“I’ll just be a minute, Luce. I’ll get you some nice raw liver.” She went to the closet for her purse. When she walked to the door, her cat sat in front of it and let out some sad, pathetic sounding meows, staring up at her pitifully with his bright blue eyes. Michelle sidestepped around Lucifer, but he made a leap, almost straight up. She had no choice but to catch him.
Who’s manipulating who, Michelle thought, and laughed. “Okay, you can come. But you have to stay in my purse and duck down if a store manager comes around.”
Michelle would never know how much language Lucifer understood. He was bred to be small, intelligent and ferocious from a long line Omar had raised for just those qualities. She suspected Luce had learned many words, like dogs and chimps do, but he also seemed able to gage her moods and respond accordingly.
Michelle opened her purse and Luce climbed inside, turned around a few times to get comfy, and lay down with his head poking outside so he could see. She kept the purse open and went down the hallway to the elevator.
At the ding she stepped inside, then tried to turn and run when she looked up and saw who was there. She moved so quickly she almost tripped.
Omar took her arm courteously, but he pulled her back inside as well, changing her intended course to get away from him. The door closed. She was trapped.
“Nice to see you, Michelle,” Omar said, his voice deep, his dark eyes shining brilliantly.
They were descending and she watched in silence as Omar hit each of the buttons for the floors below with his long spider-like finger. Evidently he wanted a long, slow ride. They were on the 15th floor.
“I thought you were still in jail, awaiting trial,” Michelle said, trying to subdue the panic she felt.
“Good lawyers...greasy palms.”
“Why don’t you go home...to France?”
“Then I wouldn’t get to see you anymore. And strangely, they seemed to have confiscated my passport when I was released on bail.”
“I’m sure you could arrange something,” Michelle said. It was startling to be there with him. Her heart beat so fast she thought she might pass out. He was scary and astonishingly handsome as always, showing off his charm...deadly menacing as a snake, and smiling dazzlingly at her.
“I’m not going anywhere without you, Michelle,” he said caressingly.
There was a veiled threat she felt underneath his words.
She didn’t dare look him in the eyes. She knew they were black as his pupils, and mesmerizing. Omar had the ability to lock eyes with a person. Many couldn’t break that bond and were instantly and involuntarily forced to his will through attraction to his fiery charisma.
Most didn’t even know it had happened and happily became virtual slaves. The so-called witches in his covens all adored him, unconcerned that their lives were suddenly and completely devoid of free will; unconscious concubines blindly following Omar.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Michelle said.
“We were destined to be together forever.”
“By whom?” Michelle asked, getting angry. She was glad. Anger made her strong. He had ruined her life once, when he’d had her raped and she lost the ability to have children. His right hand man, Samson Stoker, had done it. At the time she was so scared she moved to Hawaii to start her life over again, with a horrible conviction that the rapist would come back...and this time he would complete the job and kill her.
“It’s predestined. You will have my child. We’ll start a new generation.”
“Rosemary’s Baby?”
His laugh was booming. “No. Not Satan’s Spawn. A gifted child to meld our unique abilities.”
There was angry hissing. Michelle looked down and saw Lucifer was standing up, almost out of her purse, balanced with one paw on the side of it. The other paw was extended toward Omar. Luce’s little toes were spread, the claws extended. His hiss became louder. His ears were flat, eyes squinted into slits, his mouth open with gums pulled back, showing sharp canine teeth. The hair on his back was raised. He looked deadly and furious.
“Ah, I see Lucifer’s become your ‘familiar’.” Omar said. “How quickly they forget.”
“Luce knows when I’ve been threatened,” Michelle said, delighted by the cat’s menacing posture. “Maybe if you treated him differently he wouldn’t be acting this way.”
“Oh, and what’s your secret?”
“I just love him,” Michelle said.
“That’s your trick?”
“It’s not a trick. It’s the truth.”
She watched the floor buttons, as the elevator went down each floor, opening the doors, shutting them, resuming the long trip to the underground garage where her car was parked. Luce continued to hiss.
“If I was threatening you, would I have given you a diamond worth millions?” Omar asked.
“I threw it in the fire, on the island of Kauai.”
“It will come back to you, if you didn’t take it with you when you left the island. The spirit inside chose you.”
“Oh, please, stop the nonsense. You can have it back, Omar. I did take it and made a necklace. But I’ll bring it back, later tonight.” She looked at the lighted numbers blinking down. Only two more floors and she could get away from him.
“Didn’t you notice, there on the island, when the light spirits were dancing around the fire, I pointed to you? The spirit floated right into my hand.”
Michelle sighed deeply. “You were chanting and waving your arms around. I didn’t notice anything of the sort.”
“I was beckoning the spirits for you. The diamond is only for you. No one else, or there could be consequences.”
Omar looked at her carefully and his smile turned sinister. “Oh, I see. You gave it to someone.”
Finally, the door opened to the garage. Michelle firmly held on to Luce and hurried out of the elevator to her car. She glanced behind her and saw the doors close. Omar didn’t come out and she sighed with relief. She lifted Luce out of her purse and got her cell phone. When she clicked it there
