Lost Eden (The Soulkeepers) Read Free Page B

to her advantage and stabbed underhanded at his gut. The knife cut through the suit jacket, but Cord’s hand snatched her wrist before the blade could penetrate his flesh. Still, the point smoked ominously against his black skin.
    “Ah!” Abigail squirmed under the pressure on her wrist bones. She kicked and clawed, pounded on Cords arms and chest. An attempt to sweep his legs at the knee failed miserably. Recovering, she kicked him as hard as she could in the balls.
    He extended his arm. She was a moth dangling from his fingers by the wing. “From Eden I presume,” he growled, staring at her useless knife. “This might have done some real damage if you weren’t so humanly slow. Is that any way to treat an old friend?”
    Harder. Tighter. Abigail was sure he was crushing her bones. She cried out, and the knife tumbled into the fallen leaves at her feet.
    “That’s better. Looks like our kitten has been declawed.” By her aching wrist, he yanked her forward into his chest, gripping the back of her neck and lifting until her feet dangled above the ground.
    She whimpered and struggled against him, but understood the effort was in vain. She had no power against Cord. Lucifer set a trap, and she in her haste and frustration walked right into it.
    Cord pressed his face close to hers. “I’m supposed to take you straight back to Lucifer. I wonder if he would notice or care if I made a snack of you first.” He ran his lips up the length of her neck. “A bite of flesh or two probably wouldn’t kill you.”
    Abigail swallowed. Eyes shut tight, she braced herself for the strike.
    With a deep inhale, he paused, fangs pressed against her skin. “Better not. I wouldn’t be able to stop. The smell of fear coming off you is …” He sniffed her neck again. “Delectable.” Abruptly, he glanced at his watch. “Out of time for games.” He tangled his arms and legs around her body in a serpentine fashion.
    “What are you doing?” Abigail asked.
    “Taking you to Lucifer.”
    Abigail’s spine snapped as he twisted into shadow. Her cells yanked apart, swept away by Cord’s sorcery. She again traveled by darkness, just as she had before she’d become mortal. Only, this ride would take her to Hell. Between chastising herself for her stupidity and preparing for the worst, she prayed that this trap had been meant for her and her alone, and that somewhere, somehow, Malini, Jacob, and the others were safe.

Chapter 3
    Eden
     
    M alini Gupta arrived in Eden accompanied by the other Soulkeepers. Fresh from her mission to Nod, she twirled inside the jewel encrusted foyer walls, relieved to be home safely. An unexpected wave of joy overcame her. Despite the loss of her hair and the fact that she was still dressed in the clothes she borrowed from the Hopi medicine woman, Malini laughed under the mural of Adam and Eve. Truth be known, she never thought she would see it again. Her work with Dane had been a suicide mission. Truly, only by the grace of God or maybe Fate had she survived.
    The twins, Samantha and Bonnie, blew into the school after her, all red hair and long limbs, the scent of sunshine and honey following in their wake. All Soulkeepers carried the scent, but it was especially comforting to Malini today. Ghost, never far behind Samantha, snagged her by the waist and twirled her through the atrium. He asked in a not-so-subtle way if he could get her alone. Ethan and Dane entered next, also hand in hand, although they left the dancing to the twins. Cheveyo, Grace, and Jacob paused in the doorway.
    “You’re beautiful, you know,” Jacob said to Malini. “Even freshly removed from Hell.”
    “That’s sweet, but I’d prefer if you didn’t have to see me this way. I hate that he did this to me.” She brushed a hand over her ragged, talon-shorn hair.
    “Maybe Abigail can make you an elixir to help you grow it back. There are plants in Eden with all sorts of healing qualities,” he said.
    “Nothing short of sorcery