AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He gestured to his body as if I should have made the connection. “I am entrusted with the souls of the wicked.” A shrug followed. “It’s my currency.”
Souls? “Are you talking about Hell?”
A vicious, cunning smile curved his lips. “Is there anywhere else as important?”
I could think of one. My head tilted back, and I stared at the ceiling, knowing he caught what I meant.
A scowl dominated his features before he whined, “Yes. No need to say it.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you’re the Devil?”
His hands spread out, and he flicked his wrists. The fire disappeared. We stood in the ashes of the house with only the remains of the dead at our feet. “You’re not impressed?”
Fuck. My hand scrubbed down my face. The fatigue I felt earlier returned with a vengeance. “I suppose.”
My lackluster reply enraged him. “My name is Lucifer Morningstar, Benezio De Santo, and you should fear me.”
Flames exploded from his palms and blasted me in the face, knocking my body backward. I landed on my ass, staring with awe while his features twisted into a demonic, skeletal visage.
“Uh, sorry,” I fumbled, intrigued by his ability to manipulate fire to his will.
I must have had the appropriate reaction this time. His anger faded. The flames dissipated as dark shadows appeared behind his body, bubbling and growing in volume.
“The shadows recognize brethren.”
Huh?
Sparks of light danced in the inky blots of shadow that hung in the air, pushing at invisible barriers as if they tested for weakness. I couldn’t tell if lightning bolts flashed inside and a storm brewed in the shadows or not.
Lucifer tapped his chin with a long black nail. I didn’t notice it before now. Maybe he decided he wanted them, and they popped into existence. Each finger now sported the gothic manicure.
“I think I’m beginning to understand.”
“You are. I don’t need to speak to you about the shadows, do I, Benezio?” Smug laughter dribbled from his lips. “You already know them. You master them—and have—since you were a boy. Since that night when your innocence was stolen.”
The fact that he knew such an intimate, horrific detail about me pissed me off. I scrambled to my feet and lunged in his direction, but Lucifer snickered as he disappeared in a puff of black smoke, reappearing a few feet to my left.
“I do enjoy your enthusiasm, but my patience has limits, dark harbinger.”
Harbinger? What the fuck?
“You see what others don’t. A dark gift.”
Confused, I blinked.
“You’re a man who deals in secrets and lies. You watch people and pick up on their weaknesses. Their vices and sins become your currency. Since your home is in the shadows, you move with the stealth I require.”
Require for what? “And?”
“I see no reason why we can’t merge our talents and come to an understanding. I will provide the assistance your shadows need to hunt down and destroy your enemies, and you will help find the souls that satisfy my hunger.”
“Are you fucking with me?”
Amusement twitched his upper lip. “No. It wouldn’t be this boring if I did.”
Boring? Thefuck?
“Is your need for vengeance enough to risk the reward? Is protecting Bianca and stopping your enemies from harming her reason to accept my proposal?”
