Dancing With the Devil (6 page)

The wooden doors of the church refused to budge. I pushed
and shoved but they held firm.

Magic flowed from my hands to the heavy iron door handles.
Open
.

The next second, they flew apart and I stumbled out onto the
steps.

Hey, this was purgatory. My Witches Anonymous oath was null
and void here. At least that’s what I told myself.

Standing on the church steps, what met my eyes sent a shiver
down my spine.

Downtown Eden had transformed into a forest. A dark,
intimidating forest with a thousand trees. Their branches hung toward the
ground and dense undergrowth rose up to meet them, obliterating all light.
Things skittered and hissed in the darkness.

Michael the Archangel might have been the enforcer, but I
was sure it was Michael Myers, the horror classic, who haunted those woods.

“Enough,” I said out loud, and then I called, “Luc! Where
are you? I need help.”

Several seconds passed without a response. This time, I
repeated the call mentally.
Lucifer
.
I need you.

A minute passed.

Zayfeer exited the church and stood behind me. “Lucifer
doesn’t like purgatory, remember?”

Fog rolled in from the edges of the woods, beckoning at me
like it had done in the alley. “Tough shit. Luc!”

“He doesn’t possess the power to bring you back to life, I’m
afraid. Only God can do that.”

The truth rang in my ears. I didn’t care. “I’ve died before
and it wasn’t God who brought me back.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Forget Michael Myers. Dorothy of Wizard fame hadn’t needed
the great and powerful Oz to send her back to Kansas. She only needed to
believe in herself. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

I closed my eyes and summoned my magic. A solid wave of heat
washed over me from head to toe. It hummed in my nerve endings, buzzed along my
hairline.

Raising my hands, I drove tendrils of magic out from the
tips of my fingers and welcomed the slithering fog that connected with them. A
solid burst of power shot through my limbs and electrified the ends of my hair.

I wasn’t sure how to direct myself back to the land of the
living, so I simply cleared my mind and let the magic do the work. I kinda dug
the whole single word directives.

Return
.

The burn of magic inside me came to an abrupt stop. A hollow
sensation took hold in my stomach and spread to my arms and legs. Chills raced
over my skin. The fog thickened, covering the woods and the sky grew dark as
night.

“Nice try,” Zayfeer said, strolling down the steps to stand
beside me. “I told you it wouldn’t…”

Return, dammit!

A sucking sensation lifted me off my feet and threw me
backwards. The impression of traveling through a tunnel returned, intense
pressure bearing down on me from all sides. By the time the pinpricks of pain hit,
I knew what was happening. I didn’t struggle against the pain or paralysis.
Instead, I welcomed it.

Kansas, here I come.

A minute later, I woke to the sound of Luc’s soft snores.
One of his arms lay draped over my side as his body spooned around mine, spooning
me in his protective heat. Cain slept tucked against my stomach and Abel warmed
my feet.

My bed. My apartment. I drew a deep breath and a blast of
satisfaction filled me as oxygen entered my lungs. The curtain on my bedroom
window was open and moonlight filtered in, casting comforting shadows across
the dresser and floor. Light snow fell outside. A couple more satisfying
breaths and I snuggled deeper into the covers and Luc’s arms.

It was just a dream, I told myself. Just a terrible, no-good
dream.

Except it kept playing out on the back of my eyelids. My
mother on the steps of the church. Her and the angel having sex. The dragon
sitting at the pregnant woman’s feet. The odd fluttering in my abdomen.

Rubbing my hand across the spot, I sighed, knowing exactly
what I had to do.

I rolled to my left side, careful not to kick Abel and
patting Cain on the head when he mewed impatiently at the disturbance.

Luc’s face was relaxed in sleep. A chunk of dark hair hung
across his forehead, making him appear boyish except for the fact his jaw was
covered with stubble. A dark, wicked angel sleeping on my pink pillowcases. The
marauder who’d long ago stolen my heart.

A familiar pang tweaked my chest. How many times had I
watched him sleep, feeling a sense of safety I’d never felt with anyone, not
even my family?

Family. The Atwoods gave new meaning to that word. “Luc?”

His snores stopped but his breathing continued soft and
deep. I touched his cheek, ran my finger across his whiskered jaw. “Luc, wake
up. We need to talk.”

Without opening his eyes, he reached for me and pulled me
close. We lay face to face on his pillow, my body responding instinctively to
his touch as he molded his long frame to mine. He was naked—big surprise—and so
was I. The heat coming off his skin warmed my chilly body. I wanted to shut
down my brain and let my body take control. My magic seconded that idea.

Warm fingers traced the vertebra of my spine, coming to rest
low on my hip and tugging my pelvis against his.

Talk about hot.

And hard.

The skin on my forehead burned. Damn. Real world, real
problems. The Mark of Cain was back.

Even though my body cheered at the contact, I shifted back
an inch, hoping the space would help me keep a clear head…and the Mark would
settle down before I sent Luc on another one-way trip to Hell.

The Devil slanted his eyes open and stared at my lips from under
his long lashes. “Where are you going, witch?”

His voice was gravelly with sleep. The deep timbre raised the
hairs on the back of my neck. My magic shuddered and I found myself arching
toward him. The Mark burned hotter.

Sticking out a hand, I braced it against his chest to keep
from succumbing to the desire sweeping through me. Dark, deep and dangerous, I
longed to embrace it as much as I struggled to stay away.

An image of the woods in purgatory flashed across my mind.
Dark, deep and just as dangerous as the fallen angel in my bed. Instinct told
me I needed to get through those woods before Luc and I would be okay.

Before I could tell him about my dream, the phone on the
bedside table blared. A modicum of relief swept through me. I didn’t want to
tell him about the dream and the phone’s ring cooled the ardent desires
swirling around us.

I glanced at the alarm clock and saw it was only a few
minutes after ten. Apparently, time stopped while I was in purgatory.

Caller ID read
Keisha
.

Making an apologetic face to Luc and lifting Cain out of the
way, I sat up and answered. “Hey. What’s up?”

Her African voodoo priestess voice was clear and angry. “Get
over here right now.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the party, but something came
up.” Something being Luc.

“Sorry?
Sorry?
You sent that angel here with Mikayla
and now all Hell’s broken lose. Get your skinny white witch ass over here and
put a stop to this or I’ll curse your ancestors and your first born.”

Curse my relatives was a regular threat from Keisha when she
was really upset at me. Normally, I ignored it, knowing there was no real
intent to harm me or my family members. Keisha was a lot of talk, especially
when she was mad, and I couldn’t blame her for not liking the fact I’d let
Zayfeer crash her party. But tonight, the unborn baby I’d seen in purgatory and
the fluttering I’d felt in my abdomen made the threat feel serious even though
I knew in my heart she was kidding.

“What did Z do?”

“He’s dancing and drinking and taking advantage of Liddy.”

I stood, ignoring Cain’s hiss at shifting him yet again.
Liddy, my friend from Witches Anonymous and a rather innocent ex-witch, brought
out my protective instincts. “Put him on the phone.”

“Put him on the phone? I can’t get him off the ceiling. I
don’t care if Luc is raining fire and brimstone on the whole damn planet, get
your butt over here. Now.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” She’d already hung up.

Luc rose, ran a hand through this hair and tugged on a pair
of tight leather motorcycle pants. “Trouble in paradise?”

I set down the phone, swallowed my very female reaction to
the sight. Tan chest, tight pants, bare feet. I wanted to jump him. Again.

My mouth dry and fingers trembling, I forced myself to
remember Liddy. I grabbed Luc’s sweater out of his hands before he could put it
on and yanked it over my head.

A slow grin lifted one corner of his mouth and he touched my
cheek. I was so gone.

I turned my head to kiss his fingers as they drifted past. “Trouble
in paradise. Story of my life.”

Keisha's house was jumping. Music blared. Champagne flowed.
A disco ball in the shape of a skull hung from the living room ceiling and
threw multicolored lights over the faces of the partiers. Most of them were
people I recognized, but there were groups I didn’t. Probably neighbors or
guests her friends had brought along.

Members of Keisha’s coven and members of Witches Anonymous
mingled with each other in various corners. Couples danced in the center. My
sister Emilia sat beside Mikayla at the breakfast bar, Em reading tarot cards.

As I cut through the crowd, I ran into Cephiel sharing a
glass of champagne with Marcia. Their heads were tipped toward one another and
they appeared to be sharing an intimate joke as well. When he saw me, the wide
smile on Ceph’s face disappeared. Marcia’s smile turned into a grimace.

Whatevs. Ignoring them, I moved on. Gabriel, former
archangel and present pain-in-my-ass, mixed drinks at the temporary bar along
the far wall. Two people sat across from him and I recognized the brown hair
and broad shoulders of my ex-boyfriend, Adam. Next to him was a redheaded
female whose beauty could stop traffic.

Great. Adam and Eve. I started to do an about-face and hunt
down Keisha when I noticed the way they were hunched in a serious discussion
with Gabriel. Gabe glanced up, saw me watching, and immediately pulled away
from the other two and pretended to be busy drying a couple of martini glasses.
Adam and Eve shared a look, and then, not so discreetly glanced over their
shoulders at me. Adam's face was filled with guilt. Eve’s, with satisfaction.

What were they up to?

A new song came on and two women rushed by me to get to the
center of the living room. “I love this song,” one of them said. “I love this
guy
,”
her friend replied, pointing.

I didn't need to see Zayfeer to know they were talking about
him. Forgetting about Adam and Eve and whatever they were cooking up with
Gabriel, I found the angel in question doing a Travolta move center stage. A
crowd gathered around him, clapping and cheering him on. The crowd included
Liddy, her face rosy and flushed, her eyes sparkling with a mix of lust and
happiness.

Watching her, I couldn't help but smile. Rare to see such
carefree enjoyment on Liddy’s face. Had she ever been in lust before? Probably,
but as I well knew, falling for a fallen angel took lust to a whole new level.

“Thank God you’re here.” Keisha, complete in a cheesy New
Year’s Eve paper hat and laughing skull earrings, handed me a glass of bubbly. “Where's
Luc?”

Accepting the glass, but not feeling any urge to drink, I
watched Zayfeer’s performance. “He hates my hybrid. Refuses to ride in it.
He'll shimmer in
if
he decides to come.”

“At least you can take care of that damned angel.” Keisha
gave a toss of her head and looked down her nose at me. “And Luc better come.
My parties are legendary.”

Especially when the Devil was her guest. Voodoo
practitioners, witches (ex- or not) and humans got a rush from hanging around
him.

I felt eyes on me and glanced over at Mikayla and Emilia.
Mikayla lifted a hand and waved. I waved back, noticing for the first time how
much she favored Emilia. Especially tonight with her hair down. Funny, that. “Yeah,
well, John Travolta called. He wants his Saturday Night Fever disco ball back.”

Keisha rolled her eyes. “The disco ball was your angel's
doing.”

Zayfeer wowed the crowd with more moves. Another cheer went
up when he grabbed Liddy by the hand and twirled her around.

“Quite a show,” I said. “Liddy seems smitten.”

“You need to take out that trash. Gabriel says that angel is
trouble.”

This from the archangel who'd tried to become a god by
wiping out humanity. “All angels are trouble. Why did you invite Adam and Eve?”

The skeleton earrings swung as she turned her head to face
me. “Gabriel invited them.”

“My point exactly. Gabe is up to something.”

Keisha shot him a glance. “Probably.”

I looked around for Lucifer, hoping he’d shimmered in by
now. There were plenty of supernaturals, but none that made my pulse speed up or
my legs go weak at the sight of them. Where was he? Was he really blowing off
Keisha’s party? Or was he avoiding me for some reason?

The song wound down and Zayfeer started a conga line to keep
the momentum going.  Liddy fell in behind him and four others followed suit. “So
what's the big deal with Z? You said he was taking advantage of Liddy, but outside
of that fact he's no candidate for
Dancing with the Stars
, I don't see a
problem.”

“Just watch.”

The conga line wove around the room, passing us before
disappearing into Keisha’s formal dining room. On the way by, Z winked at me
and Liddy waved. Keisha motioned me to follow.

While Keisha’s formal dining room had a large table and
chairs and a buffet the size of my car, it was not your typical household
gathering space. She didn't host family dinners or holiday get-togethers here.
She practiced voodoo and the space showed it.

The windows were draped with blood-red fabric. An ornate
metal cross, a picture of Marie Laveau, a hexagram, and a Prayer for Atonement
poster decorated the four walls. Skulls, chicken bones, half-melted candles and
lighting sticks, feathers and coffin nails covered the buffet top. A basket of
handmade voodoo dolls sat in one corner. A Book of Spells lay open on her
raised altar.

Zayfeer’s group gathered at the large wooden table. All of
them were smiling and laughing, but there was an anxiousness in their eyes.
Like animals who sensed danger but were too stupid to run.

Liddy reassured them, going from one person to another and
easing them into the chairs. Once they were all seated, they looked to Zayfeer.

I looked at Zayfeer too. Gave him my death glare. Liddy
sidled up next to me and threw her arms around my neck in a bear hug. Whatever
Z was up to, it couldn't be too bad. I hugged her back and watched the fallen
angel mount the altar.

He spread his arms and his blue eyes flashed. “My friends,
on this last day of the year, before the stroke of midnight, I want you to
imagine your greatest desire.”

I leaned over to Liddy and whispered, “What is he doing?”

Her eyes never left his face, her cheeks flushed. “Giving
them what they want most.”

Trepidation snaked its way up my spine. I recognized the
pitch. I'd given it, literally, a thousand times. Well, almost a thousand. Technically,
when I’d left Lucifer, I was one deal away from hitting the one thousand mark.

One
small
deal. “In exchange for what?”

Liddy turned her shining face toward me. Her innocent smile
chilled me to the bone. “Their souls, of course.”