Lost in Time (Blue Bloods 6)

“Fine. We’ll just kick him back here when he does.” Mimi shrugged and ripped her croissant in half, as if imagining it was their enemy.

Kingsley shook his head. “No. I’ve heard that Lucifer has grander ambitions.”

“Like what?” Oliver wanted to know.

The Duke of Hell frowned. “I’ve heard rumors that they’ve created new weapons that can be used against the divine—even more powerful than the White Fire of Heaven—and that he is gathering his demons for battle.”

“So if it’s war he wants, he’ll have it. This is it, then. Apocalypse. We’ll ready the horses,” Mimi said.

“No. Lucifer has no more interest in the mid-world,”

Kingsley said, looking around nervously, as if spies were all around.

“No? Why not?” asked Oliver. “Humans have ruined it too much?” He smiled at his joke.

Kingsley did not find it amusing and did not respond to the crack. “I fear it’s something much more precious.” He paused to let it sink in. “The Dark Prince is preparing to conquer Paradise.”

“But how?” Mimi asked. She tossed her half-eaten croissant back on her plate, having lost her appetite at the news.

“That’s impossible. Paradise is closed to the Fallen. If the angels cannot be redeemed, how can the demons and the Corrupted even get close to Eden? There’s no way. They won’t be able to find it. No one can.”

“I don’t know. They don’t trust me enough to tell me their plans,” Kingsley said, frustrated. “But they are confident of victory.”

FORTY-TWO

A Phone Call

When Allegra returned home to Riverside Drive, Ben was waiting for her. He was sitting on the stoop and he had his hands folded in his lap. “I know where you were last night,” he said. “I know you went to him….”

“It’s not like that….”

“It’s all right. Please. It’s killing me. I don’t even know what to make of it. I don’t want to know what to make of it,”

Ben said. “But it’s sick, whatever is between you guys. It’s not… right.”

“Ben, please.”

“But hear me out—” Ben coughed into his handkerchief.

Allegra saw that the cloth was red with blood. He’d started coughing last week and was supposed to go to a doctor, but had been too busy to take care of it. Allegra would have to remind him. It was beginning to worry her so much that she didn’t even want to think about it.

She led him inside the town house, and they sat together in Cordelia’s formal living room.

“Allegra,” Ben said. It hurt her to hear her full name from his lips. He’d never called her that before. “I will love you no matter what. I don’t care that you were with Charles last night.

I don’t. I just want you,” he said.

Allegra swallowed her tears. She couldn’t do it, she thought. She couldn’t. She’d been so sure when she’d left Charles that she would renew her bond with him again, that she had chosen the right path, but now, seeing Ben, her resolve wavered. She couldn’t leave Ben. She loved him too much. Just then, the upstairs phone rang. It was the Conclave line, that only the Venators and Wardens used.

“Ben, I’m so sorry. I have to take this. I think it’s important.”

Ben waved his hand. “Go ahead,” he said, coughing again.

She ran upstairs and picked up the receiver. “Yes?”

“Martin here. Sorry to bother you, but I thought you might find this interesting,” Kingsley said. “I wanted to tell you before I left for my next assignment and forgot about it.”

“This isn’t a good time,” she said. “Can it wait?”