27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Luce
If I hadn’t promised to already be on my best behavior…
I probably would have torn Ama away from here—far away from any possible harm my brothers could cause.
I felt rage boil under my skin as I tried to keep calm, not wanting to overreact and knowing there was a reason they were here—most likely an important one.
“I’m surprised you are all withholding your heavenly light, brothers,” I drew out sarcastically, the disdain thick in my voice, especially since I knew they despised when I called them anything that reminded them of our common heritage.
“I would have figured that you would enjoy flaunting your power and entitlement by blinding everyone here. You know, to remind them how lowly they are for being in my realm. To remind them how truly unfortunate they are.”
I wanted to hold my tongue against these bastards, but I couldn’t help myself.
The anger and hurt I’d felt from their betrayal—when they’d chosen our creator against their own brother— still stung, even after this long.
They had stood by and allowed me to be cast out of Heaven and never fucking blinked, as if they truly thought it was right and reasonable for me to be cast down beneath them.
Fucking egotistical pricks. I hated them even breathing the same air as Ama, let alone looking at her.
It didn’t help that I had adrenaline pumping through every part of me, a remnant of the exhilaration from slaughtering so many who had wanted to hurt my mate, and then being reunited with my Little Temptress.
The normal control of my emotions was absent, comparatively.
Still, I would not hold back from letting them know exactly how I felt—they were in my realm, after all. I would not bow to them or cower.
“Now, now, Lucifer,” Raphael tutted, his tone as condescending as ever. When he pointed his staff towards me with a reprimanding look, I nearly surged forward and broke it. “It’s in your best interest to play nice right now.” Bastard.
Before I could open my mouth to let him know exactly where he could shove that damned staff, Ama tore free of my arms and marched right up to him, shoving her delicate fingers into his chest with absolutely no fear.
“No. You do not get to come into our realm and speak down to anyone here, let alone him, and then to demand respect at the same time?! Fuck no. Just because you are from Heaven does not give you the right to act like anyone here is beneath you.”
Before her statement was finished, I had lifted my hands to create a dome around her other mates, who had surged forward to go to her, effectively trapping them from endangering themselves.
They might have thought I was being a dick, but in reality, Ama wanted to keep them safe, and this was the only solution that allowed me to focus on my Little Temptress completely.
Although, I wouldn’t lie…it did give me a sick sense of satisfaction to hear them banging against the dome incessantly while cursing me.
Perhaps I would enjoy being around this group, considering the amusement they were already providing me.
It was something I would think about after I decided if I wanted to turn Ama’s ass pink for putting herself in danger, or if I wanted to get on my knees and worship her for standing in the face of danger bravely.
Probably the second, since it was absolutely intoxicating how my Little Temptress looked right now, angry and determined, her chin tipped up without any fear in her pink gaze.
Raphael eyed her before looking up at me with an expression that was almost amused. Ama muttered a curse under her breath and turned away from him, looking at me, “You would think that Heavenly beings would understand manners and respect. He can’t even give me a freakin’ answer.”
Oh, I was positive he had an answer, but Raphael was holding his tongue, and I had a feeling it was because he was completely aware of who Amare was to me.
I was momentarily distracted when her mouth popped open as she saw the dome I’d constructed, but I was quick to placate her as her eyes narrowed on me.
I raised my hands in defense, “This will keep them safe. If they move to attack any of the Seraphim, neither you nor I can save them. They are too impulsive.”
Before she could mull that over, Zerachiel piped up, his voice gravelly as his eyes ran over Ama, “That’s a feisty one you have there, Luce.”
My Little Temptress' face turned murderous as she snapped around. I grabbed her immediately, pulling her into my side once more before she could approach the most vicious of my brothers. I didn’t think Zerachiel would hurt her, specifically, but his definition of bodily harm was a bit skewed, considering his day job consisted of judging the souls of the dead.
Her words were clear and sharp despite my possessive hold on her, “I am right in front of you! Do not speak to him like I’m not right fucking here.”
She turned to me and looked up, “Shame on them for acting like assholes.”
I smirked at that, “Well they are ‘born of the light’ and technically the ‘highest of rank.’”
Ama turned thoughtful, nodding, “First sphere, right?”
“You remembered,” I smiled at the confirmation that our time together had stuck in her head as much as it had found residence in my own.
“Of course.” She smiled softly before looking at them and scowling. “You five are literally the closest to God. You are supposed to be acting on his will, not coming down here and acting like patronizing jerks.”
Remiel stepped forward, his entire appearance refracting in reds and pinks in accordance to Ama, no doubt, and he offered her a small smile. “You truly do shine, Amare. So brightly. Your soul is extremely pure, young one.” Instantly, I was narrowing my eyes at him.
Remiel was known for being sincere and authentic.
Everything he said, he meant. So...what?
He was complimenting her? I wrapped her tighter as the rest of my brothers exchanged understanding looks, the dominating aggression in the air seeming to have evaporated completely at once.
It left me with an uncomfortable chill under my skin.
Nothing about how they were acting was okay or normal.
Ama offered me a concerned look, the others in the dome behind us seeming to have quieted as well, and I tried to offer her a reassuring look.
I didn’t have the answers that I knew she wanted.
I looked at all of them, “Why have you come here? Speak your peace and leave us to pick up the shambles of this realm.” And to rebuild with my mate and her other men.
To create a realm that wasn’t formed in hate but in unity.
For the first time in a very long time, I felt a string of hope coursing through me.
Remiel tilted his head to the side and eyed me with a ton of judgment that made me absolutely furious. “If only you had made this change in yourself earlier, Luce, then we wouldn’t have had to come here to carry out the Creator’s wishes.”
Ama’s face screwed up in further confusion. “Stop speaking in fucking riddles.”
Raguel stepped forward boldly, “We have watched you, brother, ever since your fall to this realm. We have watched you be given the chance time and time again to build a beautiful and flourishing realm. The chance to care for those around you and to treat your people with the compassion the creator and ruler of a realm like this should have. And even when you failed, we all waited to see if you would atone for your transgressions.”
The haunted shadows of my past swarmed around me as Ama sucked in a sharp breath, her head going to my shirt and clutching it tightly.
Jeremiel, the most serious of my brothers, stepped forward, watching me with no disappointment rather than judgement. “I have seen it all, Lucifer. We all wanted you to become the light for this realm—the future.”
“Bullshit,” I snapped. “You were all thrilled to see my fall, cast out by our own creator, never to return and instead abandoned by the people who should have cared for me. None of you thought I would become the ‘light’ of anything. You just allowed me to disappear and buried me in the back of your heads, an unhappy stain on your pure existence.” All of their faces twisted in some form of pain, as if my words truly hurt them.
“No,” Jeremiel defended, “That is not what happened.”
“You were the chosen one amongst us to birth a realm, Lucifer. You had the greatest honor bestowed upon you,” Raphael argued.
There was no convincing them of the pain I’d felt at how unfair the reality of the situation had been because they felt it was an honor.
That was something I would never understand—all of this was a load of bullshit.
“Just explain why you are here,” Ama bit out. “Your skewed judgment about what happened isn’t something that is up for debate. Besides, we have our families to free from the cells—they have been held prisoner for far too long. That isn’t including the entire kingdom that needs to be rebuilt.”
A defensive growl came from my lips at the sight of all of my brothers staring openly at my Little Temptress.
Remiel’s words echoed loud and clear. “Young one, we are here on the behalf of the Creator to bestow the powers and title of ‘Ruler of Hell’ to you.”
Wait, what?