Last Rite (21 page)

“I know it
is
.” Her eyes blaze as she stares into mine. “I saw you,” she says, pressing closer. Her hand finds my chest and fireworks explode inside me. “I saw you in her bed. You were kissing her.”

My heart sinks. But still, every nerve ending hums. Damn these hormones. “You shouldn’t have seen that.”

Faith stiffens next to me and her voice takes on a hard edge as her hand drops to my thigh. “It was my job to see that.”

Despair opens a sinkhole in my chest, and I feel the weight of the world pressing down on it, threatening to cave it in. “It shouldn’t have happened.” But I wanted it to. I wanted more than kissing. I wanted all of her.

Frannie
.

Frustration roils inside me like a building storm at the memory of Frannie in my arms. My muscles tense and heat prickles my skin. I ache all over with need, unbearable and unrelenting.

“Please, Gabriel.” Faith presses into me, a tear trickling over her lashes. “Kiss me like that.” Her lips move along the line of my jaw, working toward my mouth. “Pretend I’m her.”

Her tears on my face are warm and wet. Her skin, silk. Her breath, hot. I close my eyes and draw a deep breath, fighting the feelings that I can’t control.

And then her lips are on mine.

Insatiable desire erupts from the depths of my core, and I pull her closer, crushing her to me, devouring her with my kiss—needing her like I’ve never needed anything before.

She shifts onto my lap and the feel of her body pressing into mine is more than I can take. Her lips move with mine and her hands glide over my back, pulling me deeper. There’s no escape. I’m drowning in her.

Her lips leave mine for an instant and I struggle for air. “Frannie,” I whisper.

She stiffens and time stops as I realize what I said.

“Well, isn’t this special.”

Faith leaps from my lap at the sound of Aaron’s voice.

“Aaron,” I say, standing from the loveseat and turning to him, trying to quiet my pounding heart and stay focused. “Where are the girls?”

His smirk is a mile wide. “Upstairs.”

“Faith.” I turn toward her. “Would you go up and keep them company?”

Her eyes darken and her tone is sharp and cold as a steel blade as she says, “Whatever you want.”

She stares at me a moment longer, pain and anger grappling for control of her expression. Finally, she turns and disappears around the corner, and a moment later I hear her and Daniel talking at the front door.

“Whatever you want,” Aaron repeats in a trill, watching after Faith. He looks me over. “O ye of little … Faith.” He chuckles under his breath at his pathetic burst of wit. “That takes on a whole new meaning.”

“It’s not your concern, Aaron,” I say, my self-disgust eating me alive, making me feel sick. I can’t understand how the avengers haven’t come for me. I don’t belong in His fold.

“Favors from the fallen?” He taps a finger on his temple. “That sounds like an abuse of power to me. Can you say sexual harassment?” He chuckles again. “That demon really is rubbing off on you. I’ll have to send him a thank-you gift.”

“Are you done?” I say, folding my arms across my chest, trying to hold myself together.

“Just keep giving in to temptation, Gabriel, and
you’ll
be done. It’s a good thing you’re so comfortable with the fallen, because you’ll be joining them soon and I’ll have your job.”

My self-loathing erupts and I turn it on him. “Not if you can’t manage to do yours. Do
not
leave Maggie’s side while Marchosias, or any other demon for that matter, is in her proximity.”

“Yes, oh lusty one.” The smirk doesn’t leave his face as he fades out.

I lean into the house and rub my aching temples, weak with defeat. “Frannie. Where are you?” I whisper, my heart collapsing.

LUC

I spend most of the day at Ed’s trying to sort through everything, the whole time hoping for a knock on the door or a call from Frannie. Finally, I leave Ed at the house with instructions to call me if Frannie shows up, and I head to Riley’s. Gabriel was going to stay with Daniel, so her house is covered. With Taylor gone, this is the only other place I can think that Frannie would go. I step out of the Shelby onto the sidewalk and stride to Riley’s door, then ring the bell and wait.

Riley appears at the door a minute later with Trevor at her side.

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Luc?”

I smile and try to stay calm. “Hello, Riley. Trevor,” I add with a nod in his direction.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in L.A. with Frannie?”

I stare at her, wishing I had thought this through a little more thoroughly. From her surprise, it’s clear that she hasn’t heard from Frannie. But if she does, I need to know about it.

“We actually haven’t left yet,” I say. “Problem with the flights. Frannie had some last-minute things to do and we were supposed to meet at her house,” I continue, “but she’s late. I was hoping she stopped here on her way?”

“No. I haven’t seen her.” She pulls her phone out of her pocket.

“I already tried her cell. She’s not answering.”

Her hand drops to her side. “Oh. Well…”

I smile at her. “So, if she stops by—”

“I’ll tell her to get her butt home,” she finishes for me with a smile.

“Thanks, Riley,” I say with a nod and turn for the car. “See you, Trevor.”

“Tell her I miss her already!” Riley calls after me.

I raise a hand in acknowledgment as I jog to the Shelby, slipping into the front seat. The instant I’m in the car, I know I’m not alone. The pungent stench of unbathed humanity almost drives me back out onto the street.

“Lose something?” The voice is female, but I don’t recognize it. I look toward the passenger seat into a face that is totally unfamiliar. But the eyes … they draw me in … pulling at something deep and primal within me—pure animal need.

I automatically reach for the door handle and drop my gaze before Lilith can snare me. “I recognize you, so you can turn off the infernal tractor beam. I’m not going to fall for it again.”

“I suppose if I said ‘your loss’ that wouldn’t help my cause.”

“
Nothing
is going to help your cause, Lilith,” I say, my eyes flicking momentarily to her new face.

Her host would be pretty if she wasn’t neglected and malnourished—too skinny, with sunken purple hollows under her eyes. Her shoulder-length carrot-red hair is matted in places, and her pallid skin is drawn tightly over protruding bone.

I almost feel sorry for her, wondering what in her life was so bad it drove her to drugs—and, most likely, worse. But then Lilith smiles, exposing brown, rotting teeth, and her eyes glint in the dim light as something lascivious slides across her face.

“I’m not here for
that
anyway,” she says.

I realize she sounds different. Weary.

“Frannie is with Matt,” I say. “Where are they?”

A wicked smile curves her cracked lips. “Not far.”

My hand shoots out like a dart, clamping around her throat and pinning her against the passenger door. “Where?”

“She’s on a rescue mission, Luc. You know where she’s going.”

I let go of her as I feel her seductive pull, and her form starts to flicker into something far more appealing. “Turn it off, Lilith,” I warn.

She slumps back into the seat. “You’re no fun,” she laments.

“Get out.”

She sighs, sinking deeper into the seat. “Do you remember when you told me I didn’t need to be like this?” she says, gesturing with the wave of an arm at her emaciated body.

“Yes.” The scene is all too vivid in my mind—Frannie’s lifeless body on the bed with Gabriel hovering over her, and Lilith holding Frannie’s and my souls hostage inside her host.

“Did you have an actual plan, or were you just blowing sunshine?”

I drop my gaze, because I was, in fact, blowing sunshine. I would have said anything to get her to let Frannie’s soul go.

“I don’t want this anymore,” she says quietly. “And I think I know a way out.”

My gaze snaps to her then. I can’t help myself. “How?”

“It has to do with Frannie.”

Where I was suspicious before, I feel my hackles rise. “You go anywhere near Frannie, I will kill you with my bare hands.”

The smallest of smiles curls the corners of her lips. “That didn’t work out so hot last time you tried.”

My blood runs cold when I remember the park—how I had intended to kill Lilith/Angelique.

“My mistake. I won’t make the same one twice,” I bluff.

“As titillating as the thought of you making the same mistake twice is…” she says, reaching out to stroke my thigh. “I’m serious. I want out.” With the last words, her casual façade slips and she looks dead serious and scared. “You got out, Lucifer. You’re the only one ever to do it. Help me. Please.”

The desperation in her eyes is unmistakable. And the fact that I can look into them for this long without needing to dive into them—dive into
her
, I think with chagrin—is all the proof I need that she means what she’s saying. She’s turned off the succubus siren.

I look at her more appraisingly. I gave up my immortality for love. She gave up her mortality for lust. When she had the choice all those eons ago, she chose eternity in the Abyss. Is it possible that she could change after all this time? She’s spent a good chunk of those eons at King Lucifer’s side. She could know things—His weaknesses, vulnerabilities. “Give me one reason why I should trust you.”

“Because you were right. Once He has Frannie, He won’t want me anymore. He’s already obsessed with her. It’s all He talks about.” Her pale green eyes lock on mine. “I’ll have nothing. I’ll
be
nothing…” she slumps and trails off, defeated. Her eyes fall to her thigh where she picks at a large scab just below the hem of her short skirt. “You have to help me,” she says, her voice so low I can barely hear her.

“What are you proposing?”

She lifts her eyes and stares at me out from under scraggly, matted red lashes. “You help me, I help you.”

“That seems a bit lacking in the details department. Give me something specific.”

She continues to hold my gaze. “I think Frannie’s more than she seems.
He
thinks she is. It’s not just her Sway He wants.”

Again, I feel myself bristle. How much does He know? Because Frannie
is
more than she seems—angel, demon, and mortal rolled into one. Couple that with her Sway, and God only knows what she’s capable of. “Frannie’s not going to be any part of this,” I growl.

“If you want to take Him down, she’s going to have to be.”

I feel a jolt of shock grip my gut. I never expected taking Him down to be on the table. It’s not possible. But even if it were, I couldn’t risk Frannie. “Then there’s no deal. I’m not letting you—or Him—” I add with a shudder, “—within a mile of her.”

But as I say it, I feel a hole open in my chest, realizing I don’t know where “within a mile of her” is. She could be anywhere. And He could already be there with her.

There’s a tap on the glass behind me and Lilith’s face pinches.

“Don’t tell him,” she hisses.

I turn to see Marc’s face leering through the window at me. “Your boyfriend isn’t in on the plan?”

She glares at me, a warning in her cold eyes.

When I roll down my window, Marc leans in. “Didn’t get enough the first time?”

My stomach rolls and I glare up at him. “If you touch Maggie, I
will
kill you.” He barks out a laugh as I reach across and push open Lilith’s door. “Stay away from Frannie. Stay away from me.”

She grins. “Or you’ll what? Sic your celestial friend on me?” she says as she slides out of the Shelby. “You’re even starting to smell bad,” she adds, waving a hand in front of her face.

Coming from her, that’s almost laughable. Though, even after she’s gone, the scent of unwashed humanity lingers, and I realize it may not have all been her. She and Marc stand, watching, as I peel away from the curb. I head back to my apartment for a change of clothes and pray sincerely to God that Gabriel’s had better luck than I have.

16

Saving Grace

FRANNIE

We reach Haden in just over twenty-four hours, as the sun hits the horizon and the reds and purples of sunset take hold.

“Where are you going?” I ask when Matt misses our exit on the highway. “We need to get home.”

“I think we need to scout it out before we go charging in there,” he answers. He slows and moves into the right lane. “If Marc is with Maggie, it’s only to get to you. I don’t want you walking into a trap or anything.”

For the hundredth time panic grips my heart as I wonder what the hell I’m thinking.
Please don’t let me screw this up
, I pray. “But what if he’s with her? What if he tags her before we get there?”

His eyes dart sideways at me. “I’ll go see what’s going on, then come back for you. But I need to leave you somewhere safe in the meantime.”

“So, where are we going?” I ask through my tight throat, breathing against my exploding heart.

“Grandpa’s.”

I start. “You too?”

He smirks at me. “What do you think?”

“You have to come right back for me. Gabe will find me if we mess around too long. He’ll keep me from helping Maggie.”

“If Gabriel is anywhere, it’s at the house. One more reason why I need to go first and check it out.”

I look at him. “What are you going to do?”

“I just want to check in with my old guru. You know … catch up and stuff.” He turns his attention back to the road as he takes the exit ramp.

I drum my fingers nervously on the armrest, my eyes darting around, as we enter Grandpa’s neighborhood. He pulls up to the curb in front of Grandpa’s. “Go inside. I’ll be back as soon as I can. If Gabriel’s there I’ll have to figure out a way to sidetrack him, so it may not be until morning.”