Live Like Legends (LIVING LEGEND #3)

Chapter 39

“ I f you value your lives, you will make sure he remains alive and in one piece!” My father yelled from somewhere in the dimly lit room. The Enchanters that Lucifer had coaxed to come to Hell, thinking that being with him was better than being with Lilith, worked diligently around me.

The pain I felt wasn’t excruciating but it was rather annoying at best. My sight had started to get blurry and my mind began to fade before the guards in the Hell prison had found me. I heard chatter among the Enchanters as they spoke to my father with stuttered words. His booming presence had them worried. They should be, to be fair.

My father snarled when they’d said my face would need some time to recover from the swelling. They said they could do what they could, but they weren’t miracle workers. I heard a slap and a body falling to the ground when the words, “we aren’t the High Priestess” came from one of their mouths.

Idiots. All of them.

I flinched as I sat up in bed. My father commanded them out of my room and I nearly laughed watching them fumble around. The Enchanters toppled over one another just to try to be first out of the room and into the hallway. My father let out a deep sigh, running a hand down his tired face.

He was handsome enough, his blonde hair closely cut. He looked at me with eyes that mirrored my own, green and turned up at the corners. He had scruff that settled at his jawline, which he scratched as he slowly walked over to my bedside.

“What the hell happened?”

“I can handle it.” It hurt to move my mouth, but I pushed through.

He growled at me. “I didn’t ask you if you could handle it. I asked you what the hell happened?”

“She got away, but like I said, I can handle it. Just let me handle my own business, father.” I lifted my hand to my face, feeling the puffiness.

My father’s eyes narrowed. “ She ?”

“That is what I said, isn’t it?” I snapped.

He opened his mouth, but then closed it. A rumbling groan left his throat. “That girl. Lilith’s little project.”

I remained quiet. I wasn’t a fucking child and didn’t need a lecture of any kind. I needed to get the hell out of here, readying myself for my next move.

“You let yourself get attached to one of her problems and look where it’s gotten you. The last thing we all knew about her was that she was dead! I told you not to go into dealings with that conniving bitch and you did! I wanted to give you more responsibility, so I gave you Leviathan. Holding down that property was all you had to do, but no you wanted more.” He spat the words out like venom, but it didn’t sting.

“I am my father’s son.” I smirked at him. One of my eyes seemed to be more swollen than the other, so my vision was limited. I didn’t need both eyes to know that his facial expression was all but lethal.

I was suddenly seething with pain when he grabbed my face and turned me to look at him, head on. “What do you mean she got away?”

“You are a smart man. I am sure you can figure it out.”

“She was in the Hell prison,” he was talking to himself, mulling over the thoughts in his head. “Oh, no, you kept her in the Hell prison.”

“You catch on quickly, don’t you father?”

“You thought she was dead Dimitri!”

I snorted. “Well clearly she is not! I had to bring her here. I needed her here, we needed her here!”

My father’s eyes widened. “You created a dark rift to bring her here. You stupid boy! Risks can be a wonderful thing, but you don’t just make decisions based on some girl you fucked around with. You are not just any other demon! You cannot be this fucking reckless!” He slammed his hands down on the bed, huffing out a breath.

I chuckled. “I knew she wasn’t dead, father. Is no one paying attention here? That pretty girl is a hybrid and a powerful one at that.”

My father lifted his head up slowly to gaze at me. “Excuse me?”

“The whole story is quite long and obnoxiously boring, but the short version is Lilith had no idea how to get what she wanted. The angels were able to entice her to do both, she expresses both of her own volition.”

“And you tell me this now ?”

“I hate disappointment just as much as you do, father. I wanted to make sure she was good enough before a riot started. I am smarter than you may think. I know Lucifer doesn’t like things rattling Hell unless he deems it worthy, so before a commotion was started, I wanted to make sure I had everything in place before bringing her to everyone.” I practically bit my own tongue thinking about that fucking angel and his heroics. He had cost me so much and he would fucking pay for it, as would everyone else she deemed to care about. “She cares too much. She can be the final weapon we need to take Heaven’s Gate by storm. She could either be a part of the masterful chaos or she could be yet another reason it manifests anyway. It was a perfect fucking plan.”

“Until it wasn’t,” my father added, scoffing. “You let them take her back and now they are just waiting. You’ve made deeper enemies of the angels. Brilliant son.”

I pointed my finger at him. “Ah, but they think I’m dead. They might be waiting, but the thought of my death will ease them into a settling kind of contentment. I was completely ready to throw my energy into Leviathan until Dani displayed her power and it was a thrilling surprise.”

My father looked me up and down, eventually turning his back to me. “What are you even considering, Dimitri?”

“No more games, no more big plans. We come to them, death at the ready.”

“She was brought up by Lilith, you really think that girl will come so easily.” It was a rhetorical question meant to undermine me.

“Surrender will be her only option. If everyone is dead, she will have no one to save now will she?”

My father looked over his shoulder at me, a small smile full of mischief on his lips. “A hybrid, you say?”

I let out a sigh. “I could watch her burn the world, father. It would be mesmerizing.”

He nodded, running his index finger over his eyebrow. “Angel blood is my favorite kind as you know and as much as I would love to approve of this endeavor…”

The air in the room became stale and changed from humid to ice cold in a matter of minutes. The temperature rapidly changed back and forth while the doorknob turned, swinging open. Lilith stepped inside, an impartial expression on her face.

A tall figure loomed behind her, moving around her thin frame to place himself at the center of the room.

My father cleared his throat, bowing his head. “Lucifer.”

The King of Hell inclined his head towards my father. His hair was black, cut short on the sides with more on top that occasionally fell into his face. He had a trimmed beard that sat neatly around his cut jawline. His eyes were the color of charcoal and could burn into your soul whenever he pleased.

He smiled, but that smile could be so deceiving. That was the same smile he wore when he was sentencing deaths. Lucifer nodded towards me. “I do hope you are alright, Dimitri.”

“I’m well, thank you.”

“I heard there was quite a commotion in the prison. Was that of your doing?” He asked this casually, but I knew my answer mattered if I was getting out of his unscathed.

“I brought something into the prison, yes. The commotion was not of my doing.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “And whose was it, hmm?”

I looked over to Lilith, but I heard Lucifer chuckle. His laugh was dark and almost brooding. “Don’t look to her, my boy. She works for me, not you. She would not have her station if not for me and your father would not be where he is if I hadn’t wanted it that way, so please let us not pretend like I don’t know the entire story.” He glanced at Lilith before giving me his attention again. “I am asking you what happened. Be careful about your answer, I assure you.”

I liked to test my father on any occasion I got, but Lucifer was a different story. I told him what happened, every detail I could conjure up. He stood there and listened as if he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. He took in my words, almost as if he was committing them to memory and sizing them up next to whatever Lilith told him.

When I was done, he placed his hands in his pants pockets and closed his eyes. He tsked. “I thought you told me that girl wouldn’t be a problem.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement. He looked down at Lilith, tilting his head to the side.

“She wasn’t. I thought she was dead, I was planning on leaving it be.”

“Yet, here we stand. A hurt Son of Hell and a hybrid nowhere to be found.”

Lilith pointed a finger at herself. “That is not my fault!” Her voice grew louder.

My father nearly snickered when Lucifer got closer to her face, his eyes flashing a reddish color. “You had to go to the human realm and pluck her right from her death. You had to train her and give her that dagger. You had to recruit that idiotic angel and that Enchanter. You had me convinced that you could tear her soul out and keep her in line, but of course you could not. I gave you a second chance after you caused that mind numbing catastrophe in Oculus all those years ago and this … this is how you repay me!”

“Lucifer, I…” Lilith started, but he put a hand up, stopping her.

“You were something great once, but you let this idea of yours, this Soul Seether run amuck.” He placed a hand on her neck, circling behind her. “I kept you around for so many reasons. Some of those reasons will forever remain between you and me, but it doesn’t seem like Dimitri’s plan has room for you.”

“No, sir…”

My shoulders jumped a tiny bit when the King of Hell brought his other hand near the top of her head, twisting her neck so quickly a resounding snap echoed.

My father came over to him, stepping over Lilith’s limp body. “Would you like me to find someone to clean her up?”

Lucifer flexed his fingers, waving them over her body. Her arms and legs began to disintegrate into black smoke; the rest of her followed suit quickly after. Lucifer smiled at my father. “No need. Thank you for asking though.”

I swung my legs off the bed, getting to my feet. “I am sorry I didn’t come to you with my idea and plan sooner, sir.”

Lucifer walked over to me, placing his hand lightly on my shoulder. “You wanted to do it when the time was right, be sure you had something solid. I can admire you knowing an asset when you see one. You believe she is worth giving you my approval for?”

“I believe she can be more than Lilith ever was.”

Lucifer grinned. “You will get no pushback from me, but like with Lilith, you will get no assistance from me either. Other than what I provide you, I am just an observer of your plan. I will not jump in to save you.”

“I would never expect that, sir.”

“Good.”

A knock at the door sounded and a woman peeked her head in. “Sir, that thing you were asking about….it needs you attention.” She looked nervous as if she didn’t know if speaking about whatever she was eluding towards was permitted.

Lucifer gave her a curt nod. “Of course, if you will excuse me gentleman. Dimitri, heal up. You have much to do.”

Once the door closed, my father placed his hands on his hips. He curled his lip when he looked at the empty place Lilith’s body had been. “I never liked her. Always thought she was better for some odd reason.”

I rolled my eyes. “I need to get some rest, father. You being here isn’t going to help me get better faster, so please leave.”

My father let out a loud huff before turning towards the door. “Do not embarrass me by thinking some girl is worth losing your place in Lucifer’s good graces. I am not above disowning you, I swear to Satan.”

“Don’t worry, father. That girl will help change the realms.”