Free The Devil's Soldier by Rachel McClellan Page B

the Deific opened. Charlie and a red-haired man hurried outside and stopped Lucien before he could go inside. Eve focused, but was unable to hear what they were saying—a gift Boaz had denied her when he turned her, not into a vampire, but into an immortal.
    Charlie was motioning across the street to where the Diablos waited. He must have sensed them. Eve wondered if Charlie could also sense the witch's black magic.
    Lucien glanced toward the coffee house, his body tense and fists rolled tight. The red-haired man, who Eve finally recognized as Rick, a vampire Lucien had met in Ireland, handed Lucien a long blade. Lucien crossed the street first, followed by Charlie and Rick. While they took care of the Diablos, she would take of the witch.
    Eve transported herself to a side entrance of the apartment building. Six stories, west corner apartment. That's where she had to go. The door to the building was locked, but she easily used magic to open it. She took the stairs, needing time to formulate a plan. Whoever this witch was, he or she needed to be captured, not killed. This might her best lead to finding Boaz.
    By the fifth flight of stairs, Eve was gasping for breath. Not because she was tired, but because dark magic was growing stronger and stronger, tainting the air around her. It coated her tongue and pressed against her skin. She blocked it out as best she could, but it was hard to ignore its powerful pull.
    She opened the door to the sixth floor and stepped inside. A hallway stretched long, and the ceiling lights flickered the closer she came to her destination. Her magic must be clashing with the witch's dark power , creating an electrical disturbance.
    She turned a corner and nearly choked on a sudden lump in her throat. The door she needed to open was at the end. She knew it immediately because it was bending outward as if some great pressure inside was trying to get out.
    The hall was quiet, most people sleeping soundly in their apartments, oblivious to the evil that stirred only feet away.  Eve moved forward hesitantly. Except for Boaz, she had never fought against a power of this magnitude.
    She reached the bowing door and pressed her palm to it, expecting to feel the bend she could see, but it felt flat, the way a door should be. Her hand slid to the doorknob. Just before she turned it, a familiar pungent odor stung her nostrils, sending an ice-cold chill up her spine. She withdrew her hand, her breathing quickening.
    It can't be. Not here. Not now.  
    She knew this fight was coming, but didn't expect it so soon. She glanced over her shoulder, away from the door. She could go back . To Lucien. Her hand dropped to the doorknob. If she did go back, though, they would never be safe. If this witch wasn't stopped, then Boaz would find out she was alive. And he would bring his wrath upon all those inside the Deific. No, this had to end tonight.
    Eve turned the doorknob and stepped inside. Off to her left was a bare kitchen. No dishes were on the counter, no soap at the sink, no evidence of anyone living there, but the dark energy in the home screamed otherwise. A room next to the kitchen was also empty , most likely a dining room. Eve walked farther into the apartment, but stopped at the living room. It, too, was void of furniture or any signs of normal human life , but there was another kind of life existing in this earthly hell. Facing the window, sitting in a lone chair, was the back of a woman with long golden blonde hair.
    Eve squared her shoulders, ready as she would ever be. "Hello, Sable."
    "I wish you wouldn't call me that," Sable said and turned around. "I am your mother, after all."
    Eve clenched her jaw and resisted the urge to argue. It would be pointless and a waste of time. "What are you doing here?"
    Sable stood, her figure long and lean in a simple, floor-length green dress. She was as beautiful as ever. "I'm here on a hunch. And it looks like I was right. You really are alive."
    "How did you know?"