“You won’t find me up there, darling,” he said in a purr. “Tell me, what do you think about your dear Asmodeus getting cozy with his former lover?”
I snorted. “I don’t know why he’s doing it, but there’ll be a reason. I know what Eisheth did to him.”
“You mean the death of poor Morax?” Lucifer asked. Gritting my teeth, I continued to search the club for his face. I still hadn’t spotted him. Where the hell was he? “Interesting that he would share such intimate details with a wolf. He won’t even discuss it with me. HisKing.”
I bit back my next retort, too close to saying something I’d regret. He was baiting me, trying to catch me off guard. It was close to working, but I was smarter than that. He’d have to work a lot harder if he wanted to make me crack.
I turned my back on the disembodied voice. “I’m supposed to be dancing. You’re distracting me.”
AKA:go away, asshole.
A breath whispered in my ear. “Of course, darling. But I’ll see you in the darkness when you’re done.”
15
My shift ended an hour later. Thankfully, I hadn’t endured any more surprise visits from Lucifer’s disembodied voice. Asmodeus and Eisheth had both vanished by the time the cages lowered to the ground. I tried not to panic about what that might mean. Az had seemed angry about my date with Lucifer, but surely that didn’t mean he’d go off with his mortal enemy.
No, there would be an explanation. This was all just part of Lucifer’s stupid game.
He probably wanted to turn us against each other. Asshole.
But despite my determination not to read too much into things, unease twisted in my belly by the time I got changed back into regular clothes. Az never showed as the club shut down. No one knew where he was, and Valac and Priyanka were eager to head home for the night. We waited around for a little while but locked the doors when the clock hit four.
Lucifer blocked my path when I stepped out onto the sidewalk, just behind Priyanka. He towered over me, his body pulsing with energy and rage. I swallowed hard and stepped back. I hated when he just popped up out of nowhere like this. After the whole disembodied voice thing, I’d hoped he’d leave me alone until tomorrow.
I should have known better.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re really fucking creepy?” I scowled as I tried to step around him. He shuffled left to block my way. “You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.”
“Wolves don’t have heart attacks.” A smile twisted his lips, and a strand of silver hair fell into his impenetrable eyes.
I sighed and folded my arms. “It’s an expression. One you might understand if you made any attempt at being normal.”
“Being normal is underrated.” He shot closer, moving with the speed of a lion on the hunt. “I never told you the plans for our date.”
“Oh. Great. I can’t wait to hear where we’re going.” I didn’t even attempt to hide the disdain in my voice.
“Tomorrow night. I’ll collect you from your new home at Valac’s.” He fingered a strand of my hair, loose around my shoulders now that the wig was gone. “Leave you hair like this. I like the red.”
My heart throbbed beneath my ribs. This obviously wasn’t a genuine compliment. It was laced with a threat. He knew exactly why we’d all worn wigs, and he was angry about it. I’d made a move on the chessboard he hadn’t seen coming. Good.
“Maybe I’ll dye it,” I said with a smile.
He stepped closer and sneered. “Best not, little wolf.”
And with that, he was gone.Thank god.
When we reached Valac’s apartment, I said goodnight and padded into the bedroom I called home. For now. Sighing, I changed into a pair of sweatpants and aSaved by the Bellt-shirt I’d picked up from a thrift shop the day before. The bed called to me. Warm, soft, and safe. My entire body ached, liked it had been whipped through a blender for the past several days.
Hendrix waddled in after me, cocking his head. I smiled and patted the pillow next to me. He jumped up beside me and settled in for the night.
I climbed beneath the covers and let sleep call me away.
* * *
“Right.” Caim stood in the center of Valac’s apartment with a whiteboard that was pretty much as tall as he was. On one side, he’d taped a map of Manhattan. Three street corners were highlighted by bright red circles. He held what looked like a costume shop wand in his left hand and a beer in the other. The entire Legion was here, plus Priyanka and Ramona, who both lived at Valac’s along with me.
Caim smacked the wand against the map. “Rafael is back in town. So is Michael. And they’re making their presence known.”
