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Lucifer stirred and so did I. I glanced around at the unfamiliar room, and over at Valerie sitting in the chair beyond the bed, her face drawn and pale as she scanned a book in her hand. It looked like we were in a forest of white birch trees but the air didn’t have a woodsy quality. It had almost a stale dry smell that indicated we were either in a desert or inside.
My guess was inside, but I didn’t have a clue where.
Lucifer tried to move but the bindings held him to the bed, rattling enough for her to sigh and turn to the next page in the book.
“Let me go,” Lucifer growled and she shook her head without looking up from her reading material, as if this was a routine they had walked through many times before.
“No,” she said and folded the book onto her lap, meeting my gaze. “Let me speak to Chris.”
“I told you, pretty boy is dead and gone,” he said and he stretched my lips into a toying smile.
“Bullshit,” I said and she sat up straighter in the chair. The paperback slipped to the floor and she didn’t bother picking it up. She just stared, searching the face of the man bound on the bed, looking for a hint of me in his eyes.
The mood of my host darkened and he clenched his teeth against anything else that might slip past his internal defenses.
“Chris?”
“He’s gone,” Lucifer insisted, but the fact I was able to get a word out sparked hope in her eyes and she glared at the bastard inhabiting my form.
I had no idea how long we had been tied to the bed, but I had survived the waterfall of memories. I think I had them all straight, and based on the last memory assault that incapacitated me, I gauged I had been out of it for at least a month. Maybe more. The surroundings weren’t familiar at all, but it wasn’t a hospital setting, like when I woke from the coma.
“Where are we?” Through sheer force of will, I pushed the words out.
Valerie let out a little laugh and her hand shot over her mouth. She reined in the sudden onslaught of giddiness, composing herself before she spoke. “This is Damian’s underground quarters in my house,” she said. “We brought you here from the house in New Fairfield. You gave us just enough time to sedate Lucifer and I wasn’t sure if you survived or not. I didn’t give up on you, despite this asshole’s insistence that you were dead.” She picked up the book and put it on the table next to her. “You’re probably wondering how long you’ve been... gone.”
I tried to nod, but I only got a fraction of the movement I intended before Lucifer locked down my ability to physically maneuver my body.
“Five months.”
Her words landed with a thud and I stared at her. I’m not sure if my mouth popped open or not, but five months was a long ass time to be tied anywhere.
“Lucifer has had control for the entire time, but we were able to get him here and bound before he regained all his faculties. And he has promised to do some pretty nasty shit if he ever gets out of those bonds. He isn’t very pleasant,” she said and winked.
My chuckle at her understatement welled to the surface for a minute before he grabbed control again. The slam down was swift and hard enough to knock the wind from my control and I growled my dissatisfaction.
“I’ll make him watch,” Lucifer whispered capturing her attention. “When I get a hold of you, I will make sure he has a front row seat to your pain and suffering.”
“I think I’ll take a rain check on that,” she said and stood. The way she stretched sent a tingle of longing through me that I know she saw reflected in my eyes, even if it was only fleeting, the recognition that flashed in her eyes made me feel like I just won a major battle. She lowered her arms and sighed. I couldn’t read her thoughts, but the expression on her face matched the ache in my chest. She offered a tight smile and left the room.
In the silence, Lucifer recounted his plans, contemplating the vile things he’d do to her, and voicing them in such detail that my stomach clenched. If I lost this battle, there was nothing this side of heaven that would be able to help her.