“I didn’t even make it to the third chapter.” She stretched out a hand, relinquishing her treasure. “They’re supposed to stay in the male dormitory normally, but everyone shares the library and cafeteria.” She turned her tear-streaked cheeks toward me, her eyes seeming to search the ceiling above my head. “I’ve never done anything to Ryan, but he’s always hated me.”
“People sometimes fear what they do not understand, and sometimes people are just cruel. In his case, it’s a bit of both.” With my ether, I repaired the book and settled it in her hands. “Trust me, they will bother you no more. Here. Your birthday gift is whole and undamaged.”
“Really?” Joy replaced the sorrow on her face, and she thumbed through the pages, as if she didn’t quite believe me. “How…?” She let out a quiet laugh and shook her head. “You’re the devil. You can probably do anything.”
“Go, dear one.” I turned to leave, but something warm wrapped around my hips. In shock, I froze and looked down. Two small hands gripped my waist from behind.
“Thank you, Lucian. I’m sorry to have bothered you. I know you have more important things to do.”
“I do.” I stepped out of her embrace and turned to peer into her face.
Her smile dropped a fraction. With her right hand, she walked her fingers across the table until she found her folded cane, then slipped the book into her bag and turned to go.
“Anna?”
“Yeah?” She turned her head in my direction, her eyebrows upraised.
“Do you still paint?”
The smile reappeared. “All the time.”
“Good.” I scratched my chin, unsure why I cared whether she painted or not. Yet, I couldn’t forget her happiness at feeling the artwork in the museum. I didn’t want to see her joy in life snuffed out by her fellow sour humans. “Will you do something for me?”
“Of course.”
“Create a picture of how you see yourself in your head.”
Her eyebrows lowered and she cast her glance away. “O-okay.”
“Now go. Do not trouble yourself about those boys again.”
She twisted her lips to the side of her mouth, obvious doubt in her dubious stare. “Goodbye, Lucian.”
“Until next time, Anna Sill.”
The tapping of her cane as she swept it side-to-side bounced from the soaring ceilings. She deftly made her way through the tables and shelves. Something about her small, lone figure bothered me.
I didn’t want to care about this one human,shouldn’tcare about her, yet I felt a shared connection.
She’d been abandoned by the people who should’ve loved and accepted her.
Just like me.
A slow, simmering rage built in my blood, and I knew just how to slake my thirst for revenge.
Ryan and his little friend are about to get an education on what happens when they attract the ruler of Hell.
With a slow smile, I stalked in the direction they’d gone, relishing the hunt that would cement them as my prey.
Chapter 10
Lucian Elysium
Five Years Ago
Iblinkedtothefront steps of the library and took to the air, trailing the two boys as they followed a gravel path leading to the courtyard which separated the male and female dormitories.
A small, shady garden with several iron benches. Four nuns worked the vegetable patches with hoes and rakes.
