Page 6 of Wicked Believer
I pull on her hair a little, breaking the kiss only enough to allow her to speak. “Do you care if this dress survives the evening, little dove?”
“Yes, sir,” she breathes.
I trace my knuckles over the curve of her cheek. “Pity. A shame, really.” A devilish smirk twists my lips. “Because when I give you the word, I want you to run.”
Her eyes widen in a mixture of excitement and fear that’s now familiar to me.
“And for the sake of your dress, you best not let me catch you.”
I release her, her eyes already darting about the room as she plans her escape.
“Now,” I hiss.
Chapter Three
Charlotte
I tear from the house, not pausing to consider the unusually cold autumn temperature or even my painfully bare feet. If I hesitate, Lucifer will catch me, and while I want every delicious, painful thing I know will follow, I like this game we’re playing.
Cat and mouse. Him hunting me.
Though Lucifer is far more dangerous than any animal could ever be.
Behind me, the screen door slams in its frame from where I’ve just barreled through it, the cold hitting me in the face like a sudden shock. It feels like I’ve plunged myself beneath the surface of a freezing lake and I’m drowning, but I recover quickly.
The numbness in my toes and the chill searing my lungs is nothing compared to the pain I’ve endured over the past few months.
My father’s betrayal. Mark’s abuse.
Dying.
And the worst by far ...
Lucifer. Remaking me from the ashes.
I blink, and for a moment I’m back there. That dark, cold place where it felt as if my soul had been ripped from my body. Only for him to fill the empty void in me with a fire so hot I didn’t know where it began and I ended.
Until the painbecameme.
I shove the memory aside, leaving it for the nightmares that now haunt me whenever I close my eyes. Instead, I try to hold on to the thrill of pursuit and run for the trees. I feel Lucifer standing in the open doorway behind me now, his cruel laugh trailing me as I smile to myself. We’ve been here before. Or I have, at least.
Running alone through the woods. Lucifer’s shadows chasing me.
Like I was destined to be his before he even knew me.
That possibility slams into me, the stark truth in it causing my steps to temporarily falter.
If I thought I could sense Lucifer’s presence before I became what I am—whatever that is—it’s nothing compared to how aware of him I am now. Ifeelhim. Always. Even when we’re apart. Like I’m an instrument, and he doesn’t even need to touch me in order to play me.
Though he will. Touch me, that is.
As soon as he catches me.
The moment he sees where I’m headed, I hear his dark laugh like a taunting caress against my ear. He’s giving me a solid start. Moving at a normal, leisurely pace.
Though we both know if he wanted, I could be his instantly.
“You think you can hide among the shadows?” His voice wraps around me like a disembodied hiss. The darkness reaches out, and a tendril of it brushes my cheek, causing me to shiver. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
