Читать книгу A Friend to the Darkness - Katherine Rathbone - Страница 5

And so began my training. Every time my mum worked late, Seth would appear, whisk me off to the mountainside, and beat the crap out of me in the name of teaching me. He was a good teacher, I’ll give him that. Every time I mastered a new skill, he showed me a new way that he could avoid it, and the increasingly difficult moves I would need to counter that. After a while, he told me it was time to get the others involved too.

“Why?” I panted, looking for an opening. “Am I getting too good for you?” I teased as I dashed close and tried to sweep his legs out from under him. I ended up underneath him, with him sitting on my back and twisting my arm up behind me. I tapped out. He climbed off me, and I sat up and pouted.

“Not yet. But you are developing a fighting style, and it’s very similar to mine. Time to introduce some new teachers so what you end up with is all you.” I nodded thoughtfully.

That weekend, Lucifer was there again when I met up with the others. I glanced at Seth nervously. He shrugged and nodded.

“Hiya, Katie!” Sebastian called. ”Want a drink?”

“Actually, she has something to show you, first.” Seth interjected.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Sebastian was curious. Everyone was watching me. I swallowed nervously.

“Hit her.” Seth commanded.

“Hit her? What? No! It’d… oof.” I’d stepped in close and swept his legs out from under him. “What the fuck?!” He yelled as he clambered to his feet. I grinned at him, my hands in a defensive posture.

“Oh, it’s on, bitch.” Sebastian laughed as he came for me.

We fought. I was determined to make Seth proud. I kept moving, dancing in and out of Sebastian’s superior reach, dodging his much stronger arms. He stopped laughing, and became more serious, concentrating harder. I landed a decent kick to his abdomen, and his face changed. Suddenly he was pushing more, swinging harder. I copped a couple of fairly hard hits, and realised this was the lesson Seth wanted to teach me. These guys were a lot stronger than I gave them credit for. So far, Seth had only hit me with a quarter of his strength at best.

I was beginning to tire. I backed away and raised my hands. “I yield.” I panted. Nevertheless, Sebastian came at me. Suddenly I was fighting harder than I ever had. “Sebastian!” I cried. “I yield!” He threw a punch that I barely dodged, ducking under his outstretched arm and dancing behind him, before spinning to face him. “Seth! Help me!” I had no pride in that moment. I was vaguely worried that Sebastian was going to kill me, but mostly concerned with keeping my feet and keeping out of his reach. My legs were trembling.

“Sebastian! Enough! She’s done, can’t you see that?” Seth yelled, grabbing his arm. I wilted with relief. Sebastian snarled at him, shoved him away, and leapt towards me. I backed away, holding one arm up weakly in protest. Sebastian grabbed me by it, spun, and threw me over his shoulder, hurling me into the ground, holding my arm at a weird angle. I heard a snap, and saw stars.

“STOP!” Lucifer roared. The power in his voice rolled across us like a physical blow, and Sebastian let go of me and dropped to his knees beside me. I scrambled further away, noting that Sera and Seth were kneeling too. I looked up at Lucifer. He was standing at his full height, silver eyes flashing with fury. He was magnificent. He strode over to me, and knelt beside me. “Let me see.”

I allowed him to examine my arm. I looked behind him. Seth was now straddling Sebastian, raining punches down on him. Sera watched, hands on hips. “Shouldn’t you stop that?” I asked Lucifer worriedly.

He glanced behind himself briefly, before turning back to me. “Sebastian deserves to get his arse kicked for that. Sera will stop them if need be.” His voice was cold. I struggled to sit up, and he helped me. I winced as my arm moved. “Are you done? Can I look at it now?” He sounded exasperated. I held still. “It’s broken, I think. We need to get you to a hospital.” His voice was gentle now.

“Alright Seth, that’ll do.” I heard Sera say, and I waved Lucifer out of my way with my good arm. Seth was ignoring Sera. “SETH!” She yelled. He ignored her, his face in a snarl as he pounded on his brother. “Fucks sake.” Sera muttered under her breath, took a couple of steps back, and launched herself at Seth, rolling him off Sebastian, coming up on top with a knife at his throat. I hadn’t even seen her draw it. “Enough!”

“Fine.” Seth snapped.

“Are we done?” Sera increased the pressure on the knife.

“We’re done.” Seth sulked. She got up and offered a hand to him. He took it and pulled himself up too, before offering his hand the same way to Sebastian. Sebastian paused for a moment before taking it. He clapped Seth on the shoulder, and turned to me.

He took in my hunched form, huddled over my arm. His face fell. “Oh, fuck!” He exclaimed, and fell at my feet. I scrambled back a little, and unconsciously grabbed Lucifer’s arm. He patted my hand gently.

“Katie, I am so, so sorry.” Sebastian’s voice was genuine, and he had tears in his eyes. “I… I lost my temper and I forgot you were only human. I’m so sorry!” His eyes were wide, and I believed him.

“Yeah, ok. But don’t forget I’m a fragile fucking flower, dude.” I pointed at him with my good arm.

He barked a short laugh. “How can I make it up to you?” He gazed at me like a puppy.

“Come here.” I beckoned to him. He crawled closer to me, emerald eyes locked on mine. He knelt right in front of me. I leaned back on my good arm, and kicked him in the balls. Hard. He went down like a tonne of bricks.

“Now we’re almost even.” Sera roared with laughter, and Seth said appreciatively,

“You crazy fucking bitch.”

“If you’re done with vengeance, I’ll take you to a hospital.” Lucifer’s tone was amused.

“I can take her.” Sera offered. Lucifer shook his head.

“I’m more powerful than you, and it’s easy for me to hold a glamour. I’ll go with her.” He effortlessly lifted me to my feet. In an instant, we were standing outside of the local hospital. Lucifer’s eyes were now an icy blue, and he didn’t seem to have horns. I wondered what would happen if I waved my hand over his head. Before I could try, he took my good arm and guided me in through the front door.

He stayed with me, explaining to the nurses that he wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but that maybe I had been balancing on a rock wall in a nearby park and tripped, landing awkwardly. He stood by me while I called my mum from a payphone. She was working the nightshift, and told me she’d leave work and come immediately. “Nah, it’s ok, mum. It doesn’t hurt that bad.” I lied. “Don’t leave work. I’m here with a friend, and he can take me home after.”

“Oh boy are we going to have a conversation about this, girly.” She was mad.

Lucifer took a seat beside me in the waiting room. I sighed. “I am in so much trouble.” I lamented. He laughed gently. I thought about the way he had spoken to the nurses, a suspicion forming in my mind. “Can you lie?” I asked abruptly.

He raised an eyebrow. “No.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” I challenged him.

He laughed easily. “You can’t, I guess. You’ll have to trust me.” He eyed me speculatively.

I snorted. “Like I said to Sebastian one time, never trust a good looking guy who tells you to trust him.” He looked uncomfortable.

“So anyway it’s my birthday in a couple of weeks.” I changed the subject quickly.

“Sera told me.”

“Are you guys going to throw me a surprise party?” I grinned at him.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” He reasoned.

“Ah, that’s not a ‘no’.”

“But it isn’t a ‘yes’, either.” He teased.

He stayed with me while I had xrays done, and held my (good) hand while the doctors got my arm into position and applied the cast. Although painful and awkward, it turned out it was a straight forward break, and should heal easily. We walked away from the front door of the hospital, and as soon as we were out of sight of other people he dropped his glamour and rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck.

“Is that hard?” I asked curiously.

“What?” He countered cautiously.

“The glamour.” I waved my hand in the direction of his head.

“Um, kind of. It’s tricky for the others to hold for a very long time, but I’m stronger.” He shrugged. “It’s… it’s kind of uncomfortable. Oh, I know. Have you ever worn a pair of jeans that were too tight?”

“Why? Do you think my arse is big?”

He laughed. “Have you?”

“Yep.”

“You know how good it feels to take them off at the end of the day?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you flirting with me?” I teased.

He rolled his eyes at me and otherwise ignored my last question. “That’s what it feels like to drop the glamour. A relief.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “Take me home?”

“Mind if we walk for a bit? I mean I can teleport if you want to, but it’s such a beautiful night.”

“You don’t want to go home yet?”

“No, actually. It’s… peaceful up here.”

“And you don’t have to be King?” I prompted gently.

He looked surprised, and a little vulnerable. “I don’t.” He replied softly, not meeting my eyes. I clapped him on the shoulder.

“Your secret is safe with me, buddy. All that responsibility would be stressful as, well, Hell, I guess.”

He smiled, and we walked in silence for a while.

My arm started to hurt more and more as I walked. I didn’t want to tell Lucifer and cut his night short. Eventually though, I started to feel woozy. “Lucifer? I don’t…” I stumbled before I could finish the sentence and began to fall. I closed my eyes and braced myself to hit the ground… but I didn’t. Warily, I opened them, and found myself hanging in midair. “What the fuck?!” I yelled. I tilted back to upright, and gently settled back down on my feet, Lucifer stepping close to me, ready to catch me.

“You ok?” His voice was concerned.

“What was that?!”

He shrugged. “I’m the King of Hell.”

I shook my head wonderingly. “You guys have so many cool tricks. Can the others do that too?”

He nodded, and watched me carefully. I wondered why, then realised he had still been supporting me with those unseen bonds as they loosened. My legs trembled, and I instinctively reached out and grabbed Lucifer’s arm. “I don’t feel so good, man.” I admitted.

He didn’t say anything, just swept me up into his arms as if I didn’t weigh anything. “We’re not far from your place, mind if I walk?” He asked me.

“What, and carry me the whole way?” I snapped.

He shrugged easily. “It’s not like you’re heavy.”

“Whatever. As long as I don’t have to walk.”

“Thank you.”

“You’ve been practicing your manners.” I teased. He rolled his eyes at me.

At some point, I must have fallen asleep, because I awoke to Lucifer gently murmuring my name. I snuggled closer to his chest and grumbled, “No!” I was comfortable and sleepy. His arms tightened around me briefly, before he said,

“Come on, Katie. We’re home. You need to open the door.”

I awoke fully, and became aware of my surroundings. “Shit! Sorry!” I scrambled to get out of his arms.

“It’s ok, calm down…” He mumbled to me as he put me back on my feet. My legs still didn’t want to hold me up. He supported me as I searched for my keys, and opened the door. I tried to walk away from him, but stumbled again. He steadied me, and wrapped an arm around my waist, half lifting me off my feet.

“I can walk.” I snapped.

He let me go and raised his hands. I stumbled again. Once again, he caught me, and said quietly, “Sure you can.”

I snorted, and pointed the way to my room. Shit, had I tidied up? I hoped my underwear wasn’t on the floor.

It wasn’t. “Are you able to get changed by yourself?” He asked me. I raised an eyebrow at him. He rolled his eyes and added, “I can summon Sera for you if you want.”

“I think I’m ok… But can you wait out there? Just in case?” I asked timidly.

He smiled, and closed the door behind him, before calling out, “I’m right here.”

It was a struggle to get changed with one arm, but I was determined, and I managed. I flopped down on my bed and called out breathlessly, “All done!”

He stuck his head through the door, and smiled. “Sleep well, Katie. I’ll wait out here until your mum gets home, in case you need anything.”

I was too tired to argue, and drifted off to sleep listening to him moving around the living room. It was comforting knowing he was there.

“Who the bloody hell are you?” Mum’s voice woke me.

“Oh, hi, sorry, I’m a friend of Katie’s. I was just waiting to make sure she was ok.” Lucifer sounded diffident. Trust my mum to put the fear of God into the King of Hell. I leapt out of bed and raced to the living room.

“Hi mum.” I said nervously.

“Hello Katie.” Her voice was dangerous. “There seems to be a young man in my living room.”

“Yeah, well, I’m in my pj’s so he didn’t come in my room. He was just waiting for you to make sure I was ok, I promise. We’re not even… I mean… We’re just friends.” I babbled, blushing.

“Do you have a name?” She demanded of him. His eyes widened briefly and he glanced at me.

“Oh, sorry.” I interjected. “Mum, this my friend, Lu..ke. Luke, my mum, Mrs. Longwood.”

Lucifer held out his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Longwood. Katie has told me a lot about you.”

“Hmm. Hello, Luke.” Mum shook his hand, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Listen, Mrs. Longwood, I’m sorry about tonight. We don’t usually go to the park at night, but I really hoped Katie would join us. A friend of ours is very upset. She tried to make them feel better, but accidents happen, I guess.” He looked earnestly at mum.

I resolved to pay very close attention to everything my friends said from now on. Lucifer hadn’t actually lied to mum, but he had still managed to paint a convincing picture that wasn’t at all true. Mum obviously decided he was sincere, because she nodded at him and said, “Before you go, tell me, Luke. Are you free Saturday night, two weeks from now? Katie’s birthday?” My eyes widened and I tried to catch Lucifer’s eye.

“Yes, actually I am. Why is that, Mrs. Longwood?”

“I’m taking Katie out for dinner for her birthday. I thought you might like to join us. And your friends, too.” I felt faint.

Lucifer smiled, a dazzling, brilliant smile. “That would be lovely, Mrs. Longwood. What time, and where?” My head spun.

“Six pm, at Paulo’s. How many should I book for?”

“An extra four, including me. Thank you so much for the invitation, that’s very kind of you.”

“I’ll see you then, young man.”

Lucifer nodded at her, and smiled at me. “See you around, Katie. Hope you feel better.”

“Yeah, see ya, Luke.” He winked at me briefly and let himself out.

“Explain yourself.” Mum was glaring at me, hands on hips.

I swallowed hard, and started to spin a tale, based off what Lucifer had said. “Luke called me, our friend Sera had been around to his place and was really upset about breaking up with her boyfriend. She left his place, and he called here to see if she’d come here, he was worried about her. He called a couple of our other friends as well, but she wasn’t there either. We decided to meet at the park and see if we could find her together. She was there, but she ran off. Seth and Sebastian followed her, and I climbed up on that rock wall to see if I could see where she went, but I fell off. I’m sorry mum, it’s just that we were all so worried about her.” I painted a contrite look on my face.

“Were any of you drinking?” Mum’s voice was accusatory.

I took a gamble, and sighed uncomfortably. “Sera had had some of her parent’s vodka.” I pretended to admit.

It was mum’s turn to sigh. “Silly girl.” I nodded shame-facedly. “What about you?” I looked at her wide eyed and said,

“No, mum. I was just trying to make sure she was safe.”

“Well, in that case, I suppose the broken arm is punishment enough. Since you were looking out for a friend.”

I nodded solemnly.

“Where did you meet these friends of yours? School? And why haven’t I heard of them?”

Oh shit. Time for more storytelling. “Um, I actually met Sebastian down by the river a few months ago, when I was walking Rufus.” A bit of truth always made a lie stretch further. “He introduced me to the others. They’re really nice, and they go to the High. We catch up after school some times.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “It’s nice to see you with friends, Katie. I worry about you.”

I smiled weakly. If she only knew. I went back to bed, and fretted myself to sleep worrying about my very Catholic mother going to dinner with the King of Hell and his Court.