between them. It was mildly surprising when it didn’t happen.
It was a risk to have her at his back, but a calculated one. The wings tattooed there might not allow him to fly, but they were impenetrable shields that not only covered his entire back but wrapped around his sides as well.
“Don’t you care about your little pet? How unfortunate for her.” Lucifer made a tsking sound and wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. “Poor Morrigan. You can’t depend on anyone, can you?”
Gripping his discipline with all his might, he feigned a relaxed posture. “You can take her.”
Morrigan pressed her hand against his side, gripped the skin tight, and twisted. He had to swallow back a smile. Oh, she wasn’t happy with him and was giving him a taste of her extreme displeasure. But she trusted him, at least on some level. Otherwise she’d drive his dagger deep.
“That only means I’ll have to come down there and retrieve her,” he continued.
Lucifer’s smile faded. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I wouldn’t count on that if I was you. Maybe all your demons need is the right motivation to rebel.”
Not that he’d really do that. Oh, he’d retrieve Morrigan, but no way was he allowing demons out of Hell. Humans wouldn’t last a week before they’d be annihilated. And strangely enough, he liked humans. They were as creative as they were destructive. They were passionate and had such deep emotions. He couldn’t say he truly understood them. It was as though their short life spans made them experience everything more intensely.
“This is boring.” Kayley sighed and shoved her long hair over her shoulder before examining her manicure. “I didn’t allow my party to end early so we could stand around and talk.”
“What do you want?” Morrigan stepped out from behind him and confronted her sister. “Why did you do everything you did?”
He heard what went unsaid. Why did you do what you did to me?
She glanced at her nails a final time and then buffed them on her sleeve. “Fame and fortune. Beauty.” She paused and walked her long nails up Lucifer’s arm. “Power. And I have it all.”
“But you were only a child.” He feared Morrigan would try to go to her sister, and then he’d have no choice but to stop her. Thankfully, she didn’t move farther than his side.
“I was never a child. You were. You lacked any sense of ambition, content to live in a squalid apartment, clean up behind other people, and serve strangers their food. I serve no one.”
Her sorrow was like a living thing. He was torn between wrapping her in his arms and destroying the one responsible. He did neither.
“You serve the King of Hell,” Morrigan gently reminded her.
Kayley’s cheeks turned red, embarrassment or rage, he wasn’t sure. Likely some of both. “No, you serve Lucifer. I made sure of it,” she reminded her sister.
“Enough.” Maccus kept his voice low, but both women startled. “You’re waiting for Gabriel.” It would take both of them to have a chance of taking him down. He should leave and go home to his fortress until they forgot about him again.
Lucifer made a show of checking his watch. “He’s late, as always. I’ll have to keep you entertained in the meantime.” He pointed at the far wall. The brick shimmered and swirled.
“He’s opening a portal,” he warned.
“What does that mean?”
This was where she’d run. Pain banded around his chest and gripped his heart. He ignored it. “It means we’ll soon be overrun with demons.”
Demons he’d have to fight and kill. The tiny sliver of his soul shivered and shrank deep within as if to hide from the coming battle.
But he’d never backed down and couldn’t afford to start now. It wasn’t only his life on the line.
The swirling circle sucked the light from the alleyway before bursting open. Demons poured out, one after another. Beside him, Morrigan gasped and then swore.