Bound by Time (31 page)

Damien trailed his fingers over her chilled skin. “She’s too cold now. But that is good. Thank you for tending to her, Lucien.” His eyes roamed over her face, and he offered his thanks to the Higher Powers. He didn’t think he could bear the pain of losing her again.

The air cut down to almost nothing. “You’re welcome. And I am glad to see you awake, my friend.”

Damien didn’t want to disturb Isobel so he didn’t move. “Anything else happen?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Lucian glanced at him again and then his eyes fell on Isobel’s face. “Not too many are willing to risk themselves anymore. I think what Isobel did put the fear of the Higher Powers into the demons.”

“She certainly put fear into me,” Damien said. “I have never seen anyone banish that many demons at once. I never would have believed someone could survive that much power.”

“She almost didn’t. As helpful as it was, it isn’t something I would care for her to repeat,” Lucian said, his tone grim.

“I have every intention of keeping her from it if I can.” Damien looked down at Isobel’s face. “Unfortunately, we don’t get to control the actions of our channels. They will do whatever they think is best—even when it places them in direct danger—if they feel it will serve something greater than themselves.”

Lucian nodded and Damien heard him whisper,
“La Pucelle
.”

Another hour passed before Isobel stirred. She shifted against the rock hard body of Damien. The heat that soaked into her from him felt wonderful. He was alive!

Isobel tried to move closer to him, and a moan escaped her lips from the effort. Every muscle and joint in her body ached, and she felt incredibly weak.

“Meae deliciae
?” Damien’s tender voice in her ear sent warmth through her chilled body as she felt him shift.

Isobel opened her eyes and found Damien propped up on his elbow next to her. There was barely enough room for them both on the seat. Damien drew the backs of his fingers across her cheek and into her hair as his eyes searched hers. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you wake.”

She tried to move her hand to his face, but the muscles in her back went into a spasm, tearing a gasp from her as her arm dropped limply. Her throat and mouth felt like she had spent the night trying to eat sand. Isobel swallowed repeatedly until she could bring the words to her lips. “I hurt.”

He ran his fingers through her hair again. “I know,
meae deliciae
. It’s a side effect of holding too much power. It will go away in a few hours.”

Isobel licked her dry lips and whispered, “Drink. Please.”

Damien nodded. He helped her up beside him. Isobel gritted her teeth against the pain.

“Lucian,” Damien glanced into the front seat, “she needs a drink.”

Lucian’s eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror. “It’s good to see you awake, Isobel. If you scare me like that again…” He shook his head and handed a soda over the back of the seat. “It isn’t very cold, but it’s wet.”

Isobel took the soda in a shaky hand and sipped it. The warm fizz burned her throat; she drank it anyway.

Lucian took the next exit and parked at a fast food restaurant. Isobel shifted away from Damien so he could pull a shirt on. Lucian shoved his arms through a shirt and yanked it over his head as well.

Isobel leaned her head back. “I need to go inside; I’m not sure I can make it by myself.”

“I will take you. Lucian can order food while you do what you need to do.” Damien pulled another shirt from one of the bags and handed it to her. “You should change. A lot of my blood got on you; we don’t want the workers here to think you spent the night killing someone.”

Isobel glanced down. The entire front of her shirt was encrusted with dried blood. Moving carefully, she eased off the soiled shirt and pulled on the clean one. Dried blood flaked off her arm. She would wash it once she was in the bathroom. Luckily, it was past breakfast and before lunch. There would be few people inside.

Damien helped her from the car. Heat and humidity swamped her. Isobel’s shaky legs and aching joints weren’t sure they wanted to participate in the activity of walking, but her bladder insisted on it. Isobel leaned heavily on Damien for support and they made their slow way across the lot. Once inside, Lucian left them and headed to the counter.

Isobel used the bathroom and took a minute to splash cool water on her face after washing her hands and arms. The smell of hamburgers and French fries made her mouth water. When did she last eat?

When she opened the door, Damien was standing outside. “Were you there the entire time?”

“After what happened last time, you really have to ask?”

Isobel smiled. “Thank you, Damien.”

He raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“For everything. For being you. For always being there.” Tears stung her eyes as her love for him washed over her; love she saw reflected back in his eyes.

He cupped the back of her neck with his fingers, brushing his thumb across her cheek. He touched his lips lightly to hers as he whispered,
“Semper tecum
.”

“What?” Isobel stared at him, her heart fluttered at his gentle touch.

“Always by your side,” he repeated.

“Hey, are you two lovebirds hungry or do you plan to stand there making eyes at each other all day?” Lucian said, walking up to them with three large bags.

Isobel leaned against Damien and raised an eyebrow. “Feeding an army?”

Lucian lowered his voice. “You have two angels on your hands that need to replenish their energy. We will eat
a lot.
Unlike you who will probably eat like a bird. Which, by the way, is a ridiculous analogy since birds spend practically all day, every day, doing little else other than eating.”

Isobel shook her head and laughed as they left the restaurant. She settled into the backseat with a sigh of relief. Her muscles trembled from weakness. Damien handed her a chicken sandwich, an order of fries, and a cold soda while Lucian guided the car back onto the highway. She tore into the food with a ravenous appetite.

Lucian glanced at her several times in the rearview mirror. “So much for picking at your food,” he said when she dug into the bag for one of the many hamburgers.

“I am starving.” Isobel unwrapped the burger and took a big bite.

Damien chuckled. “The amount of power you held used up a lot of energy.” His eyes grew serious. “Although I would be forever thankful if you never did that again.”

Isobel shook her head and swallowed the bite. “I had no choice, there were too many.”

“It wouldn’t have helped any if you had died.”

“It wouldn’t have helped any if you two had died either.” Her eyes raked over the shirt that covered his chest. “I thought you were dead.”

“Isobel, demons can’t kill me. Not in their natural form. They can inflict some nasty injuries but nothing I can’t heal from.” He shot her a frustrated look. “That is why I told you to stay in the car. They could only come at you one or two at a time. Lucian and I would have worked our way through the rest of them.”

Damien watched a small frown cross her face as she said, “It was hard to see you that way. With the demons all over you…there was so much blood.”

He shook his head. Hard to see
him
that way? She’d nearly died in his arms.

They finished the food in silence while the car ate up the last of the distance between them and the house.

T
he light of the setting sun cut through the trees on the highway as they drew closer to their destination. Isobel estimated they’d arrive in about an hour and decided to catch some more sleep. Damien suddenly tensed next to her. Isobel’s eyes flew open. Lucian uttered an oath and slowed the car. He yanked it across the lanes and took an exit. Her hands grabbed onto the back of the seat as he gunned the engine, ignored the stop sign at the bottom of the ramp and cranked the wheel, sending the car sliding sideways across the two-lane road.

Isobel’s heart leapt into her throat. “What’s happening?”

“Demons,” Lucian growled. “All over the sides of the highway. Hundreds of them.”

She turned to look back, but could see nothing through the opaque plastic. They blew past the posted forty-five mile speed limit. Damien fastened the seat belt around her while the car careened down the empty two-lane road.

Lucian swore again and jerked the wheel. Smoky figures hurdled from the overgrown ditch onto the cracked pavement. The front fender clipped one of the demons, sending a shudder through the car. Lucian wove through them as fast as he could until so many filled the road he had to slam on the brakes. Two demons pounced on the rear fender with enough force to send the speeding car sideways.

Damien’s arms locked around Isobel as the car flipped. The side air bag exploded beside her. Isobel screamed. The world disintegrated into shattering glass and screeching metal. The car rolled one last time and came to a rest on its side.

Isobel blinked, dazed in the sudden silence. Damien’s weight pressed down on her though the air bag kept her from the crumpled door.

“Isobel!” Damien shook her shoulder. “Answer me.”

She blinked a couple of times. “What?”

Two hard thumps rocked the car and then more glass shattered. She caught a glimpse of Lucian climbing through the missing windshield. Damien’s voice brought her attention back to him.

“Are you hurt?”

Isobel shook her head. “I don’t think so; just dazed.”

He pointed a finger at her. “Stay. This time, please listen.” Only the sound of grating metal signaled his exit as he launched through the door that stood toward the sky, ripping it from its hinges.

Demonic howls grated over her. Isobel struggled to undo the seat belt except the latch wouldn’t release. She tried to shift so that her weight wasn’t hanging from it as much. It wouldn’t budge. Suddenly Lucian appeared, ripping the belt in half. He grabbed her arm, pulled her up, and before she could ask what was happening, he hoisted her through the open space of the back door.

Damien easily pulled her the rest of the way out of the car.

Isobel looked around in panic. The road and surrounding area was a seething mass of shadowy shapes. “Damien, what—”

Damien’s arms locked around her waist like iron bands, crushing her to him, then he rose into the air. Isobel’s breath left her in a rush as the ground dropped away. Her stomach flipped and twisted. Her fear of heights overwhelmed her and she clawed at his arms, screaming.

Lucian sent her a startled look from where he flew a couple of wing lengths away. Damien tightened his hold, ignoring the raking pain of her nails on his arm. “Isobel, calm down. I’ve got you. I promise you won’t fall.” She fought him in a blind panic. He spoke low and calm in her ear. “
Meae deliciae
, I am sorry. This is the only way. Please trust me.”

Her screams quieted and she stopped trying to shred his arms, but she still trembled. There was nothing he could do except reach her house as fast as possible. When he was sure Isobel wouldn’t struggle, he shifted her around so that she was cradled against him.

Isobel buried her face into his chest, her hands locked onto his shirt in a death grip.

Dusk pulled its star-sprinkled blanket over the sky when Damien landed gently on her back deck. He set Isobel on her feet and then caught her when she swayed. “I’m sorry, Isobel. It was the only way.”

Relief washed through him when she nodded and mumbled, “I know,” into his chest.

He brushed her hair away from her pale face. “You can open your eyes now.”

Isobel wasn’t so sure. She glanced to the side. Yes, she was safely on the ground. She took a deep shuddering breath. “That is an experience I’d rather not repeat.”

“I know.”

Isobel caught sight of the scratches on his arms that were already healing. “Oh, Damien. I’m so sorry.”

Damien smiled down at her. “Think nothing of it, they heal quickly.”

The images of the demons along the road filled her mind. “We have to hurry. They will come here, won’t they?”