Page 17 of Midnight with the Devil

Dante’sInferno. Not a surprise. She read more titles, discovering Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde’sThe Picture of Dorian Gray, and even a few paperbacks, along with one she’d read, Susan Hills’sThe Woman in Black. The story was poignant, beautiful, and terrifying. She trailed a finger along the spine and then moved farther down the row of mahogany bookshelves.

A glint and a flash of light near the window caught her eye. She found a clear square display case, and the contents left her breathless.

A single white feather hung in the air, floating under the glass. Shimmering particles swirled slowly around the suspended feather like silver dust. Pale creamy moonlight illuminated the snowy feather, mesmerizing her. She gripped the glass and lifted, ready to touch the feather, but a voice from behind her sent her heart racing.

“Rule number one: you must never touch the feather.Never.” The bite to his tone made her shiver, not in a good way.

Diana set the glass case down immediately and spun to face the direction she’d heard the voice.

In the shadows of the corner opposite the fireplace, she sawhimsitting in a black leather armchair. Darkness concealed his face while he calmly trimmed the tip of a cigar with a silver cutter.

“I’m sorry.” She glanced back at the feather, and then a wild thought struck her. “Is that yours?” She knew the story from the Bible like anyone else. Lucifer, the brightest morning star, had been an angel before he’d fallen and become the king of hell. This man had once been anangel.

“Yes. You must never touch it. It still retains a bit of heaven’s powers, and it could be dangerous for a mortal to touch.” He closed the cigar cutter and set it aside on a small table by his chair and leaned forward, his face suddenly lit by moonlight and firelight.

He was just as beautiful as she remembered. She still couldn’t believe it. Dark hair and dark-brown eyes that seemed to change into obsidian. She couldn’t stop looking at his striking, otherworldly features.

“So it’s midnight and I’m here.” She was proud of how steady her voice sounded, even though her stomach clenched with fear.

“Yes, you are.” He rose from his chair and pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit the cigar.

“You shouldn’t smoke. It’s bad for your health.” The moment she said it, she felt like an idiot. He was a fallen angel, not a human, so most likely he couldn’t get lung cancer. But she could.

He drew on the cigar, inhaling slowly, and then he let out a puff of smoke. It danced in the air toward her, and she coughed. A sudden flash of anger at the thought that he wouldn’t care about her health made her speak up.

“I guess it doesn’t affect you, but I can still get ill from the secondhand smoke.” She couldn’t believe she was telling him off. It was dangerous.

His sensual lips curved into a smile. He puffed again on the cigar and then set it down into an ashtray on the table beside him, the tip of it still burning red.

“Rule number two. While you are with me between midnight and sunrise, nothing can hurt you, not my cigars, nothing.” The arrogance in his tone made her bristle.

“What? But how—”

“Think of it as me pausing your body’s clock. Everything will go on as normal, but while you’re with me, you’re safe from anything that could befall you.”

“Anything except…you?” she clarified.

Again that wicked smile that made her insides burn, but it also sent a flash of fear through her that raced like a wildfire. “Yes. Rule number three: while you’re with me, you will obey my commands. If I tell you to strip and climb into my bed, you do it.”

Oh God…

“Is that what you want me to—”

“No. Not right now. I’ll make it clear when I give you an order.” He pulled back the sleeve on his left arm and examined his watch.

“I think if we leave now we can make the reservation.”

“Reservation?” She stared at him.

“There’s a little place on Malibu Beach where I have a cook who prepares quite a meal. He is waiting for us.”

“But Malibu is in California, and we’re in Illinois.”

Lucien walked to a door near the bookshelves and opened it. Diana’s jaw dropped. Beyond the doorway she saw a beach house on a slight hill lit with strings of light.

“But… How…?” She simply pointed at the open doorway. “That’s not…”

“Possible?” Lucien held out a hand to her. “Everything is possible.Everythingso long as you’re with me.”

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