AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Of course, he didn’t get it. He was a sociopath.
“We live in a world full of selfish monsters, yet you all naïvely choose to trust others and be continually let down again and again. It’s baffling. Down here, we continue the old ways.”
“Old ways?”
“I want, I take. If someone covets, we fight. Whoever wins, gets to keep it. That’s the way it should be, right?”
In her addled state, he was making far too much sense. It was beginning to scare her. “What does this have to do with anything?”
“Gavin’s changed,” he grumbled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He was genuinely confused. She considered the big brute and recalled Lyla’s tone on the phone the night she was in Hell. She sounded more exasperated and annoyed by Lucifer than afraid. She could relate. Lucifer was a murderer with a child’s curiosity. It was appealing and terrifying at the same time. She clutched the compass and waited for the right moment.
“Because he fell in love,” she said.
“I don’t believe in love.”
“No surprise,” she muttered.
“Everyone thinks they love someone else, but in the end, they always choose themselves. Humans are intrinsically selfish. You believe in love?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Why?” she echoed incredulously.
“Yes, why do you believe in it?”
“Because I’ve felt it. I don’t have a choice. Love justis. My parents loved me. Vinny loved me.”
“And these people would do anything for you? Die for you?”
“Yes.”
“Then who’s Marcus?”
His name was a trigger that ripped through her lethargy. The volatile mix of heartache and misery detonated in her chest. She swung and aimed for his neck. She imagined the compass piercing his throat as effectively as the crucifix sliced her attacker. Her wrist was caught in a firm grip. He ground her fragile bones together, and she dropped the compass into his waiting hand.
“You need to control your energy before you strike,” he said calmly as he dropped the compass back in the cup. “You need to harness your emotions. Emotions give you strength, but they’re also a liability. I sense your energy, and therefore, I can anticipate your moves. Your energy is all over the place right now.” He snapped his fingers like a gay man talking about Lady Gaga. “Very easy to predict. Everyone thinks body language is the giveaway. It isn’t. What you sense is more important than what your eyes tell you.”
He released her. She stared at the red smears on her wrist. She could smell that familiar metallic stink. Knowing this was fresh and that Lucifer had probably gathered it … She wiped as much of it on the bedsheet as she could and tried to control her gag reflex.
“You called out his name many times,” Lucifer continued. “You didn’t call for your husband or Angel.”
She froze.
He cocked his head to the side. “I thought you were Angel’s whore.”
“Shut up,” she said through clenched teeth.
“There you go with the emotions again.” He clucked his tongue. “I liked you better when you were stone cold. It was beautiful.”
Fantasies of strangling him played through her mind. “Did you bring me here to talk me to death?”
