Nexus Tear (Laments of Angels & Dark Chemistry Book 2) Read online

  Voice of an angel, Lucienne thought, as if he has the record of the angels’ tongue in his memories. Maybe he has?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  At the castle’s private banquet room, Lucienne dined with Claude Lam and Kian.

  Claude was four years older than her. He wore a polo shirt and Hugo Boss pants and carried the air of a rich, well-educated young man.

  Even as a boy, he was fascinated by Lucienne. They made a pact before she was crowned Siren. Pretending to be her enemy, Claude was her inside man in Hauk Lam’s circle.

  “I understand why you’ve been careful not to activate me all these years, cousin,” Claude started, cutting a piece of mushroom, “but the game has changed. I’m wasting my talent spying on Hauk, the figurehead.” He took a swig of wine. “I’d be more useful to you if I come home.”

  Lucienne was having sparkling water. She’d like a glass of wine, too, but Kian would give her grief. You’re not old enough to drink yet.

  “What position would interest you, Claude?” Lucienne asked.

  “The head of the Red Mansion.” Claude put down his glass, waiting for a reaction to the bomb he’d just dropped.

  “You want to take the Siren’s seat, too?” Kian asked coldly.

  “If I had a single thought of usurping the Siren, I wouldn’t leave here alive,” Claude said coolly. “I have a reason to ask for that.”

  “Claude’s loyalty has never faltered,” Lucienne said.

  “And never will,” Claude said fiercely.

  “Then give me another reason for not putting you down right now for your blasphemous demand.” Kian remained untouched by Claude’s declaration of devotion.

  “Nostalgia, a childhood dream, and my duty to the Siren and the family,” Claude said. “Red Mansion is my home, but it’s vacant, neglected by the Siren.”

  “You have the nerve—” Kian said.

  “Let him speak his mind,” Lucienne said.

  “The family is to blame,” said Claude, “but the Siren shouldn’t abandon the family altogether. All of us need to get past the bitter history. It’s time to forgive, heal, and rebuild.”

  “It isn’t your head the family wants to hang on the wall,” Kian said.

  “The family has changed since Lucia left the Red Mansion and expelled them,” Claude said. “Especially our generation.”

  “Last I recall, the former Siren candidates hate Lucia more than anything,” Kian said. “And many of them joined the Sealers.”

  “Not all of us hated cousin Lucienne,” Claude said, “though some of them failed to see the greatness in her, blinded by wounded male pride and inherited prejudice. But these few years, the family has watched how much she’s achieved and what she can do. They’ve seen the power of Sphinxes—the Siren’s uncrowned kingdom.”

  “Then why do we even need the family?” Kian asked “We’re doing well without them.”

  “There’s an old saying—one more friend, one less enemy,” Claude said. “Especially now that we’re facing the Sealers Brotherhood. Many of the former Siren candidates followed Hauk Lam, only to realize that fraud is the Sealers’ tool. I believe the Sealers’ ultimate goal is to take over the family.”

  Lucienne knew Claude had done great work to open the eyes of the rest of the family all these years.

  “So they’ve repented and want to get back in the Siren’s good graces?” Kian said.

  “The new generations have taken center stage in the family business,” Claude said. “We aren’t as stuck-up as our parents. We can get past the male-dominated tradition as long as the Siren can lead.” He turned to Lucienne. “If you still want them, half of them will be yours, and more will join. They still remember your coronation speech eight years ago word for word. You promised you’d lead us to glory.”

  Kian laughed coldly. “They want to hold her to her vows while they broke theirs?”

  “They want to help the Siren tear our common enemy—the Sealers Brotherhood—apart and rebuild the Red Mansion. We still have family pride. In the end, blood is thicker than water.”

  “I’m not so sure blood is always thicker.” Kian glanced at Lucienne.

  She got the meaning—the decision was always hers.

  “I’ve been out of touch with the family.” To a degree, she no longer considered the Lams her family. She had a new family she loved—Kian, Ziyi, Aida, and all the loyal men and women in Sphinxes. She sighed, “I swore to Jed that I wouldn’t forsake my family duties,” and turned to her cousin. “I’ll forgive their past sins if they want the Lams to be united again under my sole authority.”

  “Thank you, Siren,” Claude said, his fist across his heart, a gesture to renew his allegiance to her. “I’ll arrange a get-together.”

  “And you’re right, cousin Claude,” Lucienne said. “The torch should be relit in the Red Mansion. We’ll not let the Sealers undermine us. The Lams will be a family again.”

  “The candidates might test you before pledging their loyalty,” Claude said.

  “They have no rights,” said Kian. “Lucia doesn’t need to prove herself to them.”

  “I’ll accept their challenge,” Lucienne said. “And Claude, I’ll establish you as head of the Red Mansion. You’ll fill the void I left and be the liaison between the rest of the family and me.”

  “Lucia,” Kian said. “We need to think further on this.”

  “I trust Claude,” Lucienne said.

  Claude had gone through years of strenuous trainings and many hardships for her. His request to be the head of the Red Mansion wasn’t for his personal gain. It was best for the family, and in the long run, for her.

  “But cousin, while you can live on the premises—pick any place you like—you cannot live inside my Red Mansion. The mansion is home to Sirens only.”

  “I’d never dream of living in your Red Mansion.” Claude smiled. “If I tried to, Kian McQuillen would shoot me on the spot. I just want to live in my childhood house again.”

  “She can still throw you out at any time,” Kian said, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

  Lucienne was glad he had warmed up to the idea of the Lams coming together.

  “She won’t, unless I give her reason to,” Claude said. “And as head of the Red Mansion, I can perform another task. Even though the Sealers have been undercutting us, the Lams still have strong ties with many countries. Our strongest alliance is with the United States, our homeland. We need to show America that Sphinxes won’t be a threat, but a strong ally, should it become a nation. The education and training I’ve had, my Siren, are to serve you as your ambassador to the family and the nation.”

  “You’re an ambitious young man,” said Kian.

  “And I’ll drink to that,” Lucienne said, raising her glass of sparkling water and eyeing Claude’s wine while he raised his glass, too.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Lucienne searched the sky.

  The telescope’s lenses moved from a glowing band arching across the night heavens, skipped the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center, and probed deeper into the universe.

  The physicists at Sphinxes had been studying the star map she had photographed from the forehead of the female on the Rabbit Hole’s pillar. They hadn’t found a match in any of the galaxies humans had discovered.

  Energy vibrated in the air.

  Ash is here. Lucienne wheeled around to face him.

  Spike skipped over the lanterns hanging in the maple trees, sending a band of red leaves rustling in its wake, and touched down in front of Lucienne. Its rider set foot on top of the roof, his ice-blue eyes glinting in the hazy light of the lanterns.

  “Hello, Ash,” Lucienne said, happy to see him—and troubled at the same time.

  “You’re not wearing it.” He gave her the once-over.

  Her cheeks flamed under the weight of his gaze. Lucienne hoped the shades of the night concealed her blush. He was always straightforward—she understood that. But did he have to be so b
lunt to point out that she’d forgotten to wear a bra?

  Self-consciously, she looked down to see if her night gown was too filmy to hide her breasts.

  “The Eye of Time,” Ashburn quickly added with a look of embarrassment. “You’re not wearing it.”

  “Oh. I don’t want it to—”

  He regarded her. “It can influence minds, even locked in the Twilight Water.”

  “How do you know that?” She drew a breath.

  “When it’s in my vicinity, I can feel it.”

  “It’s tried to communicate with you, hasn’t it?” Lucienne bit her inner cheek, feeling the sting of jealousy. All it ever wanted was him. Whenever the Eye of Time reached out to her, it was to get to him.

  “I want it, too.” Ashburn shuddered in shame. “The longing to connect to it almost consumed me when I had the fever. Thank you for keeping it away from me.”

  “I was considering letting it take over if your fever didn’t break.”

  “But it broke.”

  For now. What if it came back? She thought. His genetic code was still a mystery, though she had his DNA letters from Schmidt.

  “If I gave in to the dark desire in me, I’d be lost forever,” he said, eyes glowing silver with gratitude. “Without you, Lucia, I’m lost.”

  Lucienne, however, wasn’t sure if she deserved the credit. He knew what she truly desired, and that she was the biggest threat to him, next only to the Eye of Time. He didn’t hide his vulnerability from her.

  It wasn’t like she had a clean record. Was he credulous? But he hadn’t trusted anyone but her. He hadn’t even shared his secrets with his parents or Violet.

  Was he using his apparent trust to manipulate her? Lucienne peeked into Ashburn’s eyes. There wasn’t an ounce of deception in them.

  Suspicion was like poison, and it shamed her.

  “You should know, Ash,” she said, drawing in a breath, “not a single day passes that I haven’t thought of linking the Eye of Time to you.”

  “Then why haven’t you done it?” he asked. “You could have done it a hundred times by now. You could even justify your action when I was unconscious.”

  “You don’t understand how frustrating it is,” she said. “You and the Eye of Time are both at arm’s reach, and—” The quest to reach Eterne burned in her blood, yet she was keeping it at bay for his sake.

  A strong ruler would sacrifice any individual to achieve such greatness. She was a wolf playing a sheep.

  “No matter how hard it is,” Ashburn said, “you can’t bring yourself to harm me.”

  “I can still turn on you,” she warned. “You have no idea who I really am.”

  “I know more than you think I know, Lucienne Lam. If you turn on me one day, I won’t blame you.” And he smiled at her.

  That guileless smile did a number on Lucienne. An ache to touch him mounted in her.

  Ashburn evidently noticed the enhanced magnetism between them. He looked like he wanted to move toward her, too, but held back. “The darkness in me is enormous,” he said, eyes turning a shade darker. “You caught only a glimpse of it, which was enough to scare anyone away, but you didn’t walk away from me.”

  “I was raised to chase the tornado,” she said, eyes sparkling, “not to run from it.”

  “But you didn’t bring the tornado into the house for my sake. You even locked the Eye of Time inside your chamber. I know how hard it is for you to be apart from it.” He paused. “When you promised we could have a future together, I saw light for the first time. I wasn’t alone in the dark. I’ll never be alone. That hope brought me out despair and broke my fever, so I came here to thank you.”

  “You never need to thank me for that, Ash,” she said fiercely. “I’ll never let you be alone in the dark.”

  “I also want to tell you I’ve been decoding TimeDust. I’ll find a way to bypass its terrible purpose.” His voice also turned fierce. “Lucia, I’ll do anything to be with you.”

  She knew he had hoped his feelings would wear out. But apparently he only felt more deeply for her as time went by, and their bond became stronger, no matter how hard they both tried to neuter their attraction. “Ash,” she whispered, stepping toward him.

  Ashburn became very still.

  The Lure was now like a host of fairies zipping around her, wrapping her with gold threads. This time, Lucienne didn’t try to tear through them. Ash was her destiny. She accepted it now; the bond between them was beyond the program.

  As she reached him, she felt like she was at the right place—and the wrong place. How could these opposite, conflicted emotions coexist? Did the wrongness come from her unresolved feelings for Vladimir?

  But Vladimir would never be hers.

  Bayrose’s lovely face flashed before her. The image of the girl’s small, elegant hand on Vladimir’s strong arm burned in Lucienne’s memories. And Vladimir hadn’t pulled away.

  They must have spent every waking hour together, even now. How could she blame him? It would be so much easier for him to be with Bayrose. Though Lucienne believed Vladimir wouldn’t betray her, his feelings for her would fade over time and distance.

  Brushing off the pain, Lucienne went straight into Ashburn’s arms.

  Leaning against Spike, Ashburn wrapped his arms around Lucienne’s slim waist. His cheek was warm against her hair. His scent made her miss the unlimited sky.

  Lucienne was lost in the rhythm of his strong heartbeat as hers picked up.

  “Lucia,” he whispered in her ear. His lips brushed against her hair, then dropped to her earlobe.

  Yes. Her eyes half-closed, Lucienne suppressed a moan.

  The heat on her skin from Ashburn’s lips hummed with the fairies’ song, each note sending her soaring higher and falling deeper.

  His lips started tracing the column of her neck.

  With a desire as thick as aged wine in her veins, Lucienne threaded her fingers through his hair and arched her neck for his mouth, which was both hot and tender.

  The whole world was forgotten, along with its trouble and heartaches, just like when she had kissed him on the battlefield of the Nirvana valley.

  This time she wanted to push further and soar higher. The fabled phoenix burned in flames and rose from its ashes. She wanted to be that bird.

  As her body grew unbearably hot with desire, an icy air drilled into her mind. Vladimir’s voice cut into her consciousness. “Láska,” he pleaded, “don’t do this. Please don’t give up on me, on us. Lucia, the love of my soul….”

  Lucienne gasped. It felt as if he had reached her through some supernatural power. The memory of the light in his eyes going out as he watched her kiss Ashburn flared before her.

  Lucienne stiffened in Ashburn’s arms. And his warm, soft, sensual lips lifted from her neck.

  As Lucienne pulled away, pain took her, as if a hand were twisting her insides.

  The Lure was displeased.

  It believed it had me this time, she thought wearily.

  His face paler than marble, Ashburn turned away from Lucienne. His hand grabbed the handle of Spike, his knuckles all bones and white flesh.

  The punishment from the Lure was always harsher on him. It didn’t matter that it was she who had resisted TimeDust. She wanted to go to him again and erase his agony. But instead, she staggered further away in sorrow and anguish.

  “It’s him, isn’t it?” Ashburn still wasn’t looking at her, as if he couldn’t bear to. “You’re still thinking of him,” he accused, his voice hard and cold.

  Lucienne dropped her gaze to the ground, hating herself for doing this to Ashburn, and hating Vladimir for doing this to her.

  “I’m a patient man,” Ashburn said, turning to her. “I’ll outwait him.”

  “It isn’t a game.”

  “No, it’s never a game to me.” He narrowed his now storm gray eyes. “You have no idea how hard it is to fight the dark power inside me. It’s changed me into someone I recognize less and less every day. If I d
on’t hold on to the light, the immense darkness will devour me. I’ll not let you go. I’ll fight him to the end.”

  “Ash, I can’t deal with any of this right now.”

  “I’m not asking you to deal with any of this or me,” Ashburn said. “I’m merely making a statement. The choice is always yours.” With that, he flung his long leg over Spike, and the machine hummed with a brilliant light.

  Lucienne’s eyes flew wide as panic expanded inside her. Stay, please. She opened her mouth but couldn’t beg.

  The pale dandelion light from the lanterns shadowed half of her face.

  “By the way, you shouldn’t trust Blazek that much.” He looked past her, his expression turning unreadable. “Nexus Tear isn’t the weapon he said is. It is the fifth element of your Siren’s mark.”

  Lucienne’s mind went blank for a second. Then understanding struck like lightning through a heavy-curtained window.

  A beastly wanting inside her had been nagging her since childhood. It was as if a fraction of her consciousness was lost somewhere. When she tried to find it, the dim flickering light always flew to the other side of the shore, forever beyond her reach.

  Was that what Jed mourned—the Siren’s curse? The unending feeling of incompleteness? Her ancestors called it the ancient punishment for their failures to locate Eterne.

  It was never a curse.

  All Sirens had been sabotaged by their ancient enemies, who must have stolen one element of the mark.

  Lucienne’s heart thundered so hard at the overwhelming knowledge that she was afraid it would just stop.

  “What?” she asked numbly as she finally found her voice.

  Spike dashed into the sky like a star.

  “Ash, wait!” she called.

  Ashburn didn’t look back. He vanished with his ride into the darkness.

  A gust of wind passed by where he had stood, now an empty space, reminding Lucienne how absolutely alone she was in her own home.

  The night grew deeper, but the lights from the war cruisers banished the darkness at the edge of Sphinxes’ water. They were patrolling to keep her safe, but safety wasn’t what concerned Lucienne.