Of Light And Shadows

Chapter Twenty Six...

"I was worried about you the whole time," Jia insisted. "I have so much to tell you."

Evan sat back on the bed and patted the mattress beside him, inviting her to follow. She settled herself on the blankets and told him everything that had happened to her since they'd arrived in the Demonic Realm.

He listened intently throughout, a low, inhuman growl rumbling through him when she revealed the extent of the abuse she'd suffered while living with Abaddon. She left out the details about the pact with Lucifer and Satan's visit. For his part, Louie listened silently, his eyes on them as he leaned back against the wall by the door. When she was finished Evan shook his head.

"Who would've thought this whole time you weren't Lotura at all?"

"I know. It's no wonder I failed the Empath exam," she chuckled.

"So you've known Lucifer for years then?"

"Yeah. We met when I was twelve. He found me the night I lost my memory and brought me here. We've been friends ever since." She turned and beamed fondly at him. He gave her the faintest smile before his eyes flickered to Evan, but the warmth in it made her heart squeeze.

"And the other guys, the ones with yellow and purple eyes that helped us in the alley. They're Demons too?" Evan asked.

"Yeah. Their names are Mammon and Belphegor and I have a pact with both of them. They insisted on it so they could look after me." She held her hands out to show him the new mark on her palm. "That's what these are."

"I always thought that was a weird place to get a tattoo," Evan chuckled. "I'm glad there was someone looking out for you when I couldn't." His eyes flickered to Lucifer who gazed back coolly, his expression calm and completely neutral. Evan frowned. "You're looking at me funny," he said abruptly.

"My face was blank," Lucifer replied.

"Yeah, but I can still tell you're resisting the urge to knock my head off." Evan sounded defensive and a flicker of nerves settled in Jia's stomach.

"I'm not resisting anything. If you'd like I can look at something else?" He kept his tone polite, but Jia realised immediately that Lucifer didn't like Evander at all, though he hid it well enough that Evan couldn't have noticed without knowing him better.

"Am I doing something wrong?" Evan asked. There was an odd harshness to his tone that made her frown.

Lucifer was obviously not friends with Evander, but he wasn't being hostile. In fact he was leaning casually against the wall with his hands in his pockets, the very opposite of hostile. There was no need for the anger.

"No," Louie answered, shrugging.

"Then why am I getting on your nerves?"

"Excuse me," Jia said, rolling her eyes to disguise how tense she was. "I haven't seen you in weeks and all you're doing is focussing on your male bravado. Pay attention to me."

"Yes, your highness," Evan answered, mock bowing as he grinned at her. The anger was still there but it faded a bit as he turned back to her.

"That's more like it." She leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder and he responded automatically by putting an arm around her. She saw Lucifer's head tilt a fraction but he remained silent, his face blank.

Evan still seemed to sense his reaction somehow and pulled her closer, smirking at the Demon. She frowned, unused to him behaving that way.

"What're you reading?" she asked to distract him.

"It's a book on Shifters," Evan answered. "I looked for it everywhere in the human world and never found it. That nurse with the green hair brought it in for me. Sellik."