Page 288 of The Spider Queen
His nostrils flared.
“Didn’t think so.” I sighed. “Listen. You clearly need a shrink—or a mood elevator—because you’re running hot and cold on me and I don’t know—”
Lucifer bashed his hand into the side of the cave wall, causing silt to rain down.
My eyes widened and I shrank back in fear. I shut my mouth and drew my knees up to my chest. I’d pushed him too far.
“Why am I here?” I whispered.
He clenched his fist and looked to the ground. “It’s complicated.”
“Yeah, I gathered that.”
Lucifer’s head whipped up; his lips twitched like he wanted to smile. He shut it down, though, but not before I got a glimpse of it. Maybe the charming man I’d met at the masquerade was still there. Lurking underneath the surface.
My stomach rumbled. “You don’t get Chinese delivery here, do you?”
He sighed and bent his head. A moment later, a paper bag appeared on the bed. The smell of egg drop soup and wontons wafted toward me.
My head whipped up and my eyes narrowed.
Lucifer finally let a smile through—a genuine smile.
I rolled my eyes and reached into the bag, pulling out a container. I opened it and gasped. “Be still my heart. You got my favorite. How did you know?”
“I know more than you can imagine.”
A chair appeared out of thin air. Lucifer tucked his wings in and sat down.
I held out an eggroll. “Can I bribe you into telling me why I’m here?”
He laughed. Deep, throaty, masculine. “Bribery? Perhaps you’re finally beginning to understand who you’re dealing with.”
Definitely manic,I thought. One moment he was charming—likable even. From agreeable to enraged in a split second.
At the moment, we were both silent as we shared the Chinese food.
I was sitting in Hell. Eating Chinese takeout that had been poofed into existence. By Lucifer.
What the ever-loving fuck?
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, using his chopsticks to reach for a sweet and sour shrimp.
“So many things,” I admitted. “What is this place?” I gestured with the plastic spoon I’d been using to eat egg drop soup.
“Hell.”
“Yeah, that I know,” I said in exasperation. “But what isthisplace? Your bedroom?”
“My sanctuary.” His eyes were bright as they met mine.
I choked down my bite of egg drop soup and lowered my gaze, not liking how he was looking at me. Like he could see into my soul.
“Am I your prisoner?” I whispered. “And if I am, what does that mean for me? Are you going to”—I swallowed—“kill me?”
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can you stop eating? This requires your undivided attention.”
Shrugging, I gathered up all the empty cartons and placed them in the paper bag. And then all the Chinese food remains disappeared. I leaned back against the pillows and kept my eyes on Lucifer.
