“Never,” I tried to joke, but when he grabbed me, brought his naked chest against mine and kissed me so deep, his tongue practically touched my tonsils, the spot on my forehead sizzled and my stomach clenched.
His pores oozed magic. His kisses teemed with it. The touch of his hands sent electrical charges rippling over my skin. He wasn’t purposely raising his magic, but it was so much a part of him, there was no way I could escape it.
With trembling fingers, I pressed my hands against his chest and pushed. He didn’t budge, except to stop kissing me. “Amy.” His tone was edged with frustration, just like the hundreds of times before when I backed out of having sex.
“I’m sorry. We can’t do this.”
“Of course we can. I promise, no magic.”
It was a promise I knew he couldn’t keep. And the Mark was an unforgiving son-of-a-bitch. “I won’t jeopardize your life.”
His dark brows pinched together and he stared at me through his long, gorgeous lashes. “I’m a fallen angel. Nothing can kill me.”
We’d had this argument on a several occasions. Biting my lip, I stared into those dark, gorgeous eyes and wavered.
I wanted so much to believe him, I let him kiss me again.
He didn’t need further encouragement. His parts and my parts started a hurried hookup and I ignored the searing pain in my frontal lobe. Big mistake.
Wham. An electrical charge the size of Kansas blew us apart. A lightning bolt of white energy blistered the air, and I threw an arm over my eyes. I landed on my butt across the room, my forehead feeling like I’d been hit with a sledge hammer.
The moment the light winked out, I smelled singed hair and charred wood. A quick scan of my body told me my parts were all in place and I was fine. Except for the migraine pounding in my head.
Thick smoke hung in the air. Ignoring the pain, I scrambled around, waving my hands through the smoke and trying to clear my vision. “Luc?”
My new hardwood floor had a black gouge in it, the edges scorched and giving off steam. The black gouge looked like the outline of a man. On further inspection, not a man. The gouge was a hole in the shape of an angel.
Oh, shit. My heart, which had been beating hard and fast before, locked up in my chest.
Nothing could hurt him, right?
Right, my mind said. Except God.
I thunked the Mark with my palm—which only made the migraine pound harder—and fell to my knees next to the charred hole.
Nothing like starting the New Year off with a bang…
And killing the Devil to boot.
Chapter Two – Holy Smoke
“Luc?” I called into the hole.
An unholy silence met my ears.
I stood on shaky legs and waved a hand through the smoke, coughing as it stole into my non-breathing lungs. The Mark of Cain no longer burned, but I scrubbed at it anyway. “Lucifer! Answer me.”
The only answer came from my cat, Cain, who mewed as he sauntered into the living room and over to the hole. The smoke was thickest there, churning and spinning like I’d stuck a blender in it. He sniffed and mewed again, giving me a look that demanded I bring back his favorite person in the whole world.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I scooped up my clothes and pulled them on, then drew Cain away from the smoking pit. I continued calling Luc’s name even though dread sat like an elephant in my chest. Surely, I hadn’t really killed him.
I reached for my stash of Dove chocolates. Ripped the wrappers off two and ate them like candy. Okay, they were candy. And maybe it was more like six pieces.
A minute later, when Cephiel picked up his phone at Immaculate Conception, I blurted, “I killed the Devil. I killed him!”
The chocolate had hit my nervous system, and instead of calming me, it had added to my hysteria.
There was a pause. “While that would make my job of guarding you incredibly easy,” —his voice was unconcerned— “that’s simply not possible.”
“This is your fault. You had God put this stupid sigil on me and now Lucifer’s dead.”
“The Mark zapped him? What were you doing? Wait. Scratch that. I prefer not to know. Did I not warn you about your iniquities?”
I paced the kitchen. “I’m a bad witch. What do you expect?”
“You’re not bad. Just…confused.”
“Yeah? How will you like it when this confused witch hexes your holy ass back to Heaven? I did it to Gabriel. I can do it to you.”
He sighed, long-suffering. “Would you like me to come over?”
Yes. No. “You’re damn right I want you to come over. Come over and get this thing off my forehead and bring my boyfriend back.”
I punched the end button, fingers shaking. Luc was more than my boyfriend. So much more. The word boyfriend, in fact, couldn’t begin to encompass everything he was to me. For good or bad, better or worse, we were inextricably tied together.