She picked up her coffee like she didn’t have a care in the world and managed to swallow the tiniest sip. Any bigger and she’d choke on it.
“Why haven’t you?” A muscle pulsed just beneath Gabriel’s eye, and his jaw clenched. Yup, he was getting irritated, but now all his attention was on Maccus.
The fallen angel leaned back and shrugged. “Call me curious. Why the contract for Morrigan? And why does Lucifer want her to kill me?”
Gabriel frowned. “Lucifer sent her to kill you?” Then he laughed. The bastard had the nerve to laugh. “I should send him a thank-you card, maybe some flowers or a fruit basket for making things easier for me.”
It was official. She hated angels just as much as she did demons. They all sucked. Except for Maccus. In spite of everything, she did like him, which wasn’t healthy, but it was all a matter of degrees.
A bead of sweat rolled down her back. It wasn’t easy to stay calm when an archangel and a fallen angel assassin discussed her death with her sitting right here.
Maccus gripped her thigh under the table and gave a light squeeze before releasing her. Was he trying to comfort her? Doubtful. Most likely, he was warning her not to do something rash or stupid.
And he was right. She was about thirty seconds from going over the table and stabbing the angel in the eye. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would damn well hurt while he was healing.
“I’ll take her from here.” The angel was nothing if not arrogant if he thought she was just going to go meekly with him like some lamb to the slaughter. But wasn’t that what she’d done with Lucifer?
No, she’d been protecting her sister—or, at least, had believed so.
She slid her other hand beneath her jacket, withdrew her gun, and held it low. A confrontation here would be bad. They didn’t need the cops involved.
“No.” Maccus said nothing more. She’d half expected him to hand her over and wipe his hands of the situation. If she were in his shoes, she probably would have.
“No?” Gabriel seemed as perplexed as she was. “What do you mean, no?”
“It means you can’t have her. I’m not done with her yet.”
Okay, that could be good or bad. Morrigan couldn’t be certain. But any time she gained could be used to help figure a way out of this situation.
As long as I’m alive, there’s hope.
Then the front door to the diner was shoved open, and a man stepped inside. Her heart sank, her stomach clenched, and hope died a quick death. She had to work to control her breath, to keep from jumping up and running away while screaming her lungs out.
Dressed in one of his custom suits with a red tie and handmade leather shoes, Lucifer strolled across the diner like he owned it. And maybe he did. The devil had myriad business interests all over the world.
He glanced at the angel and Maccus before finally settling his gaze on her. “Seems you haven’t been doing your job.”
Chapter Eight
Maccus was intrigued. He’d half expected Gabriel to send an underling, not show himself. It was more his style to delegate. The angel had not only brought the contract himself, but now Lucifer had joined them.
Every instinct that had kept him alive when he should have perished screamed that Morrigan was to be protected at all costs. Whatever was going on between these two, she was at the center of it. That made her valuable.
Plus, he wasn’t done having sex with her yet.
Both were valid reasons for keeping her safe.
“You sent a bounty hunter to kill me.” Maccus shook his head in mock dismay. “You don’t think much of my skills.” And after the thousands of years he’d spent wreaking havoc in Hell, Lucifer damn well did know better.
The ruler of Hell shrugged. “It was worth a shot. I figured she could distract you with sex and then slip a blade through your heart.”