Chapter Nine Lucifer
Chapter Nine
Lucifer
As soon as my future bride has safely ensconced herself inside that dreadfully average shower she insists upon keeping, along with this inconveniently artsy townhouse, I wait only long enough to hear her turn up the water pressure to full steam.
Before I lunge at Azrael.
I have him pinned against the counter, with one of my few celestial blades that could do any permanent damage to him, before either of us can blink.
“What in the bloody fuck were you thinking?” I snarl, shoving my blade against his throat.
The tip presses into his carotid artery, and a drop of blood sensuously begins to pool there.
I may not be capable of summoning enough power to end Death as I truly wish, not in my current state at least, but I can certainly teach him a new meaning of pain this morning.
He always did enjoy my rather uninhibited techniques.
Azrael—the impetuous bastard—has the audacity to look a bit smug as he eagerly leans into my blade. “You’re the one who suggested that we—”
“I am not talking about the fact that you are fucking my future wife, Azrael.”
His gaze narrows, the handle of the empty mug at his side a mere flick of his wrist from becoming a crude shiv.
“No longer enjoying it now that it’s real, lover?” he taunts, his skeletal face flashing as he casts me a derisive grin. “I thought you wanted to share her.” He wrinkles his nose as if he cannot possibly imagine what would ever possess me to do such a thing.
But love makes fools of us all.
Me included, unfortunately.
“I offered to share her body, not her heart, and only so that she would be protected from the likes of you, you treacherous, deathly cretin. Her immortal life was at stake. You would’ve stolen her from me.
” I shove the blade farther in, just enough so his head is forced back to where I now grip his hair.
A trail of blood trickles down his neck, unexpectedly drawing my attention.
“And if you think for even one bloody minute, I’m going to allow you to—”
“Never,” Azrael growls, suddenly ramming his knee up into my groin.
I double over with the pain of it, giving him the exact access he needs.
He sweeps my feet so I’m now lying flat on my back, like I was when he first met me. He presses his knee into my chest, and his hand falls to my throat, now holding the blade he managed to strip from me.
I snarl.
I knew—I fucking knew—training a primordial in angelic combat was a mistake.
But that was several millennia ago, when I still foolishly believed he cared for me.
“I would never hurt her,” Azrael spits, as if even entertaining the thought personally offends him.
Like whatever he might now feel for her runs almost as deep as anything he might have once felt for me.
And with my fucking fiancée at that.
“Do you even know me?” He shakes his head in disbelief.
“You made certain I didn’t the moment you and Father chose to fuck me,” I sneer, my fingers finally connecting with the intact mug.
Without warning, I swing my arm up, smashing the mug into the side of his temple where he’s knelt on top of me.
The ceramic shatters, the shards raining on us both.
But I’m not nearly finished with him yet.
Azrael goes down hard, toppling into the adjacent cabinet, just as I throw myself on top of him and—
A sound echoes from upstairs, causing us to still.
An audible creak follows, the sound of the faucet turning off.
Azrael seizes the momentary lapse in my attention, tackling me as he uses his weight to his advantage.
He has me face-down, one arm twisted behind my back, my shoulder screaming in agony as he digs his knee deep into the sinew of my spine and the scars there, like he somehow believes he might possibly be able to crush all the fight out of me.
Fat fucking chance, that.
I let out a furious roar just as the sound of Charlotte’s hairdryer drowns out the noise, signaling that she’s still blissfully unaware of what’s happening. Her celestial abilities are not yet as attuned as they one day will be, and I’m not ready to surrender to my traitorous ex.
I will make him bleed for every time he has ever dared betray me.
I give one sharp twist of my torso and—pop.
Pain flashes, white hot and searing, my mortal body screaming in agony, but I shove it aside, ignoring it. Any pain I might feel is mere background noise compared to the hatred, the betrayal, that now courses through me.
I will fucking end him for daring to come between her and me.
With my shoulder loose, I’ve just enough room. I drive my toes into the floor and explode—hips up, body twisting hard.
Death isn’t ready.
His balance shifts, his knee sliding off-center.
I roll to my bad side, my shoulder dragging uselessly. But I’m moving.
And that’s all that bloody matters.
I hook my foot behind his and yank. He stumbles forward, and I pivot, using the momentum as I throw myself up and sideways.
I’m on one knee as he tries to recover, reaching for control, but already I’m inside his guard, and it’ll take a helluva lot more than the loss of my power for him to best me.
I will make him rue the day he ever met me.
I capture him by the hair, my fingers finding purchase, before I ram my forehead into his, unrelenting. No wasted motion.
We both see stars.
Death’s nose starts to bleed, and I clutch him by the throat as he tries and fails to regain the upper hand. He may not truly need air, not even when he’s corporeal like this, but in this form, it still smarts all the same.
“You should never have . . . given her His . . .” he rasps.
My Father’s redemption, he means.
My grip on his throat tightens.
Death or not, I will squeeze the godforsaken life out of him before I ever deign to admit that she might have been better off without me.
Better off with him and my Father.
“I will never apologize for making her mine. Do you understand?” I snarl, the hellfire in my eyes so unhinged I can see it reflected in the cool-blue hue of his gaze.
“Hear this, Reaper. I would make any deal, destroy anything in my path. Lie, cheat, kill, sin, stop my Father’s goddamn apocalypse, and upend the whole fucking universe if that’s what it takes to see her happy.
” I hiss mere inches away from his face.
“And if you dared think I shared her with you out of some misguided hope I might still care for you, well, think again, lover,” I say, tossing out the old endearment like celestial rubbish.
“Nothing I ever felt for you could hold a candle to her. Do I make myself clear?”
Death nods to the best of his ability. A vein in his temple throbs.
“The only mistake I will ever admit to making is trusting her with the likes of you.”
“I told you, Lucifer. It wasn’t—”
“It’s always fucking personal when it comes to you, innit?”
Azrael’s eyes meet mine, the look of resentment and fury there slicing through me, and I am filled with a sudden reminder of how things might have been.
His gaze falls to my lips.
Immediately, I retreat.
“This isn’t just about her.” I release him as we both stumble to our feet. I still need him. For now, unfortunately. “Not entirely.”
Azrael paws at his neck. “If not her, then—”
“The blade. The lance,” I growl, advancing on him. “You didn’t think that I would discover it was you?”
We both fall silent for a beat.
“Lucifer, I—”
Abruptly, I turn away from him, so I am no longer reminded of how his broad body was once the only thing that could’ve undone me.
“I don’t want to hear a single damn one of your excuses.” I stalk to the other side of the room, bending to pick up the blade he almost nicked from me. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Not after that damn kiss at the awards ceremony. You always did know how to strike when I was at my most vulnerable.”
“Lucifer, I—”
I tuck my recovered blade inside my suit coat, giving him my back as I prepare to leave.
Before I allow him to see that he is still capable of wounding me.
“I wouldn’t hurt her,” Azrael says.
The rest remains unspoken.
Not like I did you.
“Are you certain?” I sneer, finally glancing toward him.
“I’m bound by the deal we made. You—”
I let out a cruel laugh. “Of course. The deal. And a good thing, too, because that is the only reason you are still standing here.” I turn toward him.
“If you do anything to put her at risk again, I will annihilate you without a second thought.” I draw to my full height, the serpentine slits of my eyes narrowing.
“You will tell her where your loyalties lie before this goes any further. Or I will. Is that clear?”
Death stares at me, his jaw clenching. “Crystal.”
“Good,” I say, beginning to strip off my suit.
I fully intend to enjoy my fiancée this morning.
I will make her scream so loud that I am certain all bloody Manhattan will hear.
“I need not remind you that the terms of our deal remain intact despite any others you might have made previously.”
“I wouldn’t—”
“Spare me.” I lift a hand. “Whatever it is you and Father are up to this time,” I say, speaking over him, “I’ll find out soon enough.” I cast my tie onto the floor. “I won’t allow her to pay the price for our old history.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Azrael grumbles.
“Good,” I snarl, feeling the unsettling sensation of his eyes on my scarred back as I quit the room, but he doesn’t dare say anything as I toss over my shoulder, “Now do me a favor and fuck off into the endless void you came from. She’s mine.”