Lead Me From Temptation (Divine Darkness Book 1) Read online

  I drug myself to the side of the bed and rested my naked body against the wall as I pulled the entire phone down from the nightstand.

  “Indie!”

  I slowly brought the receiver to my ear. “Hello?”

  “Indie, get up here. It’s Dad. There’s something wrong. Hurry!”

  I took a deep breath—it felt as though it was the first breath of my entire life. I crawled on my hands and knees to the dresser and found a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. As I dressed, each moment proved to give me a little more energy as my breathing returned to a pant. I stood, woozy at best and slid my feet into a pair of flip-flops.

  Walking as fast as I could to the elevator, I tried not to think about what I’d just experienced. I needed to focus on the task at hand.

  By the time the elevator door chimed I’d pulled myself together. Hopping off at the top floor, I was able to rush down the hall and walk directly into the room as a group of Italian emergency workers arrived.

  “Indie!” David shouted across the room as I rushed to Lewis’s bedside. “We came back from the meeting and he said he wanted to lie down, but a half hour later I came in to ask him a question and he was clutching his chest.”

  I grabbed my stethoscope from the other room as one of the EMTs put a blood pressure cuff around his arm. “Lewis?” I shouted into his face. “Lewis, can you hear me? I need you to talk to me! Did you take anything I didn’t give you?”

  David conversed in Italian behind me with the EMTs while Lewis stared into my eyes and blinked several times. His heart was beating normally—I didn’t think it was a heart attack. Using a penlight I checked his pupils. They dilated perfectly. Although his breathing was slightly labored, I didn’t see that anything was wrong. My only concern was that he was possibly having a reaction to the chemotherapy.

  Lewis’s Italian doctor walked through the door and I quickly updated him and drew some labs as he requested. He wanted to take Lewis in.

  “Dad,” David called to him. “We’re going to take you to the hospital.”

  “No!” Lewis shouted as he grabbed him by the arm. “No!”

  David turned to me and I gave him a reassuring nod. “I think he just overdid it today.”

  “How can you be so sure?” David asked as he came closer to me.

  I touched him on the shoulder trying my best to reassure him. “I’ve been doing this for a while now and yes, your dad is dying. But trust me,” I whispered as I looked around the room and saw not even the slightest indication of Spirit. “He’s not going right now.”

  David walked back to his father’s bedside and I assisted the doctor as we put cardiac leads onto Lewis’s chest in order to monitor his heart rate and blood pressure.

  Lewis continued to stare me down as I placed the patches on his chest. I couldn’t look at him. Each time I tried I felt the bile in my stomach lurch and I turned my head to cough to avoid vomiting.

  David and the doctor spoke outside the bedroom—the battle over whether to take him to the ER was raging.

  Double-checking his heart, I watched the ECG machine beep with a normal sinus rhythm. I turned to convince Lewis he should go to the hospital even if it was only to appease David and found him no longer lying down, but sitting on the edge of the bed—waiting for me.

  Frozen in fear, I said nothing as he stared through me and slowly reached for my hand with a quiet but evil laugh.

  I turned to call out to David as Lewis grabbed me by the wrist and brought me close, breathing me in. I couldn’t speak and I couldn’t move as an icy chill ran through my body and a flash of light pulled me from the room.

  I saw Lewis, dressed in Roman garb, as he ordered Christians to be fed to the lions in the Coliseum and watched as Mike cut him down with his sword. Falling to the ground in a heap Lewis died as Roman senators and other onlookers cheered. I turned away, unable to watch the carnage but only found myself observing Lewis again. Standing with Napoleon Bonaparte on piles of dead men, a war raged on around them. Mike appeared from no where, striking him with a sword and dropping him to his knees as his neck, slit from ear to ear, soaked his decorated uniform in blood.

  I screamed as I turned away only to see Lewis in a Nazi uniform, pushing women and children into boxcars of a train. “No!” I shouted as he saw me and stormed forward. Pulling the gun from Lewis’s hip and shooting him in the head, Mike put an end to his evil once again.

  Each time Lewis died, he looked into my eyes. I stared at him for only a moment and covered my face. I tried to shout. I wanted to scream, No more! But the words wouldn’t come. And as I touched my mouth, I realized my lips had been sewn together tightly—with a black cord.

  A flash of light caused me to wince and I saw myself, I stretched out in the claw foot tub of my small home in Barlow. Lewis stood over my naked body watching—waiting. Candles burned around me as I immersed myself under the water. I tried to scream, but remained silent as I bore witness to my own nightmare.

  I watched as Lewis dipped into the tranquil pool and calmly grabbed my neck. His massive hands crushed my windpipe as I thrashed against the sides of the cast iron, unable to help myself.

  Suddenly, Mike appeared as he pulled the sword from thin air grabbing Lewis by the throat. With one hand, my mighty warrior held him high off the ground before smashing his seven-foot frame to the tile floor.

  I watched as my body floated lifeless in the tub of water filled to the very top as each drop that fell to the floor echoed in the room—plink…plink…plink.

  I pulled at my lips as blood poured from my mouth. Closing my eyes tightly one last time, I clawed at the black cord that sealed my voice, ripping it from my swollen lips and screaming at the top of my lungs, “Nooooo!”

  Face to face, I stared into the eyes of Lewis Thornbury as I heard the ring of a flat line on the ECG. Prying his tight fingers from my wrist, I let go of his hand.

  Slowly, he sank onto the bed.

  David rushed into the room as the alarms sounded and the doctor began CPR alongside the EMTs, bagging and shocking him over and over. I could only stare at him—his now faded green eyes still open, still staring.

  I looked to my hands now bloody as I could taste the saltiness of the open wounds on my lips. Stepping away, I threw up in the corner trashcan. I was dizzy and as I passed out, I knew Lewis was gone from the earthly plane. No one had come to cross him over. As my world turned dark, I knew why.

  TWENTY-SIX

  It had been a month since Lewis Thornbury left the earthly plane and I’d stayed by David’s side through the entire ordeal.

  I’d held his hand as we stood at the graveside while Lewis’s friends and colleagues spoke of his greatness and the many things he’d accomplished. I comforted him as I stared not at the grave of his father, but the headstone of his mother Rachael, wondering how a woman of such light and love could ever fall for something such as Lewis.

  The weeks of depression and tears that followed gave me an inside look into the man that was David Thornbury. Devastated, he’d cried in my arms and gone through all the normal emotions of loss. But as I would stroke his head and console him, I couldn’t get the image of Lewis choking me out of my head. To David, I pretended to be upset—it was, after all, his father. On the inside I was thankful he was gone, even if it meant my work at GlobalTech was over and I would be going back to regular patient duties.

  David hadn’t been able to stay at his apartment inside the GlobalTech building and I had to admit, I felt a little spooked in my office there as well. I hadn’t cleaned it out entirely, but I told him I couldn’t bear to be next to the ICU room set up off of my office. He didn’t fight me and had conducted business from my house in Barlow for the past few weeks.

  He seemed at home in my tiny abode, and while there he made sure all the repairs that were needed the old home were taken care of. At first I didn’t want him paying for the painting of the outside, the installation of a new white picket fence or the new plumbing he’d had done in my lit
tle bathroom after I explained to him—although not fully—why I hated the claw foot tub.

  Still on the payroll, I’d not contacted Jonathan to get back to work, but had only chatted with him to say I would need a few months to sort some things out in my head.

  I’d begun an online journal and I’d chronicled all that I’d experienced and all that I had learned in the past two months using my blue spiral notebook as a starting place. I found it easier to get my feelings out if I typed. Somehow it didn’t seem as real if I didn’t use my hand to document it. Still, since the night in Rome when Lewis died, I’d not had another bad dream and I hadn’t seen or talked to anyone that wasn’t there.

  I felt a little stronger mentally every day. Dr. Nabi had chalked it all up to a bad mix of stress, Italian wine and Schedule IV pharmaceuticals. Since he’d changed my medication to a once a day antidepressant I’d not had another episode.

  As I sat on the couch I heard David’s car door shut. Hitting command S I saved my password protected document and closed the MacBook Air as he walked through the front door with the first smile I’d seen in weeks. “How are you?” I sang the words to him, hoping that if I fed off of his smile I could continue to lighten his spirits.

  He walked to me and kissed me on the mouth, seductively parting my lips with his tongue, giving me a long drugging kiss.

  “Wow,” I said as he pulled away.

  “It was a good day.”

  “Yeah?”

  “The takeover Dad and I were working on in Italy is a go and I’m feeling a little bit more like myself today.”

  I smiled at him, knowing I’d lost my heart to him long ago. I wondered if when the shock of his father’s death started to fade if his interest and what he termed undying love for me would fade as well.

  “I even went into the office for a bit,” David said as he sat on the couch and pulled my legs into his lap. “There was something in Dad’s apartment that I wanted.”

  “How’d that go?”

  “It was fine,” he said. “Good.”

  I moved into him and hugged him tightly. As he wrapped his arms around me I felt safe and warm. I knew I was in love. “What would you like to do for diner tonight? Dinner out? Do you want me to cook?”

  “Chinese?” he asked with his sly million-dollar grin. “I’ll go pick it up.” He kissed my neck and breathed me in. “God, I love you. Do you know that?”

  “I love you too, David.”

  “Promise you’ll never leave my side,” he begged as he pulled me to my feet and wrapped my hands around his own neck.

  “Why don’t you go pick up the Chinese food and we can discuss our happily ever after later.”

  David picked me up and spun me around once before setting me back on the floor. “Take a shower, get dressed and set the table. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  I laughed at him as he pulled his fancy sports car out of the driveway that could barely hold my car. Pulling the sweatshirt over my head, I walked into my newly renovated bathroom and turned on the two-person shower that took up the majority of the room.

  I bathed quickly as I listened to classical music—a surprise for the new digs from the Bluetooth gods and my adorable boyfriend. In fifteen minutes I’d showered and somewhat dried my hair. Applying red lipstick, I pulled a tight black dress from my closet. If David was in a good mood tonight I wanted to show him how wonderful our lives could be—even on our own.

  I whipped the hairbrush through my hair and smoothed the tight dress down the sides of my hips. I opened the door from the bedroom into the living room and found it completely covered in red roses lit only by what seemed to be at least a hundred candles.

  I gasped. “It’s beautiful.”

  He flashed me his smile and clutched his chest as if his heart were hurting. “You’re beautiful.”

  “You’ve changed your clothes,” I said as I admired him in his black suit and matching black shirt with gold cufflinks. “You know you made me weak in the knees the first night I met you and you were wearing this.”

  “Indie Luce, you made me weak the moment you said my name. And that black bra with the see through blouse? Damn, baby.”

  I giggled and leaned in to kiss his lips.

  “You’re just as beautiful tonight, Indie.”

  I looked past him as the table was set and completely covered in rose petals and candles. The only thing that looked out of place was the four boxes of Chinese food. I laughed at the scene and threw my arms around him. “You’re adorable. Did you know that?”

  “Do you like my little romantic dinner plan?”

  “Very much.”

  We sat and he poured the wine he’d already opened. “I know you don’t want to drink, but a little taste won’t hurt, will it?”

  “No,” I said, lovingly touching his hand as he poured me a quarter of a glass.

  “Now, we have Kung Pao, we have eggrolls, we have shrimp lo mein and we have garlic chicken with broccoli.”

  I picked up a chopstick and began to open the first carton. “This sounds vaguely familiar.”

  “I don’t know why.” David was trying his best not to smile, but I knew this was the exact dinner he’d brought to my house when we first met.

  We laughed and talked about my poor old car and the conversation only became bleak once as I mentioned that we left it behind at the cemetery.

  David cleared the leftover cartons and brought back two small plates—each one with a fortune cookie. “Are you going to read my fortune again tonight? Last time you embarrassed me.”

  “I remember,” he said softly. “I want to play a new game tonight.”

  “What do I have to say?” I asked as I picked up the cookie and danced it about in my hand.

  “You have to read what it says and then follow it with for the rest of my days.”

  “For the rest of my days?” I shot David a funny look. “This better not say something like you will rejoice in domestic work.”

  He laughed. “You go first. Oh, and see if you can get the paper out without opening the cookie. That’s extra lucky.”

  I pinched at the corner of the white paper that peeked out of the side. On my second try I had it between my fingers and slowly extruded it from the tiny gap.

  Turning it over, I read the words. “Indriel Luce, will you be…my wife?”

  I looked up to him as I felt the tears pool in my eyes. “Say the rest,” he begged as his own beautiful green eyes welled up.

  “For the rest of my days.” I swallowed hard. “David?”

  “Open it.” He smiled at me and I looked to my trembling hands holding the cookie.

  I sat the paper down as David came to my side and bent down on one knee. I cracked open the hard shell and found a princess cut canary diamond flanked by two diamond triads.

  He said the words as he slid the ring on my left ring finger. “Indriel Luce, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

  A single tear dropped from my eye and splashed on the sparkling ring as it glistened in the candlelight.

  I looked into his eyes as we both shed a tear and said the only word I knew to be right. “Yes.”

  EPILOGUE

  I’d been engaged to David Thornbury for two weeks—two glorious, wonderful, fabulous weeks. It had been announced in all the local and regional papers and even Entertainment Tonight ran a segment declaring that one of America’s wealthiest bachelors was officially off the market. I couldn’t believe he was all mine.

  We’d picked out a new home outside of Atlanta. David decided he didn’t want to live inside the GlobalTech building like his father. We’d set a date six months out in order to give us enough time to plan the wedding we both wanted.

  Since our engagement David had been preoccupied with work a lot, but that only gave me more time to visit with Aunt Sally and have girl time with Jonathon as he wanted to make sure he was able to put his fabulous touches to our wedding plans. I really did feel the best I’d ever felt in my entire life and as I drov
e into Barlow, AC/DC’s TNT blared in my car. The phone rang and the music turned itself down and displayed the name I would soon share—Thornbury.

  “Hello?” I answered the phone from the steering wheel, excited to chat with my future husband.

  “What’s shakin’, baby?”

  “Not much. Just going into Barlow for dinner. Jonathan was supposed to meet me for fried chicken night at Cortland’s but something came up. I’m going anyway and I’m going early so I can actually get some chicken.”

  David laughed and it made me smile. “I’m going to be an extra day in Rome, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, okay. Do you want me to reschedule the meeting with the caterer?”

  “I trust you. Just move ahead with plans as scheduled.”

  “Alright.”

  “I love you and I miss you, future Mrs. Thornbury.”

  “I love and miss you too.”

  “See you in a couple of days.”

  As I hung up I pulled into the town square and found a parking spot right in front of the store. I grabbed my messenger bag and waved to Burt as the bell rang over my head, signaling I’d arrived.

  “Hey Indie.”

  “Hey Burt.”

  “I hear congratulations are in order.”

  “Thank you,” I said as I moved to the counter.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “Really? It is fried chicken night, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, ma’am. But I’m afraid it’s not quite ready yet. You’re a little early.”

  “Uh, yeah,” I replied sarcastically. “Early bird gets fried chicken. At least this time.”

  Burt laughed as I laid a ten-dollar bill on the counter. “I’m paying for mine now before it’s all gone.”

  He gave me my change. “Have a seat and I’ll bring it out to you when it’s fresh and ready.”

  “Oh, and a Diet Coke.”

  “You got it.”