“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.”
“Eat.” He indicated the basket. “You’re no good to me if you’re fainting from hunger.”
“I’ve had enough.” Of the food and this conversation.
He sighed. “Eat or I’ll make you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.” He looked determined.
Bianca forced herself to take a forkful of the cheesecake.
“The green crystal is strengthening,” he said. “That must mean we’re getting closer.”
“That’s Leona.” She managed another bite of the cheesecake.
He nodded. “Then we know she’s still using her magic.”
The words for now hung heavy and unspoken in the car.
Lucifer glanced at her, and perhaps it was a trick of the light, but he looked almost sympathetic.
Lucifer lounged in the armchair of their hotel room and flipped through the channels. In the attached bedroom, Bianca slept.
They’d driven late into the night before it became obvious that Bianca needed more than a car nap. They’d found a hotel and stopped for what remained of the night.
His wing roots itched as more power leaked through the broken amulet. Bianca’s genuine concern for her missing coven members was disintegrating his anticipated pleasure in her shock once he revealed his returned power.
He couldn’t tell her that he was almost certain her missing witches were dead. Bianca wasn’t stupid, and she was clinging to vanishing hope. The witch belonging to the blue crystal didn’t have much time left, and that’s probably all that was protecting Leona’s life. He couldn’t face the idea of telling Emma her mother was dead.
When he’d started searching for Ashe, he’d been bent on revenge for Ashe’s betrayal, but now it had become so much deeper. Rage burned inside him. The news on the television had all been bad. Worse than usual that is. Humans had created a rat trap for themselves. They did things to each other and blamed it on sin. Hell couldn’t produce the kind of atrocities humans perpetrated on each other.
Bored with the television, he wandered through to the bedroom.
Bianca slept on her side with her knees tucked up to her chest. In sleep, her face looked delicate and ethereal. Such an indomitable spirit in such a fragile vessel. Humans lived such a short lifespan, yet they packed into those meagre years so much experience and life.
His existence lacked the color and flavor of humanity. He took time for granted because there was always more of it.
