Lucifer growled, golden light creeping into his irises as he gripped Remi’s ankle and yanked it to the side with godly strength, sending her sprawling to the floor. “I may allow you many freedoms, Remiel, but do nottestme today.”
She scrambled up from the floor, expression just as fierce as his, markings spilling over her pale skin like bloody warpaint as her eyes took on a crimson glow. “Finally, we haven’t sparred in ages.”
“We will not be starting now,” he snapped, golden light wreathing his palms as he faced her down. “This is a punishment.”
“You can try,” she taunted. Crimson energy bled from her palms, coalescing into a pair of daggers matching the gleam of her eyes.
“Enough!” Luce thrust one palm towards the slender woman and a bolt of white-golden light slammed into her chest. Remi flew back several feet into the nearest wall, slamming against a shelf laden with books that rattled under the impact. Scrolls and tomes spilled from the shelf, including one that landed directly on her head.
“Ow!” The red glow faded away, along with her manifested weapons and warpaint.
“I warned you, Remiel,” Luce admonished, stalking towards her and gripping her tightly above the elbow. “Today isnotthe day.”
“Between this and the storm, it’s gotta be something pretty bad happening,” she huffed, tugging uselessly against his hold as Luce hauled her to her feet. “I haven’t seen you this worked up since the day Foster was born.”
He was almost impressed by her perception. On the other hand, he was tempted to ignore her and banish her from the study. The fewer people who got dragged into this, the less chance there was of anyone he cared about getting hurt. And he did care about this little brat, even if she broke his nose and ruined his priceless documents.
Remiel had been the first to follow him into exile, snubbing her nose at Jehovah and crashing through his plans like an angrywhirlwind. Luce had been content to wallow in his misery for several centuries, but Remi had stomped into his home one day and yanked him out by his hair.
“I sometimes wish you’d left me alone in the desert,” he muttered absently, and Remi looked at him in disbelief.
“I don’t give afuckabout that Luci, that was millennia ago. Talk to me about what’s going onnow.”
“Nothing serious,” he quipped irritably, towing her towards the entrance of the study. “Just Armageddon, if I don’t find a way to stop it.”
“Armageddon?” A single arched brow. “Is that all?”
“Oh, yeah. Just another day, you know.” Luce raked a hand through his hair, massaging the sore spot Remi had given him.
“So, that’s why you’re this upset. Itisrelated to the vision Mags had on Foster’s birthday, isn’t it?”
He sighed deeply, coming to a halt just inside the doorway. “She had another vision this morning…”
“And what did Foster say about it?”
The silence stretched awkwardly as they lingered at the room’s threshold.
Remi narrowed her eyes. “You did talk to him,right?”
Luce blinked at her, before averting his gaze.
“Oh, for Hell’s sake, Luci!” She massaged her temples with one hand, glaring at him.
“I’ve been a bit preoccupied!” He tried not to acknowledge how weak the defense sounded, even to him. Remi’s glare sharpened.
“And,” he continued, avoiding her gaze, “we’re not exactly speaking right now.”
“And why is that?” She leaned back against the doorway, eyebrows raised in expectation of an answer that wouldn’t make her want to throttle him.
Another drawn-out pause while the Devil squirmed. “Well...we haven’t ever since...Angela.”
“What? Luci, that was fifteen years ago.”
He winced, avoiding her fierce glare by inspecting the doorframe for damage he knew wasn’t there. “Correct.”
“You haven’t spoken to your own son for fifteen years?!”
“It sounds so much worse when you say it like that,” Luce grumbled, picking at a tiny crack in the wood until it started to widen.
