Read Online The Devil's Due by Jenna Black - Free Book Online

blankness disappearing as a mischievous grin took over his face. “I suppose there are some advantages in being able to talk to him without him being able to talk back.”
    I felt my lips starting to curve into an answering grin, but stopped myself cold. I was not going to allow Raphael to disarm me. “So what is it you’re so desperate to talk to him about?”
    Raphael sat back in the couch, the humor fading from his face. “I’m wondering if he’s formed anything that even vaguely resembles a plan.”
    “If he has, I don’t think he’d tell you about it.”
    Raphael ignored my comment. “Dougal will keep sending his forces after you. He might not know that you’re still hosting Lugh, but as far as he knows, you know the identity of Lugh’s current host.”
    “Thanks to you,” I pointed out. Of course, I had to admit to myself that when Raphael had been playing inside man in Dougal’s conspiracy, he’d had no choice but to tell Dougal the name of the host into which he’d summoned Lugh. But just because I had to admit it to myself didn’t mean I had to admit it to Raphael.
    His only acknowledgment of my jab was a brief dirty look. “Maybe even without having me on the inside, we’ll be able to protect Lugh. Adam is a powerful ally, and I’ll help as much as you’ll let me. But hiding out on the Mortal Plain is only a temporary solution. Eventually, you’re going to die.”
    I must have made some kind of outraged face, because Raphael patted the air soothingly.
    “I mean of old age, not necessarily by violence. Lugh can help you lead a longer-than-normal life with greater health than someone who’s not hosting a demon, but eventually the human body wears out. One of the many traits Dougal and I were trying to improve upon in our program.”
    “Don’t even—”
    “Forget I said that last part,” he interrupted. “What I’m trying to tell you is that demons are essentially immortal beings. The span of a single human life—even one that has been artificially extended by a demon—is a relatively short time to us. If Dougal decides he’s losing too many people and wasting too much energy trying to destroy Lugh right now, all he has to do is wait until you die and Lugh is forced to return to the Demon Realm.
    “You … That is, Lugh, must come up with some kind of long-term plan. If that plan doesn’t involve me, I’ll understand.”
    Maybe he’d expected me to rush in with reassurances, because when I didn’t say anything, his lips pressed tightly together, and a muscle ticked in his jaw.
    “Is that it?” I asked. “Can I go now?”
    He stared down at his hands and nodded briskly. “Yeah, that’s it,” he said in his flattest voice.
    I supposed I’d hurt his feelings, and a small part of me felt kind of bad about that, because I couldn’t help but see the occasional echo of myself in him. But I had little trouble hardening my heart. “If you want any sympathy from me, you need to stop holding my brother hostage.”
    He raised his eyes to mine, and the expression in them chilled me. “Has it ever occurred to you that I trust you as little as you trust me?”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    Raphael’s capable of one of the most malevolent stares I’ve ever seen, and he was giving it to me right now. “It means you’re a vindictive, reactionary bitch, and if I weren’t inhabiting Andrew, you might do any number of unpleasant things to me—like send me back to the Demon Realm to face the brother I betrayed. That is not a reunion I anticipate with any great joy.”
    I almost laughed. “So what you’re trying to tell me is that it’s my fault you’re holding Andy hostage? What a crock of shit!” His face turned a shade of red that should have warned me to silence. Naturally, I ignored the warning. “I’m not powerful enough to exorcize you, and I’m not about to murder your host just to get revenge on you. You’re the vindictive one. You’re holding Andy just to