Right. He knew everything, didn’t he? Except, apparently, what was in my head. Thank God for small favors. “Anthony was a nice guy, but he was sort of a geek, and I had a crush on someone else — ”
“Greg Lopez.”
I felt as if I’d just been pole-axed. “How did you know that?”
“Because he knew.”
Well, that settled it. I definitely was not going to attend my high school reunion next summer. There was no way I could face Greg Lopez, even after ten years, if he actually knew I’d been mooning over him for most of our senior year. And here I thought no one had known about my infatuation with him, that it had been this big secret —
“Anyway,” I said, deciding I was already in deep enough, “when Anthony asked me to go I said yes, because everyone kept telling me that if I didn’t go to senior prom I’d regret it for the rest of my life. And then the night before, I realized I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to go with Anthony and have to sit there all night and watch Greg dance with Mandy Lewinson, and probably hang all over her, too. So I called Anthony and told him I’d come down with the flu and was puking all over the place.”
“I see.” Luke’s tone was so neutral I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“It was a horrible thing to do. I knew that even as I did it.” The irony of it was that I did have prom regrets for the rest of my life…just not the sort of regrets people were probably thinking of when they talked me into going in the first place. “The really awful part was that Anthony had scrimped and saved to buy those prom tickets and rent a tux and whatever, and then he was out all that money. I found out afterward that he had the stereo stolen out of his car and couldn’t even afford to replace it because of the money he’d blown on a prom he ended up not even attending.”
“It didn’t end there, though, did it?”
“No,” I replied. “I felt so awful about what I’d done that I emptied out my savings account and bought him a car stereo, then left it for him on his front doorstep. He never knew where it came from.”
“And that, my dear,” Luke said softly, “is why you’re not going to Hell.”
For a long moment I was silent. I didn’t know what to say. Even though I tried to make amends, I still hated what I had done. Anthony was a nice guy and didn’t deserve the treatment he’d gotten from me. I was a coward over the whole thing. I should never have agreed to go in the first place.
Who knows? My putting up with Danny’s neglect over the past six months could have stemmed from misplaced guilt over the way I’d acted to a similarly geeky but generally nice guy. Sometimes it’s really hard to tell why we do what we do.
Luke said, “You’re getting cold. Let’s get down off this hill and someplace warm where we can get some hot coffee.”
“Sounds good,” I said. I’d have to order something decaffeinated, but a nice warm decaf latte suddenly sounded like a bit of Heaven on earth.
We made our way back over to the stop where the buses would return us to the parking garage. By then it was almost ten o’clock, and the place had begun to close down anyway. The interior of the bus was cozy and warm, since it was so packed with people. It felt good to sit down and let the chatter in various languages surround me. It was comforting in an odd way.
Once we were back down at the bottom of the hill, we found a Starbucks at the Hollywood and Highland center (not that difficult, really — you can’t throw a rock in Los Angeles without hitting a Starbucks), ordered our poisons of choice, and talked about the planetarium. Of course we couldn’t pick up the thread of our previous conversation, since the coffee shop was crowded and noisy, but I had actually enjoyed myself and wanted him to know it.
Afterward, we retrieved the Jag and headed west toward my apartment. I was beginning to wonder whether my choice of a decaf latte had been the best one; a few times I could feel my eyelids dropping and started awake. Well, it had been a long day.
Probably Luke noticed, but he didn’t say anything. In silence he turned down my street, then pulled up at the curb. Although my block was usually fairly crowded, since most of the apartments there didn’t have garages the way mine did, somehow he always managed to get a spot out front. So much for my wondering whether or not he could use his cosmic powers to finagle a decent parking space.
It’s good to be the Devil, I thought, and felt a sudden urge to giggle.
By that point I was a little more used to his practice of coming around to help me out of the car; I waited in the passenger seat until he had opened the door and extended his hand. I knew now that his touch really wouldn’t feel any different from anyone else’s, but I still experienced a little shiver as I laid my hand in his.
He followed me as I headed up the stairs, rummaging in my purse for my keys the whole time. I wasn’t too worried about making noise, since Al, my neighbor across the landing, worked graveyard for the phone company and would have already left for his shift.
I had just inserted my key in the lock when Luke said, “I would very much like to kiss you.”
Somehow I managed to reply, “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
“Why not?”
I’d been half-turned away from him to open the door, but I left the key dangling in the lock and made myself face him squarely. Because I’m afraid I’ll like it too much, I thought, but of course I couldn’t actually tell him that. Instead, I answered, “It’s still too soon for me.”
“Ah.” Those blue eyes scanned my face; I wasn’t sure what he saw there, but he apparently decided not to press the point. “Then I’ll just have to hope that ‘soon’ becomes ‘now’ in the near future.”
Part of me wanted him to pursue the matter. It had been a long time since I was with anyone who attracted me this much, and I wanted to know what his mouth would feel like against mine — but I was also frightened. No matter how pleasant the evening, or how many times he’d reassured me that his intentions were honorable, I couldn’t yet forget who — more to the point, what — he was.
“We’ll see,” I said, in a voice that sounded shaky even to myself.
Maybe that was all he needed to hear. He’d been looking rather solemn up until that moment, but a sudden glint entered his eyes. “Until next time, then.” He inclined his head slightly, then moved away from me and began to descend the steps.
I stood on the landing for a long moment and listened as his footsteps retreated across the path that cut through the lawn and connected with the sidewalk. There was a thunk, as of a car door closing, and then I heard the silky growl of the Jag stirring to life. Finally I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding, and with trembling fingers turned the key in the lock.
Was this how the cowering mouse felt when the circling hawk finally turned and flew away?
Interlude
“I feel like an idiot,” Asmodeus complained. He glared down at his ill-fitting jeans and baggy T-shirt, which advertised some long-defunct heavy metal group.
“This isn’t a beauty contest,” Beelzebub replied coolly. Possession always felt odd at first, like shoving your feet into a pair of shoes that were a size too small. But the potential benefits here far outweighed the momentary discomfort. He had taken over the body of Vincent Nguyen, since Beelzebub judged that particular young man to be the marginal leader of Danny’s housemates, while Asmodeus now inhabited the form of Zach O’Connell, a spotty individual whose limbs all seemed about half a foot too long.
They stood in the kitchen of the home the possessees shared with young Master Koslowski. As was the case with most bachelor abodes, its general cleanliness left a good deal to be desired — dirty dishes were stacked in the sink, and a pile of empty pizza boxes rested on the countertop. And was that a roach scuttling away behind the overflowing trash can in the corner?
Well, the filth could be ignored. Bad as it might be, the cluttered little house was still worlds better than Hell.
He went on, “Just play your part. The sooner our goal is accomplished, the so
oner we can be out of here.”
Asmodeus made a disgusted sound. “No wonder this Zach’s only lay is his left hand.”
Of all the — Beelzebub ground his teeth and pushed his glasses farther up his nose. “Is that all you can think about?”
“No, but I do look forward to at least getting some action when I go slumming. That girl in Rio — ”
Asmodeus did have a decidedly skewed set of priorities, the attractions of mortal women being high among them. Beelzebub could never quite understand the fascination, since sex to him seemed the messiest of businesses, complete with some of the most ridiculous facial expressions seen in both this world and the next. Now, however, was certainly not the time to discuss such things. “What you do on your own time is your business,” he said coolly. “However, we have more important things to attend to here. Danny — ” He broke off as he heard the front door slam. In a quick undertone he added, “He’s home. Stay sharp, and follow my lead.”
Without bothering to look if Asmodeus was following, Beelzebub moved out into the cluttered living room. Game consoles and cartridges littered the ground in front of the large LED television. Danny stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, a frown creasing his forehead.
“Something wrong?” Beelzebub asked.
Danny looked up, and his frown deepened for a second. “Well…”
“Something go wrong at work?” Beelzebub felt safe enough asking this question; even though Victor and Danny worked at the same company, they spent most of their shifts out on service calls and often didn’t see each other at the actual office for days at a time.
“No…no, work was okay.” With an impatient gesture, Danny loosened his necktie and then flung it over the arm of the couch. “It’s Christa.”
“Christa?” Beelzebub repeated, in carefully neutral tones. Mustn’t give away his eagerness to discuss that problematic girl.
Danny hesitated. Like most young men, he and his roommates didn’t spend much time discussing their personal lives — from what he could tell, Beelzebub wasn’t sure Victor and Zach even had personal lives — so no doubt Danny was reluctant to go into any detail.
Still, it appeared the young mortal’s desire to unburden himself outweighed his need to keep his personal life private. He gave a little hitch of his shoulders and said, “I think she’s seeing someone else.”
“Who?” Asmodeus/Zach blurted, and Beelzebub ground his teeth. Subtle.
But apparently Danny didn’t appear to notice anything odd about the question. “I don’t know,” he replied. “She won’t tell me anything.”
“That’s harsh,” Beelzebub said, in what he hoped were appropriately sympathetic tones.
“Yeah,” Danny agreed, and plopped himself down on the couch. Looking droopy as a hound dog, he picked up the remote for the television but didn’t actually turn it on. The little black device dangled from his hand as if he’d forgotten what it was for.
“Maybe we could help,” Beelzebub suggested.
Still frowning, Danny asked, “How?”
Beelzebub opened his mouth to reply, but Asmodeus forestalled him by saying, “I think we should follow him.”
Wonderful. He should have known better than to trust Asmodeus to behave himself. “Impulsive” didn’t begin to describe him. Time to do some damage control —
Too late. Danny said, “You’d do that for me?”
Asmodeus grinned. Zach did have amazing teeth, despite his overall unprepossessing appearance. “Sure. I’ve been reading up on it. Trust me — I’ll get all the info you need on this guy.”
Somehow I doubt that, Beelzebub thought. He couldn’t really see Lucifer being too patient about a post-adolescent gamer nerd tailing him in a beat-up Chevy Nova. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a way to dissuade Asmodeus without giving too much away in front of Danny.
Instead, he gritted his teeth, then said, “I don’t think we should rely on just one method of gathering information.”
Danny still looked as if he were impersonating a hound dog. “What else can we do?”
Mortals were so easily persuaded. “Do you think she’s emailed this guy at all?”
“Probably.” Some of the fuzzy look left the young man’s eyes. “You’re thinking of hacking her email?”
Beelzebub repressed a smile. “That would probably be the easiest thing to do.”
“Unless you can think of something else,” Asmodeus added, hitching up his oversized jeans. Somehow they managed to be both too big and too short at the same time.
“There’s her blog,” Danny said. He straightened, then set the remote down on the couch next to him. “I don’t know much about it, though – she keeps it private.”
“Not a problem,” Beelzebub replied at once. “I’ll just get her passwords.”
For a second Danny looked puzzled, and then he brightened. “Keystroke capture?”
“You got it.”
Asmodeus tried to nod sagely, although Beelzebub was fairly certain the other demon didn’t know what keystroke capture even was. Technology had never been high on his list of interests, and he’d never been as good at gleaning necessary information from the minds of his possessees as Beelzebub.
“A keystroke logger would be easiest,” he said. “Tomorrow’s their weekly staff meeting — I’ll install it then.”
Danny looked dubious. “Won’t she notice?”
“It just looks like part of the wiring. She’ll never know it’s there. Anyway,” Beelzebub continued, “I can come back to retrieve it a couple days later. You’ll just have to get her out of her office for a while so I can retrieve the device and any passwords it captures.”
“I think I can manage that,” Danny said. “I’ll take her to lunch or something. An hour should be enough, shouldn’t it?”
Beelzebub nodded. He didn’t know for sure if an hour was sufficient, but he’d make it work. An hour was better than nothing.
“Okay, I’ll call her. She should go along with the whole lunch thing — she’s always said we don’t go out enough.” For a few seconds a look of indecision hovered over Danny’s features. “But — it’s kind of underhanded, isn’t it? I mean, I know she started seeing this other guy, but we never said we couldn’t date other people, and — ”
Oh, for Lucifer’s sake — “You want her to yourself, though, don’t you?” Beelzebub broke in.
“Well, yeah — ”
“All’s fair in love and war,” Asmodeus put in expectedly.
The cliché seemed to do the trick. Danny paused, and appeared to clench his jaw. “You’re right,” he said.
Perfect. Who would have guessed that Asmodeus’ lack of intellectual depth might actually come in handy one day?
“All right,” Beelzebub said. “Just let me know the time once you’ve got it set up. Then we’ll find out some more about this mystery guy she’s seeing.” Once Danny discovered Christa’s new love interest was the Devil, Beelzebub knew the young man would do everything in his power to split up the budding romance. Danny took his religion seriously; he’d be on a mission to save not just his own relationship with Christa, but her immortal soul as well.
Faced with such a two-pronged attack, the young woman would have no choice but to waver. She hadn’t struck Beelzebub as the courageous type. He was certain her lack of backbone would be quite enough to keep Lucifer in Hell where he belonged….
Chapter Five
The meteorologists had been right; I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of rain pattering on the driveway under my bedroom window. Great — there was nothing better than a forty-mile drive in the rain, especially when people in Southern California seemed to lose whatever limited driving skills they had every time water fell from the sky.
Still, if my mother’s plans included dragging me down to Laguna Beach to whatever latest organic eatery she’d discovered, better to do it on a rainy day. At least that way the little seaside town wouldn’t be quite so overrun with tourists.
I p
icked up my phone and saw that it wasn’t so late that I could avoid going to the gym that morning. There was also an alert for a missed call. I hadn’t given Luke my number, but that didn’t count for much. My heart began to race as I pushed the button to call voicemail, then plummeted just as quickly when I recognized my father’s voice coming out of my cell phone’s tiny speaker.
Apparently he’d gotten back into town the day before and wanted to know if I could swing by his place after I’d seen my mom.
“I could take you to Tutto Mare for dinner,” he said. “After lunch with your mother, you’re probably going to need a decent meal. Give me a call and let me know what your plans are.” And then he hung up.
Considering the meals Luke had been buying me this week, the last thing I needed was another big dinner, but I also knew my father had a point. Anyway, I’d already planned to put in a truly grueling session at the gym to burn off whatever guilt I might have had regarding those luscious pork chops from the night before or the garlic mashed potatoes that had gone along with them.
After changing into my gym clothes and allowing myself a small container of yogurt for breakfast, I took my place on a treadmill at 24-Hour Fitness with the rest of the Saturday-morning masochists. Recalling my father’s promise of a big dinner out tonight, I grimly settled in for at least forty-five minutes of slogging. My personal best so far was an hour, but I was feeling more tired than I had any right to be, considering that I’d been in bed before midnight.
My thoughts kept pulling themselves toward Luke, even though I tried very hard to keep my mind on other things, such as alternate routes I could take if the 5 Freeway got completely bogged down, or what I could wear that would be appropriate for both whatever sprout-and-twig place my mother would take me to and Tutto Mare, which was a fairly upscale seafood restaurant located in Newport Center. Unfortunately, none of that was terribly stimulating. Instead I kept hearing the sound of Luke’s voice, seeing his face as he stood on the landing and asked whether he could kiss me.
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