Daughters of the Dagger 03 - Amber Read Online Free Page A

you.”
    “Is your name really Lucifer?” she continued, not letting up for a moment with the questions she fired at him.
    His e yes popped open at that, as his name had always been a sore spot with him throughout his whole life and he hated the fact Father Armand did this to him. After all, why the hell would a priest name an innocent child after the devil in the first place?”
    “It is,” he admitted sadly. Her hand stopped its movement and her eyes were wide as she surveyed him.
    “I’ve never known anyone to be name d after the devil,” she said, sounding shocked.
    “I’m not the devil, eve n if I do have the devil’s name,” he pointed out. “So don’t you worry your pretty little head that I’ll take you to my lair of fire and brimstone. And I prefer to be called Lucas, so please refer to me by that name from now on.”
    “I see.”
    “I see?” he asked mockingly. “You sound as if you don’t agree with the name I’ve chosen to be called.”
    “Your birth name is obviously of importance to someone if they chose to call you such an oddity in the first place. Why did your mother do that?”
    “Is your name really Amber?” He didn’t want to answer, so he turned the conversation toward her. This wench was much too curious for her own good. He’d never seen anything like it.
    Her head snapped up, and he co uld see the anxiety on her face by his question.
    “How do you know that? I’ve never met you before , nor have I told you my name, but I heard you say my name in the church. Do you have some sort of magical powers to know such a thing?”
    Well, the distraction worked and he almost laughed aloud. This girl was too easy to control.
    “If I had magical powers I’d use them to get you to kiss me again.”
    Her face reddened and she looked away. “ You kissed me , not the other way around. And I beg you to never do it again.”
    He reached out his hand and grabbed her wrist, not enabling her to leave his side. Her eyes fell upon it , and slowly she raised her gaze up his arm and to his face. He could feel her body trembling under his touch.
    “ Relax. I’m not the devil nor a sorcerer, just very observant. I know your name because I heard Father Armand say it in the church, even if I was half-dead on the floor at the time. I always know everything going on around me. And I promise you – some day you will be begging me to kiss you again, not turning me away - mark my words.”
    “I am a nun,” she retorted, pulling her arm out of his grip. “And you are surely the devil to be trying to tempt me like that.”
    “I did naught to tempt you, but only made the suggestion. The devil only exists in one’s mind, as he is not real.”
    She blessed herself and start ed praying when he said that, and he was sure she’d never heard anyone deny the existence of the devil before.
    “ And as for being a nun,” he continued, “I see no ring of God on your finger nor the black veil of a woman who has taken her final vows. So to me, you are no different right now than any other woman.”
    “Your words are daring by denying the existence of the devil,” she said. “You must be careful with what you say or God will punish you. Or don’t you believe in Him either?”
    “Don’t worry yourself to death about it. My soul is so blackened that even if I did believe in Hell, I’d probably not even be wanted down there.”
    “I’m not sure what you’ve done in your past, but God is forgiving. With penance and prayer, even someone like you could possibly enter the Kingdom of God.”
    “How long have you been a novice?” he asked. “You already sound like a full-fledged nun. Are you close to finishing your year of training yet?” He decided to fire questions at her the way she’d done to him. “Have you made it to Matins to pray at two in the morning every day or have you been a bad girl and overslept and had to be disciplined? After all, I can see you obey the vow of poverty by the simple way you