Page 97 of Premonition of Peace

“You didn’t call this out of the good of your heart.”

“How would you know? You’re not privy to my feelings.”

“That implies you have any outside causing anarchy.”

Lucifer chuckled. “Oh I have them alright. Fortunately for you, I simply don’t act on something if it’s not in my best interest.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Marcel, stop baiting him. Lucifer, quit with the threats. We know you aren’t going to do anything.”

“Do we?” Marcel huffed. “He’s not above killing to get what he wants. He’s proved that already.”

Lucifer’s response was as chilling as it was expected. A low, dark laugh escaped his throat, and he gave Marcel a smile that was anything but reassuring. “You don’t need to worry about that,” he said, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. “Nathalie would be furious if I got rid of either of you. For what reason, I can’t possibly fathom, but as long as she wants you, you’re safe from me.”

“Not to mention the tiny little detail that you’re bound together,” I added, mostly for Marcel’s benefit. “Anything he does to you, he will suffer himself, so eliminating you won’t benefit anyone but me.”

“Don’t count on it,” Lucifer said.

“I wasn’t.” And much as that might be nice for me, I could only imagine the pain it would put Nathalie through. When she thought she had lost Marcel, something broke inside of her. I never wanted to see that again, even if it meant accepting the literal devil and her ex into both our lives.

“Was there anything else?” Marcel asked, impatient to return to Nathalie. I couldn’t blame him; I was feeling the same way.

“No,” Lucifer said, waving his hand as though he were dismissing a servant.

“Good. If you’ll excuse me.” Marcel got to his feet and padded across the living room floor. “I have a mate to take care of.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “I take it you’ll be joining them?” he asked me.

“You’re not?”

He shook his head once. “Nathalie may be immortal now, but she’s not unkillable.”

I lifted a brow. “Your point being?”

“The Morrigan may be gone, but she’s far from the only evil that lurked within this city. I can’t lose my little witch again. I won’t.” His eyes glowed brighter in the low light of the room, radiating power from within.

“So you’re going to what? Start hunting down anything that could possibly hurt her?”

Lucifer flashed me a smile. “That’s precisely what I’m going to do.”

“And if she wakes up and wonders why you’re not there?” I asked quietly.

Lucifer grinned. “I’m sure you can find a way to distract her.”

I sighed. “Why do I feel like this is going to end poorly?”

“Because it will, for those I hunt down.”

I shook my head and got to my feet. “She’s not going to like it when she finds out.”

Lucifer let out a low chuckle. “On the contrary, I think she will. I’d be using my time cleaning up the city. She’s been saying I need a hobby for a while now. I’d call it . . . growth.” I gave him a deadpan look and he winked. “With you and Baggage here to watch over her, I finally feel comfortable enough leaving. Besides,” he added on a darker note. “No matter how tame I may seem, it’s best to not forget who I am. This will provide an outlet of sorts for my, ah, more demonic tendencies. One that Nathalie will be able to accept—which is really all that matters.”

He had a point. A beast was a beast, even if you put a leash on it and called it a dog. Lucifer was the devil in his past life. He might have turned over a new leaf, but some things just couldn’t be changed.

Perhaps he was right and Nat wouldn’t mind so much.

So long as the people he went after actually deserved it.

“Well then, happy hunting, I suppose?”

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