I was still pissed at my dad, but I also felt partially responsible. If I hadn’t brought them over with me, they wouldn't be in this position. Even better, if I would’ve been honest with them when they’d tried to bring me over here, I might’ve been able to change their minds, maybe convince them to go on a date instead. Tried to convince them why making a deal with me would’ve been better than following through on the deal with my dad, but what was done was done. There was no changing what had happened now.
I turned to them, trying to convey some sort of an apology as I gathered my lady balls and told them what I thought had happened. I walked up to Fame and grabbed his forearm. At first, he grew very still, like he wanted to yank it out of my grasp, but he didn't. He just arched his brow at me in question. I let the pad of my finger trace over the flower, the lily flower that my Pop Pop always called me. He sucked in a throaty breath, and I felt a spark of pleasure through the bond before he yanked it away, looking at me with distrust.
My anger spiked, and I decided to just get it over with. “You see, the reason that I ran away from Hell was that my father and I had a disagreement.”
I heard the rest of the brothers’ steps as they circled around me, wanting to hear what I had to say.
“Something that was out ofmycontrol,” my dad barked out as he crossed his arms and gave me the stink eye.
I glared over my shoulder, still not convinced of that. “Yeah, I’ll believe that when Pop Pop backs you up on it!” I hurled at him. “But we can't because you refuse to ask, right?!” I was feeling the old hurts of our last argument starting to rise up inside my chest.
My father took a couple of steps towards me, eyes imploring me to listen to him for once. “See, that's just it, pumpkin... He’s missing.” My heart suddenly dropped, and my eyes got wide as pure shock and fear surged through my body.
He looked off into the distance, running his hand in his hair as he gave me a second to let that sink in. Pop Pop was missing… God, the Almighty Creator, was missing? How could that happen?
I turned sharply away from the men to whom I was just about to explain how their lives had changed forever to face my dad. What he had to explain took a little more precedence than saying you're stuck in Hell with me forever. If God was missing, forever might not be so long.
I took a step forward and grabbed Dad's arm, stopping him from obsessively running it through his hair, something he only did when he was really stressed out. I looked deep into his eyes, showing him that I was listening and that I was here to help. That even if I was still mad at him, I could put that aside for the greater good of… well, everyone.
“What’s going on, Dad? Where’s Pop Pop? He can't have just gone missing.”
He seemed to sag in relief and now that I stopped and paid attention, I could see the dark circles under his eyes. There was so much worry in those eyes. Worry for so much more than himself, and it scared me. My dad never worried, not about anything. At least, not after my mom had died.
I heard Con behind me whisper to his brothers, “Wait, if she is Lucifer’s daughter, and Lucifer was made by… are they sayingGodis missing? Th-the fucking creator of all of this!”
My dad looked at me, skimmed over my face as if he were committing it to memory. He hadn't seen me in a while, and I hadn't aged since I turned twenty-eight, but still, his scrutiny scared me. I’d always assumed we had forever to work on our issues, but with the way he was looking at me now, I didn't know if we had forever and it shocked me to my core.
His eyes flicked to the guys behind me; he threw his chin towards them as he cracked a small smile and winked at me. “Real winners you got there. Let’s hope they understand that you’re the smart one.”
Just like always, this was his way of trying to get out of a hard situation, directing the attention onto others so he didn't have to cop up to what he’d said, but I wasn't falling for the bait.
“That's not nice. Plus, it's your fault, so take it up with yourself. Now tell me what’s going on.” I made sure my voice was a little commanding at the end, telling him I was not messing around.
He just smiled and pushed some of my hair behind my ear. “Lily Bear, I need you to run Hell for me.” When I started to shake my head, his face fell and he started to beg. “Please, Lillian. Only for a short time. Temporarily.”
When he still saw the nonacceptance in my eyes, he pulled out the big guns. “I need you to take up the mantle that you so desperately ran from in order to go find Him and restore the balance. If not, everything will eventually erode with just my angel brothers and me running things. Plus, I think they had something to do with it. I need to find Him, and I can't trust anyone but you to take this power.” His voice was more serious than he has ever been, which told me what I needed to know. That this was serious and he needed my help.
God was truly missing, and my dad must have some sort of idea of where to start looking. I needed to pull up my big girl panties and get over my fears and insecurities. I needed to take one for the family, hopefully temporarily.
I nodded slowly, not trusting myself not to scream and run in the other direction. He seemed to realize that, not giving me any time to really think about any of this. He lifted my hands, palms to palms, then he closed his eyes as he spoke in Latin.
“Sanguis sanguinis mei, coronam hanc sume, et sicut tibi videbitur, regas.”Blood of my blood, take this crown and rule how you see fit.
Our palms started to light up, and the Hellscape started to shake, the power of Hell switching hands. I felt a slow burning sensation skate over my skin, coating me with what smelled like fire and brimstone. I felt something snap and a rush of power surged into me, so much so that I began to shake. Then my father let go of my hands.
Before, I used to be able to feel the power of Hell as its own entity, swirling around outside of me, but now, now I felt it deep within my bones, right down to the cell. I felt it dance along my veins, calling for me to play with it.
My father once told me that Hell was like Faerie. The land had a life and a mind of its own, but whoever held the crown was able to convince it to do their bidding, and in dire times, force their will onto it. I hadn't understood it when he’d tried to explain it to me, but I did now. Hell was calling to me, but when I told itno, it settled down, waiting for another chance for me to say yes.
I looked up at my father. There was no longer a red ring around his pupils, and that freaked me the fuck out.
My father’s smile widened and he opened his mouth. “Well, I guess I’ll be off now.” Then turned away from me. I started to panic.
I held up my hand to grab him.
“Wai—” My plea landed on deaf ears. He’d already lifted his hand and created a portal, jumping in and closing it before I got a single word out. Fucking damn it! I was thinking of going after him, when I heard someone clearing their throat behind me.Oh, right, I’d kinda forgotten about them.
“Soooo does he do that often to you?” Fame glared at the spot where my dad had been standing like he could find him and yank him back. It was kinda cute.
