she slowly straightened, cuffs still in hand. It would be so easy to put the cuffs on him, render him helpless, and take him back. For such a prize, Lucifer would free her and her sister.
She clasped her hands to her head. “Get out of my mind.” Pain shot through her skull. Her knife dropped to the alley floor, clattering on the dirt and rock. She was going to be sick.
Kayley scuttled forward, making a grab for the weapon. Instinct made Morrigan slam her foot onto the blade. Someone might be torturing her, but she had been tested these past ten years. She wasn’t weak.
“Get the fuck out of my head.” She screamed the demand and shoved with all her mental might. The tension lessened and then increased. She gritted her teeth and pushed again, not giving in, not giving up.
Liquid trickled down her lip. Her nose was bleeding. Maybe her eyes, too. She didn’t let up, didn’t stop fighting.
Finally, like popping a cork from a bottle, the pressure released.
Bent over, hands on her thighs, she panted for breath. When she figured she wasn’t in any danger of puking, she reached down and retrieved her knife. Kayley was back against the wall, silent and watchful.
When she swiped at her nose, her hand came away bloody. She wiped it on her pants. Not the first time they’d had blood on them.
She glanced over her shoulder. Maccus watched intently, his arms loose by his sides, legs slightly bent. He’d removed his jacket and shirt at some point, leaving him bare from the waist up. His tattoos pulsed as though alive. His eyes were as black as the deepest pit of Hell, his mouth grim.
Give him a scythe, and he’d be the Grim Reaper. No doubt he’d be very good at harvesting souls. No one would escape him.
What had she been thinking? He didn’t need her to save him. He could save himself and would. It was time to start worrying about herself and Kayley.
The wall in front of her melted before her very eyes, the bricks swirling. Smoke poured from the opening. Lucifer stepped out, and he was smiling.
Morrigan stuffed the cuffs in her pocket and tightened her grip on the knife.
Chapter Twenty-Two
A calm indifference descended over Maccus, a sensation he’d experienced a million times before. He was good at disassociating himself from pain and emotion, at focusing on what needed to be done. It was necessary in order to read his enemy so he could defeat them.
And everyone was his enemy.
No exception.
Not even Morrigan. Especially not her. There’d been a surge of dark power around her. Lucifer had been trying to influence her. She’d fought so hard her nose had bled, her face a portrait of relentless pain.
He couldn’t expect her to do it again.
The devil stepped out of the portal. “Such a waste.” He tilted his head toward Kayley and gave a negligent shrug. “She was such a fun toy to play with, and now she’s broken. Oh well. Plenty more where she came from.” Then he laughed.
Maccus expected Morrigan to launch herself at the devil, but she held her ground. He ignored the urge to go to her, to protect and reassure.
They were all fighting their own battles.
“And you.” Lucifer turned to him and let his gaze wander over the tattoos that covered his chest and arms. “You look ready to fight. It’s a shame I can’t engage in a battle on the human realm.” Then he turned to Morrigan and smiled. “But she can.”
Here it comes. As much as he’d expected this to happen, it made his bones ache.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Lucifer gave a negligent shrug and tugged the cuffs down on his designer suit. “Seems a shame to leave your sister like that.” He motioned to the younger woman, who was still curled up in a ball against the wall. “You’re the oldest. You’re supposed to take care of her, aren’t you? Isn’t that what your mother told you on her deathbed?”