Immanuel's Veins by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page B

eyes remained on Natasha. “I will say, my dear, you may test me anytime.”
    â€œIf you’re so lucky.” She winked. “What say you, Toma? Is it nonsense?”
    His brow was starting to bead with sweat. He ran nervous fingers through his curls. “Nonsense?”
    â€œDo you have any interest in her?”
    Lucine suddenly wanted him silent. There was no good answer. If he said yes, it was as likely provoked as true. If he said no, it would only be to protect her. Either way she might find discomfort in the answer, not knowing why he said what he said.
    But two could play Natasha’s game.
    She stepped toward Toma, wearing a daring smile. “Don’t be silly, Natasha. Of course he has interest in me. Don’t you, Toma? I’ve certainly expressed my own interest clearly enough.”
    She closed in on him, placed her palm on his chest, then turned away, removing her hand.
    â€œBut just because you find someone appealing doesn’t mean you throw out restraint. Toma has proven that, and I find it charming.”
    They all looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. It wasn’t her typical behavior. She relished their reaction.
    Natasha was the first to burst out laughing. She was delighted and showed it by hugging Lucine, who felt herself blush.
    â€œYou think I’m not dead serious?”
    Alek couldn’t resist the call to join Natasha with laughter.
    â€œNot as dead serious as the man they hauled out of here,” Toma said, clearly grateful for an opportunity to change the subject. And all three of them thought that comment hilarious for its brashness. Lucine too, but she was more taken by the laughter itself. Mother would love it.
    â€œWell, there you have it, Natasha,” Alek said, still grinning like a boy. “It’s all set.”
    â€œWhat is?” Natasha asked.
    â€œThis. You and I. He and she. It’s practically written in the stars.”
    â€œIs that so?”
    Lucine sneaked a glance at Toma, knowing already that Alek would later get an earful from him.
    â€œAm I so easy?” Natasha asked with daring in her voice.
    Toma’s eyes caught Lucine’s and he failed to hide a sheepish smile.
    â€œLet’s hope not,” said Alek. “I detest easy women.”
    Lucine saw truth in Toma’s eyes in that moment. The sparkle, the desperate attempt to hide a secret, the quick shift. He did have feelings for her, didn’t he?
    â€œTake a walk with me, dear,” Natasha said, reaching a hand out to Alek.
    He looked at his superior. “Toma? Are we done here?”
    â€œWe are.”
    Alek took Natasha’s hand and they left, high as two birds. The outcome was a foregone conclusion.
    Watching them go, Toma looked lost without his partner.
    â€œWould you like to take a walk?” Lucine asked.

    I was a bowl of jelly. My legs were water.
    I was a strong man. I could easily lift a man of Alek’s size and hurl him across the room into a wall and had done so on several occasions before we agreed to be friends. I had chased down many an enemy on foot, leaped upon them, and slit their throats. I was as comfortable with a sword in the middle of a battlefield, leading a thousand men as they hacked into infidels, as I was drinking tea in the tents with those men.
    In Her Majesty’s courts I was called the lion.
    But there in the garden, standing four feet from Lucine, who had just put her hand on my chest, I was as weak as a lamb.
    The turmoil I’d suffered the last few days flashed through my mind. You see, the night after I shot Stefan, I had lain on the plush pillows, unable to sleep, convincing myself that the Russians must have brought a spell with them that infected me. But the only spells I believed in were the ones delivered with a swift blade or a true musket. There was no devil, no God, no power beyond that of man.
    What was there in a set of eyes, a mouth, two breasts, thighs, feet, and a