It was all gone. Ashes floated in the air and settled on the beige carpet. Little square scorch marks pocked the walls. Even the blackout curtains and the desk were gone. “What did you do?”
“He had no right.” Lucifer growled. “And he will pay.”
Humans were scum. Rage that would have made his brother proud pounded through Lucifer. Over the centuries, he’d seen humans descend to depths of depravity and evil he could not have imagined.
Humans had invented their notion of hell and the devil and used it to explain away their worst actions. If they could blame an external force, then they never had to be accountable for the fact that hell existed amongst them and within them.
He’d certainly borne silent witness to worse iniquities than he’d seen in this room, but this hit him like a personal affront.
The fucker had been stalking Bianca. Taking photos of her going about her day, and photos of her sleeping, changing, showering. Invading her life from the shadows and violating her.
He cupped her elbow. “Let’s go.”
Bianca was paper-white and shaking. He didn’t want her subjected to any more of this fuckery.
Up until now, Christen had irked and annoyed him. He’d found the prick laughable and pathetic, but now…
Lucifer had to pause and breathe deep before he leveled the house.
Now, he wanted to wipe Christen from existence. Viciously and permanently clean the earth plane of the stain of his existence.
But first, he had to see to Bianca.
“I don’t understand.” She allowed him to lead her from the room. “Why?”
Her fragility tugged at him and made his chest ache. Trying to lend her strength, he pulled her into his arms and held her.
“You’re hugging me again,” she whispered against his chest.
Her weight resting against him grounded Lucifer. “You’re imagining things.”
She wouldn’t allow him to hold her for much longer, so he took what she’d give in greedy gulps. He craved soothing her, erasing the vile intrusion. “We will find him,” he promised.
Raphael appeared on the stairs. He glanced at Bianca, and then looked at him.
Lucifer shook his head. He couldn’t explain now, or he’d lose his tenuous grip on his rage. Bianca needed him to stay calm. “Carmen?”
“Asleep on the sofa downstairs,” Raphael said.
Bianca stirred, and then disentangled herself. She took a deep breath, and her tough-girl mask descended. One day, he would discover how his haglette had learned to get so resilient. Women like Bianca weren’t born with armor plating. Life and other people made them that way. He wanted to know the story behind her protective barriers and hard edges.
The last pieces of Bianca’s mask fell into place. “Is she okay?”
Raphael nodded. “She’s all talked out.” He smiled. “And she gave me a good lead on how to find Christen.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sooo, this was Bianca’s life now. On a long and boring road trip with a hell prince and an archangel. Her Corolla would never be the same again. Neither would she, but that was a thought rabbit-hole for another day.
After an argument about whether Raphael or Lucifer would drive—huge surprise, Lucifer won—she’d relegated herself to the back seat. Neither one had asked if she might like to drive, and she was past caring.
Carmen had let slip in her conversation with Raphael about a lake cabin Christen’s family owned. And that was enough information to get them road tripping. She didn’t even want to think about what would happen if they were wrong about where Christen had gone.
Taking advantage of the backseat, she stretched her legs out. “So, why aren’t we doing that quickie distance thing you do?”
Raphael’s head shot around, and he stared at Lucifer. “Quickie distance thing?”
“She’s human. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Lucifer scoffed.
Was he looking guilty? “Yes, I do.” She shifted to stick her head between their seats. “It’s that thing where he squashes distance and time and you’re almost instantly where you want to go.”
Raphael stared at Lucifer with hard eyes.
Lucifer kept his gaze on the road and cleared his throat.
Oh, this was too good an opportunity to let pass her by. Lucifer was in tro...o..uble, and she dug the hole deeper. “Yup. He did it twice. Once when we went to Toronto, and then when we left Toronto.”
“You compressed?” Raphael’s tone was slow and measured. Kind of like when your mother asked a question before she went nuclear. Not her mother, but other mothers, when reacting to something they couldn’t believe their child had done.
Lucifer mumbled something.
“I beg your pardon?” Raphael leaned his ear closer.
Lucifer was gonna ge…e…et it.
His gaze crashed into hers in the rearview mirror and promised retribution.
Bianca was so over getting that look. At this stage, she was in such deep crap with him, she’d never see daylight again. She held his gaze as she said, “Is that what you call it? Compressing? Does that work on time and distance?”
“Yes.” Lucifer growled.
She grinned at him. “Can all of you do it?”
“We are both owed an explanation,” Raphael said. “But mine comes first.” His eyes gleamed molten gold, and his perfect bone structure was locked into harsh lines. He looked every inch the avenging archangel.
“Time was of the essence,” Lucifer said. “It was necessary.”
“Compressing is strictly forbidden in front of humans.” Raphael started glowing, and his head brushed the roof.
“None of them saw.” Lucifer also got glowy and growy.
Raphael’s voice grated. “You can’t be sure of that.”
Bianca suppressed the chirp that she was human, and she’d seen it. She wasn’t that much of an instigator. Okay, she totally was, but these two were starting to make her concerned for her car’s structural integrity.
