Child of Mercy Page 5

  My mind scrambled for anything I could possibly use to defend myself, and in a desperate attempt at self preservation, I threw everything I had at him.

  Ben froze in place, the syringe pressing against my inner arm.

  With a mewling cry of relief, I squirmed to inch away from the needle, tears gathering at the corners of my eyes as I stared at the fat drop of liquid that gathered at the tip. So close! Only, how the hell was I supposed to get free?

  With a bit more struggling on the bed, I brought my leg up enough to give Ben a shove with my foot, sending him toppling off balance onto the floor. Hopefully he hadn’t fallen on the syringe, but at that point, it was either him or me. No amount of wriggling brought my mouth close enough to my hands to pull the tape from my face to call for help. I pulled until my wrists grew chafed and sore, but the cuffs didn’t budge.

  I heard a groan from the floor and in a panic, I froze Ben again, half expecting it not to work, but he fell silent.

  Now what?

  How long could I keep it up? Freezing Ben every few minutes… would my energy run out before the drugs wore off enough to break free? Or was I kidding myself in the first place? Was I even strong enough to break myself free at my full strength?

  “Fancy a bit of help?” The mild question brought my head up, wondering if I was hearing things. In the doorway stood a well dressed man in an exquisitely tailored suit, diamonds winking from his cuffs and the pin in his scarlet tie. His blonde hair was slicked back from a perfect brow, and the smooth curve of his lips framed gleaming white teeth. Almost too pretty to be real, he looked like James Bond and some kind of gangster wrapped all in one. His bright blue eyes and golden nimbus marked him as an angel, though I had no idea which one.

  Nodding vehemently, I made an mmph sound.

  “I could help, you know, but I’m not certain you’d accept it if you knew where it came from,” he considered aloud, not moving a muscle in my direction.

  Who the hell was this guy?

  “Oh sorry, I should introduce myself.” He sketched a half bow, as if reading my mind. “Lucifer, Prince of the Fallen, at your service.”

  Chapter Five

  Even without the duct tape across my mouth I would have been speechless at the introduction. Lucifer? The actual devil himself? Was he for real? What the hell was he doing there in the bedroom? Was he in cahoots with Ben? Those and a zillion other questions sped through my mind, but all I could manage was another mmph.

  “That won’t do at all, will it?” He pushed away from the door, crossing to the bed. “Let’s remove this offending impediment, shall we?” With a charming smile, he reached down and slowly peeled the sticky tape from my mouth. It hurt like a sonofabitch, but I was glad he hadn’t ripped it off fast or my lips might have come with it. “Now then… how may I be of assistance?”

  Mashing my lips together against the sting, I took a couple of deep breaths before I answered. “You’re really Lucifer? As in Satan, Beelzebub, the devil and all that stuff?”

  “A rose by any other name…” he chuckled. “I trust you, of all people, know not to judge a book by its cover.”

  What the hell was that supposed to mean? If I judged him by his appearance, he seemed like a suave, good looking guy about to leap to my rescue. Did he mean he had some ulterior motive? A guy like him most definitely would. Or was he talking about bad press?

  “Nice to meet you.” My manners asserted themselves as I floundered under the implications of such a meeting. “I… um, don’t suppose you’d consider letting me out of these, would you?”

  “I’d be very happy to, Mercy.” His smile flashed wider, and with the barest wave of his hand the cuffs popped open. I snatched my arms down, rubbing my aching wrists tenderly.

  “Thanks.” I scooted off the bed, feeling better with it standing between us. “How did you know my name?”

  “I like to keep tabs on the movers and shakers up here from time to time. You, my dear, are definitely a shaker,” he chuckled.

  “How did you know I was here in the first place? Or is that why you came?” My eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Are you playing good cop/bad cop with Azazael or something?”

  “Actually, Azazael and I are on opposite sides for this one. So, for the time being, that places me firmly in your corner.”

  “For the time being…” I didn’t like the sound of that. Everybody who’d ever seen a horror movie from the seventies knew the devil wanted nothing more than to escape his imprisonment in Hell and take over the world.

  “Oh, I make no promises for the future,” he smiled again. “But for now, I came to make sure Azazael didn’t get what he wanted, namely a foothold on this plane.”

  “Why would you care what Azazael does?”

  “In general I don’t, but his current scheme to be reborn through you happens to interfere with some of my more… long term plans. So here I am.” He spread his hands wide.

  “Well, um… thank you,” I replied, still not very sure I could take him at his word. “I can just mosey on out of here then and you won’t stop me?” I took a step towards the door, never taking my eyes off of him.

  “Of course. Or I could give you a ride if you prefer.” Ben groaned, shifting positions on the ground and Lucifer delivered a swift kick to his head, silencing him as he slumped over again. “I have to say, I rather like playing the hero, it’s refreshing.”

  “Hey, don’t… don’t do that to him, he can’t help it if he’s gone kazoo.” Torn between leaving and making sure he didn’t do worse to Ben, I hovered by the door.

  “An interesting perspective, given his treatment of you.” He raised a single brow. “What would you have me do to him?”

  “Nothing, don’t do anything at all to him.” My hands came up in a supplicating gesture. “Like I said, it’s not his fault Azazael did that to him.” Speaking of which… I meant to take a look around and see if I could find the pink plastic jewelry box we’d trapped Azazael in while I had the chance.

  “Surely you don’t intend to let him go in this condition? What’s to stop him from coming after you again? From what I saw, he seems to have developed quite an obsession with your considerable charms. That sort of thing isn’t easily discouraged.”

  “I know.” I chewed on my bottom lip thoughtfully. “I don’t suppose you can help me decontaminate him, can you?” I threw it out there, kidding mostly, but Lucifer’s smile turned beatific.

  “Absolutely I can.” His lips puckered, and Lucifer gave a strange little whistle, repeating the tones three times. A small winged creature appeared in a puff of black smoke. It had a pixie-like body with an oversized head, its dark wings leathery like a bat’s. Settling on Lucifer’s outstretched hand, the tiny demon rubbed its head against his thumb like a cat seeking a scratch under the chin.

  “What is that?”

  “A souleater, of course. Affectionate little thing, isn’t she?” He brought it up to his face and the tiny demon nuzzled against his cheek.

  “Yeah, she’s adorable,” I murmured, not liking the thought of being near anything that had the word “eater” as part of its name. “Now that you called her here, what are you going to do with her?”

  “I would have thought that would be self evident.” He gave me a reproachful look. “The evil in your friend’s soul will keep this beauty fed for a week.”

  “Um… won’t that be a bad thing? Him walking around without a soul?” Maybe Lucifer didn’t care, but I was pretty sure Ben would.

  “Don’t worry, she’ll only eat the tasty bits. His soul might be a good deal slimmer when we’re done with him, but he’ll be alive right enough. Undoubtedly better than the holy fire I’m sure my brethren pitched as his only salvation, yes?”

  He had a point there. “Alright, if you’re sure that’ll do the trick… and it won’t mean you’re getting any part of his soul, right?”

  “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t actually spend my waking hours in pursuit of human souls,” he sniffed. “I can
assure you, our gates are overflowing without any need to recruit.” Great, I’d managed to offend him.

  “Sorry.” I offered a contrite smile. “Sunday school didn’t exactly prepare me for anything like this. Please, whatever you can do to help him would be awesome.”

  Mollified, Lucifer bent to whisper something to the souleater, the words blurred and indistinct to my ears. The creature gave a chirp like a bird, and flew to land on Ben’s shoulder.

  “How does she…” The words froze in my throat as the demon pried Ben’s lips apart, wriggling her way into his mouth. As I watched in growing horror, it completely disappeared inside, and I saw movement under the skin of his neck as it moved with slow purpose through his body.

  Ben’s eyes popped open, confusion clouding his features and then he screamed - the most god-awful sound I’d ever heard a human being make before.

  “You have to stop it, she’s killing him!” I started towards him, not knowing how the hell I could help, but needing to try. Lucifer had other ideas though, easily catching hold of me before I’d gone two steps.

  “I wouldn’t get between her and a meal just now.” He held me by the shoulders, his grip incredibly strong. “Steady now, it’ll soon be over.”

  “But…” Tears gathered as I watched Ben writhe in unfathomable pain, helpless to do anything but curse myself for agreeing to any plan Lucifer suggested. What had I been thinking?

  All of a sudden Ben went still.

  Too still.

  I pulled at Lucifer’s grasp, but he held tight. The air above Ben’s chest shimmered and waved, like when you look out over the hot pavement in the blistering Texas sun, and as we watched, the souleater pushed herself out of Ben’s body. Moving slow and sluggish, she made another chirping sound and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

  “There now, you see? Good as new.” Lucifer smiled broadly, releasing his hold on me.

  Lurching out of his grasp, I took a deeper look, past Ben’s unconscious body to really see him. His aura lost the dark ring around the center, returning to his natural deep indigo. “I can’t believe it, it worked…” My jaw dropped in amazement. Could Ben really be back to normal? Was it that simple? If so, why hadn’t Adam, Sam, or even Nathanael suggested it as a way to avoid the horrible evil that was supposedly unleashed on the Earth from Ben’s tainted soul?

  Kneeling by Ben’s side, I satisfied myself by feeling his pulse beat slow and steady at his wrist. He hadn’t regained consciousness yet, but for the first time in a while I felt that knot of worry start to unfurl inside of me.

  “Don’t know why more people don’t come to me for help.” Lucifer brushed a speck of lint from his sleeve nonchalantly. “I’ve got the skills.”

  “Maybe they don’t want to owe you anything. I don’t, um… owe you anything now, do I?” My eyes stretched wider as I regained my feet. “Because I didn’t call for your help or anything.”

  “Oh no, consider this one a freebie.”

  “You really don’t want anything from me?” Somehow I couldn’t accept that at face value, but his charming smile returned at the question.

  “Of course I do, but I’m willing to wait.”

  There it was. “Wait for what?”

  “For your blessed event, of course.” His eyes dipped to my abdomen and my heart almost stopped.

  “I really need to be going now.” I edged towards the door, and Lucifer made no move to stop me.

  “As you wish. I’d be more than happy to give you a ride anywhere in the city you’d like to go.”

  “No thanks, I’ve got my own ride.” I extended my wings with a flourish, taking up more than my share of the room. Maybe I was showing off a little, but it couldn’t hurt to remind a guy like Lucifer I wasn’t the usual pushover he was used to dealing with. He looked suitably impressed and took a step backwards, spreading his hands.

  “Then I’ll bid you a good night. Take care, Mercy, you’ve got the light of the world growing inside you. That’s no mean feat.”

  “Yeah, right,” I nodded, not quite sure how to reply to that. “Thanks for your help.”

  “Anytime,” he smiled wide. “I’ll be keeping my eye on you.”

  “Super.” ‘Cause that wouldn’t give me nightmares or anything…

  Chapter Six

  The cool night air perked me up as soon as I stepped outside, and I felt much more in control of my Grace as I shook off the last effects of the drug. I decided to leave Ben to wake up on his own before I forgot it wasn’t his fault for putting me through all that. Besides, the more distance I put between me and Lucifer, the better. A little uncomfortable with the idea that he kept tabs on me for some endgame I wasn’t privy to that involved my unborn child, I wanted the comfort of my friends and family around me.

  I wasn’t sure what time it was, but it felt late as I took to the sky. Though I hadn’t practiced keeping myself invisible while flying, I didn’t find it hard to split my attention that way, and it seemed to work. No one pointed to me flying by at any rate. I admit, I enjoyed the freedom of slicing through the night sky under my own power (no wonder Sam preferred flying to cars), and I got back to the restaurant with surprising speed.

  Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed by the time I got there. When I looked at the time, I could see why. Desperate to share my tale about Ben and Lucifer with Sam, I stopped by his place next, but found it equally empty. I considered hanging out at Sam’s place, waiting for him to come home, but decided I had a good idea of where he’d gone.

  I didn’t hesitate one bit at knocking on Daphne’s door when I saw the light on in her window. It was a fair chance I wouldn’t be interrupting more than the two of them making baby cow eyes at each other while pretending to watch a Disney flick. Daphne answered quick as anything, not looking flushed or hair out of place or anything, so that meant I was right about their relationship not having made it to the next level.

  “Hey, I wondered when you’d show up,” she greeted me, swinging the door open wide.

  “You did?” I followed her inside the tiny apartment, decorated with Daphne’s eclectic taste in garage sale finds.

  “I didn’t think you were going to bail out like that or I would have come with you at the time. It got really weird at the table with just your Dad, Matty and Oriana. I got your purse for you when you didn’t come back to the table.” She went to the kitchenette to retrieve it for me and I took a seat next to Sam on the couch.

  “I wasn’t planning on the disappearing act, but someone else had other ideas in mind.” I’d been about to mention Ben, but was distracted by the frantic way Sam waved his arms at me, his head shaking from side to side as he rose from the couch and moved to stand by the window. “What?”

  “What, what?” Daphne asked, plopping my purse on the cluttered table.

  “What’s with Sam?”

  “He took off early.” A drawn out sigh left Daphne as she sat beside me on the couch. “I think I said something to upset him, something about the kind of wedding I wanted some day.”

  “Sam left?” I replied, looking directly at where he stood, his features flushed with guilt.

  “Yes.”

  “Uh huh,” I nodded slowly, narrowing my eyes at Sam who brought his hands together in a pleading gesture, his lips mouthing please over and over again. “How long ago was that?”

  “Maybe about an hour? I’m not sure, but we hadn’t even gotten through the opening credits of the movie.”

  I gave Sam a brief nod, keeping his secret for the time being. Looking at the DVD box on top of the player, my lips quirked into a wry grin. “Sparkly vampires, Daph? No wonder he left.”

  “No, it wasn’t that, he said he wanted to watch it. That’s not it at all. We made a deal not to talk about the future and I broke it. I shouldn’t have said anything so stupid, but we were talking about the wedding and I couldn’t help myself. Do you think I freaked him out?”

  That would have done it alright, but I didn’t want to make her feel any worse tha
n she already did. “Maybe a little,” I allowed, “but it’s a normal thing to talk about, a normal thing to want.”

  “Not for us,” Daphne replied, her face glum. “We can’t ever be together like that. I used to think you and Adam found a loophole to share that happiness, but now it’s not in the cards for you either. It’s not fair.” Her head slumped over and I wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

  “No, it’s not. It sucks on a huge scale, trust me, I’m right there with you. I’m sorry you have to go through this, but at least you can spend time with him. That’s gotta be better than nothing, right?” I sent a pointed look in Sam’s direction, in case he got any bright ideas about taking off like Adam had.

  “Yes, I guess you’re right about that. Most of the time it’s okay. I can live with that and nothing more. But sometimes… sometimes, Mercy, I want it all.” Daphne fixed me with those bright blue eyes, all watery with unshed tears. “Does that make me a sinner?”

  “No, Daph.” I pulled her into a real hug. “It makes you a woman in love, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You have a big heart and you’re a good person, don’t let anyone tell you differently.” I decided not to get into my troubles with Ben for the moment, she had enough on her plate to worry about. Instead, I did my best to distract her, even watching the vampire movie about teen angst, cracking jokes the whole time which eventually got her to smiling again.

  Sam watched us the whole time. Or rather, I should say, he watched Daphne during the entire movie, his mouth unconsciously drawing into an accompanying smile whenever Daphne smiled and a pucker of worry appearing on his brow whenever she fretted over the doomed pair. When I was reasonably sure her mood had improved, I made my excuses, surreptitiously motioning for Sam to follow me out.

  I waited until we got all the way out to my car before I let him have it. “Pulling a phony exit just so you could sneak back in and watch Daphne like a creeper? That’s gotta be a new level of low for you, Sam,” I scolded, losing some of my steam when I saw his shoulders crumple in shame. “What is going on with you?”