Premonition of Peace (Her Immortal Monsters #3)

Chapter 7

seven

NATHALIE

Magic saturated my pores. It poured off me in waves. Gold particles overtook everything in sight, but amidst it all—Lucifer hit the ground with a sickening thud.

My heart dropped into my stomach. I felt bile rise to my throat, but I had to get a grip. Now wasn’t the time to break.

“Lucifer,” I shrieked, falling to my knees at his side. Red bloomed across his shirt where three small holes glared back at me. His eyes were closed, his chest moving rapidly.

“Is it a magic bullet?” Peace cried, already pulling memory files about magical weapons. “Oh gods, he can’t die again. He just came back to life. What if he dies for real this time?”

My chest hurt from how hard my heart pounded. I couldn’t breathe past the lump in my throat. My lungs refused to expand. Black dots started to dance in my vision alongside the gold. So much gold.

“Luci?” I asked again, desperation bleeding into my voice. “Please answer me.” Urgently, my fingers brushed against his face.

“I’m here, little witch,” he coughed. Blood stained his lips. Cold filled my veins, spreading through every part of me.

A warm hand pressed against my chest. “You need to breathe,” he rasped.

But how could I?

I was losing him, and I was powerless to stop it. If I were a healer I could close his wounds, but I was no white witch. I wasn’t even sure I was gray; all I knew was that my magic was busted. Broken.

I could steal the magic of others, but I couldn’t generate that kind of power on my own.

And he was going to die because of it.

His golden eyes held mine, steady despite the blood oozing from his wounds. He watched me with an intensity that should have scared me.

Instead, I was scared I’d never feel it again because somewhere along the way, my ghostly stalker had gotten beneath my skin. He’d become a staple in my life. A fixed presence that I wasn’t willing to let go of.

“Lucifer . . .” I whispered. “I lo?—”

“No!” Sasha yelled, falling to her knees on his other side. Warm brown hands cupped his cheeks. “You don’t get to die, devil. Not now.”

Her green eyes flared. A colorless magic skated down her skin, but before it could touch him, Lucifer brushed her hand away.

“I’m fine,” he said stiffly.

The holes in his chest began to shift. Silver peaked out of each one and a half-second later, the bullets popped out, tinkling to the ground.

“Let me?—”

“I said, I’m fine,” he repeated, a hard edge to his tone. Lucifer sat up, brushing off his suit. “What was it you were saying, little witch?” A twinkle entered his eye.

“You’re impossible,” I muttered, shaking my head as my chest finally expanded.

He’s okay. He’s okay. He’s okay?—

“We get the fucking point, Prime,” Bad Nat said, rolling her eyes. “He’s the devil, and a demon. He was never in any danger.”

Peace stopped searching, collapsing in on herself and crying. Caretaker wrapped her arms around my sensitive side, holding her tight as she fell apart in relief.

I’d barely noticed that the gold stopped pouring.

It settled on my skin like a fine sheen before sinking beneath the surface.

Lucifer watched intently, missing nothing as he stood up. He offered me his hand, and Bad Nat snorted. “See? He’s helping us. Not the other way around. Chill with the theatrics.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked, eyes scanning every inch of his for further damage. It was hard to tell beneath the bloodied clothes.

“I promise,” he assured me, motioning with his hand for me to take it. “But I will need a change of clothes before we go anywhere.”

I gave him my hand and he pulled me to my feet, settling me against his hard body as he scanned the area. I followed suit looking around to see if the assailant or person running were still there, but they’d both up and disappeared while I had been having a panic attack over Lucifer.

“Needlessly,” Bad Nat added.

“We get it,” The Warden yelled down the hall. “Keep the comments to yourself.”

“I should hunt that imbecile down to give him my cleaning bill, though.” Lucifer touched one of the holes in his suit.

“I just don’t understand,” Not-Sasha murmured quietly from where she still kneeled on the pavement. “You loved me in your last life.”

“Much has changed. Me. You. Our relationships. I thought you wanted to solidify things with your mate? You told Nathalie as much when you warned her away.”

“After my ordeal in the veil,” Sasha began in a clipped tone, “I decided that I don’t want him anymore. He’s not worthy of me and clearly, you make each other happy. She looked in my direction. “You should explore that. Just that.”

“Wow, okay.” I cocked my head at her, trying to see through her mask. “Thanks for the memo, I guess.”

“Hmm,” Lucifer hummed. “Quite some timing there. The veil must have really done a number on you.”

I elbowed him sharply, casting him a warning look. He was straying too close to the truth, and Not-Sasha didn’t need to know we suspected anything.

My phone buzzed. It was August calling again. That’s the second time in a row, which was odd for him. I sent it to voicemail, but looked at Lucifer, giving him a look that clearly said, “Behave.” He quirked an eyebrow at my phone but turned his attention back to Not-Sasha, crossing his arms over his chest.

I stepped away but wasn’t willing to go far after recent events. Color me concerned, but seeing Lucifer bleeding out did something to me. It made me realize I was unwilling to lose him. I slid up on my screen to check my messages when it lit up showing a text from August.

August: So we’re ignoring each other now?

Nat: No one’s ignoring, just busy.

August: Well, if you are too busy to take my calls, will you at least put me on your schedule and meet me for dinner tonight?

Nat: Last time we did that, we ended up fucking like wild animals.

August: Okay so maybe not dinner. Or somewhere with a back room…How about that little diner off South Canal? It’s busy there. Breakfast tomorrow?

Nat: Sure, 9.

Leaving it at that, I exited out of his messages and clicked into the group chat that included everyone except Not-Sasha. I shot off a text, letting them know Not-Sasha was here and on the move. Sienna was the first to respond cursing herself for showering. A few short texts later Anders has been elected to “find” Not-Sasha and keep her busy after Lucifer and I left the café. I put my phone away and walked back over.

Sasha said something and lifted a hand to his sculpted bicep, fingers brushing over him with familiarity. He stepped back and her face crumpled into a glare before smoothing over.

“Don’t touch me,” he said firmly.

Sasha brushed it off like it was nothing, though I could see the flicker of anger still in her eyes. “You’re such a spoilsport, Lucifer,” she said with a forced laugh. “I was just trying to help.”

Lucifer shot her a look. “Help by not touching me.”

“Things have changed,” Sasha said, seeming to finally understand. Her eyes lifted for a second, and in their depths I could have sworn I saw a flash of something other .

Something dangerous.

“You no longer care for me, do you?” An odd note permeated her tone, something I couldn’t quite put a finger on.

Lucifer sighed, as if not picking up on the change. “Must we do this? I don’t know how to make my disinterest any clearer. Furthermore, I’m in a relationship. One that won’t be ending ever. ”

A dark chuckle slid from between her lips. The hairs on the back of my neck lifted.

“All right, Lucifer. We’ll do this your way.”

The threat seemed to finally register with him, as he lifted an eyebrow.

The gold of his eyes swirled with a chaotic sort of energy, and I just knew he was seconds away from challenging her. That couldn’t happen.

“We’ll see you around, Sasha.” I grabbed his arm and tugged him toward my apartment building. Slowly, Lucifer followed but not without a backwards glance at the imposter.

Her words hung in the air as we retreated, and I couldn’t hide my confusion or my dread. What would Not-Sasha gain by pushing me toward August? And what did she mean by we’ll do this your way ?

“We need to move faster to get the real Sasha back,” Lucifer said, a hint of irritation in his voice. “This imposter is . . . unsettling.”

“There’s more than just that reason to get her back,” I replied, my thoughts spinning with the implications of Not-Sasha’s behavior. “But, agreed.” We entered the Se?ora’s shop, jingling the bell on the door. An orange tabby cat lifted its head from the book it was resting on to peer down at me, then closed its eyes and went back to sleep.

“Do you actually have some business you need to attend to, or was that just an excuse?”

“I do have some things to take care of,” I admitted. “I was planning to walk you back to the apartment before heading out again.”

One of my food pantries had been raided and trashed, and I needed to go do damage control so we could get the doors back open. We catered to supes and humans alike, and that had put us at odds with some groups.

“Why can’t I come to take care of this business?”

“Because I don’t think the people at my food bank would take kindly to seeing the devil back to life.”

“So glamour me?”

“Not this time. Maybe later. Trust me, word has already traveled that you’re back.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow in challenge. “You wouldn’t happen to be avoiding me, would you, little witch?”

“I’m not avoiding you. I came to lunch, didn’t I?”

“Which was cut short. We didn’t even finish our food thanks to the imposter, then I got shot. You’re still hungry and I never got my time with you.”

“We can have lunch again, no distractions.”

“Stay,” he hummed. “Just for a little while. You need to eat. Can’t have you losing even an inch of that delectable ass.”

“Lucifer!” I choked, smacking his side.

“What? I’m just being honest.”

I sighed as we stepped into the elevator. “I can’t with you sometimes.”

“Oh, but you can, don’t think I missed what you were about to tell me before Not-Sasha interfered. You’re not fooling anyone.”

“See?” Bad Nat said.

Before I could say anything, he leaned over and kissed me thoroughly. His soft lips pressed against mine with a heat that left me breathless. Despite all, he was right.

I’d fallen for the devil.

And there was no going back for either of us.