Page 48 of The Human Element (The Human Element Collection #1)

Lorelei

Lorelei sat stunned. One second Daemon was standing beside Raphael, the next she could tell they were arguing—not that the two angels ever seemed to not be having an argument—and then Daemon poofed.

Literally. He was there, and in the same half of a blink, he was gone.

Her heartbeat hastened as she swiveled her head in circles to see if by any chance he had just gone to another part of the field.

But the longer she looked, the more her heart throbbed against her ribcage, rattling her already icy-cold body that now felt like it would never be warm again.

“He left me.”

Lorelei knew she was talking to herself; Samuel was still passed out in her lap.

She thought if she weren’t holding his limp body, she would collapse altogether, the fabric of her being wrenched apart by the abrupt absence of Daemon which threatened to seep into her heart and wrench it clean from her chest.

She couldn’t stop herself as the tears streamed down her cheeks, her eyes stung as the wind whipped her hair about her face, the tears feeling more like acid on her skin than saltwater, sliding in cascading zigzags downwards towards her cracking lips.

The burn of the tears hurt as they dropped to her mouth, making her snap out of her momentary lapse of reality.

No matter how hard she tried to fight the blasted emotions, she was done for.

The Daemon she knew; thought she knew; would never abandon her like this.

He would never leave her alone, stranded in the middle of nowhere, in the midst of a fight between beings she still barely wrapped her mind around.

He wouldn’t leave her to figure out how to heal Samuel alone.

He wouldn’t leave her inches from Death’s fingertips freezing to the point she didn’t know where the teeth chattering ended and the racking body aches from exhaustion began.

Just shut up and think. What can you do, Lorelei? What the fuck can you do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I am a human sitting in the middle of a blood bath clutching the near-lifeless body of a helpless teenage demon. I have no idea how to help him and Daemon…Daemon is..

Lorelei choked. Even the sound of his name in her mind made it feel like she was about to hyperventilate.

Panic was setting deep into her bones and she shook fiercely, because Daemon was gone.

And she had no idea why he left or if he would come back.

Her heart ached at the thought of having possibly been deceived by him.

Had she been so lonely and lost since the passing of her father, that she fell into the traps of a man who didn’t actually care for her? Could everything between them be a lie?

“No. You can’t think that. We need to get a grip. He will be back…he will..”

Lorelei took several deep breaths. But she knew she wasn’t convincing anyone.

Her mind could be playing tricks on her right now.

She was in a horrid state: bruised, battered up, and tired to the point that if she closed her eyes long enough, she would most likely pass out.

Lorelei knew it would be a death wish in this situation, as the very real reminder of snarling and slashing of flesh not far off, made her take another deep breath and steady herself.

Laying Samuel’s head on the ground, she tentatively stood to see if there was somewhere she could drag him further away from the fight until she figured out a plan.

If Daemon was here right now though, she knew he would say she needed to find a safer spot, and quick.

She couldn’t lose faith in him now. She had to keep fighting. For Samuel’s sake.

Or until Daemon comes back…

Then Lorelei had an even better idea. An angel . If she could just get the attention of one of them out here fighting, she could have a chance of getting out of here. Turning to look for the glowing white wings that would be her redemption, her mouth dropped as she surveyed the field.

Nothing.

No white.

No wings.

No angels anywhere.

They were all gone.

She was alone, facing a group of demons, the last ones left of the fight. Particularly, one rather nasty one resembling a dog-if a dog were more dripping skin and bones than anything else. And teeth. Lots of teeth.

The dog demon growled, licking its non-existent lips as its glowing yellow eyes that looked like bottomless pits, locked onto Lorelei.

Breath caught in her throat and she nearly yelled for help when she recalled—there wasn’t any.

The realization that no one, not even Daemon was there to save her, made her think she might puke.

In all the craziness of the last week, at least Daemon had been there.

To hold her, protect her, be that guiding support, and a reminder that she wasn’t alone in the madness.

Now it was only her, and this rabid, terrifying creature, and a swarm of dozens of others, and no one to come swoop in at the last second to save her.

At that last thought, the dog demon came clawing its way across the field towards her and leapt at her before she even had a chance to react.

Barking, growling, and chomping jaws snapped at her head while she skidded across the ground, tumbling several times as the beast had dug its unruly claws deep into both her arms. Screaming, Lorelei struggled to see what was truly happening in the dust flying, pain-searing chaos until she was pinned underneath, with no way to move.

Lorelei tried to twist and turn beneath the creature to get lose, but with every movement, its nails dug deeper into her flesh; she glanced down to see her jacket was in total ruin, and she saw her own skin flayed open and shredded along her biceps, but she tried to not focus on that and instead looked up at the beast, its mouth dripping with greenish-yellow saliva.

A long tendril of it dripped onto her collarbone and she yelled out in pain— acid.

She could feel her skin bubbling in response to the saliva that caused her to scream out in agony.

She waited for the creature to finish it: tear her head off, play with it like a puppy with a tennis ball, pull out her stuffing and watch as she goes limp like a ragdoll along the field.

But it didn’t move. It just held her there in place like this was what it was ordered to do, not to kill her, but capture her.

A loud whistle rang in her ears, but she couldn’t move her head to see what it was.

The dog demon immediately let her go and the snarling face that once hung over hers, was replaced by refined, human-like features.

Swooping black, slicked-back hair, beard cleanly shaven and defined, and menacing red eyes now stood over her in an all black suit tailored perfectly.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up in recognition, not from having actually met this man before, but a deeper recognition.

Unexplainable but all too real. Lucifer stood above her.

And although black spots threatened to overtake her vision, she knew it without a glimmer of doubt.

She watched, saying nothing, daring not to move as he made a clicking noise and looked at the state of her—which she was sure was nothing pretty to see.

But it wasn’t embarrassment that took over her, but a disgust as his eyes lingered too long in certain areas.

Although, he made no indication it was lustful—purely observant, like studying a specimen in a lab, which somehow made her feel even more vulnerable.

Without any emotion whatsoever; those red eyes revealing nothing, he finally spoke.

“Hello, daughter. It’s time we talked.”