Bittersweet Blood (The Order #1)

“The demons could still find her, use her.”


“Not if she continues to wear the talisman. We can increase the compulsion in the spell. She won’t ever take it off.”

“Let me think this through.”

He walked away from them, and Christian watched him go.

“Do you realize Tara is his niece?” Piers asked, and Christian nodded. “If he says no, what are we going to do?”

“Kill him.”

Piers laughed softly. “Let’s hope then.”

The Walker came back. He sat down “You do this,” he said to Christian, “and you lose her forever. She must forget you along with all the rest.”

“I know.”

He frowned. “Is this real love? The willingness to let something go.”

“I’m giving her what she wants.”

“Does she love you, this daughter of Lillian?”

Christian thought back to Tara lying beneath him, giving herself so freely, her soft words of love echoing in his ears. He forced them from his mind. “It doesn’t matter.”

“If she’s a true child of Lillian’s, she won’t thank you for this.”

“She won’t know. I’m giving her the chance of a normal life.”

“You have your deal, Christian Roth. The child of Lillian will not die at the hands of the fae, but she will forget all. But if she ever removes the talisman, the deal is off, and I will kill her myself.”

A rush of mingled emotions ran through Christian. Relief that Tara would be safe, but also a deep, dark vein of regret that she would be lost to him forever. “I’ll see that it’s done.”

The Walker rose, nodded at Christian, ignored Piers, and left.

“Damn,” Piers said, staring at the door as it closed behind the Walker. “He agreed. I can’t believe it. My chance to kill the bastard gone.”

“I’m sure there’ll be another.” Christian ran a hand through his hair, the energy leaking out of him. He was halfway there. The fae had been the tricky part. It was always uncertain which way they would go.

“So what now?” Piers asked.

Now was the easy part. Like Piers said, there was nothing tricky about a demon. He was going to face Asmodai. He was going to fight, and in all likelihood, he was going to die.

Because they would meet in the Abyss.

While on Earth, they could meet on equal terms, and there was a chance he could beat the demon, in the Abyss, the demon’s power would be almost limitless. But if Asmodai agreed to his deal, at least Tara would be safe.

The thought of his probable death drove his desperation to see her one last time, to hold her again.

“I need to see Tara, tell her the fae are off her back.”

“Can’t you phone?”

“No.” He rose to his feet. “Afterward, we need to see Jonas Callaghan, make sure he’s okay with doing the spell.”

“He’ll want something in return.”

“Then we’ll just have to give it to him.”

…

A deep sense of foreboding nagged Tara. She wanted Christian here, where she could see him, touch him. There was a connection between them, growing stronger, which translated into anxiety when he wasn’t with her.

She tried reading a book, switched on the TV, switched it off again.

Finally, she fastened the holster to her belt, pulled a jacket on to hide the gun, and took the elevator down to the shooting range. She practiced until the bullets hit the target each time, sometimes even close to the center. Then she tried a couple of rapid draws, like she’d seen in the movies, and missed totally.

Glancing at her watch, she realized an hour had passed. He should be back soon. She pulled her jacket on and headed back up to reception. As the elevator opened, Christian walked through the sliding glass doors with Piers. He came straight over to her before she could step out of the elevator.

“Come on,” he said, stepping in beside her. “We need to talk.”

As he pressed the down button, Tara slipped her hand into his and peered up at his face. His expression was closed.

“Did it go okay?” she asked.

He didn’t answer, but at that moment, the elevator stopped, and he pulled her into his apartment, slamming the door behind them. She could sense his urgency and frowned.

“What is it, Christian. Did it go wrong? Are the fae coming after me?”

“The fae have agreed to leave you alone. I’ll tell you the details later. I have to go back out with Piers because we’ve one more thing to do so you’ll be safe. But before I go I need to—”

He picked her up and carried her through to the bedroom, laid her on the bed and stripped off his clothes before coming down beside her.