Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (The Three #1)(116)
Author: Kristen Ashley

He was full of it. He’d promised me a lot. And all of it was bullshit.

“Lucien, you have to go,” I told him.

“Busy yourself and don’t think of this,” he repeated.

“Okay, I’ll busy myself and not think of this,” I lied.

He held my eyes.

Then he whispered, “You’re lying.”

Whatever!

Jeez!

Why wouldn’t he just go?

I held his eyes right back.

Lucien sighed.

Then he reiterated, “I’ll be home soon.”

“And I’ll be here.”

His arms spasmed around me again as his eyes continued to hold mine captive.

Then, if you can freaking believe, the big, fat, vampire jerk’s lips tipped up.

His lips tipped up!

“Yes, pet, you will,” he whispered then touched his mouth to mine.

Then he was gone.

* * * * *

It happened after I made my plans and executed them.

I couldn’t get out of the talk, this I knew.

So I would be prepared for it.

I did not cry. I did not curl up and give my mind over to contemplating my bleak future. I didn’t open up the forgotten Why I Hate Lucien Vault, catalog its multitudes and nurse my fury. I didn’t immediately hit the kitchen and consume everything edible within reach.

I took a shower. I took forever doing my hair. I spent a great deal of time on my makeup. I studied my vast wardrobe selection and picked the perfect outfit. And I strapped on a pair of fabulous shoes.

I did this with only the aid of coffee supplied by Edwina who took one look at me and knew things were not right. And fortunately she also knew that I was in no mood to discuss them. So she brought me coffee but otherwise let me be.

I was coiffed. I was made up. I was wearing a freaking great pair of dark, bootcut jeans that I paired with a fabulous dusky blue, somewhat see-through top that clung to my midriff and h*ps but had a deep scoop at the back. I had a white racerback tank under it. And my feet were in high-heeled, beige suede, wedge sandals that had a wide strap across the toe and a wide, sexy ankle strap. In this getup, mentally prepared for what lay ahead, I walked downstairs.

My stomach felt hollow but I wasn’t hungry. This was unusual. Usually, when I stupidly broke my own heart by picking the way wrong guy to give it to, I could and did eat everything in sight but only if it wasn’t good for me.

Now it felt like I’d never feel hungry again.

And the alarming thing was, now it felt like I’d never feel anything again.

That was how deeply Lucien wounded me.

No. That wasn’t correct.

That was how deeply I allowed Lucien to wound me.

He fought to get in and I let him get in. But he knew he’d never give himself to me. And I knew he never could.

I just chose to ignore it.

My foot hit the floor of the foyer, my mind shoving away these thoughts, forcing itself toward eating something.

I needed to keep my strength up. Lucien had been gone for nearly an hour. His office was half an hour away if you didn’t drive a Porsche. He drove a Porsche and did it fast considering he couldn’t die unless his crash was fiery. So he could drive it in twenty minutes and he did. Regularly. He said he’d make the meeting short but I didn’t know what that meant. I just knew there was a probability he could be home any minute.

When my foot hit the floor of the foyer was when it happened.

The front door flew straight off its hinges. It blew right by me through the foyer at least ten feet to crash to the floor and skid down the hall.

Every molecule in my body froze for an instant then I turned to flee up the stairs. My cell was on my dressing table in the wardrobe.

I needed to call Lucien.

I got one step up and heard Edwina scream. Sheer dread coursed through my body but I had no chance to react. No chance to do anything.

There was movement everywhere but nothing I could see. Solid things dashing through the house causing blurs. One of them cut me off on the stairs. I ran into it and before I could see what it was, I fell back the step I took, landing painfully on my ass in the foyer.

Then I was up, my body like a rag doll, bent double at the waist, held tight to someone’s side, my hair blowing in the breeze created by our movement down the hall. As suddenly as we were moving, we stopped, my frame swaying with the rapidity of us halting. I was swung up and around, my body jerking unnaturally with the speed and it was sheer luck my neck or spine didn’t snap. Then I was held, my back to the front of someone, iron arms clamped around me, holding me captive, my arms held tight to my sides, rendered useless.

But I didn’t try to move. This was because, in the comfy seating area, I saw Nestor, the vampire that had words with Stephanie at my Selection. And he was holding Edwina like whoever was holding me except he had one big hand over her mouth.

Her eyes were wide and filled with fear.

“Tape her to a chair in the dining room.” I heard from behind me and I knew that voice.

Lucien’s father.

Etienne.

Oh my God!

What was happening?

Nestor and Edwina were there one second and I felt the gust of wind they created when they sped by Etienne and me. Then they were gone.

I heard movement in the dining room but my attention was caught on something else.

My head jerking around I saw Katrina, Lucien’s ex or soon-to-be-ex mate and Marcello from the night The Council sent vampires to collect Lucien. Katrina was standing in my kitchen staring daggers at me. Marcello was moving with a mortal’s speed toward Etienne and me. My tight body got tighter but he stopped five feet away.

Then my tight body got so tight I thought it would snap in half when, his eyes burning into me with a light I did not like, he muttered heatedly, “God, I want to drain her while I f**k that fear.”

“She is still my son’s concubine,” Etienne stated and Marcello’s eyes jerked over my shoulder.

“He’s taken her as lover. All bets are off,” he growled.

“We court his wrath already and you know it,” Etienne shot back. “Don’t be foolish.”

“Agreed so it should be worth my while,” Marcello returned.

“My brother,” Etienne said quietly, “in the coming war, we will need your strength. I ask you to restrain your instincts. Soon, all mortals will again be prey and you can take what you wish. My son falls or fails to protect his meal, you will have what you desire.”

His son falls?

Oh my God!

What was happening?

I breathed hard as Marcello held Etienne’s eyes. I felt no relief and kept breathing hard when he took a step back.