isobel looked past the light in the room to the window. It was completely dark beyond the panes. “If it’s still night, how can Damien be so drained? It’s only been a few hours.” Confusion tumbled through her mind.

Lucian shook his head. “By the condition Damien was in, I would guess it had been at least a full twenty-four hours, maybe more, by the time we arrived late this afternoon. It’s just after eleven now so you must have needed the sleep as badly as he does now.”

Isobel extracted herself from Damien’s arm, careful not to disturb him. Dried blood caked her arm, shirt, and pants. She closed her eyes as memories of what happened crashed through her mind and she inhaled slowly trying to block them out. When she felt she had her mind reasonably under control, she opened her eyes and looked at Lucian. “What about Xapar?”

He shrugged. “Still trapped in his little prison, although he has made several attempts to move about the house.” A dark chuckle issued from his throat. “He came up against a nasty surprise when he tried to invade the bedroom on this floor where Rose and Amelia are sleeping.”

Isobel raised her eyebrows. “How is that?”

Lucian chuckled again. “Rose is quite powerful in her own right. He hasn’t made a second attempt to breach the room. In fact, he’s been pretty quiet since then. Her ward must have stung pretty good.”

Isobel rubbed her eyes and yawned happy that Xapar had gotten stung by something, especially after what he put her through.

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked uneasily toward the dining room. “I have to go upstairs to my bedroom.”

Lucian nodded. “I will go with you.”

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Now she knew why she had trusted Damien so easily when he made that offer so many weeks ago. Though Lucian seemed familiar she wasn’t sure whether or not to trust him.

Lucian shook his head. “Do you want to clean up so you can stop looking like night of the living dead or not? You have nothing to worry about, Isobel. You’re Damien’s.”

Isobel bristled. “He doesn’t own me.”

“Not in the way you are thinking, no.” Lucian smiled. “You are his in the way he is yours. You two are…
sodales in aeternum
.”

“We’re what?”

“Forever soul mates. Your souls are bound by time. Like I said, you’re Damien’s. The lucky bastard.” He waggled his eyebrows in an overly exaggerated movement.

It brought her a much needed laugh and she loved the sound of forever soul mates. “Come on. You can have a tour of the house of horrors and meet my sadistic window.”

As Lucian followed her through the house flashes of memories of him, always a friend by Damien’s side, flickered through her mind. Isobel remembered him holding one of her hands as she died, and Damien whispered farewell. She glanced at him. “Do you have one?”

“One what?” he asked as they started up the stairs.

“A forever soul mate.” She doubted he would lack in female companionship if he sought it. He was built like Damien and just as handsome, though he didn’t appeal to her that way.

Lucian shook his head and smiled sadly. “Not all of us are so lucky.”

“But there are others who do have them?”

He nodded. “Isaac, the other dark angel here, has Rose. They have followed each other through many lifetimes.”

“So there could be someone for you?” Isobel pressed.

He chuckled low in his chest. “Don’t worry about me, Isobel. I do fine on my own.”

They reached the landing, and Lucian glared at the window. “Damn, the demon is getting strong, isn’t he?”

Isobel couldn’t bring herself to even glance at the window. Darkness tried to push at the edges of her mind but was held back by the white light.

“Pushy too.” Lucian looked at the window. “Keeps trying to get past me now that we’re up here. Hurry and get what you need. You aren’t coming back up here.”

Isobel ran for her room, grabbing one of the empty bags still lying in the corner where she’d thrown it after returning from college. She stuffed clothing into it without hesitating. She wanted away from her room and the upstairs. Lucian seemed surprised when she reappeared so quickly. Isobel kept her eyes averted from the window, determined not to look at it. “I'm ready. Let's go.”

Without waiting for him to respond she pushed past him and dashed down the stairs, her heart pounding. Lucian caught her arm just before she entered the bathroom off the foyer his tawny eyes searching hers. “Are you feeling all right?”

Isobel took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, Lucian’s brows were drawn down in a worried furrow. She smiled shakily. “I’m fine. Really, I am. Just scared. I can feel him watching me when I’m up there.”

Lucian’s eyes searched hers a moment longer before he released her arm and allowed her to enter the bathroom. He shut the temporary door that one of them must have installed after they arrived. Isobel set the bag on the counter and pulled off the blood-stained clothes. A glance at the floor showed that someone had cleaned up the blood. She shuddered at the thought of what she’d almost done.

Isobel cranked the water as hot as she could stand hoping it would help wash away the feeling of darkness that lingered in her mind. At least the whispers had stopped for now.

After she was clean, on the outside at least, she toweled off and pulled some clothes out of the bag and pulled them on. Isobel grabbed her brush, toothbrush, and toothpaste. She hesitated, staring at the misty mirror, afraid to wipe away the condensation. Afraid what her reflection might do.

Finally, she reached forward and swiped her hand across it a few times, then eyed herself in the mirror warily. Only her normal reflection stared back. Isobel didn’t dare allow herself too much relief. Instead, she pulled the brush through her wet hair then scrubbed her teeth as quick as she could.

Her mind betrayed her by conjuring up the horrible things she’d seen. The bathroom seemed to grow smaller. Isobel grabbed the edge of the sink as a band tightened around her ribs. Terror closed over her and chills shivered through her body. She hadn’t had a panic attack in years unless she counted the one that night when Maria screamed at her. The first one had struck the night her mother died. They had only stopped when Elizabeth came into her life. Elizabeth, who was a blessed one.

Shaking, she sat on the edge of the tub and leaned over as a wave of dizziness struck. Isobel dug her fingers into her hair and struggled to breathe around the pain in her chest. There was nothing to do but wait it out though everything in her screamed to get out. Out of the bathroom, out of the house. Her breath started to come in short, shallow pants as the unreasonable terror gripped her. Maybe not completely unreasonable; she
had
seen everyone she loved killed. Even if it hadn’t been real, it had
felt
real, and the images were burned into her psyche with sickening clarity.

Isobel stood and scrambled for the flimsy door fumbling with the latch. Cold sweat broke over her skin. It didn’t matter that some small part of her mind knew what was happening. Fight or flight had taken complete control.

Finally the latch turned, and she yanked the door open dashing past a startled Lucian. He caught her arm in an iron grasp. She looked up at him unable to control the shaking as the house closed around her. “Get me out of the house. I need out. I need the air.”

Lucian’s eyes swept over her, and he gave a quick nod. He hauled her to the front door and pulled it open. Isobel staggered onto the front porch and dropped heavily to the wide boards, wrapping her arms around her middle. The warm, humid night air shifted with a light breeze.