Page 51 of Midnight with the Devil

“It troubles me too.” Andras nodded at Lucien and Diana.

“What can we do?” Jimiel asked. It was strange to be on the side of his fallen brother after so many years.

“Lucien has a contract. Only Diana can revoke it.”

“But when she saw Lucien’s lawyer, she learned that if he gets bored with her before the contract ends, Lucien can let her go and her father will be safe.”

Andras smirked. “Eavesdropping? Not very angelic, brother.”

“I’m her guardian. It’s part of the job. I can’tunhear things.”

“I don’t think Lucien will tire of her. He’s growing more attached, and the attachment is weakening him.” Andras scowled. “We fought off a hundred crouchers, and they almost killed us. He’s battled much worse in the past with less trouble.”

Jimiel watched Lucien suddenly vanish, leaving Diana alone. She reached for him and, finding nothing, made a soft murmur of disappointment but remained asleep.

“What can we do?” Jimiel asked.

“I don’t know.” Andras’s blue eyes seem to burn like ice. “Killing her is out of the question.”

“Of course it is!” Jimiel snapped. “Guardian angel, remember? My whole job is to keep her breathing.”

Andras chuckled darkly. “And yet you let Lucien make a deal with her. What happened? Take a day off?”

“No. I wasn’t watching her at the hospital. She was supposed to be safe there.”

Andras shook his head, still grinning darkly. “Well done.”

“Shut up,” Jimiel growled.

Andras was still laughing when he disappeared. Jimiel sighed and continued his vigil at Diana’s window, praying he would think of something. What in heaven was he going to do? But Andras was right—only Diana could break her deal with Lucien, and she wouldn’t do that because it would condemn her father to death.

“We’re both screwed,” the guardian angel muttered to Diana, even though she was too lost in dreams to hear him.

14

Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules passions, desires, and fears, is more a king. - John Milton, Paradise Regained

The third midnight

Diana was actually excitedfor Friday to come.

The week had seemed to drag until Friday morning. She’d gotten texts from Lucien, of course, his teasing comments always making her laugh, and she strangely missed seeing him. She woke up early, expecting to see a box on her doorstep, but there wasn’t one. Seth sat on the windowsill, his tail swishing as he chattered at the birds outside in the tree near her apartment. His little trilling noises always made her laugh, but today she felt edgy. Why hadn’t she gotten her box? She’d always gotten one the morning of their meetings.

Then a thought struck her. Had her plan succeeded before she’d even had time to start? Maybe Lucien was done, had had enough of her and was moving on? It was very possible…and yet she didn’t want it to be true. She wasn’t supposed to feel that way, but she did. After everything, she liked Lucien, liked being with him, in bed and out. Trusting herself to the devil to save her father was one thing. But falling in love with him? That was a whole other level of stupid.

Diana went through the motions of showering and dressing. She fed Seth and then packed her bag and headed down to her car. She jerked to a stop at the sight of a sports car parked next to hers and the tall dark-haired man leaning against the driver’s side, a coffee cup in one hand, a paperback in the other.

“Lucien?” Diana couldn’t believe he was here. How long had he been standing there?

“Morning,” he replied and sipped his coffee. He finished whatever page he was on and closed the book. She caught sight of the cover.

“Paradise Lost? You read Milton?”

“Of course.” Lucien chuckled and tossed the book into the space behind his seat. “For a blind man in the 1600s, he had a decent grasp of what happened when I fell. I’ve always suspected he might’ve been a prophet.”

“A prophet?”

“A human who receives visions from angels. Once an angel falls, we can’t see those humans who have the ability to hear heavenly messages. It’s Father’s way of protecting the prophets. Not that I or any of my fallen brethren have any intention of doing anything to hurt them.”

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