Are you all right?
Onyx:
Peachy.
Nico:
Okay. Stay safe. My list is growing.
Onyx hadn’t responded. Maybe he should have, but Ash had been eying him suspiciously, and Onyx hadn’t wanted to give Nico the impression he was too interested in his list.
There wasn’t anything he cared about more than the damn list, but that was beside the point.
Onyx shoved the phone away. He’d had a terrible night and wasn’t looking forward to a day without Scott. He could have gone home, rather than to the gallery, but that would have beenworse. At least here, he could answer emails and double-check things for the upcoming show.
A cat was becoming more tempting by the day.
Onyx descended the ladder and slipped through his office window, stopping short.
His senses prickled. Something wasn’t right.
The office door remained closed, and he didn’t hear anything beyond. Onyx reached out with his demon sense. The protections he’d placed on the gallery were intact.
It would be just his luck to have a human intruder. But there was a state-of-the-art human security system to prevent that.
Maybe it was nothing more than paranoia after last night.
Still, it was better to check. Onyx re-rendered himself invisible and carefully opened the office door. He slipped into the hall and slunk silently forward. As he stepped into the upstairs gallery space, his heart leapt into his throat.
A tall figure stood with his back to Onyx, facing the painting on the far wall.
Even from behind, Onyx could tell it was Luc. That familiar night-black hair with its recognizable wave and his unmistakable posture, at ease but with a hint of authority. He even wore the same coat from the other night.
Onyx should shock him with lightning and call Dante, but for some reason, he couldn’t move.
Why was Luc here?
Abruptly, Luc turned and smiled, their eyes locking. “Onyx, it’s good to see you again.”
The fuck?Onyx took a step backward. He was invisible!
Luc held up his hands as if in surrender. “Would you like to know how I can see you?”
Of course he would. What an obnoxious question.
For some reason, Onyx couldn’t get his voice to work. All he did was stare.
“I’ve always been able to see through your invisibility. Ash and Dante’s too. Well, not always.” Luc’s expression darkened. “Ever since I took your magic.”
Onyx swallowed, his throat parched. Luc had never,everphrased it like that. He’d always pretended he’d borrowed their magic, acting as if it had been a mutual decision to share power. He’d never admitted it was stolen.
“Are you serious?” Onyx breathed.
Apparently, it hadn’t been a trick of the tower that allowed Luc to see Onyx, Dante, and Ash in the Realm of the Damned. Why explain and give away such a huge advantage?
Luc shrugged one lazy shoulder. “Very serious. You might have figured it out. Did none of you wonder how I stalked Ash so easily?”
Shit, the Devil had a point. It wasn’t as if Ash had been flying around the city without an invisibility illusion back when he’d been following Harper.