Page 35 of Midnight with the Devil

Andras shrugged. “The more you bring her into your world, the more she tastes the dark, the more you will crave her light. It happens to all of us.”

“Even you?” Lucien asked, curious about Andras’s sudden openness. Usually the fallen angel kept his thoughts closed off and his mind clear of such concerns.

“Even me. I have been tempted once. But I stayed away. She reminded me too much of what I had once been. We can’t have both worlds, the light and the dark. Only mortals are that fortunate.”

Lucien crossed his arms. “I have no intention ofreturning. You know heaven would never allow it. They stuck me with this job, and I have to see it through until the end…whenever that may be.”

There was nothing more hellish than facing hundreds of millennia of this as his sole purpose. Only Diana had given him a purpose in the last few days. Being around her had rejuvenated him, giving him a feeling of light.

“Be careful, Lucien, that’s all I’m saying. Don’t let a mortal get a hold over you,” Andras warned.

Lucien wanted to rage at the other angel, but he couldn’t. Andras was right. If he wasn’t careful, Diana could take him over, make him forget who he was and the power he wielded.

Fury dotted his vision with black spots.I am the fucking king of hell. No one controls me. No one.

He would keep playing with the little mortal, but he would not let her hold sway or gain any power over him. She was a toy—a lovely, sweet, intoxicating toy. He glanced at Andras.

“Did you have anything else to say?”

Andras’s blue eyes sparked with red fire.

“The demons are restless. You need to give them work to do or they’ll focus on destruction topside. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of the violence they cause.”

Lucien agreed. Demons topside were a bad thing. They usually caused natural disasters and other destruction.

“I’ll take care of it. You focus on the guardian angel Jimiel. I want to know what he’s up to. He’s guarding Diana for a reason. I want to know why. It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Agreed.” Andras vanished, and the soft flutter of invisible shadow wings was the only evidence he’d been there seconds before.

Lucien knew he needed to stay in the realm of hell for a while longer, but once he’d seen everything was back in order, he’d go spy on his toy. The thought curled his lips into a devil-may-care-grin that only made him laugh darkly.

I may care indeed.

Diana satin a cream-colored leather chair in the brightly lit modern lobby of the law firm of Barnaby, Denton, Riggsley, and Jones LLP. It was only ten in the morning, but she was glad the law firm was open on a Saturday. A beautiful brunette receptionist in her early twenties smiled at Diana from behind the expensive granite counter of the front desk. As the woman answered phone calls, Diana examined her surroundings. Glass offices lined the walls on either side of the lobby, and whenever a lawyer closed his or her door, the glass frosted, giving them privacy with their clients. It had to cost a fortune to have an entire floor of offices like that.

I guess working for the devil pays well.

“Miss Kingston, Mr. Barnaby will see you now. Please follow me.” The receptionist slipped her headset off and got up, waiting for Diana to follow. They walked to the end of the hall, and she was shown into a corner office.

“Mr. Barnaby, this is Miss Kingston,” the receptionist announced, and she closed the door, sealing them inside the frosted glass. Diana turned her focus to the man who rose from the desk and held out his hand for her to shake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kingston.” Mr. Barnaby was in his fifties, and he was rather ordinary with slightly silver hair and kind eyes. Diana had honestly expected somebody sleazy or slimy.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Barnaby.” Diana shook his hand.

“Please, call me Lionel. Have a seat.” He waved toward a pair of expensive armchairs that faced his desk, and she sat.

“Now,” Lionel said as he smiled again. “How may I help you? You are here for the midnight contract, right?”

“The midnight contract?” Diana asked.

“Oh yes!” The attorney chuckled. “That’s what my filing system has it as. Each contract with Mr. Star has a unique element to it. In your case, you meet with Mr. Star at midnight.”

“Oh, right.” She nodded slowly. “That makes sense.”

“What questions do you have?” Lionel settled back in his chair, patient and polite.

Diana still couldn’t believe she was talking to the devil’s attorney. “Well…” She tried not to fidget. “It’s about the termination clause. If Mr. Star gets bored with me before three months of Fridays are up, does that void the contract?” She paused, clearing her throat. “I mean, like if he decides he doesn’t want me anymore, my dad’s condition couldn’t go back to…”

---