He came to a stop a few feet from Roth and Layla, his wings moving soundlessly behind him. A coldness drenched my skin and my bones as those ultrabright eyes drifted over us, and when he spoke, ice encased my soul. His voice...it was like a melody—a hymn. The kind of voice that could convince you to take part in any unimaginable sin.

“Bow,” Lucifer ordered. “Bow before your true Lord and Savior.”

None of us moved.

Or bowed.

We all stared at him, which probably meant we were seconds away from being brutally murdered in really horrific ways.

Lucifer clapped his hands together, causing me to give a little jump. “I’m just kidding.” He chuckled, and the sound was like dark chocolate, smooth and sinful. “So, I’m told I’m needed to save the world.”

“Yeah,” I said hoarsely.

Lucifer smiled, and I’d never seen anything so beautiful and so equally frightening before. Goose bumps broke out over my flesh. “Then let’s raise some Hell.”

26

“Can you put some clothes on first?” Roth asked.

I so seconded that request.

“Does my nakedness make you uncomfortable, Prince?”

“Yes,” Roth replied. “It does.”

“What about you two...?” Lucifer looked at Zayne and I again. His head tilted to the side. “What in the forbidden fruit do we have here?”

I wasn’t exactly sure which one of us he was referring to.

“A child of an angel...” He tipped his head back, inhaling deeply. “Not just any angel, though.” His chin snapped back down, and those eyes were no longer blue. They burned a deep crimson. “Michael,” he sneered. “You reek of Michael. I’ve been looking for you.”

Zayne was in front of me in a heartbeat, the sound of his shirt tearing as his wings unfurled from his back, bright white and streaked with pulsing grace. I thought I heard Layla gasp.

“And a Fallen? A Fallen with his grace? What has come of this world that the first thing I see is a nephilim and a Fallen still in possession of grace?” Lucifer’s laugh sounded like icicles falling, and I kept my mouth shut about the whole nephilim thing. “You think you can take me, Fallen? I’ve stripped larger wings than yours. Want to learn how that feels?” The scent of brimstone burned my nostrils. “I’ll be happy to oblige you.”

“I’d rather not, but if you make one move toward her, I’m more than willing to find out when I tear your wings off,” Zayne warned.

My eyes widened.

Lucifer let out another dark chuckle. “Cocky. I kind of like it.”

“That’s not really a good thing,” Roth commented from the sidelines. “He likes to collect things he likes.”

“And put them in cages,” Lucifer confirmed, and what the Hell was up with the whole putting things in cages obsession? “You didn’t tell me there was a Fallen involved, Prince.”