Godforsaken: Book 1 (Shade of Light) Read Online Free Page B

Why don’t you give us a
chance?”
    “I am not God, to give a chance to any of
you,” Samael said tonelessly.
    Beelzebub took a sip of his whiskey and,
with a malicious grin, lowered it back on the table. “Not only God
gives chances, Samael. We make them ourselves.”
    “Then it’s time to make them yourselves.
Just without me,” Samael stood his ground. “I see no reason to open
the way into my territory.” His wandering eyes found Beelzebub. “I
like the life around me, I don’t want any changes in it.”
    “It can’t stay like this for much longer,
you know,” Beelzebub replied, a mocking grin on his plump face.
“ He lingered too long, my friend, and he’ll rise up soon.
You can take his side again, as you did once before.”
    “Whose side I was and am going to be on –
that problem is between the two of us. And you know,” Samael rose,
bending toward Beelzebub and spoke in his ear, “I have no interest
in taking any of your sides. It’s not my fight, it’s completely
yours. Do I make myself clear?”
    “I just brought you his word. The decision
is still up to you–” Though Beelzebub looked unfazed, his neck
reddened as his nerves began to act up.
    “As you noted,” Samael cut him off. “It
means the discussion is over. Take him my word – I’m not going to
open the gates yet. It makes no difference who it is, Satan or God.
The gates are closed.” He spun around curtly and strode out of the
room without another look back at them.
    Samael shut the door behind him and paced
ahead toward the railing before him. He appeared on the balcony
that wrapped around the dance floor and, standing by it, like a
king watching his people, he could see everyone dancing below. His
green eyes were still filled with the wrath brought on by that
undesirable conversation. Samael put his hands on the railing and
peered down somberly on the dancers, as if he was looking for
somebody.
     
    * * *
     
    In the meantime, Lily was already dancing
with Nancy and Mike. She’d had more drinks tonight than she had
meant to, her head was in a whirl and the world around her swirled
in front of her eyes. With every passing minute Lily felt a growing
weakness in her arms and legs. At first she liked the lightness the
alcohol had passed through her, but then, as the drinks dissolved
in her blood, Lily’s wit withdrew giving her emotions a way out of
the cage buried deep inside her. Nonetheless, she was dancing like
a crazy person, as if her body was being charged with inhuman
energy.
    But her newfound craziness had no effect on
her feelings about Alen. When he moved to dance with her, she
pushed him backward roughly. Alen stood two steps aside,
momentarily immobilized and distracted, staring at Lily like she
was an object of inaccessible beauty. Indeed, she really was
inaccessible to him.
    Lily didn’t acknowledge Alen’s offended
look, but instead went back to dancing. Although Lily hadn’t danced
in parties like this before, she was a good dancer. She used to
dance in her room, alone in front of the mirror, on evenings when
Nancy went out with Mike and came back late. Now was a good
opportunity to show what she’d learned from those self-lessons.
    After Lily had rudely pushed Alen away, the
song ended. An unfamiliar guy closed in on her, putting his hand on
her wrist without her permission. She jerked backward.
    “A beautiful girl like you shouldn’t dance
alone,” the strange guy said.
    He was too close when he spoke, his breath
mixed with alcohol and tobacco hit Lily in the face.
    “Get off me,” she responded sharply, turning
her head aside – and her eyes casually met a young man where he was
standing at the railing, surveying the dance floor.
    Lily turned to steel, staring unblinkingly
at the green-eyed guy. As their eyes met, her jaw dropped but not
because of his handsome face, or his long brown hair tangled and
falling to his broad shoulders, or the muscular arms and chest
covered by his T-shirt. A pair of