Page 60 of Falling for the Devil

Lucifer didn’t seem to notice. He kept chanting and running his hands over the wall, his voice growing louder with a lilting melody.

The mountain shook. Not just a little tremble like what would be caused by a titan stampeding through Zeus’s trophy room, but a violent quaking that knocked Diana to her knees.

“Lucifer,” she eked out his name through the repeated clicking of her teeth. “I... I... don’t th... think th... this is a good idea.”

If the mountain crumbled on top of them, he might survive, but there was only so much her goddess divinity could protect her from.

He continued, not even acknowledging her dissent, or her presence, for that matter.

Chunks of rock fell from the ceiling. More rocks tumbled down the mountain slope just a couple of yards away, some piling up in the small opening, blocking off their exit.

“Lucifer!” she shrieked. Rock dust billowed in the air, filling her nostrils and mouth, choking off the rest of her screams.

Finally, his voice stopped. The quaking earth settled.

Diana blinked reddish dust from her eyes, stepping back in shock at what now lay before her.

Where there had once been a solid rock wall, now stood an open entranceway, lit from within with a fiery-red glow.

Lucifer glanced back at her, grinning as if he was a small child let loose in a field of candied violets. “It worked. I doubted it would work, but...” He reached for her hand, took it, and placed it up against his chest. Even underneath his armor, Diana felt the rapid hammering of his heart. “It’s... it is here.”

She didn’t know what it was or why he was so happy about finding it. A cold foreboding sensation flooded Diana’s body. Deep within she knew, she shouldn’t be here.

No one should ever be here.

HE HAD INDEED FOUND it. The one portal that could link them back to anywhere in the universe they wanted to go... any timeline, for that matter. He’d heard of it in whispers from those higher ranked than even himself. The loophole of all creation. The place not just between worlds, but of all worlds and all dimensions.

More importantly, he’d been right! It did exist! He couldn’t wait to brag to the ever-arrogant Gabriel that he’d been right!

Lucifer turned to Diana to share his joyful news but froze upon seeing her expression—eyes wide like a frightened animal, her skin so pale it beheld a bluish sheen, and her lips parted in a silent scream.

What was wrong with the woman? He’d just made the discovery of the millennia. A secret that could benefit their cause—and himself, if he didn’t give away its precise location.

He’d taken her hand and pulled her close, willing with all he was for a way to comfort whatever ailed her soul. Why did she recoil from him?

“Diana, everything is going to be perfect now.”

She shook her head slowly. “Th... this is wrong. Everything about this is wrong.” Her feet shuttled backward, pulling against his grip.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Too late to adjust how condescending his tone sounded. He acknowledged that his treatment of her since landing on this mountain had been less than chivalrous. That must’ve been the cause of her discomfort. But Diana had to know that he would never mistreat her. With a softer tone, he reached out for her again. “Diana, we can leave. We can go anywhere now. You don’t want to remain here, do you? Take my hand, please.”

Why did that last word cause him such heartburn? It had never done so in the past. But it was clear his patience was on a taut, fraying string.

“I promise, no harm will come to you. I would never allow it.”

Of course, he’d made her that promise before and plenty of harm had come to them both. This time, he knew beyond a doubt that he could make his words into truth. Nothing—and no one—could ever touch a hair on her gorgeous head again. She was his. He was hers alone. No matter what happened around them or to them, Lucifer vowed to protect and keep her always.

Her lips were moving, but no words were uttered. At least, none that he could hear. The ramming of his blood through his eardrums muffled any other noise. Impatience nipped at his thoughts. He didn’t have time to convince her of the rightness of his actions, nor time to coerce her with pretty words of assurance. They had to go... now.

Without warning, he grabbed her wrist again, yanked her to him, and stepped over the newly-opened threshold into the heart of the cosmos.

Chapter 28

Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t

A blast of icy air greeted them the moment they stepped into the mysterious hole in the desert mountain. Then, just as quickly, a warmer breeze ruffled the tendrils of hair that framed Diana’s face.

Gone was the granite rock, the frigid temperature, and anything else that could’ve identified where they’d been. Everything in their immediate vicinity was a dull, grayish hue but the landscape beyond was anything but boring. It was like being encapsulated in a giant crystal orb and seeing into the vastness of space. Brilliant-colored stars shimmered to life outside the orb, swirling in intricate designs—some seemingly without end.

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