by Leigh Kelsey
Lili shot upright in bed, her throat hoarse, a scream hanging in the air around her as she gasped and gasped for air.
The bed dipped, tipping her into a warm body and secure arms. “It’s alright, Liliana. It was just a dream.”
Lili kept gasping, unable to draw a full breath, grabbing hold of Lucifer’s silk pyjama shirt to anchor herself to the world. As long as she was in Hell, she wasn’t in Wisteria; she wasn’t anywhere near the archangel Gabriel.
“You’re alright,” Lucifer murmured, stroking her lower back through her night dress. “You’re safe here.”
“I d-dreamt of h-him,” Lili rasped, every word shuddering and broken. “Gabriel.”
Lucifer held her tighter, and Lili didn’t care that he was the devil, or that she didn’t really know him. It felt so unspeakably good to be held while she shook and cried, to know Gabriel was nowhere near. He hated demons, and especially Lucifer, and right now having the devil hold her close felt like the best kind of armour—because Gabriel wouldn’t come near her as long as she was with him.
“He can’t get anywhere near Iarlon,” Lucifer said quietly. “No archangel can.”
Lili’s shoulders slumped in relief, her head resting on his shoulder. “Promise?”
His fingers sifted lightly through her hair, pulling it over her shoulder until she met his ruby eyes. “I promise.”
Lili believed him. And maybe she believed what he’d said earlier—that he wasn’t going to hurt her, that he would take care of her instead. She knew he was only being kind because he wanted her to feed Gabriel lies, but his arms still felt amazing wrapped around her. And wasn’t it a thousand times better, to know why he was being nice, to know there were strings attached rather than thinking it was selflessly given?
“Do you think you can sleep again?” Lucifer asked quietly, brushing her cheek with the back of a finger.
Lili swallowed, darting a glance at his tanned, bearded face and finding only care and compassion, as soft as his hands on her lower back but as strong as his hold around her. It made her brave enough to admit, “I don’t want to dream of him again.”
His crimson eyes flickered, his expression unfathomably soft. “I could make it so you don’t dream at all tonight.”
Lili nodded her agreement without a second thought. If it meant she could sleep without hearing those hateful things Gabriel had spat at her… She flinched just remembering, and knew Lucifer felt her recoil because his arms tightened around her, his lips pressing, so briefly, to her temple. It was so soft a touch that Lili could have imagined it.
“I was so stupid,” she whispered, needing to speak the words out loud, “To trust him.”
Lucifers fingers slipped under her chin, tilting up her face so she met his steady gaze. “He used you, and he lied. He’s good at it.”
Enough bitterness writhed in those words that Lili laid her hand on his arm. Surprising strength and muscle lingered in his slender bicep, but instead of making her nervous, it felt like yet another fortress built between her and Gabriel. “He hurt you, too.”
Lucifer’s expression shuttered but he nodded. “He was my friend, a long time ago.”
Lili’s stomach plummeted as she realised… “He was the reason you Fell, too, wasn’t he?”
“Yes,” Lucifer bit out. A muscle feathered in his jaw, his eyes on the ceiling.
Lili decided to be kind and leave the subject alone. Just because she needed to talk about her pain didn’t mean he wanted to talk about his. She laid her head back on his shoulder, the black silk of his shirt caressing her cheek as she wound her arms around his waist. She silenced the thought that worried she was taking liberties. This felt good and Lili needed something good, just for tonight. And he didn’t push her away; if anything he held her closer.
“Do you believe in karma?” she asked instead, tension leaving her bones as Lucifer’s hands skimmed her spine again, a safe distance from her bandages.
“I believe in visiting karma upon people myself,” Lucifer replied after a while. Lili heard the violence in his voice but she didn’t think it was aimed at her. The bleat of panic and self-preservation instincts never rose. Maybe her instincts were broken, maybe they’d shattered in the Fall as well as her body.
“Well, I believe in karma,” Lili murmured, her eyes growing heavy. “Gabriel is a horrible person, and what he did to me, and to you … he’ll suffer for it. Someone he trusts will betray him too, and he’ll deserve it.”
“I hope so,” Lucifer replied, his voice still seething.
“He’ll get what he deserves,” Lili insisted, her eyelids falling shut. “Do you have things you need to be doing? Sorry if I disturbed you.” By screaming herself awake, her throat so raw she knew it must have been loud.
“It’s fine,” he said, his voice softening. “I was only sleeping.”
“Oh.” Lili should have realised that by the black silk pyjamas. “Sorry.”
“Hush.” Lips pressed to her temple and Lili went weak. “Sleep, Little Lilith. I’ll make sure no nightmares find you.”
Lili didn’t fight as he rolled her over and covered her with silky sheets, sliding in behind her. When his arms folded around her middle, pulling her back flush against his chest, Lili had to cover her mouth to contain a sob. Emotion rose so quickly she couldn’t keep it at bay. She’d never … never felt anything like this. She didn’t have the words to describe it. His closeness, the weight of his arm on her waist, his warmth at her back, his breath on her neck… Lili’s bottom lip wobbled.
She hadn’t recognized how badly she’d been treated by Gabriel. He’d never offered the touch and intimacy she needed; he only took what he wanted, feeding her just enough scraps to keep her begging at his feet. He’d left bruises on her arms, shoulders, and hips. He’d left her sore where he’d … he’d fucked her. They hadn’t made love, she realised, even if she’d seen his roughness as passion.
A sob escaped her and Lucifer sighed against her hair. “Oh, Liliana,” he murmured. “I know it must hurt. But I promise it’ll get better.”
“How?”
“Time.” His hand swept down her side, then back up, slow comforting strokes. “Only time heals.”
“Did it heal you?”
Lucifer went still, and Lili only realised what she’d asked, what she’d implied, when he’d been silent for too long. “Eventually,” he answered after a long pause. His lips pressed to her shoulder. “Sleep, Liliana. We can talk in the morning.”
Lili tried to sleep, but her mind kept turning over what he’d silently told her. Gabriel had tricked him too, the exact same way she’d been manipulated. Fury hammered in her heart, the warmth of her magic racing through her blood, and Lili fell asleep grinding her teeth.
When she woke, Lili’s jaw ached from gnashing her teeth in her sleep, but she hadn’t had that awful dream again, so she felt … refreshed. Lucifer no longer slept behind her but that was okay, she told herself, he must be a very busy man.
“You’re doing it again,” Lili hissed at herself. She was looking for comfort and love in places that were devoid of it, and though she’d sworn to herself never to trust another man, she was slowly beginning to trust Lucifer. All because he’d shown her kindness and held her through the night.
Lili threw her legs out of bed, shaking her head at herself. “I’m a fool,” she whispered. “A naïve fool.”
It was why the dream had hit her so hard—because she knew Gabriel was right.
Lili couldn’t help glancing at the dip in the mattress behind her though, couldn’t stop herself from reaching to touch the sheets Lucifer had rumpled. He was the devil—he was the worst traits of humanity rolled into one person. But nobody had ever held her like that before, or listened to her cry, or let her be upset without sighing with impatience or disappointment. The comfort he’d offered, with very little expectation … she hadn’t seen it coming. Especially not from him.
And stupid though it might be, she wouldn’t say no if he wanted
to cuddle her again tonight. It had been pure bliss, being wrapped up in his arms.
Lili tried to drown her thoughts in a scalding bath but even when she emerged, carefully wrapped her wounds, and dressed in clothes that had appeared in the wardrobe and drawers overnight, she couldn’t quite banish the little smile from her face.
And it wasn’t really her fault, was it? Gabriel had been rationing affection for so long. It was obvious she’d be weak for a man who held her and treated her like a girl he treasured.
A knock startled Lili from her daydreaming about the devil, and she hurried to the door, taking a deep breath and drawing her shoulders up. She’d learned the trick in Wisteria growing up—if she were to meet strangers or people who frightened her, she should stand tall and never let them see it. Weakness would only encourage their meanness.
It was easier said than done but Lili held her back straight as she opened the door, expecting to see a member of Lucifer’s household or a messenger on the other side of the door. The door opened as easily as any door at home; it had been unlocked. She wasn’t locked in like a prisoner. She was more … a guest. Exactly like Lucifer had promised. Gratitude filled her chest, making the smile on her face genuine as she regarded the man who’d knocked.
He had to be Cerny’s brother—he looked so much like him, the structure of his face similar, his jaw the same, and that straight nose almost identical. But where Cerny was wound with ropy muscle, this man was whipcord thin, and his blond hair was kept short, albeit curling on the ends like Cerny’s, and deep brown eyes blinked at her behind glasses.
Unlike Lucifer who wore smart, casual clothes, and Cerny who’d been dressed in tough leather pants and a tight shirt, this man looked … normal. There was nothing about him that made her think demon.
He was dressed in well worn jeans, Converse, and a shirt with an Earth TV show logo on it. And he slouched, twisting his hands together in front of him as he gave her a nervous glance. He must have been a similar age to Cerny, must have been in his thirties, but there was something about him that felt younger, closer to Lili’s age.
“Hi?” Lili offered, watching him watch her. His eyes didn’t linger on her scars the way Cerny’s had. They just stared at her face, as if dumbfounded.
Lili began to lift a hand to make sure she didn’t have drool crusted on her chin when he snapped out of it and said, “Russ. I mean—me—I’m Russ.” He expelled a sigh as if disappointed with everything he’d just said.
Lili couldn’t help but smile. She knew exactly what it felt like to muddle an introduction. She’d done it enough times to recall the sting of embarrassment precisely. “Hello, Russ, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Lili.”
“Liliana Kazana.” He nodded. “I know.”
“Um.” Lili narrowed her eyes on the fine-boned, pretty man. “How?”
“Oh!” Russ smacked his face, a gold ring emblazoned with a stylised wolf hitting his glasses lens. Lili was almost certain the ring was a TV reference too; she’d seen someone at the academy with a mug that had the same dire wolf on it. “My brother found you. Cerny. He told us.”
Lili nodded. She was right about them being brothers. “Us?”
“Me and Bernard.” Russ offered a tentative smile, his chocolate eyes very pretty when they lit up. Lili cursed herself for being distracted by his looks; wasn’t it bad enough that she was feeling soft about Lucifer?
“Bernard,” Lili repeated, puzzled why that name sounded familiar until it hit. The story Lucifer had told her to distract her from the doctor’s ministrations. “Oh, Bernard of the hallucinogenic plants.”
Russ burst out laughing, a bright sound that encouraged Lili to laugh too. “Please always call him that. He’ll never live it down.”
Lili found herself smiling with him; it was easy. Something about Russ was so disarming and Lili was glad of it. He reminded her of her friend Mal from the academy. “I will,” Lili agreed, if only to keep him laughing. It was a balm to her weary, pained soul to laugh. “Um. I don’t want to be rude, but why are you here?”
“Oh fuck,” Russ sighed. “I didn’t say?”
Lili shook her head.
“I came to escort you to breakfast.” Her stomach gave an approving rumble and another laugh lit up Russ’s eyes. “Pretty sure your stomach just told me to hurry up. Allow me to show you the way.” He flourished an arm, offering her his elbow. With a flutter of apprehension that was drowned out by her hunger, Lili shut the door behind her and let Russ guide her towards breakfast.
“What’s taking so long?” Bernard growled, throwing himself into the chair opposite Lucifer’s desk and running a hand over his shaved head.
“She’s fragile,” the devil replied, displeasure twisting his mouth at Bernard’s tone. “She’s just been thrown out of Heaven, betrayed by her lover and her kin, and now she’s found herself among strangers and villains, in Hell itself.”
Bernard shrugged as if to say so?
“Don’t,” Lucifer warned, his voice dropping, “be cruel to her. That’s the last thing she deserves. Besides, if you expect her to help us, terrifying her will get you nowhere.”
Lucifer flashed back to the night before, holding her small, trembling body against his until she stopped shaking, not sure if anger or fear had tremors rocking her. With his arms around her, and her soft sleep sounds in his ears, Lucifer had raged with protectiveness. Gabriel had always been a bastard but to hurt someone so innocent…
“You upset her,” he told Bernard, meeting his friend’s hard green eyes, “and you suffer.”
Bernard’s mouth thinned and he crossed big arms over his barrel chest. “You’d throw me in with the unworthy for a girl?”
Lucifer resisted the urge to roll his eyes, scanning the flat screen of a tablet before him: the list of souls expected today. For a man so harsh and unfriendly, Bernard could be melodramatic. “I would force you to run with the new recruits. Is that such a terrifying punishment?”
Bernard’s mouth thinned even more, his eyes flinty at the amusement in Lucifer’s voice. “Fine. I’ll be nice to her.”
“Wonderful.” Lucifer tapped at the tablet. “How’s the army coming along?”
“The masses are fine,” Bernard sighed, picking at the arm of the leather chair. “The elite troops need more finessing.”
Lucifer nodded. It was easier to train someone to hold a gun or a spear and run a blunt-force attack than to train someone in precise assaults—the kind that managed to get through the ranks of Heaven. Not that Lucifer had any interest in invading that lofty place; but if angels came for his home, he’d be sure to trample theirs. And with Earth caught between … that was why they needed the army. War had been brewing for as long as Lucifer had been alive, but it was a seething pot about to boil over. Lili was just the latest sign of Heaven’s desperation to gain a foothold in Hell.
Which might have pissed Lucifer off if he didn’t understand why they were so incensed. Demons were spilling through breaches between Hell and Earth, more and more each day, and wherever they met humanity, violence erupted. Lucifer had sent the bulk of his elite forces onto Earth to hunt down the rogue demons but it was slow going. And worse, some wayward spirits had escaped back to the mortal plane. And that failure grated Lucifer’s nerves to shreds. He hated nothing more than a job executed imperfectly.
Spirits were gathered from Earth, brought to hell, evaluated, and given a sentence—worthy, unworthy, or somewhere in between. That was the way of Hell and it was a job Lucifer had become very good at. But with these spirits slipping his net… He ground his teeth, swiping to another report on the tablet.
“More have gone topside, haven’t they?” Bernard asked, his low voice little more than a growl.
“Yes,” Lucifer bit out.
“The sooner Lilith’s daughter gives us what we need, the better.”
Lucifer agreed. The only issue was his protective instincts wouldn’t allow him to push her to heal faster than was natural. “She will,” he said,
mostly to himself. “Soon.”
“If she doesn’t—”
A blare of a siren swallowed Bernard’s words and Lucifer shot to his feet, grabbing the tablet. He marched across his study, threw the door open, and stormed down the hall, Bernard muttering right behind him. The command centre where screens monitored Hell’s major roadways and radar screens pinpointed the three official windows to Earth was full of activity.
“Sir!” the woman in command of the screens spotted him and came over, her grey braid slapping her back and her eyes like lava under heavy brows. “There’s been another breach.”
“Where?” Lucifer barked.
“The main road between Iarlon and Jast.”
Lucifer sucked on a tooth, mulling it over. “Did they attempt to enter Iarlon?”
“No. Jast, neither. More like they appeared in the middle of the road, a tear in the sky above them. As far as we can tell, the proximity to Iarlon is a coincidence.”
Lucifer and Bernard exchanged a look. That breach sounded an awful lot like the two rifts between here and Earth they’d managed to track down these past few weeks. Those had both shown faded signs of demonic activity, but nothing he could trace. This fresh one, though… If Lucifer could find whoever had made it, he’d know how they’d done it and be able to prevent further breaches being made. And, if he was lucky, he would stop an out and out war between Heaven and Hell.
That might have been a touch too optimistic, though. Especially considering two archangels and the man who ran their banking system had brutalised a young girl and sent her here to spy.
Speaking of … Lucifer had no idea what to do with Lili now that he was leaving. But he needed to see that breach, and he’d be damned if he was going without his best weapon. Which meant Russ, Cerny, and Bernard wouldn’t be here to look after her.
Fuck.
He could ask Tali, Renna, or Hal—three of his most trusted elite warriors—to watch her. But Lili didn’t know them, and she was scared to death as it was. With a growl, Lucifer expelled a breath. She only knew Cerny and Lucifer, and both of them were needed at this new breach site.