His power stirred in response. Well now, that was a welcome development. One he intended to keep to himself. With nothing to do but watch Bianca crystal sing, he explored the power trickle. The crystal in the amulet had cracked, and more of his power was leaking through. Like water against rock, his power was eroding the crystal and widening the gap.
Bianca was frowning as she hummed softly to the crystals.
Patience had never been a habit he practiced or desired. He paced closer. “Is it working?”
“Shhh!” She cracked one eyelid and glared.
Ugh! He went back to the view of daylight breaking over an uninspiring suburban street. A front door opened three doors down. A woman in natty exercise gear checked her watch as she approached the sidewalk. Then set off at a jaunty jog. Now that was more hell than anything he could conjure.
He itched to hurry Bianca along, but suspected that would earn him another hushing, which shouldn’t bother him. She was human, and a witch, and he was the hell prince guarding pride. He should march over there and let her know who was in charge.
A middle-aged man in a suit left his house with a large travel mug in one hand and his eyes glued to his phone.
Maybe he should get one of those cell phones. He liked the idea of having his horde instantly at his beck and call. His imagination conjured up tableaus of demonic Zoom meetings. Would he be able to convey enough menace virtually? Then again, his horde was pretty much at his beck and call anyway. Until recently, that was. Still, he liked human technology and the gadgets they created.
A soft crystalline chime brought his attention back to Bianca.
One of the crystals glowed a muted mint green.
That had to mean something good.
Sweat beaded Bianca’s forehead as she continued to hum. Frown lines creased her brow.
A blue crystal flared, then stuttered, and lit up again. Much paler than the green crystal but still alight.
Bianca opened her eyes. “I’ve got something.”
Chapter Thirteen
Bianca gathered the crystals and tried not to give in to the despondence tightening her gut. Of the nine crystals she’d tried to activate, only two had worked. All nine should have connected with the corresponding witch, and she couldn’t bear to think about what it meant that they hadn’t.
“Let’s go.” Lucifer jiggled the car keys at her.
And Bianca nearly lost her shit. She was fast approaching the twenty-four-hour mark since she’d slept. An action packed twenty-four hours at that. She was exhausted, hungry, and worried about her missing witches and what the inactive crystals meant, and this dickhead was jiggling car keys at her.
Snatching the keys, she said, “I’m going home.”
“What?” Lucifer looked dumbfounded before a scowl rearranged his features. “We need to follow those activated crystals.”
“And we will.” She marched into daylight and stalked to her car. “Once I’ve eaten and had a few hours’ sleep.”
Lucifer growled. “Humans.”
“Yup.” She wasn’t going to argue her point or apologize for being human. “Which means that right now I have physical needs, and I’m going to see to them.” She unlocked her car.
“Give me the keys.” Lucifer came around to the driver’s side. “I’ll drive and you can sleep.”
“I’m hungry,” she snapped.
“And we will feed you.” He plucked the keys from her hand. “But we don’t have time to waste.” Then he played the winning hand. “Every minute we delay is another minute your missing coven members are in danger.”
Too hangry to find the words to fight back, she stomped around the car and flung herself into the passenger seat.
Lucifer started the car and floored the accelerator.
Bianca jerked back in her seat. “Easy there, speed racer.”
“I like to go fast,” he said and gunned it down the quiet street.
“Human, remember.” She pointed to herself. “Which means I get hurt if you crash. You can just grow new feathers or something.”
He snorted. “I never crash.”
“Said every crash causer ever.” Resistance seemed futile, so she put the two active crystals on the dashboard. “Follow those,” she said and closed her eyes.
A delicious smell of fresh bread and roasted chicken woke her. Her stomach also woke with a feral growl. The view outside the car was unfamiliar corn fields and marshes, and she had no idea how far they’d traveled. She was more interested in the wicker basket Lucifer handed her.
“Food,” he said.
Bianca peered in the basket and gasped. A whole roasted chicken, freshly baked rolls, a garden salad, a crock of fresh olives, and that was only what she could see. “This is incredible.”
“Fast food, my way.” He smirked.
She unearthed a blueberry cheesecake. Fast food Lucifer-style definitely got her vote. “Do you want any of this?”
“I don’t need to eat.”
“Ever?” That sounded sad but also a relief because she was hungry enough not to want to share.
“Not often. I can appreciate food and enjoy it, but I don’t need it.” He smiled.
It was one of his real smiles, and Bianca felt like she’d been sucker-punched. His smile held enough genuine warmth to make him more approachable and reminded her how beautiful he was. In all their snarling and snapping at each other, she’d almost forgotten his ridiculous good looks.
Rather than dwell on how disturbing that was, she stuffed torn off bits of chicken into a roll and chomped down. There was even cutlery in the basket, and she tucked into the salad.
She was making a sizable dent in the offerings when Lucifer spoke. “The blue crystal grows dimmer.”
Bianca popped an olive in her mouth. “And the others didn’t activate.” She pointed to the green crystal. “Other than that one.”
Lucifer glanced at her. “You know what that means?”
“Nobody knows for sure what that means.” Her stomach tightened, and she lost her appetite.
He shook his head. “You can’t afford to be naive.”
“I’m not.” She wanted to shove a roll in his smug face. “But I am not going to assume they’re not with us anymore. I will need proof before I believe that.”
