A Friend to the Darkness. Katherine Rathbone

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ though? I mean, do you know about… this?” I was worried.

      He smiled bitterly, looked away for a moment, then met my eyes again. “I’m even better at human anatomy than I am at human nature. And for once I’m not being sleazy. Too sleazy, anyway.” He smirked at me, trying to lighten the mood maybe.

      I sat up and shoved his chest with my good arm. “Read the room, arsehole!” I yelled. “I’m laying here half naked and torn to pieces, and you’re there even more naked with soaking wet boxers on… Fuck you!”

      He laughed at me. I tried to kill him. It wasn’t a very forceful attempt, with only one good arm, but I tried.

      “Come on, you’re just going to hurt yourself.” Seth said indulgently, easily brushing me aside. I snarled at him. “Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Let me help you. Lie down.”

      I complied, glaring at him.

      “Ok.” His tone was business-like, clinical. “We usually do this with two of us, so we’ll have to make do since my useless siblings are nowhere to be found. I’m going to hold your torso down with my knees, put one hand on your shoulder to stabilise the joint, take your arm with my other hand, and put it back into place. It will hurt. A lot. Do you want me to do that, or should we go to a hospital and work out a story for your mother?”

      I took a deep breath. “Do it.” I closed my eyes.

      I felt him straddle me, holding my ribs gently but firmly between his knees. He put one hand on my shoulder, near my collarbone, and took my arm in his other hand. “Try to relax, dear one.” He said gently. I snorted. He took a deep breath, and pulled my arm out, rotating it until the joint popped back into place with a thunk. He was right. It did hurt. A lot.

      “Motherfucker!” I screamed.

      Seth got off me, and helped me back onto the chair. “It should be feeling better already.” He said cautiously.

      “Ah, yeah, actually. It does. Thank you.”

      “Now for the rest.” He took the bowl of water, and gently and efficiently cleaned the blood off me. He closed my wounds with steri-strips, mentioning they weren’t deep enough for stitches. Yay, I guess. Finally he taped my shoulder, giving it support while it healed. “There.” He said, satisfied with his handiwork. “Pray to me after you’ve had a shower tomorrow night, I’ll change all this for you.”

      I took a deep breath. “Will you come?”

      “Of course!” He exclaimed, taking my hand.

      I looked into his cobalt eyes, tears pricking mine. “Where were you today? Where were the others? Where are the others?” Hot tears started to fall.

      His face fell. “They… they must still be doing some diplomatic thing. They’ve got prayers on… mute, I guess is the best way to explain to it.” He shifted uncomfortably.

      “What about you? Where were you? What took you so long?” Tears were streaming down my face.

      He looked embarrassed, and said quietly, “I was with a pet.” He refused to meet my eyes.

      I frowned, and took in the way he was dressed- undressed, really- and how dishevelled he had looked when he first appeared. “Wow.” I said flatly. “You were fucking some bitch.”

      “Katie…” His eyes were pleading.

      “Does she know about you? Or were you wearing your glamour? Did you make her do… whatever?” I gestured to him, and he hunched over, as if my words were knives.

      “Yes, he knows about me. No, I never forced him. He thinks he’s in love with me, but it’s just hero worship, like all the other pets.” He refused to meet my eyes. “It’s… It’s a relief from what I have to do, every day. A distraction.” He finally looked at me, his eyes pleading for me to understand. I’d never seen him look vulnerable before.

      “Did you hear me?” My breath caught in my throat.

      “What?”

      “Did you hear me? When I first started praying for you?”

      He closed his eyes. “Yes.” He admitted softly.

      I sobbed, before choking out, “You ignored me, because you were getting your dick sucked, and I almost died. I would have died if they didn’t want to torture me first.”

      He squeezed his eyes shut, and a tear tracked down his cheek. “Wait here.” And disappeared.

      “Where the fuck would I go?!” I screamed into the empty room. I noticed a simple bed in the corner of the single room, and curled up on it, sobs wracking my body as I hugged myself. “You fuckers!” I screamed. “You fuckers.” I sobbed quietly to myself.

      I felt the bed move, as someone sat on the edge. My eyes flew open, and I scrambled back. “Katie, dear one...” It was Sebastian. He gathered me into his arms. I stiffened for a moment, then relaxed into his embrace, sobbing harder. He gently laid me down, and pulled me close to his warmth, stroking my hair. “Rest, dear one.” He murmured gently. Despite myself, I fell asleep.

      When I awoke a short time later, the small cabin was filled with my friends, and I was still cradled in Sebastian’s arms. I sat up groggily, and rubbed my eyes. I gazed around at my friends, who looked back at me gravely. I spotted Lucifer, and slowly got to my feet and stalked over to him. He watched me curiously. I punched him in the face, with all of the strength I could muster.

      “What the fuck, dude?” I screamed at him. I was vaguely aware that Sera was holding me back. Lucifer rubbed his face thoughtfully, and I was pleased to see that his lip was bleeding slightly.

      “What do you mean?” He asked in a neutral tone.

      “You sent them!”

      He tilted his head, and looked at me with an unreadable expression. “What makes you think that?”

      “They told me! They told me they were sent by Satan to destroy me in his name!”

      Lucifer sighed heavily, and met my eyes. His looked sad. “I can explain all of this. But if I do…” He shrugged. “Humans aren’t supposed to know this. You can never go back to a normal life.”

      I snorted. “That ship has sailed, buddy. I’m standing here in some random cabin with the King of Hell, after being hunted by demons. Explain this to me. Make it really fucking good.”

      Lucifer sat, and indicated another chair. I sat too, watching him carefully. He rubbed his face, leaned back and asked, “Do you think I’m a demon?”

      Taken by surprise, I replied, “Well, yeah. You are the King of Hell.”

      He smiled playfully, and asked, “Why do you think my skin is different to these guys? And I have no talons?”

      I shifted uncomfortably. “I dunno, I didn’t want to be racist and ask.” Everyone chuckled. I pouted.

      “So you think I’m the Demon Lord of Hell, Lucifer, Satan, Beezlebub, Mephistopheles?”

      “Well, СКАЧАТЬ