Page 39 of Widow

“We can't keep just ignoring the fact that she’s possessed by a homicidal maniac.” I seemed to be the only one who was thinking logically. I had thought Lucifer was the logical one out of the three of us, but apparently he was now too smitten to remember she was possessed.

And I thought I had it bad.

“The head shaman could probably get the Widow out.” The alcohol was settling into Ric’s system; his speech was slurred.

He scooted to the edge of the table, smearing the blood as he went. I clasped my hands in front of me to stop myself from grabbing the bleach and scrubbing for hours.

“Absolutely not. That shaman is batshit crazy.” Lucifer crossed his arms and frowned.

“Where is the shaman?” Lia had plopped down in a kitchen chair. She was staring blankly at the blood on the table. What was going through her mind?

“He’s in Inferna. We need to try something.” Alaric looked at Lia with yearning in his eyes. He had it bad. Hell, we all had it bad.

“The shaman practices dark magic. There will be a price for asking for his help. If we can even find him. He’s the one that was using my blood to try to open the barrier between Earth and Inferna.” Lucifer spoke quietly, which was so out of character, Alaric and I stared at him with slightly open mouths.

Lucifer did a good job of hiding behind his tough-guy persona, but lately, since Lia came into our lives, he had been showing his cracks. I just hoped he didn't fall apart when we needed him the most.

Lia cleared her throat. “You should just kill me.” She sounded so sure of herself like it was the only answer.

And maybe it was the only answer. But we needed to at least try everything within our capabilities first. I was already far too attached to her to even acknowledge the fact that it might come to that. We all were.

“We aren't going to kill you.” I started to mop up the blood on the table before it had a chance to seep into the wood. I pushed Alaric off the table. “Why don’t you go take a shower?”

“Can I borrow some of your clothes?” Lucifer was already walking down the hall to the bedroom.

Lia went into the kitchen, dug around under the sink, and pulled out a container of Clorox wipes. She pulled out a few and started helping me clean the table and the spots on the floor.

"Thanks for helping me. I was starting to freak out a little. I'm kind of a bit of a neat freak. I don't like it when things are dirty."

"I noticed. It's as sterile as a hospital in here. Do you have OCD?"

"I don't think it's that. I just have lived in squalor before, and now that I can make everything clean, why not? Plus, my Haha taught me that cleanliness is the luxury of the poor."

"Your what? Is that Japanese?"

"Yes. Haha is the word used when referring to your own mother."

Lucifer came down the hall, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and an old Van Halen band T-shirt. Lia turned and looked at him. Her pupils dilated, and not because she was going all spidey.

I cocked my head to the side and looked closely at him. I guess he was a decent-looking man. I would say I was much more attractive than him. Not that it mattered. This wasn't a competition, but it felt that way at times.

"We should get you home." Lucifer grabbed a trash bag and put his suit inside. I don't know why he didn't just shove it in the trash. I would've thrown that shit away.

"She can stay here tonight. I planned on taking her home in the morning. How are you going to get her home, fly her?"

"That was the plan, and then you can stay and take care of Ric." As if on cue, Alaric walked into the room with a towel around his waist, water still beaded on his chest. If the man could walk around naked, he probably would.

I would too, if I had abs and shoulder muscles like he did.

"With Lia flashing her eyes on us, maybe we should all stick together. What if the spiders decide to come early this month? I'm still feeling weak. My wolf could really use some pack time."

"I don't think they'll come out with me around. If they do, I'll incinerate them." Lucifer tied the garbage bag and set it outside on the balcony. "And what do you mean by pack time?"

"You know... cuddling," Ric said, coughing into his hand.

Lia burst into laughter. "The mental image of Lucifer cuddling with you is too much."

Lucifer crossed his arms and his frown deepened. "I don't do cuddling."

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