Renegade ♥’s Reviews > Infernal Embrace > Status Update

Really enjoyed this and definitely looking forward to future adventures with Lucius and Beth! Well done, Ms. Chanticleer :)

"You would spare him?" [Her] snarl rang through the barren plane. "Have you any idea what this man has done in his many lifetimes, witch?"
Beth stood in front of Lucius & [spoke] with conviction.
"His actions while bound [...] pale in comparison to yours. Everything you've done has been of your own free will."
[She] gave a low knowing chuckle.
"Free will? Is that what separates the guilty from the innocent?"

"What exactly do you mean to do with that, mortal? It might as well be a matchstick in its current state," she teased. "Do you perhaps intend to throw it at me?"
Her question was delivered with a facade of light-heartedness but the malice behind it was unmistakable.

Large fingers clutched hers.
"Bethany, you can say no. This is entirely up to you. Just say the word & we'll figure something else out. We'll find her some other way, you don't have to do this."
She leaned into him, pressing her forehead against his knuckles, breathing in his scent & wishing she had even half his strength. If only she had another choice...
But [...] it had to be her.

"You try to stay calm with this thing coming after you, damn it. Maybe we can make a run for-"
In chancing another look back, she lost her footing over a thick clump of long matted grass & started to fall. The viper surged forward [...], baring its fangs & stretching the pale pink span of its mouth.
Lucius dove at the thing & sliced the Tibetan blade through the air on his way down to the ground...

"I've tried so hard to keep all this from you. The death, the curses, and everything else that comes with knowing about magic. I was thrust into this world against my will and I regret nearly every day since I was rescued from that cell in Rome. I didn't want this for you, Bethany. You deserve better."
Better than me, he added silently.
"Stop." She encircled a hand around his forearm and he paused.

"Who are you? Did you curse [her]?" He was right up in [his] unfocused face, interrogating & forcing him harder against the side of the jeep with every growled question. Thunder rumbled across the Crescent City in a rolling boom.
"Lucius, stop!"
He ignored Beth's pleas [...].
"Tell me or I'll take your head off!"
When [he] didn't answer, Lucius roared [yanking] him forward only to slam him into the car once again.

"And it's just a knife, right? It doesn't have any supernatural properties or anything?"
The corner of Reggie's mouth lifted into a playful smirk. "Not any that she's chosen to divulge just yet. But I have faith she's got a secret or two to reveal for the right person."
Beth sighed, swiping the pad of her thumb over the smooth handle.

"We work on this one job, that's it." She sliced her hand through the air from left to right. "Then in return you'll teach me what you've learned?"
"Darling, I will teach you everything."
Choosing to ignore yet another double entendre, she extended her hand to seal the deal w/ this devil in a single-breasted suit. She made sure to send a biting current into his palm as a warning she wasn't to be trifled with.

"What?" Aghast, she withdrew her hands. "That could kill him, no!"
"It might, that's true. But what's inside him now will definitely kill him. I'd do it for you if I could, but I'm not a full mage, Beth. I can't wield magic like you can."
"Shit. Shit!" She held the back of a trembling hand to her mouth, trying to think straight. "Isn't there another way?"
"Sorry, love. If you want to save your boyfriend, this is it."