Page 65 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse
I nodded.
His throat bobbed. “So Lucifer’s eldest son.”
Another nod from me.
“A Nephilim.”
“And a demon,” I added.
Sage waved his hands in the air. “Wait a minute! Are you trying to tell me that hell’s second in command wants me dead?”
“I think we already determined that he doesn’t want you dead, Sage,” Jenna said tiredly as if they’d been rehashing the same conversation all night. “If he wanted you dead, he wouldn’t have saved you and you would, in fact, be dead. Am I right?” Jenna asked me with the same expression she wore when she was about to find out her grade on a test.
“Yes, you’re right,” I said.
Jenna beamed, twisting her mouth at Sage as if saying,See, I told you.
“Then why the hell did he throw me off the balcony?” Sage jumped to his feet and started stomping in front of us. “I thought I was dead. It was fucking terrifying.”
“I know it must’ve been,” I said. “And Drevan is very sorry.”
In truth, Drevan hadn’t said anything about being sorry, but Sage didn’t need to know that.
“The thing is,” I went on, “he thought you were someone else. He thought someone was pretending to be you to… get to me.”
“Why would anyone be trying to get to you?” Benjamin asked.
I sighed. “Guys, I’m in a messed up situation, and to be honest, I don’t want to get anyone else involved. I can explain everything if you want, but it may put your life in danger.”
“Forgive me for saying this, Lucia,” Sage said. “But keeping it secret didn’t keep me safe, did it?”
He had a point.
“I’d rather know,” Jenna said.
“Me too,” Benjamin agreed.
I didn’t know how to feel about drawing them into my chaotic world. On one hand, it would be great to have someone to talk to besides Grant. On the other hand, I feared what may happen to them. In the end, however, I felt I had no other choice but to lay it all out, so they could judge for themselves and decide whether or not they wanted a part in any of it—even if only as my confidants.
It took the next hour to explain everything and answer all their questions, starting from how Drevan possessed me at Grand Central Station, how I saved Jenna and myself, and how a prophecy seemed to be ruling my life. When I was finally done, I felt exhausted but oddly relieved.
All three of them were left speechless, even Jenna, who’d already known the half of it.
After a long moment of processing, Sage was the first one to speak. “No, none of this can be right. Someone screwed up. Royally!”
“How do you figure?” Jenna asked.
“Lucia can’t be in charge of saving the world. I mean,” he extended a hand in my direction, “look at her. She looks about as fit as a concentration camp victim.”
“Hey!” I shot back. “I’m fit!”
“This is fit.” He lifted his sweater and flashed us a set of amazing abs.
Jenna gulped. Benjamin subconsciously pressed a hand to his stomach as if comparing while I let my eyes rove over the pleasing sight. The dudeworked out!
After getting over the shock of the PG peep show, we all laughed, encouraged by Sage’s stupid grin. He had forgiven me. Sage wasn’t so bad, after all. Relief and gratitude washed over me, and for once, I felt everything would be all right.
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