Soul Conquered (5 page)

Grace

“Come on, babe. If you come in
with me, it’ll help me think better.” Randy motions for me to join him in the
Jacuzzi. He’s so drunk he doesn’t even realize that Keira actually disappeared
straight out of the water, leaving me to babysit when I came back in for my
purse.

“I don’t have my suit on,” I say innocently,
indicating the meager clothes I’m wearing.

“Neither do I.” Randy’s smile spreads like oil across
his face as he begins to stand. Thankfully he freezes mid-bend before his waist
rises above the bubbles.

Lucifer appears before me, making me jump a little. I
have to get used to him popping up to order me around. “Are we having fun yet?”
he asks, raising a martini in salute.

“It’s better than being stranded in the desert,” I say
with a sigh.

“Ah, but you used your ingenuity, my pet. And that’s
exactly what you should do. It’s all a learning experience.” He pokes my nose.
He’s right. I am his pet. I’m here for his amusement, but I don’t care if it
means I have a chance of getting through to Noah. I have to remember that. I
have to focus on my goal no matter how demeaning Lucifer’s orders are.

“Do you have another assignment for me?” I ask.

“This is your assignment. Randy Daring. Unfortunately
Keira is too busy to help any further. You have to convince him to con the
casino downstairs tonight. He has to be at the height of self-confidence to
pull it off. You are his arm candy and his confidence booster, got it? You now
have a closet full of clothes and accessories to make it work. If you succeed,
I’ll let you visit Noah. If you fail, I’ll punish you.” He pops an olive in his
mouth and drinks a sip of martini with it.

“Understood, Lucifer.” I force a smile. He’s going to
let me see Noah. I just have to get this guy to go count some cards or
whatever. Piece of cake.

“He’s a good-looking one,” Lucifer says, admiring Randy’s
half-bent form.

He’s right. Randy’s got the kind of body that says he
works out at the gym regularly along with smooth dark skin and supermodel
features. But nobody can make my heart sing like Josh, and no one ever will.

“You don’t mind if I watch you work for a few minutes,
do you?” Lucifer asks. As though I would daresay I mind. “He can’t see me.” He
toasts to Randy’s frozen form, and the guy comes back to life.

“I’m dying to get out of this room,” I say, turning to
Randy and bringing him to a halt before he can finish standing. “Have you been
to Vegas before?”

“Nah. I’ve been to some Indian casinos in the Midwest,
though. Roulette’s my game. I know how to beat the system, babe.”

“Oh?” I ask, striding closer to the edge of the tub.
“Then let’s do it here.” I lean forward and let my eyes grow wide.

“Shit no. Not even for you, babe. This is Vegas. The
mafia will skin my ass if they catch me fucking with the casinos.” He drains
his bottle of beer and tosses it back over his shoulder with a loud belch.

I try not to react with disgust.

Lucifer appears behind his shoulder and raises his
eyebrows in challenge. A shock of pain shoots up the right side of my body, and
I jump a little. It’s a warning:
hurry up and get to work
.

“Oh, that only happens in the movies. Now if you were
talking millions, that’s one thing, but one little roulette wheel? That’s small
potatoes to them. They probably wouldn’t even blink unless it was over a mil.”
I trace a pattern on the edge of the tub with my finger.

“I’m not going to risk it. I’ll just sit here and
drink on your dime, and if I’m lucky, you’ll get in here with me, babe.”

“Well, I won’t,” I say quickly. Too quickly, because I
get another jolt. “Unless…” I add, and Randy looks up, surprised. “Unless you
can impress me tonight in the casino.”

“You said something before about a guy who does
something to impress you,” Randall slurs, squinting like it helps him remember.

“That’s right,” I say. “I have expensive taste, and I
like excitement. I like a guy who can, say…scam a casino and pay for a diamond-studded
bikini.”

Lucifer’s hot breath is on my neck, and I struggle not
to react. “There’s one in your closet now so you can celebrate when he
succeeds.”

“Shoot, that sounds like a lot of money,” Randy says.

“Oh, my last boyfriend bought me one already. It was
just an example. But I would be impressed to see you outsmart the system
tonight. What do you say, Randy? Maybe I’ll be so impressed that I’ll show you
that bikini.” I pout and rock back and forth a little.

“I say I’m a sucker for blondes, babe. Go get me a tux
and some dough to start out at the high rollers’ table and I’ll show you a good
time tonight. I’d get them myself, but Keira brought me here in such a hurry, I
didn’t have a chance to grab anything.”

*
* *

I’m in the world’s sluttiest
and most expensive flesh-colored evening gown, about to put on the fuchsia lipstick
Lucifer left me, when my phone comes to life on the countertop, nearly jumping
out of its case as it plays “Highway to Hell.”

Josh.

My heart skips a beat as the lipstick falls to the
sink, and I spin toward the phone to find out where he is, battling all of the
conflicting emotions inside of me. But I don’t have to search. I don’t have to decide.

He’s right here in front of me, and my body feels like
a compass drawn magnetically North.

I throw my arms around him and cling for dear life as
tears swim unbidden in my eyes. The usual electricity when we touch is
magnified and draws a gasp from us both—a reminder of when we first fell
in love.

“Hey,” he whispers, calming me like I’m the tiger
cooped up downstairs. Gently, he pushes me back far enough to look at me, and I
can’t help but stare back, back into his beautiful blue eyes filled with worry
and sadness.

I can’t stop sobbing enough to form words. I want to
tell him how I’ve needed him. How I’ve missed him. How I made a mistake and
should never have left Heaven. But I can’t, because if I say those things then
I’ve given up on Noah. And if I give up on Noah, who will save him? And what would
that make me?

His thumbs smear the tears from my face, and he waits
with incredible patience as I try to get control of myself.

“Grace,” he says in that deep voice, and it sets me
off crying again.

“Oh, Josh,” I choke out. “I told you not to come.”
What I really want to say is
Thank you for coming because I need you more
than anything
.

“I know. But I had to. I wanted you to know that I’m
still here and still working on helping you and Noah. In fact, I’ve found
something.”

“You have?” Hope springs to life in my chest, and I
feel like ripping off the top layer of my own skin, like it’s a horrible
Halloween costume or something. I glance at the girl in the mirror that Lucifer
created. Caked-on makeup with streaks of mascara running down my face. Breasts
barely covered by skintight silk that blends with my skin tone to give an
illusion of nudity. Hair teased and twisted on top of my head with curls
spilling like a perverted water fountain.

But it’s like none of it matters to Josh because his
eyes remain on mine, full of concern as he keeps talking. “We found the actual
prophecy. It talks about Lucifer and the Antichrist.”

“Shh. Wait.” I step back from his reach, and the skin
he’d been touching turns cold. I hug myself. “Don’t tell me.”

“What? But you told me to share everything,” he says,
hands dropping uselessly to his sides. “Before you fell you told me never to
keep things from you to try to protect you.”

“I know! I remember. But this is different. I work for
Lucifer now. I’ll have to tell him everything. He’ll make me. You should keep
it from me like I’m the enemy. I
am
the enemy. You should go now, Josh.”
I can’t bear to peer into his face. I can’t watch him be crushed again.

“You will never be my enemy, no matter where you are,
Grace.” His voice is strong and clear, and I’m once again drawn toward him. I fight
with all my being not to rush into his arms again.

“I’m supposed to seduce you.” The words come out
shyly, like I’m admitting a crime.

“I know.”

“I get it now. What it was like.” My throat thickens,
and I can’t get any more words through. And oh, it would feel so good to kiss
him again.

“Grace, no matter what he does, remember who you are
and that I love you. I will always love you, no matter what.”

I can’t stand another moment. I throw myself onto him
like I’m diving off a cliff and press my mouth to his. Electricity, familiar
and wonderful, flows through us as we kiss, every bit of emotion inside of me
poured into this one act that eclipses everything else in the world. I was
crazy to think I could survive without him, no matter what mistakes he made in
the past.

He lets me kiss him, holding me close but somehow walled
off. After a minute he separates from me, holding me at arm’s length. “This
isn’t what you want, Grace. It’s Lucifer’s influence, not you. I know what it’s
like to feel desperate and want to give in for a moment’s happiness. I can’t
let you make that mistake.” Pain is all I see when I look at him, and I hate
that I’m making him feel that way.

“It isn’t a mistake, Josh. It’s how I feel. This is more
me
than I’ve ever been. Please.” I’m nearly in hysterics now. If being
with him will make it all go away, even for a moment…

But then I remember what I am and what he’ll become,
and I deflate in his grip. “You’re right. Of course I don’t want you to fall. You
shouldn’t touch me. Not like that.”

“Grace, I want to take you in my arms and love you
forever. I want to forget everything else. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever
had to do. It’s why I didn’t come before. I can’t trust myself to resist you.”

A jolt of pain shoots through my chest, and I gasp
from the severity of it. Lucifer is watching me. He’s given me a job. But I
don’t care. I won’t hurt Josh.

But…would I really be hurting Josh? Aren’t I hurting
him by keeping us apart? I should let him make that decision for himself. I
know what I want.

“Then don’t resist me.” I throw myself at him again,
forcing my mouth over his. My hands cling to his face, afraid he’ll back away
again if I loosen my grip.

His hands slowly rise to my waist and pull me closer.
I run my fingers through his soft black curls, and he sits me on the edge of
the counter where I throw my arms around his neck and let him bury his head
against my chest.

“Grace,” he cries. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Josh. Why shouldn’t we be together?
Who cares where it is or what else happens?” I don’t want to think anymore. I
don’t want to worry about what comes after. I need Josh. His touch, his
presence… It’s like I’ve been in a coma and suddenly I’m alive again and all
the world is in color because he’s here.

His breath catches as I run my hands up his chest,
over his white T-shirt now stained with what was left of my mascara. But he
traps my fingers beneath his and holds my hand over his heart. We stand still
for a moment, feeling the beat as it pounds out a hectic rhythm.

“I’ll find a way to save Noah and bring you back to
me. I promise,” he says.

“But we can be together right now if you just let me…”
I trail off and lift myself toward his mouth, focused on his delicious pink
lips, desperate to have this moment of joy.

“No, we can’t.” He holds me back far enough not to
make contact. “Lucifer would never let us actually be together, Grace. You know
that. He’d torture us forever by keeping us apart.”

Tears of frustration burn my eyes and I glance away,
not wanting him to see the Demon red. I can’t accept a future in which I’ll
never be with Josh, never feel his arms around me or the electricity that
charges between us. “I can bargain with him—” I start.

“No. I’ve been down that road. You can’t. He doesn’t
make a bargain that’s fair to anyone but himself, no matter what he says. Just
know that I haven’t given up on you and that you just need to hang in there a
little longer.” He takes a large step back toward the door.

“Josh, please don’t leave me.” Panic sets in along
with another wave of pain. “Please. I need you.” He may be right, but I feel
like if he leaves, I’ll lose myself again.

He hesitates. “I’m doing this for you. It’s always for
you, Grace.” He shoots me a wistful smile, and I have to look away as he’s
enveloped in blinding light.

Lucifer appears at my side as I sob on the countertop.

“You failed, Grace.”

“I know,” I say, trying to stay the tears.

He snaps his fingers and I’m cleaned up, makeup and
dress fixed, lipstick applied. “You’ll have another chance, I’m sure. Next time
don’t hesitate, and don’t hold back. In fact, next time don’t be so desperate.
Pathetic can be a turn-off to guys like Josh.”

Great. Relationship advice from the Devil. “He’s right,
though, isn’t he?” I ask, feeling as pathetic as he makes me sound. “You’ll
never let us truly be together.”