An icy chill creeps over me, frosting every part from my head to my toes. I fear I’ll freeze if I don’t move away, but I am fixed in place.
Her soulless black eyes narrow, and her lips smack irritatingly. “Your light is being eclipsed,” she murmurs, more to herself than to me. “You’re actually rather warm to the touch.”
Funny, I think to myself.I feel like a solid sheet of ice thanks to you.
She lets her hand drop loosely to her side. “He’s coming,” she whispers.
“Who?” I say, leaning in to the spirit.
“The one who’s trying to take everything from you. He won’t stop until there’s nothing left.”
“Who?” I press, wanting her to say his name. Fearing I already know.
Without another word, she evaporates before my eyes.
“Everything all right?” Luke calls from behind me.
My eyes narrow, back turned to him. I recount the ghost’s words.
What else can you take from me, Luke?
This time I know the game, and only I can allow him to take any more of me.
We’ve both been abnormally quiet, considering neither one of us has managed to go this long without throwing an insult or barb since Luke walked back into my life. The ghost’s words haunt me still. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but a naive part of me had hoped he’d changed.
He’s the devil. He’s incapable of change.
I’m wondering what he is thinking about when he turns toward me, stopping us both in the middle of a crowded sidewalk. Impatient pedestrians mumble curses at us, but it doesn’t faze Luke.
“What she said,” he starts, then stops, looking agitated. “It’s not me, Victoria. I don’t wish to bring you any harm.”
Someone shoves into me from behind, pushing me into Luke’s firm embrace. His arms come around me, sheltering me from everyone around us. “I feel like a broken record, but I need you to hear me, Victoria. It’snotme you should fear. Do you believe me?”
His eyes search mine and I sigh.
“I do.” My head tilts back, looking up to the sky as if someone up there will come save me from myself. “Please don’t make a fool of me again, Luke.”
His searing gaze doesn’t leave mine when he replies, “Never again.” He places a chaste kiss to the top of my head. I inhale sharply at the gesture, feeling like I could swoon.
BLOODY VALENTINE
The full moon shines down on us, casting a glow across the city. People gawk at Luke and push their way closer to him. He doesn’t appear to notice as his eyes light up and a smile takes over his once serious expression. “Let’s dance,” he says, motioning toward a door to a club.
“Umm. No,” I shake my head, walking out of his grasp. “I’m the worst dancer that ever lived.”
“Let me lead. I’mverygood,” the innuendo isn’t lost on me. If his words weren’t sexy enough, the way his tongue darts out, running across his lower lip, does the trick of lowering my defenses.
He grabs my hand, interlacing our fingers, and drags me toward the door.
Nothing good can come of me being in the devil’s arms for the night.
I allow him to lead me into what can only be described as a den of turpitude. The room is packed full of gyrating bodies, the fragrance of the place equal parts sweat and a cacophony of various perfumes and colognes. The odor is enough to gag a person. My hand comes up to shield my nose as I will my senses to adjust to the onslaught.
We take a seat at a round high-top table at the back of the room, voyeurs to the overt displays of desire playing out like a porno in front of us. Two fallen angels attempting to not get caught up in the fray—at least I am trying not to. Lucifer, on the other hand, is basking in it. This energy fuels him like the storms do me.
I attempt to make conversation to distract me from the lovers entwined in each other. Nothing good can come from any lapse in judgment on my part. This place is sin wrapped up in a dark and musky club located in the underbelly of New Orleans. It’s fitting that Lucifer would simply happen across it.
I’ve lived here for years, but I’ve never stumbled upon this place, yet there is something achingly familiar about it too. It’s as though the devil himself orchestrated the entire happenstance.
