She nodded again.
“And I’m going to do everything I can to find your mother.”
“Promise?” Emma whispered.
“I vow it.” And this small, pure soul didn’t need a blood oath to bind him. “And a vow is like a promise, only stronger.”
“Then you have to do what you said,” Emma said. Magic surged through the kitchen—strong, potent, wild.
Lucifer glanced at Bianca for verification, and she nodded. In all the witches he’d encountered over the ages, he’d never felt such raw power as he had in Emma. Her magic had reached out and bound him to his vow.
His gut clenched. If Ashe was looking for witches, then a witch this strong would be next on the procurement list. And that made his decision for him. “Tell me, Emma, would you and your brother like to meet an archangel?”
Chapter Nine
Patty sidled closer to Bianca and whispered in her ear, “What’s he doing?”
Bianca would like to know that herself. He had no business making promises to Emma that he would help, and then waving archangels in front of a traumatized child. “Lucifer.” She pinned him with her best I-mean-business stare and jerked her head toward the corridor. When you were a kid raising your baby sister, you learned a thing or two, and that stare was working for her now. “I need to speak to you outside.”
Leaning closer to Emma, Lucifer winked and said, “Bianca wants to talk to me outside. Do you think I’m in trouble?”
“Looks that way to me,” Emma said with a sage head nod. “Whatever it is, just say you’re sorry.”
“Say sorry.” Lucifer gave her a thumbs up. “Got it.”
Bianca was not amused. Hell prince or not, she wanted to hand the arrogant son of a bitch his balls. On a platter.
Grabbing him by the front of his sweatshirt, she tugged him onto the tiny porch and shut the front door behind them. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Do you mind?” Lucifer gave her hand knotted in his sweatshirt a pained glance. “Please do not make this heinous garment worse by wrinkling it.”
“It’s a sweatshirt.” She barely managed not to bite him. “They don’t wrinkle.”
“Appalling.” Lucifer shuddered and picked her fingers off his front. “I am at a loss as to why anyone would even make a garment like this, let alone wear it.”
“Hey!” She went toe to toe with him. Damn, he smelled delicious, like cedar and leather. At least a head taller than her, he had a broad chest that made her itch to sink her nails into it. Focus, Bianca...not on him. “Firstly, check your fucking privilege. Not everyone can afford bespoke shirts. And what do you think you’re doing with Emma? You asked me to trust you, and you’re blowing it.”
He raised a brow. “Do you expect me to lie to the child?”
“I didn’t expect you to come out and hit her with the hard truth. Have you any idea how difficult tonight has been for her?” She’d been searching for ways to break the truth gently when the prince of darkness here had charged right in and broadsided Emma with the truth.
“The truth is harsh.” He shook his head at her. “I hate to burst your bubble—” He stopped and raised his hand. “No, wait. That’s not strictly true. In different circumstances, I intend to take great delight in bursting your bubble.”
“Get to the point.” God, he was fucking infuriating.
“Children are not stupid. Adults, however, insist on treating them like they are.” He shifted forward, bringing them close enough that she doubted she could slide a piece of paper between them. “An awful thing happened in this house tonight, and she deserves to know the truth, because believe me, the truth is better than what’s happening in her fertile imagination.”
Bianca tried to hold her ground, but that was a lot of pissed off, powerful being sucking up her air, so she stepped back.
“And as for the archangels. I saw what Ashe did to Eddie.” His jaw muscle flexed. “And it does not augur well for your witches. And especially not for that little witch in there. We need to keep her safe, and Sophia will do that.”
The truth pierced like a lance to her chest. Bianca wanted to scream and yell at him that he was lying, but she had the nastiest feeling that she was on the receiving end of a Lucifer sledgehammer truth bomb. “You’re frightening her.”
“No, I treated her like she has the right to the truth.” He closed the small distance she’d created between them. “I will find her mother, but I can’t guarantee the outcome.” His voice dropped to an angry rasp. “And don’t berate me when you deliberately concealed how powerful that child is. She’s in danger, and your evasions have increased that danger.”
“I didn’t conceal it. Not on purpose.” Bianca hadn’t been thinking of much on the drive here, beyond getting to Emma and Ethan.
“Emma has a target on her back,” he said. “And I’m taking her to a being who can keep her safe.”
He was right, and it rankled that she hadn’t thought of that. “The coven will hide her.”
“Like they hid her mother? Or the other eight witches who have been taken?” His eyes were deadly serious and pitch black. “No. Understand this, haglette, you are outmatched and outgunned. We are taking those children to Eddie’s theatre where Shade and Sophia can watch over them until we can find a better plan.”
He finally stepped back, and Bianca could take a deep breath again. “Okay.”
For the second time in his endless life, Lucifer was loaded into a Corolla. He was gaining more and more appreciation for the versatile vehicle. This time, he was wedged between Ethan in his car seat and Emma—who had fallen asleep against him. Despite how Bianca felt about him, Emma drew comfort from his proximity, and the poor human mite needed all the comfort he could give her.
He was hoping Raphael was still at the theatre because along with taking his powers, the amulet had muted his connection with his counterpart angel. He was also grateful that he and Bianca had suspended hostilities for the duration of the car ride.
The amulet felt like he’d been covered in a large, scratchy blanket, and he writhed inwardly against it. A tiny pulse of his main power answered his challenge. He narrowed his concentration on the amulet. Tendrils of his power were creeping through a crack in the amulet—and marked the beginning to Bianca’s comeuppance. But first, he had to take care of Emma and Ethan.
Bianca drove into the theatre parking lot and killed the engine. She stared at the theatre door and bit her lip like she was having an attack of nerves. It was so unlike her that he paid closer attention.
“Problem?” he asked as they continued to sit there.
Bianca took a deep breath. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
Of that, he had no doubt.
It took some maneuvering to get two sleepy children and himself out of the back seat. Emma clung to him as he lifted her out, so he hoisted her into his arms.
Bianca carried Ethan.
Emma tucked her warm face into his neck, her breath moist against his skin. “Are you really the devil?”
“In a manner of speaking.” He took a large duffel bag from the flotilla of baggage Bianca was unloading one handed from the trunk. Children did not travel light.
“What manner of speaking?” Emma whispered. “Are you bad?”
“Only when I don’t like you,” he said. “So you’re perfectly safe with me.”
Emma nodded. “That’s good.”
“Emma.” Bianca rubbed Ethan’s back as he nestled against her. “We’re going to introduce you to some people who are going to look after you and help you.”
