Free Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers Page B

back His image: immense with steaming, black, leathery skin that seems to absorb all the light and radiate it back out of His sharp, angular face through glowing green cat’s eyes. His twisted bloodred horns are encircled within a spiked golden coronet. When His clawed feet touch down, He folds His wings and stalks slowly and silently toward me, like a panther approaching its prey.
    “Yes, my liege,” I reply.
    “And you’re certain this is the one we seek?” His hiss sends ice up my spine despite Hell’s two-thousand-degree heat.
    It’s only at this second, confronted with the question, that I realize I have nothing to offer as evidence that Frannie is The One. I’ve always relied heavily on instinct, and my instincts have never steered me wrong. Now would not be a good time to question them.
    “Yes, my liege.” I stifle the sudden urge to ask why He wants her so badly.
    As He passes within a few feet of me, I feel the crackle of electricity—His power—pass between us like a thousand tiny lightning bolts. My own energy surges.
    “Rise,” He commands, and I’m helpless not to. I watch as He ascends the many stairs to the high throne and throws Himself into it, morphing from His natural form to His human shell—very Zeus-like: long white hair and beard; strong, angularface; and long, flowing red robes cloaking a powerful build. But the glowing green cat’s eyes don’t change. I feel them as they study me.
    “How long?” He barks deeply from on high, his voice changing with his form.
    “Not long, my liege.” No need to share that Gabriel is running interference and possibly stretching my timeline a bit.
    “Excellent.” He’s silent for a moment, and I’m hoping to be dismissed, but I feel a growing sense of unease as His eyes bore through the top of my bowed head. “Lucifer . . .” He says pensively, “I think you’ve been underappreciated. Beherit is loathe to give credit where credit is due, but I believe you’ve been a valuable asset in Acquisitions.”
    As He pauses again, I find myself becoming even more uncomfortable, unsure where He’s going with this. Finally, He stands theatrically and makes His way back down the stairs, long red robes flowing behind—all for show, since He could phase down in a heartbeat if He so chose—until He’s standing in front of me. Evil radiates off of Him in waves, saturating my mind with dark ideas and clouding my ability to think for myself.
    “Look at me, Lucifer.”
    Even if I wanted to, I could not disobey. I raise my head and look Him in His deep green eyes, bracing myself against the sudden rush of power as He scrutinizes me. A heinous grin stretches across His face as His energy courses through me.
    “Yes. Just as I thought.” He turns His back.
    My legs go soft, and I feel myself sway nearly to the point of falling as He releases me.
    “I’m in need of some new blood on my council, Lucifer. Doesthat appeal to you—a post on my council? Maybe head of Acquisitions?”
    It’s work to keep my face placid—expressionless—as I process that. My boss’s job. It’s what I wanted—what
every
creature of pride wants. So, why is it terror I feel at the prospect of being on the council—under His constant scrutiny?
No!
    “Yes, my liege.”
    “It will be your reward, then, when you bring her to me.” He paces a wide circle and stops behind me. Suddenly, He sounds weary. “Do you have any idea how tiresome it is to always be second?”
    There is no answer to that, and He’s not expecting one. I stand motionless as stone and wait for Him to come to the point.
    “Since the Beginning, the Creator has had all the power.” All my hair stands on end as His power surges and His voice crescendos up to its usual boom. He continues His circle and stands in front of me. Rage etches deep creases between His full, white brows. “It’s my turn. This is my chance. I
will be
out from under Him—finally. We won’t have to abide by His rules any