“So, what do we do now?” I finally asked. “While this has beenextremelyinformative, it hasn’t really solved our problem. I’m human now. I don’t have any powers. What’s going to stop Lucifer from making me his bride?”
“Hmm.” His voice rumbled against my ear. “I think you might not be as helpless as you think.”
I cocked my head and frowned. “What do you mean?”
He slid his finger beneath the chain around my neck, the one that held his signet ring. “Remember when you got cornered in that alley? You were able to use this without any prompting from me.”
“Well, sure. Kind of.” The momentary blast of power hadn’t done a great deal of good, and the ring didn’t always do what I asked it to do. When I used it, it liked to shut down for a good few days.
“If I handed this ring to pretty much any other human in this city and didn’t tell them how it worked...nothing would ever happen.”
“So, you think I have powers, after all?”
“I think there’s a hint of it in your blood.” He pulled me against him, sighing. “But I don’t yet know how we can use that to your advantage. Have you ever done anything else you couldn’t explain?”
“Nope. Before moving here, the only magic I ever had in my life was Serena.” Thinking of Serena, I frowned. She had no idea that any of this was happening, and I needed to call her before it was too late. The last thing I wanted was to be stolen away from earth without saying goodbye.
Pain flickered in my heart. I did not want to leave this place.
“That’s right,” Az murmured. “You helped her through her early shifts. And you were immune to her werewolf venom.”
“That’s right,” I whispered back, my heart pounding. “I’d almost forgotten, but you’re right. I was immune. And the fae magic got to my head faster than normal, didn’t it?”
Tension released its grip on Az’s jaw, and he finally smiled. “You have some magic in you, Mia. I don’t know the extent of it yet, but it’s there. And we will find a way to use it to protect you from the King of Hell.”
Speak of the devil...
My cell rang. Az and I locked eyes. Somehow, I knew who the caller was without even looking. Slowly, I pulled the phone out of my pocket and lifted it to my ear.
“Lucifer,” I said with an edge in my voice. He’d been the one to do this to me, and a vengeful anger I’d never felt before swirled through my veins. Somehow, I would make him pay for this. For ripping me away from Az. For snuffing out my past life. For stealing away every memory I had of our past.
He’d ruined so much. I wouldn’t let him destroy anything else.
Our past was done, but at least we had our future. As long as we stopped Lucifer.
“Hello, Mia. I trust you found the little black box of memories,” he said in a sickly sweet tone that dug into my skin. “How are you feeling after all your shocking revelations?”
“Pretty pissed off, actually,” I snapped, narrowing my eyes. “What do you want? Why are you calling?”
The one thing I didn’t understand was why Lucifer had let us go that night. At that point, I still hadn’t known a damn thing. Neither had Az. Had he not wanted to risk a scene in the middle of the Manhattan streets? Or was it something else? It almost felt like he’d wanted us to find that box.
Why go to the trouble of hiding my memories if he wanted me to find them, eventually?
“You and Asmodeus were never very good at games, even in your past life,” he said, his voice turning as hard as steel. “Try as you might, you just don’t have that natural inclination toward chess. You see, you need a strategy. The pieces need to fall into place. The Rook goes here. The Queen goes there. Done correctly, you’ve won before you the game begins.”
“Stop speaking in riddles, Lucifer.”
“Eisheth doesn’t enjoy being used,” he hissed. “Asmodeus should know that by now. Do you really think she would spill my deepest secrets after a bottle of wine and whispers of suggestive lies?” He laughed into the phone, making me wince. “Every single step of the way, you’ve done everything I wanted you to do. Including this.”
My heart pounded against my ribs, the phone cracking beneath my tightening grip. “If you wanted me to remember my past life, why didn’t you just hand me the fucking box to begin with?”
“Boring.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “And I neededsomethingto keep Asmodeus occupied tonight.”
My breath stilled. I glanced over at Az. He was watching me with a pinched expression on his face. He could hear every word.
“I have your Legion, Asmodeus,” Lucifer said. “And if you do not do exactly as I say, I’ll destroy every last one of them.”
22
