Lucifer Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
Heavy fog rolled in, making the abandoned street eerier than it already was. The change in weather had happened right around the time Nadia began searching for the address scribbled on the crumpled piece of paper. The silence in this particular area seemed—wrong. Why the hell was an ordinarily bustling city dead before eight p.m.? It didn’t make sense.
A cool wind kicked up, rattling trash cans clustered on the sidewalk’s edge. Their rancid odor hit her nose and had the audacity to linger.
The soft swish of rubber soles hitting pavement drifted to her, and Nadia shuddered. The chill in her bones had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with the echoing footfalls behind her. Her instincts were screaming at her to do something. Anything.
“This is every horror film come to life,” she muttered.
She slipped a hand inside her bag and fumbled for one of three dumbass deterrents. Her shaking fingers closed around the can of pepper spray. Not the taser—where the hell was the taser?—but it would have to be good enough.
The dull gray mist deepened the shadows along the sidewalk, forcing her to squint at building numbers as she hurried past. Whoever had trailed her for the last three blocks had her nerves frayed. She considered ducking into an alley, but unfamiliar territory and blind trust in a map app didn’t exactly scream survival savvy.
Nadia picked up the pace.
And with a sickening dread, she registered that the footsteps had sped up and matched hers.
If she didn’t find this damn coffee shop soon, she was going to faint from her building anxiety. At this point, she’d take any lit storefront. Preferably one packed with witnesses.
Should she turn and confront whoever was behind her?
Christ, no!
She wasn’t that brave. Her framed portrait hung in a position of honor in the Chicken Shit Hall of Fame.
She exhaled a shaky breath.
Screw it.
It was time to run or risk becoming a cautionary tale in a Dateline episode. If she didn’t trip over air—her standard party trick—she probably stood a 1:100 chance of getting away.
The boarded-up, puke-green exterior of the next building made her heart sink. Not a single pane of intact glass. Nothing reflective to sneak a peek and check her stalker’s distance.
There was no doubt about it. She was hopelessly lost.
With no options left, she bolted. Arms and legs pumped in time to her hammer heart. Her pulse thundered in her ears and made her deaf to all else around her, so she risked a quick glance over her shoulder.
Empty sidewalk.
Had they turned back, or circled around to intercept her?
Though she hated to, she ran faster.
A massive figure appeared out of the shadows.
One second, her sensible shoes were pounding the pavement, and the next, she’d plowed into a six-foot-six brick wall, promptly landing on her back.
The wind rushed out of her lungs in a squeaky, undignified oof. Her arms flailed outward, and her little metal canister clanked as it rolled away with her last hope of defending herself.
Right along with whatever dignity she possessed.
She was going to die. Right here on the disgusting sidewalk. Hair coated with who-knew-what and her life’s potential unfulfilled.
Fucking fabulous.
A feline yowled, followed by the crash of a trash can off to her right.
Time ticked by with no fangs, stabbing, or ungodly screams, namely her own. And when her attack no longer seemed imminent, she risked a peek. First one eye, then the other.
The man standing above her—towering, really—had raised his brows in mild amusement.
What the hell? How was he still standing? At five-foot-nine, she wasn’t exactly delicate. Didn’t some law of physics state that an object in motion stayed in motion unless interrupted by an immovable object? Apparently, this guy was Newton’s nightmare.
“Are you all right?” he asked in a deep, raspy, sex-on-black-satin-sheets voice.
A sudden tingling started in her toes and spread upward in a wave of glorious betrayal. It felt a lot like the beginning of an orgasm, and Nadia waited a few heartbeats to see how it ended.
The stranger cleared his throat and compressed his lips.
“Miss?”
She scrambled upright, dusting off her slacks and trying not to think about what might be sticking to her hair.
God, don’t let it be gum!
Suppressing a shudder, she sighed.
“Yeah, I’m good.” She shot a glance behind her. “Or I would be, if I wasn’t lost.”
“Lost?”
She gasped at her stupidity. Idiot! Why not wear a neon sign that said, “Take advantage of me, I’m new here?”
“Perhaps I may assist you,” he offered.
His voice sent another shiver through her that had nothing to do with fear. Jesus, her hormones were drunk.
“Assistance would’ve been great twenty seconds ago,” she muttered.
He hadn’t even offered a hand to help her up. However, given that she’d run into him, she’d let bygones be bygones if he could provide her with directions to the damned coffee shop.
Headlights from a passing car swept over him.
She sucked in a breath. Sweet mother of abs. He was stunning!
Black hair, a little longer than the current fashion dictated. Aquiline nose. High cheekbones. And a mouth that probably had its own fan club. When he smiled, it was all gleaming white teeth and weaponized charm.
And those shoulders…
Big, broad, Olympic-gymnast deltoids that made her want to cancel her Netflix subscription and just stare.
Her brain short-circuited. She may have drooled.
He snorted, and for one horrified moment, she feared she’d uttered the last part aloud. Judging by his twitching lips, she had.
Nadia closed her eyes.
How did one ask if they’d said something inappropriate?
They didn’t.
They pretended nothing untoward had taken place and moved on.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He cocked his head and studied her as if she were a foreign species. Perhaps to him, she was. Based on his light accent, he wasn’t American by birth. Although for the life of her, she couldn’t place where his origin might be.
Another set of headlights swept the two of them, and a soft scarlet glow reflected back from his shadowy gaze. All the terrifying images of being murdered where she stood flooded back.
The red flare had to be a trick of the light, right?
Her mind immediately went to vampires and other horrifying things that went bump in the night. No more horror flicks for her. Starting now!
She was quickly losing the battle not to freak right the fuck out.
“Um, if you d-don’t mind, I need to be g-going,” she stuttered.
“I thought you were lost,” he replied, his voice heavy with amusement.
Well, yeah, there was that one pesky detail.
“What is the address you are looking for?” he asked kindly.
“Sixteen-eleven Livingston Street.”
“I was heading that way. I would be happy to escort you.”
Should she stay in this man’s presence for another second? What she could see of his wicked smile was doing weird things to her internal wiring. Part of her wanted to throw herself in his arms for saving her, but she wasn’t quite sure he had. He could’ve been in league with her stalker.
Another set of headlights showed the concerned expression on his chiseled features.
The war waged inside: to trust or not to trust, that was the question.
Surely, anyone who looked like him wasn’t a serial killer, right?
Remember Ted Bundy, Nadia. He had charm as well as looks.
The stranger’s lips tightened, and he cast his eyes skyward.
Heat flooded her cheeks. She’d always been told her thoughts were written all over her face, and she was reasonably certain her serial-killer conflict had been reflected there as well.
No doubt, he was having an inward laugh at her expense.
“What’s your name?” she demanded.
He tilted his head. The action caused his hair to swing forward. It brought with it the scent of apples, cinnamon, and heavenly spices.
Nadia inhaled deeply.
The man smelled like warm apple pie—her favorite.
“Luc.”
“Huh?”
“My name is Luc.”
“Oh! Yeah, I’m Nadia.”
“Nadia.” He tried her name on for size, and she liked the sound of it on his lips. His accent made the three-syllable name into two. It sounded more like Nahd-ya. “Come, Nadia. I will see you safely to your destination.”
“Thank you.”
“The Blend is very popular. Am I to assume you are new to the city since you don’t know its location?”
Should she tell the truth? There’s nothing like identifying yourself as a newbie. She might as well tell him she didn’t know anyone in town and set herself up as the perfect murder victim while she was at it.
“You are smart to be cautious,” he said warmly, correctly guessing the reason for her silence. “I only inquired because if you haven’t found permanent lodgings, I can direct you to my realtor. I have recently relocated here myself.”
She smiled for the first time since meeting him.
“A kindred spirit,” she quipped. She liked the idea of forming a bond with someone else in the city. “And I haven’t yet. The few places I’ve looked at should’ve been condemned long ago. I’m still staying at a hotel.”
Luc smiled but, unlike her, didn’t slow his pace.
Nadia increased her speed to keep up with his long stride. “Have you already found a place through your realtor?”
“I did. The complex was recently completed, and the flats are leasing fast. But I’m sure I can put in a good word for you,” he offered. He shot her a sideways glance and arched a brow. “One kindred spirit to another.”
“I don’t want to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble, I assure you.” He stopped and nodded to the lit storefront across the road. “The Blend is behind you, just there.”
Nadia looked up into Luc’s beautiful face, no longer in shadow. He was breathtakingly handsome, and she couldn’t seem to stop staring. They stood locked in the moment, each studying the other silently.
With a flick of his wrist, he produced a business card. “Gloria will take good care of you.”
“Gloria?”
“My realtor.”
“Oh! Yeah. Right. Thanks.” She accepted the card, and if she hadn’t already looked like a complete tool, she’d have smacked her forehead.
“Goodnight, Nadia. No more running down dark, abandoned walkways, all right?”
“That’s a sound plan. One that I intend to follow,” she assured him with a light laugh. “Thanks again, Luc. I’d still be wandering, lost and terrified, if you hadn’t come along.”
“My pleasure.” He leaned against the lamppost and crossed his arms over his chest as if he had no intention of leaving. The casual pose strained the shoulders of his suit jacket.
Nadia barely curbed an appreciative sigh.
Oddly, she wanted to linger, but she was already late for an interview. At this rate, she’d never get a job. “I have to go,” she said.
His curious gaze traveled the length of her body and settled back on her face.
“Why?”
“Excuse me?” Had he really asked her why she had to go?
“Why do you have to leave? Are you meeting someone? A date, do you call it?”
“In a manner of speaking. It’s a job interview.”
He frowned. “At quarter past eight? What company interviews candidates in the evening hours?”
Nadia glanced over her shoulder at the coffeehouse.
He’d asked her the same question she’d asked herself when she set out to find the place a half-hour earlier. “It does seem shady, doesn’t it?”
“Did you research your potential employer, Nadia?”
“I didn’t have time. The call came as I was having dinner. I walked straight here.”
He sighed heavily, as if she were the veriest of morons.
“Tell me. Why were you running earlier?”
“I heard footsteps behind me. I’m sure it was only my imagination, but I got spooked.”
Luc straightened and cast a critical eye over the storefront window across the way. “Were you to meet a man or a woman?”
“Man.”
“Description?”
“He said he had sandy-brown hair and that he’d be wearing a blue suit.”
“I see no one fitting your description, Nadia.” He gave her a troubled look. “Do you think it’s possible you were set up?”
She spun and frantically searched the seating area of the coffee shop.
He was right.
Moisture burned her eyes, and she closed her lids against the sting of the tears.
What an idiot!
She’d wanted a decent-paying job so badly that she never questioned the bizarre circumstances.
“You must think I’m stupid.” Her face burned with embarrassment. Who didn’t research a company before accepting an interview?
“No. Eager to find employment, and perhaps a bit naive, but not stupid.”
The sympathy in his voice caused her stomach to hurt.
Silly, silly Nadia. Always doing foolish things.
“I’m always trusting the wrong people,” she admitted. “For all I know, you could be the Devil himself, and I’d be here making friends.”
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