Reignite (Extinguish #2) Read Online Free PDF

strolled past people jogging, kids playing, dogs
walking... the animals were the only ones that ever reacted to him. The cats
would hiss, and the dogs would bark, and whatever human happened to be nearby
would tell them to shut the fuck up because there was nothing there, nobody
around, oblivious to the fact that the one they considered the devil, the
ultimate evil, was so close he could hear their words.
    It amused Lucifer.
    He wondered how long this would all last.
    Six more months? Six
years? Another six thousand? He couldn't fathom it. In
even sixty years, the world around him would be vastly different, and the woman
he watched would likely cease to exist. The blink of an eye
to him; an entire lifetime to her.
    He paused outside the community center, hearing her
heartbeat across the street.
    What
would he have when he didn't have this?
    This afternoon marked exactly six months… six
months since Michael carved the dreaded symbol in Serah's chest in this spot, a
damnation Lucifer negated by plunging his knife through it, taking her wings.
    He'd been created for that reason—to maintain
order, to lead his kind down a path of righteousness, but instead he'd been the
one to lead them away. He urged them to follow him, to rebel, being the
catalyst for the de-winging he'd been spared from at the end.
    He lurked there, watching as Serah stood along the
sidewalk, leaning back against the trunk of an old tree. The children at the
school were letting out, but Serah scarcely seemed to notice, her attention
fixed on the community center near Luce instead.
    The pop of static behind Luce was loud. He didn't
have to turn his head to know who it was. The strong stench, like stagnant
water, hit him so hard he cringed. Disgusting . His insides coiled from
the sudden tension, anger manifesting that hadn't existed just a moment ago.
    Michael .
    It took every ounce of strength within Luce to not
react. He stared straight ahead, trying to focus on the sound of the heartbeat,
as his hand slowly reached toward the golden knife he kept concealed.
    "That's unnecessary." Michael's voice was
as grating as rough sandpaper as Luce wrapped his hand around the weapon.
"I haven't come here to fight."
    "Then why have you come?"
    "The same reason you're here, I suspect."
    Michael stepped forward, pausing beside Luce, a
mere foot separating the two. Luce's hand remained on the handle of his blade,
prepared to defend himself, but deep down he knew it was unnecessary.
    Michael, as misguided as Luce believed him to be,
wasn't a liar. There wasn't a devious cell inside of him. If he said he hadn't
come to fight, he meant it.
    But Luce was still on edge by his presence.
    "You shouldn't be here," Luce said, his
voice laced with venom.
    "Neither should you," Michael responded
casually. "But that hasn't stopped you from visiting her every day."
    Luce cut his eyes at him. "You've been keeping
tabs on me."
    "Of course," Michael said. "Do you
expect any less?"
    No, he didn't. "Business or personal?"
    Michael turned to him, their eyes meeting.
"Excuse me?"
    "Were you ordered to keep tabs on me?"
Luce asked. "Because babysitting was never part of an Archangel's job
description."
    Michael glared at him, the same anger Luce felt
reflected in his brother's eyes. "I do it because I must."
    Luce shook his head and turned away. That didn't
answer his question, but getting any more information from his brother would
require torture, and Luce wasn't in the mood for that today. "Well, I
haven't convinced anyone to take a bite out of an apple lately, so I think
we're all pretty safe for the time being."
    "We won't be safe until you're back in the pit
where you belong, miscreant."
    Luce's lips twisted with amusement. "I've
missed you too, brother."
    From the corner of his eye, Luce saw Michael flinch
at the word 'brother', but he didn't dispute the relationship this time.
Michael glared at him for a moment longer before his gaze also shifted across
the street.
    They both watched