by Amy Sumida
“The situations were radically different,” I agreed, “but the feelings were the same. He abused me because he had the fucking Devil inside him, and you did it because you believed I was the Devil. But you both fell in love. The difference is; Lucifer will never have that love returned.”
“Are you sure about that?” His gaze went piercing.
“Of course I'm sure! What the fuck, Slate?”
“You looked flustered on that stage, sweetheart,” Slate's voice dropped to a dangerous rumble. “And you know what? Watching you sing to him was like watching you sing to me, back when we were fighting our attraction as well as each other.”
“Slate, I am not interested in Lucifer,” I insisted. “I just made that abundantly clear to him onstage, in front of a crowd of Beneathers.”
He lifted a brow.
“He's attractive,” I admitted. “And he says some very sweet things.”
“Fucking Angels!” Jago cursed.
“But I don't have any feelings for him; not beyond sympathy, friendship, and, currently, anger. I was trying to prove a point up there and push him away, not draw him closer.”
Slate breathed in deeply and let it out in a slow, shaking exhale. “You're certain that's all you were trying to do?”
“Absolutely.”
She was, Mr. Rocks-For-Brains; now back the fuck off my girl! RS stood up for me, even though she technically didn't have any legs. Ky came up with that song to give Luci the finger. The middle one. She was physically slamming him with magic. I don't see how she could have been any clearer.
Unfortunately, it didn't work as expected, Kyanite muttered in my head alone. Unlike the RS, he could only be heard by Darc and me. We should have known better; that man has always seen exactly what he wants to.
And now you're giving her shit. You're a dick! RS continued to shout at Slate.
My gargoyle cracked his neck and settled his shoulders like a linebacker then he turned, opened the door, and offered me his arm. I took it, and we stepped out into the club with Jago bringing up the rear. Lucifer was only three feet away, standing before the door with hands loosely clasped and wings folded down, waiting for us to emerge with a patient smile on his face.
“Lucifer,” I ground out as we closed the distance, “is there something wrong?”
“Why would you ask that?” He looked suddenly confused.
“Because there had better be a fucking emergency for you to show up in my zone like this,” Slate snarled.
“I was told that Beneather Zones are a place for all of us to congregate freely,” Lucifer offered innocently. “I didn't realize that I was unwelcome. That song seemed to suggest otherwise.”
“That song was meant to warn you off,” I growled. “I don't appreciate you showing up at my boyfriend's club like this. Not cool, Lucifer.”
“Oh.” Lucifer frowned. “I thought you were... teasing me.”
“You thought those magical slams were a tease?” I asked in disbelief.
“Maybe I should clear things up for you,” Slate snarled at the same time.
“Elaria, what exactly have I done to displease you?” Lucifer asked reasonably.
“Your mere presence is displeasing,” Slate declared.
“Okay, this argument can't be done in public.” I glanced up at the Zone Lord. “Can we take this upstairs?”
Slate sighed, clenched his jaw, and then waved toward the door that led to his private lounge. Lucifer nodded graciously and went through first, followed by his trio of angels. Slate, Jago, and I climbed up after them. There were only seven of us but with all the feathers and machismo, the long, rectangular space felt crowded. I went straight to the bar along the back wall and poured myself a drink.
“You mind putting the wings away?” I waved at the Angels. “It's a little much.”
“Of course.” Lucifer nodded to the others and the wings disappeared. “This space is rather small.”
Slate growled.
“Lucifer, what do you want?” I asked simply. “Why the fuck are you here?”
“I wanted to experience a zone.” He shrugged.
I shot back my whiskey and grimaced. Gah; who the hell does that? Oh, but the brief burn did feel good and it steadied me as I strode around the bar, grabbed Lucifer's wrist, and yanked him into a corner. Once there, I shoved him down onto a chair and loomed over him. Well, I tried to loom; he was still head-to-head with me. Damn tall gods.
“What are you really doing here?” I hissed at him. “Your arrival is quite a coincidence. You just so happen to show up on the same night that I come to visit Slate? I don't think so. Are you spying on me? You got angels roaming the Zone?”
“You returned from your honeymoon but didn't call me,” Lucifer whispered in an annoyed tone. “I was... concerned about your welfare.”
“Lucifer.” I shook my head. “I appreciate the thought, but I am not your concern.”
“You're damn straight you're not,” Slate growled as he stepped up behind me.
“Slate, could you please let me handle this?”
Slate tossed up his hands in irritated surrender.
“I'm fine; we've had a few things come up and had to deal with them,” I said to Lucifer.
“What things?” Lucifer leaned forward. “Do you need my help?”
“No, she doesn't fucking need your help!” Slate shouted.
I glared Slate into silence.
“Someone is killing Phoenixes,” I said. “So far, we've caught a human assassin who was hired to kill a phoenix and collect the ashes, and we're assuming there are other assassins to be found.”
“Collect the ashes?” Lucifer blinked and then went pensive. “How?”
“He scooped them into a steel canister.”
“Did that prevent the Phoenix from rising?”
“It did. We're trying to hunt down whoever hired this man and, hopefully, get those ashes back.”
“Shava must be upset,” he murmured.
“She is,” I jumped on that. “Perhaps you should call her and offer your support.”
“Shavalina did not provide me with a way to contact her.” Lucifer frowned at me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because she's hoping you'll start chasing the bird-lady instead of harassing her,” Slate huffed.
Lucifer looked at me in surprise. “Am I harassing you, Elaria?”
“No, of course not.”
Slate growled.
“Kind of,” I amended. “You showing up here is not good for my relationship with Slate. Next time, just call.”
“I attempted to reach you via the cellphone Raphael purchased for me, but you did not answer, and I have to leave Angelus every time I use it. I figured that this would take just as much effort but also offer entertainment.”
“And how did you know she'd be here?” Slate circled back to my earlier question.
Lucifer flushed.
“That's it,” Slate growled, “no more Angels allowed in my zone.”
“I sent a few scouts out to look for Elaria,” Lucifer confessed.
“What happened to being able to feel love without needing it to be reciprocated?” I lifted a brow at him.
“I'm not pursuing you, Elaria, I'm looking after you.” Lucifer held his hands out to his sides innocently. “That is what I find myself compelled to do. I don't believe it's an uncommon urge for a man in love.”
Slate started to make sounds similar to that which a mountain makes prior to an avalanche.
“I have enough men watching over me, Lucifer,” I said gently. “Don't waste your efforts on me.”
“No effort with you is a waste.” He waved his hand in negation. “Now, what were the other things?”
“What other things?” I squinted at him.
“You said there were a few things that you were dealing with,” he reminded me. “What were the other things?”
“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “You know how Darc borrowed a bit of his old magic from
that orb?”
“Yes. He used it against me; that's rather hard to forget.”
“The magic left him the other day, but it did so rapidly. Suspiciously. We went to check on the orb and the magic had not returned to it.”
“You think it was stolen?” Lucifer reached that conclusion quickly.
A shiver went down my spine. Could he have done it? Was he here to check on what the results of his theft had been?
“Yes, we believe the magic was stolen,” I murmured. “Any ideas of who could have done that?”
“Taken a god's magic?” Lucifer blinked. “No one can do that. It's impossible.”
“And yet it happened,” Slate drawled. “You know; if anyone could do it, it would be another god.”
Oh, yeah; Slate has a quick mind too. I wasn't surprised he'd reached the same theory I had.
“You think that I took the Darkness?” Lucifer laughed. When we continued to stare blankly at him, he quieted. “Elaria, I can't hold Darkness; it would battle my Light until they canceled each other out. I assure you; I did not steal your lover's magic. If I had, I'd be too busy trying to control it to have the time to gallivant around the realms, making phone calls and searching for you. You know how hard it is to learn to control a new magic; imagine if it were one that directly opposed everything you were.” He held his arms out as if his very body spoke on his behalf.
And it did. Despite Lucifer once having a dark entity inside him, he has always physically been the epitome of the Light.
“Okay. I believe you.” I gave in.
After all, Odin had said pretty much the same thing. And Lucifer was right; I personally know how difficult it is to wrangle magic, and my battles had been with magic that had been born with me. Lucifer would have to fight an alien magic in direct conflict to his own. At the very least, he would have shown signs of strain. Unless the magic had gone the other route and empowered both his Light and itself. But that too would have hurt him before it settled. I highly doubted he'd be able to sit here so casually less than 24 hours after he'd taken the Darkness.
“Thank you.” Lucifer sighed. “But if you truly suspected me, why didn't you just look? A quick mental search would have confirmed that I don't have it.”
“What?” I gaped at him.
“You spent thousands of years with Darcraxis,” Lucifer reminded me. “You must know the feeling of his magic intimately. All you have to do is look for it to know that it's not inside me.”
“Look for it,” I whispered. “So, you're saying that if I get close enough to the thief, I'll be able to sense Darc's magic?”
“You and Darcraxis both.” He nodded. “At least, I assume so. Your control over your Light has grown significantly; I believe you're strong enough to sense a familiar magic. Darc, however, I have never worked with, and I don't know how much magic he still possesses. That being said, it was his magic, to begin with, and he should know it better than anyone.”
“Thanks, Luci.” I smirked at him. “That helps.”
“See? I can be of assistance.” Lucifer puffed out his chest.
“Yeah, thanks,” Slate rumbled. “Now, get the fuck out of my zone.”
“Fine.” Lucifer stood and held his hands up. “If you don't want me here, I'll leave. I've seen that Elaria is well and that was mainly what I was after.”
“Mainly?” I asked. “What else did you want?”
“I told you”—Lucifer smiled brightly—“I wanted to see what a zone was like.” Then his smile drooped along with his wings and he glanced at Slate. “I didn't expect it to be so inhospitable. The next time I get the urge to hear you sing, I'll ask for a private performance.”
“Get out!” Slate roared.
“I'm going, Gargoyle.” Lucifer held up his hands placatingly. “No need to shout.”
Lucifer winked at me before he glided out of the lounge with his Angel escort following him out the door like a line of ducklings.
“Fucking Angels!” Jago cursed again.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“You are never going to train with that motherfucker again!” Slate snarled.
“Is this a bad time?” Binx, Slate's younger, but bigger, brother, asked as he lumbered into the room. He flexed his brutish muscles as he looked from Slate to Jago to me. “Who were those feathered fuckers.”
Jago snickered. “That's exactly what I called them.”
“Yeah, yeah, I've used it before too,” I huffed. “Alliteration makes insults better. Get over yourselves.”
Jago pouted at me.
“Get the fuck out; both of you,” Slate ordered.
“What the fuck, Bro?” Binx huffed. “You seriously—”
“Get out!” Slate roared for the second time in five minutes.
Jago and Binx rushed out of the room.
Slate sliced his stare my way.
“Don't you fucking dare!” I pointed at him. “I didn't invite him here. I did everything I could think of to push him away.”
“Except for pointedly telling him that you'd have nothing to do with him anymore.” Slate stalked forward until he filled my space. “I've had enough of that asshole. I told you what I'd do if he fucked with you.”
“He's not fucking with me!” I shouted. “He's helping me, Slate. The guy is in love, okay? For the first time in his very long existence. He's going to act erratically and irrationally; that's the nature of the beast.”
“Which beast?” Slate growled. “Love or the Devil?”
“Slate,” I entreated.
Slate sighed deeply, his shoulders sagging as he turned and flung himself on the bank of leather seats that stretched beneath the window. His head fell forward into his hands.
Instead of going to him, I went to the bar and poured us both some drinks. Wine for me this time, but Slate actually enjoyed whiskey straight. Specifically; bourbon. I brought the glass back to him, nudged him with it until he looked up, and handed it to him before taking a seat beside him. He stared at the golden-brown liquid a few seconds before taking a sip.
“I fucking hate that guy,” Slate muttered.
“I know, baby.” I leaned against his shoulder.
Slate glanced at me and then slung his arm around my shoulders, drawing me in to kiss my forehead. “I'm sorry I shouted at you.”
“It's all good.” I smirked up at him. “I can handle much worse than that.”
“Yeah, don't I know it?” He smirked back. “Tell me you don't need him to teach you anymore.”
“I think I can manage without him.”
“That's not exactly reassuring, but I'll take it.”
Having the Host on our side would not be a bad thing, Kyanite pointed out.
Now, you're on Team Luci? RS asked in shock.
No. I am always on Elaria's side, he protested. But she has given her warning and made her position abundantly clear to Lucifer. If he chooses to continue helping her, he cannot blame her for not responding to his romantic endeavors.
Slate will slaughter me if I continue a relationship with Lucifer, I said in my mind.
You don't have to continue the relationship, just be open to accepting his help, Kyanite coerced.
He has a point, RS said grudgingly.
“Are you okay?” Slate angled his head down to look at me.
“Yeah; I'm good. It's just been a long day.”
“It seems to never stop with you,” he agreed wearily.
“I'm sorry.” I nuzzled his cheek. “I know this isn't what you want.”
“You are what I want, sweetheart. If having you means dealing with idiots like Lucifer while tracking down phoenix killers and magic thieves, so be it. Life with you will never be boring.”
That's for damn sure, RS grumbled in both of our heads.
Slate chuckled as he lifted his glass to me. “To love; our love. And to obliterating anything that tries to hurt it.”
I clinked my glass against his, and we both drank to the fate-tempting vow.
“That basta
rd ruined my song,” Slate muttered. “I thoroughly enjoyed it up until you had to follow it with one for him.”
