Page 28 of Rattlin' Bones
I lifted my arms, blinking as the fiery fabric rolled across my body, almost like a caress. If I didn’t know better, I would think this material was alive. Not in the way that humans live and breathe but in spiritual awareness, as if it was an entity with thoughts, feelings, and desires.
Creepy. Disturbing. Attractive.
“Who are you?”
He smiled as his face formed from shadow into a man’s features. I wondered why he looked so familiar until I realized he favored a picture of my father in his youth when he was a new Marine fresh out of boot camp. I’d stared at the photo many times over the years, always proud of the man I called dad.
This wasn’t my father.
“Who the hell are you?” I repeated, growing agitated.
The being snapped his fingers. “Lucifer Morningstar.” He clicked his heels together as his body blinked, and he appeared in a dark gray suit, lavender-colored tie, and bright white pocket handkerchief. His polished shoes shined in the fading sunlight. Somehow, the day faded into night faster than time would typically allow.
Stars populated the sky as the orange ball disappeared beneath the horizon. The moon suddenly appeared, far too big and luminous. This was fucking weird.
“You loved the stars and moon as a child.”
I did.
“You also loved to dissect things in school. Blood never scared you. Neither did the bones.”
“What relevance does that have to anything?”
He winked. “I think you’re an impressive addition to our club. You’re the perfect skeletal warrior. A man wrapped in honor but unafraid to kill. Moral but easily corruptible. Intelligent but unafraid to be violent when the situation warrants.”
Wonderful. The devil thought I was fun, contradictory, and a plaything. He could fuck right off with that.
I tried to pull off the robe, but it wouldn’t budge. “I’m outta here.”
“You shouldn’t refuse my offer.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can save Lacey.”
I rushed him, pissed he spoke her name. “I said you don’t say it. You don’t think it. You don’t go anywhere near my woman.”
Lucifer flicked his wrist, and a parchment shot out of his hand. I could see a contract with all the details spelled out, every way in which he owned the people who signed these documents. He provided protection in exchange for shadow warriors.
“And if I decide I don’t want this offer?”
Lucifer smiled. “Her life is fragile. I don’t know.”
Fuck! “Let me see the contract.”
He pushed it toward me, pacing as I read it, not worried, just bored. He already knew I would sign it. The crafty, sneaky bastard threw in a clause that ensured Lacey would survive as long as I carried shadows.
My shadows. Dark entities that would live inside me. They had secrets I couldn’t access without agreeing to the contract and signing in my blood.
Fuck it. If I got to be with Lacey, this was worth it.
I picked off a scab on my wrist and swiped a finger through the fresh blood. Without hesitating, I signed my name, not a bit surprised when the blood sizzled on the paper, and all of it disappeared.
“We’ll meet again, Skeletor. Enjoy your new shadows.”
He flicked me in the forehead, and I jolted, blinking as I focused on Manic, Creature, and Maddog.
“Fuck me,” I growled. “Lucifer is a dick.”