Page 66 of Like Grim Death: Part One
He’s got a cigarette pinched between his thumb and forefinger, and the cherry glows bright every few seconds, then he exhales smoke into the air. He stops once, turning to look at the stone fountain topped with a bat, the gardens edging up to the trees. We’ve got a patio area with a firepit too, purple lights strung up for Halloween, ghosts floating along the coverings, in the trees, the water for the fountain dyed black to celebrate the holiday.
Candles are lit in the all-weather, black dining table under cover and able to be closed in by glass doors, now open while he’s outside. The deep purple of the wax glows beneath the flickering flame, and I watch Lucifer take in the outdoor space of his home.
Our home.
Sometimes, it even feels like it’s true.
I grip the monitor tight in my hand and step outside, sliding the door closed behind me. I shiver in my shorts and ripped tank top. I really should be upstairs, and shower, or shave, or floss my teeth, all the things I’m neglecting, but I’m exhausted, and Rain won’t sleep long. He didn’t finish his bottle, which means he’ll wake up from hunger soon.
Lucifer drops the cigarette butt into a vaulted ashtray at his side, then turns to look toward me, my arms crossed over my chest.
He studies me a long moment.
“What’s wrong?” I finally ask the question.
He tilts his head. “Nothing.”
I smile, inhaling the pine scent of him, even with all these feet between us. “You’re a liar.”
His lips tip upward. “Married to a liar,” he agrees. But despite his wicked smile, there’s a harshness to his words.
He wants a line. He wants his vice. I can tell in his abrupt manners, the tension in his tall, lean body. It comes like this when he’s stressed.
“Come inside. Tell me your secrets.” I’m teasing him, but not really.
His eyes narrow, the candlelight flickering across the sharp planes of his pale face. “You trust Maverick over me?”
I shake my head. “Don’t start.”
He takes a step closer. “Answer me.”
I move a step back, my spine pressed to the cool glass door as we do this strange dance we’ve never stopped since the day we first met. “Are you keeping things from me?” He told me about his uncle and Rival’s Claw. It’s all very fucking weird and no amount of searching online brings a word up about it except some obscure reference to an “academic society” with a small drawing of what I guess is their symbol. Two crossed keys and a shark’s tooth between them.
Cult shit, then. I’m not surprised. But when I asked how he felt, knowing his father’s brother was in our city, he didn’t answer me.
I know howIfeel.I want him dead too, just like Lazar is nothing but bones.
Now, Lucifer curves a dark brow, taking another step closer. There’s nowhere for me to run. “I want to know,” he says, his words low. Another step. He’s a foot from me, and I have to tilt my head up to peer into his midnight blue eyes. He comes closer still, then he moves faster, his palms planting against the glass by my side, his body pressed to mine, trapping me to the door. He looks down his nose at me, and I bring my palm to his chest, one hand still curled around the monitor, it grazes his hoodie.
“You trust him more than me?”He whispers the words, and I catch the tobacco and mint on his breath.
My pulse pounds fast, staring up at inky lashes, his swollen top lip, bigger than his bottom. His asymmetry is divine.
“Should I?” I counter his question about trust.
His eyes darken, the blue vein in his neck seeming to pulse faster at the hollow of his throat.“Sid.”It’s a warning.
Fuck warnings.“You didn’t tell me you had an uncle. That you had to go in again tomorrow. You didn’t tell me about Rival’s fucking Claw or whatever it is—”
He steps even closer, crushing me to the door, my arms dropping to my sides, my breasts pressed to his abs as he stares down at me. “Sometimes,” he whispers, dipping his chin, so his nose is inches from mine. “I like to fuckingforgetall this shit. I just like tobewith you.”
I swallow, dropping my gaze to his mouth, then slowly dragging it back up. “I get that, but I need to know these things too. If you want me to beinthis with you, I need to know.”Do I want to be in it?I’m coming to the realization I don’t have a choice, which means I need to stay informed, if only for my son’s sake.
Lucifer’s palms slide on the glass, coming closer to my body, a hair-raising sound. He tilts his head, his lips over my mouth, breath skimming across my parted lips. “Do you trust him,over me?”
My chest heaves, pressing into him with every inhale, falling away for a brief second with every exhale. My heart is frantic, my veins warming with lust. I think I’m starting to like this possessive side of him. The way he wants everything about me to be all abouthim.“No,” I tell him, and it’s only half a lie. Maverick wouldn’t keep anything from me to protect me. Not anymore. Not about the 6, at least.
Lucifer though…he might.
