Page 72 of Infernal

I nodded and watched as she pivoted on her heel and then disappeared around the corner we’d been standing near.

Nervous adrenaline swarmed through my body as I ambled down the corridor by myself, carefully checking each classroom as I passed them by.

I knew he was in here somewhere. It was just a matter of finding him, and I would, no matter how long I had to walk these halls to do it. By the time I made it to the back of the building, the entire school was barren and eerily quiet.

This was it, the end of the line. And then just like that, I knew I wasn’t alone anymore.

“Nice to see you again,” said a familiar voice from over my shoulder. Everything in me clenched up as the sound of his voice registered as Trace’s.

I turned slowly and faced Lucifer.

“Judging by your lack of a bodyguard, I take it the Revenant received my gift this morning?” he asked and then smiled, setting off Trace’s dimples at the same time.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “That was you? You closed the rift?”

“Of course,” he said and bowed his head. “I told you before, Daughter. I’m not all bad. I can do good too.”

“Right,” I scoffed, because I already knew from Engel that Lucifer and his Dark Legion despised Revenants. Simply put, they viewed them as dispensable lesser beings. Not to mention my constant bodyguard happened to be one. “I already know you hate Revenants, so stop pretending you stopped them from daywalking for anyone but yourself.”

He grinned darkly. “You’ve been doing your homework.”

He had no idea. “Why are we here?” I asked, cutting right to the point.

He took a small step towards me. My muscles tensed as I fought back the urge to cower away from him even though we still had a good five feet of distance separating us.

“How else was I supposed to get you to come out and play?” he asked sweetly.

Icy pinpricks covered my skin as my throat twisted into a knot. “Well, here I am. What game are we playing?”

“I like the way you cut right to the chase. No foreplay, no skirting around the topic.”

“Kind of like what you’re trying to do right now?”

Trace’s dimples made another appearance, and my heart sank. I was starting to get the feeling that he brought me here just to torture me.

“What do you want from me, Lucifer?”

“The same as I’ve always wanted.”

“Which is what?”

A dark glimmer passed through Trace’s eyes. “To spent time with you, Daughter. To gain your friendship, your trust, and maybe even your allegiance some day.”

I could hear sirens blaring in the distance, but I kept my eyes fixed on the devil. “I already told you I’m not interested.”

“That you did,” he said and pursed his lips as he took another careful step in my direction. “And I was willing to let that go. To give you time and space to come around on your own. Because youwillcome around. It’s really only a matter of time.” His smile slipped away, revealing something much darker and deadlier in its place. “But then a little birdie told me you were at Temple yesterday, and that made me very unhappy. I don’t like being unhappy, Daughter.”

My heart stuttered in my chest, as though it couldn’t figure out what speed to beat at.

“I suppose I should thank you for that,” he continued thoughtfully.

“For what?”

“For giving me another reason to despise them even more than I already do.”

“The Council?” I asked, not sure I was following any of this.

“The Order,” he corrected, his tone growing rougher and more agitated by the second. “Misguided abominations that should have been eradicated a long time ago. The entire lot of them!”

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