“I just need you to sign those and it’s done.”
Amber eyes snapped to mine. “What is this?”
“Deeds. My house, my cars, the bakery, it’s all yours.” I huffed a laugh and looked down, where my hands were clasped so tight my knuckles were white. “I need to set things right. I won’t need any of that where I’m going.”
She threw it all back on the table and crossed her arms, looking fierce despite the pajamas. “Is this a bribe? Are you trying to buy your way back into my good graces?”
I shook my head. “You love the bakery. Even I could see that the first evening you came for your audition. And my house, I don’t think there’s anyone in this world who loves its contents as much as you do. It’s not a bribe, Lexi.” I caught the slight shiver in her posture when I said her name. “I’m leaving my things to someone who will care for them as much as I did. Someone I trust.”
Her mouth opened, then snapped shut. She frowned, eyes darting over the papers now skewed across the wood surface. Her eyebrows tilted up in the middle, then she huffed and leaned forward, a pen appearing in her hand. Each spot was highlighted, and she went through them quickly, avoiding looking at or talking to me.
When she finished the last one, she stacked them and slid them neatly back inside, leaving the keys on the table. I took the envelope, my fingertips brushing over hers, and she jerked her hand back at the spark that jolted between them. I pulled my phone out, inspecting for damage.
“Funny,” she said dryly, though there was a tiny hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth.
“I’ve set up a payment plan that should keep your suppliers paid for several years,” I told her. “It’s not likely, knowing you, but you could lose money on the bakery every day for the next ten years and never run out.”
Lexi clasped her hands in her lap as she processed. I stood, intending to leave now that I’d done my business. As I started toward the door, she called out.
“Wait!” I looked over my shoulder to see her half off the couch, her eyes wide, almost panicked. “What exactly are you planning to do?”
I didn’t intend to tell her, but my mouth disagreed. “I’m going to a neutral location to call out Michael and Abaddon.”
“What?!”
“I’m going to try to negotiate first, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll carve my way to Abaddon the hard way.”
She stood fully, anger in her stiff posture. “You can’t! That’s a suicide mission!”
“I can’t die, remember?” I smirked, putting an edge on my tone. “I just need to strike first and slaughter anyone who gets in my path. If it works, then all the better, but either way, I want it finished.” I turned away and reached for the handle. “I’ve played this game a bit too long.”
The door clicked shut behind me and I leaned back against it, taking deep breaths and fighting back thoughts I’d fucked everything up. No, what I did was for the best. That was a solid end to whatever we had.
Abaddon would have no reason to go after her now.
There was a small thump behind me. I turned, pressing my hand to the wood without thinking. The roaring in my chest nearly doubled me over, my Hellfire ready to explode being so near her. Then I heard her faint voice.
“You idiot.”
I disappeared before I could do something stupid, like yank the door open and kiss her. I’d played it cool inside, but I could only be around her so long without touching her. It was driving me crazy.
My ears popped and I shook my head with discomfort. Hot afternoon desert surrounded me, the Dead Sea to my right, the city of Hebron somewhere far off to my left. I stood in a small crater, the ghosts of ancient highways branching off from the spot.
In the packed sand, I drew the angelic sigils that represented my brother Michael to the north, and my enemy Abaddon to the south. Between them, I made a circle of salt and stood in the middle, then closed the circle. I called both of them by their true names, asking for an audience.
Only one showed.
“I can’t tell you how good it is to see you, brother.”
Wings spread to their fullest, Michael stood before me in jeans and a white t-shirt. His hair was shorter than the last time I’d seen him, just a bit too long to spike properly, and a much lighter shade of brown than my nearly-black hair. There was a dusting of facial hair along his jaw, and smile lines around his grey-green eyes, though he currently wore a faint frown. His shoulders were tense, eyes roaming the surrounding area.
“Good to see you too, brother.” I stepped from the circle, kicking the ring open, and held my arm out. If he thought I’d summoned him here with ill intentions, rejecting the protection of the circle would go a long way to prove otherwise. I left myself wide open with that one step.
His wings vanished, along with his frown, and he slid into the crater, gesturing around. “Fitting, having this meeting in the spot where you fell.”.
He was nearly the Sophiee height as me, maybe the barest bit taller, and his muscles were, admittedly, more filled out than mine. Michael could’ve been a cover model for a Carpenters Monthly magazine. He grasped my arm, but he raised a suspicious eyebrow.
“Are you sure you’re Lucifer?” He grabbed my face and turned it back and forth. “I can’t recall having ever seen him smile before. What’s happened?”
