She giggled and pleated his sleeve between her fingers.
It should bother him that she was wrinkling the linen. “I prefer cell phones.”
She peaked at him. “You do?”
“Very efficient,” he said. “One of your better human ideas.”
“I hate technology.” She sniffed. “It puts barriers between people.”
“You don’t hate technology.” He stilled her fiddly fingers by twining them with his. “You hate the way technology has been used.”
Her small hand felt fragile in his, and an inexplicably protective urge swept through him. “Like many of your human inventions, the reasons you created them and their intended purpose were excellent. You could not, however, resist the lure of greed, and they became tarnished.”
“Huh.” She stared down at their joined fingers. “Are you holding my hand?”
He squeezed her fingers. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Bianca woke with no Lucifer in sight. Morning light peeked through a gap in the heavy drapes. She had no memory past her sitting on his lap and him holding her hand. Getting used to Lucifer being kind to her was a bad idea, and Lucifer had been kind to her last night. Even the bullying her to eat and busting in on her in the bath could be construed as him taking care of her—in his own, special kind of way.
She sat up in bed and peered through the open door to the lounge. “Lucifer?”
“You should call your coven.” His voice drifted back to her.
What a charmer!
“Good morning.” She put a load of extra chirpy into her greeting. “I hope you slept well.”
“I don’t sleep.” He appeared in the doorway with her phone in his hand.
“Ever?” She was going to overlook how he must have dug through her bag to find her phone.
“Rarely.” He sprawled on the bed beside her and handed her the phone. “We need to find out if they can strengthen the crystal tracking spell.”
The intimacy of his proximity brought back last night, and her cheeks heated. “I remember.”
“You’re blushing.” He stared at her.
What was good for the goose… “Don’t be ridiculous.”
He chuckled and jerked his head at her phone.
“You’re a nag.” She dialed Lynn’s number.
“I’m focused.”
Lynn’s phone went to voicemail. She tried Patty. Same result. That left Christen or Carmen, and she sure as hell wasn’t calling the former.
“Bee?” Carmen sounded subdued. “Where are you?”
“I’m with Lucifer.” And that wasn’t a sentence life prepared you to say. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, Bee.” Carmen sniffled. “It’s Christen.”
If Christen was involved this could be all kinds of bad news. “What’s happened?”
Lucifer edged closer to her.
“He’s gone, Bee.” Carmen wailed.
Lucifer raised a questioning brow.
“What do you mean gone?” If that piece of crap had hurt her little sister, she’d gut him.
“I mean he’s left.” Carmen blew her nose. “I went around to his place yesterday morning and he was gone.”
“Gone?” Dread tightened her belly. Were they looking for another witch now? And she didn’t see Lucifer as being amenable to hunting for Christen. “Did you call Patty and Lynn?”
Despite Christen’s many faults, she wouldn’t wish what she’d seen yesterday on anybody.
Lucifer came to sit beside her and pressed his ear closer to the phone.
She suppressed the desire to lean into him and draw strength.
“Of course I did.” Carmen sniffed and inhaled. “And I wish I hadn’t because Patty said such mean things, I don’t think I’ll ever speak to her again.”
It didn’t sound like Christen had been taken. “When you say gone, Carmen, do you mean he left or…something else?”
