Lucifer? Suddenly alarms are ringing in my head. I work to stay calm. Panicking isn’t going to help anything. I feel the weight of the crucifix against my chest and breathe into it. “Yeah, I guess. Sorry. But what about Riley and Trevor? They’re just as bad.” I watch for Taylor’s reaction.
They share a quick glance, then Taylor turns back to me with a grin and says, “Yeah. I had to kidnap her too.”
Wrong reaction. Shit! And as I look at her, I notice for the first time that her eyes are glowing red. Just a little behind her gray irises, but enough that it’s just noticeable in the shadows of the car.
I don’t know what’s going on, except I’m pretty sure I’m screwed.
I look for a spot to bail, but by now we’re out of town and there are no more stop signs. We’re heading out into the middle of nowhere. Riley’s driving much faster than usual, or I’d open the door and jump. I’m trying not to freak as I look out at our surroundings. and then I get it. We’re heading up to the quarry.
We park near the trail into the swimming pit, and I open the door and start to move away from the car.
Taylor-or whoever this is-swings behind me in a flash. “Hey, where you going?”
That’s a really good question. Where am I going? I look up the dirt road. The main road is at least half a mile away and the dense woods are quiet. Too early for the groups of summer swimmers. There’s nowhere to run. “Nowhere. So, what are we doing here?”
“Just hanging out. Maybe skinny-dipping. Sound good?”
Yeah, sounds great. “Not really up for skinny-dipping. Water’s freezing.”
Taylor shoots a glance at Riley, and her eyes flash red. “We’ll have to huddle up for body heat,” she says with a lascivious grin.
This is bad. I watch Riley slide her keys into the pocket of her cutoff shorts as she heads up the path. Taylor is hanging back, waiting for me to go first. I follow Riley, trying to figure out how to get those keys.
We wind our way down the wooded path, and when we get to the quarry, Taylor saunters over to the edge and sits on a rock. Her eyes flash, and an evil smile turns up the corners of her mouth. “I say we get naked. The water looks great.”
“Mmm. sounds good.” Riley says, eyeing me with that same gleam. “But I gotta take a piss. I’ll be right back.” She slinks off into the woods. Crap-there went the keys.
Taylor gets up and comes over to where I’m standing. “You look so uptight. Chill,” she says, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the rocks. She’s as hot as Luc ever was. She sits me down and stands behind me, rubbing my shoulders, then starts pulling my shirt over my head.
I yank it down. “It’s way too cold for that. I’m serious,” I say. I don’t turn to look when I hear her growl. I need to think, but my heart is thundering in my ears, making it hard to concentrate. Then I hear the faintest rustling in the woods. I look up and exhale the breath I’d been holding as he walks out of the trees, silky black hair glistening in the sun. Thank God. “Luc,” I say, shaking Taylor off and standing up. I take a step forward, but then he lifts his head.
“Hi Frannie,” he says with a wicked gleam in his glowing red eyes. “I’m Belias.”
I look at him and know I should run, but my feet seem rooted to the ground, and I’m feeling a little dizzy all of a sudden. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Taylor slink off up the path.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the night we met in front of your house.” His voice is velvet, and I feel my legs go soft. He steps slowly forward till he’s right in front of me. He touches my face and traces a burning path across my cheekbone. “Everything is fine, Frannie. It’s going to be great.” His hot hands slide around my waist, pulling me to his burning body.
The black fog permeates my brain as I melt into him. He feels like Luc, and I can’t help but lose myself in his touch. When his lips touch mine I can barely breathe. My hands slide around him and I press into the curve of his body, but then some little corner of my mind screams, “No.” I pull a deep breath and try to think. Almost instinctively, my hand gravitates to the cross dangling from my neck as I fight to hold on to my remaining shred of conscious thought. With my last scrap of free will, I pull back from his kiss, look up at him, and smile.
Then I yank the cross from my neck and jam it into his eye.
A bestial roar shakes the woods as he drops to his knees, clawing at his bubbling face. He shimmers for a second, almost like a mirage, as something terrifying peeks out from under his skin.
The smell of rotten eggs instantly clears my head. I turn and run full speed up the path without looking back. I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do when I get to the car. Is there a car? Were Riley and Taylor ever really here? I don’t know what’s real.
I’m trying not to cry, a useless effort, since I’m pretty much crying anyway, and everything is a green blur as I stumble up the path, so I don’t see Taylor lying there till I trip over her and launch face first into the dirt. As I scramble to my feet, I hear something moving through the woods toward us. Belias. Damn!
I grab Taylor under the arms and drag her, but we’re moving too slowly and he catches us. I prop her against a tree and step in front of her, crouching into judo stance, as he bursts out of the woods and onto the path.
“Frannie! Thank God!” Luc grabs Taylor and throws her over his shoulder. “Let’s go!” He pushes me in front of him as we run up the path, and when we get to the road he throws Taylor into the backseat of the Shelby with Riley, who’s lying there unconscious.
We climb into the car and slam the doors.
“Jesus, Luc! What. ” But then I remember.
Belias! He was in a Black ’68 Shelby Cobra that night. This isn’t Luc.
My heart stops. “Oh, shit!”
“What is it, Frannie? Are you okay?” The Shelby fishtails as he guns the engine, sending gravel flying up behind us.
I look in the backseat at Taylor and Riley, then back at Belias. What do I do? I breathe and try to think. And when I look back at the road there’s a tall, raven-haired girl standing in the middle of it. The girl from Luc’s bed. “Oh, shit!” I say again.
I expect Belias to slow down, but instead he stares out the windshield, determined, and speeds up. I bring my arms up, expecting her to come crashing through the windshield, but instead she evaporates. Poof-gone.
When we get near the main road, I grab the steering wheel and yank. The car swerves to the right, nearly swiping a tree before Belias yanks the wheel back and brings the car up onto the dirt road.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“Go to Hell!” I yell and try to grab the wheel again, but he pushes me back.
“Frannie, please! Stop trying to kill us, will you?”
I look in his eyes. God, he looks just like Luc. And then it hits me. what he said when he found us on the path. He said, “Thank God.” Would Belias say that? Would Luc?
“Luc?”
“Who were you expecting?” The rasp from the backseat makes me jump, and the smell of rotten eggs chokes me.
I turn to see the real Belias-I think. But he doesn’t look like Luc anymore. There’s no mistaking what he is: steaming, crimson skin, flat, pinched face, and horns, with one clawed hand around each of my best friends’ necks. But what gives him away as Belias is the black ooze dripping from where his left eye once was.
Luc slams on the breaks and I nearly slide onto the floor. Then he turns and points a glowing fist at Belias.
“Do you really want to do that?” Belias says, shaking Riley and Taylor’s unconscious bodies. “Course, Frannie didn’t come out all that worse for wear, did she?” A grimace pulls at his leathery lips, exposing a mouthful of fangs. “Go ahead. Give it a shot.”