Soul Conquered Read Free Page A

and turn toward the oncoming car. I fling my
hair back over my shoulder, leaving my legs and chest in full view. I’m desperate.
    The black Vette pulls over, top down, and Keira grins at me
from the driver’s seat. She lowers her Louis Vuitton sunglasses an inch and
pouts her ruby lips. “You rang?”
    “What took you so long?” I ask, yanking open the passenger
door and climbing in.
    “I was in the middle of something. I have an afterlife, you
know.” She tosses me a can of sunscreen, pulls out a small gold lipstick tube,
and begins lathering her lips despite the fact that they already look perfect.
“That stuff stinks,” she complains, wrinkling her tiny nose at me while I spray
my shoulders.
    “You could’ve brought the lotion kind,” I say.
    She throws the car into gear, making my seatbelt snap back
up so I have to start buckling all over again. “I didn’t want you sliding
around on my seats. It dulls the leather interior.”
    Music blares through the stereo system as we speed down the
road to who-knows-where. I don’t feel like asking. I don’t feel like talking at
all. Keira obliges. She’s focused on belting out the soundtrack to Chicago ,
oddly enough.
    Pretty soon, Vegas comes into view. I’ve never been before,
but there’s no mistaking the cluster of buildings. There’s so much activity
that the whole scene appears to move and change right before my eyes. Giant
billboards announce attractions and hotels, featuring sexy women in ball gowns and
bikinis, famous entertainers, or more sexy women in bizarre costumes and poses.
    Keira turns down the volume and inhales deeply. “Vegas,
baby. I can smell the debauchery.”
    I shift, uncomfortable on the sweaty leather seat despite
the air blasting from the dash. “Not my thing.”
    Keira sneers. “There’s something for everyone in Vegas. But
no worries, Gracie, I’m sure Lucifer will call for you soon enough.”
    I beat my head back against the headrest and exhale loudly.
“I saw him,” I say. “Noah.”
    The car screeches to a halt on the shoulder, kicking up a
dust cloud behind us. “When? How is he?” Keira leans across the stick shift to
interrogate me. She lowers her designer sunglasses, and her dark eyes reflect
concern and something else. Maybe longing.
    “Good, I guess. He’s got a throne room like Lucifer’s right
in my own house. Apparently no one else can see it for what it is. Lucifer
offered me up as a servant, but he sent me away. He didn’t want me. He wanted
you.” I try not to sound bitter.
    “Me? He asked for me?” Keira’s voice grows shrill with
excitement and a healthy dose of fear. We both know her feelings for Noah must
remain a secret from Lucifer.
    “Lucifer said no,” I tell her. Keira sinks back into her
seat, looking defeated, but she straightens up quickly, as if it never happened.
“How’s it going with Randy?” I ask about her current assignment, an extremely
hot guy meant to make her forget about my brother. She pulls back out onto the
road, cutting off another car and quickly leaving it far behind.
    She shrugs. “Boring, but nothing I can’t handle.”
    We remain silent as she pulls into the valet at the newest
and most expensive casino there is. Lavish waterfalls and fountains dance in
time to the music that seems to come from all around us as we walk between and
beneath the spouts of water toward the enormous glass doors.
    I can’t help but think that Keira looks like she belongs here as
she struts confidently through the entrance and up to the front of the VIP
line. Me? I feel just as lost as ever, trailing behind. I wonder if somehow
that man was able to make it on time to stop the wedding. Maybe the girl didn’t
want to see him. Maybe it was a good thing I delayed him.
    But it can’t be good if Lucifer wanted it to happen. The more
I let myself dwell on what I do for Lucifer, the worse I feel, and yet I can’t
seem to stop myself no matter how hard I try.
    Keira grins at the man behind