08

SAINT.

There were many things that Luci could say that would set me off. But this was undoubtedly the worst.

I gripped the wheel and kept my eyes steady on the road in front of me. I adjusted my rearview mirror calmly and we made eye contact through the glass.

Remaining silent, | unbuckled my seat belt and pulled my key out of the ignition. We hadn't left the outside of her house yet, and my car parked sideways against her driveway.

I cocked my head to the side and focused on the outline of her lips. They were light brown but her bottom lip had a faint pink hue. Her lips were plump and her Cupid's bow was not prominent.

Mindlessly my thumb came to her lips and traced the bottom. Immediately her lips parted and | seized the opportunity.

I placed my thumb atop her tongue and watched her eyes go wide. Hooking my pointer finger under her chin, | gripped it and pulled her face closer to mine.

"Such a filthy mouth," | whispered. "Don't say things like that around me unless you're willing to pay the consequences."

Her breath laboured and became shaky. Getting Luci flustered was always amusing to me. | knew she couldn't have much experience in anything. 1 suppose that was my fault though.

When she first entered Kingston High no guy, including me, ever asked her out or did anything of the sort with her. They knew what would happen if they dared; social rejection.

An idea suddenly struck my head. | wanted to see how far I could go before she would stop me. My car windows were tinted and it sure was not the first time I had a girl in a risqué position.

I took my other hand and grazed her knee ever so slightly. She gasped and my thumb felt the hot air exhale from her breath. I slowly dragged my palm up to the mid-centre of her thigh and rested it there.

I tapped my finger tantalizingly on her soft denim jeans. When | did not receive a reaction | frowned. My rings scraped against her jeans and I drew my pointer finger up higher.

"What happened to "make me"?" I cooed.

I drew figure eights on her thigh and inched closer to her zipper. Her body was getting hot and | could feel her body heat through her jeans.

At any moment she was going to crack and | was going to end up with another burn mark on my body somewhere.

Oddly enough I didn't care. It was exciting making her feel like this. | just hoped she didn't think ] meant anything by my actions. | was just simply having fun.

Her teeth were hard under my thumb and her eyes remained wide.

"Darling, why aren't you saying anything?" I teased.

I slid my hand between her inner thigh and rested it there. The feeling was warm as it was sandwiched between them and Luci's breath hitched.

"P-please stop," she breathed out.

Her lips closed around my thumb as she finally conceded. My laugh rang throughout the car and I removed my hands from her mouth and thigh.

Turning my car back on, I strapped my seat belt tightly against my chest.

My car glided smoothly off the lot into the desolate street. The neighbourhood was bleak and dull. There weren't many houses, just apartments and small duplexes. It wasn't terrible, I just wasn't used to being in places like this.

My dashboard shone brightly as the directions to Azure displayed. We had hundreds of miles to cover and only a weekend to do it.

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and hummed. Luci sat silently in her seat with her head faced down and her legs closed tightly. She positioned her body against the door to lengthen the space between us.

"Do you still have my jacket?" | asked.

She kept her head down and mumbled, "Yeah it's in my bag."

She peaked up and saw me nod in response.

It was then | noticed her eyes. They were completely bloodshot red. The usual white background in contrast to her pupils displayed a burning crimson.

My neck coward back into my seat. My palms began to sweat against the wheel and chilling air sweeper across my body.

Whatever was going on with her was affecting me as well. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. We were going to be together for a while. I didn't want any awkward silence or disposition between us.

"Can I ask you something?" I drummed my fingers on the wheel and glanced down at her.

"I thought I was supposed to remain quiet?" she quipped.

| held back a smirk and shook my head. "No, ] just said you just simply need to watch what you say around me. | never said not to say anything at all."

She huffed and crossed her arms. Her neck rolled around and the sounds of cracks filled the car.

"What do you want to know?" "Why are your eyes so red?" | asked.

'Tm angry." she said simply. "And when I'm angry, | try my best not to erupt."

"I don't understand..."

She rolled her eyes and turned her body to face me. "The fire is not supposed to be suppressed. But since I do suppress it, the energy in my body festers and spreads."

"So you're saying your emotion controls it?"

She nodded and ran a hand against the back of her head. "Yes, as far as I know."

"You're angry right now?" 1 smirked. "Why?"

"You know why."

She looked out the window and watched the trees quickly pass us by. We were approaching the highway and I instantly increased my speed.

I felt eyes on my body, and in the corner of my eye | could see Luci staring intently between my neck and hands.

"What are you doing?" | asked.

"I thought I burned your hands pretty badly. How are all the marks gone?"

She was right. The marks on my hands and neck almost disappeared overnight. The only sign left was a faint red hue on the side of my neck.

"Tm not sure. I just woke up and it was completely healed."

Her eyes burned into mine as if they were searching for a reason they would not find.

I released some pressure | had on the gas pedal as traffic started to ensue. A flock of vehicles remained stagnant on the highway with no sign of moving.

"Shit." | cursed under my breath. "We're gonna be stuck here for a while. But this highway is our main route towards Azure."

"| have a question."

She faced back towards me and crossed her legs tighter. "Who said you were allowed to ask me anything?"

"It's only fair. You asked me something. Now | get to ask you something." she explained. "Let's make it a game."

I eyed her and lifted my brow. "A game?"

"Yes like 21 questions. That way we can both ask each other something. But the answer has to be honest. No lying."

I rolled my eyes and removed my hands from the steering wheel. The traffic was horrendous and | couldn't see us getting out of it anytime soon.

"Fine. Let's play."

She held up her pinky in front of me and stared intently into my eyes.

"No lying?"

Not this again. | didn't understand why she needed a pinky promise every time. They didn't hold any weight or value.

I reluctantly interlocked her pinky with mine and lifted my thumb to press against hers.

"No lying." She smiled and unhooked her pinky from mine. "Okay I'll go first," she began, "what's your favourite colour?"

I scoffed and scratched the back of my neck. | didn't expect the question to be... simple.

"Red," I stated.

I glanced at her hair for a split second before clearing my throat.

"My turn," I said. "Why did you agree to come on this trip?" "Because," she started, "it could... benefit me."

"How?" I asked.

"Sorry, that's two questions. Now it's my turn."

I sighed and motioned to her with my hand to continue. "Earlier today | asked you why the seat was down, and your answer wasn't really clear. So, why was the seat down?"

A laugh escaped my throat. She could not be serious.

"You don't know?"

She shook her head and glanced at me suspiciously. "I wouldn't ask if | knew."

"I usually don't have girls in here unless we're going to..."

I trailed off hoping she'd catch on, but her look remained the same.

"Going to what?"

"Unless we're going to hook up."

I watched her expression change from curiosity to pure disgust. She grimaced in her seat and sunk her body.

"So usually the passenger seat is declined to make things easier for me."

Luci's expression remained the same as she stared into my eyes.

"What?" I snapped.

"Nothing, it's just kind of disgusting on your part. Like only having girls in your car to potentially hook up with them-"

I raised my hand in the air to cut her off, "not potentially definitely."

She rolled her eyes and continued, "to hook up with them, is weird. Aren't angels supposed to hold their virtue or whatever?"

"Well | didn't know I was an angel until two days ago so forgive me for not conforming."

She chewed her bottom lip and placed her head down and sighed.

"How many girls have you done it with here?" She asked.

I was taken aback by the question because I genuinely was not sure of the answer.

"Curious aren't you?" I teased. "Why? Do you want me to add you to the list?"

"You're revolting."

She grabbed her phone from her pocket and started to mindlessly go through it.

'Tm not answering that question since it's not your turn." I replied.

I didn't know what to ask at that moment but I hated how she was being judgmental. Why did it matter to her how many girls I brought in my car? It wasn't that big a deal. "How about you?" I asked.

"What about me?"

"How many guys have you hooked up with in your car?" I questioned.

Her expression became dark and her eyes a deeper shade of red.

"Oh, that's right!" I began, "you've never hooked up with anyone and you don't have a car! Silly me, I must've forgotten."

She didn't respond; instead, she clenched her hands together and focused on the outline of her window side.

"Shouldn't demons be promiscuous and fornicate as much as possible?" I asked.

"Guess our roles were switched," she mumbled.

"Don't be sad darling, I'm sure somebody will find you attractive eventually."

I'm sure that bit was true. There was someone out there for everyone. Even if people refused to believe it.

She remained silent and tapped her feet against the car floor.

"My turn," she said, "why are you such an asshole to me?" "What do you mean?"

"| mean, I've never done anything to you. Ever. And yet you constantly berate and belittle me every chance you get. So I want to know why."

Her voice level increased with every word she spoke. Her nails dug deep against her palms that I was sure there were marks engraved in them.

I dismissed her question and shook my head. I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say. It was a difficult feeling to process. So much so that at times I didn't even know if it was hate.

"It's not that simple. I can't just give you a solid reason."

She scoffed and slammed her hand into my dashboard. "Then admit you don't have one. Admit that you are a terrible person and that you're so miserable with whatever is going on in your life that you decided to ruin mine!"

Her voice pierced through my ear as she yelled. | pulled the neckline of my shirt and rolled my neck.

"It's not that simple," I repeated. "] do have a reason. It's just not as black and white as you think."

"Oh please." She rolled her eyes and looked me up and down. 'I'd like to see you try to explain it."

Her face was smug and her eyes crimson. My jaw clenched on instinct and my grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Watch your tone, little girl." | spat out. "I've already warned you."

I took a deep breath and steadied my breathing before the coldness took over again.

"| don't think you realize how much I control myself around you," she whispered.

"What do you m-"

"Every day," she interrupted, "there's this constant fire that festers in my body. It wants to escape all the time."

She ran a hand on the side of her head and stopped when she reached the top of her bun.

"And every day," she turned her body to face me, "you find some way to test it."

"| don't think you understand the gravity of this situation or what | am. Every time you test my limit and I control myself is a blessing for you. It shouldn't be easy for me to form the fire, but since you constantly test my limits my body has a self-defence mode whenever I'm around you."

She pulled out her arm and placed it in front of me. Closing her eyes, her fingers began to wiggle ever so slightly.

I didn't see it at first but tiny particles began to sprout and enlarge on her palm. Instantly the particles burst and infused into a bright ball of red ember flames.

It was the largest one I had seen her produce. The flames engulfed her entire palm and | felt the heat on my arm.

My eyes lit up as I watched the vibrant flames dance against her hand. My curiosity was struck when I noticed the flame start to get bigger.

"Put it out!" I yelled.

She let out a chuckle and her eyes seemed to grin at me. "I can't," she replied.

"w-what do you mean, you can't?" I asked. "You're about to burn my car if you don't stop."

"This much energy can't be put back into my body, it needs to be released."

My eyes widened and I shook my head in confusion. "Release? Where are you going to release it? We're on the highway!"

She shrugged and used her other hand to grab mine. | flinched from the contact as she faced my palm to the ceiling.

"Diffuse it."

"What?" I asked.

She groaned and gripped my wrist tighter. "Unless you want me to grab water from the trunk and get your pretty little car seat wet, then use your hand and diffuse the fire."

"How do I even do that? I can't control it as you can."

She shrugged and stared proudly at her overgrowing ball of fire,

"Better figure it out, Saint. Time is ticking. | can only hold this for so long."

She let the fire dance on her fingers and she watched it in awe.

I on the other hand was panicking. | wasn't sure what scared me the most: my car potentially being engulfed in flames or the way Luci seemed so calm.

It was as if she did not care about what was going to happen. I hated how amusing she found all of this.

Instantly I felt the coldness sweep over my body. | turned around to see Luci absentmindedly playing around with the fire. She teased it to the edge of her fingertips then back down to her palm. She repeated these movements and paid me no mind.

As I grew angrier, the coldness swept through my veins. But this time it felt different.

Water droplets began to secrete from my hands instead of ice. They pooled around in a big puddle and on cue, they all rose about three inches from my palm.

I took a deep breath and focused the energy on my fingers. Like magic, the water droplets began to crystallize and my hand started to rapidly spread in a thick layer of ice.

My eyes grew dark and I turned my head slowly towards Luci.

She had not noticed my revelation and menacingly smiled at me.

I would not let her have the upper hand. No matter how many cards she held.

I used my free hand to grab her throat. She yelped as I held my middle finger and thumb against her airways. I pushed the back of her head into the glass window and glared.

The traffic had gotten much worse and cars were still at that point with no sign of movement.

She used her free hand to try to remove me from her throat but I wouldn't budge.

All of a sudden my ears started to sweat. Luci had brought her engulfed flames up to my head in an attempt to defend herself.

I chuckled and in a split second, I pushed my palm into her flames and interlocked our fingers together.

The fire immediately went out and a puff of steam followed after it.

Her neck stood stiff against my hand and both of our breaths were laboured. Her nostrils flared and her eyes started to slowly drain out their red colour and replace it with her natural dark brown hue.

My hand was still interlocked with hers and droplets of water began to drip down from hers as the steam dissolved into the air.

She forcibly removed our intertwined hands and a puddle of water splashed onto the divider between us.

Luci wiped the residue on her jeans and casually went back to mindlessly scrolling through her phone.

Meanwhile, my breathing was unsteady and deep. Sweat began to secrete from my scalp.

I placed both hands on the steering wheel and noticed that the traffic had begun to clear.

We spent the next few minutes in silence. Both of us ignored the ordeal that had just taken place. Luci leaned her head against the window and rubbed her neck slowly.

"My turn to ask a question," | grumbled.

My voice was hoarse and | kept my focus on the road in front of me. In the corner of my eye] could see her nod.

"Why did you do that?" I asked calmly. "If I didn't put that out, what would you have done."

I could see her smile at me and she cracked her knuckles.

"Then your car probably would've ended up in flames," she stated. "I knew you could do it though. I just wanted to know if you would. I can tell you're scared of all this. Even if you won't admit it."

She was right. I was scared but | didn't want her to know that. My mind began to race as I replayed the scenario that had just happened.

Whenever Luci got angry or used her ability, it was like a different person took over. She gained a wave of self-confidence and her aura... was darker than usual.

I didn't know for sure but | felt it. It was like an empty pit in my stomach. Her energy was off.

"I'm not scared," I said. "If anything, you should be scared."

She cocked her head to the side and rolled her eyes, "How so?"

"Are you familiar with theology at all?" I asked.

"| mean I kind of have to be given what | am what we are," she said.

"Yes but | mean in angels. Archangels specifically."

She laughed to herself and looked up at the ceiling. "Yes, I'm very familiar with archangels."

"Great," | began, "then you know the archangel, Gabriel." She eyed me suspiciously and I saw her reflection in the rearview mirror. Her eyes had reverted to dark brown with no trace of red.

"You mean the messenger angel who is supposedly one of the seven most powerful archangels." She stated.

I nodded my head and smirked. "That's the one."

I made a sharp turn and merged the car into the far right lane. "My mom said he's my father."

All of a sudden Luci let out a piercing laugh. It travelled throughout the car as she held her stomach and chuckled.

"You think the archangel Gabriel is your dad? I'm sorry to break it to you Saint but your mom lied to you."

I gripped the steering wheel tighter and grit my teeth. "What do you mean, she lied?"

"Gabriel never had children. If he did, it would mean he had fallen during the time. And archangels could never and would never fall to Earth to appease some mortal."

I pondered on her words for a bit and realized she had made sense but | did not want to admit it.

"And besides," she continued, "if Gabriel was your dad which he is the definitely wouldn't have just left you here. Archangels are too good for that. Your father is probably some angel your mom doesn't want you to be around."

I remained silent and huffed out a breath. "Well, it doesn't matter who my father is, all that matters is that whoever it is should frighten you. Everyone knows that angels are stronger than demons."

She shook her head and smiled once more to herself.

"I wouldn't bet on that Saint."

I glanced at her for a millisecond before focusing back on the road.

"Why not?"

"Because you don't know who my father is."

My brow furrowed and | let out a breath. From what she had told me, her dad was just some measly demon.

I didn't know much, but I knew he couldn't have been anything special.

"Who is your father then? Maybe I've heard of him since you seem to believe he may be powerful."

She faced her window side and leaned her head against it. I'm sure you have. He's quite popular in many religions and denominations."

I hated how deceptive she was being. I reclined my seat forward to better my position.

The highway had come to an end and | merged quickly onto the exit lane. I stopped at arm's length behind a car as a bright red traffic light shone in our faces.

I removed my hands from the steering wheel and cracked my knuckles. | faced Luci and who still kept her gaze forward; patient watching the light.

"So, who's your father?" I asked.

She slowly turned her head towards me and it was then that | saw her eyes had reverted to deep red.

She smiled at me and tucked a stray piece of her hair back into its place.

"Lucifer." she declared.

I stopped breathing for a moment and stared at her with an unreadable expression.

The light had turned green but | didn't move the car. People behind me started to honk as my mouth fell open.

"y-you're the daughter of-"

"The devil," she finished.

She brought her face closer to mine. So much so that | could feel her breath fan my nose.

Her eyes were bloodshot and her mouth contorted to a malicious grin.

"Scared yet?" she whispered. I took a deep exhale out of my nose and flared my nostrils. Grabbing her by the throat | titled her head

forward so that we were at the same level.

"Not even close."