Chapter 14 — Turning point
Lucifer:
I look down at my beautiful mate’s face and clench my jaw tightly as I flash us to my home. Though she holds on to my arms tightly, her breathing is still erratic. “It’s getting harder to control her,” she whispers. I lay her on top of the bed and run my gaze appraisingly over her once again. In my long existence, I’ve experienced very little loss. However, as I stood before my mate and watched her struggle with her madness, fear as I’ve never known overwhelmed me. During that moment, I could feel Apolliana’s hold over her, strengthening. “I know it is, luv. But you broke through, and that’s all that matters for now.”
She bends her knees and wraps her arms around them. “Her rage was poisonous. But I could feel that it had more to do with her madness than her anger. It’s almost as if she has no control over her actions.”
Michael appears before us a moment later, his expression looking vulnerable. “Mon Dieu, I just received reports about hordes of snakes rising from the ground and thought it might have something to do with sweet Lana.”
He glances down at Lana before he looks back at me. “What happened?”
Lana gives me a miserable look and buries her head into her knees.
Looking back down at her resigned form, I sift my fingers through my hair and shake my head. “Apolliana was about to jubilantly toss one of her friends into a pool of poisonous snakes, but I managed to erase their memories and flash them back to their camp before any irreparable harm could be made. Had I been a minute later, it would have been a bloody disaster.”
He sits next to Lana and pats her back comfortingly, “Do not despair, chérie. No true damage has been reported.”
She looks at Michael and gives him a watery smile, “You’re too kind, Michael.”
I look at both of them and take a deep breath, “I believe you and Apolliana are merging.”
Her brow furrows, “Why would you think that?”
My lips tighten with emotion, “Because as Apolliana was moving toward her prey, I could see the glow in her eyes change from yours to Apolliana's. I do not think you even realized it.”
Lana nods, “I…I did. I could see what she was doing, but I couldn’t control her. I felt like I was in the passenger seat of a car, and I couldn’t control the driver. She keeps continuously trying to take over.”
“But how is she merging with Apolliana? I thought the reason Le Créateur made her human was so that her human could restrain her angel. Didn’t the Siren say that Lana would have to die for Apolliana to rise?”
I shake my head, “I also assumed the same. But then I thought about what has changed since the scales were rectified. What is to happen now that Azazel and Zoe are together, and Bree and Fallon realized the Eru’s prophecy?” I snap my fingers, and an ancient tome appears in my hands. “We found this deep in my library. It’s a similar interpretation to the one of The Book of Kings.” I flip through the book until I reach the page that I am searching for. “Resurgemus mundos viros neque sanctiores cum de anima Gemini Gemini, et peribit anima valide. Mortem et exitium in ea eventura sint factae. si non in sanguine hominum genus, quandoquidem ad convertet aestus.”
Lana takes the book from my hand and reads it. We’ve been doing some research now that we spend most of our evenings together. She became very upset when she stumbled upon the passage but regrouped and continued to piece together what she could about what we read.
As I continue to read, Michael’s eyes widen. “The destroyer of worlds shall rise when the soul of Gemini perishes and the Gemini souls divide. Death and destruction shall befall humanity, if it were not in the blood of humanity, to turn the tide—Lana’s soul has to die for Apolliana to rise?”
“Yeah, that’s what it says,” Lana replies. “Based on what we’ve read, we are assuming that Apolliana’s madness is like a Cancer infecting my soul. Once her soul dies, I will lose my humanity, and Apolliana shall take control.”
Her throat bobs as she slides her hands across the worn pages. I know that she has been reading through the tomes religiously. We also realized that she understands ancient languages. We believe that it’s because she is recovering Apolliana’s memories.
His expression grows grimmer as he takes in the implications of what Lana is currently suffering. “Your physical being will be well, but your humanity will seize to exist?”
“It would seem so,” I reply.
“How do we stop it?” he asks.
My nostrils flare with emotion.
Lana closes the book with a thump and rests it on her lap, “We don’t know. All we know is that if we don’t find a remedy soon, my soul will die.”
Michael swallows hard and gazes away for a moment. I can tell by his stiff posture and clenched jaw that he’s trying not to feel the same crushing weight of defeat that I’m feeling. Once he has regained control of his emotions, he looks back at me. “How long does it say you have?”
Lana shrugs, “We don’t know that either. Do you remember how long it took before Apolliana’s became crazy?”
He looks on thoughtfully, “Je ne sais pas. All I recall is that once her madness began to become obvious, she deteriorated rapidement. But you are human, which pourrait signifier n’importe quoi,” Could mean anything.
Lana’s lips tight, “Well, until we can figure it out, I think it’s best if I stay here. I thought that if I ignored all of this—her, it would all go away. But I can’t keep burying my head in the sand and leave all of you to pick up my messes. It’s not fair to you or the others.”
I nod in agreement, “I agree. I think that’s best.”
She steps out of my arms and looks at Michael, “You’ve been so kind and patient while I’ve been so foolish.”
“We understand chérie. It’s not a simple thing to accept when you’ve spent your whole life living like an ordinary human. We knew this would be difficult for you.”
Lana visibly swallows before she gives me an agreeable nod. “What do I tell my project manager and my team?”
Michael moves forward and pinches her chin between his fingers. “I will take care of that for you, chérie.”
Her brows pinch together. “How will you do that?”
Michael smiles, “I will adjust their memories to think that you’re not in their presence because you are working. This will ensure they lose the impulse to search you out. When you return, it will be as if you were never gone.”
Lana sighs with relief and gives him a grateful nod. “Thank you, Michael.”
“You’re welcome, Lana. Do not worry; we will keep you safe.” Michael says before he steps back and vanishes from sight.
Leaning forward, I slide my fingers up her silken jaw and kiss her temple. I don’t want to ask the next question because she’s already dealing with a great deal of stress, but I need to know. “You said that you can feel Apolliana trying to take over. Has this happened before?”
Her expression darkens into one of remorse. “Yeah, for the past week, I’ve been feeling this heavy darkness inside of me. It doesn’t feel as bad when I’m with you. But when I sleep, I have some pretty disturbing nightmares, and I’ll wake up outside my house. I blacked out the other morning, and when I regained my senses, I found myself standing outside some of my teammate’s homes. I felt like I wanted to go inside of their homes and attack them.”
I clench my jaw, trying not to react negatively. Her sadness is already palpable. The last thing that I want is for her to spiral.
Pulling her forward, I lead her back to the bed. “You’re exhausted, luv. How about we get some sleep right now and talk in the morning.”
She looks around her warily as she clings tightly to my forearm. Please don’t leave me,” she pleads mournfully. “I won’t,” I mutter as I strip down and climb into the bed beside her. Lana curls up beside me and settles her head on my shoulder. “Don’t let me do anything bad,” she mumbles sleepily.
I tighten my arm around her waist and give her a reassuring pat. “I won’t let anything happen. You can rest easy, luv.”
Wrapping her arm around my waist, Lana sighs with contentment. Within moments all of the tension in her body drains, and she falls into a deep sleep.
Though I don’t require much sleep, I close my eyes, tuck myself closer, and inhale her wonderful scent. It’s comforting to know that she’s safe in my arms. I can’t recall a time when I held a woman so close as she slumbered. In fact, I can’t recall ever lying in bed with a woman that involved anything beyond a sexual encounter. However, I’d crawl through fire to simply lie beside Lana.