“What did you do to me?” Her voice was weak…too weak.
“Angie, look at me.” Lucifer sat down on the floor with her in his lap. He caressed her face. “Open your eyes and look at me.”
Angie half opened her eyes. “So hot,” she moaned and closed her eyes again. Her body shook and trembled as the first wave of the Brimstone Heat surged through her. “What did you do to me?” She closed her eyes as soon as the question was out of her mouth.
“Angie? Angie?” Lucifer rubbed her cheek. She didn’t open her eyes or speak, but she moaned and turned her head, pressing her cheek into his palm.
Several minutes later, Angie started shaking. Cradling her against his massive chest, Lucifer stood up. Looking at the piles of clothes on the bed, he spoke several words in the ancient language. The clothes disappeared. He gently laid Angie in the middle of the bed.
Lucifer retrieved a warm, wet cloth from the bathroom. Gently, he cleaned his lifemate, and then disposed of the cloth after he cleaned himself. Grabbing a blanket from the foot of the bed, he crawled next to Angie and spread the blanket over both of them. After several minutes, her shaking stopped and she drifted into a deeper sleep. Lucifer hoped the worst of the change was over. He drifted off to sleep with Angie curled tightly against him.
*****
Lucifer wasn’t sure what woke him, but he immediately knew something was wrong. Angie was curled into a tight ball with her back pressed against him. Her teeth were chattering, and her body trembled. Lucifer pulled the blanket back up over her. He touched her forehead. She was hotter than a human with a high fever. He had to get it to come down.
He got up and went to the bathroom. Lucifer quickly returned with a cold wet cloth. Gently, he wiped Angie’s flushed face, her neck, shoulders and arms.
It didn’t help.
Her body temperature continued to rise.
Lucifer racked his brain for a solution. Everything pointed to going home to Hell, but that route was not open to him…not since his mother and father tossed him and his brothers out.
Angie shook harder.
“Fight my beautiful Angie. Fight to stay with me.” Lucifer leaned down and kissed her forehead. She was almost too hot to touch.
The shower.
Lucifer’s eyes widened. He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of that sooner. A cold shower should help to bring down her temperature. He started to gather her, blanket and all into his arms.
“No, Lucifer. A cold shower will not help her.”
He looked up to see his mother standing in the far corner of his bedroom. He was both surprised and relieved. “Mother, I have to do something. I can’t let her die.” He was ready to grovel at his mother’s feet, if that is what it took to get access to Hell so that he could save Angie’s life.
“I know. She is your lifemate. That is why I’m here, and why I saved her all those years ago. Bring Angie to the pools of River Styx. Come. We don’t have much time. The pools will help with her transformation.” Lucifer’s mother gestured to him to follow her.
He picked Angie up and cradled her against his chest as he followed his mother into the shadows, disappearing from the bedroom just as he was about to hit the wall. He reappeared on the banks of one of several pools the River Styx had created over the centuries.
For the first time in over a century, he was home.
He was back in Hell.
But he didn’t think about that. Lucifer’s only thoughts were for his lifemate. He looked out over the pools. The waters bubbled. Steam rose off the pools and hung thickly around the cavern. “I can’t take her into that. She’s already burning up from the brimstone.” He stared at his mother.
“You have to take her into the pools,” said his mother.
“Son, listen to your mother.” Hades stepped out of the darkness and walked over to Persephone and took her hand. “The minerals and heat will help her through the transformation. It is the only thing that will help her. Take her into the pools before it is too late. I do not want to have to collect the soul of my new daughter.”
Lucifer nodded. Holding Angie tightly in his arms, he walked into one of the pools until he and Angie were almost completely submerged. Dipping his hand into the waters, he brought a handful of the water to Angie’s face. Lucifer gently poured it over her check and jaw. He rubbed the water into her skin.
“Let her float in the waters. Let her float with us.”
“Yes, let her float with us.”
Lucifer looked toward the voices. He and Angie were surrounded by the Keepers of the water—the three souls fated long ago to protect the pools and who sometimes gifted those who entered the waters. Only the gifts were not always pleasant for the recipients, especially if the recipient wasn’t of pure heart and soul.
“Have no fear, our prince. We are not here to harm your lifemate. Hold her hand as she floats. Float beside her as her partner and equal as it is supposed to be with true lifemates.” The three voices blended together in an eerie tone.
Lucifer intertwined his fingers with the Angie’s fingers on her left hand. He released the hold he had on her body, and watched as she floated on the surface of the pool.
The three keepers drifted around Lucifer and Angie. Their watery fingers skimmed over her arms and legs as they sang a strange song in an older version of the ancient language that even Lucifer did not know. One at a time, they each paused at Angie’s head and put their watery hands on her forehead.
“I am Hope. I give to your lifemate the hope of a long life and all the wonders that comes with it, so she may walk at the side of her life mate, the Prince of Hell, for eternity.” The keeper moved away and another took her place.
“I am Dreams. I give your life mate the dreams of love and family to replace the sadness for what she lost so long ago.” The second keeper moved aside, and the last of the three moved into place next to Angie.
“I am Wishes. I grant your beautiful lifemate the wish of peace and happiness.” The keeper leaned down and kissed Angie’s forehead before she moved away.
The keepers stared singing their song again as they drifted around Lucifer and Angie. The song faded and they disappeared as fast as they had appeared.
“Lucifer.” Angie’s voice was low and weak.
“I’m here.” He pulled her close to him and cupped her face with his free hand.
Her eyes fluttered and then opened halfway. “Where am I?”
“You’re floating in one of the pools of the River Styx.” He gently kissed her forehead and then her lips.
“I felt so weird. I was burning up on the inside, but now I’m just tired,” she whispered. She managed to lift her free hand and touched the hand cupping her face. “I feel you in me and around me. I didn’t feel that before.”
Lucifer smiled. “I feel you in me and around me too.”
“You bound me to you.” Angie stated the fact.
“I did. I won’t lose you for any reason. You are my heart…my soul…my future. We are bound together for eternity. If for some reason you slip beyond the veil that separates the worlds of the living and the dead, I will follow you.” Lucifer stared into her beautiful blue eyes.
“And the same for me too. I’ve already told you your soul belongs to me. Not even Hades can keep it from me.” Angie thought she heard someone chuckle, but was too tired to turn her head. “You and I need to talk about your lack of communication skills. We will do that when I’m not so tired.” She closed her eyes.
“Sleep. When you have rested, we will talk.” Lucifer brushed his lips over Angie’s. “I will take care of you,” he said as she drifted into an exhausted sleep.
Chapter 13
Angie rubbed her eyes trying to get the tired, gritty feeling to go away. She blinked several times as her eyes adjusted to the low light in the bedroom. She slowly looked around the room. Lucifer, though sound asleep and snoring, had his arm draped across her waist.
Angie frowned.
From the light peeking in
to the room through the small gaps in the blinds, she knew it was daytime. So, why was Lucifer still at home?
Angie tried moving her arms and legs, but it was a huge effort. She was exhausted. But why?
Slowly she slipped out from under Lucifer’s arm and sat up on the edge of the bed, waiting for the room to stop spinning. Angie closed her eyes and swallowed several times. The dizziness slowly faded away. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she opened her eyes.
The room wasn’t spinning anymore.
But her stomach was a different story. It rolled and churned making her feel nauseous.
Angie stood up. She waited for her world to start spinning again.
It didn’t.
Angie breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived when a huge wave of nausea swept over her. She barely made it to the toilet in the bathroom. Her body shook with each dry-heave, making her wish she actually had something in her stomach to throw up.
After what felt like an eternity, her stomach finally settled down, but she still felt queasy. Her whole body trembled as she stood up and stepped over to the sink. She turned on the cold water. Angie rinsed out her mouth, and then washed her face.
A towel suddenly appeared in front of her. Angie took it and dried her face and neck. She looked into the mirror. Lucifer stood behind her. Concern covered his face.
She stared at him. “How did I know you were there even before I saw you?”
“Are you okay?” he asked, ignoring her question.
Angie closed her eyes. After several seconds, she opened them and stared at his reflection in the mirror. “Do I look okay?” She glared at him. “What did you do to me?” she asked before he could answer her.
“I claimed and bound us together for eternity with the Brimstone Heat.” Lucifer wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest.
Angie tried pulling out of his arms. What little strength she had left was not enough to accomplish the task, and she sagged against him. Images flashed through her brain. “You bit me and you filled my body with some kind of weird heat.”
“You are my lifemate. I can’t live without you. I refuse to live without you. So, to protect you, I bound us together for all eternity.”
Angie stared at his reflection. “I love you, but your communication skills totally suck. You should have talked to me first like you said you would. A simple explanation would have gone a long way. Doing things that affect me without asking me really ticks me off.”
A thick wave of regret swept over Angie’s senses. More images flickered through her brain like a disjointed movie. She could almost taste the sourness of fear…fear of losing her, but she realized it wasn’t her fear.
Angie’s body tensed.
Her stomach rolled and churned.
Her head hurt.
“Angie? Angie, what’s wrong?” asked Lucifer.
“Make it stop!” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Lucifer frowned. “Make what stop?”
“I can’t deal with what’s going on in your head and mine at the same time. I’m going to be sick.”
He picked her up and carried her back to their bed. Gently he put her down in the middle of the bed and then crawled into bed next to her. “Angie, I’m going to put up a mental wall. I’m not breaking the connection between us, just slowing it to a crawl.”
Angie’s body suddenly sagged with relief. Her nauseated stomach calmed. She rested her head on Lucifer’s chest. “I don’t hear your thoughts anymore but I can feel your presence. You have a lot of explaining to do.” She raised her head and looked at him. “Can you hear my thoughts too?”
Lucifer nodded. “It’s part of the connection between us.”
“How do I shut it off?”
“You can’t shut it off. The connection will always be there between us.” Lucifer brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes. “But you can tone it down. Imagine a wall around your thoughts.”
“Great! This is going to make thinking a lot more complicated.” She let her head drop back down on his chest.
Lucifer chuckled.
“I’m glad you think it’s funny.” She pinched his stomach.
“Ouch! Why did you do that?”
“Be thankful I’m too tired to get up to go look for a bat to knock some sense into you.” Angie sighed. “So I now have the ability to communicate with you with just my mind?”
“As you learn to control it, it will get easier until you don’t even realize you’re doing it.” Lucifer wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “It also means you can contact me if you are in danger, and I can find you.”
Angie chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m in serious danger, aren’t I?”
“Yes.” Lucifer felt her tremble.
“At his sentencing, Ted Whitley said nothing would stop him from finishing the job he started, not even the prison cell or the guards. He said he would escape and find me. He vowed he would make me pay for getting away from him. It’s him, isn’t it?”
Lucifer heard the fear in her voice. “He escaped about two months ago. No one knows how or who helped him.”
Angie pushed up and looked down at Lucifer. “But you have an idea how it was, don’t you?”
He sighed and nodded. “I believe Calista was behind this.”
“And exactly who is Calista?” Jealousy surged through her, but Angie tried keeping it out of her voice. She knew Lucifer had a past. She just didn’t like to think about it, and now she could see his memories, she definitely didn’t want to see it.
“Before my brothers and I were tossed out of Hell by our father, I briefly…very briefly dated a witch named Calista. I only saw her twice. After that, I didn’t think about her. Not long after I dated her, I and my brothers were forced to live in this realm. About six months ago, I started getting phone calls from her. I ignored them and as I had a life here, I didn’t even think about her until she started calling me. Phoenix told me some stuff about Calista that I didn’t know.” Lucifer caressed Angie’s cheek. “He told me that she believed she was my mate, and threatened anyone she thought was trying to get my attention.”
Angie shook her head. “So I have a cop killer from my past, and a witch from your past after me. You infected me with this Brimstone Heat stuff which is causing me to change.” She glared at Lucifer. “Exactly what changes are going to happen? Am I even human anymore?”
“I don’t know,” said Lucifer.
Angie blinked. “You don’t know what this stuff you infected me with is going to do to me?”
“You are the first human who has ever been claimed with it because you are the first lifemate to be human.”
“And exactly how many times have you infected someone with it?” asked Angie. The ugly head of jealousy suddenly rose.
“You are the only person I have bitten and given it to because you are my one and only lifemate. The only other person to ever be changed by the Brimstone Heat was my mother, but she was not human.” Lucifer hated admitting this because he hated seeing the fear and hurt in his lifemate’s eyes.
“Do you have any idea what other changes are going to happen?”
Lucifer shook his head. “No, I don’t. But I won’t apologize for doing it. I claimed you as my lifemate, and I’ve bound us together for eternity. I love you. I refuse to lose you to any of the human weaknesses. We will work through any and all of the changes you go through.”
Angie stared into his green eyes. “I bet you father didn’t tell your mother what he was doing to her either.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“I hope you mother kicked your father’s ass, because as soon as I have the energy to get up, I’m going to kick yours into next week for not explaining things to me. And you better hope I don’t grow extra heads like the Hydra.” She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes. The steady beat of his heart lulled her to sleep.
Lucifer held her tight to him. He had planned to tell her before he bo
und them together, but he didn’t. He knew he deserved her anger. He also knew she was afraid. He shook his head. “I hope you don’t grow extra heads either.”
Angie murmured something in her sleep.
A soft scent of brimstone drifted through the room. Lucifer felt Angie’s hands heat. A smile crossed his face. She was so much more than just his lifemate. She was his everything, and tomorrow he was going to have to start teaching her how to use her abilities as they manifested.
*****
“I can’t do this.” Angie ran her hands through her short blonde hair. She really wanted to run back to the house and hide under the blankets. “Why did I even get up this morning?” she asked herself.
“You can do this. You have all my faith. Besides, last night your hands heated up and the scent of brimstone filled the bedroom. You just have to concentrate and say the words. It is not difficult” Lucifer wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. If she could master just the basics of calling forth fire.
“Says you, the man, who has been doing it for centuries.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll try again. But don’t expect too much. I’m just learning how to do this,” said Angie. The sulphuric smell of brimstone filled the air. She nervously glanced around the small clearing behind Lucifer’s house.
Lucifer released her and stepped over to a small woodpile. He pulled a split log out of the pile and set it in the middle of the clearing. “You have to remember that you’re using your hand as the conduit for the fire to travel out of your body. Make sure you are touching whatever it is you want to burn. It will save you from any possible mistakes. And in the middle of a battle, mistakes will happen.” He smiled at her. “And don’t forget to say the words.”
“And they have to be in the old language?”
Lucifer nodded. “Yes, they do.”
“Why can’t I just say it in modern English and have it work?” asked Angie. “It would be so much easier to say if I did have to recite the words in a language I can understand but not speak,” she muttered
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