by Emma Castle
“I still think that the whole situation is iffy.” Jim held open the classroom door for her, and she went in ahead of him.
“Our relationship is unique.” That was all she was going to say on the matter.
Jim seemed to realize he’d overstepped the boundary and offered her a polite smile. Professor Belkin came into the room, his face pale and his eyes a bit glassy.
“I’m sorry, I’m not feeling very well today. I’ve posted the lesson online. I will be around this weekend to answer questions. You are dismissed.” The professor removed a handkerchief and wiped his brow.
“He doesn’t look good,” Diana whispered to Jim.
“He definitely doesn’t. I heard the flu is going around.”
“Is it?” Diana blanched. The last time she had the flu she’d been a wreck for six days.
“Yeah.” Jim gathered his books and nodded politely at their professor before he exited the class.
Diana returned all her note materials back to her bag. Just as she was starting to leave, Belkin sneezed as she passed by him. He apologized profusely, but she told him it was nothing to worry about.
When she left the classroom building she expected to have to wait for Lucien, but he was there, the red roadster drawing admiring looks from the guys in her class and Lucien himself drawing hungry looks from her female classmates.
“Done already?” Lucien was surprised as he opened the passenger-side door for her.
“You didn’t give my professor the flu, did you?” she asked. Getting a poor man sick so she didn’t have class seemed exactly like the sort of thing the devil would do.
He raised one brow in a mute, unamused challenge. “I haven’t and would never in future do anything so amateurish. If I wanted to make you skip the class, the reason would be far more dramatic, I assure you.”
She studied him, not really believing for a moment that she could trust his expression. He was the devil, after all, but he did seem to make sense. The devil would definitely go for something big and dramatic if he wanted to cancel class.
“So my plans are back on then?” he asked hopefully.
“I guess they are.” She smiled a little. “But if you plan for us to stay anywhere overnight, I’ll need my—”
“Bag, yes I know. What do you have in that bag? The Holy Grail?”
“Ha ha.” She snorted. “I’m a girl. We need things if we stay overnight. Guys have no clue what it takes to not look like crap the next morning.”
Lucien chuckled as he started his car. “Women have always been high maintenance. Even Adam’s wife, Eve, in the garden of Eden was always fussing about her hair.”
She stared at him. “Eve was real?”
“Of course. Well, she wasn’t actually named Eve, nor was the first man named Adam, those names came later. It was really before men had a defined language. Much of the Bible is allegory and metaphor, you see. Except for the stories about me. No exaggeration there.”
Diana put on her seat belt and tried to digest everything he was telling her.
“If I spend the rest of the day with you, I want to ask a bunch of questions, and you need to answer them.”
“Oh.” He laughed darkly. “Getting all demanding. I like this side of you. Maybe you can demand that I pull the car over and fuck you right here.” He licked his lips in a way that made her body quiver with longing. She had to fight very, very hard to not do exactly that.
“We have time for that later,” she reminded him.
He threw back his head, sighing dramatically. “Very well, but I have questions too, about you. You answer mine, I’ll answer yours. Fair deal?” He offered her one hand.
“Deal.” She shook his hand.
“See? Making deals with me is quite easy.” He winked at her, and then they hit the road.
“What is something you’ve always longed to see?” Lucien asked as they got back to her apartment.
“Um…I don’t know. It’s a huge list, really.”
“Then pick one and we’ll start there.” He grinned mischievously.
“I guess the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, but that’s in Mexico.”
Lucien rolled his eyes and curled an arm around her waist as they walked up to her apartment door.
“Snap of my fingers, remember? I can take you anywhere.”
Diana couldn’t believe he actually wanted to do this for her, but she wasn’t going to look that gift horse in the mouth.
“We will go where you wish today. And at midnight, I get to do whatever I want to you.”
A delicious shiver of longing rippled through her as her imagination ran wild at the thought of what he might want to do to her.
“Okay. I think that sounds like a good trade,” she teased, but her heart was racing. She wanted midnight instantly, yet she also wanted to spend the day seeing amazing things with Lucien.
She unlocked her apartment and went inside to make sure Seth had plenty of food, and then she returned to her living room. Lucien had closed her apartment door but was still holding on to the doorknob.
“Ready for Mexico?” he asked.
She nodded and walked toward him just as he turned the handle. When he opened the door, she gasped. There was a massive forest spread out all around them, and the trees were…moving. No, not the trees—the butterflies covering every inch of every trunk for miles. The black-and-orange wings of millions of butterflies flapped as they took refuge in the trees in the reserve. Sunlight spilling through the canopy illuminated patches of monarchs here and there in spots of gleaming, rippling gold. Small clusters of monarchs took flight, dancing in circles before resettling on another tree.
Diana swallowed hard as she fought to control her emotions. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.
“Why here?” Lucien asked as he came up to stand beside her. “Why butterflies?”
Diana held out a hand as a butterfly flew past, and it landed on the back of it. She looked at the insect and then Lucien, trying to compose her words. It was almost impossible to explain.
“You’re immortal. You never die,” she said. “But I will…someday. All things in this world die except for you. Death is frightening and permanent. When I see something so fragile, so beautiful, and I see it has only a short life, it makes me appreciate its beauty all the more. Like snowflakes. You catch one and you have but a few seconds to see the intricate, one of a kind pattern before it melts away. There’s a tragic perfection in that. I don’t know if I’m explaining this well…” She tried to ignore the heat flaming her face.
“I think I understand.” Lucien was watching her, not with hunger, not with wicked intent, but with a sort of sorrow and true understanding that made her heart ache. Did he know that he’d once been a beautiful thing, unique and precious to God before he’d fallen? Diana couldn’t but wonder if he ever thought of it. Or perhaps he thought too much of it, and the reason he basked in the darkness of his existence was to forget the world of light he’d come from.
“Everything on the earth has the potential for beauty,” she continued. “The mountains that will last long after I’m gone and this butterfly whose lifespan is only an instant compared to mine. Life itself is beautiful, eternal. It always goes on, always renews after death. It’s a promise that there is no true ending of things.” The monarch took flight, and Diana sat down in the thick grass beside one of the trees and watched the butterflies. After a long moment, Lucien eased down beside her. She reached over and covered his hand with hers, and to her relief he didn’t pull away.
“When I was…” He cleared his throat. “Before I fell, I used to love the earth and the riches of life here. It’s so easy to become blinded by rage and hatred and forget to see beauty.”
“Lucien, why did you fall?” She’d heard all the myths—the devil had his pride, the devil was jealous—but she wanted to see and hear his perspective.
He watched the forest and the monarchs for a long time before he responded.
“Fea
r. I fell because I was afraid. Father created the universe and the angels. I thought he was content with us, but I was wrong. He made humanity, and I saw that his love for humans was stronger than his love for me. I was afraid his love for me would fade and that I would become nothing in the universe. Hate and anger always come from fear. And I feared humans more than anything because they lessened my own relevance to my father.” He turned his hand over so that their hands could link, and he laced his fingers through hers, staring at their joined palms.
“Everyone needs to have a purpose and to feel loved. That makes you human.” She pointed this out softly, hoping it wouldn’t upset him. She brushed the tips of her fingers over his palm with her free hand, trying to show him that she cared.
“Me, human.” He shook his head ruefully. “What gives you a purpose? What drives you, Diana?”
For a long moment she didn’t answer. She continued to stroke her fingers over his hand, admiring the powerful, elegant fingers entwined with her own.
“I like to design houses. I love architecture. It’s about giving someone a place so they can come back at the end of a bad day, or a great day, and feel safe and at ease with their surroundings. I want to be the person who creates not just houses, but homes.” She took in the dancing butterflies around her as she came to a realization. Home didn’t have to be a place, not always. Sometimes home could be a person you loved. She glanced up at Lucien. His eyes were half-closed as though the pleasure her touch was giving him was soothing, like a cat stretched out on the carpet beneath a band of sunlight.
“Now it’s my turn,” he said. “If you were trapped on a desert island, what movie would you watch?”
His question surprised her, and she laughed. The sound startled several nearby butterflies, and they took flight in a dazzling display of orange and black.
“You’re asking me a desert island question?”
“Yes, why is that so funny?” he demanded, his gaze betraying that he was a little hurt at her amusement.
“It’s…never mind. Why would I bring a movie to a desert island? I wouldn’t have anything to watch it on.”
“Very well, a book then?”
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Twilight.”
“No. Absolutely not,” he growled.
“What? You don’t like vampires?”
“Actually, I don’t. They’re all broody and dramatic.”
“Amara said vampires are real. Is that true?” she asked. It had been one of her burning questions.
“Yes, and so are werewolves and a lot of other…things.”
“Wow.”
“So, any book other than Twilight. What would it be?”
“The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova.” She bit her lip to hide a smile as he suddenly frowned, and before she could react, he pounced on her, tackling her back on the soft grass, pinning her beneath his masculine body.
“Another vampire book? Do I need to manifest some fangs and bite your pretty neck to arouse you?” He licked his lips and leaned down to kiss her neck. She squealed when he nipped her throat just hard enough to feel his teeth. And to her shock, a flood of wet heat pooled between her thighs.
“Interesting,” Lucien murmured as he nibbled her earlobe.
She moaned as he moved his lips to hers and explored her mouth with a slow, decadent kiss. The kiss was sweet yet sinful, and she couldn’t deny that this man, this fallen angel, filled her with a wild lust. She knew that to tempt him was dangerous, not physically but emotionally. The more time she spent around him, the more addicted to him she became.
Their lips parted briefly, and she raised her lashes to gaze into his eyes.
“Can you take me anywhere?”
He nodded.
“Would you take me somewhere you love?”
He stared at her for a long moment, then nodded solemnly. They vanished from the forest of butterflies in an instant. When she opened her eyes again, they were deep within a canyon. The night sky was dark and endless above them. All around them stood people holding luminaria candles. The crowds moved slowly, people walking one by one to stand in front of the entrance to an ancient city, where they placed the candles on the sand. Gold circles of light blossomed like thousands of massive lightning bugs along the sand. The collective glow illuminated the entrance to a building carved into the stone wall of the canyon.
“This is…Petra. In Jordan,” she gasped softly.
“It is,” Lucien said. “They sometimes hold night concerts. Tonight is one of those nights.” He curled an arm around her waist and led her back toward the edge of the crowd. Then they sat down on the sand next to several other people to wait. The canyon rustled with the whispers of the crowd, making the ancient façades of Petra come alive with ghostly whispers. They stood directly in front of the most famous carved part of the ancient city, Al-Khazneh.
Then a man stepped out of the doorway of the carved stone edifice, and a hush fell over the crowd. The candles flickered, and everyone watched as the man waved at them in greeting. He stood solemn and silent for a heartbeat, and then he began to sing. His voice carried the notes of a familiar opera, and it was both haunting and beautiful. The music of the song echoed through Petra and the canyon, spinning spells of arias and firelight from the luminarias.
Diana leaned against Lucien’s side, resting her cheek on his shoulder as she listened to the man sing. After a moment Lucien wrapped an arm around her, and in that moment Diana knew without a doubt that she’d fallen in love with him. He’d brought her to a place that he loved, and it was ancient and beautiful, full of quiet reverence. There was no evil here, no schemes, no crossroads bargains or demons. It was only them, the light of the luminarias, and the haunting beauty of an opera being sung. It was a holy moment, one she knew she would carry deep in her heart for as long as she lived. When there were no more midnights to meet him, when she was old and gray and living a quiet life, this would always be in her heart. And he would never know, could never know how she’d fallen in love with him.
I fell for the angel, not the devil.
15
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. —John Milton, Paradise Lost
Long after the opera singer had left and the candles were extinguished, Lucien held Diana in his arms, soaking in the moment and memories of this place. Petra had always been one of his favorite places. Funny, he hadn’t been here in years, but he had heard about the concerts somehow, and that had lingered in the back of his mind. When was the last time he’d done something simply because he wanted to? Something pure, something without repercussions in the universe that would draw the wrath of his winged brothers?
Diana sighed softly, and the sound was dreamy and relaxed.
“That was…amazing.” She turned in his arms and leaned up to kiss his cheek. A wild pulse of electricity seemed to shoot through his body at the point where his lips touched hers.
“That’s only the beginning of what I would like to show you.”
“Oh?” Her eyes brightened, and he nodded.
“This way.” He nodded toward the doorway that led inside Al-Khazneh. The moment they reached the entry, he drew open a ripple in the structure of the earth’s plane of existence and connected them to another location. They stepped through in the blink of an eye onto moss-covered ground. Diana’s gasp was full of delight as she spun around.
“Where are we?”
All around them wooden beams were crafted to hold up the large ancient branches of a wisteria tree. Purple flowers cascaded down in enchanting waterfalls. Ground lights illuminated the flowers from below, while fading sunlight danced through the blossoms from above.
“Welcome to Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi, Japan.”
“Japan?” She whispered the word in shock. “How on earth do…” She half smiled. “I need to stop asking that.”
“I would try to explain, but it’s like a fish explaining how breathing underwater works to a bird.”
“Right. I love wisteria.” She spun around beneath the tree as a light breeze stirred the branches. “It’s so whimsical, you know?”
“Whimsical?” He chuckled. He had never had occasion to use that word before.
“Yeah, whimsical.” She opened her arms. “Want to dance?”
“There’s no music, and I do not dance, at least not the kind I think you’re wanting me to do.” He licked his lips, picturing how he’d love to grind his hips against hers in the most erotic way beneath strobe lights while music thumped rhythmically all around them.
“We don’t need music. Come on, please?”
Lucien walked toward her, stunned that he was even doing this, but she’d begged so sweetly.
“You’re going to owe me so much in bed, darling,” he said, grinning.
“Very well, you seductive bastard, do what you want tonight. Right now I want to dance,” she teased.
He placed one hand on her lower back, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on to him. Their bodies were pressed flush to each other, and despite the lust racing through his veins that demanded he lay her flat and take her here, he wanted to dance too. She closed her eyes, and they started to slow dance. He’d never understood until tonight why anyone would want to dance this way.
The breeze moved the blossoms and made them whisper, and the wood creaked as the branches swayed. Distant birds sang as twilight fell, and they danced beneath it all. His throat tightened as he realized the scents in the air were heavier than usual, that the sounds were clearer and the heat of Diana’s body was warmer. He’d never been so aware of himself physically before. Dancing this close, this slow was too intimate. He felt vulnerable.
A tear escaped his eye, and he shakily rubbed it away, stunned. He shouldn’t be feeling like this. Had something in him weakened? Was that why he had been unable to fight off the croucher demons? He’d failed for the first time in his existence to destroy rogue demons—and it had been because this human was making him soft. Too damned soft.
He broke away from Diana and muttered an apology, then cursed himself silently. The devil didn’t apologize. The devil wasn’t sorry…but he was.