But before he could say anything more, Lilith burst out laughing. The sound was forced, not her natural melodic laugh. “What was that?” she said. “Sorry. I feel like an idiot.”
Cam attempted a laugh. “Were you joking?”
“Maybe.” Lilith tugged at the buttons at the back of her neck like the dress was choking her. “But my anger feels so real. Like I want to rip your face from your skull with my fingernails.”
“Whoa,” Cam managed to say.
“But the weirdest part of it,” Lilith continued, studying him, “is that you’re acting like you deserve it. I’m furious with you, and I have no idea why. But it’s almost like you do.” She pressed her fists against her temples. “Am I going crazy?”
He studied the embroidered vine climbing her torso. He had to get her out of that dress.
“I liked the other one better,” he lied, returning to the dressing room and picking the modern blue dress up from the floor. It looked cheap and forgettable next to Lilith’s wedding gown. “Here, let me help you out of this old thing. It smells like mothballs.”
But Lilith brushed Cam’s hand away from the buttons near her neck.
“I should buy this one.” Her voice was faraway. “It makes me feel more like…myself.” She called to the sales clerk, “How much for this dress?”
“I’ve never seen that one before,” came the woman’s response a moment later. “Either it just came in, or it’s been in that pile in the dressing room for ages.”
Cam knew it was the former—and he also knew who had brought it there.
“What’s your best price?” Lilith said, and Cam heard her unzipping her backpack and fumbling through her wallet. “I’ve got…two dollars and fifty…three cents.”
Cam went after her. “Maybe you shouldn’t—”
“Well,” the saleswoman said. “Dresses are half-off on Fridays, and most people around here have kind of a different style than…whatever that is. I’ll take your two fifty-three at the register.”
“Wait—” Cam started to say.
“Great,” Lilith said, swishing away from him down the aisle, still wearing the dress.
As Cam changed back into his clothes, he spotted a tiny carved-wood gargoyle sitting atop a shelf of knickknacks, looking out over the changing room. Cam and Lilith were finally getting along. But Lucifer couldn’t have that. In order to win the bet, he needed Lilith to stay trapped—even clothed—in her rage. And she had never been angrier at Cam than on the last day she’d worn this dress.
Now, three millennia later, she would wear it again, and feel that fury again—on prom night, when Cam would need her forgiveness most.
Five Days
“Can I take this thing off yet?” Bruce asked on Saturday, tugging at the T-shirt Lilith had knotted around his head as a blindfold.
“You can take it off when I say you can take it off,” Lilith told him. From her seat on the Crossroads public bus, she pressed the yellow Exit button to signal the driver to make the next stop. Aside from the elderly couple sharing a Twix at the front of the bus, Lilith and Bruce were the only passengers.
“It’s itchy,” Bruce whined. “And it smells.”
“But it’s going to be so worth it.” Lilith clamped her hand over her little brother’s eyes, because if she were him, she’d definitely be peeking. “Now, come on.”
Lilith’s stomach knotted as the bus hit a series of potholes. She was nervous. She wanted this to be special, something Bruce would remember. She couldn’t wait to see his face when she unveiled the surprise.
When the bus pulled over, Lilith guided Bruce down the steps and across an intersection, then paused before a storefront, patting her pocket to make sure she still had the cash her mom had given her.
When her mom had discovered all the groceries stocking their fridge a couple of days ago, she’d grilled Lilith on where she’d gotten them. Lilith had lied—no way was she going into the story of Cam with her mom—saying she was giving guitar lessons to a kid from school for a little extra cash. Her mom had looked at Lilith with genuine surprise, then she’d done something unprecedented: she had hugged her daughter.
Lilith was so surprised that she’d let the hug linger.
And then last night, when her mom got home from work, she’d knocked on Lilith’s door. Lilith had been staring into her closet, but she’d quickly shut its door, concealing the strange white gown hanging inside. She’d already tried it on twice since she got back from the thrift store. It made her feel hungry for something she couldn’t put into words. It was so not rock and roll, but it fit Lilith better than anything she’d ever worn. She couldn’t stop thinking about the look Cam had given her when she turned to him in the dressing room.
“Hey, Mom,” she said casually, opening her door.
Her mother held out a twenty-dollar bill.
“What’s this?”
“I think they call it an allowance,” her mom said with a smile. “Had a little extra this week, since you took care of the groceries.” She paused. “That was really generous of you, Lilith.”