by Jane Hinchey
A rumble of thunder vibrated through the vehicle and Levi squeezed my knee again, which resulted in a tiny electrical charge shooting across his hand.
“Ouch!” He snatched his hand away and frowned at me, then laughed. “Don’t say sorry, for fuck’s sake! That was unexpected, but I can’t say I didn’t like it.” He winked and placed his hand back on my leg, only this time higher up. Cheeky bastard. I leaned over and kissed his cheek—not the kiss he was looking for, because we didn’t have time for anything else. We’d arrived at Angel Towers.
“We’re here.” It was redundant and entirely obvious, but I voiced the words nonetheless. My anger still bubbled beneath the surface, diluted a fraction by Levi’s flirting.
“Come on then.” Climbing out of the car, Levi held his hand out, waiting for me to place mine in it. Helping me out of the car, he slung an arm around my shoulders, and together we looked up at Angel Towers. I hadn’t noticed how dull it was on my last visit, but it was startlingly obvious now, due to the holy glow that now emanated from the massive structure. It had been absent the last time we were here.
“I take it that means God is in?” Levi asked.
“It always did have a glow. I’d forgotten,” I admitted.
Crossing the foyer, I ignored the angels who turned and stared at us, and the whispering that ensued. Last time I’d visited, the foyer had been deserted, but now that God had returned, his mere presence attracted the angels like moths to a flame.
We remained silent on the ride up. I was concentrating on keeping a lid on my anger. I’d fought long and hard to remain professional where my brothers were concerned, and to have a temper tantrum in front of them was not high on my agenda. I couldn’t wait to see Dad, get all the details from him, and find out once and for all what the hell was going on. I also wanted to know whether my brothers had known all along. If they had, I was going to kick their asses from here to Hell, consequences be damned. The elevator shook a little and Levi chuckled.
“You’re going to rip him a new one, aren’t you?” he asked conversationally.
“I’m going to try not to. But…I’m pissed off.” I had no intention of pretending I wasn’t angry and hurt.
The elevator stopped and the doors slid open, revealing the boardroom. The last time I’d been here, Gabriel was sitting at the head of the table. Now it was Dad. I stopped, my eyes taking him in. He hadn’t aged a day. Chestnut brown hair shone under the lights, his blue eyes twinkled, and the dimple in his cheek appeared as a welcoming smile lit up his face.
“Lucifer! I’m so pleased you came.” He stood, and I noticed the robes he used to wear were gone. Now he was dressed in a snappy charcoal suit. The long hair that he’d always worn in a bun was now stylishly cut, and he was clean-shaven. So different, and yet the same.
“Dad,” I responded, stopping at the opposite end of the massive boardroom table. Levi stood just to the left of me.
“And Levi.” Dad smiled at him. “I have to thank you for looking after my daughter.” He headed toward us, arm outstretched, looking to shake Levi’s hand. I stepped in between them, blocking him.
“About that.” My voice was cold. “About how you almost killed me, stole all my magic, and then left me for dead.” A loud clap of thunder shook the room and Dad stopped, a frown drawing his eyebrows together.
“Lucifer, no. That’s not how it was.” He was genuinely surprised, and it was all I could do not to raise my hand and shoot a fireball at him. How dare he? How dare he suck me dry, leave me, and then be surprised that I’d feel this way?
“Sweetheart.” He reached out, but I backed away, bumping into Levi, who settled his hands on my shoulders, his presence comforting. “I left in a hurry because I had to stop your mother.”
I laughed. “She was long gone and you knew it. You had to have known you were trapped in there for a long time.”
“I lost track of time, but from the wasting of my body, I knew hundreds, if not thousands, of years had passed. But I’m immortal. I cannot die. I just had to wait it out. And you found me. Saved me.”
“And you couldn’t hang around long enough to say thank you?”
He cocked his head, then looked down at his shoes before meeting my eyes, the same shade of blue as his own.
“You’re right. I apologize. I now understand how it must have seemed to you—that I took your magic to heal myself and then returned to Heaven without you.”
“I didn’t want you to bring me with you, Dad! I wanted you to stay. I wanted you to care enough to make sure I was okay. And I wanted an explanation as to what the hell was going on. Who trapped you in there and why?”
“It was your mother,” he responded with absolute certainty. “Sit,” he ordered, spinning on his heel to return to his seat at the head of the table. Not wanting to shout over the length of the table, I chose a seat in the middle. Levi sat next to me, once more resting his hand on my knee. I covered it with my own, squeezing back. I felt calm. In control. The anger was still there and could easily erupt, but for now, I was in control.
“You’re certain it was mother?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you see her?”
“She sent me a message when I was creating Hell to meet her there. She wanted to talk.”
“What about?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I hadn’t seen nor heard from her since she left me.” Did I detect a hint of sadness in his voice? A touch of pain?
“Us,” I corrected automatically. She hadn’t just left him. She’d left us, her children.
“Us,” he agreed.
“Then what happened? She sent you a message and you agreed to meet her?”
“Yes. In the chamber. Hell was nearly finished. But I didn’t want you to see her and get your hopes up, so the chamber was the best place. I think she was counting on that.”
“Oh?”
“I was waiting for her, only she didn’t show up on time. That wasn’t unusual for Lilith. She was always late, for everything. Then I heard her call my name. She was in this antechamber, just off the main room. I walked in and the door slammed shut. I heard her voice, but couldn’t make out the words, I know now it was a spell, sealing the door. Sealing the room. I couldn’t get out. My magic wouldn’t work. I couldn’t blast through the walls, floor, or ceiling. I kept a light burning for as long as I could so I wasn’t in darkness, but eventually…well, I needed what was left to keep myself alive.”
We were silent, digesting his words.
“Why? Why did she do that?” I finally asked.
“I don’t know!” He slammed a hand down on the table, making me jump. “Sorry.” His apology was immediate and sincere. I’d rarely witnessed my father’s anger, but I could see it in him now as he relived what she’d done to him. “I don’t know why she did it, and after so many years apart. I would understand it better if it had happened right after we split, but years later?”
“Do you know about the dragons?” I asked.
“What about them?”
“There’s one beneath Shadow Falls that was awakened when we broke the seal to get you out. It told me that Lilith stole its egg. Its baby.”
He blew out a breath, running a hand through his newly-styled hair. On an ordinary man, the strands would have stuck up all over the place, but this was God, and each strand fell back into place, unruffled.
“I had a plan for the dragons that I assumed your brothers would see through. There should be no dragons on Earth.”
“Well, there are,” I pointed out. “One, at least. And what do you mean, no dragons? Did you plan to make them extinct?”
“I never make my creations extinct, Lucifer, you know that.”
“Yeah, yeah, you move them off to other dimensions, other worlds, when you think it’s getting too dangerous for them on Earth. Was that your plan for the dragons?”
He nodded. “I made them for your mother, to remind her of her home. When she left, I decided the dragons could go with h
er.”
“Then why would she trick a dragon, spell it, and steal its egg when they were hers anyway? And why connect all of that to the seal on the room she imprisoned you in?”
“They are questions I cannot answer. Only Lilith can answer them,” Dad said.
“And where is she?” I asked.
“I assume she’s with her family in the Qanyl dimension. I have sent a message requesting an audience. She—they—have yet to respond.”
“Why not just go there and demand to see her?”
“That would start a war. A war among the gods is not wise.”
Silence fell again. We were all lost in our own thoughts. Then I asked, “Where are Gabriel and Michael?” I had yet to see my brothers, and I’d been expecting them to be here, by God’s side.
“They are…elsewhere,” Dad said, not meeting my eyes.
“Where exactly?”
We stared at each other, then I burst out, “You had better not have sent them to Hell! I do not want their sorry asses in my home. Let them repent their sins somewhere else.”
“They have done wrong. They have lied, manipulated, and hurt others, all for their own gain.”
“Yes, I know, but come on. Hell? Really? Since when was Hell designed to punish angels?” And why hadn’t Ashliel alerted me to the fact that my brothers had turned up?
“Ashliel received direct instructions not to discuss this matter with you,” Dad said.
“Stop reading my mind.” My anger rumbled again, and a spark of red electricity shot from my fingers. “Hell is my dimension. I’ve run it exactly as you instructed. I’ve done a good job. No, I’ve done a brilliant job. For you to go behind my back and instruct my people not to tell me things, that is unacceptable.” Pushing my chair back, I rose, body vibrating. How dare he? How fucking dare he!
“You have gotten too used to my absence, Lucifer!” His words were sharp, but he didn’t stand. Instead, he steepled his fingers in front of him and stared at me. His tactics might have worked once, but not any longer. I was my own woman now, and while God’s word was law here, in my dimension, my word was law.
“You overstep,” I retorted. “You may have created Hell, but I’ve made it into what it is today. I’m in charge. Not you.” It was a challenge, one he couldn’t ignore. A part of me wanted to back down and apologize, but another part was dancing and yahooing and saying You go girl!
We eyeballed each other for several long, silent seconds. Levi’s hand had frozen in a death grip on my knee, one that would likely leave bruises, but I didn’t move to dislodge it. I didn’t move at all. I would not back down. I would stand up for what was mine. Fight for what was mine. And Hell was mine.
“Very well.” Breaking eye contact, he looked to Levi, then back at me. What had just happened? I’d won an argument with God? “You are right. You’ve done a wonderful job with Hell. You took it upon yourself to help on Earth when the soul stealer broke through, and you were instrumental in finding me and breaking the spell that kept me imprisoned. All the while, your brothers were here, plotting and scheming, letting Heaven and Earth suffer.”
“And what is their punishment exactly? Because don’t for one second think you can send them to my dimension and give them cushy jobs in Hell HQ.”
“Their punishment is for you to decide. You do run Hell, after all.” He grinned, feeling pleased with himself.
My frown deepened. “Oh, no. You’re taking the easy way out and that’s not fair. They’re not human. They’re your problem and you’re palming them off on to me. No way. You need to deal with them.”
“Oh really?” His laugh was incredulous.
“Dad! They are your sons. My brothers. If they stay in Hell, it will be in the fiery pit, because I’ve had it up to here—” I indicated with a hand across my throat. “—with those assholes. Is that what you really want? Them screaming in agony while I burn the skin from their bones every day?” I turned to Levi. “I can’t believe I’m trying to talk my dad out of letting me do that. I mean, after all their bullshit, maybe I should keep them with me for a bit.”
“Is that truly what you’d do?” Dad asked.
“How else would you punish an angel in Hell? Nothing else would be effective. All or nothing for my brothers.”
“Very well. I shall retrieve them.”
“Why not send them to Earth without their angelic powers? Make them live as the humans they so despise?” Levi suggested.
“That is brilliant!” I smiled, then laughed. “They’d hate it! It’s perfect.”
“I do agree it does have a certain sense of justice to it,” God said. “It is done.”
“What? Already?” Levi asked in surprise. “I didn’t see your hand move or anything.”
“I’m God. My wish is my command.” His chest puffed out ever so slightly, and I sighed. Men and their egos.
“Back to the topic of Mom. Because we still have a dragon problem on Earth. I promised the dragon I’d be back in one day with her egg, otherwise she’s going to burst through and create all sorts of havoc in Shadow Falls. And ultimately get herself killed because that’s what the humans will do when faced with a real, live dragon.”
“We may have a bigger problem,” Dad replied.
My stomach dropped to my toes. Just when things were getting sorted out, what next? “What?” I asked.
“She planned all this for a reason. There’s more coming. Something big.”
“But…this was hundreds of years ago. Maybe she’s cooled off? Changed her mind?”
“Doubtful. We still don’t know why she did it. And you can be certain that she would have been alerted that you broke the spell, I’m free, and the dragon is awake.”
He was right. We were screwed.
19
“So, what do we do?” I started pacing, my mind unable to focus.
“We wait,” Dad responded, his calmness an irritation that had my eyes flaring flames.
“We cannot afford to wait, Dad. Haven’t you been listening? A dragon is about to bring its wrath onto the citizens of Shadow Falls. The innocent citizens of Shadow Falls. And I’ve already told you what will happen next—we don’t need Levi’s psychic abilities for that. The army will respond with deadly force and blow that poor dragon off the face of the planet. And then study the body parts left behind. Is that how you want this to go down? Is that what you want people to remember, to think of when they learn that God has returned?”
“Your caring nature is one of the reasons I chose you to run Hell. It pleases me that you are still the strong-minded, strong-willed, kind angel I remember.” He beamed at me, but I wanted to smack him.
“Dad! Do something!”
He chuckled, then sighed, shaking his head. “Very well. I have retrieved the dragon and she is being cared for. Happy?”
“No. I’m far from happy.” I pouted. “I still need to find Mom and either get the egg back or find the baby.”
“Um, Lucy?” Levi interrupted. “That egg would have hatched a long time ago, if it was fertile. And that baby? If all this happened hundreds of years ago, well, that baby would be either full grown or dead by now.”
Fuck, he was right. “Where are all the dragons, Dad? Did you send them on to Mom? Keep them here? Leave them on Earth?” If Mom already had the dragons, why did she need another one? Would she want the one she’d left behind on Earth, or didn’t she care? She’d walked away from her own children easily enough. One dragon wasn’t likely to cause her any heartache.
“When she left, I attempted to contact her many times, initially to try to make amends and repair our marriage.” I could hear the guilt in his voice. He blamed himself for the marriage breakdown and Mom leaving. “But all communication was cut off. I assumed she returned to the Qanyl dimension, to her family, but they blocked me. I sent a gift, but it was destroyed. I dared not send the dragons in case they would be destroyed, too.”
“What did you do with them, then?”
“Created a pocket dimen
sion for them. An annex to Heaven, if you like, where there are no humans to hunt them.”
“And they’re still there?”
“Yes. She can have them. They’re hers. And I’ve never stopped trying to reach out to her, only it’s been a while because, you know, she trapped me in Hell.”
We were interrupted by the elevator arriving. I was surprised Father would allow anyone to disturb him, for I knew the elevator would not deliver anyone to this floor without his permission. I smiled when Dacian stepped out.
“Welcome, Dacian.” Dad’s voice echoed and I cringed. “Dad, cut it out, you don’t need to put on the full God voice for anyone. This is Dacian, our friend.”
Dad had the grace to look sheepish. Dacian did a slight, awkward bow.
“Relax,” I chided. “It’s just my dad.”
“Yes, but I’m a Seraph angel. It’s sort of automatic.”
“Dad, please tell him to relax. Dacian is not only a dear friend, but I consider him to be a brother to me. More than what my own brothers have ever been.”
“Brother? Last I knew, you two were romantically involved.” Casting a quick glance at Levi, he muttered, “Sorry, Levi.”
“We were. And it ended. And now we’re friends.” I resumed my seat next to Levi and slid my hand into his, reassuring him. He had no reason to be jealous of Dacian, and I hoped we were past all that. He squeezed my hand in response.
“How did it go on Earth?” I asked, changing the subject. “All good?”
“Yes, although I will need you to go and do your mind wipe thing. There was no avoiding being seen during the storm, considering I was flying humans to safety.”
“Urgh, I’d forgotten. I should go now, before they jump on social media and plaster it all over the place.”
“It is done,” Dad said.
“Already? You don’t have to be face to face with them?” I was surprised.
“They are my creations. I can control them any way I choose. Mostly I allow them free will. But, on occasions like this, when heavenly intervention is required…” His words faded and he shrugged.
