Extinguish (16 page)

"Why?"

"Because I asked."

"So?"

She sighed. "Try, for me. Please?"

He stared at her, his expression blank. A small swell of tension swept through but whisked right back out as he stood up and sauntered across the room, coming to a stop beside her. He pulled out a chair, and Serah expected him to sit down in it, but instead he leaped up on the table in front of her, towering above her as he sat down, his long legs dangling off the side.

"Fine," he ground out, almost as if it were physically painful to concede. "Let's get this over with."

Their game started out normally, an equal share of give and take, as Lucifer manually turned over the cards for the first time. Serah started to pull ahead eventually, winning hand after hand. Lucifer’s deck steadily shrank as the game wore on, leaving him with only three cards.

Serah threw a king; Lucifer threw a six.

Serah threw a ten; Lucifer threw a six.

Serah threw an eight
and glared at him as his hand hovered over his last card. "If you throw another six, I’m crying foul."

He chuckled, making no move to turn over his card. "I’m surprised you haven’t cried foul before. I won a hundred and twenty-three games in a row. You had to know something wasn’t right."

Her eyes narrowed. "You’ve been cheating?"

"Of course," he said. "Come on
. You really think I play fair? If I want something, I get it. I told you—I make all the rules here."

"You
. . . you . . . you. . ." Anger clouded her expression. "You asshole!"

Lu
cifer’s eyes widened. "Tell me how you really feel, angel."

"I can’t believe you!" she spat. "I’ve dedicated everything to winning this game, so we could finally have an honest conversation, and the whole time you’ve been cheating! It’s impossible for me to win!"

Lucifer overturned his last card—a six, of course. "You beat me this time."

"Because you let me."

"No, because you asked me to play fair."

She glared at him as her hand slammed down on the table. She snatched up the last two cards, shoving them on the bottom of her deck. "I want my answers."

"Ask your questions."

"Where’s my brother?"

"Can’t say."

"Why are you still fighting?"

He shrugged.

"Stop it," she insisted. "End the war."

"That’s not a question."

"Please?"

"No."

A loud groan of frustration echoed through the room as Serah stood, shoving her chair back. Angrily, she threw the deck of cards at him, all fifty-two of them scattering around him, some smacking him in the chest. "I did all of this for nothing? Seriously? You’re giving me nothing?"

She turned to storm out when he grabbed ahold of her arm, yanking her back in her chair. She shoved away from him, prying his hands off of her as something surged underneath her skin. It was so intense her body felt like it was vibrating.

"He came here."

"Who?"

"Your brother."

Serah’s anger faded a bit at his words. "What?"

"He came to the gate. He summoned me."

"When?"

"A few weeks ago," he said. "It was the first time I ever smelled you. Your scent was all over him that day."

"Why?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Probably because he’d just seen you."

"No, I mean why did he come here?" she asked. "What did he want?"

"He wanted to ask me a question."

"What question?"

"He wanted to know why I didn’t back down. I had everything, and I gave it up for
this
." He waved his hands around, motioning toward the gloomy room. "He wanted to know if I thought falling was worth it."

"What did you say?"

"I said I’d rather endure an eternity of pain by choice than feel nothing forever by force," he said, tapping his temple. "The next day, the angels were frenzied. Samuel fell, they said. Nobody knew why, or how, but I knew."

"Why?"

Lucifer scooted closer to her. She stared up at him, desperation shining from her eyes as she waited for an explanation, something that would finally make sense of it. Samuel was so loyal, dedicated to innocence. What had he done to deserve such a fate?

"He fell because he
decided falling would be worth it," Lucifer said. "He asked Michael to take his wings."

Serah furiously shook her head. "No, he wouldn’t."

"He would," he said, "and he did."

"You’re wrong."

Lucifer sighed. "I’m not. He was the first, you know. The rest all fell out of punishment. Samuel fell because he was ready to go."

Devastation swirled through Serah as she continued to shake her head, refusing to believe her brother would do that. "He
wouldn’t. . . he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t just leave me alone. He wouldn’t."

"You aren’t alone," he said. "I like to think he left you in capable hands."

Serah frowned as she processed those words. Could it be? "Michael."

Slowly, carefully, Lucifer leaned forward, his face near hers as he whispered, "I meant
me
."

A shiver ran the length of her body as his breath fanned against her skin. Lucifer’s cheek brushed against
hers, sparks tingling where they touched. She glanced up at him as he moved even closer, the tips of their noses brushing together. Serah’s breath caught in her throat, her chest aching with an unfamiliar burn as the brown in his eyes melted away slowly, familiar blue creeping back in.

He didn’t hesitate as he cocked his head to the side, pressing his chapped lips to hers. She remained still, reeling as he gently kissed her, his tongue swiping across her bottom lip. She let out a shuddering breath, his tongue exploring her mouth the second it opened, softly caressing hers. Something jolted inside of her at that moment, something astonishing, something brand-new. She brought a shaky hand up and ran it through his dark hair. Every part of her touching him prickled, pins and needles under her skin, like it was waking up for the very first time.

There was fire then, passion erupting when her hands touched him. His kiss was firmer, his lips moving feverishly. She tried to kiss him back, tried to keep up with his frenzied movements, but all at once, it was too much—too overwhelming, too foreign, too intense. She shoved away from him, shaking her head. Lucifer froze, breathing heavily, the blue in his eyes being overtaken with black as he gawked at her. His expression morphed quickly to confusion. "Oh, fuck."

She tried to move away as his hand shot out, his large palm covering her cheek. His thumb brushed against her skin, quickly wiping something away as Serah’s vision blurred, hindering her view of him.

The burning in her chest intensified as her throat closed up, words barely able to make it past the obstruction. "What’s happening to me?"

"You’re crying," he whispered. "You’re fucking
crying
."

Serah pushed away from him again, bringing her hands up to frantically wipe her face. Crying? She could see the tears shining on her fingers as she brushed them away, like tiny diamonds glistening under the dim lighting.

Impossible
.

She stood up, panicked, and darted for the door. Lucifer tried to stop her, scurrying right after her, but she was too quick. She bounded out the door and soared to the gate at lightning speed, passing straight through it. Lucifer tried to follow and hit the shield at full blast.

A high-pitched shriek ripped through the sky as the enchantments struggled to keep him imprisoned, so loud Serah recoiled and brought her hands up to cover her ears. She swung around, seeing Lucifer had made it halfway through the shield before it brutally repelled him.

An excruciating scream tore from his chest as his eyes burned bright crimson, his lip curling in a monstrous sneer. He dropped to his knees, his tanned skin turning orange as if fire raged beneath, that spot on his chest where Michael had carved the mark glowing so brightly Serah could see it through his black shirt. Flames seemed to explode from the
circle, scorching his clothes.

He threw his head back and clenched his hands into fists as another noise ricocheted through the land. The ground quaked as the guarding reapers descended upon him, the shapeless faceless black monsters tearing at his skin. His screams grew louder as his body absorb
ed them before spitting the masses right back out, like mere shadows passing through him.

Serah’s vision blurred more, her chest constricting as she fought for composure, gasping for needless air, unable to catch an unnecessary breath. She covered her mouth as tears flowed down her cheeks and turned away from him, unable to take it. She ran again, not stopping until she stepped foot back onto the soil of the woods in Hellum Township.

Serah and Hannah swayed gently on the swings of the quiet school playground. The kids were all in class, recess not for another hour, leaving the two angels all alone for a bit. The air behind Serah crackled seconds before her swing roughly jolted, nearly knocking her out of it. She gripped the chains tightly, holding on, as Hannah glanced behind them. "Samuel."

Serah sighed as her brother teleported from behind her to in front of her the moment she turned to look at him. She turned back around, raising an eyebrow as she met his gaze, seeing the look of amusement on his face. "Don’t you have anything better to do than annoy me?"

"Nope," he said. "Nothing is more important than my sister today."

"Why?"

He smirked. "Happy Creation Day!"

Serah’s rolled her eyes. "We were created in the summer. It’s fall."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You know that, Samuel."

"Oh, well, guess I got you a surprise for nothing then."

Serah’s brow furrowed as she regarded him with curiosity. "A surprise?"

He nodded, his attention shifting to Hannah. "Sorry, hippie, I didn’t get you anything."

Hannah shook her head. "I don’t know why you insist on calling me that."

"You do the hippie stuff, like play with nature and gaze at the cosmos. If you were mortal, you’d totally smoke reefer and sing ‘
Kumbaya’ with your stoner friends."

"I think you’re confusing me with you," Hannah said. "I’m pretty sure I overheard you and Michael discussing world peace yesterday."

"Hey, it’s a great concept," Samuel said. "Would certainly make our work easier if everyone could just get along."

"Well, they won’t." Hannah stood up, giving Serah a small smile, before turning back to Samuel. She threw up two fingers as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Peace out."

She vanished in a crack of electricity. Samuel laughed, shaking his head as he turned back to Serah. He kicked her feet as she swung toward him. "Come on, get up. Let’s go."

"Go where?"

"Your surprise, remember?"

Sighing, Serah stood up, expecting Samuel to teleport somewhere and her have to put feelers out to pick up his location, but he didn’t. Instead, he started walking through the playground toward the sidewalk. She stayed in step with him, the two of them casually strolling down the street in Chorizon.

"Is my surprise here?"

"Yep."

"What is it?"

"You’ll see."

"Why won’t you tell me?"

"Because it’ll ruin the surprise."

They walked for a few blocks, slowing as they came upon a small coffee shop. Serah gazed in the window, seeing a few patrons inside, nothing that would particularly spark her interest.

"Coffee?" she asked. "It always seemed kind of disgusting to me, Samuel."

He laughed. "No, your surprise is behind you."

Serah’s gaze shifted. In the glass window, she could see the reflection of the street behind her. There she spotted it, the cherry red 1966 Pontiac GTO parked along the curb, the top down, fresh paint glistening under the sunlight. She spun around. "My favorite car!"