matter.” He kept right on talking. “I have a job for you. Most unusual, but it comes from Lucifer himself. A half-breed demon.”
Her stomach churned. Dread settled over her—a heavy cloak, a premonition. Even before he said it, she knew what was coming.
“Goes by the name of Kayley.” After that, she heard nothing else over the buzzing in her ears. Not the instructions as to where she’d pick up the cuffs she’d need, not anything. She must have said something right because Emmett ended the call.
“She’s dead. You said she was dead.” The protective case on her phone cracked around her white knuckles. “That’s what you said.”
It hurt her throat to speak. Her entire body ached as though she’d been beaten.
Lightheaded, she fell to her knees, unable to process. Her sister was alive, but she was Morrigan’s bounty, to be hunted down, cuffed, and sent to Hell.
Maccus went down on one knee beside her, pried the phone from her hand, and tossed it aside. “My knives struck her. Lucifer disappeared. Her body was lying in the alley when I left.”
The image made her flinch. God, that was so sad. How had it all come to this? Hysteria bubbled up inside her. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
She had to give the devil his due. He knew just what to do to inflict the most pain. Didn’t matter if it was a demon, human, or hunter.
He was going to make her hunt her sister and send her to Hell. If she didn’t, then she’d forfeit her own life.
Once again, he was giving her a choice, the way he had all those years ago. Would Morrigan save Kayley, or would she let her rot in Hell for eternity?
…
Lucifer had interrupted the most perfect moment of Maccus’s life. Sex wasn’t new. He and Morrigan had engaged in sex many times. While it had been explosive and different from anything he’d ever experienced, what had just happened between them was on a whole other level.
There’d been a depth of emotion with each kiss, every touch that rocked him to his core. He couldn’t be sure, but it might have been what humans referred to as making love.
Not that he loved her. He didn’t. He couldn’t. Wasn’t capable of such emotions. But she’d told him she loved him earlier, so maybe that’s what made the difference. That, and having her basically come back from the dead.
The devil was wily, the bastard. He was hitting Morrigan right where it would hurt the most.
“Lucifer must have come back for her after we left, somehow managed to save her.” As Maccus had done for Morrigan. It was the only explanation. “They’ve been together a long time. Maybe he’s changed her somehow to make her harder to kill. She’s not fully human,” he reminded her.
He should have anticipated something like this. But Lucifer wasn’t known for caring. That he would expend any energy to save Kayley was shocking. It made a twisted kind of sense, though, when Maccus considered the motive and impact behind the action.
Everything was just a game to him.
“Will you do it?” That was the big question. “Will you hunt her?”
She nodded and rubbed the back of her neck. The smell of sex clung to her skin, but the mood was gone. They were back in battle mode.
“He’ll give me the same choice as before, her or me.”
She hadn’t reasoned this through yet. “No, Morrigan.” It got her attention when he said her name.
“Then what?”
He only stared at her and waited for her to come to her own conclusions.
Awareness dawned. “You for her?”
“Maybe. Or maybe you kill me, and Lucifer spares both of you.” She would not choose him over her sister or her own life.
He’d never put anyone else first. How could he expect anyone else to do it for him?
He’d saved Morrigan’s life, but that was different. She’d fought alongside him, protecting his back during their battle. Giving up your soul for eternity was a whole other level.