by S. J. West
“Right away, sir.”
Our driver remains silent. I can’t say I blame him. I wouldn’t want to talk to Lucifer any more than I had to either.
As we continue to travel down the street, my suspicions about which city we’re in are quickly confirmed when we drive through Times Square. All of the electronic billboards mounted on the buildings are synchronized and showing the same exact video. Against a black backdrop, a beautiful woman with dark auburn hair appears on the left side of the screens. She’s wearing a finely-tailored red dress with a square neckline, and her hair is styled in a fashionable side bun. Right before we pass the display, the woman smiles and holds up her right hand where the red dragon symbol has been tattooed. The words “Get Yours Today” flashes on the right side of the screen.
“Interesting,” Lucifer comments, sounding just as intrigued by the video as I am. “You should leave and try to find the others after we stop,” Lucifer whispers to me. “I don’t think you need to run into the alternate me if you don’t have to.”
I lean in and whisper into his ear, “No. We stick together.”
Lucifer sighs and says grumpily, “Have it your way. You always do.”
As we continue to travel through the city, I notice that the buildings we pass don’t have any of the black and red banners from my dream hanging from them. Considering what I just saw on the video, I have a feeling the woman wasn’t just some random actress. My intuition tells me she’s directly connected to the red dragon symbol in some way. Although her smile seemed inviting, there was something behind her eyes that didn’t convey the same warmth.
The city streets are completely devoid of people, except for a few scattered checkpoints manned by guards dressed in the same style of black military uniform our driver is wearing. For a metropolis as large as New York City, it should be bustling with activity. The lack of people roaming around is an obvious indication that something isn’t right. I have no way of knowing if any or all of the seals have been opened yet. Besides needing to find my friends, I’m also in desperate need of some information.
As we keep heading east, towards Midtown Manhattan, I start to see the black and red banners from my dreams. My heart races at the sight of them as I realize they are all too real. They seem larger and more ominous in real life than they did in my dreams. Perhaps it’s because I know their presence confirms that something dark has already taken place in this alternate reality. The last time Mason and I were here, the Watcher Agency was the big bad. What happened to change that? Who was in charge now instead of the Watchers? And what have they done to this world?
I need answers to all my questions, and a party hosted by this reality’s Lucifer should be the perfect place to get them.
CHAPTER FIVE
Our driver pulls up to the tallest glass skyscraper on the block. He gets out of the truck and heads for the rear passenger door, presumably to open it for Lucifer.
“You should go, Jessica,” Lucifer says, taking the opportunity to speak with me. “I don’t know if I can protect you in there.”
“I’m not asking for your protection. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
Lucifer groans in frustration. “How does Mason put up with your stubbornness? If I had a wife as obstinate as you, I would take her across my lap for a good spanking.”
“Funny, I didn’t peg you for the kinky type, Lucifer,” I tease. “Though, I suppose chains and whips are probably a bit tame for you, considering what you do to souls in Hell.”
“You have no idea,” Lucifer mutters, as the driver opens the door on his side.
“Will you need anything else from me this evening, sir?” the man asks Lucifer.
Lucifer stands beside the open door, giving me ample time and space to get out of the truck behind him.
“No, I’ll be fine from here,” Lucifer tells him. “You can leave now.”
With Lucifer’s emphasis on the last two words in his sentence, I know he means them more for me than the driver. I don’t heed his words, of course. I came to this reality to find a way to solve its problems. I can’t very well do that if I don’t know what those problems are.
Lucifer strides toward the glass doors of the building with a great deal of purpose. The two male guards stationed on either side of the entrance pull the formidable-looking iron and glass doors open for Lucifer as he approaches. As we enter the lobby, I notice it looks more like a military compound than it does a luxury residence. Soldiers armed with everything from submachine guns to pistols and swords are positioned every two feet along all four walls of the open area. I’m not sure what exactly has happened in this reality, but it looks as though we’ve stepped right into a militarized combat zone.
The doors of the elevator straight ahead of us open up, and a pert-looking young woman wearing a white cocktail dress with shoulder-length, wavy red hair, and alabaster skin makes her way straight to Lucifer.
“Hello, sir,” she calls out in a chipper voice, which instantly grates on my nerves. “We were wondering if you were going to miss your own party.” The woman giggles annoyingly. “President Draeke will be relieved to know her host hasn’t abandoned her after all.”
“I had some personal matters to attend to,” Lucifer says brusquely, telling her with his tone that she should know better than to ask about his whereabouts.
The woman doesn’t seem offended by Lucifer’s terseness, and turns as he approaches her so they can walk to the elevator side by side.
“Well, she’s been entertaining your guest for you,” the woman says as we enter the elevator. “President Draeke has the gift of the gab, if you know what I mean.”
The woman pushes a button labeled “P” on the control panel, and I see that the building has fifty-five floors. I also happen to notice that she has the red dragon symbol tattooed on top of the hand she used. The elevator doors close and we begin our ascent to the top of the building.
The woman begins to tap the side of one leg with the fingertips of her tattooed hand, which tells me she isn’t as comfortable with Lucifer as she pretends to be. She smiles tight-lipped at him as we continue to make our way up.
“So tell me,” Lucifer says, “how is President Draeke this evening?”
“She’s doing quite well, sir,” the woman responds. “And I know for a fact that she appreciates you hosting this party in her honor. After those dastardly resistance fighters tried to attack her convoy the other day, I think she needed a get-together to take her mind off them for a little while. In fact, her exact words to me were, ‘Sometimes I think Lucian knows what I need before I do’. ”
Well, that was an interesting piece of information. Apparently, there continues to be an organized resistance in this reality. I wonder if Brand is still the leader of it. But, who the hell is President Draeke? Brand never mentioned her when I was here the last time. Was she the woman I saw in the video? That seemed to be the most logical conclusion. If the resistance was still being commanded by Brand, that was confirmation that this President Draeke was my enemy. Though, I had already assumed whatever or whoever the banners heralded would be our nemesis.
The doors of the elevator open and the expected sounds of people talking, with soft, classical music being played in the background greet us. As we step into the penthouse, we have to walk around a dividing wall in order to enter the living room. The apartment is minimalistic and modern. I assume most of the furnishings have been cleared away to make room for all the guests. Well-dressed partygoers are gathered in small groups, talking amongst themselves. Waiters dressed in white suits and black ties walk between them, carrying silver trays filled with hors d’oeuvres and long-stemmed glasses of bubbling Champagne.
In the midst of the crowd, one guest stands out like a sparkling diamond amid all the rest. The auburn-haired woman I saw in the video is surrounded by over a dozen attendees. All of them appear to be hanging on each word she utters. Due to the distance separating us, I can’t hear what she’s saying but, from th
e intense looks on the faces of the people around her, I have to conclude it’s something important.
As if sensing our presence, the woman lifts her head slightly and makes direct eye- contact with Lucifer. Although she smiles at him, which is meant to emulate a friendly welcome, there is something sinister in the way she’s looking at him.
“President Draeke’s Chief of Staff asked to speak with you privately in your office, sir,” the woman informs Lucifer. She doesn’t wait for Lucifer to say whether he will take the meeting or not. The woman simply begins to walk down a side hallway, as though he’s expected to follow her.
“Something’s not right here,” Lucifer whispers to me as he follows the woman at a distance.
“I get that feeling, too,” I whisper back.
“The woman is nervous about something,” Lucifer tells me. “And have you noticed that she seems to be leading us around like she knows we don’t know where things are? If this is my home, I wouldn’t need to be escorted through it.”
“What do you suggest we do?”
Lucifer sighs. “There’s nothing we can do but let this play out and see where the rabbit hole you opened up takes us, Alice.”
The woman stops at a pale wood door and turns its silver knob to open it. She steps inside the room and holds the door open for Lucifer, expecting him to follow.
“He’s here, sir,” the woman announces to someone within the room.
I follow Lucifer into what is supposed to be alternate-Lucifer’s office. The outer wall is, of course, made of glass and steel. Multitudes of holographic images play against the white wall behind a massive, glossy black wood desk. The black leather, high-back executive chair situated between the desk and the surveillance footage is turned around so that all we can see is its back, not the person sitting in it.
For some strange reason, my bracelet grows warm against my skin. I’m not sure why, though. The warmth is supposed to warn me that someone in the vicinity wants to harm me, but no one knows I’m in the room. I’m not sure what the bracelet is sensing.
“Thank you, Mindy,” a man, whose voice I don’t recognize, says from the chair. “You can leave now.”
Mindy exits the room and leaves us with the man who is presumably President Draeke’s Chief of Staff.
“You know,” the man says contemplatively, keeping his chair turned to face the images being projected on the wall in front of him, “when I first saw you, I thought I was hallucinating.” The man finally spins around in his chair to face us. He’s good-looking with short, blond hair and a day’s growth of beard on his face. His light blue eyes are piercing as he studies Lucifer with sincere, candid curiosity. He’s dressed in a black tuxedo with slim black tie, all of which match the darkness of his aura. “But I can see that you’re real.”
“Obviously, you want to ask me something, Gabriel,” Lucifer says, sounding bored. “Why don’t you just ask me what you want to know? It will save us both a great deal of time.”
Gabriel? Why did Lucifer just call this man Gabriel?
“All right, then,” the man says, standing from the chair so that he’s eye level with Lucifer. “Who or what are you? You’re sure as hell not the Lucifer I know.”
Lucifer doesn’t say anything for a moment. I suspect he’s weighing his options carefully, before either denying or confirming what the man said to him.
“I’ll answer your question if you answer one for me, too,” Lucifer finally says. I’m not sure if he’s trying to stall Gabriel for more time to think over his own options, or if the question will be about something he genuinely wants an answer to.
“You can ask,” Gabriel says, “but I can’t promise I’ll respond to it.”
“How did you end up here?” Lucifer asks, sounding sincerely interested in the answer. “What made God cast you out of Heaven to live as a rebellion angel?”
“Then you aren’t the Lucifer I know,” Gabriel says as Lucifer’s question confirms his assumption.
“No, I’m not,” Lucifer replies, unafraid to admit such a thing. “I’m from the Origin. Now, answer my question.”
“I sided with my Lucifer during the war in Heaven,” Gabriel declares proudly. “Everyone who rebelled against God was sent to Earth as punishment.”
“The same thing happened in my reality,” Lucifer says. “Though, you never sided with me during the war. You stayed true to our father’s cause.”
“Our father was blinded by his love for humanity. Still is,” Gabriel says scathingly. “But we’re finally ready to make him pay for exiling us here.”
“How…exactly?” Lucifer asks, sounding highly-interested in what Gabriel has to say next.
“Wouldn’t your companion be more comfortable if she came out of hiding and joined in on our discussion?” Gabriel asks, running his hand over the desk to bring up a set of holographic controls. He presses a sequence of numbers, and I see live footage of the office’s interior appear on the wall. The image is infrared, and I can clearly see myself in it.
I curse under my breath and make myself visible again, since remaining hidden is pointless.
“Do you always carry around a human pet when you visit other realities?” Gabriel asks, sounding amused by the prospect.
“I’m not his pet,” I say, annoyed by this Gabriel’s rudeness.
“Sometimes, I do wish I could put her on a leash,” Lucifer grumbles. “Then I wouldn’t have to worry about her interfering with my plans.”
“If she bothers you that much, why don’t you just kill her?” Gabriel asks, as though killing might be the way he solves many of his own problems.
“I did once,” Lucifer replies with a sigh, “but she came back from the dead. Personally, I think she did it just to annoy me.”
With this revelation, Gabriel looks at me more closely, as if he can discover how I cheated death by just gazing into my eyes.
“She doesn’t look like anything special.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Lucifer assures this Earth’s version of Gabriel.
“Do you want me to kill her for you?” Gabriel inquires, making a serious offer. “In the spirit of a possible new friendship between us and all, of course.”
“Thanks. But that won’t be necessary.”
Gabriel shrugs. “Suit yourself.”
The three of us are soon joined by a fourth.
This reality’s Lucifer.
“Well, well, well, you did have a surprise waiting for me, Gabriel,” the alternate Lucifer says. “The vessel of Michael is back for another visit, and she’s brought along a special guest this time. My goodness, what an unexpected pleasure. I have to say, I never thought I would meet my counterpart from the Origin.”
“I hope you’re calling yourself something other than Lucifer here. I seriously doubt you can live up to the name,” Lucifer says snidely to his doppelganger.
This reality’s Lucifer narrows his eyes at my Lucifer.
“I chose to have everyone call me Lucian instead of Lucifer a few years back. I would hate to be associated with someone who has failed so miserably to bring Hell to Earth in the Origin,” Lucian says, doing nothing to hide his disdain for Lucifer. “I wondered why the Tear simply disappeared when it did. I’m surprised you have the nerve to show your face here, after such an epic failure.”
My Lucifer used the name Lucian when he first introduced himself to me. I’m silently grateful this reality’s Lucifer has chosen to go by that name. It makes keeping them separate a whole lot easier.
Unexpectedly, I hear Lucifer begin to chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Lucian questions harshly, not seeing anything amusing about his condemnation.
“Oh, I just found your last statement…extremely ironic, considering your current situation.”
“My current situation? What is that supposed to mean?”
“What? And ruin the surprise for you?” Lucifer says, aghast at such a notion. “That would be akin to jumping to the end of a book and ruining the story. Oh
, no, I’ll let this tale run its natural course. Though, I have to admit, I can’t wait to see you fall on your face.”
“You do realize that I am you, right? A win for me is a win for you.”
“No, I don’t see it that way at all,” Lucifer tells his alternate self. “Because, you see, dear boy, I’m the only version of me that actually counts. You’re just a weak facsimile of who I am. Everything you are or ever hope to be is because of me.”
“And what have you done lately?” Lucian asks. “Because I haven’t felt many ripple effects since the Tear closed. There’s only been one, and that was a few years ago. There was a worldwide earthquake for a few seconds, but then it stopped. It’s what gave me the notion to start opening the seals in this reality.”
I know the exact moment he’s talking about. It was when Caylin and Asmodeus fought, and she damaged the seal that particular prince of Hell had in his possession. Asmodeus actually stabbed himself in the hand to stop the seal from opening completely.
“Which shows just how foolish you are,” Lucifer says scathingly. “The seals aren’t ready to be opened, you half-wit. I assume you haven’t opened many of them yet, or you would have noticed they’re not nearly as effective as they could have been if you had just bided your time for another millennium or two.”
“They’re effective enough,” Lucian replies bitingly. “At least I’m not twiddling my thumbs and waiting for opportunities to present themselves. I’m actually doing something destructive in my reality.”
“Our father doesn’t take kindly to our interference with the human world,” Lucifer says. “You should know that by now.”
“How could I? I haven’t seen Him in eons, and I have no desire to. As long as He stays out of my way, I’m happy to never see Him again.”
“When have you known our father to ever let us do something He doesn’t agree with, at least not on a global scale? He always has a scheme or two up His sleeve to stop us, and I’m afraid He’s just thrown His aces on the table to win the game against you.”
