The Devil's Mark (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty Nine: Realization

Lucifer

The phone connected with the receiver on a hard slam that nearly shattered the inanimate object into a million pieces. Mumbling curse words underneath my breath, I shoved myself out of my chair and walked towards the window as I looked out into the world. Far be it from me to just sit here and work while my fiance sits in a doctor's office awaiting test results. Anger flowed through my veins like the dark clouds that quickly rolled in off the ocean as they consumed the entire city in total darkness. I called out to Abigail as she quickly entered the room at a mad dash, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Yes, Mr. Morningstar?"

"Cancel my meetings for today. An urgent matter has come up that requires my full attention."

"Of course, sir. I'll get on it right away."

Abigail backed out of the room as she closed the door with a gentle click. I saved whatever documents I had on my computer to a USB flashdrive and slipped it into the pocket of my jacket before walking out the door. The soft murmurs coming from my employees didn't seem to faze me one bit as I headed for the private elevator and pushed the button for the main lobby. Walking across the marble floor, I gently bumped shoulders with a young nervous intern on my way out the door. Sprinting across the busy street horns honked, drivers cursed and flipped me off. But I wasn't in the mood to deal them, I needed to get home. I had to get home.

I hopped in the driver seat, cranked the engine, and punched the accelerator to the floor as four burning tires laid down some serious rubber on the asphalt. Reaching speeds of a hundred and ten and still climbing, my hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles cracked, turning white as I felt the veins in my temple throb to the point of exploding and killing me instantly. Rain fell from the heavens at a dead weight as I switched on the wipers and came around a tight turn, the back tires struggling to gain traction. It didn't take long for me to reach home as I skidded to a stop, killed the engine, and burst through the front door.

Soaking wet and drenched to the bone, droplets of rainwater pitterpaddered on the clean floor as my voice boomed out into the open air, calling out to Jason. But he wasn't there yet. The house was still too empty. Slamming the front door with a heavy slam, I sighed heavily, clearly frustrated about what was going on with my man. I tried his cell phone but the call quickly got disconnected on account of the weather that was raging outside at this very moment. Going into the kitchen, I grabbed a small glass from the cabinet and went over to the minibar behind the couch and poured myself a drink.

The liquid went down smooth just as it always did like silk. I finished off what remained at the bottom before adding another refill or two in the twenty minutes it took Jason to walk through the door. I was on him in an instant, pinning his body against the archway that connected the foyer with the kitchen and the rest of the house. His eyes stared up at mine but he did not make a sound. I listened to his heart for a minute until I noticed something irregular. There it was. Right there. The powerful rhythm that tried so hard to conceal itself from me. I dropped my arm from his side and placed it on the flat surface of his stomach, holding my breath.

But the instant my palm made contact, I was knocked off my feet and hit the floor as if the wind was knocked out of me. A hand, a tiny hand had reached up and touched my own. Holy shit! I stared up at Jason as if I had seen a ghost. But the look on his face told me that he knew, but that he didn't want to believe it. Hell, I didn't want to believe it either. It took me a while to get to my feet as Jason retired to the upstairs master bedroom. I followed shortly thereafter, my mind adrift, my body numb as the sudden realization of what was going on slapped me across the face like a wakeup call.

A baby. I feared the worst. Whether it would be born human or a demon or possibly both, scared the shit out of me. The door to the bedroom was cracked opened as I stepped inside slowly and scanned the room for Jason. I heard the shower running then turn off as the bathroom door swung open and there stood Jason wearing one of my used dress shirts with the sleeves rolled up and nothing else. He looked drained. Like all the life had just been sucked out of him and all that remained was an animated corpse that was still very much alive. He went to the bed and pulled back the covers before getting into it and laid down on his side.