I’m not sure how long I stood at the bar, but I know there was champagne.
Lots of it.
I was so nervous, and after a while, the anticipation became harder to bear than the actual anxiety. So I drank.
I drank until I stopped feeling like I wanted to crawl under a barstool and hide. I drank until I stopped thinking about Lucifer getting under my skin. I drank until I stopped scanning the crowd for Legion, who I hadn’t seen since we parted ways in Irin’s quarters.
And when Imagine Dragons takes the stage, I decide to dance, despite the niggling feeling that I should stay put.
But we’re here to blend in, right?
Well, I’m blending in.
Everyone is so friendly, overly so. You know how drunk girls at clubs become best friends in the bathroom? It’s like that, but on the dance floor, and soon I’m pretty much pulled into a circle of beautifully buoyant young women wearing colorful masks and gorgeous gowns. We laugh at absolutely nothing, our hips swaying to the beat and singing along. I don’t know what they are—demon, vampire, witch, werewolf—and I don’t really care either. They look normal and they’re nice, which is a welcome reprieve from walking on eggshells all the damn time. Plus it’s a great way for me to gauge if something is amiss. At least that’s what I tell myself.
A smiling server stops by our group with a tray of sparkling flutes. The girls cheerfully begin to distribute them; however, I’m smart enough to turn down the offer.
“No, thanks,” I say with a polite grin. “I’m only drinking champagne.”
“Well, then,” one of them replies, a curvy, mocha-skinned beauty wearing a shocking yellow gown with a matching feathered mask. It reminds me of a canary, and the color is stunning against her smooth complexion. “Let’s get the girl a glass of champagne then!”
It only takes what seems like a minute before we’re obnoxiously toasting to getting laid, having great hair, or whatever else giggling sorority types toast to after several drinks. One thing’s for sure—these girls are definitely not human. Not with the way they’re guzzling the gold-flecked punch. But who am I to judge? I’m not exactly human either.
“Oh, shit! Did you see that guy looking over here?” one of them exclaims. She’s swathed in all red, her mask also matching her dress. Funny. This one reminds me of a cardinal.
I follow her line of vision, wondering if she spotted Legion, but I can’t decipher more than a couple hundred grinding, twisting bodies. I shrug and go back to dancing.
“There he is again!” Cardinal crows.
The blonde beside her beams, nearly giddy. “I see him! He is soooo freakin’ hot!” She’s wearing a frilly, floor-length frock shaded in blue from head to toe, like a…bluebird?
“Me too!” Canary chimes in.
Meanwhile, I don’t see anyone looking in our direction. At least I think I don’t. Maybe they have a keener sense of sight than I do. You know…like hawk-eye vision. And if that’s the case, and they can see what I can’t, I probably shouldn’t be smack dab in the middle of a group of girls in bright colored dresses, singing at the top of my lungs.
I try to formulate a believable yet polite exit strategy. “Hey, I think I’m going to…”
“Here he comes!” Cardinal trills, grasping my arm. “He’s looking right at you!”
I shrug out of her grip, suddenly feeling sober. And terrified. Because the man who maneuvers through the crowd, expression unreadable, is, in fact, looking right at me. And he isn’t Legion, as I had hoped.
“I have to go,” I insist with a tight smile. I try to back up without making a scene, stepping on toes and colliding with more than a few partygoers.
The girls try to coax me back, confusion pinching their perfectly arched brows.
“What’s wrong? Need another drink?”
“Come back! This is a great song.”
“Ooooh, I bet he wants to dance with you.”
No, you squawking sycophant, I want to yell. He does not want to fucking dance with me.
“I have to go,” I repeat, taking another step back, my eyes still locked on the male swiftly cutting his way through the sea of partyers.
Why is he looking at me as if he knows who—and what—I am? I’m wearing a mask and I’m veiled. There’s no way he knows, unless…
Unless he’s stronger than warlock magic. And there are few creatures on Earth that could be.
A Seraph.
I stumble back a few more steps; my feet weighted in fear. I have to get out of here. I have to run. But where would I go? And fleeing would be a clear sign that I’m the exact person he’s looking for—and hoping to kill. The bar is several yards away—shit, how did I stray so far? And I don’t spy any of the Se7en or Nikolai. Hell, at this point, I’d settle for Adriel.
Think, Eden. What do I do?
I brush by two guys dancing and kissing passionately, their movements nearly pornographic, and use their gyrating bodies as shields. Then I shimmy through a wall of scantily clad dancers with glittering red eyes. Vampires. Luckily, their attention is on their glasses full of thick crimson liquid, too preoccupied with bloodlust to be bothered by my intrusion. I cut right, then left, trying to put as many bodies between me and the ancient archangel as possible. But it seems like the farther I flee, the closer he gets.
I make it to the bar, only to realize that there’s nowhere else to run. I’m trapped between sweat-slickened bodies on either side, as if some mystical magnetism draws them towards me, locking me in place. I don’t have time to ponder the cause of it; I just need to get the hell out of here.
And it hits me.
I shouldn’t. I know it’s a total suicide mission. But desperate times call for desperate measures. And if the veil has somehow slipped, revealing my identity, I’m already dead anyway.
Eyes narrowed in concentration, jaw clenched, and fists tight at my sides, I fling my consciousness out towards the approaching angel. Even though he’s too close for comfort, he’s still a good distance away. I’ve never tried to infiltrate a mind from this far before, and it takes every bit of my will to stretch that invisible arm towards him, snaking through the writhing bodies separating me from my impending fate. I can feel my mind straining with effort, causing little beads of sweat to dot my forehead and the back of my neck. But I push forward, forming that invisible hand into an arrow spearing straight for the ethereal man. I have no idea what will happen once I pierce through flesh and bone and penetrate his frontal lobe, or even if I’ll be able to get in, but I have to try. Anything to get him away from me.
I’m so engrossed by the task before me that I don’t even see him in my peripheral vision, moving towards me like a serpent. But the moment his hands cup my face and his mouth covers mine, my mind’s connection stutters and dissipates onto the dance floor. And I can focus on nothing other than his warm lips moving against my own, coaxing them to open and welcome his tongue. He tastes of the way the sun feels on my skin in July. I remember rare and treasured summer trips to Navy Pier in his kiss, the sweet taste of cotton candy while laughing at the very top of the Ferris wheel. I see fireworks behind my shuttered eyelids—sparkling reds and greens and blue streaking across the sky. And I feel a sense of safety and familiarity that makes my lips quiver as they dance with his, so desperate to wrap myself in the comfort of him for just a little longer.
My gaze is hazy when Lucifer pulls away, but I notice that his eyes crackle and glow just like those fireworks in the memory he gave me. Breath stolen and cheeks hot, I touch my fingertips to my lips and merely stare in awe at the dazzling creature in front of me.
How? And better yet, why? The questions are sizzling on my tongue, but I can’t speak. I’m afraid if I open my mouth, the drumbeat of my heart will drown out the music that already seems to be muted in this little cocoon for two.
Lucifer kissed me. And in his kiss, I felt both human and immortal. I felt good and evil. And I felt his…his and his alone.
I begin to shake my head, dispelling the thought, when I see him, frozen amidst a sea of swaying bodies, his quicksilver stare as bright and blinding as diamonds.
Legion.
I look back at Lucifer, who oddly enough, isn’t donning his usual cocky grin. If anything, he looks just as shocked and affected as I feel. And if his surprise is so blatantly obvious, how must my expression read to the man I love?
Shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to see this.
I have to get to Legion. I have to make him understand that I have no idea why Lucifer would kiss me. I have to tell him that I didn’t want it. And I have to make him believe that I didn’t like it.
Because I did.
And even as I stand here, swathed in guilt and shame, I still feel the burn of Lucifer’s kiss, marking itself deep within my skin. Because in those carved memories, I remembered a time when I was just a girl. Hopeless, yet so unremarkably human. And I remembered what it felt like to want. What it felt like to dream.
And isn’t that just the saddest fucking thing of all?
I try to step around Lucifer, but he swiftly grasps my arm, halting my retreat.
“Let me go,” I grit through my teeth.
He shakes his head. “Not yet. Raphael is still here, but he can’t see you behind my veil.”
“What?”
“Yours was slipping. I realized it and moved in as fast as I could.”
“And you had to kiss me in order to shield me?”
Lucifer shrugs, a tiny smile pulling at the corners of his luscious mouth. “I had to make it believable.”
I roll my eyes and look back to Legion, hoping to convey my irritation at being in Lucifer’s proximity. But I only get a glimpse of his retreating back, stalking through the crowd.
“Shit,” I spit out.
Lucifer follows my line a vision, and although Legion is long gone, he successfully guesses the source of my unease. “He’ll understand.”
“You don’t know that.” There’s panic in my voice.
“I know that he would do anything to protect you. I was just closer. He should be thanking me.”
I narrow my glare on Lucifer’s smug face. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“If you’re referring to upsetting my brother, actually, no. No, I do not take pleasure in his fury. There are enough catalysts that could potentially set him off. I don’t need him flying off the handle over a kiss.”
“Then why even do it? If not to get under his skin?”
Lucifer leans in, his head dipping down towards mine. When he speaks, his gaze flares with violent passion. “Because I wanted to.”
I don’t know how to respond to his confession, or even if I should, so I just look away. The crowd is still as vibrant as ever, but there are no signs of Raphael. I guess Lucifer’s little trick worked, although I could have done without his particular methods. He’s anything but hard-pressed for intimacy with both women and men flocking at his feet every ten minutes. So what gives? He set me up to be killed by Legion before I was even born. Kissing me was just a game to him, just a way to further prove that he’s a self-absorbed prick who doesn’t care who he hurts.
“I need to go find Legion,” I say, shrugging out of his touch.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Why?” I snap. “To gloat? You already know he saw everything.”
I sift through the crowd, desperate to put some distance between us, but somehow Lucifer keeps up right beside me, as if the horde of dancers part just for him. Of course, they do.
“I know, Eden,” he says quietly. I hear him loud and clear, even over the music. “That isn’t what I wanted.”
I roll my eyes and keep pushing forward. “Whatever.”
After damn near fighting my way through the half naked, half fucking throng, I hit Irin’s quarters, only to find her lazing on the sectional while watching a full out orgy in the middle of the floor.
“Stay,” she insists, heavy-lidded eyes glassy.
I look to Lucifer who appears to consider her offer at first. “We would…” he begins, “but we’re looking for someone.”
Irin turns to me, stacking up the pieces. “He isn’t here. Shouldn’t you all be keeping an eye on our guests?”
I try to focus on her and not the naked woman just feet away from where I stand, crying out her pleasure and pain as she takes double penetration like a pro. Yikes.
“We were, but…”
“There was a…hiccup,” Lucifer interjects. Something must flare in his eyes because Irin nods with understanding.
“I see.” She turns her head and one of her dutiful servants rushes to her side. “Party’s over.”
The young man nods once, before rushing through the double doors. Irin claps twice, and the sinuous scene before us comes to a screeching halt. “That goes for you all as well.”
Without a word, the foursome stands and gathers their strewn clothing, not an ounce of shame or shyness etched in their faces. I just witnessed a woman get pile-driven by two guys with her face buried in another woman’s snatch, yet my cheeks are red with embarrassment.
“Apologies, Irin,” Lucifer drawls, taking an empty seat on the sectional.
Irin shrugs. “I was bored anyway. Drinks?”
Right on cue, a server approaches with glasses of gold-speckled bubbly. I look to Lucifer who wears a devious smirk. He’d love it if I succumbed to my irrational, basal desires after indulging in Irin’s elixir.
“No, thank you,” I say, shaking my head.
“Something else then?” Irin inquires. She raises her brows, almost as if challenging me to refuse.
“Champagne?”
Before Irin can even respond, the server is scurrying off to fetch me a fresh, full glass.
We don’t lower our masks until the raucous sex crew is gone. Then simply sip our drinks in silence. The moment after Irin dismisses her staff, Lucifer jumps right into it.
“Raphael was here. He saw Eden.”
“Even through the veil?” If it weren’t for the slight frown between Irin’s slender black brows, I’d think she’d found that tidbit amusing.
“He must have been able to shatter it. Unless they’re working with Dark magic, which is more than a bit surprising, if not disturbing.”
“Did they make anyone else?”
Lucifer shakes his head. “The Se7en apparently cut off the rest of their lot. I had eyes on Raph, but he eluded me, as if he knew we’d be expecting him. Meaning, he knew we were here. Raph has always been a spineless follower, so I’m not surprised at his involvement. I am curious to see who else has joined Uriel’s cause once intel comes in.”
So no wonder I didn’t spot the Se7en all evening. Still, that doesn’t make me feel any better about Legion being practically absent after making such a big stink about me staying close to him. Maybe whatever he had going on with Adriel was more important.
Over the next hour, the members of the Se7en—minus Legion, of course—filter into Irin’s quarters, varied shades of determination on their faces. Even Adriel looks a little less superior as she wafts in, her winter white still pristine. When Niko makes it in, he rushes straight to my side.
“E, what happened?” He cups my cheeks, looking for any and all signs of distress.
“I’m fine. Honestly.”
“The spell…it should have—”
Before he can get the explanation out, he’s ripped from in front of me, and damn near thrown across the room. Nikolai lands on his feet, but Legion is already right in front of him, his hulking frame heaving with fury. I swear, he’s about to burn through his suit as heated as he seems.
“You said it would work!” he roars.
Even in the face of violence personified, Niko stands tall. “And it did. You should have disclosed the fact that a Seraph could strip spells.”
“A Seraph can’t do that.” Legion takes a step back and roughly rakes his hand through his hair in frustration. “It also doesn’t help that she made friends with a flock of Harpies and was practically untraceable. What the hell were you thinking, Eden?”
Suddenly, every eye is fixed on me. Harpies? I guess that explains the bird theme. Still, it doesn’t explain why Legion couldn’t trace me.
“What?” I scoff. “I didn’t know what they were or what they were doing to me.”
“Harpies are conniving little shits,” Lilith comments. “Most times, they’re harmless, but they’re not to be trusted, Eden. Ever.”
“Like I said, I didn’t know they were Harpies. And they seemed nice enough,” I shrug. I mean, I knew they were something, but when you’re quite literally surrounded by the supernatural, there’s no way to take inventory of every non-human. And they looked nothing like the Harpies depicted in books and Wikipedia.
“That must’ve been how Raphael could sense you,” Lucifer muses.
Legion thankfully abandons his standoff with Niko and comes to where I sit on the sectional, kneeling down to meet my eyes. “Were you hurt? Did he say anything to you?”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t even think he knew who I was. He just seemed…interested. Like something was pulling him towards me.”
Those silver eyes scan my face, still not convinced. But it only lasts a second and then he’s pulling away from me. I can see it etched in his features—all is not forgotten and forgiven. The kiss he witnessed between Lucifer and me is still heavy on his brain.
“Good news is,” Toyol begins, cutting through the tension, “we were able to get a tracker on one of the lesser angels. Now all we have to do is wait and let him lead us back to their lair.”
“And then what?” Lucifer questions. He casually leans back into the sofa as if he doesn’t even notice Legion’s ire-filled glare staring silver daggers into his skull. “You all storm the castle and hope they let you leave with your heads? Remember, even with a couple of original fallen Seraph, an angel, a warlock prince, and a handful of demons, you’re still outnumbered. Uriel has Raph, meaning there’s a good chance he’s lured others to his cause.”
“And what about me?” I pipe up. “Adriel can wield light, and so can I. I can be an asset. Use me.”
Legion shakes his head. “It’s too dangerous, and you’re still untrained. When I found you at the church, I detected three Seraph. Add in lesser angels, and that’s more than any of us can handle.”
“He’s right,” Lucifer tacks on. “Three Seraph would be impossible to kill. But I don’t agree with benching our rookie.” He turns his focus on me, then Legion. “No one knows what she can do. Don’t let your petty emotions blind your judgment. If it were anyone else, would you be so quick to keep her out of this fight?”
“She isn’t anyone else,” Legion answers darkly, a hint of a warning in his tone.
“Then use her. At this point, the ball is in our court. We have the element of surprise on our side, and we have Uriel’s mate.”
“And they have The Redeemer and Eden’s mom,” Legion retorts. His tense jaw works with irritation. “Fine. If Eden wants to fight, then I won’t stop her. You just make sure you remember your place.”
“Oh, and what would that be?” Lucifer goads.
“Out of my fucking way.”
With that, Legion stalks out of the room, those double doors slamming shut at his back. I guess the meeting is adjourned.
I gather the skirts of my dress and my elaborate mask and stroll over to where Niko stands, anxious to find out where he was all evening.
“I’m so sorry,” he says at my approach.
I shake my head. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“That remains to be seen.”
We both spin around to find Lucifer just feet away. His expression is as smug and disinterested as always, but there’s a glimmer of purple fire churning in his glare.
“You heard Lilith,” I say. “The Harpies could have had something to do with it.”
“Maybe,” he shrugs. “Maybe not. But let me remind our little warlock friend of the conditions of his freedom. You fail—you’re mine for the rest of eternity. And I’m not known to play nice with others.”
“I’ve got it.”
Niko starts to brush by him, but Lucifer stops him with a hand to his chest, his eyes shining even brighter, even wilder, with vicious delight.
“No. I don’t think you do, mate.”
I try to step between them, but their frames are like marble over steel. “Just leave him alone.”
“You see, if anything happens to Eden, I will hold you personally responsible. And then maybe I’ll pay your brother a little visit…see how that gorgeous sister-in-law is doing, and that precious baby boy of theirs. Where might they be, anyway? Surely, they’d want to know of your recent resurrection…”
Eyes nearly opaque, Niko grits out, “You leave them out of this.”
The temperature drops twenty degrees and my breath escapes in a frosty cloud of condensation. I shiver as the air crackles between us, charged with icy violence.
Lucifer is nonplussed. “No. I don’t think I will.”
“Then maybe I’ll have a talk with Irin. You know, I didn’t see the familial resemblance until you sent me back. Her short stature, the black eyes, even her hair is the same. And then I thought…it’s funny how Saskia looks like a younger Irin. You remember Saskia, right? The impish girl you’re keeping prisoner? The same girl you instructed to wait on Eden during her time in Hell? You’re getting sloppy, Luc.”
My gaze goes wide with realization. Saskia. The quiet, dark-haired girl that sounded like she was being choked from the inside out. She saved my life, probably more than a couple times. I’ve been so preoccupied with my own shit that I didn’t put two and two together. Saskia could be Irin’s younger sister. Or…her daughter.
Even with Niko dangling leverage over Lucifer’s head—leverage that could have him struck down by Irin’s wrath within seconds—Lucifer simply…laughs.
“You stupid, stupid boy.” Lucifer moves in to meet Niko’s glare, so close that their faces are only inches apart. “Who do you think sent her to me?”
“Bullshit.”
“Is it? Maybe we should ask Irin.”
Niko doesn’t respond, but I can see that this revelation rattles him. Even if he doesn’t want to believe it, fiction is less likely than fact. Why else would he instruct Saskia to attend me? If he wanted to conceal her existence, he could have had her stashed in a dungeon somewhere, writhing in hellfire. Instead, he basically dangled her in front of us, like he wanted us to know the truth.
“Let’s just go.”
I grasp Niko’s forearm and try to pry him away from Lucifer’s unrelenting stare. He resists at first but then turns to me, his expression softening just a fraction.
“Leave my family out of this,” he hisses, bumping Lucifer’s shoulder as he passes.
“You can’t hide them forever,” Lucifer calls after him. “I’m not the only one anxious to find them.”
Simmering rage ripples off Niko’s frame as we exit the room and head down the hallway. I don’t dare say a word. When we turn the corner, he kisses me on the forehead, his lips like ice, before turning to stalk the opposite direction. Lucifer’s threat to his family has not only shaken him to his core, but it also aroused his venomous demons that had lain dormant for decades. I’d only seen a mere fraction of the Dark’s power. There’s no doubt in my mind that Niko is capable of much more than he’s let on.
I’m so preoccupied with my own inner musings that I don’t even pick up the scent as I approach my bedroom door. And by the time my Nephilim instincts kick in, it’s already too late.
Because within the stutter of a heartbeat, I’m face down, the salty taste of tears on my tongue as I cry out while my body writhes in agony.
And he’s already taking exactly what he came for.
Me.