Page 49 of Midnight with the Devil

“That’s Andras, a prince of hell, one of my friends since before the fall.” Lucien’s honesty stunned her. He wasn’t usually so open about the fall or other angels.

“Are you guys okay? I honestly don’t know what to do.” She got up and went to the kitchen to wet a towel and returned to him and wiped his face gently. He let her, his brown eyes now halfway between that light brown and the dark almost black she was used to.

“We need to rest. The croucher demon sucks the life force away, and had Andras and I been mortal, we would’ve died instantly.”

Diana gently cupped his chin to make him face her so she could check him for more wounds.

“Do you have to fight these demons often?”

“No, that’s what was so dangerous. Normally a croucher is solitary, and yet there were hundreds in this old Aztec temple. They killed an archaeologist who was exploring the ruins.”

“What?” Diana paused, wiping some blood from his chin.

“Andras monitors human deaths. It’s his job. Suspicious deaths, even when those souls aren’t destined for hell, are reviewed by him. He found the dead human, realized he’d been killed by a croucher and brought me in. I’ve battled them before, but always one at a time. Even between the two of us we couldn’t stop so many at once. The group of demons fled the temple, and Andras and I—ended up here.” He tilted his head and looked around. “Why are we here?”

“Good question.” Diana sat back and stared at him. The king of hell and the prince of hell lay on her floor, completely exhausted from a battle with a bunch of ancient Babylonian croucher demons. Just another typical Saturday night.

“I should help Andras home.” Lucien tried to stand, but he collapsed back to the ground. Diana put a staying hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t you rest. Close your eyes and sleep, or do whatever you need to do to recover. I don’t think you’re in any shape to go anywhere. Why don’t you lie down on the couch?”

She helped him get back up, and he collapsed on the couch. His head fell back, and he closed his eyes. After a minute of watching him, she grabbed a soft fleece blanket from her closet and laid it over him, and then she got a second one for Andras.

“I can’t believe I’m babysitting fallen angels on a Saturday night.”

Diana returned to her homework. It was only a few hours later when she finished and decided to order pizza even though it was almost ten o’clock. After the day she’d had, she needed it. She picked up her cell phone and was ready to dial when she looked toward the living room. Andras was gone. Only a blanket and his pillow remained. Lucien was sitting up, the blanket pooled around his hips, and he was flicking through the TV channels with the sound muted. How had she not heard him and Andras wake? She must have been zoned out on her schoolwork.

“Lucien? Are you better?” She put the phone down and walked over to him. He looked up at her, his eyes back to the dark, fathomless black again.

“I’m almost my old self. Andras is too. He had duties to resume and couldn’t stay to thank you for your hospitality.”

“Er…are you sticking around or—”

Lucien chuckled. “So quick to be rid of me, eh?”

“No,” she replied instantly. “I was just going to order a pizza if you want to stay. I’ll get whatever you like.”

“Oh.” Lucien seemed generally surprised, and honestly Diana was too. She hadn’t thought she wanted to be around him when she didn’t have to be, but that was changing. They’d had so much fun at the barbeque, and he’d seemed almost normal.

“So do you…” She held her breath.

“Yes. I like sausage.”

“Me too.” She retrieved her phone to order the pizza. Then she went to the bedroom to grab another textbook from her shelf. When she came back out, Lucien was standing up and stretching. His clothes were tattered and torn, and he still looked like…well…hell.

“Do you want to use my shower? You can freshen up if you want.”

He scraped a hand over his jaw in thought. “I think I will.” He headed for the bathroom and started stripping out of his clothes.

Diana didn’t move, she just stared at him, watching his glorious naked ass, but she froze when she saw his back and the two scars she’d glimpsed when he’d been swimming in Belize. The sudden need to touch them—to ease the pain that he must have experienced—was overpowering. Before she could think, she closed the distance between them and placed a hand on his back. He stiffened in response, but when she expected him to lash out, he didn’t.

“Lucien,” she whispered, tracing the knot of scars. “They look so painful.”

“They still hurt,” he whispered softly and glanced over his shoulder at her, and she saw pain in his eyes.

Diana leaned in and pressed her lips to his shoulder blades, then the scars one by one. Lucien exhaled softly, the sound sohumanthat it broke her heart.

I’m falling for him. I’m falling for the devil.

---