Seduced by Chaos (12 page)

The baby squirmed in her arms and she glanced down as he opened his eyes. They were a warm chocolate brown, the same shade as the eyes of the
Mal
standing behind her. She drew in a deep breath as the baby caught sight of her. His eyes went wide then scrunched tight as his perfect little mouth opened to emit a screeching howl.

Struck dumb, Lacey didn’t have a clue what to do.

“Here, I’ll take him,” Michael said. “I’ll get our stuff together. We’ve got to go soon.”

Lacey froze as the
Mal
moved closer. She felt her skin shrink in fear and hated him for it. Her thoughts had to be written all over her expression because he grimaced and shook his head. She thought she saw pain in his eyes.

He lowered his gaze to the baby just then, so she couldn’t be sure. And though she didn’t want to give Aron to him, she was sufficiently stunned that she couldn’t do anything as he took the crying infant.

Michael held the baby up to his shoulder with the ease of a man who knew what he was doing. And the baby stopped crying, its little hands reaching for Michael’s shirt, gripping it tight. As if Aron knew he was safe in his arms.

The
Mal
exchanged a long look with Cara before nodding to Lacey and walking into the next room, shutting the door behind him.

The room started to spin around Lacey and she shut her eyes and took a deep breath before she fainted. “Cara, I don’t know…”

What to say, what to think, what to feel, who to trust.

Cara grabbed her hand and squeezed hard until Lacey looked at her. “I trust Michael with my life and the life of our son. You can trust him with yours. Yes, he was 93

Stephanie Julian

born
Mal
. And he’s worked for them all his life. But he’s not all bad, Lacey. He can’t be.

Not the way he cares for Aron.” Cara looked away for a brief second. “And not the way he cares for me.”

The look on her sister’s face made Lacey gasp. “You can’t honestly think you’re in
love
him?”

Cara’s face went expressionless between one second and the next. “I never said that.

And Michael has never said those words to me. But he has kept us safe and out of the
Mal
’s hands and I trust him to do the same for you. If you can’t trust him, trust me.

“Michael has never been wrong about this. We have to leave now if we expect to keep ahead of them.”

“Where will you go?”

Cara shrugged. “We move a lot, never settle in one place for too long. When Michael got the heads-up that you were here, we were in Virginia. Before that, Kansas.”

“That’s no way to raise a child.”

The words escaped before she could stop them and her sister flinched as if she’d hit her.

“Don’t you think I know that?” Cara’s voice held tears. “It’s not perfect but the alternative is worse. Much worse.”

Yes, it was. The
Mal
would pay any amount of money to get their hands on a baby that wasn’t supposed to exist. They would make Aron into a monster like them and Cara would become an experiment. A breeding experiment. And they would never stop searching for Lacey to see if they could make her pregnant as well.

What if you’re already pregnant?

Teo. Oh God.

“Lacey? What’s wrong?”

What would Teo do if she just disappeared without another word? Would he look for her? Or would he let her go without a fight?

94

Seduced by Chaos

She didn’t want to leave him.

She didn’t want to lose her sister again either.

“Cara, what if you could stay here? What if we made it safe for you here? I’ve been hiding in plain sight for the past year. I’ve met someone, someone who might be able to help us.”

Cara’s eyes widened in fear. “You told someone about us? Told him everything?”

“Yes, but—”

“Tinia’s teat, Lacey, what if he’s the one who told the
Mal
where to find you? What if he’s the reason they’re on their way here right now?”

Lacey didn’t have the slightest reservation. “No. He wouldn’t do it.”

“Is that the man you were with tonight?”

Lacey frowned. “How did you know?”

“Michael’s very thorough. He was in the bar earlier tonight.”

Lacey gasped. “How did he get through the wards? They’re specifically set to go off if a
Malandante
tries to get in.”

Cara shrugged. “Michael’s different.”

Different. Like Teo was different.

“Cara—”

The door into the apartment burst open and her sister started to scream.

95

Stephanie Julian

Teo stepped from the peace of Sal’s living room into mayhem.

The clash of metal on metal reached his ears as his brain took a second to process what he saw.

Against the far wall, Lacey stood side-by-side with a tall dark-haired man, their bodies sheltering a woman behind them, her head bent over a blanket in her arms as she chanted a protection spell. Five men with blades of varying length stood in a half circle around them.

Lacey wielded a pair of short blades, her hands only a little shaky as she fought to keep the man in front of her at bay, her fierce expression tinged with desperation.

The guy at her side engaged the remaining four men with a skill that rivaled Cam’s.

But Teo could tell the guy was wearing down.

Before he could stop it, the
amentia
rose up with the force of a hurricane, swirling around him and attracting the attention of everyone in the room. For one second, everyone froze…except Sal, who ran into the fray and swung his sword at the first man he came to.

Teo followed on Sal’s heels and another man turned to engage him. As his sword bit into the man’s blade, Teo forced him to turn away from the women.

He wanted both men closest to Lacey to fight him, to draw them away. But the guy engaged with Lacey pressed harder and she stumbled back a step.

The
amentia
surged again, rolling off him in a wave of heat. It struck like lightning, making the men snarl and the women gasp. Only Sal seemed to be unaffected as he pressed the momentary advantage and forced his opponent to take a step sideways to avoid his blade.

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Seduced by Chaos

Fear made Teo’s blood freeze in his veins. Fear that he was losing control. If he did, the
amentia
would escape and this fight would become a bloodbath. With no assurance that any of them would come out alive.

The thought gave him added strength to battle with a ferocity born of desperation.

Lacey was no fighter and her terrified expression made him fight harder.

His opponent was damn good with a sword, better than Teo. But the guy was too controlled, his moves too practiced. And Teo had much more to lose.

Teo let his emotion fuel his attack, let it control his movements. His fury had an unpredictability that gave him a slight advantage over his opponent, and when the other man expected him to parry, Teo instead used the butt of the sword to hit the guy in the face. As he dropped to the ground, Teo swung the blade around and caught the man attacking Lacey on the arm.

The man roared as the blade cut through to bone and Teo used the advantage to force him another step farther away from Lacey.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the dark-haired man move closer to the woman on the floor, blocking her more effectively from the two men trying to take him out.

Clashing metal and male grunts filled the air as the fight got desperate. He felt Lacey moving behind him but couldn’t take his eyes off the man he was fighting.

Teo fought until sweat stung his eyes and his palms slid on the hilt. Holding back the
amentia
was becoming more and more difficult as he weakened against his opponent. He couldn’t afford to falter—

Lacey cried out behind him and he pushed the guy he was fighting back long enough to see what had happened.

One of the men had gotten a grip on the other woman and Lacey slashed the guy across the arm with her one of her knives. With a muttered obscenity, the man punched out with his sword hand and hit Lacey in the cheek with the hilt.

97

Stephanie Julian

Her pained gasp made a black haze creep across Teo’s vision. The tenuous grip he held on his control fractured, shattered into a million pieces. Each fragment fed back into the
amentia
, made it stronger.

The hunger to create havoc opened like a pit inside Teo, threatening to devour his sanity. The force of it nearly took him to the floor and he locked his knees against it.

For a brief second, he contained it but the man who’d hit Lacey lifted his hand to do it again.

Teo released the
amentia
with a roar. It rolled out of him on a wave, seeking the closest victims to infect. It hit the other men in the room with a blast of fury, causing everyone to pause again, to shake their heads in confusion.

Everyone except Sal and Teo. And they used it to their advantage.

Teo stuck his sword through the side of his opponent, who gasped in pain and dropped his weapon to clutch at the spreading red stain on his shirt. Teo pushed him to the ground before reaching for the man who’d dared to hit Lacey.

Unfortunately this one sucked in the
amentia
like it was fuel and the desire to spill blood shone in his eyes.

The man turned just as Teo was about to hit him. He deflected Teo’s blow with a block that made Teo’s arms quiver and quickly swung around, aiming the blade at Teo’s neck.

Teo saw it coming, knew he was going to be too late to save himself when his opponent howled and crashed to the floor. He reached for his leg, where Lacey’s dagger jutted out from the thigh.

Two down. Three to go.

The
amentia
boiled inside him, lava hot and hungry. Teo turned on the next closest foe. The
Mal
raised his sword, ready to slash through the dark-haired man’s neck. Teo got his sword up to block before it connected and, with a vicious twist, sunk the blade in the man’s throat as the dark-haired man went to his knees.

98

Seduced by Chaos

Blood splattered against his skin and the
amentia
demanded more.

Blessed Goddess, give me the strength to stop.

But his prayer went unanswered. He turned, his body following a compulsion he couldn’t deny. He wanted to stop, or at least slow down. The
amentia
wanted to tear flesh.

As he went after the two remaining men, he heard Lacey call to him.

He couldn’t stop. The lust for chaos had him by the balls and he had to listen.

The two men didn’t stand a chance between him and Sal. They knocked them down in minutes, left them bleeding and unconscious on the floor.

And still the
amentia
raged.

His hands flexed on the sword, his knuckles tightening so much they cracked.

“Teo.”

He heard Lacey say his name, heard the fear in her tone. It did nothing to ease the bloodlust.

He growled like an animal, his gaze still focused on the two men closest to him. He lifted the sword.

“Teo, no!”

His hands faltered but only for a second. He brought the sword down and only Sal’s blade blocking his kept the man’s head attached. His sword sank into the floor and stuck there.

“Sal, get them the hell out.” He had to force the words past his teeth, gritted tight against the need to snarl. “Get them away from here now.”

“Teo, what’s wrong?”

The fear in Lacey’s voice bit into him. He wanted to ease her. Instead he snarled in her direction and tore his sword out of the floor.

“Sal! I can’t hold back much longer. Get them out and send me home.”

99

Stephanie Julian

If he could just get home, in familiar surroundings, he might have a chance of getting himself under control. And if he couldn’t then he had a room in his home specially built for times like this.

He closed his eyes and used every ounce of his control to freeze himself into immobility.

Power brushed against him, signaling Sal’s magic at work. He took a deep breath without opening his eyes, knowing instinctively that he was back in his own home.

He started to pray.

“Blessed Goddess Uni. I entreat you. Hear my plea.”

“Teo.”

His eyes flew open, horror freezing his veins. “Fuck! Lacey, gods damn it. You shouldn’t be here. Why the hell aren’t you with Sal?”

She shook her head. “He sent us both here. Teo, tell me what’s going on?”

“You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave.”

“Why?”

“I’m dangerous, damn it. I’m infected with the
amentia
! You’ve got to get the hell out, Lacey.”

“No, I’m not leaving you.”

He gritted his teeth against the need to grab her. “You have to. If you don’t, I’ll hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me.”

“You don’t know that, Lacey.”

Her eyes blazed with conviction. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

“If you don’t get out of here, I’m going to come after you, Lacey. The
amentia
demands a release and it’ll see you as an outlet.”

“I can handle you, Teodoro.”

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Seduced by Chaos

Lust rose up, biting at the heels of the blood lust. And with it came fear.

He wanted to grab her, throw her on the floor or up against a wall. Rip off her clothes and pound into her. His hands started to shake, the sword quivering.

“Put it down, Teo. I know you won’t hurt me with it.”

The sound of her voice eased his grip on the hilt and the sword slipped from his fingers. Leaving him with nothing to focus on but her.

His breathing grew labored, so much so his chest hurt. His arms ached from the effort it took to restrain himself and his leg muscles shook because he wanted to go to her so badly.

As he struggled to keep from touching her, she moved closer.

Putting her hand on his forearm, she blew his restraint to hell.

Lacey knew what she was doing. She knew what the consequences would be.

She understood that Teo needed a release and she was willing to provide him with one. He needed somewhere for the power, the fury created by the
amentia
to go. She wasn’t exactly sure what
amentia
meant, other than the fact that it translated into madness in Latin. But Teo was terrified he would hurt her because of it.