The Devil's Wife (18 page)

      "I've heard reports of the Fall from both sides of the Battle," I said, dragging her into the kitchen. My iPod was playing a soft piano piece from one of my favorite films, the sound unintrusive as I poured us drinks.

      "And?" she asked. I was impressed. My first question would have been "Who?"

      "The Fall and the Battle weren't as we were taught in church." I smiled at my best friend. She was someone who believed, with a fervent hope for the afterlife, in the truth of the Bible. She wouldn't find the real truth to be any comfort. "There wasn't even a battle. Lucifer and his friends were banished because they were different."

      "How are they different?"

      "Lucifer and his friends married into a family of Angels

that had the ability to reproduce. Lucifer's wife, Sera, became pregnant. God saw it as the end of His control on creation, and threw the men from Heaven."

      "Even though she was pregnant, the way He must have designed them?" Jayce asked quietly.

      I could tell she was flicking through her memories of church, connecting the lines that didn't quite fit together properly. Like the accounts of benevolent Demons and bloodthirsty Angels.

      I nodded, ignoring Aspen, who was yelling at me from the counter beside me. "Sera wasn't turned into a Demon. She fell from Heaven the same way we would fall from an airplane, with the same result."

      Jayce winced.

      "Yeah," I agreed.

      "So who did you ask on Heaven's side? I assume you asked Lucifer for his side of the fight."

      I hesitated, wondering if telling her I was talking to my cat would aid my case at all. "Sera's brother, who blames Lucifer for Sera's death. He would say anything to turn me against Lucifer."

      Aspen's head whipped around. Way to go, Clarissa.

      Jayce stared at me for a minute, long enough for me to wonder if she knew who I was talking about. "So you got both sides of the story."

      I smiled, relieved.

      Don't get too cocky, the cat cautioned me. She could still call you insane and have you institutionalized.

      I rolled my eyes at the cat, but trod carefully. "I did. And I believe they were both telling the truth. They told basically the same story."

      "'Basically the same story?'"

      "Yeah. Well, the Angel played up how much of it was Lucifer's fault, and I'm sure Lucifer was downplaying how much he was to blame, but they both said the same thing."

      Yeah, right. Aspen rolled his eyes, and I casually batted him off the counter. I noticed the green bag on the counter and became curious, putting down my drink to check it out.

      "Be careful, Clarissa," Jayce said, putting her own drink down. "He is the Devil. He could have put all sorts of

things in that bag."

      I rolled my eyes at her as Aspen jumped up to investigate with me. "He wouldn't do anything like that, Jayce. And if you plan on staying here, you're going to have to get used to Lucifer being around here at all hours of the night." I pulled a complicated-looking roller-thing out and looked it over.

      "Well, I just don't think—Wait, what do you mean, 'if I plan on staying here?'"

      I shrugged, looking into the bag again and placing the tool on the counter. "Well, I didn't think you wanted to go back to that house now, so I was going to offer you the spare bed. But if you'd rather take the risk of the Hellraisers showing up—"

      "No, no!" she was quick to assure me, joining me by the bag. "I'm never, ever going back to that house! I accept your offer!"

      "Good." I spied something silver in the bottom of the bag and pulled it out. It was an iPod classic, one of the older ones, with quite a few dings and scratches in it. "Hey, Lucifer's iPod."

      "We shouldn't listen to it!" Jayce hissed, looking over her shoulder. "What if it's got Demon-summoning spells on it?"

      I rolled my eyes again, swapping my iPod for Lucifer's in the speakers. "He doesn't need spells, Jayce. He just uses the phone." I pressed "play" on the iPod and a song with an unmistakable introduction started playing, echoing around the kitchen. I laughed. "Oh, no way!"

      "What?"

      "Oh, this is far too good a piece of blackmail material to pass up!" I laughed again. "He's got My Heart Will Go On on his iPod!"

      "What?" Jayce froze for a second, listening. "He does too!" She relaxed, laughing. "What other surprises does he have on there?" she demanded, reaching for the iPod.

~ * ~

      Jayce and I were more than a little tipsy by the time Lucifer returned from wherever he'd gone. The knock on the door made me jump, spilling half a glass of vodka and orange juice. I stumbled to the door, muttering dark things about alcohol wasters, and opened it, smiling at Lucifer. He was alone, and I took the opportunity to flirt with him, forgetting about Jayce.

      "Hello, handsome," I said, grinning alluringly at him. I leaned against the doorway and lifted my chin, trying to be sexy. "Can I help you with something? Or would you rather just follow me to the bedroom?"

      "Very subtle, Clarissa." He smiled down at me, laughing. "What've you two been doing while I was gone?"

      I grinned, stepping forward to wrap my arms around his neck. He stepped inside and shut the door, his arms curled around my waist. He lifted me with no effort, setting me on the ground when I was out of the way.

      "We've been having a little liquid courage," I said with a smile. "It's delicious."

      "Really?" He lifted an eyebrow at me, kissing me gently. "And what would you need liquid courage for?"

      I smiled at him innocently. "We found your iPod."

      His smile froze for a second, as though worried about something. Then he thawed. "Really?" he said again.

      "Yep." I pulled him down for another kiss. "You have a very...interesting taste in music. Not very devilish at all. I was ready for some rock 'n' roll, maybe a little bit of R 'n' B, but all you have is classical pieces and some soundtracks."

      He laughed, pressing against me. "Really?"

      I turned up my nose at him as we rounded the corner to the living room. "You say that a lot."

      "Really?" He grinned, looking dashing, and my heart jumped to my throat.

      I laughed and pulled him down into another kiss. My hands unwound from around his neck to grab his ass, pulling him more tightly to me.

      He laughed, using my arms to push me away gently. "I can taste—and smell—the vodka on your breath, Clarissa." He glanced at Jayce, and I frowned.

      "So?" I demanded, trying to kiss him again.

      "So, I think I should feed you two so you don't go completely silly on me."

      He smiled at me, and I could have sworn my heart stopped for a second. Then what he said dawned on me. "Hey...We aren't going silly!"

      He led me back to the couch so I could sit down next to Jayce. "Whatever you say, boss," he said with another smile, pulling his shirt back on but leaving the buttons open.

      "And don't you forget it!" I yelled after him, and Jayce and I collapsed into drunken giggles.

      Lucifer shook his head at us, checking on the lasagna. He opened the oven door to the most heavenly scent I had ever had the privilege to smell. My mouth watered so much I couldn't taste my vodka and juice anymore.

      Lucifer had already split the lasagna up into three pieces, putting them out on plates. He grabbed some forks from a drawer and balanced the plates like a waiter, bringing dinner over to us.

      "Here you go, girls," he said with a smile, putting the plates down in front of us. "Be careful, it's really hot."

      He walked around the table to sit next to me while I sat at the edge of the couch, licking my lips. I cut off a bit of lasagna from my plate, putting it in my mouth. Lucifer laughed when I spat it back out, fanning my tongue.

      "I told you it was hot." Lucifer smiled at me and blew on a piece of his own lasagna before putting it in his mouth. "Yum. You're an excellent cook, Clarissa."

      I frowned at him, blowing on my own piece of lasagna. "I didn't cook it, though. You did."

      He laughed, watching Jayce, who hadn't eaten any of her dinner. "I'm not going to do you any harm, Jayce," he said, and I suddenly got a sense of déjà vu.

      Jayce was studying him. "It's not the idea that you would do me harm that is making me cautious," she said, and I looked at her, blowing on another piece of lasagna. "I kind of expect it, with you being the Devil and all. It's the fact that you would do harm to Clarissa that has me cautious."

      I could feel myself blushing, worried. If Jayce couldn't trust Lucifer, then I didn't know what I would do. Jayce was my sister in all but blood. I'd patched her up enough times after her various encounters with Jason—and gone to jail twice for her—for us to be closer than sisters. I didn't want to break with her.

      Lucifer already trusted Jayce, simply because I did, so I had no worries about him rejecting her. But Jayce...Jayce was a Bible-thumper, no doubt about it, though she didn't really strive for the virtues of a good Christian girl. I didn't think she would trust Lucifer easily, seeing him as a threat to both our immortal souls. Maybe...

      "I would not harm Clarissa," Lucifer said, continuing to eat. "I could not. If it came down to the choice between my death and Clarissa's, I would choose my own death every time."

      I smiled at him, taking another bite of lasagna. It was past being tongue-scaldingly hot now, and I could almost inhale it, if I wanted to. "It's lucky you won't have to choose, isn't it?" I asked him.

      Lucifer looked surprised. "What makes you say that?"

      I laughed. "Well for one thing, you can't die easily."

      Lucifer shook his head at me, finishing his lasagna. "I think it's time you went to bed. You're getting sillier by the minute."

      I frowned at him, finishing my own lasagna. "I am not."

      Lucifer smiled at me, taking my plate with a kiss on the cheek. "I'll put Jayce to bed, then carry you in and let you sleep with your bastard cat."

      Jayce finished and leaned back, yawning so much that I could almost see down her throat. Lucifer laughed and took her plate, putting it in the kitchen.

      "Thanks for dinner, Lucifer," she mumbled, her eyes flickering closed. "It was delicious."

      I smiled at Lucifer. "Yeah, thanks." I yawned too, moving to drag my suddenly-tired carcass into my bedroom.

      "Oh, no." Lucifer smiled, pushing me gently back down on the couch. "I don't want your cat yelling at me for letting you collapse in the doorway and leaving him trapped in the bathroom all day."

      "I can get to my room well enough on my own!" I protested, ignoring his kiss on the cheek.

      He laughed, boisterously, suddenly looking stunning. I sank into a puddle of warm happiness as he carried Jayce to her new room.

Lucifer Morningstar

      I carried Jayce carefully, trying not to wake her up. The woman was delicate, there was no doubt about that. I could see the bruises across her neck and along her jaw in the weak light as I tucked her into bed, pulling the covers up over her. The bruises didn't stand out as much as they would have had she had light skin like Clarissa, but it was easy enough to see them. She must have been beaten very badly, judging from the black and dark purple bruises on her neck and face.

      I shut the door, heading into Clarissa's bedroom to let Aspen out of his confinement. He sniffed disgustedly at me and shot out of the bedroom, making no other sound. I assumed he was going to find himself a hidey-hole to sleep in for the rest of the night.

      "The couch is mine," I muttered after the ginger tom. He flicked his tail at the corner to say he'd heard, and vanished into the living room.

      I followed him. Clarissa was still where I'd left her when I'd carried Jayce off to her room. I didn't hesitate, scooping Clarissa up in my arms. She seemed to wake up as I rounded the corner into her bedroom, looping her arms around my neck.

      I placed Clarissa on her double bed, kissing her on the forehead and turning to leave. I underestimated how much she'd sobered, however, as she took advantage of my lack of attention. She grabbed my hand and pulled me down onto the bed, straddling my hips.

      "Clarissa," I asked gently, looking carefully up at her,

"what're you doing?"

      She ignored me, splaying her hands across my shoulders. Her touch almost burned on my skin, warming me and bringing my long-repressed ardor back to life. With a couple of quick flicks of her wrists, she had my hands held securely above my head with one hand, and was kissing me along my neck.