CHAPTER NINE
As morning crept over the horizon, I sat on the bench in front of Adam’s shop and tried not to fidget.
Gray clouds roiled in the sky. They brought wind with them, and change, along with white dandelion seeds riding the air.
While I waited for the devil himself to show up, I kept glancing over at the office door to reassure myself that no one was inside.
It was Sunday, and the shop was closed. The guys had all gone across the street to Bea’s, just as I’d known they would.
I hadn’t told any of them I was coming. Not even Collith knew, since I’d left in my running clothes.
I had taken Emma’s car, which Collith undoubtedly heard, but it wasn’t unusual for me to try a new trail somewhere nearby.
If I’d told him the truth, he would have demanded to be present for this meeting, which I had never agreed to so my conscious was clear. Mostly.
Although Laurie wasn’t here, either, I knew what he’d say about that. I could picture his smirk as he drawled, Well, well, look who’s thinking like a faerie.
I’d chosen our meeting place carefully. I didn’t want Lucifer anywhere near the homestead, and I didn’t want him in a public place, either. But I was still close enough to the bar that I could call for backup.
If Lucifer did show—I didn’t exactly have a way of confirming with Oliver that he’d passed on my message—this would be my second reunion in the past twenty-four hours. But I knew it wouldn’t be nearly as joyful as the first. The corners of my lips quirked as I thought about Narfu.
The demon had been so careful when he’d embraced me, the tips of his large claws lightly grazing my shoulders.
Narfu was back at home now, situated comfortably in the barn.
He had refused to come upstairs, which was probably for the best, since I didn’t fully trust him around Matthew.
Emma ignored my warnings and brought Narfu a pile of blankets and pillows.
When I’d left the demon, he had been sitting on his new makeshift bed, his long neck arched back to peer up at the window.
Some of the terror that had been clinging to him was gone.
I already knew what Laurie was going to say when he heard about our latest arrival. Another stray, Fortuna?
I wasn’t clear on the logistics of having a giant lizard for a roommate, but we’d figure it out. It was a good thing the house was fairly isolated.
Suddenly the mental image of Narfu vanished, and my skin prickled with awareness. I wasn’t sure what made me turn—there was no sound, no shadow. One moment, I was alone, and the next Lucifer stood there in all his golden glory. A surprised breath caught in my throat.
“Hello, Fortuna.” He wore a black suit, and it was similar to others I’d seen him in.
Even in direct light, the defined features of his face were smooth and flawless, as if they’d been chiseled from stone by God.
Not for the first time, I resented Lucifer’s beauty.
I hated that I noticed it. I tore my gaze away from him and searched for Oliver, but the devil seemed to have come alone.
“It’s good to see you,” Lucifer said. He studied me, and his smile faded. “You haven’t been sleeping.”
“The last time we saw each other, you shoved a fence post through my stomach,” I reminded him coldly. “I don’t think you really care about whether I’m sleeping well or not.”
“To what do I owe this pleasure, then?” Lucifer asked. Startling me, he bent and settled on the bench. He sat on the other end, but I could still smell him. Just like that, I was back in Hell, in Lucifer’s bed, that enticing scent all around me as I completely lost myself in him.
“The killing needs to end,” I said, meeting Lucifer’s gaze without flinching. My voice was steel. “And you’re going to release whatever hold you have over Oliver.”
His expression didn’t change—he’d been expecting this, probably.
Lucifer turned his head, the bright daybreak catching strands of gold and making them glitter.
He scanned the horizon, his full lips deepened at the corners.
At last he replied, his voice as neutral as ever, “The Beast has proven himself useful in my purpose here.”
Resentment surged through me, and I felt my fists begin to clench.
I forced my fingers open again and schooled my features back into a cool mask.
It wasn’t a no, I reminded myself. Lucifer wasn’t the only one who knew what to expect.
He might’ve been the Dark Prince, but he was still Fallen.
He liked bargains and ploys just as much as a faerie.
This was the part where I offered him something in exchange for Oliver’s freedom.
I opened my mouth to ask Lucifer what he wanted … but I couldn’t do it.
“And what is your purpose here?” I asked instead.
“That is the question, isn’t it?” Lucifer squinted at the sun. “Perhaps one day I’ll have a chance to ask the Maker again.”
A blatant dodge. He wasn’t going to tell me anything.
I’d known it wouldn’t be that easy, but I still had to try.
Because Laurie was right about one thing—Lucifer hadn’t clawed his way to this world just to play human or get out of Hell.
And if he didn’t want me knowing the truth, it meant I probably wouldn’t like it.
Frustration threatened to overcome me again.
How could I stop him if I didn’t even know what he was doing?
Judging from the demon Lyari had killed, and the fact that Narfu was in my barn right now, Lucifer’s plan was already at work.
He’d never tell me anything … but that didn’t mean I couldn’t get information out of him. He obviously wanted to talk.
“A couple weeks ago, something ran me off the road,” I said impulsively. “It had long limbs and its skin was white. I remembered seeing a similar creature during my time in Hell. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“Sounds like a yar demon,” Lucifer remarked, leaning against the backrest of the bench. He propped his elbow on it and his forearm dangled between us. “Their magic is incredibly useful. For the most part, it involves shielding and blocking. Their presence can even affect technology.”
“Why is it here?” I asked. This time, silence met me. No surprise there. I changed tactics and said, blurting the questions rapid-fire, “How did you know what Oliver was? What he’d done?”
Lucifer’s shoulders moved in a slight shrug.
“It’s here because I’ve been … experimenting.
Regarding the Beast, I simply put two and two together, my lady.
As you’ve become aware, Nightmares can manifest dreams or fantasies into reality.
It was immediately obvious that your Oliver wasn’t just a dream, and I’d already deduced that you consider him your childhood friend.
The fact his creation coincided with your parents’ deaths couldn’t be coincidence. ”
For a moment, I sat in stunned silence. So it had taken Lucifer seconds to see what it took decades for me to figure out. The realization definitely smarted. And if Lucifer was able to do that, he probably knew how to kill Oliver, too. Just like I told Collith and Laurie.
I also wanted to ask about these experiments, but if I had any hope of getting answers from Lucifer, I needed to rattle him. Throw him off his game. The devil was always ten steps ahead of us, and there was only one way to even the playing field—emotion.
I looked at Lucifer again, and the wind played with a strand of my hair as I asked, “Did Persephone ever manifest anything?”
Lucifer stood up from the bench in one smooth motion.
His expression was neutral, but there was a stiffness in the way he held himself that made satisfaction curl inside me.
“Like it or not, Lady Sworn, you are a creature of dreams, just like me. You are capable of so much more if you open your mind to the possibilities. I can show you, if you’ll let me,” Lucifer added.
He held his hand out. I looked at it, then up at him, my lips pressed together in thought.
I didn’t miss that Lucifer hadn’t answered my question about Persephone, either.
But I had finally learned my lesson when it came to bastards and bargains, and this time, I decided to settle for good, old-fashioned violence.
I got to my feet, too, and tipped my head back to meet the devil’s gaze. “If you don’t stop killing people, or using Oliver for your dirty work, I’ll end you. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll find a way. I always find a way.”
“So full of fire, aren’t you?” he murmured. A small smile flickered at the corner of Lucifer’s lips and flared bright in his eyes. He ran his finger along the edge of my jaw, exactly where Laurie had touched me the last time I’d seen him. “It’s going to be glorious watching you burn.”
I shoved his hand away. “Never again,” I hissed.
“Never doesn’t exist for an immortal.” Lucifer’s voice dropped, the heat of it trying to penetrate the wall of ice around my heart. “It wasn’t all a lie, Fortuna. We can still have what we shared in Hell.”
“Never again,” I repeated, quietly this time. But I had never been more certain of anything. I held Lucifer’s gaze without flinching.
His mouth tightened, and he stepped away. It felt like the temperature fell around us. “I forget, sometimes, that you were raised amongst humans.”
Lucifer said this like it was an insult or a shortcoming. I just looked back at him silently, wondering how I’d been so blind. How I had ever thought I’d actually loved someone with such a black heart. I comforted myself with the knowledge that, someday, he would be dead.
He must’ve seen the hatred in my eyes, the dark promise, because Lucifer turned and walked away without another word. Birdsong filled the air as he strolled toward a thin line of trees, his hands in his pockets. A moment later, he faded like a mirage.