“Between Heidi’s approval and your father’s suspicious acting when he told me about your job, I figured he was setting you up with someone he thought worthy. But by the Mother, I never expected the Christian devil. I think Heidi’s taste in men is skewed a bit in the wrong direction.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that my cat had a type. “What do I do now, Mom?”
She sighed and there was a wooden sound, like she’d set something down. Probably tea. “Anger will pass like clouds in the sky, and you’ll see things clearly for yourself soon enough.”
“No, like, I really need you to tell me what to do. Not quote from your spiritual hoodoo book.”
“Hoodoo?” she chuckled, and the sound soothed me, if only the smallest bit. “Listen, sweetheart. Life sucks. It will always suck, and then you die. If it was meant to be, the universe will have its own way of showing you that. It’s not for me to be the judge of those signs.”
I glanced at the card on the table, then threw my arm over my eyes. “Yeah. Helpful, Mom.”
Chapter 21
Lucifer
The entire week, I’d been making preparations. Planning, building back-up plans for my back-ups. So much legal paperwork to wade through I thought I’d choke someone. I understood why so many lawyers ended up in Hell, but I got the hard part done.
I knew I was doing the right thing for once.
Now the only problem left was whether she’d see me or not.
I knocked on the door. There was a TV on inside and I stepped back when footsteps approached. The roommate opened the door a crack and glared at me, glancing pointedly at the manila envelope in my hands.
“Could I speak with Lexi for a moment?” Her presence was muffled, but she was in there. That meant she was wearing my amulet, and a small part of me felt relieved.
She cocked a dark eyebrow at me. “Are you sure this is the right time for”—she gestured vaguely at me—“whatever it is you’re about to do?”
“Unfortunately, this is the only time I can,” I replied.
Lexi’s voice called from inside, the sound reassuring in a way I hadn’t noticed before. “Go ahead and let him in, Sophie. He won’t go away until he says what he needs to.”
Sophie rolled her eyes, but opened the door and stepped aside. Lexi sat curled up in her corner of the couch, black bathrobe wrapped around her. Her red hair was loosely braided over her shoulder and her eyes were glowing in the morning light streaming through the window. Hellfire slammed against my chest and I choked, clearing my throat quickly to cover it up.
“Would you mind giving us a minute, Sophiemy?” Lexi moved her gaze behind me, her expression softening. “I promise I’ll be fine.”
“No problem, Red. I’ll be in my room if you need me.” She stopped and kissed Lexi on the head. Was that weird for a roommate? It was odd to me, but then, they seemed close. Maybe I really wasn’t as good at reading humans as Loki was, aside from their sins.
Lexi nodded to the chair on her right and I sat, fingers drumming on the envelope. “I’ll be brief. I know you don’t want to see me.” Her expression was blank, a carefully neutral mask, and I hated that look on her. “When we met, and even for a few weeks afterward, I thought you were there with ulterior motives.”
“A spy,” she said flatly.
“Basically, yes. I didn’t know who, or what, you were at the time and made a split-second decision. That doesn’t excuse what I did, but I wanted you to know the reason why.” I set the envelope down to stop messing with it and folded my fingers together. “I was only focused on protecting myself while I gathered information to go against Abaddon.”
She dipped her chin in a tiny nod. “And now?”
My carefully prepared speech fled my mind. “Now, what?”
“What do you intend to do now?”
I released a slow breath, trying to tame the fire inside me yearning for hers. I wanted to touch her, to taste her. Bury my fingers in her molten lava hair. This week had been absolute torture, worse than anything Abaddon could do to me.
But her amber gaze was cold and detached.
I did this. I killed her fire.
“I care for you, Lexi. Don’t ever think for a second I didn’t. But I have a responsibility as Lucifer, as Satan, to reclaim what is mine.” I pressed my fingers to the envelope and slid it across the table. “I can never make up for using you, but I can see you have what you need.”
A spark of curiosity was squashed almost before I saw it. She leaned forward and plucked it off the table. Her face transformed from the neutral mask I was quickly coming to loathe into bewilderment and confusion. She flipped through the packets of paper, then peeked inside the envelope and dumped out a set of keys.
