“Oh, it’s not your wishes that damn him. Trust me. It’s his actions. And he will never change.”
“How do you know that?”
Again, that terribly salacious smile. “My superpowers.”
She should be offended by the way he said that. But he was charming her with those hellish ways.
He let go of her hand and gripped the wheel.
Wanting to change the subject to something less personal, she went back to the original matter. “What details do you have about our murder in Savannah?”
“SCAD student.”
“SCAD?” Was that some new slang she didn’t know?
“Savannah College of Art and Design. It’s one of the local universities.”
She winced as an involuntary image of her sister went through her mind. “Did the murder happen on campus?”
He shook his head. “In a cemetery. Reyes thinks it looks like a sacrifice of some kind.”
That surprised her. “What?”
“Yeah. We get those sometimes. College kids are tricky. They play with things they shouldn’t. Sometimes those things turn deadly. The police believe this is either gang related, human stupidity, an occult slaying, or that it might be paranormal. They’re not sure and Reyes doesn’t want to make the call without my looking the scene over.”
“Why?”
“Because I won’t be guessing. I’ll know instantly if my side had a hand in it.”
That made sense. “Do you think it’s demonic?”
“No idea. The devil and demons don’t do as much as y’all think. Most of the world’s evil comes from humans and their own inclinations.”
That was an interesting thought. “How so?”
Luke shrugged. “People are so quick to damn themselves with their deeds and thoughts that there’s not a whole lot we have to do. But the worst are the kids who find some book in the library or online with instructions on how to summon the devil or a demon. They do it for fun, thinking it’s a lark or that they can control the demon, or offer to trade their souls for their deepest, darkest desires, which is normally something stupid like love, fame or wealth. For the most part, we ignore humanity because they’re so petty and ripe for the plucking without any effort on our part. There are only a handful of souls we go after.”
“Such as?”
“Those who are devout or really altruistic. They’re the diamonds we seek. The souls we’d normally never be able to claim. But if you wear them down…there is a breaking point where everyone gets desperate enough to make a deal to stop the pain. If you can get them, you’ve accomplished something.”
“How do you wear down someone like that?”
With one hand on the wheel, he shrugged. “First, we try the usual. Greed. Gluttony. Fornication. Wrath. Apathy. Pride and of course, envy—the true original sin. It’s in people’s natures to destroy themselves.”
That didn’t make sense. “The original sin was done by the devil who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.”
“That’s what they say, but they’re wrong. The gift of knowledge isn’t a sin. Innate curiosity might get you punished, but it won’t condemn you. Besides, the devil didn’t make Eve bite the apple. Her jealousy did. She wanted what she wasn’t supposed to have, and she was jealous God kept it from her. Mark, chapter eight. Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Luke winked at her. “Those are the souls we seek. The ones who aren’t hypocrites and the ones who are destined for glory. A demon’s job is to derail their righteous path by any means necessary. We don’t bother with the ones who seek us out. We get those by default.”
What he described horrified her. “Why would you ruin people who are trying to do right and live without harming others?”
He shrugged with a nonchalance that irritated her. “My father turned against God, and he hates those who refuse to do the same. His goal is to get as many loyal followers pried loose as he can. No reason, other than jealousy and revenge against the father he once loved. He was punished and hurt and so he seeks to do the same to others. Like so many out there, the devil wants to share his pain.”
She took a minute to think about what he said. “So God and Lucifer aren’t locked in an eternal battle between good and evil?”
Luke gave her a droll stare. “Do you really think Lucifer is on equal footing with God? If he was, he wouldn’t have been thrown out of Heaven. Nor would he have stayed in Hell. He’d have gone back and reclaimed what he lost.”
