He was suddenly in my face, and I could feel the scalding Hell flames coming off of him. They licked at my skin, asking him if they could consume me.
“My father may have made you and your brothers to be indestructible, at least until your time comes, but that doesn't mean that you are untouchable.” Malice and nightmares wove through his voice, and I shuddered as I tried to hold my ground.
His fire face crackled, then he grinned at me with a smile made of shadows. My stomach turned.
“I may not be able to snuff out your core,your essence, but I can manipulate this form.” He lifted his finger and trailed it down my suit, burning a precise line straight through the fabric, not yet burning my skin. His cruel words didn't stop there.
“I can mangle it so much that you would be unrecognizable. Or I could push back your body's time to make it be an infant forever, maybe push it forward and make it into an old man, unable to get it up.”
I instinctually covered my dick with my hands as it shriveled at the thought. I didn't use it as much as Con or War, but still, I didn't want that kind of punishment.
He cackled. “I am Lucifer, the devil, the King of Hell. I can bring your best fantasies to life, or your worst nightmares come true.” He leaned into me and whispered his poisonous words in my ear. “The ones you don't even know about yourself yet.”
It was hard to keep a straight face and not piss my pants in front of him. I knew everything he said was true. Every threat was a certainty, but I was Death. I may have stepped over the line, but I would not cower to Lucifer. I was not weak. I looked him square in the face, daring him to do his worst as I kept my mouth shut.
His shadow wings snapped back into his frame, and the fire and shadows of his face and body receded until he resembled the human-looking version of Lucifer I was used to. He looked down at me, smiling like nothing had happened.
“Lucky for you, I have a soft spot for defiant little shits like you and your brothers.”
I had still not moved, just staring at him like he was going to come after me, and he sighed like this was all just a silly little game.
He waved for me to follow as he turned around and said under his breath, “And, apparently, so does my daughter.” He looked annoyed by that fact but shook it off and smiled invitingly at me over his shoulder.
“Come on, Mr. Death. We need to get you to your brothers. Have you all come up with a plan to use your last portal key and get my daughter home?” He clapped his hands at me. “Chop chop. You have a lot of work to do, and you're burning daylight.”
He paused for a second as he looked up at the sky, then started to howl with laughter. He laughed so hard that he was bent forward, then he started slapping his knee, gasping for breath like an old man.
“Daylight. You get it? Daylight!” He wiped tears from his eyes as he looked up at the ruby red Hell sky. “Sometimes I just crack myself up!”
I rose slowly, not taking my eyes off Lucifer now that I’d seen his darker side. I didn't know why I said it, it could have gone so terribly wrong, but the words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“You’re crazy. You know that, right?”
His head turned my way, a big wide smile, showing all of his teeth, plastered on his face, and it was almost as scary as his fire and shadow face.
“Oh yeah, totally. But bully for you, it runs in the family.” He laughed as he skipped forward, making me run after him until he waved his hand and a portal showed up.
What the… What the…!?
“If you could have done that this whole time, why didn't you?” I screeched as I waved at the portal in front of me.
I was pissed. He could have saved me from my big ass mouth if he had done that when he first found me, then I wouldn't have been introduced to the scary side of Lucifer. I wanted to go back to not knowing.
He waved his finger in my face like I was a naughty boy as he sang, “All good things come to those who wait.” Then he grabbed me by my suit jacket and threw me through the portal.
He was not gentle, not gentle at all.
Chapter 22
Iwassittinginmy study, trying to focus on the deposition in front of me, but all I could think about was Lillian… and wondering if D had succeeded. If he had, that would be great. We should celebrate…right? Then why did I get the feeling that if he walked through that door smiling, I would be disappointed? Why did it feel like a betrayal of sorts?
It wasn't. This was the job we needed to do, and Lillian couldn't fault us for succeeding… Right? I had this sinking pit in my stomach that told me if D succeeded, I would never see her again. That she would neverwantto see me, or us, again. I threw down my papers and leaned back in my chair, folding my hands in front of my face to think.
“Worried about her, right?” Con’s smug voice called out.
I glanced up to find him and War in my study doorway, looking at me like they understood and pitied me at the same time. It was disgusting. We were the fucking Four Horsemen, nothing and no one should pity us. I was about to say that very thing when War stomped into my study and collapsed onto the small sofa, the one I had in here for aesthetics, with his hand thrown over his eyes as he whined.
“I know I need to be rooting for D to be victorious, but I’m really not.”
