Lucifer's Bride [Complete]

70

I shake off my nerves and try to plan my attack. Leyna is glaring at me now -- it's strange to see my own body looking so angry when I'm not in control -- and she looks ready to tear my heart out. I'm not shaken by her obvious hatred. I'm too pissed to be scared of this whiney little home wrecker. Besides, her dad never taught her how to fight.

Screaming out her rage, Leyna charges at me, swinging wildly and trying to scare me off. I'm caught by surprise by her ferocity, but I manage to duck and doge out of the way and land another good smack to her face. She stumbles back again but keeps her balance, though I can see in her -- my -- eyes that she's surprised that I can fight back so well. I send her a caustic smile and take a defensive stance, wanting to end this as quickly as possible.

This time, I'm caught off guard. Still clearly possessing her demonic powers, Leyna charges at me quickly, moving so fast that she almost disappears for an instant before flickering back into view and landing a solid punch on my cheek. I'm sent flying across the room from her strength, luckily caught in the strong arms of my husband before I can smash into the marble wall. He steadies me, placing his hands on my shoulders so I can gain my balance again.

At this point, I silently thank that asshole that he calls his father for creating him. Without him, I may not walk away from this.

As my head clears, I see Leyna staring daggers at Lucifer. She's furious because he's siding with me. The idiot's forgotten that despite having my body, Leyna doesn't have my soul. Lucifer could never lover her. She's too cold, too selfish and too rotten to ever give him the TLC he needs. Even if she owned my body, my mind and my soul, she could never be me.

Stepping out of my husband's gentle embrace, the need to strangle this woman almost driving me nuts. I charge at her, giving another good shot to her face and sending her stumbling back. She groans a bit, but recovers and races toward me, missing my face with her fist but managing to scratch my face as a cheap shot.

I cry out, and stumble back, blocking another punch with one hand, while cradling my face with my other. She's scratched me hard enough draw blood, but it's not enough to do any real damage. I pull myself up and we both retreat to our corners, our chests heaving and out eyes watering from the flurry of blows we've taken.

Lucifer steps behind me and pulls me into his embrace, sweeping his wings around me to shield me in case psycho-bitch decides to take another free shot. The chill from his skin shock me awake a bit, forcing my nerves to respond and the gears in my head to start turning.

I stare at Leyna, confused, exhausted and annoyed. Neither of us is going to back down, no matter how many punches we throw. This punch-fest could go on for decades and we'd still be going at it. There's got to be another way to break her down and get my body back.

Maybe...

An idea clicks into my head, one so simple I almost burst out laughing. As much as I want to, I don't need to fight Leyna; I need to get my body back. If kissing me switched us the first time, maybe it will work again.

"Let me go," I whisper.

Lucifer tightens his grip on me. "Amelia."

"I have an idea." My voice is stronger than I feel.

He hesitates, but relents and releases me from his delicious hold. Straightening my spine, I storm over to Leyna, a deep, sarcastic smile plastered to my face. She sees me and bolts upright, her face twisting into a mask of rage. When I come within ten feet of her, she starts screaming at me and throwing wily, directionless punches. I bob and weave easily, making my way closer to her with every step.

Finally, I make it all the way through her gauntlet and come right up to her face, staring into my hate-filled eyes. She growls at me and throws one last punch. I dodge and make my own move, wrapping my hand around her neck and pulling her close. Taking one final breath and mentally crossing my fingers, I press my mouth to her.

The world goes black for an instant, and a bolt of lightening rips through me. I'm weightless for an instant, then incredibly heavy. I'm hit with another bolt of electricity, then I'm jerked backward out of the darkness and into a blinding white light...

I flick my eyes open, staring down at Leyna as my bearings start to roll back into place. I'm dizzy, but my senses slowly come back to me. I can hear my own ragged breathing, feel the beat of my heart in my chest, and feel the soft silk of my gown rubbing against my skin.

Curious, I look down to see that I'm dressed in my usual corset dress. My chest is bursting out as usual, and my own dark brown hair is tickling my shoulders. Looking up, I see Leyna staring up at me, her yellow eyes misty and unfocused, her cherry-red hair wild and unkempt.

YES!

Relief floods through me. I'm back! I've got my own body again! Finally! I almost break way from Leyna and start dancing. After all this fighting and arguing and tears, all it took was a simple kiss to set things straight. I nearly smack myself. Usually, I hate when things are this easy, but right now I'm too ecstatic to care. I've got my own body back and that's enough reason to celebrate.

Leyna's soft moan interrupts my internal celebration. My attention snaps to her, and I watch as she slowly recovers from our switch. Her eyes flicker as she adjusts to her new surrounding, widening when she sees me staring down at her. She gasps, snapping her head down to see herself dressed in her old clothes. She looks up at me, fear, anger and confusion in her eyes.

I smile warmly at her. "Welcome back."

She glares up at me, but my smile never fades.Instead, I curl my hand behind my back, cock my arm as far as it will go, anddeliver the hardest punch I've ever given. Leyna cries out and stumblesbackwards, crumpling to the floor and cradling her face. I smile proudly, elatedto know I'm back and she's down.

I step forward, intending to haul her ass offthe floor and smack her again, when the fabric of my dress brushes against mynipples. There's no tug from my piercing, no shivers racing up my spine fromthe fabric. I screech to a halt, looking down at my chest as I pull the bodiceof my dress away. My breasts are plain, my nipples their usual rosy pink. Butno gold, no stones. All the effort and care Lucifer used to adorn my skin isgone.

I've gone from mad to furious. She's taken outthe few things that symbolize my union with Lucifer, the one way I could proveto the world that we belonged to each other. I snap my head up to stare at her,my eyes narrowing as I give her my you're-fucking-dead glare.

"Lucifer," my tone is surprisinglyeven despite my anger. "She took out my piercings."