happened to Annabelle. She is gaping open-mouthed at the enormous red horse with a gigantic rider atop, as he gallops into the arena, his sword held high. The rider leaps off the horse and shifts to his human male form. He knocks Razor off Elijah with one sweep of his gigantic fist. He places his hand on Elijah’s middle head, murmuring something to him. Elijah shifts back to his male form and they start arguing about something, gesturing wildly.
“Whhhooo is that?” Annabelle breathes, her eyes shining.
I roll mine at her. “Fuck’s sake, Belle,” I complain. “That is Killian. War Horseman. Just back from duty on Earth.”
“Oh, my,” she murmurs, fanning herself with her hand. “He is to die for. What’s his interest in Elijah?”
I grab her arm to divert her attention back to me. “Didn’t you want to talk?”
“Oh, yes,” she sneers and flames us out, back to my bedroom, which makes me very suspicious. I realize with a sinking heart that she knows about the box.
“Where is it?” she demands, folding her arms over her chest.
“Where is what?” I ask, feigning innocence, but there’s no fooling her.
“Whatever it was that you took from Elijah,” she spits out. “I know, so don’t bother lying to me.”
I sigh and rub my hand over my face. “I’m not giving it to you. Not yet.”
I know I’ve pissed her off and will face her wrath as she sprouts her flaming wings and launches herself at me, knocking me clean off my feet. She lands on me, hands on my chest, her She-Devil claws digging into me. She winces but digs in harder as I grunt.
“You can’t hurt me without hurting yourself,” I point out.
“I know that, asshole. But I’m willing to take the pain so you know exactly how pissed off I am at you, you traitorous cunt.”
“Not a traitor,” I spit out at her, grabbing her wrists. “I’m keeping it from you for you.” I flip us over so that she is flat on her back and I’m pinning her down. Her wings singe my carpet, but they dissipate, leaving scorch marks behind.
“I don’t need you to protect me, Shax,” she grits out, struggling in my grasp and getting free obviously because she is more powerful than me. Even before she became the Devil, she was. She sits up and slams her hands on my chest, shoving me off her and then crawling over to me to grip my shirt in her hands.
“Yeah, you do actually,” I drawl and receive a fist to the face for it. I laugh as she curses and rubs her hand over her own face.
“I hate this,” she snarls.
“Well, it’s no picnic for me either,” I snarl back. If she only knew how much heavy magick I have to draw on and what went into making that blade that hurts me but not her at the same time. It cannot be replicated on us. It works on inanimate objects only. Our twin bond is too strong, too cellular.
“Why, Shax? You know how much I want to find my dad. Why keep me from him?”
“Several reasons. For starters, you don’t know what’s behind the lock that the key opens…”
“Key?” she asks with a frown.
“Yes, a key in a box.”
“Well, obviously it opens the door that my father is locked behind.”
“Not necessarily. Luc might have given that box to Elijah for any number of reasons.”
“How did you know Elijah had it?” she asks, shaking her head at herself, knowing it’s a diversion off topic, but her curiosity always did get the better of her.
“I didn’t. I arrived shortly after you’d left him, after you’d shifted and screwed him. Which, by the way, Belle. You can do way better than that dickhead.”
“You know about that?” she squeaks. “I tried not to shift. But it came over me. He is such an arrogant fuck.” She holds up her hands. “Besides the damn point. Go on.” She sits back on her heels and folds her arms again.
I sit up and take a breath. “He had the box in his hand. I recognized it. It was my dad’s. I knew it had to be something important, I’m just not sure what, yet.”
“Give it to me and I’ll fucking show you,” she growls.
“Wait,” I say, holding my hand up. “I’ll grant you that it probably does open the door to which your father is behind. However, it may also be the door which the original Lucifer is locked behind. If you go in there