Chapter 52

Beatrice

I’d been making calls all morning, trying to combine all my patient appointments into two days a week. Lucifer had insisted on one day, but I had too many patients who needed to see me in the next two weeks. Two days a week was going to be difficult. His original suggestion had been to use something like Skype, but that wouldn’t work for two reasons. First, my touch offered comfort to several of my patients. I needed to be with them. The second and most important had to do with my magic. Whatever power I possessed that allowed me to communicate with familiars only worked in person. Like my ability to change forms, none of it made any sense.

“How’s it going?” Lucifer asked as he peeked his head into his den.

“I’ve managed to move almost everyone to either Wednesday or Friday. Those are going to be long days for me,” I replied. “There are a few who haven’t called me back yet.”

He came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. “I’m sorry this is so difficult for you. Were you able to get your out-of-town patients to come to you?”

“Most of them,” I replied. “I haven’t heard back from two witches. If I can’t get in touch with them, I’ll need to go out there for their appointments.”

Lucifer was quiet. “We can always use alternate routes to get there. If the locations are close to one of my private portals, it should be easy to get there and back with no danger to you.”

“Good,” I replied with a sigh. Rescheduling was exhausting. “Are you sure Persephone is okay going into work? Even if Desmond doesn’t know she’s my friend, he may go after Julia again.”

“The werewolf has added additional security at the building, and the witches arranged for extra protection spells to be added,” he assured me. “I’ve also got half a dozen demons and a fallen angel guarding the building lobby.”

“You also aren’t as worried about them,” I muttered before standing and storming out of the room.

“Are you angry with me?” Lucifer asked as he followed me.

I hate when I know I’m being unreasonable, but I can’t seem to stop myself. There was no good reason for me to be pissed at Lucifer. I should tell him that I was just stressed out. Instead, I said, “Yes. You could at least pretend you’re worried about my friends.”

“You want me to lie?” he asked.

“No,” I snapped. “I want you to actually care.”

Yep, I was in a bitchy mood. Apparently, my sex-induced euphoria had passed.

He regarded me thoughtfully. “I can see how you’d feel that way.”

“Lovely,” I muttered. “I’m so glad you can see why I might want you to care about others.”

“I care about others,” he insisted.

“Not many,” I argued. “I thought I was an asshole when it comes to worrying about others, but you’ve got me beat.”

He shrugged in response.

“That’s all I get?” I asked.

Lucifer sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “What would you like me to say?” he asked. “Never mind. It was a stupid question. You want me to tell you I’m a sensitive guy who’s just misunderstood.”

I was about to argue when I realized he was right. “Fine,” I relented. “I’m not being completely fair by expecting you to be someone you’re not. I still don’t think it’s too much to ask that you care about people who matter to me.”

He nodded. “I’m trying. It’s been a very long time since I’ve cared about anyone new,” he confessed. “And, I’m not a good person. The stories of me starting a rebellion among the angels are true. I didn’t have some noble reason. I wanted power, and I didn’t care who got hurt.”

“That’s ancient history,” I said, waving off his warnings. “You’ve changed. I’m not saying you became a nice guy, but you aren’t the same person you were back then either. We all grow and change. Six months ago, I mostly stayed in my trailer, but look at me now.”

“Are you saying I can change?” he asked. “Is that what you want?”

“No, you idiot,” I said with an exasperated sigh.

Lucifer let out a startled bark of laughter. “Did you just call me an idiot?”

I placed my hands on my hips and regarded him with a raised eyebrow. This was my normal behavior when people asked me ridiculous questions. He’d heard me.

“Only people who’ve known me for a very long time dare to speak to me that way,” he remarked thoughtfully.

“Oh,” I began in a mocking tone. “No one wants to stand up to the devil.”

“And now you’re making fun of me,” he added, his lips twitching. “How is it that a little witch like you has no fear of me?”

I shrugged. “You don’t seem as dark and evil as I’d expected.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if maybe you would have given me a chance had you known who I really am,” he remarked.

I wanted to tell him I would have, but I had stolen his car. “Probably not at first,” I confessed. “That doesn’t mean I’m okay with you lying to me.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I opened my mouth to tell him he was crazy for asking me that, but then I closed it and considered my own behavior. “Yes,” I admitted with a frustrated sigh. “I’m stressed out and looking for someone to take it out on.”

“You need something to take you mind off everything that’s going on,” he told me.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked.

“I need to do a little work before I can go anywhere,” he began. “After that, we can grab a late lunch and spend some time together.”

“We’re going to leave the demon realm?” I asked.

“We have restaurants here,” he reminded me.

“Really?” I asked. My succubus friend had never mentioned demon realm restaurants. Then again, sex demons tended to go to the human realm to dine. “You mentioned the one in the tourist area being dangerous. You have other restaurants?”

He nodded. “And ice water,” he assured me again.

“You have restaurants, ice water, and a strong internet connection,” I mused. “What next? A snowball fight?”