Premonition of Peace (Her Immortal Monsters #3)

Chapter 6

six

NATHALIE

I slept like shit, but as they say, there’s no rest for the wicked.

Despite my world imploding, the earth kept on spinning. I had no choice but to roll with it. At least one thing was going well. I adjusted my grip on my phone, tucking it between my ear and my shoulder as I made a cup of tea. My contractor, Mick, had called to report on the progress of my new house that was being built. With everything else going on, updates had been on the backburner for a while.

“We’re putting the finishing touches on now. Everything should be done by Friday,” Mick said.

“Thanks,” I replied. “I’ll schedule the designer to come in over the weekend and start furnishing the place.”

“Sounds like a plan, boss.”

He was about to hang up when I stopped him. “Before you go, there’s something we need to discuss.”

“Hit me.”

“I’m implementing a new protocol going forward.”

“A new protocol?” he echoed, sounding confused.

“Yes,” I said, lowering my voice. “From now on, all communications over phone or in person need to start with a code word. Yours is ‘dandelion’.”

“Dandelion?” He chuckled lightly, but didn’t argue.

“Yes. It’s essential that before getting into any details with me, I need to provide you with this code word without you prompting . That bit is important. You can’t ask me for it.”

“Is, uh, everything okay?” Mick asked hesitantly.

“Someone has been impersonating me,” I admitted, but rushed to add, “I don’t think they mean harm, but I can’t tip them off that I know. If it happens, just notify me via text and you can relay fake information if necessary.”

There was a pause on the other end, and then Mick said, “Understood, Ms. Le Fay. I’ll make sure everyone on the team is aware that any calls must come through me.”

“Thanks, Mick. Have a good one.” I hung up the phone and picked up my tea, taking a sip. Turning around, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Lucifer was standing shirtless, watching me again as he leaned casually against the fridge, a bemused expression on his face.

“Code words?”

“What is with you and creeping around shirtless?” I placed a calming hand to my heart and gave him a miffed look.

“It’s not my fault your hearing is subpar compared to other supernaturals, little witch.” He shrugged, reminding me of one of my many ‘failings’ by nature of being a witch. Our lack of superhuman qualities was a bit of a sore spot for me, particularly in the immortality department, but I wasn’t getting into that right now. “Now, what is this with the code words?”

I rolled my eyes. “Katherine is still impersonating me, and I need to find her.”

“Again?” he replied, arching an eyebrow. “What do you need to find her for?”

I gnawed on my bottom lip, toying with how much to tell him. “You won’t tell anyone else?” I asked.

The look he gave me had a flush spreading across my cheeks in seconds. Lucifer leaned forward, his abs flexing as he slowly stalked toward me.

“What do you think?”

I pressed my lips together. “That I need an answer.”

His arms came down on either side of me, caging my body between them. The heat radiating from him was smoldering. “I care little to nothing for most creatures, the singular exception being you. Your secrets are safe with me and have always been safe with me.”

I swallowed hard. “And you won’t try to interfere?”

A smirk lifted one corner of his mouth. “Me? Interfere?”

“Yes, you. The pushy demon who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. I need you to promise me you won’t get involved.”

“It involves you. I can’t promise that.”

“Lucifer.”

“Little witch.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose to calm my slightly erratic breathing.

“Tell me why you need to find her,” he whispered, lips ghosting my neck. I arched involuntarily and Lucifer chuckled.

“No. Not if you won’t promise to stay out of it.”

“You’re in it. I am your familiar. By extension it affects me, whether I choose for it to or not. You’re not asking something I’m capable of doing.”

I opened my mouth to argue with him, except . . . he had a point.

Crap.

“Fine, but I still want you to promise you won’t tell anyone anything. Okay?”

“Done.” The gold tether between us flared with his promise, his magic enforcing that he keep his word.

I sighed, wondering how much to divulge. “I need to know if my hunch about Not-Sasha is correct. Katherine is the only one who can answer my questions.”

“That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

I hid a smile by ducking my head and swatted at his chest. “You got your way, now let me by. I have work to get to.”

“You haven’t eaten today.” I pulled my eyes back to him, startled that not only was he right, but he was calling me on it.

“I’ll grab food on my way.”

“Get lunch with me. Work after.”

I hesitated, taken aback by the sudden invitation. Or demand, depending on your perspective. With Lucifer they were often one and the same. “Lunch? You want to get lunch together?” I squinted at him.

“I didn’t stutter, and your hearing isn’t that bad.”

I opened and closed my mouth, having nothing to say in response. It wasn’t that I was opposed to eating with him. It was a normal thing. But maybe that was the problem. Lucifer wasn’t normal. He didn’t do normal things, like dates.

“He also doesn’t love, and yet your name is branded over his heart,” Ann said.

“Seriously?”

She shrugged. “Just pointing out the facts. He may not be the most logical creature, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. If he really is intent on spending his second life with you, then it stands to reason he would want to date.’’

She was right, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.

“You’re doing it again,” he said quietly, pulling me from my thoughts. “Retreating into your memory loci.” I flushed again, this time for a different reason.

Lucifer gave me a devilish smile and said, “Come. There’s no need to overthink this. We’ll go to the place on the corner you like, and I can finally try their chocolate cake.”

“That . . . sounds really nice, actually.”

Lucifer lifted an eyebrow. “What did you expect?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe for you to make some crude joke about eating me for lunch. That seems more like you.”

He snorted. “I am driven by desire, both mine and yours. I told you, I want more than your body, little witch. I want your thoughts. Your opinions. Your attention. I want to be as integral in your world as you are in mine. While taking you to bed might be a nice place to start, it isn’t enough.”

Without even trying, he stole the breath from my lungs.

I couldn’t help myself from asking, “Will it ever be? Enough, that is?”

He studied my face, considering his answer. “Probably not. The way that I feel about you . . .” He shook his head, but I wasn’t letting him stop there. After a lifetime of being mistreated, I was hungry for his proclamations. Starving for his truths.

It was wrong on every level to want this man, and yet I did. And I was getting tired of fighting it, no matter what he’d done.

“Tell me,” I said.

His eyes flashed, glowing gold as they bore into me. “I want to possess every inch of your skin. To own your thoughts. To consume your dreams. I want everything from you, Nathalie. And I’ll never stop wanting it. Demons are selfish creatures by nature, and I am nothing if not a model example of my species. I know you need the incubus and Baggage in your life?—”

“Must you call him that?”

He placed a finger to my lips. “I know you need them, but I’m not giving up my spot. I’m not going anywhere, and if the day comes that they fuck up bad enough—I can’t say I’ll be sad. I’m selfish enough to want all of you, but I will put your needs first.”

“If you had all of me, theoretically, don’t you worry you’d get bored?”

Amusement flittered across his features. He palmed my neck with one hand and cupped my cheek with the other. “You are the most fascinating creature I’ve ever met. I can say with certainty, I will never be bored of you.”

I wanted to doubt his every word, even when he spoke with conviction. I guess that was the part of relationships that scared me. It was my baggage. Marcel made me so certain before he broke my heart. A small part of me would always doubt because of it.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t take the chance. I could choose to be brave and open my heart again.

Bad Nat snorted. “You act like you haven’t already. You’re gone for him. Stop lying to yourself.”

“Go to lunch,” Peace encouraged. “Spend time with him. He’s good for us.”

“I don’t know about that ,” Ann said. “But he does seem to put us first and leash himself in some respects because of it. Our moral compass is fairly set. I’d say the odds of him dragging us down are low, but perhaps we can raise him up.”

Bad Nat rolled her eyes. “I’d say we should go to the dark side, but I’d be wasting my breath.”

“Yes, you would,” The Warden responded. “I’m with Ann on this. We treat him like he’s worthy of this relationship, and he will become that. His past is long, and mostly fucked up, but he’s made a point to do better for us. That’s worth a great deal.”

“I can feel the pull when you do that,” Lucifer said quietly. “I’m resisting it, but whenever you disappear, it’s like my body wants to follow.”

That yanked me firmly from my mind to stare at him. “Thank you for resisting.”

He gave me a tight smile. “Let’s just say I hope the day comes that you invite me in.”

“I . . . don’t know about that.”

“I’m aware. I can be patient.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I redirected our conversation. “Let’s get lunch, shall we?”

Lucifer kissed me lightly and let me go. I stepped away, gripping the counter to center myself. There was going to be a lot of that in my future, I imagined.

We walked down the street in comfortable silence. Me wearing my low-heeled boots and black jeans with one of my favorite off-the-shoulder sheer blouses. Lucifer in one of his infamous suits. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t envious of the way he could pop into the spirit realm and pop out dressed to the nines. There aren’t many powers I truly felt jealousy over, but that one was one.

When he got to the restaurant, heads turned. They weren’t looking at me. They were staring at Lucifer.

It only occurred to me then that I should have glamoured him. Not because I was embarrassed, but because the sheer amount of attention we were drawing made me uncomfortable. Lucifer had been around a long time, and he ruled New Chicago for many years. Most supernaturals knew what he looked like, and many had dealt with him in some capacity over the years. Dressed in his classic white suit with gold cufflinks, he looked like every part the devil he used to be.

“We’ll have to glamour you in the future,” I murmured as we were being led away to our table.

“Why?” He glanced sideways at me.

“Everyone’s staring.”

“And?”

We took our seats, but the menus remained untouched as we continued our conversation.

“I’m not used to the attention. I prefer to operate discreetly.”

Lucifer snorted. “There’s nothing discreet about you. From the clothes you wear, to the car you drive, to the literal mansion you have just built. You’re private, but you’re no wallflower.” I wasn’t sure if I should be complimented or insulted by his statement. “Besides, it’s not you they’re staring at. It’s me.”

“Because that’s so much better?” I arched an eyebrow.

“People are ants. They’re going to scurry across the pavement to avoid a boot. You can’t blame them for taking notice.”

I sighed. Our waitress approached, halting our discussion. We quickly put in our order and handed her our menus, but the young woman idled for a second longer. One tanned arm wrapped around the menus, one hand loosely resting over her heart. Blonde hair framed her face and deep brown eyes stared back with no small amount of fear. Or was that reverence? It seemed to be a bit of both.

“Can we help you?” I asked, voice polite despite the internal discomfort I was feeling.

“Is it true?” She asked quietly. “Are you him ?”

“In the flesh.”

“I’m so sorry, sir. It’s just that we thought?—”

“He’s not the king of New Chicago anymore, Toni. You don’t have to grovel to him.”

Her mouth popped open and closed, floundering like a fish. Lucifer smiled, playing the part of a gentleman. “Nathalie is correct. I’m just a man, like anyone else. Well, a demon of desire, but you understand.”

“Right. Of course . . .” Toni trailed off, backing away.

“Everything else may be gone, but at least my reputation still outlived me,” Lucifer quipped, training his mesmerizing gaze on me.

“Hard to forget the cruel king of New Chicago,” I retorted, truthfully.

“This again?” he countered. “You want to pin me to my old self. Does pretending you don’t care about me because of my past make you feel less guilty for the feelings growing between us, little witch?”

Lucifer had a way of targeting my deepest thoughts. He knew how to strip me open and lay me bare with his words as much as his hands.

“I can have feelings and still recognize the truth. You aren’t that anymore, but you were,” I said, my cheeks flushing, a mix of embarrassment and warmth flooding through me.

“Were, I’ll give you. Might I also remind you of the atrocities committed in my absence before your demon queen came to power. I was who I needed to be at the time, but the past aside, are you not the one that believes in second chances?”

“Yes, but?—”

“You gave everyone else a second chance,” he pointed out, gesturing his hands in the air. “Baggage. August. Ronan, who has done as much if not more than I have, I might add. Even your best friend started your relationship as the killer of witch-kind, and your captor. Yet you give them all second chances.”

“I did,” I admitted quietly.

“Why not me? What have I done that is worse than them? What makes me so unforgivable?” He sounded almost vulnerable and the twinge to his voice melted my heart just a bit.

“I . . . you . . .” I took a breath and tried again. “It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it.”

I glared at him. “Gee. I wish it was that simple.”

Lucifer shrugged. “It is, you just have to choose to say it. So tell me, Nathalie, what is really holding you back from this? Is it how the world will perceive you? Because I know better than anyone that you don’t give a shit what other people think. If anything, you welcome it so you can use it against them.”

“I—” A groan slid from between my lips.

“Order up,” Toni said, appearing with two plates in hand. I smiled and nodded even though I wanted to tug at my hair in frustration, but there were too many eyes still watching us.

“It’s not that,” I said when she left.

“Then what?”

“I’m not as sure you have changed as much as you profess.” I finally said. “You tricked me to get back. Whatever your reasons, you used what was an intimate moment between us for your own gain and that doesn’t feel like change to me. It’s not putting me first, no matter what you claim. It’s manipulation.”

There was a long silence before he spoke again. “Little witch, I told you already that I knew that you would have had issues being directly and knowingly involved. And regardless, I’ve made plenty of mistakes and done terrible things and never in my nine thousand years have I regretted them. But, for you, I came back to life willing to change. Willing to do what I haven’t done in nine thousand years. Be better . For you, Nathalie. The plan to get back, Samhain, all of it was my effort to get back to you. To be seen in your world and to be seen by you. To be so physical you couldn’t send me away, salt me, or ignore me—or us.”

My lips parted in awe as my heart raced and my blood soared. Peace came out of the greenhouse during his speech and clasped her hands to her heart.

“I knew it,” she said dreamily, stars in her eyes.

Caretaker nodded in agreement. “He’s a charmer, that’s for sure.”

Bad Nat simply cocked her head in my direction, as if calling out checkmate. I gnawed at my lower lip, looking askance, trying to grab onto my swirling thoughts.

“Luci, I?—”

“Lucifer. Nathalie,” an all too familiar voice called. We both snapped up to see Not-Sasha heading toward us, a grin on her lips. She was wearing a flowy black dress that Sasha would never have chosen for herself. Lucifer and I shared a look.

“What the fuck now?” Bad Nat groaned. “We were finally going to get somewhere here.”

“Why is she here?” The Warden asked. Peace cringed and headed back for her safe place, Caretaker close behind.

“There’s no way she could have known we would be here unless she’s following us somehow,” Ann noted, pushing her glasses back into place. “That’s going to be a problem. We need to figure out how.”

I pulled a smile to my lips. “Sasha, what are you doing here? Where’s Sienna?”

“I left Sienna to shower,” she replied nonchalantly, pulling a seat up in between Lucifer and I. “Decided I needed a walk, when I saw you two in here. I’ve been meaning to talk to you, but you’re a hard woman to catch.”

I made a noncommittal noise. “I’ve been busy with work and whatnot.”

“Can’t be too busy,” she said, her gaze flicking to Lucifer. “You’re having lunch with him, but it’s fine. What I wanted to say can wait.” She leaned into Lucifer, practically purring. Her cat tail swished like she had prey in her sights. “How are you, Luci?”

“Hey, Sasha,” he said, pointedly leaning back. “You know I don’t like it when people call me that.”

Sasha pouted, shooting a look my way. “I know, but you let her use it. Why can’t I? We were such good friends in life, after all. More than friends, really.”

Lucifer lifted an eyebrow. “I helped you through your transition into immortality, Sasha. That was all. There’s no need to make it out like something it wasn’t.”

She pursed her lips. “Hm. If you say so.”

“I do,” he repeated, a harder edge in his tone threatening violence. A shiver ran down my spine, but not out of fear.

It was desire .

“Well,” she said, giving a fake smile and twining a lock of midnight hair around her index finger. “That’s unfortunate. I wasn’t aware the veil changed so much for you.”

I choked on my sip of water, not liking where this conversation was going.

“Yes,” he said, keeping his expression neutral. “It has a way of doing that, don’t you think?”

“Well, Sasha,” I cut in, before this conversation could get any more out of hand, “while we’re happy to see you, you caught us at a bad time. We were actually just heading out.”

She cocked an eyebrow and shot a look at our untouched food. “Really? Seems like you just started.”

“Business, what can you do?” I shrugged. I lifted a hand to flag down Toni. She approached our table with wary eyes and a polite, stiff smile.

“Can we get boxes and the check?”

“Of course, let me get those.”

While our waitress flitted back to the counter, Not-Sasha continued her abrasive intrusion. “You seem to have a lot of business going on, huh?” She gave me a cool cursory look. “But fine, you can do that. Lucifer and I should catch up. Don’t you think so?”

She trailed a finger up his arm seductively and even though he moved it, part of me wanted to hit something watching her touch him that way. I took a deep breath, reminding myself that this is most definitely not Sasha, and there is absolutely no reason to be jealous. Moreover, fighting an unknown entity in my friend’s body was a big no-no.

“No,” he answered bluntly. “What would we need to catch up on?”

My phone buzzed and I looked down, seeing August’s name flash over the screen. My heart jumped, but I clicked the device off and looked back up. Toni appeared with those boxes, and I quickly paid the check.

“You’re shaking,” Not-Sasha noted.

I brushed a stray lock of hair back from my face and forced a smile. “Low blood sugar. You know how it is for us witches. Stuck with all the problems of humans when it comes to our bodies.

“Yes . . . I do know that very well.”

That made me pause.

“Thank you, Toni. Take care, will you?” I murmured quietly as I boxed up my food and handed her the empty dish. Lucifer did the same, following suit.

“Sorry, Sasha, I’m actually her business partner now, so where she goes, I go.”

I blinked up at Lucifer, tempted to lift a brow and ask him “is that so?” But that would have been too obvious. I settled for a noncommittal hum.

“Shall we?” Lucifer said, offering his hand to help me stand. I took it, ignoring the frost in Not-Sasha’s glare.

“I’ll walk you out.” Sasha popped up, falling in line behind Lucifer. Oh my gods, take a hint. It would be sad under different circumstances, especially considering the real Sasha was still pining for a mate she couldn’t have. As it was, the identity of our mysterious Not-Sasha was quickly becoming obvious.

If I was right, and at this point I was fairly certain I was, then that made Not-Sasha incredibly dangerous, and also a certifiable psychopath.

One I didn’t want to be left alone with.

As we made our way out of the café, Sasha said, “I have some?—”

Her words were cut off by yelling across the street.

“I’m sick of this shit,” one of two figures bellowed. “You supernaturals are always taking more than your fair fucking share. I won’t be put down any more by the likes of you people.”

Before anyone could respond, he pulled a gun. The other figure took off running.

Straight toward us.

Lucifer pushed me behind him. A second later, several rounds fired. Lucifer jerked. It all happened so fast I could barely comprehend what was happening as gold exploded out from me.