The Devil's Advocate

by Michaela Haze

  An incessant beeping broke through the darkness and a sobering thought rushed through my mind. I was still alive. Still human. My eyes were dry and weighed down, but I fought the sluggishness until I was looking at the tiles on the ceiling.

  I was in the hospital. I recognised the stark scent of disinfectant and the paper thin sheets. A sharp pain radiated from the top of my hand and I looked down to find myself attached to IV wires.

  Pulling off the sheets with a sharp tug, I surveyed my injuries only to find there were none. My skin was pristine and free from bruises; none of my bones were not broken.

  I felt nauseous but I guessed that was the remnants of drug I felt swirling around my system.

  Did Luc bring me back to the Human Realities? I wondered.

  If the Devil was aware of my location, then I had a good few hours until he could surface; that was if he would even venture to see me.

  Luc could only spend sixty-six minutes and six seconds away from Hell at any given time.

  I sighed and laid my head back onto the pillow. I occupied myself by counting the pitted holes of the ceiling tiles until a doctor knocked on my door.

  “Miss Clark, my name is Doctor Porter. Do you mind if I take your blood pressure?” he was good-looking, young though.

  I shrugged and let the man in scrubs do his duty. My blood pressure was high, but that was to be expected. It was a side effect of stress.

  He shone a light in my eyes and deduced that I was in good health. Dr Porter stood up to leave but added a shocking revelation as if it was an afterthought:

  “We'll have the sonography up shortly. We just want to check that the baby is okay.”

  My eyes widened and I threw head over the edge of the bed, just in time to empty the contents of my stomach onto the floor.

  I could not form words and I stuttered the beginning of every sentence. The doctor saw my distress and came to my side. He put a hand on my shoulder and I slapped it away.

  “There must be some mistake.” I said. “I’m certain that I am infertile.”

  Dr. Porter smiled softly. “Miracles happen, in my experience.”

  I shook my head again and found I was unable to pull air into my lungs. “Run the tests again.” I demanded though gritted teeth. “You’re wrong.”

  Running my fingers through my sweaty hair, I tugged at the roots until I felt a sharp pain. I repeated the words ‘no’ over and over. I had never had an out of body experience before, but it was unpleasant.

  I could not remember why I had been on the top of that tower.

  Had I tried to kill myself whilst carrying a child?

  Or I been pushed?

  I blinked up through tears, unable to see through my blurry vision.

  I saw Luc’s outline in the doorway to my hospital room. Luc took up the entirety of the door frame, his face was devoid of expression as if he was gauging how to react to my emotions.

  My eyes burned and I could not swallow the lump in my throat. I buckled under the weight of intense sorrow. Mourning and jubilation in equal measure.

  What had I almost done? I had almost killed my own child.

  One look at my master’s face told me all I needed to know.

  He had known that I was pregnant from the start.

  Part 3

  There were two conflicting thoughts that crossed my mind almost immediately after I found out that I was pregnant.

  The first was that Luc was using the cuffs to ensure that I could carry the child to term.

  The second was that I was going to die because of his actions.

  My life was runner up to that of a child that had yet to be born.

  Part of me was not bothered by that, purely because I wanted my child to live even if it was at the expense of my own life.

  What I was torn by was that Luc had not told me. He had sequestered me away from any threat that I had not directly approached myself. He had not informed me of why he had chained me. He had not given me the choice.

  Regardless of if Luc knew that I would chose the life of my unborn child over my own, it did not excuse that he did not think it prudent to inform me of the reasoning behind his actions.

  Lucifer hovered by the doorway as the doctor ran through a list of things that I was and wasn’t allowed to consume.

  Dr. Porter looked up to the Devil and must have felt the cloying hostility that radiated from his still form because the doctor gaped. It was uncommon to see waist length hair on a man in the modern age, and Luc was very much the Norse warrior. Leonine but taut with muscle.

  My master smiled and slouched as if to put the human doctor at ease, but the damage was done. A few seconds later, we were left alone.

  Luc’s fists were by his side, and when I looked down to his knuckles, I saw they were white. Clenched so tightly. At odds with his easy-going expression.

  “What do you want me to say?” Luc asked with a sigh as if he did not grasp the true gravity of his actions. He was always detached; his smile never reached his eyes. It had never bothered me before, but in that second I couldn’t focus.

  I wanted to grip him by the shoulders and shake some empathy into him.

  Luc hadn’t changed, but I had.

  I rolled over in my hospital bed and tucked my legs to my chest. I felt the hard skin of my small bump and I wondered how I had ever been so stupid as to not see.

  I knew that it was impossible for me, so I never allowed myself to dream of the possibility.

  I turned my back away from the Devil and hoped that he would leave.

  I needed to be alone.

  I heard his footsteps drift away when The Devil saw that I was not going to speak to him.

  Even though I hated his deception. Even if I ached from his betrayal... I couldn’t help the spark of joy that burst inside of my chest.

  I was having a child.

  Luiz and Meesha, my hellhounds, arrived at the hospital later that day whilst I was being discharged from the ward.

  I had missed my personal assistant, Luiz, and his bouncy but serious personality. Luiz was a bundle of contradictions wrapped up in a seemingly Hispanic package, with hazel eyes and unruly black hair.

  Meesha shared the same colouring as Luiz but their heritage was very different. Meesha’s appearance was of Indian descent, though Hellhounds were created and not born.

  Luiz had no fear of me and would speak his mind whenever the situation asked for it.

  Meesha had mastered the disapproving stare, which she employed in full force as she stood in the corner of my hospital room.

  Luiz had brought my Louboutin’s. I placed the stilettos on the floor and stepped into them, finding my mobility was hindered by my small bump. It must have been primarily psychological.

  Luiz chirped on about office gossip, whilst Meesha was silent. Her gaze only left mine for one moment and that was to eye my belly with calculation.

  Despite my newfound maternal status, which was the only thing that I could think about at that moment, I still wanted to feel the comfort of my favourite designer shoes.

  I tucked my hand into the crook of Luiz’s elbow and allowed him to lead me out of the hospital and to my chauffeured car.

  I had missed London.

  Due to my lack of Demonality, I was experiencing the City on a new level as we drove through the stop-start traffic from Hampstead to Knightsbridge.

  “Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Meesha bit out, looking out of the window as if to give the impression of aloof disinterest. That was just her way. If Meesha was bothered enough to ask the question, then her impassive expression was a mask.

  “If that is a subtle insult about my size, then kudos. Clever.” I said.

  “I am expressing legitimate concerns about your maternal instincts.” Meesha shrugged.

  “Eloquent, especially from someone that uses the word bae on a regular basis.”

  I could not deny that her words stung and I rubbed my stomach protectively.

  �
��Thought I would use flowery words so that you’d get it.” Meesha licked her bottom lip and turned back to the window. Attempting to dismiss me. That hound liked to have the last word, and I did not allow her to.

  “Its fortuitous that you are no longer my personal assistant then, isn’t it?” I laughed harshly but there was no humour in the sound. “You no longer have the right to try and advise me.”

  Meesha flicked her eyes to Luiz; her smile was mocking. “And does she often take your advice, Luiz?”

  Luiz's expression was sedate as he put his arms up as if to show that he was unarmed. He said nothing.

  “I’m just a hellhound,” Meesha spat. “What do I know?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed heavily. Meesha and I had slept together once. She thought that it meant more than it did. She was unable to continue her work by my side when her vitriol started to spill into the working environment. The only time she would willingly share the same space as me was when she was beating the darkness out of my body, or when Luc had ordered her presence.

  “I only require one guard. Luiz is perfectly suited to that role. You can leave, Ms Bahra.”

  “Unfortunately, the Devil, your baby daddy, has been pretty clear about his instructions. Protect his bitch and his spawn.” Meesha said.

  “Jealousy is a beneath you,” I tapped my finger against my bottom lip absentmindedly.

  “But it still fucking stings.” Meesha snarled.

  Both hellhounds deposited me at my Knightsbridge apartment, with instructions not to leave. I puttered about my minimalist home and cleaned as if my life depended on it.

  Only when the dusty smell that had taken up in my absence finally abated, did I feel like I could rest.

  I downloaded all the books about pregnancy and labour that I could find. I had plenty to read as I waited for Luc to return to the Human Realities. If he intended to.

  Although I was away from Lucifer, I did not feel alone. I would never truly be alone again. But then a sobering thought occurred to me.

  “One way or another, you’ll die.” The Seer’s words echoed through my mind. My heart clenched.

  I felt the shockwave as Luc arrived inside of my home. His presence made my ears pop as I adjusted to the sheer magnitude of his being. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but they often did when I was around him. It was the reaction that all humans had to Purebloods.

  I felt his hard chest against my back. I matched his height and I felt his cock though his trousers as it rested against the small of my back. I tried not to squirm, determined not to show Luc how much he still affected me.

  Luc clasped the top of my shoulders.

  “You tried to kill yourself.” He said. His voice had the air of practised ease, as if he had spent hours rehearsing them to himself so he could get it right.

  “I want you to tell me the truth.” My voice was harsh and demanding, but I tried to hold back judgement even though it pained me to do so. “Now.”

  Luc exhaled heavily; his shoulders were stiff with tension. He let go of my shoulders as if I had burned him and stepped around me as if I was furniture.

  I found myself rubbing my pregnant belly as if it could offer me comfort. Now that I knew about my child, it had become a habit.

  “Two hundred years ago, I was made aware of the last line of the prophecy.” Luc’s voice was barely audible.

  “The prophecy about the child?”

  Lucifer nodded; his lips curled as if he was struggling with his words.

  “What did it say?” I probed, walking to his side and sitting down on the edge of my velvet armchair. I watched the Devil pace, his loafers suck into the plush carpet and left a trail as he worked his mouth to gather courage to say the words.

  “Two Roses. One thorn. Bloody and infected. Lucifer will come to claim her. A child will be born. More powerful than fallen.” I prompted, knowing the words better than any other piece of literature. I had spent hours lamenting the damn prose.

  “The child shall remain. The Mother will die.” Luc finished, wringing his hands as he refused to look into my eyes.

  “Vinca said as much.” My chest burned but I kept calm and did not allow my distress to show.

  “I sent you away for that very reason. I could not allow you to die.” Luc sat down on the edge of my bed, as he leant forward his sheet of hair obscured his face. His shoulders shook as if he was sobbing.

  I raised my hand to comfort him, but found myself unable to move.

  “If you were the mother of my child, you would die.” Luc raised his hands as if they were a pair of scales. “If you were away from me, then you would live.”

  “But there would be no child.” I acknowledged.

  “I survived over two hundred years, Dahlia.” Luc sounded so defeated. “But Ba’el is missing, the King of the Leviathan is encroaching on the other circles. My power is stretched. I ache. I am tasked beyond my limits and Hell is resting on my shoulders.”

  I carefully hid the sharp pain that crossed my face, but it still flashed for him to see.

  “I did not need your power, Pet.” He smiled sadly. “Otherwise I would not have leashed you.”

  I fiddled with the cuffs but found myself unable to speak. I waited patiently as Luc gathered more courage to speak.

  “I needed you by my side.” Luc said fervently. “You make me half mad, but I could no longer be noble where it concerns you.”

  “Why Samuel?” I croaked.

  “You did not know him. I thought it unlikely that you would forgive me right off the bat, if I could endear myself to you, even slightly, then you would be less likely to kill me.” Luc’s lips twitched into a smile.

  I nodded in agreement. “I would have done it.”

  “I would have let you.” Luc rubbed his face, and hung his head. “Sending you away made no difference. In fact, it was what allowed the prophecy to come to pass.”

  “How so?” I cocked my head to the side.

  “I have a theory that you would have never allowed yourself to become disconnected from Hell whilst in my presence. The prophecy was clever. It’s very wording allowed the events to come to pass.”

  “Self-fulfilling prophecy.” I mulled over the notion.

  “I believe so.” Luc leant back on the bed and spread his arms like a starfish. The movement was remarkably childlike. It had been an age since I had seen the carefree Lucifer, making angels out of the white ash snow to make me laugh.

  “Nora Bleu is Samuel’s mate.” Luc admitted, he placed his hands on his stomach and eyed the ceiling as if it would reveal life’s mysteries. His brow furrowed. “I broke their bond so that I could enter his body.”

  “Was she important to him?” Some residual part of me harboured feelings for the man that I have come to know as Samuel Rose, even if he had not existed as I knew him.

  “They healed each other. Unfortunately, he has no memory of this now.” Luc admitted.

  “She is still in a coma,” I said. “I can’t heal her while I am wearing the cuffs.”

  “That is correct.” Luc said.

  “Why were you in the visitor’s log from over five years ago?”

  “Lenora found that she was pregnant with a Cambion as the result of a Seventh Circle coercion. I helped her abort the foetus.” The Devil remarked casually.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat but I had no adequate response to Nora Bleu's tragedy. I had put the woman in a coma due to petty jealousy.

  “Do you wish to remain disconnected?” Luc asked.

  “Are you asking if I want this child?” I brushed my hand across the top of my small bump. “If I am willing to die so that my child can live?”

  “Our child,” Luc noted.

  My chest fluttered, and I pushed myself to my feet. I approached Luc with delicate steps, as if he was a wild horse. I placed my hands on his thighs and leant forward until I was straddling him. I brushed a tendril of hair away from his face; his eyes sparkled up at me. Our lips shared
the same breath.

  “I want our child.” My voice was quiet and filled with wonder. I placed a tender kiss on his lips. His breath was cold, as his hands rested on my waist. My stomach brushed against his hard chest, and I sensed the flutter inside of me. My child kicking. I had no idea if Luc felt it or not.

  “I will do everything in my power to ensure that you live.” Luc’s gaze burnt like a brand. His jaw was clenched and his gaze was determined.

  I stroked his chest and nuzzled into his shoulder. His strong arms came around my body as he held me.

  “I know you will,” I replied in a breath. “Nothing can keep us apart.”

  We both knew that I was lying, but we allowed ourselves to believe it. If only for a minute.

  Lucifer’s presence was required back at the Ice Castle, so I was left alone in London.

  Pouring through old contracts, I tried to keep myself busy. I placed my phone inside of my Hermes bag, and slipped on the comfortable armour of my Louboutin’s and red lipstick.

  I walked the short distance to Morgenstern and Clark, tailed by Meesha. My constant guard. After our verbal altercation after I had been discharged from hell, we had not spoken to each other.

  I arrived at the office to unexpected fanfare, the other human brokers congratulated me on my pregnancy.

  Their corrupt and reptilian nature was apparent when I noted the gleam of ambition in their eyes. Pregnancy was weakness to the sharks. They wanted to take my place at the top of the totem pole. Poor men had no idea that I was the same Clark that had founded the business over two hundred years previously, not some precious princess that had inherited the mantle. As was the public appearance.

  Luiz had kept the office running smoothly in my absence despite Luc’s constant demands on his time.

  That man deserved a raise.

  Walking through the door to my corner office, I hooked my handbag onto my coat rack and exhaled.

  I saw Samuel Rose's silhouette, framed in the bright autumn light from my window. His Auburn hair was wild but his hands were in his pockets and his demeanour was full of self-assurance.