Page 16 of Crush's Fall

It took him another ten minutes before he could mount his new bike. Well, it wasn’t new, but it was new to Lucifer. The bike he left behind in Indiana was a piece of shit that was barely hanging on. Thanks to Zero and a few of the other Howlers, he found a fixer-upper bike that was decently priced, and the Howlers helped him get it running. Now it purred and growled just the way he liked it.

When he started it and the sound from the pipes rumbled through him, he grinned. He carefully rode it over down the sidewalk and over to the door of the apartment building.

After he packed up the meager belongings he had acquired over the last six months, he would load them into his saddlebags and head out. He didn’t have much, but he might have to strap a bag to his bitch seat as well.

Leaving Crush for a while was going to be hard. Even though they weren’t actually together, it would bother him to not be able to see her scowling face every day. He knew she was his, and she knew it too, but they had yet to take that leap. That was okay, though. When it finally happened, it was going to be explosive.

Grinning from ear to ear, with his nuts sore as hell, he dismounted his bike and headed into the building.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Three months later… Lucifer

AfterBenjaminpickedhimup for the meeting, and they got to the warehouse, Lucifer got a text from Leighton ordering him to help Benjamin with a pick-up. He didn’t think anything of it until he got back in the SUV with Benjamin and his driver in the front seats, at which point he was informed that they were picking up a woman. Something in his gut told him this woman wouldn’t be coming with them of her own free will, and that shit didn’t sit right with Lucifer.

He didn’t say anything, thinking of ways he could help her if this was going to go the way he believed it might.

After about thirty minutes, Benjamin began shouting instructions at the driver, ordering him to park the SUV on a trail in the woods.

The driver lifted his hand up in the air as he climbed out of the SUV and flipped off Benjamin over his shoulder as he began his trek through the woods.

“Who are we picking up?”

Benjamin’s head swung in Lucifer’s direction. Glaring at Lucifer, he replied, “You are on a need to fucking know basis, and you don’t need to know.”

Rolling his eyes, Lucifer held up his hands in surrender. What the fuck ever. He’d find out as soon as the woman got in the vehicle. If needed, he’d figure out a way to help her.

After twenty minutes of silence and Lucifer imagining all the ways he’d like to teach Benjamin a lesson on how to speak to people, Benjamin ordered Lucifer into the driver’s seat. Making a promise to figure out a way to make the fucker pay, Lucifer got out of the back seat and slid in behind the wheel.

Following Benjamin’s orders, he drove the SUV off of the trail and down a driveway, pulling up in front of a small house. When he put the vehicle in park, Benjamin’s whiny voice ordered him to get in the backseat. Lucifer rolled his eyes as he climbed out.

After returning to the back seat, he got a glimpse at the face of the unconscious woman the driver was carrying toward the cargo area of the vehicle, and his gut sank.

Siren’s woman. Fuck!

He knew Benjamin had a connection to April, but he didn’t know she would be the woman they were picking up. Why would she be? Because Benjamin was a damn lunatic. That’s why.

The mission just changed from an information gathering pursuit to a critical rescue. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he opened his text string with Axle and sent a quick message.

Lucifer : SOS. Will need pickup.

There was a sudden rustling from the cargo area of the SUV before April stilled. Lucifer hoped Benjamin and the driver didn’t hear it, but of course, they weren’t that lucky.

“We know you’re awake, bitch,” the driver said loudly.

“Don’t fucking talk to her like that!” Benjamin’s face was red with anger as he glared at the hoodie-wearing driver, obviously not liking anyone talking to who he considered his woman.

Lucifer turned and looked at her, but he knew she couldn’t see his face in the dark interior, especially since it was shadowed by the hood of his sweatshirt. “Are you okay?”

April shifted her gaze to Benjamin. After a moment, she lifted her right hand and flipped him the bird.

“April,” Benjamin snapped and narrowed his eyes.

“Fuck you, Benjamin.”

At her bark of words, Lucifer turned to look at her again, this time shifting his hood back a bit so she could see his face. April jumped and backed away, which made sense, since she knew his name and what he looked like, but she didn’treallyknow him. She also didn’t know the business of the Howlers or the Claws, so she would be surprised to see him.

As she stared at him, he gave a brief shake of his head and widened his eyes. Then he winked and said, “Watch your mouth, little girl.”

---