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“He went with his academic brothers. He didn’t care about me.”
His head tilted slightly, considering me. “A lie. Interesting. Child, you might be able to lie to yourself, but you cannot lie to me. I am the father of lies. However, I’m enjoying your delusion and the information it’s giving me on how the spawn operates. You see, he is one creature I cannot read.”
I hadn’t known that Lucifer couldn’t read Myrddin Satanspawn. “I thought perhaps he’d sent you to find me.”
Lucifer went still, and suddenly the air around me didn’t seem so soft. Menace crept along my skin, making my gut turn. “You thought I was Myrddin’s errand boy?”
I’d stepped in it. He was presenting almost human, but I forgot who he was at my own peril. I went to one knee as I’d been taught in the education houses. This was how to show deference to our demonic leaders. I lowered my head. “No, my lord. I simply was hoping my master had communicated with you. I am a captive here, and I long to return to my coven house and take my place at my master’s side. I meant no disrespect.”
I heard him walking my way, his boots crunching on the obsidian gravel that formed the path around the fountain. I kept my head down, my heart pounding in my chest.
He could kill me with a thought, and a few days ago I might have welcomed it. I’d been taught to view my life as mere service to my coven.
Then fucking Kelsey came back and reminded me of what the world had been like before.
Black, perfectly manicured claws came into my line of sight before he placed them on my chin, gently pushing me up so I looked into his eyes. They were endless black orbs of…nothing. A void I would lose myself in if I let it. A void of absolute nothing.
That was Hell. Meaninglessness. The idea that we are nothing. That we are born without purpose, and all suffering is simply inconsequential and random.
“Olivia Carey, you are nothing. You are a speck in the universe. You would do well to remember your place. If you want out of this prison, you know how to free yourself.”
An image shot through my head. An image of blood. I could break a glass and open my veins. The demon blood inside me wouldn’t save me. It didn’t work the way vampire blood did. If I was careful and did it while Casey was sleeping, I might get away with it. He might not feel it if I was quick. He’d only felt the soul spell because it had taken hours and hours of agony, or perhaps because on some level our souls had connected.
“Do you want me to help you, child?” Lucifer sounded comforting now, a warmth creeping along my spine. “I could get into a bit of trouble, but if your misery is too much, I will chance it.”
He could use that talon and split my throat. My blood would spill on the infertile ground and soak into this realm. I wouldn’t hurt or ache any longer.
I would be nothing.
“Olivia!”
Casey. He was calling for me. His voice brought me out of that horrible space and I moved, breaking the contact and shaking off that feeling I’d had.
“So be it,” Lucifer announced and then he was gone.
My hands were shaking when Casey got to the middle of the maze long before anyone else would have.
“Baby, are you okay?” He moved in like it was his right to comfort me.
When he put his arms around me, I let him.
For a moment, I felt something, something that wasn’t darkness.
It scared the fuck out of me.
* * * *
Kelsey
I stood in the hallway that led to the great room and stared at my husband because he couldn’t have said what he’d said. “I’m sorry. Who is here?”
Gray was in his best suit, looking every inch the leader of a demonic realm. His horns were out and he was taller than normal, though mostly human. I’ve come to realize that Gray’s control of his form is proof of his royal nature and strength. Those horns being out and beautifully rounded while his face remained perfectly human was kind of showing off. His violet eyes were darker than normal as he seemed to be psyching himself up to walk into that room. “Lucifer Morningstar. According to Tix, he’s here and demanding breakfast.”
Somehow I hadn’t hadLucifer wants some mini muffinson my bingo card for this trip.
“Not ‘according to.’ Heishere.” Tix moved in, fussing with Gray’s tie. There was an unmistakable air of anxiety around the usually chill demon. “And uninvited and unannounced. What is this world coming to? We have protocols.”
Eddie was at my side. He was never chill. He took my hand in his, staring at my fingers like he was trying to decide if we had time for a manicure.
