Page 145 of Like Grim Death: Part One
Jeremiah was there for me as shelter, my entire life.
Brooklin and I probably have more in common than either of us realize.
“It was hell sometimes. I’m glad you’re here.” She swallows, holding my eyes. “I’m glad you have Rain and Luce and… even Mayhem.” Another flicker of hurt across her face.
I nod once, wondering if I could talk to her for him, plead his case. He was stupid, just a kid. But I don’t think it’s my place to mediate for them. And he’s so tense lately for some reason. Maybe because he isn’t getting high as often and it’s fucking with his head.
I decide to mind my business.
“AndI’mgladyou’rehere.” I repeat her words and I mean it. I think she sees that because her next smile seems real. “I wouldn’t be able to catch my breath if you weren’t.” My voice cracks, and before I can embarrass myself further, she takes the reins.
She closes the space between us, heels clacking on hardwoods, then dips her chin when she gets to the stairs. She kisses the top of Rain’s fuzzy head. I catch the scent of her perfume, dark and seductive, the second before she shifts her lips to the side of my cheek. A quick, informal little peck, then she’s walking across the foyer and toward the door.
The moment before she opens it, facing away from me, she says quietly, “Please make sure Lucifer remembers to check on Maverick. I think he really needs someone too. Someone… truly loyal.” Then she opens the door and I hear the alarm beep after it closes, the lingering of her lips on my face and her words in my head.
The former was the start of friendship, maybe? But the latter? What did she mean,“truly loyal?”
Before I can think much about it, I blink as I hear the hardwoods shift down the hall, toward the kitchen. My body is on alert, all the tiredness gone as I stand to my feet, holding Rain tightly in my arms. Immediately, I’m plotting our escape. I don’t have a knife on me, I left it in my bedroom. And the front door is right here, I could just run after Brooklin.
But when I twist around, it’sLuciferI see leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and a lazy smile on his pale face. Before I can think of anything to say—how long have you been here? Where is Sevryn?—he dips his chin, staring at me as he speaks. “I like her, you know.” His voice is pleasant enough, but there’s something dark in his eyes.Someone truly loyal.“But she’s gotta keep her mouth off you, huh, baby girl?”
“When did you get back?” I try to keep guilt out of my tone. I went to the store and grabbed formula, and I know he’ll have seen my car pulled in straight on. His BMW wasn’t in the garage when I arrived and I guess he got here when I was upstairs peering at Rain in his crib.
Lucifer’s demon blue eyes seem to darken. “Didn’t you miss me?” Something about the way he asks the question has the hairs rising on the back of my neck.
I hug Rain tighter to me as he snores softly in my arms. I peeled off my sweaty clothes when I got home, changed into sweats and another T-shirt, but I didn’t shower and I wonder if Lucifer somehow knows what I was doing.
“Where is Sevryn?” I counter his question with a question.
He arches a thick, dark brow. “Locked up in his room. Am I going to have to start doing that to you?” He tilts his head. “Locking you up?”
I try not to betray my nerves. “Shut up. You’re done with Council?” It was only eleven when I got home. It’s usually longer, and I thought with Sevryn attending, it would be longer still.
He studies me for a long moment, lips parted a little, his top one bigger than his bottom, even in these eerie moments, I love staring at his mouth. “I’ll have to go back,” he finally says softly. “But I wanted to see you both.”
I frown, swaying a little with Rain. “Go back? Why?”
“Work.”
I roll my eyes, but my thoughts flicker to Brooklin’s parting words. “What do you think is wrong with Mav?” I ask quietly, holding Lucifer’s gaze. “He’s been… jumpy lately. Off his game. Freaking out more than usual.”
“He always freaks out, he just does it in a smart way. And now he’s got a girl he loves, and he realizes how many things could take her away from him.” My husband’s tone is hard, and I know he’s not just talking about Maverick as he stares at me across the hall. “He’s not smoking as much, and he doesn’t have an outlet.” Again, those words aren’t just for Maverick.
“He doesn’t trust Sevryn,” I add. Saying his name is strange. I’ve thought more than once about mentioning mydreamto my husband, but it all sounds insane and I don’t want to be labeled that, anymore than I already am. Still, I’ve made it no secret how uneasy I am about him.
But I know Lucifer is keeping things from me. I can feel it between us, the weight of everything he’s trying to stop from crushing me. I wonder if it’s like the things I’m keeping from him, each of us convinced it’s for the other's own good.
Someone truly loyal.
“You shouldn’t either,” he counters, unknowingly echoing Cain’s sentiment.
I don’t. But even so, Sevryn’s words about a brothel, the bandages on his body, the tattoo around his throat. There’s a dimness to his eyes too, like someone beat his spirit from him. Or fucked it out of him, one. My mind starts to spiral to my past and I clench my teeth, holding it back as I hold Rain.
“Don’t start to feel sorry for him, Lilith. I know you better than that.”
I smile a little, blinking and focusing on him. “I don’t feel sorry for anyone.”
“Good.” The hoarseness of his voice causes butterflies to flip in my stomach. “He’ll be gone by Halloween,” he reassures me again, and I feel relief warm my veins when he says it.
