by Jane Hinchey
I reached for Dacian with one hand, clamping my fingers around his wrist, and with the other hand I shot a blast of lightning into the rocks above us. It coincided with a massive boom from overhead. The rocks moving in their strange formation shattered and we were falling. Shielding my face with my free arm, I spread my wings and propelled us up, through the rocks, dirt, dust, and debris, Dacian still clutched tight. He was a dead weight until he used his own wings to boost us up.
We burst through into fresh air. I flew us clear of the massive hole that had opened in the earth. Setting us down, I collapsed onto my back, panting, looking at the angry red clouds overhead that were now receding.
“You okay?” I turned my head, looking at Dacian who was splayed by my side, strangely quiet.
“You saved me.” He turned his head to meet my eyes.
“Of course I did, you idiot.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because we’re friends. Duh.” I could hear sirens in the distance. The humans were coming.
“After all I’ve done? After the things I said?”
I sat up, wrapping my arms around my knees. “That’s what friendship is.” I shrugged. “To me anyway.”
“Lucy!” Levi was shouting and I looked up to see him running toward me, his face a mask of panic and concern. I then became aware of our surroundings. I’d blown a hole in the town square, right in the middle of the park.
Skidding to his knees by my side, he clasped my head in his hands and peered at me intently, his eyes running all over me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” His thumb brushed against the edge of a scrape on my cheek and I felt the sting.
“I’m fine.” I smiled, healing myself of all the scrapes and bruises.
“What. The. Fuck. Happened?” He pulled me to my feet and dragged me further back from the edge of the hole.
“I’m not entirely sure,” I admitted. I quickly told him how I’d found Dacian, how Dacian had thought the whole thing was a trap, which in hindsight it most likely was. But there was a lot of magic involved in the trap. I wasn’t sure I could lay this one at the soul stealer’s door.
A fire engine pulled up, followed by an ambulance and police car. Soon the park was swarming with emergency services personnel. Dacian had disappeared without a word.
“Are you hurt?” Jared appeared by my side, his badge clipped to his belt. He was here in an official capacity.
“I’m fine. Just a little grubby.” I indicated my torn and dusty clothes.
“What happened? Did you see?” His eyes bored into mine and I almost laughed. He was trying to send me a message—don’t reveal the truth to the people milling around us. I winked to reassure him I wasn’t an absolute idiot.
“Sort of. It happened so fast. I was running. This storm rolled in real quick when there was a massive clap of thunder and suddenly this sinkhole just appeared. The earth fell away beneath my feet, but I managed to pull myself out.” It was plausible. Sort of. And technically not a lie.
“Was anyone else here? Is anyone in the sinkhole?”
I shook my head. “No.” I knew Jared wasn’t asking about supernatural beings. He was worried innocent humans had disappeared down what appeared to be a bottomless hole. I leaned closer so the others couldn’t hear. “FYI there is a massive labyrinth of tunnels down there. You could maybe look into that at some point.”
“Tunnels?” he repeated.
“Old. Ancient. Maybe built by the settlers of Shadow Falls.” I shrugged. I didn’t know why they were there, just that they were.
“You should let the medics check you out.” Jared straightened, nodding.
“I’m fine.” In fact, I felt pretty good. Releasing my anger the way I did left me feeling cleansed and calm. “But a shower is in order. I’ll be at Levi’s if you need me.”
Levi slid his fingers between mine, our palms pressed together, and hand in hand we walked back to his apartment. I was glad he was no longer angry at me. I needed his help to solve the ever-deepening puzzle of what the fuck was going on in Shadow Falls.
15
“I’m sorry,” Levi whispered against my neck and I shivered. Warm water poured over us, making our skin slick. It was my first shower with a human and I could easily become addicted to sharing a shower with one Levi Forrester.
“You’re forgiven.” I gasped in response, not really focusing on his words but the nip of his teeth and soothing motion of his tongue. I knew he was apologizing for being angry with me over his grandmother, and I loved that he’d done so, but man, that mouth of his. As if sensing I wasn’t paying attention he lifted his head and cupped my face in his hands.
“I didn’t mean to take it out on you.” His words were solemn and his face serious. Leaning forward I placed my mouth on his, halting his words. We were naked in his shower. The last thing I wanted to be talking about, let alone thinking about, was his grandmother.
“You’re forgiven.”
He grinned and reached behind me for the loofah, squeezing a liberal amount of shower gel on it before pulling back, his hooded eyes full of promise.
“Let’s get you clean.”
The brush of the loofah over my sensitive skin raised goose bumps over my flesh wherever it traced. I reached for him, wanting the torture to be over, but he tutted me and pushed my hands away. “I’m not done yet.” After spending what felt like eternity thoroughly cleaning the front of my body, from my collarbone to my toes and everything in between, he twirled his finger in the air, indicating I should turn. I wasn’t sure my legs would cooperate. I’d locked them into position to keep myself upright during his sensual assault—now he wanted me to turn. Figuring he’d catch me if I face planted, I obeyed, slowly turning to face the tile, placing my hands on it for balance.
When his hands settled on my shoulders and began to massage, my head fell forward and my forehead met the tile with an audible thunk. His hands were magic. They soothed tense muscles I didn’t know were tense, yet at the same time they burned a path right to my core. He nudged one of my feet with his. “Spread ‘em,” he growled. I did. “Wider.” I shook with desire, eager for what was to come. His hands ran down my sides, over my hips, resting on my thighs, and suddenly he was there, his mouth closing over me and I cried out—the heat of him, the pressure of his tongue, overwhelming. It was the most intimate of acts and it unraveled me. He took me to the brink and just before I fell over the edge he withdrew and I wailed in protest.
“I’ve got something better,” he reassured me, his voice guttural in my ear, making me shiver all over again. With my back slick with shower gel, it added another dimension to the sensations bombarding me when he pressed up against me, his erection rubbing my ass cheeks and lower back. I pressed back into him, the movement one of reflex, seeking what I wanted so badly. Fisting his cock, he positioned himself, and with one long smooth stroke, he entered me and time stood still—in that moment we were suspended in time, my body stretching to accommodate him, my back arched, my head thrown back. I’d never felt so complete.
Then time snapped back into place and he began to rock, and with each thrust, I climbed higher and higher. Grabbing my hands, he lifted them, keeping them trapped between his and the tile.
I felt his hunger, hot and urgent between my legs, raw and powerful. The air in my lungs thickened as a series of aching spasms grew stronger with each beat of my heart, bringing me closer and closer until a white-hot orgasm burst inside me, crashing and tumbling and reeling.
I’d gotten lost in my own swelling desire, but it seemed my climax was all Levi needed to release his own firestorm. His muscles tensed as the orgasm coursed through him, ebbing only for a second until it spiked again in time with his racing pulse. After a few agonizing moments, it slowly ebbed, leaving only Levi’s labored breathing in its wake.
“Tell me what really happened today—and why there’s a massive hole in the middle of the town square.” Levi had surprised me by holding off on the questions, but now, both of us clean and sated, he wanted
to know. And I didn’t blame him. Stretched out on the sofa, my head in his lap, I quickly filled him in on what had happened, leaving nothing out.
With his fingers idly running up and down my arm, it was getting harder and harder to concentrate. Thankfully Levi cut in. “So you’re saying something—maybe the soul stealer—captured Dacian. Held him captive with mystical chains. In the tunnels no one knew existed under our town.”
“Pretty much,” I agreed.
“But you’re not convinced the soul stealer is responsible?”
I shook my head. “It makes no sense. If the soul stealer had such power, why would he capture Dacian? Why not kill him? As far as I know, the soul stealer doesn’t even know about Dacian. He was never with us in any of our confrontations with the soul stealer. So why take him? And then hide him down there? For what purpose?”
“Dacian said it was a trap…for you? Did whoever set this up know you’d go looking for Dacian?”
“But I didn’t! I didn’t even know he was missing. And I should have. He’s been pretty much following me around since I got here. Keeping his distance, but I knew he was there, watching. But now that I think about it, I hadn’t seen him for a couple of days, but I just didn’t notice.” And for that, I felt bad.
Mr. Meow jumped up onto my stomach, meowing for attention. I ran my fingers through his soft fur.
“Who else then? Your brothers?” I’d filled Levi in on the history with Gabriel and Michael. Was it them? Another prank? But those days were gone, surely. We were no longer newly created angels in Heaven, fooling around and having fun as we learned our craft and trained for our roles. This was too extreme for a prank, even for them. Dacian had been hurt by the chains.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I closed my eyes. “I don’t know. I really have no idea what’s going on.” It drove me crazy to admit it. The soft rumble of Mr. Meow’s purr vibrating through me lulled me and I drifted, dozing as my mind tried to make sense of today’s events.
“Well, isn’t this a Hallmark card moment,” a voice drawled. Mr. Meow hissed, digging his claws into my stomach as he launched himself over the back of the sofa, his paws skidding on the floor as he fled from the room.
“What do you want, Dacian?” Levi had stiffened beneath me at the sudden appearance of the angel. With a resigned sigh, I sat up, brushing my hair back over my shoulder.
“Have you told him yet?” Dacian nodded his head at Levi, who frowned in response.
“Told me what?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” I scolded, frowning at Dacian. There was something different about him. He’d been slowly thawing toward me, but now I could see the cold hatred was back. What was going on with him?
“You know you two can never truly be together, right?” Ignoring me, Dacian plowed ahead. “That you don’t have a future. All this fucking is just that. Sex. Nothing more.”
“What we’re doing is none of your goddamn business.” Levi stood and I recognized that stance. Shoulders back, feet apart. He was getting ready to take a swing, and I didn’t blame him. Dacian was being a jerk. Only what he’d said? The part about not having a future? That was true, the reality was…there was no future for Levi and me. And the pain that quickly followed that truth lanced through me. I didn’t want it to end, what I had with Levi; it felt so right, but…I’m Lucifer, Queen of Hell. And he was human. A good, decent human who, when his time was up on Earth, would be going to Heaven. A place I hadn’t visited since I left a million lifetimes ago. There was no happy ever after for us and the thought made my heart ache.
Levi entwined my fingers with his, holding my hand tight. His eyes met mine and I knew he saw the sadness reflected there, for he tugged me closer, until we were chest to chest, and kissed me. When he started to pull away from the kiss I grabbed his head and held on, plundering his mouth with my tongue, pushing all my desire, want, lust, into that kiss. My own passion rose in response, and it was like it had always been with us. Electric.
“Yeah okay, you two, message received. You’re hot for each other. You’ve got the chemistry. Too bad it’s not enough.” Dacian’s tone was gloating and I did the one thing I thought I’d never do. I zapped him. A spark of red lightning hit him in the chest and sent him somersaulting backward. I was so sick of him being an asshole, of toying with my feelings, letting me think we had something to salvage from our friendship only to turn around and try to hurt me all over again.
“Get out,” I growled, releasing Levi and facing Dacian, who was brushing himself off and looking at me with a smirk. Asshole. He disappeared without comment and the apartment was silent in his wake.
“What did he mean?” I knew Levi would ask, had prayed he wouldn’t, but I knew it was coming, I was being selfish hoping I could stay in my—our—bubble just a little longer.
“Ignore him. He’s a jerk.” Stepping to the window, I gazed out, watching the activity in the town square. The area had been taped off. People were taking selfies with the hole in the background.
“Are you using me?” His words were flat and I glanced over my shoulder at him. He was still standing in front of the sofa, arms by his sides, hands clenched into fists. Poor Levi.
“No,” I whispered. “I’m not.” It was all the reassurance I could give him, but it seemed that was all he needed for he visibly relaxed.
“You’ve gotten under my skin, Lucy,” he told me, striding across the room, steps confident and sure. My heart melted. As did my panties. Levi in alpha mode was hot.
“Ditto,” was my witty response. The fire burning in his eyes made my stomach flutter and it crossed my mind that Levi was not only under my skin, he was working his way into my heart.
16
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Levi asked for the millionth time.
“I’m reasonably sure. And if it isn’t, I’ll get you out. I promise.” I knew he was digging for a resounding “yes, it’s safe,” but I couldn’t lie, and truth be told, the collapsed tunnels and gaping hole might not be entirely safe.
Regardless of his reservations, he followed me to the rear of the town hall. I’d wanted to go down into the tunnels again, only this time I wanted Levi with me, to try and use his magic to zero in on who, or what was down there. For despite all the distractions, there was still a soul stealer who was one soul away from taking up permanent residence in this realm, and that spelled disaster.
The kitchen was as I’d left it. No one had been here since. The pantry doors were wide open, debris scattered on the floor.
“Oops,” I muttered, eyeing the mess, “I forgot to clean that up. Come on, let’s go through and I’ll fix it from the other side.”
“The other side?” Worry clouded his voice and I chuckled.
“The other side of the wall. Not the ‘other’ side.”
“Oh. Right.” He followed closely behind, stepping gingerly through the debris until we’d stepped through the hole in the wall. With a wave of my hand, the hole repaired itself and we could hear the shelves slamming back into place followed by the thud, thud, thud of various tins and containers of food returning to their rightful place on the shelves.
“Um, Lucy?”
“Yes?”
“How will we get out?”
“I can always bust us out again,” I reassured him, “but my immediate plan was to fly out through the massive crater I made last time.”
“Why didn’t we come in that way?”
“Too many people about. I’m hoping by the time we’re done down here it’ll be late and everyone will have gone home.”
“Good point.”
I conjured a light ball that levitated in front of us. “Follow where I was,” I instructed it and it began its descent of the staircase. I remembered this part and it was easy to see my footprints in the thick dust, but once we’d cleared the long straight tunnel and the floor turned to stone and dirt, there was no trace of the route I’d taken. We came to the first cavern, where it branched off, and I commanded the light ball to stop
.
“Take my hands.” Levi stepped forward and clasped both of my hands in his, facing me. “Let’s see if we can channel anything or anyone.”
“Are you leading or am I?”
“You. Whoever is responsible somehow has me blocked, but if I give your magic a boost, maybe we’ll get the answers we’re seeking.”
“Okay. Close your eyes. Concentrate.” I smiled a little, not needing the instructions, but I’d told him to lead and he was leading. Closing my eyes, I felt his power shift, concentrate around him and I added my own to it, like boosting a television signal. His energy shifted out, like a shockwave, disappearing through the rock walls, traveling out, out, out. I couldn’t feel anything, but Levi suddenly stiffened. He would have jerked away if I hadn’t kept a firm grip on his hands.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“Can’t see yet, but there’s something.” He leaned a little, as if trying to peek around a corner, then straightened up again. “I think the soul stealer is here like you suspected. There’s a big…cave? It looks more like a cave, not the smooth walls like here. It’s massive. In the middle is water. A lake maybe? And in the middle of that…” He trailed off.
“What? What’s in the middle of the lake?” I urged.
“I’m not sure what it is. A giant sphere. It’s huge, about the size of my shop and apartment combined, and it’s suspended about a foot above the lake, just floating in the air.”
“Okaaaay.” Weird. I wondered what the sphere was, what it housed, and why it was here.
“It has symbols on it, and they look like they’re glowing. It’s kinda beautiful.”
“Try and push what you see to me.” He’d done it before, sent me a vision all the way to Hell; why couldn’t he do it standing in front of me holding my hands? Because some asshole was blocking me, I argued with myself, watching as Levi frowned in concentration. But I got nothing, not even a flicker of what he was seeing. Okay, I’d have to settle for the next best thing. Releasing his hand, I held out my hand for the light ball, which gently lowered itself until it was resting in my palm.
