“Are you okay?”
Turning his head toward the sound of her voice, Luc was struck dumb yet again, but for an entirely new reason. Katia was leaning with one shoulder against the doorframe, the steam from the bathroom hung in the air around her like mist. She was wearing the oversized white t-shirt from earlier, but now it hung loose, covering the tops of her thighs, leaving the rest of her shapely legs bare. Her wet hair hung in one long braid draped over her shoulder. With her doe-like mismatched eyes, fine features, and small stature, she looked like an otherworldly princess that had wandered out of her fairy tale and found herself in this awful motel. Luc’s breath caught in his throat.
“Yup, everything’s good,” he said in a strangled voice.
Giving him a dubious look, Katia headed toward the bed, pulled back the covers and sat down leaning against the headboard. Luc turned back to the mirror, watching her reflection as she flipped her braid over her shoulder and leaned her head back with a sigh. Locking eyes with his own reflection, Luc started to mentally panic. There was a small problem — well, not a small problem, and it was getting bigger by the second. If he didn’t get this under control, she would have no doubt that he was attracted to her. And he couldn’t stand there staring at himself in the mirror until she fell asleep. Sports stats? Nope, not working. Watching her kiss Sergei at the café? Nope again. Satan and the torture he’d be in for if they got caught…yup, okay that was definitely working, the problem was becoming less obvious. Moments later, he breathed a sigh of relief and was able to turn and walk toward the bed without embarrassing himself. Taking a seat beside Katia, but leaving a respectful amount of space, Luc turned to face her. “How are you feeling? It’s been a rough couple of days.”
Opening her eyes, Katia turned her head toward him. “You can say that again. Honestly, I don’t know how to feel. Everything is upside down and backwards. Someone I thought I could trust has been hiding important things from me. You kidnap me but end up not being what I expected. I spend my whole life trying to be normal and fit in and find out I’m some mythical apocalypse ignition switch. It’s a lot to take in.”
“Can I just say that you’re handling all of this amazingly well? Most people would be curled up in a corner at this point.”
“Thanks.” Looking down, Katia noticed his chest. Her wide eyes flew back up to meet Luc’s. “What’s that?”
Realizing he’d forgotten to put his shirt back on in the aftermath of Katia’s entrance from her shower, Luc mentally cursed himself. He had avoided telling her anything about himself so far and that little devil on his shoulder was telling him to keep lying. At that thought, his sigil throbbed in pain. Enough, he thought. She would eventually find out who he was. Better she find out from him than from someone else. At least this way he could nip his infatuation in the bud before it got any stronger. Katia would want nothing to do with him once she knew. Full disclosure, he’d just have to do it fast — like ripping off a bandage.
“It’s called a sigil. All angels are marked with one when we’re created. It’s a symbol of our connection to Heofon.”
Frowning, Katia leaned toward him to get a closer look. “But why is it black? It looks like its bleeding into your body.”
Sighing, Luc nodded. “That started bit-by-bit after I fell.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied softly.
“Don’t be. It’s my fault. I did it to myself,” Luc said bitterly.
“What do you mean?” Katia frowned in confusion.
“You don’t know who I really am, the things I’ve done, or the pain I’ve caused. I’m not a good man, Katia.”
Looking up at him, Katia raised an eyebrow in question. “So, who are you?”
“Do you really want to know?” he asked.
“Yes, of course.”
“I am Lucifer, Katia. I started a rebellion and got my friends to back me. We fought against other angels, we broke and killed our brothers and sisters. In the end we were all punished by being banned from our home and bound to serve Satan. It was my fault. My stupid pride caused them all to lose their home, their wings, and their light.” Looking her in the eye, Luc continued unabated, “If that wasn’t bad enough, I’ve spent the last couple of millennia retrieving humans who have sold their souls to Satan and delivering them to him for torture. I’ve lied for him, I’ve hurt people for him, and I’ve stolen for him. That’s who I really am.”
The heated delivery of his admission had her sitting back and away from him. Her surprise at hearing him say he was, in fact, Lucifer, shocked Katia into silence. She must be going crazy if the idea of sitting in a hotel room with Lucifer wasn’t making her run for the nearest exit. But, for some reason, she was having trouble reconciling everything he’d just told her with the man she’d come to know over the past two days. It was clear he had done horrible
