“Listen?” He spits out. “I hate to break it to you, amour, but there’s no one listening for you humans. All of the prayers are just ego boosters. Unless you know them by name, and call for a specific angel, they don’t care about you. They only care about if their wings are properly fluffed.”
“But,” I say, curiously, “miracles happen all the time.”
“You know what we call miracles?” He leans toward me. “Luck. Or demonic intervention.”
My nose crinkles. “Demonic intervention?”
He looks at me like the answer should be obvious. “Why do you think people sell their souls, amour? It’s certainly not for the enjoyment of eternal damnation. Everyone wants something. But not all people are willing to risk themselves to get it.”
“So, if angels are too lazy to listen to prayers…it must be really bad they came for her, right?”
He lets out a chest deflating breath, long and heavy. “Yes, amour, it was bad.”
I can feel my shoulders sink. “What happened?”
“I never got around asking if she wanted to be damned with me so when she died, the angels took her from me. We weren’t even aware they came down until it was too late.”
I don’t have to ask why they did it—the Devil’s heir’s girlfriend dies? A better bargaining chip would never happen again. Just like Lily said.
“What do you mean be damned with you?”
His eyes meet mine.
“To spend eternity with me.”
I bite the tip of my tongue, try not to show any physical signs of my irritation.
“I thought you said only tortured souls become demons?”
“Souls get punished before they become demons, yes. And as my sister mentioned, only the strongest can successfully possess a living human, as they’d be battling to overcome the soul inside. Most demons are content just torturing new souls that are dropped into Hell.”
“But how would she be able to live forever? She’d just… possess new people every couple years?”
“Not if the soul occupying the body is already gone. A demon can technically live out their eternity in the flesh of a vacant vessel, forever visible to the human eye.”
“Human eye?”
“Humans can only see what’s in the physical world. Without a body, demons are just entities, like spirits.”
I nod, understanding. So, all he would have had to do is place Camilla’s soul in an empty body and they could have lived together forever. Leaving nothing left over for me.
“Then why aren’t there a bunch of demons hitching a ride in recently vacant bodies? Faking to be human again?”
“Possession is complicated and timely. A soul, demonic or not, has to be placed into the body at the right time. And I don’t allow demons to simply wonder. Only specific ones are granted full access to Earth… Most stories about possession are weaker demons just whispering dark thoughts into the human. All of their actions are completely their own.”
“So, who’d you kill when she died?”
“Everybody,” he says, haunted. “It was the French Revolution and when the history books wrote that there was blood running through the streets, they meant it. Some days were as gory as Hell. Father was quite proud of humanity.”
“Why would he be?” I ask, completely ignoring the confirmation that Luke was alive—not his soul, but his physical body, for over two hundred years ago.
“Because they once more proved to be what he told his father—flawed, damaged, sinners.”
I try to wrap my head around the fact that the conversation was real. Lucifer told his father—God—that human creations weren’t as worthy as his own children and he was punished for it. It isn’t some story told at Sunday mass, this is Luke’s family history.
“And what do you think?”
“About what?” he asks. “Humans?”
A small confirming nod.
His stoic expression breaks into a smirk. “Fun creatures. The variety of emotions humanity has to offer is forever entertaining. All of you desire so strongly so it makes my job easier.”
“I thought you didn’t deal with humans very often?”
“I don’t,” he says, tucking me into his side once more. “But it keeps my demons happy. And happy demons mean less work for me.”
“You don’t intervene? When demons try to possess and terrorize people?”
He raises a brow. “Why bother?”
I suppose it’s like asking a serial killer why he murders. There is no rational explanation.
“So, what are you doing right now?” I ask. “To…prepare?”
“Weapons building, at this point. Spreading the word around the world. Awakening the Fallen.”
“The Fallen angels?”
He nods. “There’s nothing more worth resurfacing than a chance to fight your own siblings.”
I hum in thought. “And what kind of weapons will defeat an angel?”
“Blades made from the morning star.”
I tilt my chin up to him, eyes wide. “The morning star? Isn’t that what they called…your father?”
“It was the one thing he took from Heaven. The brightest star, named after him.”
I swallow thickly. “Will it kill them?”
“Unfortunately not,” he says with no remorse. “But it will send their divinity—what you’d call soul—back up.”
“So, you’ll be fighting…souls? How can you defeat something that’s not there?”
“Oh, they’ll be there.” He snorts. “You think demons are the only ones who possess?”
“But what about the people? Won’t they die if you hurt the angels?”
“They’ll die, of course.”
My eyes widen. “But—”
“Isn’t it terrible that angels”—he spits the word out—“would be willing to sacrifice humans for their own gain? Think about that next time you hear about a demonic possession.”
“How many are you expecting?” I ask quietly.
“I don’t know,” he says through grinding teeth. “And that’s what bothers me the most.”
“Why?”
“Because why would angels be here again? And who has the power to be killing them?” He shakes his head. “Someone is luring angels to their death, and we’re the ones being blamed for it.”
If it’s something that even Luke is afraid of, the entire world should be terrified.
“Who do you think could be doing this?”
He shrugs a shoulder, the movement jolting me from our close contact. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
“Any luck?”
“No.” He pauses. “But I have Valak on that.”
My lips sneer at the name. “Why him?”
He chuckles, his chest rumbling. “He’s my best tracker. And one of the original demons.”
“So pretty powerful?”
“Very.” He barks out a laugh. “And famous amongst us. There’s been a couple movies based on him recently.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Luke tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Don’t worry about him.”
“But Daisy—”
He shakes his head. “Daisy is fine. Valak’s face is how he lures his victims in. Underneath, he’s just as hideous as the rest of them.”
I pout. “I don’t like him.”
He runs his thumb over my protruded lip. “I’ll send him back to Hell as soon as I’m done with him.”
Done. As in, all of this is supposed to have some sort of end date.
“When do you think that will be?”
“Soon,” he says quietly. “I’m having Lily try to make contact with the angels.”
“And where is this all supposed to happen?”
“Far from here,” he answers quickly. “I won’t have you involved or anywhere near it.”
If Aunt Polly has her way, I might be further than he thinks. “And what about me?”
His smile reaches his eyes. “As long as you’re here,
you’ll be safe.”
“And if I’m not?” I ask hesitantly. “Here, that is.”
“I’ll always be able to find you,” he says reassuringly.
“How?” I whisper.
He nudges me, motioning toward my dresser. “That mirror? It holds a piece of your soul.”
My heart stops, my mind blanking. “What do you mean?”
Luke clears his throat. “When Camilla was dying, I was only able to take a piece of her soul before the angels took her. I placed it in the mirror for safekeeping. Whenever I’d look into it, I could see her.”
“But I thought…” I was that soul.
“That she was in Heaven?” he says. “She was. I couldn’t see her soul, floating in whatever prison the angels had it locked away in, but I could feel her presence.”
“And when I was born?”
He’s quiet.
“I haven’t looked into that mirror for many years.”
I glance over at the antique wood, remembering the way it reflected me. Could that be what I was seeing? An incomplete soul trapped inside, reflecting the missing part of me? Or was it the darkest part of the soul it used to be?
“So, you’ll always be able to find me?”
A corner of his lips lift. “It’s not a crystal ball. It won’t tell me where you are, but as long as I can feel its presence, I’ll know you’re safe.”
Luke leans down and presses his lips into my hair, kissing me firm.
I preen underneath it.
“Don’t worry about the rest,” he says. “This isn’t your fight, or mine for that matter, but I’m going to finish it.”
I can only nod. Pressing myself further into his side when his eyes twitch and his jaw clenches, the familiar sign of someone calling to him. My legs tighten around his, my arms not wanting to let go but knowing I don’t have a choice.
When he leaves, my chest falls onto the bed, no longer supported by his warm body against mine.
I thought I was finally done with the nightmares. With the killing. With the investigations. Except this dream was entirely different than the others.
For once, I wasn’t murdering anyone.
In this dream…the angels were coming.
I could hear their wings flapping, their force so strong it physically pushed me back.
There were hundreds, maybe thousands, coming down. I couldn’t see them, but I can felt the power as they descended. And they were ready for a battle. They were not coming for a negotiation. They were coming for revenge.
When I woke up, there was a painful ringing in my ear.
It was so sharp, I fell to the floor and covered both of my ears until it faded.
I held my head in my hands for a long time afterwards. Tried to convince myself it was just a dream. Nothing more. Nothing to worry about.
Since that moment, when it’s too quiet, I can hear the faint sound of flapping. It happened when I ate cereal alone on the couch this morning, and then again when I sat in the bathroom stall during third period.
For the first time in my life, I want anything but silence.
So, I was thankful that Daisy wanted to spend some time together after school.
“Let’s go,” Daisy says when she meets me at my locker, “I’m starving.”
I shut my locker. “Me too.”
“So, how’s your aunt?” Daisy asks as we make our way to the back of the school where the student parking lot is located. “I haven’t seen her around in a long time.”
“Me either,” I tell her honestly. “I think she’s finishing up her project or searching for her next one.”
“Next one as in…you’re leaving?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I don’t know what her plan is.”
From the corner of my eye, I can see Daisy worrying her lip between her teeth. “But you just got here.”
I sigh, not ready to have this conversation. “This isn’t goodbye… I’m going to talk to her.”
“Yeah,” Daisy says quickly, “I’m sure there are plenty of publications she can write for where she doesn’t have to travel, right? I mean, there are thousands of online news sites looking for writers.”
“Probably.” I fake a smile. “You’ll be the first I tell with an update, promise.”
“Speaking of update,” Daisy says hesitantly, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
“Okay.” I zip up my jacket as we near the doors. “What is it?”
“So, you know how I told you Mrs. Henson spilled the beans to me that the Luke and Lily are no longer registered in school?”
“Yeah,” I say hesitantly.
“Well, I got curious during my free period and tried to do some research on their family history, and I couldn’t find anything. Nothing about a business their father apparently runs. Not where they went to school before this, or, hell, I couldn’t even find anything about Officer Valencia.”
“I doubt they show up on a Google search.” I fake a laugh. “They’re really private.”
“There’s private and then there’s lying,” Daisy says. “Plus, I used Freddie’s dad’s access to the police database. I couldn’t find anything. And, I mean, they have a ‘butler,’ like really? Who even has a butler?”
“I don’t know.” I say lamely. “Rich people?”
“Secrets don’t stay secrets in Diablo, Calla. You should know best.”
I’m completely dumbstruck.
Daisy has always been a cheerleader for Luke and me. The biggest one since the beginning. Even when I told her he brushed me off and Becca insisted he was a jerk, Daisy still said she was holding out for us to at least hook up.
“Where’s all this coming from?”
We move off to the side so the other students can get through.
“I thought it’d be fun for the two of you to get together. You know, the sinner and the saint…but I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Like he’s completely enchanted by you and won’t ever let you go.” Her usually smiling blue eyes fill with worry. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
I smile softly and reach out to touch her hand. “If I do, it’s because I want it to happen. I’m the one calling the shots now.”
She seems like she wants to argue but sighs, concedes with a nod.
We push open the doors and I freeze at the sight of Luke leaning against his car at the sidewalk. Daisy glances over at me and back down to the steps as we walk down them.
Luke gives Daisy a kind smile when we approach. “Hey, Daisy.”
“Luke,” she says in a cool tone, “haven’t seen you around.”
“Yeah,” he says dismissively, “been busy with—”
“Work,” Daisy interrupts, “I know.”
He nods.
“All right, Calla, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Mani and pedis, right?” I nod, excited to get pampered for the first time. “Take care of Calla.”
Luke reaches out and takes my hand in his. “You don’t ever have to worry about that.”
Daisy gives me a look before waving goodbye and leaving us on the sidewalk.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, noticing the stares we’re receiving as students realize that Luke is still in town. “Everyone thought you left.”
“I don’t care.” He pulls me into him and kisses me. “I was starting to feel a little agitated, so I came to find my cure.”
“Me?” I ask.
“You.” He kisses my nose. “Come on, I heard you were hungry.”
“You heard that?” I ask shakily.
“I heard a lot,” he says and opens the door for me.
I wait until Luke is in the driver’s seat before I say, “I’m sorry if you heard that.”
“Heard what?” he asks.
If he doesn’t want to talk about it, neither do I. Instead, he glances over and winks at me.
“Do you want to order takeout and go home? Or stop somewhere?”
My heart flutters at his ease of bringin
g me into his personal life. Honored that he means it, knowing his words aren’t spread to every other girl he comes across. “Let’s go home.”
He nods, pulling back onto the street. When we’re on the main road, he reaches over and places his hand on my upper thigh, simply resting it there. The few minutes in the car is the most I’ve spent with him in days. Some nights, Luke appeared in my room, woke me just to say goodnight and kiss my head, and was off again.
“Is Lily home?” I ask him when we pull up to the manor.
He shuts the engine off. “She can if you want her to be.”
“No, that’s okay.”
I wait in the car until Luke rounds the car to open the door for me, reaching out to help me out of my seat. When he pushes the front door open, it’s a lot cleaner than it was the last time I was here. We move into the kitchen and Luke pulls his cellphone from the back of his jean pocket. “What would you like?”
I try to envision the square and the options we have. “Pizza?”
Thirty minutes later, we’re curled up on the sofa in front of the fireplace. A paper plate in each of our laps and an already half empty box of pizza on the table.
“What?” I ask when I catch him staring at me.
“Nothing,” he says. “I’m just enjoying you.”
“Yeah?” I smile.
“Yeah.” He winks at me. “I feel relaxed when I’m near you.”
My thoughts wander to that dark section of my mind that I’ve come to know is jealousy. I hate that I wonder if this is how Camilla made him feel.
I shove it aside and place my plate on the coffee table.
Luke’s brows rise when I crawl across the couch and into his lap, curling into him. His arms cocoon me against his chest, as if I belong there.
“Everything okay?” I ask when he gets quiet.
Luke’s sigh isn’t as heavy as it was days ago. “Everything’s fine, amour.”
“Lily?”
He chuckles. “Having a blast. She’s stepping into her role like the princess she is.”
I smile. “She really is, isn’t she?”
“A princess?” he snickers. “If you ask her, the answer is yes.”
“And what does that mean exactly? What role does she have?”
“Ah.” Luke cracks his neck. “Without Father’s help, I have Lily playing ambassador. She’s awakening the Fallen and preparing the demons for battle.”
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