“Lucifer and I dealt with Kir in different ways. Lucifer went to a dark place that involved drinking and picking fights. Punching things and getting drunk isn’t my style. I was more interested in finding out who did it and getting revenge.
“I threw myself into writing spells and potions. I tried potions that could force someone to tell the truth, but I could never quite get a recipe right that worked on angels. Mostly, itjust got them high and if you think some of them are annoying now, you should see them stoned.”
“Really?” I asked. “I pegged a few of them as being a lot more tolerable on something herbal that would dislodge the sticks in their asses.”
“Trust me, that isnotthe case with most of them. So, I started working on spells that would boost a seer’s magic. But seers are rare and no one really knows where their visions come from. Certain beings have always been blind spots for seers and I hoped to create a spell that could boost their abilities toseethrough whatever magic protects them from visions.
“I eventually gave that up because I didn’t think it was possible toseesomething angels didn’t want you to see, but Satan told me about Kujo. I did, however, come up with a spell that opens the third eye a little faster. It skips the weird dreams when the gift first starts to manifest and lets the visions come in like that magic has fully developed.”
“You don’t have to,” I immediately said.
Because Kujo didn’twantto be a seer. He’d said it on more than one occasion and Nero and Celix also said he didn’t want it. He didn’t have much choice in the matter and it was going to happen whether we did this spell or not. Kujo was probably our best shot at finding Lucifer, but I also wasn’t going to force magic on him because it made things easier.
“No, I’m going to do it. I didn’t want it because I knew what my stupid family would do and they didn’t disappoint. You blowing them up was just a bonus because now the rest of them won’t get any ideas. But say I do find him and we manage to get Lucifer back.
“He’s only been gone forty-six years. Things got shitty long before that happened. We’ve got demons with mangled wings who will never fly because the other Fallen think they are the only beings who deserve wings. The upper demons sitting prettyneed someone to shit on to get their minds off the fact that some of the Fallen thinktheyare vermin. How exactly do you plan on fixingthatwithout a war in Hell?”
That was a damned good question. I’d never lived through a major world war, but I’d seen enough of them to know that throwing magic, angels, and demons into the mix was going to get ugly.
Lilith tossed her hair over her shoulder and practically vibrated with power.
“I am the Mother of Demons. I defied my creator, ran away from the man I was made to serve, and lived to tell the tale. My demons might have sworn fealty to a Fallen angel in my absence, but Mommy’s home. This place was my sanctuary and protection when I was being hunted. I left, but they at least know I don’t smile to their faces while loathing them behind their backs. They will follow me if I ask.”
The one person I looked to for answers was Kujo. He hated everyone on principle. There were probably many demons who hated how things were in Hell and had someone they blamed for it. WouldKujofollow Lilith? That was my litmus test.
He knew what I was asking without me having to utter a word and gave me a small nod. Demons would follow Lilith over any of the Fallen.
Just fuck me if I actually knew how to deal with the Fallen when they didn’t seem to want to hold each other accountable.
Listen, I had absolutely fuck all control over my telepathy, couldn’t fly, uncontrollably exploded bathrooms and entire families, and couldn’t do a damned thing about it if someone was hurt around me. But I wasverycurious about all the spells floating around in Lilith’s brain.
She seemed to have one for every occasion. I didn’t just want to learn all her spells. Lilith and Lucifercreatedthem. I wanted to do that. Except I wasn’t going to keep them in my head where they could be lost or hidden in my absence.
I was a writer. I was going to write all that shit down. The written word usually persisted when tyrants tried to suppress it. I’d even be willing to ghost write for Lilith soshecould get those spells out.
“What do you need me to do?” Kujo asked.
“Nothing right now. It’s a potion, and it takes twelve hours to make. I went straight to Lucifer’s when I got here and one of the servants said everyone was at Satan’s. I wasn’t able to start until I got home. There’s nothing painful about it from what I’m told, but it might get you a little high.”
“We’ll keep you away from the Sharpies and priceless works of art, dude,” I said, clapping him on the back.
“That was you?” Lilith asked. “I appreciated the cheek and got a nice chuckle out of it. You’re young, though. You would have been just a child when he went missing and since you’re Cambion, you were probably in the mortal realm when that happened. Tell me, what did my ex do to piss you off?”
Kujo slouched in his chair and didn’t snap back with his usual vitriol.
“I was piss drunk, and the portrait was judging me.”
“Hrm, Lucifer was an amazing artist and had this way of really capturing the subject except when he was doing self portraits. The saying wasn’t really around then, but he’s one of the most expressive people I know and all his self-portraits are resting bitch face.”
“What was he like?” I asked.
I knew what his brothers said. Lilith would have seen a different side to my father. She raised a child with him. I never asked my mother this question because I just assumed he was a deadbeat who bounced when he found out he was going to be a father. I knew that wasn’t the case now and while I’d love to be able totellmy mother he didn’t abandon us and ask all this, she was gone.
“What have you heard? That he’s a fierce warrior with daddy issues?”
“I heard he defied his father and started a war about it. I’ve been told he was charismatic enough to convince several angelsto follow him. We found a room that was full of his journals and have been trying to read through them. Most of them were his investigation about Kir, but we found a few about my mom.”
“Lucifer is complicated, but he has way fewer daddy issues than the rest of them. He decided almost as soon as he got banished that it was dickish to treat his creations differently and punish them when they asked to be treated the same. He moved on right away and started building Hell up as their new home.
