Noah
The senator is an idiot. If I were a public official—when I’m a public official—and I had an affair, I’d never make out in front of an open window. Not that I would have an affair. There isn’t a woman on Earth who can hold a candle to Keira.
I snap a few more pics with my phone as he gets hot and heavy with some lady in a black lace bra. She’s probably his secretary or something else equally cliché. I shift my weight in the bushes where I’m hidden, though I could easily glamour the guards if I needed to. I need to ask Lucifer if there are any other nifty powers he hasn’t told me about.
Inside, the senator lowers the lights, but he isn’t smart enough to put them out completely. Then he messes with something below my sight line while the girl waits, biting her lip.
Closer. I have to get closer. So I creep out of my hiding spot, crouched low, and pull myself up to peer over the windowsill. Bingo. The senator and his mistress are about to do lines. He’s got it all set up on the coffee table, right on the glass top, razor blade out, arranging the cocaine just so.
I keep taking photos and then duck below their sight line when the woman turns toward the window. Above me I hear the click as it’s shut tight and the whoosh as the blinds are drawn. Too late for them, though. I have more than enough evidence to get him kicked out of office. I laugh to myself, wondering if there’s anyone left in the world who’s actually a good person like Grace was. Maybe she was the last of an endangered species. Now look at her.
At the thought, I suddenly don’t feel like laughing anymore.
She doesn’t belong with Lucifer. The idea is still unsettling to me. I want her to go back to Heaven and be out of my life.
I’m walking away, down the sidewalk, when the senator’s mansion springs to life behind me. Lights flood the grounds, dogs bark, and I can hear shouts in the distance. But they won’t find me. I’m already halfway down the block and cutting through someone’s backyard. I know how to get away quickly. That’s something I learned before I ever met Lucifer. It was important when I decided to start dealing. The key is to act like you’re not doing anything wrong. Walk slowly and deliberately, with confidence. Besides, if they find me now all I have to do is glamour them. But I don’t want to rely on magic.
Now I have more confidence than I ever did before. Poor Keira could use some. She’s been beaten down by Lucifer over the years. She acts like an abused animal whenever she’s in his presence. I hate seeing her that way. It makes me hate him all the more. I have to teach her that there’s nothing to fear now. That’s why I told her my plan when I knew Lucifer was listening. I felt him. It’s time to let him know I’m not just his pawn. Keeping him off balance means keeping my control.
I drop my phone back into my pocket and jump the next fence.
There’s a pool in this yard. It’s lit from beneath, so it glows an eerie blue as I skirt around it toward the next street and a new direction. It looks so pristine; I bet the owners are just like our neighbors and never use it. If I had a pool, I’d use it, not just let it sit out there like some freaking birdbath. People get so obsessed with wealth that they forget what’s important. They need someone to smack them upside the head and remind them to appreciate what they have.
When I walk in my front door, I’m not expecting my parents to be up and waiting for me on the couch. I do a double take, not having seen them together in the house for at least a year. The last time I spoke to either of them was over a month ago, and I’m not sure “we’re out of Cheerios” counts as a conversation.
Mom tries to smile, but it’s so forced I’m afraid her face might crack. “Noah. Out with friends?”
I try not to laugh. Since when do you care? I almost say. “Yeah. Going to bed.” I turn toward the stairs.
“Want to watch some TV with us?” Dad’s voice nearly makes me trip.
Is he serious? “Uh, no. Thanks. I’m beat.”
“Well, get some sleep then,” he says.
Mom adds, “We have an appointment tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. So be up and dressed. I’ll make pancakes before we go.”
I turn slowly to see if maybe they’re possessed. But I know actual Demons, and I doubt even they would be this evil—trying to mess with my feelings after I’ve already given up on my parents. Pancakes were always my favorite. Mom hasn’t made them since… Well, since before Grace’s accident.
“What kind of appointment? I’m busy tomorrow.” I’m planning on having sex with my girlfriend.
The folks exchange a look that nearly sets me over the edge because I haven’t seen them in the same room, let alone acknowledging each other, in a very long time. My mom sets a calloused hand on my dad’s knee before she speaks. “We’re going to see someone who can help us all through this…time.”
Time? “You mean help you get past the death of the child you actually cared about?” It comes sliding out without forethought. I’m tired, and I really didn’t want to go there now. Or ever. I thought we had a mutual agreement of silence. I sigh and run a hand down my face. “Never mind. Just go. Have fun. But I’m over it.”
I start skipping steps to get away faster, but my dad’s voice catches me before I can make it out of earshot.
“You’re going, Noah. We all are. If I can take off of work for this, then you can take a morning off of school.”
I let out a laugh then bite down on my lip. I’d forgotten I even had school tomorrow. “You can’t force me.”
“Yes. We can. We’re still your parents, and you’re still underage.”
I’m the fucking Antichrist and my parents are forcing me to go to therapy? This is NOT happening. I could go right back down there and use glamour to make them leave me alone. It would serve them right. But for some reason the thought of doing that makes me feel ill. This whole conversation needs to be over.
“Whatever.”
I finish my ascent to the sound of whispers, which prickle the hairs on the back of my neck. I need to talk to Keira. She’ll fix things and make me feel better. She’s always there for me.
Except when I burst inside my room, she isn’t there.
Lucifer is.
“I’m tired.” I sink down in the sofa nearest the throne because, surprise, surprise, he’s already in it.
“I can imagine.”
“Where’s Keira?”
“She wasn’t busy when I checked in, so I borrowed her.”
Something in his voice makes me sit up and pay attention. I examine his face and decide it’s humor I see behind his dark eyes. I don’t like it. And all the anger and resentment and whatever else I feel toward my parents focuses on him.
Take it easy, Noah, I tell myself. Don’t lose control. You have control. But my hand tightens into a fist against my jeans, and I can’t stop it from shaking with the urge to strike.
“Where is she?” I ask, my voice a little too pleasant, a little too easygoing.
His eyes flash with blue electricity. A warning. “Not your concern.”
I stand and take a step toward him, smiling. “Of course it is. I thought I was pretty clear about wanting Keira here. I’d like to know what you have her doing.”
We stare into each other’s masks for a long time, neither one of us willing to concede. “You don’t trust me,” Lucifer says. There is no inflection in the words, but the statement somehow carries a great threat behind it.
“You’re the Devil. I’d be an idiot to trust you.”
Lucifer stares at me blankly for a moment. Then he laughs. He spins in place and laughs like the freaking Joker. Psycho. But if I had to guess, I’d say he liked that response.
When he finishes, he comes over and pats me on the back again, like we’re old buddies. “True enough. But I need you to at least trust that we have the same objective, Noah. In fact, I like that you took the initiative and went a step ahead. You’re a real go-getter. That’s good. But next time, consult with me first. Understand?”
He squeezes my shoulder a little too tight.
“Sure,” I say, ducking beneath his arm to escape. “But if you want my cooperation, you have to give a little, too. When I said I wanted Keira, I didn’t mean for an hour. I meant permanently.”
Lucifer doesn’t face me, so I’m not sure how angry he is. But I do know he’s unnaturally still.
“I suppose a young man like you has needs that go beyond a single hour.” He turns and is all smiles again as he lights up a cigar.
“No smoking in my room. Please.” I add the last because it wasn’t meant as a challenge.
“You smoked every substance under the sun in here and wallowed in your own filth up to a few weeks ago,” Lucifer says, making the cigar disappear.
“That was before. I’m a different person now.”
“Mmmm.” Lucifer nods. “Keira is being punished. She has…” He checks a gold Rolex on his wrist that, as far as I can tell, has no numbers or dots or even hands. “One more hour. Then you can have her back. It’s a done deal. Once in the Pit, there’s no exit until scheduled, you see.”
The Pit? My stomach drops. “Why did you punish her?”
“She likes you too much.” Lucifer shrugs. “Not good for a Demon. But you go ahead and keep her. She’ll learn through conditioning not to care, eventually. The Pit’s never failed me in that respect. And until then? I’ll keep throwing her in while you’re away on business. No harm done. I’ll just make the appointment with better timing.”
The anger that I barely held back before comes bubbling up to the surface. Rage like I’ve felt only once before—during a confrontation that ended in murder—threatens to drown me. I can almost hear what Keira would say, though. Don’t be a fool, Noah. Save it. Use it against him the right way.
My words come out clipped and hoarse, but I do my best to keep them civil. “You will never send her to the Pit again. If you don’t like that, then you can take the job and shove it.”
The torches flare right up to the ceiling and Lucifer’s shadow swells behind him until it takes on the shape of a horned monster with glowing red eyes. The thing has to be at least nine feet tall. He’s as angry as I am, but I don’t care. He needs me and won’t hurt me—somehow, I know it.
“You’ve never actually hurt me or tried to punish me,” I say. Maybe I’m crazy for challenging him like this, but I’ve had enough. “You can’t hurt me, can you?”
“There are ways besides physical pain to hurt someone. There is a price for everything, Noah,” he says quietly.
“No. No prices. No bargains. You don’t have to pay a price, so I don’t, either.” I’m more confident than ever that he can’t, because he didn’t answer the question directly.
“You don’t think I pay a price?” he hisses. “I was thrown from Heaven. Tossed out like garbage.”
I consider him. “Didn’t you say you’d rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven or something like that?”
“Something like that.” He smirks. “You think you can trust Keira? You can’t trust women. You can’t trust so-called ‘friends.’ You can’t even trust parents. But me? I only tell the truth. You can count on that. Go ahead and doubt me, but when she breaks your heart—and she will—don’t come crawling to me.”
I blink, and he’s gone. I’m alone in my room, chewing on his words. Everyone I’ve ever trusted has disappointed me. What if…
No. He’s trying to throw me off my game. I won’t let him get in my head.
Still…
My friends disappointed me. Hale. My family disappointed me. Grace. Mom. Dad. Girls have disappointed me before. Emily.
Why do I keep trusting?