Black City bw-5

by Christina Henry

  “I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to upset you if I was wrong,” I said.

  “You did not want to…upset me.”

  I’d miscalculated. “It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

  “When would it have been your secret to tell?” Nathaniel said, and his eyes were like frozen winter. “After I fucked you? Would it have been appropriate for you to explain then?”

  I felt sorry for Nathaniel, but it didn’t mean that I had to stand there and take shit from him or his jackass dad.

  “Listen, pal,” I said angrily. “You need to redirect your animosity here. I’m not the one who showed up to your mother in the guise of Zerachiel and then kept your identity hidden from you for thousands of years.”

  “You could have prepared me for this possibility,” Nathaniel said. “I am not stupid. I knew that something had changed after that spell.”

  “I will not be blamed for this,” I said. “How was I to know that you weren’t Zerachiel’s son? Oh, and just to be clear, there was never any guarantee that you were going to wind up in my bed, so don’t talk like it was a fait accompli.”

  “If I wanted to, I could have had you flat on your back and begging at any time,” Nathaniel said.

  I wanted to punch him. I really did. But he seemed kind of unstable at the moment, and I wasn’t sure what would happen. I didn’t want the whole building to blow up because I took offense at his attitude. But I would hit him later. I made a note of it.

  “Off topic,” I said through gritted teeth. “But we will continue this discussion later. In the meantime, why don’t you ask your father why he never told you who you were?”

  Nathaniel visibly made an effort to calm himself, to focus on Puck.

  “If what you say is true, then why did you hide yourself from me?” Nathaniel said. “Why did you let me live so long believing I was someone else’s son?”

  I was vaguely aware of Samiel and Jude, Beezle and Chloe shouting outside. Whatever Puck had done, he’d effectively sealed us off from the rest of the building.

  “I do not have to answer to you,” Puck said, and he was so like Lucifer in that moment that I had no trouble believing they were siblings.

  “Goddamned right you do,” I said. “He knows he’s your child now.”

  “Which is only due to your actions. I had no intention of revealing his origins yet.”

  I was angry. Really angry. I was tired of being pushed around, blamed and generally treated like I was responsible for every wrong ever perpetuated in the universe. And it’s possible I was, as Nathaniel said, in the grip of my hormones.

  Which is why I kind of lost my mind for a second, and stomped over to Puck, and clocked him.

  I’m sure Puck could have stopped me from hitting him if he’d suspected that was what I was going to do. But he probably thought I had more self-preservation than that.

  The sound of my fist hitting his flesh seemed to echo through the house.

  There was a second where he was shocked, and staring, and then I was up against the wall with his forearm under my neck, and I was choking.

  “How dare you,” Puck said.

  I kicked him in the balls and he dropped me. I haven’t met a male of any species that could tolerate that. I landed more or less on my feet after a momentary stumble, and rubbed my throat.

  “You didn’t spend enough time researching me,” I said hoarsely. “I dare whatever the hell I want. You will tell Nathaniel why you did what you did, and then you will take us to Titania’s court.”

  “What makes you think I must comply with your demands? You are the one in debt to me,” Puck said. We were only inches apart from each other. I wondered what kind of effect nightfire would have on him.

  As it happened, I didn’t have to find out. Nathaniel’s sword came around his father’s throat.

  “You can do what Madeline says, or you can have your throat slit,” Nathaniel said.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Puck said. “Did not Lucifer warn you about destroying ancient creatures?”

  “I killed Azazel,” I said. “I diminished Oberon. Maybe you’ve noticed that I tend to do things without regard for the consequences.”

  “Oh, yes, you are Lucifer’s child,” Puck said bitterly. “Queen of all you survey. You have even taken my son in your thrall.”

  “Nathaniel is nobody’s thrall,” I said. “And I’m nobody’s queen.”

  “You will be if Lucifer has his way,” Puck said, then sighed tiredly. “Stand down, Nathaniel. I will tell you all.”

  Nathaniel looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. He pulled the sword away from Puck’s throat.

  Puck looked at me speculatively. “Would you have let him kill me?”

  I looked at him steadily, so he could see the truth in my eyes. “Maybe not over this. But if there ever comes a time when you are a threat to me and mine, I will eliminate you.”

  He shook his head in wonderment. “No wonder Lucifer has chosen you. Most creatures have more sense than to threaten me.”

  “Madeline fears nothing,” Nathaniel said with a touch of pride.

  That wasn’t true. I was afraid of lots of things—more things than I could count, actually. But I didn’t see any value in admitting that fear when everyone I encountered was a lot more strong and powerful than I was.

  Puck wandered over to my bookshelf, scanning the titles. “You should know that Lucifer and I do not get along.”

  “I noticed that,” I said. “Care to tell us why?”

  “Lucifer believes that as the firstborn, he has the right to rule all. Our siblings and I disagree.”

  “There are more of you?” I asked, alarmed. That was all I needed—more frighteningly powerful relatives running around.

  “Yes,” Puck said. “There are four of us.”

  “And one of you is in the lake,” Nathaniel said thoughtfully. “I could feel his presence.”

  “Why is your brother in my lake?” I said. I did not like this at all.

  Puck shrugged. “Alerian settled there some time ago—perhaps three hundred years? He said that he was going to rest for a while. None of us questioned him at the time, as he has a habit of slumbering through decades. But…”

  “But?” I asked.

  “I wonder if he sensed this area would become geographically important,” Puck said. “He is better than any of the rest of us at seeing the future. Alerian sees things more precisely.”

  “And now that the area is geographically important, he’s waking up to do…what?”

  “I imagine that he has intentions of some sort. I am not privy to them.”

  Awesome. Another immensely powerful being with intentions. “And your other sibling? Is that one hanging around here, too, hoping to take advantage?”

  “We do not speak much of Daharan,” Puck said. “He keeps to himself.”

  “Does he have plans for total world domination? Because if he does, I want to add him to the list.”

  “Very likely,” Puck said, and it was not a kind smile. “None of us seem to be able to leave well enough alone.”

  Lucifer had three siblings. One of them had me in his debt, and one of them was rising from Lake Michigan for his own fell purpose. It seemed I had another crisis looming on the horizon, but first we had to sort out the Nathaniel/Puck issue. The clock was ticking—for J.B. and for the city.

  “So you and Lucifer have some sibling rivalry issues,” I said. “What does that have to do with Nathaniel?”

  “Some time ago I considered that it would be wise to have a person well placed in Lucifer’s court who was loyal to me.”

  “I can see the wisdom of such a thing,” Nathaniel said. “But how does it benefit you when I did not know who you were or that I might be loyal to you?”

  “When the time was correct I would have revealed myself, and your legacy, to you.”

  “And you thought that I would immediately swear allegiance to you?” Nathaniel said skeptically.

  �
�You would have been unable to do otherwise. The time would have been right,” Puck said.

  “This plan seems like it has a lot of potential to backfire,” I said. There was something bugging me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. “What, exactly, is ‘the right time’? You let him believe he was Zerachiel’s son for thousands of years.”

  “When I was prepared to move against Lucifer,” Puck said vaguely.

  Move against Lucifer, I thought. Why was he being so circumspect? If he wanted a loyal son who would help him overthrow Lucifer, then why not raise that child as his own…And then everything slid into place.

  “You weren’t saving your revelation so you could have a loyal person in Lucifer’s court,” I said. I could feel my anger rising again. “You were never going to tell Nathaniel in the first place. You were just going to flip the switch.”

  Nathaniel looked from me to Puck. Puck’s expression was stony, revealing nothing.

  “Madeline, what do you mean by ‘flip the switch’?” Nathaniel said.

  “He’s made you a Manchurian candidate,” I said. “He was never going to tell you he was your father. When the time came, and you were close enough, he was going to unleash you on Lucifer. You’d never know why you killed him, but it wouldn’t matter because you’d probably die in the process anyway. I imagine that killing something as old as Lucifer would make a big explosion.”

  Puck nodded slightly.

  Nathaniel looked horrified. “You would set me on Lord Lucifer as an assassin?”

  Puck wandered around the room, picking up my things, inspecting them, putting them down again. “Whatever my intentions, they have been undone by this woman.”

  “This does not change the fact that your intentions sucked,” I said. “Did you even care about him at all? Or was he nothing but a means to an end to you?”

  “How did you do it?” Puck asked curiously. “I would have said no power but mine could release his legacy.”

  “I take it by your avoidance of my question that you did not give a care about Nathaniel at all.”

  “I take it by your avoidance of my question that whatever occurred likely involved physical intimacy, because you possess an annoyingly human sense of modesty.”

  “What happens now?” Nathaniel said, breaking into my verbal tennis match with Puck. I’d almost forgotten he was in the room. “My legacy has been revealed, at least partially. Am I in danger? When next I see Lord Lucifer, will I attempt to kill him?”

  Puck gave Nathaniel a speculative look, like he was X-raying his son with his eyes. “The enchantment I laid on you seems to have changed. Really, Madeline. It is astounding that you managed to undo thousands of years of planning in a moment.”

  “Will I attempt to kill Lucifer?” Nathaniel asked urgently.

  Puck shook his head, but he seemed resigned instead of especially angry. I did not trust that. Puck was a mystery to me, like Lucifer, and Lucifer liked to play the long game. If Puck was giving up on Nathaniel as Lucifer’s killer, then he must be anticipating some other benefit from the situation.

  “Guess you’ll have to murder your brother yourself,” I said.

  “You don’t seem especially grieved by the prospect, considering we are related to you,” Puck said.

  “If I’m lucky, the two of you will destroy each other and then I won’t have to deal with either of you anymore,” I said.

  Puck gave a brief laugh. “If the two of us were gone, then Daharan and Alerian would remain. Don’t think that either of them would permit you any peace. Any descendant of Lucifer’s—or mine—would attract their attention.”

  “So what about Nathaniel, then? Are you just going to leave him like this, half-baked? What if your enemies recognize him? Will he be able to defend himself?”

  “How do you know I have enemies?” Puck said.

  “You’re related to Lucifer. You have enemies.”

  “The question is not if I will leave him like this, but will you?”

  “Why is this on me? It’s your spell. It’s your deal.”

  “Ah, but now that you have interfered in the magic, it’s your deal, as you say. I no longer have the power to release it.”

  “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

  Puck’s eyes twinkled. “I suspect that you need to do whatever you did in the first place, and just keep doing it until the spell is unleashed fully.”

  10

  SOMETHING FLASHED IN MY BRAIN—NATHANIEL RISING above me, naked and straining. I could feel my face turning red.

  “There has to be another option,” I said.

  Nathaniel looked at me. “Would it be so terrible?”

  “This is not a conversation I want to have with your father looking on,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “He is in danger as long as the spell is incomplete,” Puck said, and he looked like he was enjoying this immensely.

  “You are an incredibly powerful being of old,” I said. “I find it just a bit absurd that you can’t wave your hand and fix this.”

  “Even I have no control over the rules of magic,” Puck said. “You put the key in the lock. You must be the one to turn it.”

  “Madeline,” Nathaniel said, and he approached me with his hands out.

  He reached for me, pulled me close, put his face to my ear. I was sure Puck could hear anything we said, but it was nice that Nathaniel was willing to establish the fiction that we were alone.

  As soon as he touched me I felt the thrumming anticipation that had haunted me ever since we’d first kissed. It may have been the compulsion of the spell demanding that I finish what I started, but it felt like a sickness, like a disease. I didn’t love Nathaniel like I’d loved Gabriel, but I wanted him more, and I hated that. I hated that I burned for him and there was no love between us.

  “Madeline,” Nathaniel said, his voice low in my ear. “If you do this for me, it will not mean that you have to choose.”

  “Nothing could make me choose before I was ready,” I said.

  “And it does not mean that we must…culminate our relationship,” he said. “We need only to blend our powers together as we did before.”

  I shook my head at him. “You know and I know that we wouldn’t be able to stop. And once we’re done, who knows what will happen? What about my baby?”

  “Your baby would not be harmed,” Puck said loudly.

  I looked around Nathaniel’s shoulder. “Excuse me, this is a conversation between Nathaniel and I. You could at least pretend that you can’t hear.”

  Puck held up his hands in surrender and went into the living room. He sat on the couch and flipped through a celebrity gossip magazine that Beezle had picked up somewhere.

  “I do not trust Puck, but I don’t believe that he would allow your child to come to harm,” Nathaniel said.

  “Because my baby is a bargaining chip with Lucifer,” I said bitterly.

  “Whatever the reason, your baby will be safe,” Nathaniel said. He lifted my chin so I would look him in the eye. “I would not harm you, either.”

  If I didn’t do this, then he could come to harm. Everything in me was straining toward him. It was probably inevitable, but…

  “I can’t do this now,” I said. “Not with an audience. Not with J.B.’s life in the balance.”

  Nathaniel nodded, and he bent his head to mine. The kiss had a gentleness that I didn’t know he possessed.

  “When we bring J.B. safely home, then,” he said. “We cannot wait much longer. And I would be a better ally to you against the vampires if my power was complete.”

  I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but it was difficult not to feel like I was being boxed in. If I slept with Nathaniel, I didn’t want it to be for this reason. I wanted to choose, and like so many other things in my life I wasn’t allowed.

  I moved away from Nathaniel. Puck gave the appearance of someone very absorbed by the latest celebrity breakup.

  “Can you let everyone else in the house?�
�� I said. “I want to get this show on the road.”

  “As you wish, my niece,” Puck said.

  He waved his hand, and the back door opened. I heard it slam against the kitchen wall. Beezle flew in, followed by Chloe.

  Beezle looked furious. “What in the name of the Morningstar is going on here?”

  “Where are Jude and Samiel?” I asked.

  “They’re trying to break one of the windows from outside,” Beezle said. “I told them not to bother, but they were getting a little crazed when they couldn’t open the door.”

  “Will you go and get them, please?” I asked.

  “Why? They’re probably hanging outside your bedroom window with a rock as we speak. And now that the spell is broken—”

  As if on cue I heard the sound of glass shattering, and Jude’s triumphant cry.

  “You’re going to fix that window,” I said to Puck. “I am not sleeping in a room with duct tape over the window frame in the middle of January.”

  “Of course,” Puck said.

  “You’re awfully compliant all of a sudden,” I said.

  From the bedroom came the further sounds of glass falling to the floor, and the thump of Jude’s boots. Samiel grunted, and I imagine he was having a hard time squeezing his wings through the frame.

  “You are going to have plenty to deal with when we arrive in Titania’s kingdom,” Puck said. “Our other issues can wait. If you survive.”

  “I am not going to be defeated by Titania, so don’t worry. We’ll have plenty of time to take up our issues later,” I said.

  Jude and Samiel came panting into the room. Both of them looked like they were loaded for bear.

  “The crisis is over,” Beezle announced.

  His eyes darted between Nathaniel, Puck and me, and I could see him working things out. I gave him a look that warned him not to say anything.

  Jude appeared slightly deflated by the news that he didn’t need to hit anything. “Are you all right?”

  “That’s a complicated question,” I muttered. “Yes, I’m unharmed.”

  What happened? Samiel signed.

  “Puck wanted a private word,” I said.

  “Did he have to stop all of us from entering the apartment?” Jude growled. “We thought he was killing you in here.”