Page 30 of Shadows of the Soul

His gaze flickered to Dayna. “Your family don’t know?”

My jaw popped with tension, and I shook my head. He steepled his hands together and arched a brow. “I see.” He snapped his fingers. Magic burst around us and coated my skin. A silencing bubble formed around myself and Lucifer, excluding the others.

“How, exactly, do I owe you?” I asked.

“You have been a naughty niece.”

I rolled my eyes and caught Dayna’s wide-eyed stare—if only they understood the half of it. “Your point?”

“My point is, you’ve been stealing souls that by all rights belong to me.”

I pressed my lips together. “I didn’t realize until recently.”

“Ignorance isn’t innocence.”

“Agreed, but I didn’t deliberately set out to deprive you.”

“No, but now you owe me.”

“It’s not like I can pop in and retrieve the souls.”

“Fickle creatures, angels. Self-righteous beings with an inflated sense of self-worth. It wouldn’t harm them to have a shake up.” I resisted pointing out that he too was an angel. A fallen one, but still at heart an angel. Not that he had a heart.

“Indeed, but that shake up would cost me my life.”

Lucifer tilted his head to the side as if considering whether my life was worth the rebellion.

“I’m not going in,” I reiterated, in case his evil brain had missed the memo.

He waved his hand. “Fine, but you still owe me.”

Ugh, being in debt to the devil wasn’t a fun position to be in. “What do you want?”

“If you won’t go in, then give me access.”

I leaned back in my chair, the hairs on my arms standing on end. What he was asking for would defy the natural order. It would upend the world as we know it. “Why?”

He spread his hands out in front of him. “I want visiting rights to my father, my brethren. I want to go home, Cora. Surely you can understand that?”

I arched a brow. I was no fool. Lucifer had the opportunity to go home anytime he wanted. God would not bar him from heaven so long as he lived by the divine principles. The first would be to do no harm to humans. If he was truly repentant, he would be welcomed back into His grace. Lucifer wanted to use the back door because no one would ever let his arrogant, unrepentant, self-absorbed ass in the front. But why? For what purpose?

“Your father is looking for you,” he said. My gaze snapped to him as genuine fear ran its icy fingers down my spine.

“You’re lying.”

“Your warding is effective, that’s how you’ve eluded him for so long, but don’t think he won’t use your weakness for family against you.”

“Like you.”

He bobbed his head, then leaned in closer. “I can protect you.”

My chest tightened. There were too many loose ends flying around in the wind. All my father needed to do was pull on one to make me unravel. I unpacked my carefully crafted contingency plans in my mind, searching for the most workable one. I needed to leave Maggie and Rebecca running the guest house. Sebastian could help. Hudson—damn, Hudson wouldn’t let me go easily. I’d have to break up with him before we’d even begun. Dave would question Aunt Liz, who wouldn’t give up my secrets, not even the ones she knew. Then they would break up. Hudson would be unhappy. He would look for me.Kill him,the insidious voice whispered in my mind. Death was a constant entity that stalked my thoughts and guided my actions, but right now, it wasn’t the answer. I squashed it.

“Before you pack up your life and run, know there are thousands of people looking for you. The second you use a credit card, register your pretty face on a CCTV camera, use a passport or driving license, he will know.”

Shit, shit, shit. I needed to go to ground. But I couldn’t protect myself the same way at any other location. I’d pooled all my time and effort into making Summer Grove House impenetrable.

“The best thing you can do is take my offer of help in exchange for the access you already owe me,” Lucifer pushed. “It’s a good deal, Cora. You’re family, so I have a soft spot for you.”

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