Chapter 26 Lucifer #2
Hollis launched into the air and flew through the gateway, into the mist.
“Think he’ll be on our side?” Onyx muttered under his breath, barely audible over the ambient melody filling the half-realm.
Luc stroked his chin. “He might be swayed. This was a warmer welcome than I anticipated.”
“Isn’t that because you’ve slept with him?” Ash asked. He’d moved closer on silent feet, Dante too.
Luc arched a brow. He had, but that was beside the point. “Haven’t you?”
“Probably.” Ash’s brow furrowed. “I honestly can’t remember.”
“Who cares?” Dante hissed. “This isn’t Earth.”
That was a good point. Shame around sex wasn’t normalized in the Eternal Realm.
No one believed sex was immoral in any form, as long as consent was freely given.
Who slept with whom wasn’t of much concern.
Each Eternal had at least one mate, and many mated pairs were monogamous, but many more weren’t, and unmated Eternals didn’t date like humans.
The mist around the gate hung thick, making it impossible to see more than the vague impression of Hollis’s green wings. Shadows loomed beyond, but who they belonged to, Luc couldn’t say.
He turned his back on the gate. “Are we ready?”
“Yes, though I’d love to know more about who’s slept with who.” Rowan gave them an amused, fang-sharpened grin.
“You wish, vamp.” Onyx huffed.
“What? I can’t be amused while I risk my immortal life?” Rowan waved a hand. “I can’t imagine orgies of winged beings to get me through?”
Ren snorted, trying and failing to contain her laugh. “Maybe we should tell the council that banning witches and vampires holds back their sex parties. They might roll over easier if they knew treasures like Rowan were being wasted on Earth and the Realm of the Damned.”
“That”—Onyx pointed at her—“is our new plan B.”
Rowan’s face lit up. “So you think I’m a treasure, Onyx?”
“What? No!” Onyx sputtered.
Maxwell muttered, “Fuck, we’re doomed.”
“Be serious,” Luc snapped, his heart thundering. “Don’t let Hollis’s attitude put you off your guard.”
Tension rippled through the group, and Rowan slunk into the background, staying hidden with the other vampires and the witch as planned. Even with the illusion, it was better they remained in the background, keeping any evidence of the concealment out of the spotlight.
Hollis and the mysterious others remained shrouded in mist. Luc beckoned Valac and his supporters forward. As they settled around him, the tug on Luc’s chest grew, pulling until he almost flung himself forward.
Magic sizzled against his skin. Luc wouldn’t get through the gate if he tried. He had to stand firm.
At last, the mist parted and Hollis strode forward, his face drawn. “The council refuses to see you.”
Luc laughed. “I’m sorry you have to play messenger. It’s too bad they can’t face me themselves like mature beings.”
“It’s not a failing or sign of immaturity to stick to one’s convictions,” Hollis said stiffly. “The council told you never to return. You must leave immediately.”
Shadows still loomed in the mist. How ridiculous. How insulting that they stood out of reach, refusing to face him.
“No.” Luc raised his voice as he directed his gaze beyond Hollis. “I won’t stand for the council’s injustices any longer. Witches deserve to enter their rightful afterlife. You’ve punished them for too long.”
Hollis’s eye widened, and he glanced over his shoulder into the mist.
“That’s right, witches,” Luc continued. “Banning their souls to punish the Fallen is immoral and goes against the balance of life you claim to protect.”
A growl erupted from the mist and echoed through the archway. One of the shadows loomed larger, and black wings came into focus.
The Eternal, Malachi, strode forth, his massive horns like a stag’s antlers and his body twice the size of the average Eternal. “Lucifer, wayward child of light. How dare you act as if you care for witches after being the one to damn them?”
Malachi’s deep voice set the blood in Luc’s veins vibrating, and he suppressed a shiver. “I didn’t damn witches. No demon damned them. We may have birthed them, but you—the council—damned them. You created the cursed realm. Not us.”
Malachi had to be at least twenty thousand years old and had been on the council for much of that time. There was no lead councilor, but he was revered by many.
“Semantics.” Malachi waved a wing dismissively, sending mist waffling over Luc. “Leave.”
“No.” Onyx stepped forward, wing to wing with Luc. Ash pressed closer on Luc’s other side, and Dante moved beside Ash.
The other demons advanced, their group spanning almost the entire expanse of the archway. Catalina stepped out from between Valac and Isaac, and they lifted the illusion from her.
“We will not leave. Witches won’t be damned any longer. Why can’t our souls enter the Eternal Realm?”
Malachi took a staggering step backward, his massive footstep sending vibrations through the soil. “What is this?”
“I’m a witch.” Catalina stalked closer until she was beside Luc, in front of Malachi. “I’m not a what, I’m a person. A soul you have deemed unworthy. Less than.”
Hollis flinched.
Malachi’s eyes burned red. “Witches are not less than.”
“Aren’t we? That’s how we’re treated. Less than our human counterparts.”
“No. The Eternal Realm assists mortal souls in reincarnation. Witches are not fully mortal. Magic should never have entered humanity, never touched Earth, and disrupted the natural order.”
Luc clenched his fist, and everything seemed to heighten. The same old argument angered him like never before, but his time to speak would come.
“You don’t reincarnate.” Catalina pointed at Malachi.
“I am an Eternal being.”
“So you’re better than me?”
Malachi growled. “I do not answer to you. This is the way of the universe. If you are displeased, send your complaints to Lucifer. He created you.”
Rowan stepped forward, his three coven members at his side, all four unmasked from illusion. “The universe is only this way because you decreed it. The Realm of the Damned is your creation, and we’re asking for change.”
“More witches?” Malachi’s lip curled. “No… Vampires. Demon slayers. Destroyers of eternal life. How dare you show your faces here after breaking the ultimate rule?”
“Are you kidding?” Onyx snarled. “Ultimate rule, my ass. You didn’t care when Andras was killed. Those murderous witches escaped punishment and walked away with eternal life. Don’t pretend you’re outraged now.”
“Exactly. Thank you, Onyx.” Rowan clapped him on the shoulder.
“I am not a demon slayer, and have broken no Eternal rules, ultimate or otherwise. Are you going to punish me for the sins of my father—not even that—my great-etcetera grandfather? I didn’t create the vampire species any more than I created witches or the Realm of the Damned. ”
“No. I didn’t say you’d be punished for another’s crimes.” Malachi glared, eyes burning with red fire.
“So, it’s wrong to punish one person for someone else’s crime?” Catalina cut in. “If you believe that, let witches enter the rightful afterlife or be a hypocrite.”
“I am not a hypocrite. The council does not indulge baseless demands or bow to pressure. The state of the realms was broken when magic infected Earth. Nothing more can be done.” Mist gathered around Malachi, obscuring him from view and swallowing Hollis along with him. “This conversation is over.”