Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
I had some explaining to do, but not before I dealt with the problem at hand. “Gray, she’s your mom. What should I do with her? She was going to use the Eye of Night to displace Rain’s soul and take over the body. I believe she was trying to implicate Lilith in the attacks on both you and Kelsey so Lucifer would have no choice but to uphold his laws.”
“She wanted the Daybreak Kingdom, too,” Casey continued. He was standing near the wall. The insecure part of me would have said he was keeping his distance. But I was a different me, and I knew what my husband was doing. He was giving me space to work. He was trusting me to do this and do it right. “I suspect she would have later killed Gray and called it an accident. Then she would have held the keys to two kingdoms. She had to get rid of Lilith because of her powers. She’s the only one who would have been able to see what Gray’s mother had done.”
Because Lilith could read souls, and she would have known Rain wasn’t right.
“I deserve more than what I got, which was nothing,” Gray’s mother said, her lips thin and cracked. “I gave you a dark prophet, and all I got was a tiny room in a meaningless house.”
“Well, you are not being raped by a thousand demons,” Lucifer reasoned. “I mean I would think that was a positive, but if you’re unsatisfied with the experience, I’ll be forced to examine my methods. Another reward then. I’ll have you join the old Lord Sloane. What a match you were. He’s training young demons on how to torture a soul. Well, he’s being used to teach. I think you’ll like it.”
With a snap of his fingers, the woman was gone.
“All right then, we can return to the negotiations. Ms. Carey, I take back what I said. That was extremely impressive.” Lucifer looked me over. “No wonder the wizard wanted to use you.”
“What happened to her? To Gray’s mom?” Kelsey asked, placing her hand in Gray’s.
“She’s being tortured right now,” Lucifer explained, putting a hand to his ear. “If you listen, you can probably hear her. It’s why I love being on this balcony. The sound of the damned is so soothing.”
“You’re a jackass,” Lilith said with a huff.
“Well, what am I supposed to do, love? She looked like one of those women who always wants to talk to a manager. She would probably have written a review, and I’m trying to keep that Yelp average tight, if you know what I mean,” Lucifer said. “And I wouldn’t have upheld that particular rule. Not when it came to you. I would have let Lord Sloane and the Midnight Kingdom burn. She miscalculated.”
“I think she calculated exactly right. If you have to choose between me and your rage, your choice is already made.” Lilith’s brow rose in obvious challenge. “Or will you let my friends leave with me? I assume this whole ploy is a way to get the dark prophet to work for you again.”
“I don’t know. I might ask the witch if she wants to work down here a while. She’s got talent,” Lucifer muttered.
“Abso-fucking-lutely not.” Kelsey seemed to be finding her feet again. “Olivia, are you done with all the leather and sadness and crap?”
Naturally she summed up the worst period of my life with eloquence. “Yes. I think I’m done being Myrddin’s bitch. Can I kill him now?”
I had plans for him.
“Down, witch,” Lucifer chastised. “And my wife is unfortunately right. I’m still going to negotiate with the dark prophet. It’s all right. She’s already pissed at me. I can make it up to her later.”
“Fuck you,” Lilith announced. “And I think I’d like a word with the wizard.”
“I was offered safe passage,” Myrddin announced. He’d moved closer to the balcony’s edge, and I wondered if I could push him off. He’d probably live, but it would hurt, and he’d likely get swarmed by hungry demons, which would also hurt.
Lucifer’s eyes rolled. “He was. I can’t allow any of you to hurt him. Gray, will you sign my contract or do I allow the wizard to kill the boy here and now?”
“Or we could pick door number three, as my mother would say,” a familiar voice said.
There was a whooshing sound, and Lee Donovan-Quinn was suddenly standing in the middle of the balcony.
And I worried the evening had gotten infinitely more dangerous.
* * * *
Kelsey
I was going to have a fucking heart attack. I just knew it. I’d nearly lost my son’s soul, and now my dad’s was in trouble because it was housed in that reckless boy’s body. “Lee, move away from the pissed off Hell lord, please.”
Lucifer’s eyes seemed to glow with unholy fire as he moved closer to Lee, who folded the Mantle of Arthur over his arm. “Oh, don’t bother, boy. I would catch you before you could run. You’ve been trying to steal from me. You’ve been trying to steal a piece of me.”