The Devil's Soldier by Rachel McClellan Read Free Book Online

knew nothing to tell." Anne glanced back at her again. "It would've been better if you had died."
    "Why's that?"
    "Boaz will find you, and when he does, that necklace is going around your neck. Then the whole world will bleed."
    "I won't let that happen. I'm going to stop him."
    Anne laughed, a short, curt snort. "Don't you think others have tried? Boaz can't be stopped without the Originals, and one of them died off long ago. No, the best thing you can do is slit your own throat and die."
    "The Originals?"
    "The four families who stripped Boaz of his powers in the first place. The ones who made that necklace."
    Eve's eyes widened in understanding. They didn't know about Henry! No wonder Henry was so secretive. It all made sense now. Why Henry was so desperate for Eve to find and help Lucien. With Lucien and Henry, and her having both Segur and Whitmore blood in her, they could stop Boaz!
    "Is there a way to destroy the necklace?" Eve asked. Maybe if they could eliminate that threat over Eve's head, they could more aggressively pursue Boaz.
    Anne shook her head. "The necklace is eternal. The best you can hope for is releasing Boaz's powers from it."
    "But is that even possible? I thought the magic within it only works when I wear it, because of my combined witch blood?"
    Anne scrunched her thin nose. "Only for you, huh? Do you miss the power? Anxious to get back to it?" She laughed. "Do you really think that's all Boaz wants to do with it? Give you added powers so he can use them too?"
    Eve tucked her hands beneath her legs on the bed to keep them from shaking. "I don't understand."
    "Boaz needs a powerful witch to release his powers from the necklace. The only one who can do it is someone who has the combined magic of the original two families. Add this to Boaz's power in the necklace, and finally you will have someone strong enough to release his magic." She sighed as if bored. "That's all he wants from you. He thought this would happen last time he put the necklace on you, but he misunderstood his own powers within the orb. It won't share with anyone. But he's found a way around this, thanks to your mother."
    Eve finally swallowed. "What will happen when Boaz gets his powers back?"
    Anne said nothing for a moment. The fire cracked and spit within the stone hearth, but Eve still felt no heat from its flames. Maybe it wasn't a real fire. Maybe it was just an illusion created by Anne.
    "The world as you know it will change," Anne said. "Humans will be brought to their knees. The ones allowed to live, anyway. With just a thought, Boaz will be able to kill whomever he pleases."
    Eve thought back to when she was Alarica. The necklace had allowed her to destroy things in the same way. Boaz would be so much more destructive. "How do we kill him?"
    Anne finished the last of the wine. "You have to return his powers."
    "But that doesn't make any sense."
    "It's the only way. He has to be made whole to be destroyed. That's where our ancestors got it wrong. Instead of killing him, they took his powers from him. They wanted to study him, wanted to understand his magic." Anne dropped the glass on the floor, shattering it into bits. "Wanted it for themselves."
    "How do you know this?"
    Anne shakily stood and crossed the room to a bookshelf in the corner. Her skimpy black gown barely stayed on her bony body. She removed an old leather bound book and tossed it to Eve. She barely managed to catch it.
    "A journal from one of the original families. It's all right there," Anne said.
    Eve opened the worn cover—a lone name was scribbled on the first page: Henry Archer .
    "Maybe he was wrong," she whispered, more to herself than Anne.
    "He wasn't." Anne slid back into the chair. "He tried killing Boaz while they had him locked up. A magical force, one he didn't even understand, prevented Boaz from dying."
    Eve didn't mean to let go, but the journal fell from her hands and thumped against the wooden floor. Henry knew this whole time. He knew the