Page 123

“I think you’re right, Rox,” he said, his eyes red and bright with fury.“Which is why I’ve called in some help.”

A familiar scent hit me before I even opened the door.“Why is Lothar here?”

“He’s our best tracker.”He held my gaze.“And you’re my best warrior.”

I flinched.I couldn’t help it.“What have you done?”

He cupped the side of my face.“You know I wouldn’t put you in this situation if I didn’t think this was the only way.”

“Luci—”

“Open the door, Roxy.We’ll talk more about this later.”

My heart slammed into the back of my throat, and I forced myself to walk to the door.I thought I’d gotten over it, or at least I’d learned to live with the past, but I was seriously struggling again, and I didn’t know why.A cold sweat coated my skin, even as fluttery wings took flight in my belly.Shoving down the wild emotion pulsing through me, I straightened my spine, plastered a huge smile on my face, and opened the door.

Lothar stood there, tall and handsome, and, like always, I wanted to climb his massive body, wrap myself around him, and never let him go.I also wanted to cause him significant bodily harm.“Loth, hey,” I said, giving him a dose of my usual bubbly self.

His gaze slid down my body, taking in Tarrant’s blood smeared on my skin, and his nostrils flared.“Rox, how you doing, sweetheart?”

He took a step closer, about to pull me in for a hug, like he always did, like the hounds did with any of the handmaids.But lately, I found that too difficult as well.

I stepped back quickly before he could touch me.“Good,” I said and motioned for him to come in.

He frowned, not missing a thing, of course.“You still pissed with me, Rox?”he asked, a small teasing grin on his lips.

I wanted to fist that sexy beard, yank his head down and sink my teeth into his lip.Instead, I laughed.“I’m never pissed at you, you know that.”

“Getting a look at you now, Rox,” he said, taking in my bloody state again, “gotta say I’m fucking glad about that.”

“Brother,” Lucifer said to Lothar.“Thank you for coming at such short notice.”

“Not a problem.What’s going on?”Loth asked.

“We’ve tortured Poe and Tarrant for several weeks and still we don’t know where Beelzebub is.My lords say they haven’t heard from him, and I need him back, where I can keep an eye on him.I’m sending you and Roxy to find him.”

My heart slammed in my chest.Lothar didn’t even raise an eyebrow.He nodded.“When do we leave?”

“In the morning.You could be gone a while, so make sure to pack accordingly.”

He jerked up his chin.“You think Beelzebub stayed away from Hell?”

“Possibly.It might pay to visit the other quadrants first, though.”

Loth lifted his chin, then turned to me.“Catch you in the morning, Rox?”

Seriously?Fuck my life.“Yep,” I said, keeping my voice upbeat and giving him what he expected—happy, goofy Roxy—when what I really wanted to do was punch his perfect mouth, then lick up the blood and kiss his face off.“See you in the morning.”

Lucifer studied me when Lothar left.There was love in his eyes, so much of it, because he did love me, like he loved all his creations.But revenge burned even brighter, and there was nothing more important to him than getting Beelzebub back and retaining his positon in Hell—as it should be.

And I was here to serve him, always.Still, he had to know.“This is a bad idea,” I said.

Lucifer’s face shifted, his mask coming back down, and he slid his fingers through his hair, straightening it.“What’s the worst that could happen?”

Lothar could remember.

He could remember everything.