Chapter Ten
I flicked through the clothes in my wardrobe. When I'd finally returned to my apartment the other day, after hours of making love to Lux and sleeping in his arms, it was to a sea of shopping bags in my living room.
Unfortunately, I hadn't had time to go through them right then, I had an appointment to keep with Elias for tests, so I'd thrown on the first casual thing I could find, a halter neck rockabilly dress with a little red cherries pattern and a pair of black ballet flats.
When I'd returned, I'd been so exhausted after a day of tests that I had fallen into bed that night and hadn't woken up until noon. It'd been a long week on an emotional rollercoaster ride and my body had been wrung out.
I'd put away all my new things with my old thrift store finds. I appreciated my closet, full of clothes still with their tags. I hadn't had one of those since my parents had died.
Now, Monday had rolled around again, and for the first time in years I wouldn't have to go to work to make sure I could pay my medical bills and rent for the month.
I fingered a soft, pink sweater. It felt like a cloud of my skin. I would have to call Tolliver and Sam, thank them again. I missed them now that they weren't here. How could you miss people you'd known less than a week? But I did. I missed Tolliver's serious face and dry wit. I missed Sam's laid-back nature and teasing sensuality. Only seven more days until they were home.
The black jeans with the grey tee, Ace weighed in on my outfit choices.
I had to agree; I'd tried those jeans on and they made my ass look like a peach.
Ace had also flourished since I moved in with the guys. Maybe I was just more accepting of her, or myself, because a voice in my head was no longer the craziest thing about my life. She liked the guys, though they still didn't know about her. Nothing came up in my brain scans when Eli ran them the other day, so she wasn't due to a brain tumor. I decided to keep it to myself for a little while longer. Eventually I'd let it slip, then I'd explain. Well I'd try. I didn't even know how to explain it to myself.
Ace is the badass bitch I wish I could be, Ace mimicked my voice almost to perfection, although it sounded a little whinier than I did.
“You got the bitch part right anyway,” I teased back. I always spoke out loud to her in private. It was just too much pressure in my brain otherwise. I could put up with the pain if necessary, but only for a few minutes. It was like my brain was going to war with itself and it always gave me a pounding headache.
I shimmied into my 7 Days For All Mankind jeans, giggling at the irony, and the soft grey T-shirt. I was going to find Oz. He promised to teach me to play Call of Duty today. Whatever that was. It just sounded like a great excuse to sit on his lap.
Give the girl a little lovin' and she turns into a brazen hussy. Gotta say, I'm kinda proud right now.
“Jealous much?”
A scoffing laugh. Hardly. Though, your boy Lux is packing some serious meat in his lunchbox.
I laughed, enjoying our new camaraderie. There was a knock at the door. I glanced at my pink wristband that thankfully doubled as a watch. Oz was early. Eager much?
I didn't bother with shoes, but stuffed my phone in my pocket.
I was smiling as I pulled open the door.
“You're earl…”
But Oz wasn't at my front door. It was a stranger. A fucking scary stranger.
I couldn't pinpoint why I thought he was scary, though. He had dark black hair and dark eyes, a beautiful face with a sparkling white smile. He had a Black Sabbath shirt and black jeans that were torn at the knees. He looked boringly average, if not a tad more handsome than the average Joe. But still a cold shot of fear ran down my spine.
I stepped back towards the Mini-Oz sphere on the hall table. “Help, help,” I said, praying it was loud enough.
“You must be Arcadia. It's a pleasure to finally meet you.” The man stepped forward into my apartment.
I mentally willed the guys to hurry. My heart was beating too fast and I could hardly breathe. Something was wrong. I willed myself not to give into the darkness again.
“Don't worry about the fear response. It's just the primordial part of your brain trying to tell your nervous system to protect itself. I mean you no harm. My name is Luc. You might know me as Lucifer Morningstar. Or…” he grimaced, “The Devil.”
Ace let out a piercing scream in my brain, the sound sending spearing pain around my skull and making blood pour out my nose. Blackness swamped into my vision and the last thing I saw was the face of the Devil staring at me.