Chapter 12
Andrew’s sporty red Firebird ran like a dream down the road. My family’s modest income could never, so I soaked it all in. The hum beneath the seat, breeze rolling through my hair with the t-tops down, and the woodsy scent of Andrew’s Calvin Klein cologne quickly became the best part of my night.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I know of a little get together going down tonight. If you’re down, that is.”
Nerves formed a lump in my throat and it must have shone like a neon sign that flashed ‘virgin’.
“Or I could take you home.” Andrew ran a hand through his tousled hair. The other gripped the top of the steering wheel in a sight that set my body tingling.
“No,” I answered with a shake of my head. “I’m down.”
Maybe it was reckless. I could practically hear my mother in my ear. You don’t know him, Dany. Be smarter, Dany.
For once in my life, I ignored it. The thrill of that act alone sent a rush of adrenaline running through my veins.
A mischievous smile dimpled his cheeks and I swear I fucking melted right into his leather seats as Andrew turned a dial on the stereo with a cheer. Kiss blasted through the speakers, nearly matching the volume of my excited scream.
I threw my hands up to the sky and belted out the lyrics to one of my favorite songs with Andrew. “I was made for lovin’ you baby, you were made for lovin’ me!”
***
“Dany.” A low, melodic whisper wrapped around my dreams. “Wake up, dearest Dany.”
The last notes of Kiss drifted away, replaced by the low, sweeping chords of a cello.
My eyes fluttered open to a living darkness. Wisps of shadow moved like dancers across a ballroom floor, hues of blue and purple glittering with every swirl.
“What…” I pushed up from a cushion of onyx that sparkled as if plucked from the midst of a galaxy. “Where am I?”
“Where do you think you are?”
I startled, barely holding back a yelp as I turned toward the voice and froze. Not just any voice.
His voice.
“Luci,” I breathed.
The small slant of his smile lit the surrounding dark and it was all I could see. “Dany.”
God he was dazzling. It made my heart flutter like a traitor.
Get it together, Dany.
“You know,” I said with a grunt as I stood, deciding that sarcasm was the best way to go until I could level myself. “Right around the time I died, this amazing thing happened with the telephone.”
“Oh?”
The way the word sounded like a velvet purr on his lips gave me chills. It was divine and devilish all at once.
“Yup.” I emphasized the P with a sarcastic pop to hide the sound of my gulp. “They removed the cord and made it pocket-sized. Now when you want to ask someone out on a date, you just call them. Ever thought about that, Luci?”
His eyes narrowed, and I stood hoping he couldn’t see the slight bulge of mine.
“I’m afraid I’m too old fashioned for a telephone, Dany.”
Small rays of light shown through arched windows of stained glass above, yet illuminated nothing. Flecks of debris floated through before disappearing back into the darkness.
“So the old nursery rhymes were right. The devil does make house calls.” My brows waggled above the most mischievous smile I could summon. “Except this isn’t any house I’ve ever lived in. So, where are we?”
Lucifer’s answer was a stare that robbed the air between us of oxygen.
I imagined that if normal people found themselves staring into the eyes of the devil, they’d do some sort of combination of shitting themselves, screaming the Lord’s Prayer, and pleading for mercy.
Me, though?
I felt like I was standing naked in a room full of people, but the only one I could see was Lucifer. A healthy dose of fear sent nerves flooding every nook and cranny of my insides. More than that was the anticipation coating my skin in sweat.
Judas help me. This man made me feel pent up in ways that I didn’t totally hate, but couldn’t come close to understanding. Rather than explore that with him–because why else would he bring me here other than to talk about the other night–I shut it down and did what Dany does best: deflect.
“Well then,” I sighed. “If you brought me here because one of the souls you collected wasn’t up to par, you can take it up with HR. Otherwise my job here is done.”
“Is it?”
A ring of fire encompassed my wrist. It felt like a nest of fire ants had been unleashed, and I knew exactly what they were circling. I rubbed the lonely red ring, but it didn't ease the burn.
That boxed-in feeling amped up with the irritation fueling it. I was well fucking aware of the soul I still owed him.
You’ll get it when I feel like giving it, I wanted to say. But I didn’t. Instead. I inspected the surrounding space to avoid his attention all together.
Wisps of shadow dispelled as I walked through it followed by a glow of waking light I couldn’t find the source of. Dusty bits of rubble left film over my fingers as I touched every surface, committing the pieces to memory until the layout of a fractured room began to take place.
Ornate tables turned to stone lined the crack-riddled walls, and I could make out the first step of what looked to be a short set of stairs.
Like we were situated on a dais. My eyes found him again, waiting for an answer while I scrutinized his position.
Though I couldn’t see through the dark, I was almost sure he was seated.
“Have you been looking for him?”
His words broke the tension like a rock hitting water, and the resulting ripple was an instant rage I couldn’t control.
“Don’t you dare bring him up. Christ in a corset I am so tired of you being on my ass about this. I’ve still got over a year to cash in. You’ll get your damn soul, Lucifer.”
What I was more tired of was being reminded over and over how big of a failure I was. How much I was disappointing him because I didn’t slit my killer’s throat like a blood-thirsty hell-hound five seconds after making my deal.
I was tired of feeling like I wasn’t good enough.
After a moment of consideration, he asked, “Are you finished?”
“Do you want more choir boy? Because I’ve got it.”
“I’ve grown disappointed.” Lucifer spoke as if he were reading from the dictionary, and that feeling of insignificance I felt tripled.
“I bore you from fury and vengeance. What I’ve received in return is petulance.
Timidity. Demons do not live in limbo, dearest Dany.
I gave you thirty-three years to claim what belongs to you and here we are with only one year left and little to show for it. ”
Is that what I am to him? Some sort of investment that isn’t seeing any returns?
Fuck. Did I care if that was what he thought? And if so, why? I shouldn’t. I knew that. But God he was getting under my skin in ways I didn't know how to decipher.
I let out a frustrated growl, and I didn’t care if it made me sound petulant.
“Only children find joy in instant gratification, Luci.” I spat his name, letting every ounce of vitriol pierce the air like flying daggers as I stalked forward.
I was used to being a disappointment. For some reason, though, I didn't think I’d been one for Lucifer.
The idea that I was stung. My toes hit the base of his stone chair and, without fear, I placed my hands on the arm, leaned in until we were eye-to-eye and growled, “and his death comes when I will it.”
White flame licked the one emerald iris, setting the jewel tones blazing in brilliance. “There she is.” His silken voice was low and dangerous with a hint of…
Pride?
For the second time in my existence, my soul left my body in his presence. I couldn’t speak around the lumps of cotton drying my mouth. Maybe pride had been a trick of my mind? The fire just a reflection of light?
Sodom and Gomorrah I hoped not. His one praise was worth living a lifetime as a disappointment.
Lucifer stood, smoothing invisible wrinkles from his black satin button up and straightening the cuffs where they sat rolled above his forearm.
The satin’s color complimented the deepest green in his eye.
Soft lips I’d die all over again to kiss, and a jaw line I could practically already feel in my palms.
Sin was so goddamn beautiful.
He offered one pale hand and asked, “Would you care for a dance?”
“I–I’m sorry,” I stammered, too lost in his beauty to fully comprehend what he was asking. “A what?”
He smiled softly. “A dance, Dany.”
A dance with the literal Devil?
The long forgotten chords of the cello swelled through the empty space as if it were a melody lost in time. Lost, but never gone.
Lucifer brushed the tips of my fingers, watching me with endless patience until I conceded and slipped my hand in his. The moment our palms touched, an ancient whisper stirred, flowing down my body in light wisps until they swirled at my feet and drifted away.
“There,” he whispered and the tenderness made my knees quiver. “One cannot dance in dirty cotton.”
Gone were my worn pajamas, and in their place, the most hauntingly beautiful gown I’d ever seen.
“Luci?” Before I could speak another word, Lucifer gripped my waist and swept us into the waiting darkness.
Waves of sheer black fabric cascaded behind us. An iridescent sheen of green and silver caught on the dim light that grew more icy and argent as he led us across the floor. It felt as if we were floating on a winter breeze.
The chill of him brushed against my exposed flesh, creating the most heady tingles to tame the heat rolling off of me in waves.
I closed my eyes and let go.
Lucifer’s fingers splayed wide on my lower back, the tips of his fingers dipping just low enough to graze the top of my behind. The hold felt neither possessive nor protective. Rather, it was a firm caress that lifted me up.
“You look stunning in green.”
“I, uh–” My gulp was audible. “I didn’t know you were capable of handing out compliments, Luci.”
His smile caught the shine refracting from the stained glass above. “I’ve been known to let one slip every millennium or two.”
Goddamn his smile…
Maybe I could make him do it again.