“Nathaniel is mine. He’s always been mine. If it wasn’t for me, he’d be nothing.”
Val crossed her arms. “And again . . . your point?”
Yasmeen’s eyes turned fiery and Val decided right then and there that she was sick and tired of looking at flames in people’s eyes. It just wasn’t right. It made her go all teary and in need of large doses of Visine.
The demon’s expression darkened with pure hatred and her eyes reflected Hell itself. “I am going to destroy you.”
Val gulped. “You mean we can’t be best friends?”
Yasmeen stormed toward Val.
Reggie suddenly leapt forward and grabbed Yasmeen’s arm, succeeding in dropping the tray that covered his butt. “Don’t touch her, you bitch.”
She raised an eyebrow. “How quaint.” She flicked a finger at him and he flew across the room, his remaining McDonald’s tray and all.
“Excuse me,” Claire said softly.
“What now?” Yasmeen turned to her.
“Nobody beats up my boyfriend except me.” Her eyes narrowed and Val felt a wave of energy jump off her. Yasmeen gasped, stared at Val for a last frozen moment, and . . .
. . . Fizzled out.
Vanquished by the fast-food witch.
Claire collapsed to her knees on the floor. “That shit sure takes it out of me.” She fell to her side, closed her eyes, and immediately started to snore.
Reggie scrambled for the handmade afghan that was draped across the armchair, wrapped it around his waist, and stared down at his girlfriend.
“My beautiful snookums saves the day.” He glanced up at Val. “I really have to make sure not to piss her off anymore. She is one scary woman.”
Val glanced over at Lisa in the corner, then turned to run outside. Julian had Nathaniel pinned to the ground over by the pool, his hands tightly around Nathaniel’s neck.
Nathaniel ground his thumbs into Julian’s eyes who then screamed and let him go. They scowled at each other.
“You are so whipped,” Julian snapped. “It’s sad, really.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“Yeah, I’m so jealous. Not!”
Lisa touched Val’s arm. “Why, Val? Why did you stop me from going through the doorway?”
Val turned to look at her. Poor Lisa who’d gotten a raw deal and regretted being tempted.
Who just wanted a second chance.
She shrugged the girl’s hand away.
“Fallen angels are fallen for a reason,” Val told her. “And sweetie, I’ve learned way too much in the past couple of days about false exteriors. So why don’t you quit the act?”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Val just fixed her with an icy glare. “Drop it. I saw your flamey eyes inside—you must have lost your concentration or something. Had me going, too. I thought you were a fallen angel all this time. I should have believed Nathaniel when he said he didn’t remember tempting you.
Because he didn’t, did he?”
“Val,” Reggie said off to her left, struggling to keep his afghan up. Behind him the boys continued to fight and verbally taunt each other, though neither seemed to be winning. “Why are you being so mean to her?”
Val sighed. “I’ve had a really lousy day.”
Lisa smiled then, just a small smile that blossomed into a full-fledged grin. “You are wrong about one thing, Val.”
“Oh? And what might that be?”
“I was once a fallen angel.”
Lisa shimmered as her glamour shifted, and she became taller, broader, thicker. Her red hair turned blond, so bright in color that it hurt Val’s eyes. Her feminine features became masculine. And perfect. He was incredibly handsome, but . . . there was something about the way this man looked. His beauty was so acute it was nearly painful. Looking at him didn’t fill
Val with light, it filled her with dread, and goose bumps formed on her arms. Though it was already cool outside and a few snowflakes were drifting down from the clouds above, a deeper chill now spread across the motel grounds as she faced the being in front of her. His eyes were all fire as he stared at her and Val got the strange impression that this is how his eyes always were. All of the time.
“Damn,” Val finally managed to say.
Lucifer shrugged and looked down at himself. “You don’t like?”
She swallowed. Hard. “Um, I guess I’m just a little speechless.”
“I tend to have that effect on people.”
Reggie cleared his throat nervously. “This is just like Scooby-Doo. Only evil and really scary.”
“I thought Lisa used to be a maid here,” Val said after a moment.
“She was. I believe she eloped with her boyfriend to Montreal. I thought the glamour would help me get a little undercover work done.”
Her feet didn’t seem to be working anymore. Not that she could have run away from freaking
Lucifer if she tried. But it would have been nice to have had the option. “What kind of undercover work?”
He glanced over at the two demons who hadn’t noticed the major change to the cast of characters yet. “It’s not easy being me, I’ll have you know, Valerie. You know Donald
Trump? All the businesses he oversees? That’s nothing compared to what I have to do. So many employees to keep an eye on in case they’re up to something. That usually takes most of my time. Your side isn’t the only one interested in keeping the balance, you know. I like things just the way they are and I work hard to ensure it stays that way. However, every now and again there is something too interesting added into the mix that requires me to take an extra look. You, for instance.”
Val frowned. “Me? What for?”
“You because you were a fallen angel without a crime. That so rarely happens, it’s a national event when it does.”