The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,73

if we don't know about them, that means we can't use them either. Or at least, we can't use them intentionally. If someone happens to bump one, it will reactivate."

Luke shoved himself off the bed and offered his hand to my father. "What do I owe you for this?"

Uriel canted his head towards me. "I'm doing this for her. And, if I'm honest, for her mother. Lucifer, I thought about what you did for a long time. Walking away from Heaven couldn't have been easy, and yet you still did it. They called you a traitor. They hunted you down, struck your name from history, and tried to make you out to be the bad guy. In truth, I think you're the only one of us who has it right." He pressed his palm against Luke's.

"Not the only one," Luke said. "Because history isn’t over, Uriel. You can still follow me." Then Luke pulled his hand free and gestured to the door. "I think we should make our exit before the next group of angels show up. If Michael's gearing up for a plan that involves slaves, you're probably about to be a rather busy man."

"Sadly, that's probably very true. Do you need me to show you the way out?" Uriel asked.

Luke waved him down. "I'm pretty sure I can find it. Besides, if someone else comes knocking, you can delay them for at least two minutes."

Then Uriel looked at me. "I will summon you when I have news, but I do not think it is safe to meet here again. You can find the church, right?"

"I can," I assured him.

Uriel nodded. "Then when I summon you, go there. Bring your friends if you'd like. As many of them as you feel comfortable with."

"Yeah," I drawled. "Speaking of that, Beelzebub wants to meet you."

"And not in a good way," Luke added. "He doesn't trust you with his girlfriend. He is, however, willing to give you a chance. Have a feeling the rest of them aren't much better. They just don't make it as obvious to her."

Uriel chuckled at that. "I can't say I actually blame them. I'll make sure I have time to answer all of their questions." He clasped my shoulder. "Stay safe, Sia. I know you don't believe me, but the lives of two hundred thousand slaves are still not worth yours."

I nodded my head to show I heard him then said, "I know you believe that, but I happen to disagree. I’ll wait for my summons."

Then Luke and I left. Where the twisting turn of halls made me completely lost, Luke seemed to understand it. Granted, angelic houses probably had a similarity to them the way Earth houses did. I followed behind him, but noticed he kept glancing over his shoulder to check that I was keeping up. Then, before I expected, we were at the door where we’d entered. I stepped through it with him, and he caught my hand.

"Is there any way I can convince you to show me that church now?" He asked.

"Sure," I said. "Not like it's really out of the way, right?"

His smile proved he agreed, and then I stepped back. Luke came with me, but the moment we were in the corridor, he slipped an arm around my waist. Well, that would keep him close to me during the trip, so I decided to just go with it. One push was all it took, and we were headed towards the blue shades of earth.

We stepped out in the parking lot of a rather boring country church. A crisp, cold breeze blew through the air, and my clothing was not at all suitable for the weather. I hurried towards the building, which was no more than one hundred feet away, clutching my arms against my chest. Luke stretched his legs to keep up while looking at our destination like he was confused.

This church was not the kind that appeared on TV. It was small, made of metal, and the most boring, bland color I could imagine. There wasn't a huge ornate cross planted in the lawn or standing proudly above the roof. In fact, the only way to know this was a church was the sign out front. Placed in a flower bed with a brick retaining wall, a banner across the top said, "First Baptist Church," with crosses on either side. The rest had a quote that seemed to change each week. This week's said, "Life is fragile, handle with prayer."

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