With a mouthful of shadows, Rebecca couldn’t speak.
He grabbed her arm and whipped her toward the mess. “Show me.”
Her eyes as wide as saucers, she shook her head. “Uh uh. Lmmiceffeer.”
“Lucifer,” Az repeated. “You’re afraid he’ll destroy you if you show me where it is.”
She nodded.
“Unfortunately for him, I got here first,” Az growled. “Show me where it is or I’ll destroy you before he even has a chance to get his hands on you.”
The demon trembled beneath Az. The shadows swarmed her. Every now and then, one would dart out like a knife and slice her arm. Shuddering, she dropped to her knees before Az.
She bowed her head low to the ground.
The shadows misted. The terror on his face cleared. With a heavy breath, I sat hard on the sofa, not daring to say a word. That had been intense. And as good as I knew Az could be, there was no doubt in mind he would have used his shadows to rip her to shreds if she had not surrendered to him.
Rebecca choked out the last remnants of the smoke and slowly reached toward a small black box just out of her reach. It was sandwiched between a pile of empty bottles and a stack of wooden squares. Az snatched it up before her fingers could reach it.
Az held it up before his eyes. “What is it?”
“It’s the thing you want,” she whispered. “And now Lucifer will come here and destroy me. Just like he destroyed the demon who had it before me. The one who signed the contract.”
My eyes widened. So, that was who the old man had been?
A deep frown pulled down the corners of Az’s lips. “What does it do?”
“It restores memories.”
I gasped. Az twisted toward me, his awed realization matching mine. No wonder Lucifer had tried to hide this from us. If my memories had been erased, this object was the one thing that could bring them back. This was better than a random contract outlining exactly what had happened to me.
I would be able toseethe truth of my past.
My mouth went dry as our gazes locked. This was it then. No backing out now. With the little black box, I had to face my fears. I had to find out the truth. All of it. As bad as it might be.
“You need to leave,” Az said, pocketing the box. “Drop the glamor. Get a new scent if you think you need it. Head to another city, like Vegas. In a few months’ time, Lucifer will have forgotten all about you.”
Rebecca’s eerie laugh crawled up my spine and dug into my bones. It certainly didn’t match her old lady appearance, that was for sure. “Lucifer never forgets anything. He will make me pay for this one day, Asmodeus. You should put me out of my misery before I drown in his flames of torture.”
I shuddered.
The motion caught her attention. She gave me a grimace of a smile. “You don’t know what you’ve just done to yourself, girlie. You’re going to regret this.”
“How would you feel if you had no idea who you were or what your past was?” I pushed up from the couch, calling upon a courage I wasn’t sure I had. “And what if you knew the truth could change everything? Wouldn’t you try to find out?”
She shook her head. “I just don’t think you’re going to like what you see.”
Without another word, Rebecca leapt out of her open window. A cry of alarm hurtled from my throat, and I dodged the piles of crap to reach the ledge. Wings flared against a night sky, vanishing into the dark. I pulled back and turned to Az. He regarded me with a pained expression.
“You think she’s right,” I said.
“I think you need to prepare yourself for what we’re about to see. Whatever it is, it’s big. Are you ready?”
“Not really,” I said in a small voice. “But I have no other choice. I need to know the truth.”
* * *
Az and I didn’t stick around the demon’s apartment any longer than necessary. We’d use the little black box to unlock my memories, but not there. We needed somewhere quieter. Somewhere more familiar. Somewhere I felt comfortable and relaxed and safe.
