“It is,” Toth agrees, looking at me and clearing his throat. “I’ll leave you and Lucifer to it.”
“Toth?”
“Yes?”
“You’re kind of cute when you’re not being a dick.”
He rolls his eyes and disappears into thin air.
I don’t have to wait long for Lucifer to appear; I take a deep breath and let him speak first.
“How are you feeling with your new body?” is the first question he asks, and I find it to be thoughtful.
“It’s amazing. Thank you,” I say, giving him a small smile.
“I can’t apologize enough for everything that’s happened, Mara. I didn’t know. If I had known about you, I would have taken care of you,” he reassures, and I still don’t know if I can fully believe him.
“Beelzebub told me a lot of things about you that I now know are lies. I don’t know Blair yet, but I’m hoping she forgives me for the whole possession thing and joking about sleeping with her boyfriend.” He grimaces, and I shrug my shoulders. I don’t feel that bad about it, but it sure as Hell would have made my life easier if I hadn’t possessed her. “But it’s clear she thinks you’re a good dad, even if you lied.”
“I’ve gotten caught up in a few lies over time. Ones that I regret deeply, I want to do better, be better.” At least he admits he’s a liar. It catches me off guard.
“That’s all I can ask for. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve been able to think clearly in years.” Also a lie, I’ve always been a great thinker.
“You like it here?” he asks me, and that’s something I don’t have to lie about.
“Oh, yes. It’s very cozy and creepy but in an expensive way.”
“I think you should start training then.”
“Training?”
“Learning all the facets of your power, what you’re capable of, and how to handle your corporeal body,” he says, expanding on what he meant by training.
“I handled myself perfectly fine on Earth.”
“I don’t doubt that. But I would feel better if you were properly trained in defending yourself and learned more about the history and inner workings of Hell,” he urges.
“Like a protégé?”
“Exactly like that.”
“You’re not fucking with me, are you, Satan?” I ask him. Does he really mean it? That he wants me, not Blair, to be his successor?
“Definitely not fucking with you,” he replies, raising his hands in mock surrender.
“But you don’t even know me,” I counter, feeling like maybe he’s tricking me. Beelzebub always said that Lucifer was great at manipulating and making people trust him.
“But I want to,” he repeats softly.
“You’re definitely not what I imagined.” Which is the truth; the picture Beelzebub painted for me is nothing like the man in front of me.
“Oh?”
“I thought you were going to be this big hulking asshole who eats souls, rips people’s hearts out with his bare hands, and crushes people’s hopes and dreams.”
“I may do some of those things, but not for the people I care about,” he says, clearing his throat.
“And how long is that list?”
