This Curse: (The Grace Allen Series Book 2 ) (23 page)

“You talk too much.” He laughed and I turned. “You
will remain in Hell, oh yes you will. And maybe one day you will slip up and
land in my bed.” He was smiling and I took a step back. “You are strong, which
makes me want you even more than Mariee. And you are good. Your soul is light
and glows with life and the love that you so foolishly dare to throw in my
face.”

I took another step backward. My stomach swirled with
fear. I could taste bile at the back of my throat. Something was up.

“You say love baffles me? Well, my darling, I will
freely admit that the love you speak of makes little sense to me. Love meant
for man has always been a great puzzle to me. But you forget…” The chains fell
away from his wrists and he stood. “I have loved more deeply than a thousand
humans could ever fathom.”

My breath slammed from my lungs as he threw me
against the wall. His hand squeezed my throat and I gagged, clawing at his
flesh, I fought for breath.

“I will not snuff your life, Grace.” He frowned and
then suddenly he was across the room before I hit the floor in a boneless heap.

I strained, finally, screaming the air back into my
lungs. I fell backward, rubbing the sting from my neck.

 “You are too valuable,” he smiled, showing too many
teeth. “But you can not go unpunished my darling. How about this?” 

Seth appeared. He was on the floor, his hair pulled
back in Lucifer’s tight fist. He yanked it back hard, exposing Seth’s neck.

“
No!
” I screamed in horror, running for Seth.
His eyes had gone wide, filled with terror.

 Lucifer lifted his arm high, a shining blade
appeared in his hand and he swung, I jumped, knocking his arm as he sliced
towards Seth’s exposed throat. I screamed as the blade came down. Lucifer stood
panting; Seth’s beautiful hair still held in his iron grasp, Seth lay on the
floor gasping, his hair chopped off far too close to his scalp. Lucifer smiled
and threw the raven strands to the floor.

I was frozen with shock as Seth looked up at me; his
eyes barely met mine before he disappeared. A second later, Lucifer had Lucian
by the throat. He smiled. “What shall this one’s fate be?” Another blade
appeared in his hand.

“Just stop!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “
What
is wrong with you
?” my voice was hoarse. “Do you even know what you want?”
I was trying to think of a way to get through to him. When he ignored me, I ran
to him. Falling to my knees I cried out, “No more power!” Lucifer kept his
attention on Lucian. “Please?” My voice cracked. I couldn’t bear to think of
what he would do to Lucian. I waited, panting as tears streamed down my face. I
looked up.

The devil had hesitated. He looked down at me, his
eyebrow arched as if waiting for my next move. I took a deep breath and stood,
“I promise I won’t use any more power against you. I will never try and trap
you or anything ever again, I swear.”

Lucian was gone and I dropped to the floor, relief
flooded me. “I just don’t understand you.” I sobbed.

“I want you. I want to swim in your light, my
darling.”

I laughed and shook my head. This was wonderland and
Lucifer was The Mad Hatter. I would never win because he was bat-shit crazy. I
stood, wiping the tears from my eyes I frowned. My throat was raw and burned
when I spoke. “You are so damaged. You want me to stay, yet when I stay the
first thing you do is throw your plans out the window and try to screw me. You
want my light, yet you want to taint it so it goes out? You can’t have it both
ways.”

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “That is why
you are so good for me. You are strong enough to resist. It may take a thousand
years, but I could learn to love. I could feel. I will never stop trying to
corrupt you. It is my nature to taint, to spoil anything that shines.” He
looked down and then shrugged again. “I am what I am and that is all I can say,
but I am tired of watching things change without me. I want to feel something
different. My existence is black. My world is forever the same cycle of death
and punishment. I have spent centuries corrupting innocence, turning light to
dark. I want purity; crave it like the blood I drink. But it is it always so
easily snuffed.”

He held his hand out and I shook my head.

“Taking my hand is not acceptance, Grace. It is what
you
decide it is. That is what so many don’t understand. If your heart and mind are
pure then you always decide.”

I searched his face, and then I laughed. “I was
actually looking into your eyes for honesty.” I snorted. “That was pretty
stupid!”

“Not really. You think before you act, that is not
stupidity. I’d say with me it is more a vast waste of time.” His hand was still
extended, his eyes more sincere.

“Oh, for heavens sake.” I grasped his warm hand and
he pulled me close. “Already trying to seduce?” I looked up at him, my head
tilted back as I scowled.

He smiled down at me and I tried to push away.
“Grace. Please, just agree and I will leave the rest to you. You have no desire
to bed me. You want nothing from me, so this will not poison your soul. You
agree to save others, self sacrifice and all, as sickening as that is.” He made
an ugly face and released me.

I watched him, my mind racing with thoughts. “This is
nothing but a game. A pretty diversion to save you from a future of boredom.”

“Perhaps.” He watched me.

I knew that no matter what this was, Lucifer wanted
it. I could place any label I wanted on it but the truth of the matter
remained. I was in his sights and he would never leave me or the people I loved
alone until he was satisfied. He wanted to play; the trick was to keep him
interested in the game. I had a feeling that when Lucifer got bored, he got rid
of his toys.

I looked at him again and smiled. “This is no deal
with the devil.” I began, “This is a deal with a Madea, and I’ll decide the
terms.”

He bit his lip as he studied me. His mouth curved up
in the smallest hint of a smile and I almost saw joy. I cocked my hip and
frowned. “You will agree to never pester me. You can’t just show up uninvited
or pull me here unexpectedly. I do have a life. We will agree on the length of
each visit and you can not change it. If you try, this whole deal is forfeit
and you lose the right to take it out on me or my friends. Oh, and speaking of
friends, you have no power over them at all. They are off your radar. Got it?”

He watched me; his small smile still played at the
corner of his mouth and he leaned forward, his eyebrows high. “Is this all?”

“No!” I shot out quickly. “I have the right to change
the agreement at any time without notice.”

 “My darling, now let’s be fair.” He shook his head.
“If you feel you can change things, then I can change them as well. Is that
what you want? Remember this must benefit me.” He walked to a table next to the
remnants of the shattered tank. Glass was still strewn all over the ground. He
leaned against the end of the table, bracing his hands on the edge. I watched
him, admiring how his muscles bunched and flexed as he moved, how his tattoos
accentuated the curves of his body.

“Careful,” he looked at me with knowing eyes. “You
don’t want those thoughts to turn impure, do you?” He wagged his eyebrows and
folded his arms, making his forearms flex while showing off his abs.

“Well, keep up the cocky rooster act and my thoughts
will be right up there with the driven snow. Now, put a shirt on and lets get
this over with, I’d like to go home.”

He straightened; a black silk shirt flowed over his
chest like water flowed over stone. He looked
angry
.

“So you mean to renege already?”

 “Hey, I am making the rules here,” I frowned. “And
at no point did I say I couldn’t go home. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve already
spent more than enough time in Hell; it’s your fault it was wasted. And
speaking of time, I will only spend a day with you. That is all, one day, say
every six months.”

His eyes grew large. “You cheat! One week each month.”

I shook my head. “Two days a year. I’m not kidding! I
won’t stay here for any long period of time!” I pursed my lips and started
tapping my foot.

He smiled. “One month every six months.” He glared at
me and I shook my head.

“One week every six months or I will go crazy! This
is Hell, Lu. I don’t belong here.”

He regarded me for a long time and then smiled. “One week
in Hell and one week at a location of your choice.”

“Fine, two weeks every six months.”

“Done!” he smiled. “Well played, Madea. This promises
to be most amusing. Now, I do have a few rules of my own, and a reminder.”

“Okay. I guess.” I was instantly on guard.

“You will come to me promptly. I will never be forced
to seek you out. I choose where in Hell we spend our time and
how
we
spend it.” He smiled and I shook my head.

“You can decide how we spend it, but I get to agree
or disagree” I cut in. “Stop trying to work in loop holes.”

He smiled down at his hands. “Fine.” He looked up,
“Then to make this easier, your free will is your guarantee of safety. You will
do nothing you do not choose to do, agree?”

I closed my eyes and held out my hand. “Agreed.” Our
hands touched and at the contact, I felt a slight burning sensation emanate
from his skin. I watched, in shock and horror as a thin slice of ink slowly
detached itself from his tattooed arm. I jerked, disgusted as it slithered like
a snake along my thumb and down to my wrist. I looked at his face in horror. I
yanked again, trying to free my hand from his. Pain sliced into my wrist and I
cried out as the ink burrowed into my skin. The ink moved as if alive, forming
a thorny vine that wrapped around my wrist. I bit my lip. Blood pooled and then
flowed toward the center of the vine to form a single silver rose bud. 

Tears flowed, not from the pain but from the fact
that this meant I had done it. I shook hands with the devil. I was still my own
person, I was still pure as far as he was concerned but one wrong step, one
stupid move and I was as good as his, forever.

I looked at him. He was a giant blur through my
tears. I wiped my eyes to find his face close to mine.

“It must be done my darling.” He frowned, showing me
that a similar tattoo had formed on his wrist as well, minus the rose. “We are
bound, as distasteful as that is to you.” He winked as if that were a joke.

I sighed and tried to rub the stinging feeling from
my wrist but it was no use. Then something occurred to me.

“Lu? You said you had a reminder?” I looked at him.

He traced my bottom lip with his thumb. “Ah, yes. I
just wanted to remind you who you are dealing with.” He lowered his head to
whisper close to my ear. “I never follow the rules.”

I shrank back in horror and stumbled on the scattered
glass. Lucifer chuckled and blew a kiss. I glared, and at his wicked smile I
was suddenly ripped from the lab and tossed onto the gravel driveway in front
of my house, the air was slammed from my lungs with the sudden impact.

Son of a bitch, I thought as I rolled onto my back.

I was wondering if time passed differently in Hell.
Had it been mere hours or days since my friends had last seen me? Would they be
waiting or had they lost all hope. My mind was awash of thoughts, none of them
productive.

 Lying on the ground, I admired the stars, happy in
the thought that it was the sky of my home and my time. I lifted my right wrist
and sighed. The tattoo was there, shining in the starlight. I sniffed back new
tears and covered it with a small glamour. Satan could kiss my ass, I was not
letting my friends see this, and they didn’t need to worry about
another
Grace problem. This was my burden and I would be the one to bear it.

Grace, please answer me!

Seth?
I
was shocked to hear his deep voice rumble through my mind.

You live? Sweet, you are alive!

Uh, yeah, I’m just out front. My legs are tired and I
don’t seem to want to move just yet.

I hadn’t finished the thought when all of a sudden I
was being lifted. Spice and man enveloped me and I sighed, laughing a little at
the irony. Once upon a time, being carried by this powerful man would have
ranked right up there with visiting Hell. Now, it was all I could do not to
squeal with delight and snuggle into his shoulder.

I felt the rumble of laughter as he carried me up the
steps to the house. “I am happy to see you as well, Sweet, you had all of us
worried.”

I smacked his shoulder, “Stop reading my mind.”

He chuckled as we entered my living room, “I would
gladly refrain from reading your thoughts, if you did not scream them into my
head, Sweet.”

I looked up at him. My face fell and I sucked in my
breath. His smile fled. “What?” He set me on my feet and frowned, and then reaching
behind his head, he ran his hand over his short hair. “Yeah, I guess it could
have been worse.”