The Devil's Assistant (Watty Awards Finalist 2011)

Devil's Assistant [15]

Chapter 15

The smell of bacon drew me from sleep. My nose wrinkled slightly as I sniffed before cracking my eyes open as I felt a tugging on my arm. Through the gap in my lids I could see a blurry figure sitting on the edge of the bed. I quickly snapped my eyes shut when I felt the bed dip as the person moved closer and then I was startled when I felt large soft fingers smooth hair from my face before moving down my cheek and then stroking across my chin.

“Wake up sleepy, breakfast is ready.” A deep voice murmured and I couldn’t stop the small smile that graced my lips as I arched off of the bed slightly as I stretched my arms above my head and pulled open my eyes to stare into Lucius’ eyes.

“Morning to you too.” I mumbled as I dragged myself into a sitting position and Lucius pulled his hand from my face.

“You best get up and sort yourself out because we’ve got plans to make today. I’ll send my little blonde friend in with some clothes in a bit but you shouldn’t tell her anything that we discovered. Remember what He said only you, me, Gabriel and Ezekiel can be trusted.” He gazed into my eyes as he moved back slightly so that he could take in all of me. “I have to say that even with the bed head you look cute. And you’re looking much better today than you were yesterday.” He reached out and stroked my cheek as he talked before bringing his hand down and running across the bare flesh of my arm that was supposed to wrapped in bandages but all of the wrappings were gone and all that remained was flesh that looked like melted cheese, the surface wrinkled and discoloured where it had been red and tender the day before.

I reached down and brushed my hand over the scar tissue, shivering as I felt the uneven skin under my fingertips. A gasp escaped my lips and I looked up at Lucius with widened eyes.

“How?”

He just smiled down at me, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear before moving away. “You’ve been touched by the hand of God. You are his chosen, the protected one. Although he cannot restore what is lost, he can help heal.”

I nodded dumbly like I already knew all that when in reality, I had never been a big one on faith and now I am being forced into a world where demons and angels are very much real and I couldn’t stop feeling a little overwhelmed about it all.

“So…you’re the devil…” I trailed off not knowing where else to go, removing my gaze from his as I awkwardly shuffled towards the edge of the bed. Swinging my feet over the edge I started to stand only for warm fingers to curl around my wrist and tugged me back so I ended up sprawled on the bed with my feet in the air and Lucius leaning over me, his eyes boring into mine.

“I am but I am not what lore has made me out to be. I can be bad but so can any other being but if you think back to the stories which for once they got right, I used to be an angel, the only difference is I fell in love and to be with that person, I lost my wings. Bad things happened but lets just say my love was unrequited and in anger and rage I became a corrupted soul, barred forever from my home. He felt pity for me and allowed me some power back but only if I would hold dominion over those who were not worthy to be within the gates, he said that it was my chance for redemption so of course I took the offer.” Lucius’ eyes bored into me but at the same time it was like he wasn’t actually seeing me and I couldn’t help but wonder why he was giving me his life story.

Reaching out a hand I placed it on his arm and squeezing it whilst giving him a smile. “I am sure you have earned your redemption and I am sorry about the woman. She was obviously not worth your love.”

He gave a smile before backing off and closing up again, his face now looking more like gabriel’s as he shut himself off from the slip he just made into becoming more personal, not that he could become more personal unless we kissed and got married which is definitely never going to happen. He is already becoming a big part of my life and not in a romantic way but for some reason, I feel like I can rely on him and know that if something was to happen to me, he would make sure Danny was taken care of. It was bizarre because most of the time that I see him he is there with his tongue down someone else’s throat but I think because of the circumstances and that he has been there every time to save me, I just feel that he will always be there for me.