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I can only stare at him, utterly shocked. With another frustrated growl, he peers over and shakes his head. “Not you,me. I assumed that the drug dealer who sent you was after the pyramid because of its collector value. After all, a thing like that has a human history as well as a demonic one. It’s worth a million dollars—or a million demon lives. No one who knows what it is has ever been stupid enough to try to take it from me. I was arrogant and blind.”
My mind reels, trying to fully grasp how valuable that little brass pyramid is. The one that felt oddly heavy. The one I was caught red-handed with just weeks ago.
I try to shake the thoughts with a jerk of my head. “What is it? What did he want it for?”
“I don’t know why he wanted it. I doubt he was the one to come up with this plan. How is it he could be smart enough to know about the artifact, but stupid enough to try taking it by force? That doesn’t track.” He pauses, pinching the bridge of his nose between his long fingers before letting out a sigh and continuing. “As far as what it is… it’s a sort of prism, or funnel. It attracts energy and power, stores it, and releases it on command into the demon who possesses it.”
“Like a… supernatural power generator?” I ask, a small crease forming between my brows as I try to make sense of what he’s described.
He nods, his face darkening. “Someone else is behind this. Someone is conspiring against me.”
I hesitate for a moment, then work up the nerve to speak. “Not that I doubt your judgment, but he did seem like the kind of person who would do anything for power. To me, at least. Are you sure it wasn’t just him and his gang trying to move up in the world?”
Lucas shoots me an impatient look, then glares furiously down at the dead man. “He and his cronies have been on this plane too long for me to believe that. Long enough to default to their guises in death, and long enough to know who runs this place. They should never have had the nerve to go against me. Besides—” He meets my eyes, his angry expression nearly as terrifying in his form as it is when his face is slate gray and his eyes glow red. “This coward wouldn’t have the balls to go against me on his own. So he sent you to do his dirty work.”
He kicks the body and shifts back to his demon form for a moment. “He would never have been able to control the dragon, either,” he growls. “He’s a pawn, just like that thing was.” He bares his teeth at the body. “A pawn who deserved to be killed slowly and painfully for the danger he put you in.”
Watching this massive, powerful demon work himself into a fury over the idea of someone putting me in danger makes me feel something deep in my bones. As terrified as I am, it’s becoming more and more clear that I’ll be protected—cherished, even—by the scariest demon of them all.
He leaves the area where the bodies are scattered and comes to me, wrapping one massive arm around my shoulders. His curved claws, small scythes that just mowed down six demons, brush lightly over my skin. I press against him, grounding myself in the firmness of his body.
I’m glad as hell that he’s on my side. He’s danger incarnate.
But not to me.
Chapter21
Lucifer
I leavethe bodies where they fell as a warning to any other foolish souls who might think of attacking me, then lead Sophia back to the house. It’s very late by now, and as much as I still crave her body and itch to pick up right where we left off, I know she needs to rest.
And I need to stay alert to any other threats.
I refuse to let her out of my sight, pulling her into the bed with me and curling my body around hers. She falls asleep before long, too exhausted to resist the pull of slumber despite the fear she must still feel. But I don’t do much more than doze lightly, awakening shortly after dawn as light starts to seep through the window.
Sophia is curled up in the shelter of my body, still dreaming. She stirs restlessly, a little frown on her face.
I kiss her shoulder and pull her closer against me. She sighs, relaxing in my arms. Her unconscious trust stirs something in me—something subtle and powerful, but not quite powerful enough to temper the mounting rage inside me.
She’s been in danger so often.
Too often.
Her proximity to me is putting her in the line of fire. Whoever the conspirators against me are, they won’t be too broken up about killing a human in my employ. On the contrary, it makes the chore that much more enjoyable for them.
The attack on the plane and the attack on this house were coordinated. Someone, whether it be individual or group, had to have known not only that I was leaving L.A., but also the route I would be taking and the area where I would be forced to take shelter if I survived the crash. That information wouldn’t be wholly impossible to get, but it would be difficult. And thereisan easier explanation.
Someone must be following me, sending minions in to attack whenever I appear to be at my most vulnerable. With my demons and guards left behind back at the office, and my clients’ guards waiting for me at my destination, traveling has left me visibly vulnerable. In actuality, I’m no more vulnerable without my henchmen than I am with them. The optics give me a psychological edge, but when it comes down to a fight with an evenly-matched opponent, my guards may as well be made of tissue paper.
Sophia shifts in her sleep, murmuring. “Hotspatcho, on the house…”
She’s fucking adorable. Still dreaming of her last job.
Wait.
A frown pulls at my lips as I trace a finger up and down her smooth thigh, considering an alternative that didn’t occur to me before. Her troubles began before she started working for me. Without attempts on her life, we never would have met. Without demons entangling her in their schemes, she never would have started working for me. And that demon in the alley… he didn’t attack me.
He was afterher.
