Lucifer…I call as my eyelids start to feel heavy. If you can hear me…I…I need to talk to you.

And then everything goes black.Chapter 14“You could have just called.”

I inhale sharply and sit up, looking around the room. It’s still a mess, full of Lucas’s things. Eliza isn’t standing over me anymore, and I can’t sense Pandora.

But he’s here, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Wouldn’t that be nice,” I huff and push my hair back and look at Lucifer. He’s dressed in a black suit again, but this time I can see the faint outline of the chains around his wrists. “You heard me?”

“I did.” He stands and goes to the window. “Which means Daddy Dearest isn’t answering you—again.”

I inhale, considering my words carefully. “I just have a few questions for you.”

“That no one else will answer.”

He knows Michael hasn’t been in touch, but why is he wanting me to admit it?

“Questions I don’t think anyone else will know the answer to.”

“Go on,” he says, looking at me curiously.

“Lucas has been cursed by necromancers,” I rush out, not wanting to run out of time. I don’t know how long I was asleep before my dreams took me here. “Necromancers use dark magic, and if anyone knows about dark magic, it’s you.”

He brings his hand to his chest and gasps. “I’m so offended.”

“Come on,” I urge, getting off the bed. “You know all about it. So can’t you answer some questions?”

“What are you going to do for me?”

I want to be angry with him, to stare daggers, turn around and give him the silent treatment until Eliza wakes me up. But dammit, I’m hurt. I should have known better than to expect anything from him.

“Never mind,” I say, voice hitching. This was my last resort. It’s dangerous and stupid to be here in the first place. I sink back down on the bed, put my hands on my lap, and close my eyes. Maybe I can call to Binx and have him tell Eliza to give me the potion.

The mattress sinks down next to me, and Lucifer’s hand lands on my shoulder.

“Sorry, kid. I’m not used to…to this.”

“To what?” I ask, voice thin.

“To talking to someone who’s not trying to make a deal. I haven’t had a conversation that wasn’t one-sided in…in centuries.”

I swallow hard and remind myself to keep my emotions in check. “That has to be lonely.”

“It is,” he sighs. “As if getting kicked out of the house isn’t enough. Gotta rub salt in the wound.” He tips his head toward me. “And I can only imagine how you feel, my dear niece. To find out who you are, to have new powers yet no one to guide you…”

“I can control my powers,” I say but feel like I’m lying. I can control them. It’s just going to take some learning on how to hold back…and not to hurt anyone.

“We weren’t meant to live a life in chains,” he goes on. “Yours are metaphorical, of course. Having to conceal who you are—what you can do—it’s a burden.”

I curl my fingers in toward my palms and feel the knot in my chest. It’s always been there. I’ve gotten used to it being there, and the knot only loosened after realizing accidentally zapping Lucas with magic didn’t hurt him. He’d heal in seconds, and I could relax and be myself around him.

And he wasn’t afraid of me.

But now that Michael is slowly unlocking my angel powers…I’m scared it will be too much.

“Now…tell me about this curse,” Lucifer says.

“It’s a reversed version of a necromancer curse that slowly kills you from the inside out. Supposedly, we can transfer it into another body. Do you know if it has to be another vampire?”

He considers it for a second and then shakes his head. “No. Just something that’s technically undead.”

“And once it’s transferred, Lucas will be…?”

“Back to himself.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

“What I’m more interested in is what you’re going to do with the necromancers who’ve cursed him.” His eyes glimmer in the dark. “I can help you come up with ideas if you’re out.”

The thought is tempting, and I hate that I want to hear him out. I’m not evil. When we find the necromancers, I’ll turn them over to the Grand Coven. They’ll have their powers bound and will be sentenced to death, according to Witch Law.

I won’t be the one taking their lives.

“How do I find them?” I ask, words escaping from my lips on their own accord. Lucifer grins. “I need to make sure they don’t come after us again.”

“Oh, they will. Just be prepared. You’ve got fire in you, kid. Hellfire.” He narrows his eyes. “And something else. Something I’ve never seen before.”

“What?”

He holds out his hand, reading my energy. “It’s—”

I suddenly wake up, feeling like I’ve been pulled from warm water and thrust into the snow. I shiver violently, pulling my arms in around my body.

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