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"Ready? For what?"
"Hearing about Allegra reminded me we have unfinished business to attend to. Her half-blood mongrel daughter'schuyler Van Alen. A very good friend of yours, from what I can tell."
"What about Schuyler?" Bliss asked nervously.
"Forsyth has been unable to bring her to me. Leviathan has failed as well. It is amazing how blind I have been to the advantage that is just within my reach. Because you shall not fail me, my daughter. No. You will bring her to me."
Bliss shook her head and stepped away, almost to the edge of the rooftop. "No way! You're crazy if you think I'd ever do such a thing."
Lucifer's face was calm. "Why? Is it because you mistakenly believe Schuyler Van Alen is a friend? What kind of friend leaves you behind? She never called, not even once, did she? Never wanted to know how you were. What kind of friend is that? How could she leave you alone, knowing how much you were suffering?"
Bliss continued to shake her head so vigorously that she thought she would make herself dizzy. "She had no choice... she was running... Forsyth made her a fugitive!"
"Still, each of us has a choice. Each of us has the freedom to choose how we act, and she chose to leave you alone. Alone with me." Lucifer smiled again, and this time Bliss could see his fangs.
"No. I won't. You'll have to do it yourself if you want it done."
"I have tried, my dear," Lucifer sighed. "do not forget: we have, as you young people say, 'been there, done that.' "
Bliss realized Lucifer meant he had already tried to harm Schuyler during the times he had been in charge, when Bliss was having all those blackouts.
"And so far I have not been able to truly harm the girl. Gabrielle's protection is rooted in her blood and must have deflected my presence. But you, my dear, you have your mother's blood in you as well. Same as Schuyler. You will be able to push through where I was unable."
"I'll never do it." Bliss pushed her fists into the pockets of her coat. Her father was insane if he thought she would ever harm her friend.
"Well, now you have a choice: you can do as I ask, or you shall never see your young man again."
"What do I care? He's not real," Bliss insisted.
"He's as real as I am. You think yours is the only world that is true? There are an infinite number of worlds in the universe. The world in your mind is as real as the world outside of it."
Bliss looked down from the roof of the museum. If she jumped, if she fell into the glom, in her mind, could she hurt herself?
"What are you going to do? What do you want me to do... with Schuyler?" she whispered.
"My dear? Isn't it obvious? You're going to kill her."
ER 53
Mimi
When Mimi left school that afternoon, she found Kingsley waiting for her in front of the Duchesne gates, among the usual collection of scruffy looking boys waiting for their private-school girlfriends. Except Kingsley didn't look scruffy at all. He looked like he'd just stepped out of a magazine: teeth gleaming, dark hair shiny and combed, his cheeks freshly shaven. He was wearing a black leather jacket over a white button-down shirt and battered blue jeans. The rock star look intact.
"What are you doing here?" Mimi demanded, looking around anxiously. "Jack might see you?" Not that she cared all that much. Maybe her twin would even get jealous, seeing them together. If Jack was even capable of any real feeling when it came to her. Who knew what he thought in that thick skull of his anymore?
Kingsley ignored her and pulled her close. He kissed her soundly in front of a group of titillated freshmen.
"Force. Get in the limo." Mimi saw a shiny car the length of a city block idling by the curb. A uniformed chauffeur held the door open.
Mimi had always harbored a secret love for limousines. It was tacky to use one in the city, lest you run the risk of looking like a tourist or like you were off to prom. But this one shone with a wicked gleam. She had to admit it: the guy traveled in style.
She gave Kingsley a look, then slid inside. He stepped in behind her and closed the door. He raised the driver's partition until it closed all the way. The windows were tinted. They were, for all intents and purposes, alone. The car was so wide it was like being in a moving living room. The carpet beneath her feet was lush, and the car seats were as wide as a bed.
"Now, where were we?" Kingsley asked, leaning over so that he was practically on top of her, one hand underneath her shirt and the other tugging the waistband of her skirt.
"Wait. Wait," Mimi gasped, putting a hand against his chest and pushing him away. And she thought she was fast. Kingsley was like the world's most talented make-out artist. She had barely gotten in the car and she was practically undressed.
"Sweetheart, I've waited all day," he sighed, burying his face in her neck. But he did as she asked and pulled his hand away from her thigh. He composed himself and leaned back against the seat. 'There. Better?"
