Her defenses kicked into high gear. “Not interested.”
Bjorn and Xerxes swooped out of nowhere and “escorted” the vampire away. Such sweethearts, she thought, smiling when they returned to her side.
Bjorn tugged on a lock of her hair. “You are a new participant in the war, and you’re on our side. We will allow nothing to happen to you while you’re here.”
“But I’m not a participant in anything. I’m just—”
“Say cheese.” Taliyah snapped a few dozen pictures of their group on her cell phone. She winked at Katarina, saying, “Thanks. I think that’ll do the trick.” Then, as quickly as she’d appeared, she was gone.
Xerxes sighed. “The girl hopes to cause trouble.”
“Don’t they all,” Bjorn remarked.
On the dance floor, Katarina caught a glimpse of—Baden?
Her first thought: He’s come to apologize!
Heart drumming erratically, she jumped to her feet. “Excuse me, gentlemen. Stay,” she told the dogs, not wanting them to become lost in the crowd or to be overlooked and stampeded. She stalked across the room, pushing her way through the crowd...but Baden wasn’t where she’d seen him.
Frowning, trying not to wilt with disappointment, she spun, searching for him. There! In the back, by a closed door. She raced forward—but Baden wasn’t at the door, either. Inside the room? She tested the knob. No lock. Tentative, she entered...an office. Different than the one she’d woken in.
“Hello?”
No response.
There was a desk, two plush chairs and a wall of monitors showing different areas of the club. As she stepped deeper inside, a gust of wind slammed the door shut, and she gasped.
A tall, leanly muscled man with dark hair—no, light hair...no, dark...no, red...no, light again—stepped into view. He wore an expensive suit tailored to his body, and to be honest, he was probably the most beautiful male she’d ever seen. He exuded sex and sophistication and yet, something about him made her shudder with distaste.
“Greetings, Katarina.” His voice was as seductive as the rest of him and drew another shudder from her. “So nice to meet you in person at last.”
“Who are you?” The way he’d just changed his hair...realization struck. He’d pretended to be Baden, hadn’t he? He’d led her back here on purpose. But to what aim?
“I’m the man who wants to help you.”
“Why would you want to help me?”
“Perhaps I misspoke. We can help each other.” He eased into the chair behind the desk and kicked up his legs, revealing Italian loafers. “You might know me as Lucifer.”
Hades’s enemy. Baden’s enemy. Basically: the devil she’d heard about in church.
“Please, have a seat.” He waved a graceful hand. “I’m here to bargain with you, not hurt you.”
Any bargain this male offered would profit him alone, no matter how amazing it seemed to her.
Deception was his specialty.
“No way, no how.” She shook her head in negation. “I’m not interested in anything you have to offer.”
He smirked at her, as if he knew a secret she did not. “The stories about me are exaggerated, I assure you.”
Would say anything...
“You have no interest in saving your man from death?” he asked.
In lieu of an answer, she grabbed the door handle and twisted. Of course, now it was locked.
“Maybe this will change your mind.” He waved his hand a second time, and between one second and another, a dead body appeared on the desktop.
She gasped, horrified. This was a fresh kill, blood still wet and dripping.
Lucifer held up his pinky, a long nail growing from the tip. Gaze on her, he dug the sharpened end into the dead man’s eye socket. As her stomach roiled, he popped the eyeball into his mouth and chewed.
She barely stopped herself from gagging, knowing instinctively he would enjoy such a reaction.
He smiled. “The gooey center is always my favorite. Would you like a taste?”
She ignored the offer, saying, “If only you could see the world through your victim’s point of view.”
“Oh, I can. I do. And I savor every second.”
He’s worse than I expected.
“I’ll never bargain with you.” How did one fight a liar? With truth. Time to hit him where it hurt. “Why would I? You’re weak.” She, better than anyone, knew just how sharply that particular taunt could land. “You failed to defeat the king of angels and got yourself thrown out of the heavens. You can’t even defeat Hades, or you’d have done so already.”