The Devil's Backbone (A Niki Slobodian Novel: Book Five) Read Online Free PDF

dream, but you were living it without me. And with the king of Hell, no less.” He laughed. “How do you compete with that? A giant, golden archangel with powers beyond anything I could even imagine. Of course you fell in love with him.”
    “I’m not in love with Lucifer,” I said.
    Eli looked hard at me. “You’re so bad at this shit, Niki. Of course you’re in love with him. You broke the rules of nature to save him. And you’d do it again.”
    “Rules of nature?” I said.
    He shook his head. “Do you think it’s normal for Death to go around avenging people? For Death to love, to murder, to fight? Death isn’t supposed to be a warrior, Niki. But then, I guess you never were good with rules.”
    “I told you, I’m not in love with him,” I said, but it was me who couldn’t meet his eyes this time.
    “Bullshit, Niki. I’ve seen you. I’ve seen how you look at him.”
    “So?” I said.
    “So,” he said slowly, “it’s how I always wanted you to look at me. I’ve never seen you look at anyone that way. Just him. Only him. Don’t fool yourself, Slobodian. You’re in love with the devil. Don’t you think that’s weird enough without you making it stupid?”
    I shook my head. “I can’t help it. I’m broken.”
    “Poor little Niki,” said Eli. “All that power, all that emotion, and you still can’t find the courage to say what you feel. Well cry me a damn river, Slobodian. I get it, you had a messed up childhood. Your dad was a Ukranian Abby kingpin. So what? My dad was a ruthless demon from Hell who terrorized my mother into letting him spend time with me. I died seven times coming down here just to talk to him. I watched my ex-girlfriend rip his soul out through his goddamn throat. You see me crying about it?”
    “Jesus, Eli,” I said.
    “Sorry, Niki, but you get so caught up in this shit inside your head that you can’t see the whole picture. You love him?” I didn’t answer and Eli leaned forward so I couldn’t look away from him. “Do you love Lucifer? Just say it, for God’s sake. Do you love him? ”
    “Yes!” I blurted, flinching at my own voice. I pushed away from the table, knocking my chair over just to get away from Eli. I covered my mouth with my hand, as if I thought I could keep any more words from tumbling out. Shaking, I lowered it and let it hang limp to my side. I leaned against the wall with my back to Eli.
    “I would do anything to get him back,” I said, my voice flat. “Since he’s been gone, he’s the only thing I can think about. Something’s wrong in the World, something’s wandering around doing God-knows-what, but all I can think about is finding him and bringing him back. Nothing else matters. And if he’s dead, I have no reason to…” I trailed off. “I don’t like feeling this way, Eli. I hate this.”
    “What do you hate?” he said.
    “Being helpless.”
    He snorted. “That’s love, Niki. Welcome to the club.”
    “I don’t know how to find him,” I said, turning. “I don’t know what to do.”
    He nodded. “I’ll help you. I’ll get together a search party. A guide.”
    “Where’s Dorana?”
    He shook his head. “No idea. She disappeared as soon as she told me. It was really just chance that I met her. She was looking for you.”
    “She was?”
    “Yeah, I just happened to be leaving the castle. You weren’t here. You were doing your Death thing.”
    “She didn’t say where she was going?”
    “No.”
    “Where do we start, then?”
    “At the beginning,” said Eli. “I told Lucifer where to look. At the Devil's Backbone.”
    “How do I get there? Ash said it was hard to get to.”
    “It’s in the Wastelands. I’ll get a guide to take us there. My father sent me there with my brothers once. It's a creepy place. And I live in a place called Blood House.”
    “Why, though?” I said.
    “Why what?”
    “Why would you help me? You’ve spent all this time hating me. Why the sudden change?”
    He shrugged and I