“I can’t.” I look up at Gabe, whose eyes bore a hole through me. I can almost feel him rummaging around in my head, looking for the answers.
“You have to, or there’s no point in my being here.” He shoots a glance at Luc.
All my insides are Jell-O and my head feels full of cotton. I can’t think. But then a thought peeks through the fog. “Mom and Dad. Oh my God! They’re going to die when they see you!” My breath catches when I realize what I just said. “I mean. ”
Matt pulls me to his shoulder again. “No, Frannie. They can’t know. Nobody can.”
“Why?”
“It’s just how it is. It’s strictly forbidden for us to show ourselves to anyone who knew us. Especially family.”
I pull my face out of his shoulder. “I knew you.”
He glances at Gabe. “An exception was made due to extenuating circumstances,” he says in this low, official-sounding voice.
I look up and Gabe is shaking his head.
I smile, but then I’m crying again. “So I killed you, but I’m the only one who gets you back? How is that fair?”
“I have no clue what to say to get you to see it wasn’t your fault.”
“But it was my fault.” I sob into his T-shirt, getting snot all over him. “I was there, remember? The one yanking on your leg and pulling you out of the tree?”
“You know I can’t lie now, right? It wasn’t your fault. You have to believe that.”
I start to feel really dizzy as my throat closes. I let go of him and drop my hands to my knees, trying to suck air into my collapsing lungs.
“Get a nurse!” Luc says, and I hear him struggling with the IV stand.
But then I smell summer snow and feel Gabe’s arms around me. “Frannie, breathe,” he says, his breath cool in my ear.
I shudder and pull tighter into him.
“Slow and easy,” he whispers.
And I find he’s right. If I breathe slowly, I can get some air in. The stars dancing in front of my eyes start to fade.
I straighten up and Gabe lets me go. I stare at Matt, wiping my nose on my sleeve. I can’t believe this. I’ve wanted him back so much, and here he is. I dive into his chest again and wrap my arms around him, determined to never let him go. “Oh my God.”
He smiles. “It’s going to be okay, Frannie. Really.”
His smile is contagious. I sniffle and smile back through my tears. “Why do you look seventeen-or how I thought you’d look at seventeen? How come you don’t still look seven?”
His smile widens. “Camouflage. There’ll be times I need to be visible, and a seven-year-old following you around would look pretty stupid, don’t you think?”
“I guess.”
Luc clears his throat loudly. A goofy grin stretches my face as I pull Matt over to his bed. “So, Matt, this is Luc. Luc, Matt.”
Luc’s brow creases, then his eyes spring wide. “It was you. at the graduation party, with Belias.”
He looks at Luc without smiling. “That was my field test.”
“I assume you passed?”
Matt glares at him. “Of course.” He turns to me. “So, I won’t be around all the time,” his eyes narrow and shift to Luc briefly, “because there’s stuff you guys do that I really don’t want to see. But if you need me, I’ll be there.”
Luc holds out a hand to Matt. “We’re happy for the backup.”
He just looks at Luc’s hand, his expression bordering on repulsion.
All of a sudden, the joy I felt is gone. I look between them, trying to understand what just happened, as Luc drops his hand.
“Don’t try to be a hero, Lucifer,” Gabe says to break the awkward silence. He fixes Luc in a hard gaze. “If you need help, call for it.”
Luc glowers at him. “Yes, mother.”
He smiles. “Speaking of mothers, you have some visitors.”
And just then, there’s a knock at the door. Matt vanishes as it swings open, and it’s a good thing, because Mom and Dad are standing there, McDonald’s bag in hand.
“A godsend,” Luc mutters, then grimaces. “Hospital food is an acquired taste.”
I managed to weasel out of the church retreat that my family is at ’cause I’m still recovering from the “dog attack.”
Instead, I browse through my closet, deciding what I’m gonna need in LA, and glance at Luc, who is standing near my dresser. He’s been out of the hospital for a week and most of the bandages are off. A bloodred scar twists down his face from just below the outside corner of his right eye to the middle of his cheek. Dark and dangerous is now scarred and sexy. Mmm. yummy.
“Are you taking this?” he asks with a raised eyebrow, the strap of my black lace bra looped over his finger.
“Probably. I need something to get those UCLA guys all hot and bothered.”
His face darkens as he tucks it back into my drawer.
“Course, if you come with me, I won’t have time for any of those lightweights.” I try to seem casual as I saunter over and wrap myself around him, but I’m all kinds of tense.
His expression clears as he ties my hair back in a knot. “Where else would I be?”
I blow out a nervous sigh. “So, you’ll come to LA?”
“I’d like to see you try and stop me,” he says with his wicked grin.
I look around at my papered walls, and it hits me for the first time how much I’m gonna miss home. But what I also realize in this instant is that anyplace with Luc is home. “What are you gonna do when we get there?”
“Maybe take a class or two. get a job.” He shrugs. “Whatever.”
“With seven thousand years of job experience, you should be able to find something.”
He cracks a smile. “I don’t think there are too many openings in damning souls to Hell.”
I smile back. “It’s LA. You might be surprised.”
He laughs but then gets all serious and pulls me tighter. “I’m really not sure this is a great idea. It’s not over, you know. If King Lucifer let him live, Beherit will send someone else-or come back himself now that it’s personal.” He rubs his chin with his thumb. “You actually may have killed him, Frannie. From his reaction it looked like gold was his weakness. That dagger to his brimstone heart. hard to say.”
I’m not sure how I feel about that. I pull away and look up at Luc, trying to shake off the sudden wave of guilt. “So if that’s true, according to you, I’m tagged for Hell now for sure.”
His eyes flash, and he goes instantly pale. “What are you talking about?”
“If I killed him, I’m just like Tom. You said no extenuating circumstances. Straight to Hell for me. Do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars.”
Uncertainty clouds his eyes. “It was self-defense. And killing a demon is different,” he says, like he’s trying it out to see if it sounds right.
“Now you’re making exceptions? You’re such a hypocrite.”
His face hardens into a determined scowl. As if he can make it so through sheer force of will, he says, “You’re
When I don’t say anything, he turns toward the window, his face dark and brooding. He stares out at nothing and says, “This is my fault. I never should have come here.”
“They would have sent someone else-someone like Belias.”
He shakes his head slowly and turns back to look me in the eye. “He never would have found you.”
But Luc did. We’ve been connected from the beginning. I press into him and he folds me into his arms.
“I just want to keep you safe,” he whispers into my hair. “Gabriel and Matt can do that better than I
