Page 44 of Malice: The Mate Games (Apocalypse #3)

LUCIFER

“ It’s your turn, Gabriel. Come on now, don’t keep me waiting,” I taunted as I held out the dice for the restrained messenger of God. “Oh, right, you can’t use your hands. Silly me. I’ll do it for you.”

With a quick roll of the multicolored cubes, I smiled down at the low-scoring collection.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Only a pair of twos. I got three sixes. How appropriate. I win again. What’s the score now? Twelve to zero? You’re really going to have to step it up if you hope to make some sort of comeback.”

“You . . . always . . . get three . . . sixes.” Gabriel’s voice was weak and raspy. Delightful.

“I know. It’s quite brilliant.”

“You’re . . . cheating . . .”

“Well, duh.” I looked up at him with a surprised lift of my brows. “Why would I bother playing a game that wouldn’t end up in my favor?”

“What is . . . the point . . . of this?”

Oh, how I loved it when he wheezed like that.

Every time I won a round, I’d taken my victory out on his flesh.

Last time it was with my whip. The time before that, a dagger drawn down his sides until his blood coated the stone floor like an area rug.

But this time? I had quite the surprise up my sleeve for him. Literally.

“The point, dear brother, is this. You won’t join me. I’ve given you ample opportunity to make the right choice, be on the right side of history, and yet you still decline. So... I’ll take what I really need from you instead.”

I was seated on the floor in front of him. One knee up, the other leg stretched out in front of me in a graceful sprawl. I might be sitting on a concrete slab, but damn, I made it look good.

Vanishing the dice, I rolled my wrist with a little flourish.

“I have something for you.”

Gabriel blinked, his expression annoyingly vacant.

“I can see that you’re dying to know, so allow me to put you out of your misery.”

He opened his mouth as though he wanted to speak, but gave up before the words could come out. Oh, goody, he was nearly broken. I was so very skilled at this part. The destruction of will, the breakdown of one’s personhood. Even an archangel was vulnerable to my tactics.

Using the same flourish I had to see to the dice, I manifested a heavy iron spike, approximately the length of my large hand. I balanced the square head on the tip of my middle finger while staring him down.

“You know what this is, don’t you, brother?”

Recognition flashed in his tired eyes.

“Yes, I see that you do. Quite clever, am I right? What good is making you bleed when you heal instantly? Oh, don’t get me wrong, pain for pain’s sake is all well and good, but if I want to really make this count, if I want you to take me seriously, then I need to be able to do some real damage.”

“Wh-where did you get th-that?”

For the first time, true terror showed on his face.

As well it should. This was one of the nails used during the crucifixion.

I was tired of fucking around and getting nowhere.

One drag of this across his skin would spill not only his blood, but his angelic grace.

I could pin him through the heart, drive this spike deep into his chest until it met the stone wall behind him, and take every ounce of power he had.

Or... I could siphon it slowly. Painfully.

And let him wear the scars of my torture for eternity.

Mmm, yes. I quite loved the sound of that.

“Let’s raise the stakes. Each time I win, I will claim a vial of your grace.

We’ll keep playing until you either see reason and join me or until I steal every last drop.

And between you and me, brother, I will have very little use for you after that.

Not that I think you’ll last very long without your grace to heal you.

Do you? Shall we make a bet of it? See how long it takes until your body gives out?

I’ll even let you make your guess first, if you’d like. ”

“You know I’d become mortal. I’d bleed out and die.”

“Yes,” I said with a maniacal grin. “It would be quite poetic. Finally able to be the man your Ruby needs, the human who could actually be with her, only to die moments later.”

“Fuck. You,” he spat.

I laughed. “Oh, such disrespectful language. I expected better of you, your holiness.”

“Why should I respect you?” he rasped. “You couldn’t even keep Lilith under your thumb. Bested by a fae. It’s laughable.”

My eye twitched.

“Still omnipotent, I see.”

“The Messenger of God knows all.”

“Not all. You never saw this coming.”

“That’s what you believe. You’re too full of yourself to see your own weakness.”

I jumped to my feet and crowded his face with a snarl. “I have no weakness.”

“You never change. You're a pathetic,” he whispered. “Tragic. Attention seeker.”

Rage burned through me, and I fisted the nail, ready to drive it through his belly so I could take what I was owed.

I’d waited so long to take my revenge. To prove that I was not the prideful upstart who deserved to be cast aside.

And what better proof was there than beating my father at his own game?

“I’d say this will hurt me more than it hurts you,” I hissed, spittle flying into Gabriel’s face, “but that would be a lie.”

Pulling my arm back, I readied myself to take the first sample of Gabriel’s grace, but before I lunged, a loud ringing pierced my ears. Gabriel was unaffected, but I couldn’t ignore it. Someone was summoning me.

I cocked my head, trying to ascertain what I could about who needed me and where they were.

As the answers came to me, a smile stretched across my face. “Well, well, well, it looks like it’s your lucky day. We’ll have to save this for later, brother. It appears I’m needed elsewhere.”

With a saucy wink, I left Gabriel where he belonged. Alone. Shattered. Disheartened.

Materializing in the foyer, I took a beat before answering the door. I needed to make sure I looked my best for this visitor. No need to scare them off because of a few rogue drops of Gabriel’s blood.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I ran a hand through my hair, adjusted my appearance, and smiled wide before checking my breath once.

The doorbell rang, a shadowy figure visible in the frosted window next to the entrance.

Clearing my throat and beating away the butterflies in my stomach, I pulled open the heavy door.

“Cole?” she said, relief on her face when she saw the version of me I created especially for her.

“Merri? Oh my God, I’m so glad you’re here,” I said, adopting the voice I’d used for this persona as I stepped forward and swept my vessel into my arms.

At long last, Merri was here. With me.

“I’m so sorry to just show up like this.” Her voice quavered slightly as she squeezed me back. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but I would have sworn she held me like I was the only thing keeping her upright.

Reveling in the moment, I dipped my nose down to the top of her head and inhaled. Everything about her was perfect. The silk of her hair as it brushed my hand. The way she smelled. The fit of her against my body.

“If you don’t want me here, I understand,” she whispered.

“Don’t do that. Of course I want you here.”

I held her tight and fought the urge to laugh at the perfect victory I’d just won. Then I pulled back so I could look into her vibrant blue eyes. She was with me now, and I would never let her go.

“You’re exactly where you belong.”