Chapter 11 Galilee #2
That wasn’t enough, not even close, not with yellow eyes and a cold sword looking down at her. “And your princes?”
His eyes darkened. “I’ll get no such promise out of them.” He gently put her aside and stood up from the bed. “It’s probably
best we get this talk over with.”
Gali’s eyes shifted away. Leviathan had been bad enough when he stormed in; she had no desire to meet more hostile princes.
“Why don’t you handle that and I’ll wait right here,” she suggested, patting the bed. “Where it’s nice and safe.”
Lucifer barely heard her. He was pulling on his jeans, his jaw tight as he talked to himself. “Now that they know you’re here,
the timeline’s not going to matter anymore.”
Foreboding sat up at the nape of her neck. “What timeline?”
He paused, his shirt in his hands, and met her eyes solemnly. “I won’t let them hurt you. I just need them to stay away from your family, even if your family doesn’t stay away from them.”
“Uh . . . your princes don’t sound like they’ll roll with that,” Gali ventured, watching as he pulled on his shirt and shoved
his hair off his face. It was surprisingly intimate and rather domestic, watching him get dressed.
“They probably won’t,” Lucifer agreed.
Gali stared at his mouth, suddenly aware that he was fully clothed while she was still naked on the bed. It made her want
to crawl over to him and watch him unleash himself all over again. Lucifer glanced at her and finally snapped out of his thoughts,
his whole body going still. Gali drew in a breath. He was looking at her with a mix of want and wonder, and it made her chest
feel tight.
“I need something to wear,” she said, choking the words out past the tension curling between them. “Then we can go deal with
your princes.”
Lucifer nodded, breaking the spell. “Okay, beloved.”
Ten minutes later, Gali was following Lucifer down a dim hallway, dressed in a cotton tunic that hung to her knees, the sleeves
rolled up. Her feet were bare against the walnut floors, but so were Lucifer’s. Under any other circumstances, it would have
been nice to be doing this, walking through his home with him. Gali did wish that he was holding her hand, because the foreboding
had thickened, dripping down her back.
When Leviathan had barged into the room, he’d looked at her for a split second before Lucifer had covered her, but in that
short moment, Gali had seen enough. She wouldn’t have minded if Leviathan had looked disgusted or even murderous, but his
gaze had simply hovered over her as if Gali had already stopped existing. As if he’d already brought his sword down through
her bones and heart, through the sheets of Lucifer’s bed. As if she was already dead and walking and unfortunate enough to
be the last person to know about it. Gali tripped over a rug and stumbled, catching herself against the wall.
Lucifer was by her side in an instant. “Are you all right?”
Fear fluttered along her bones, primal and so fucking human, no matter what the Devil thought she was.
“Promise you won’t let them hurt me,” she said, her voice tense. Gali hated pain. If they killed her, it probably wouldn’t
hurt all that much, but there was a taste for suffering floating through the air of this house. It was as old as a planet,
as sadistic and indifferent as nature itself. All her instincts screamed that she shouldn’t be here, she shouldn’t have come
here, she was alone and unprotected.
Lucifer took her hands in his gently. “No one will hurt you.”
She tried for a smile. “Ah, but will they kill me?”
He didn’t smile back. “Not today, beloved.”
Disappointment raked over Gali’s skin. Lucifer kept saying no one would hurt her, but he only meant now, or today. He still wouldn’t guarantee her long-term safety, not when it came to his princes. It made her feel like some kind of sacrifice, like
she was an offering he was fucking while obeying larger rules, rules that had destined her for an altar he wouldn’t save her
from. God, Celestial would be so ashamed of her for wanting a man who wouldn’t even commit to stopping her murder, for fuck’s sake. The bar was clearly lower than Hell.
He was the Devil, though, and this was a different world with different rules. Even with his hesitance, Gali simply refused
to believe that Lucifer would watch her die. He was offering no reassurances past the here and now, but the knowledge still
felt real and firm behind her sternum, like a premonition or a prophecy. There was only so much her pride could take, nonetheless,
and continuing to fuck a man who might be complicit in her death was so far beneath her, it dipped its toes into a self-loathing
she couldn’t pretend away.
With each step, Gali could feel her family drawing nearer.
Their presence was an approaching warmth that folded over her with a humid weight, making it just a little harder to breathe but making her objective clearer.
The Kincaids were who she had to protect now, not even herself.
Once they were safe, she could let herself feel the contempt around Lucifer’s half-ass statements about her fucking life, and that would have to be enough to drive her away from him, to break the chains of the crazed desire leashing them together.
She let Lucifer tuck her hand into his arm and walk her down a flight of stairs curved against the wall. A chandelier with
dripping candles hung from a vaulted ceiling, and Gali barely had a moment to look around before Lucifer led her off to the
side. Symbols she couldn’t decipher were carved into a heavy oak door, and a low crackle hissed through the air as Lucifer
pushed the door open and walked into the room. It was a large rich parlor, wallpapered and filled with antique furniture,
pieces that Gali could tell were priceless from just a glance. The decor was the only thing familiar and remotely human in
the space. A dark, seething fire bubbled unnaturally in the fireplace, and several pairs of flat eyes immediately swung over
to Lucifer and Gali as they entered. A wave of malevolence pushed over Gali’s skin, but she was a Kincaid, so she raised her
head and squared her shoulders as she looked upon the princes of hell.
They all had human forms, and yet, in this space, they looked like nothing but terrifyingly inhuman things, coiled weapons
in a taut moment. When they saw Lucifer, they relaxed a fraction, but their cold gazes scraped at Gali. Lucifer leaned his
head closer to her as one of them stood up.
“That’s Belial,” he murmured. “She thinks she’s my favorite.”
Gali watched the whip of a woman stalk over to them, whirring a knife between her knuckles. Intricate red snakes were tattooed
on her bare scalp, writhing just underneath the skin. Like everyone else, she was dressed in matte black, and like everyone
else, her eyes were tight and unfriendly.
“Bold of you to bring the threat here, Luci.” Belial’s voice was as hard as marble as she raked a contemptuous glance over
Gali. “Are you offering her up now that you got what you wanted?”
Gali had been resolved to keep her cool, but she almost flinched at that.
It dug too close to her own thoughts—the offering he’d willingly defile before he let her burn at their hands—but it brought up new ones.
How many humans had Lucifer used and cast aside in all his centuries, just like this?
His millennia, the voice in her head corrected.
And you’re apparently not human, remember?
Gali could feel the familiar stings brushing deep against her insides, but she sidestepped the ache like she always did,
bee-covered mirrors and illuminated hands flashing through her memory. She was a Kincaid, and she wasn’t going to be bullied.
She bared her teeth at Belial, forcing a sweet drip into her voice. “Aw, Luci, you didn’t tell me your prince was a raging
bitch.”
Belial struck out at Gali in a whir of movement, and Lucifer stepped in casually, stopping his prince with a hand around her
throat before Gali could complete an inhale. He lifted Belial into the air and tossed her aside, sending her body flying to
the other end of the room. She twisted midway and landed, snarling, on her feet, but Lucifer gave her a quick look, and Belial
froze. The room was motionless for a beat, then she huffed and threw herself into a chair. Gali stared at Lucifer, and he
smiled down at her.
“Let’s introduce you to everyone else,” he said, all sharp and pleasant.
The tension in the room was coiling like thick smoke, brushing against Gali’s skin and setting her nerves on edge. She glanced
at the other princes, recognizing two of them as the guards from Oriak?’s father’s house. The glint of a sword caught her
eye, and she bit her cheek at the sight of Leviathan polishing his blade with spare, efficient movements, his long locs knotted
at the base of his neck and the pale corner of his mouth turned down as he returned Gali’s stare.
“You’ve already met Levi,” Lucifer was saying.
“She called you Luci,” the prince said, shifting his gaze to Lucifer. “And you allowed it.”
There was distinct accusation in his voice and Gali frowned. “Is that a problem?”
Levi growled at her, low and warning. “Don’t address me. You’re dead and you don’t even realize it.”
A murmur of agreement rolled around the room, and Gali felt her nostrils flare, her muscles clench in preparation for a fight
she would certainly lose. Lucifer had promised, but she was standing in a room full of very powerful creatures who wanted
her life. Celestial and Nana Darling’s plan to rescue her and rain wrath down on everyone else didn’t seem like such a bad
idea anymore.
Lucifer sighed. “You can’t touch her yet.”
Yet. He was still betraying her with casual words. A beckoning altar, and Gali already knew which prince would slit her throat
if he had the chance. Levi had looked away from her, but one of the other princes let their red-scale eyes drag over Gali’s
body.
“It’s not a problem, Luci. Let us know when you’re done with her—I’ll gladly wait for my turn.”
Nausea pricked Gali’s stomach, but she didn’t let it show on her face. Was this normal? Did they pass women around? Lucifer
had promised he’d never make her do anything she didn’t want to, but he was the Devil and she didn’t know him. How could she, as old and unfathomable as he was? Gali would never know how many unthinkable things
he had done or what kinds of punishments he had inflicted or allowed his princes to inflict. He was the oldest enemy, and
she’d just spread her legs for him, because what, he felt good?
Lucifer’s hand slid around hers and he squeezed it gently, as if he could tell what she was thinking.
“Mephis,” he said to the leering red-scale prince, “if you insinuate anything like that again, I’ll send you back to Hell
in unidentifiable pieces.” His voice layered slightly as he delivered the threat, and goose bumps skittered down Gali’s arms.
Mephis snapped their teeth but drew back, lowering their gaze.
Levi put his sword aside gently. “I don’t pretend to know what you’re thinking, Luci.
You shouldn’t have brought her here, and you most certainly shouldn’t have walked her into this room.
” He stood up gracefully, and Gali stared at his unfolding height.
Leviathan was taller than Lucifer, colder and sharper.
The rest of the princes fell silent and looked to him, even Belial.
“You know how this will end. You brought her to this house and she knows what we are. The reasons to eliminate her keep compounding.”
Lucifer waved a hand flippantly. “We can argue about that when the time comes. I’m just here to tell you that Galilee’s family
is on their way. No one is to harm them.”
He made it sound so casual, like people were joining them for dinner, and Gali had to stifle a mad giggle. The princes didn’t
look remotely amused. Their eyes kept flicking to Lucifer’s hand wrapped around hers.
Another of the princes leaned forward, a soldier with gray eyes who had been at the mansion the night before. “Why are they
coming here?”
Belial’s eyes narrowed. “Asmodeus asks a good question, but I have a better one. How did they know she was here?”
Gali looked at Lucifer. How would the princes react if she told them what the Kincaid women were like? Would they brush it
off, or would Nana and the others be seen as threats as well?
Before she could decide what to say, Leviathan tilted his head, his yellow eyes fixed back on Gali. “They’re tracking her.”
“Or she simply told them where to find her,” Mephis countered, a cruel smile flickering around their lips. “All the more reason
to kill her.”
“I don’t even know where I am,” Gali snapped out.
“Why,” growled Levi, “are you still talking?”
His words felt like a slap, and Gali’s face colored. “Fuck you,” she shot back.
Lucifer hissed gently, and Gali felt his fingers tighten against hers. “Careful, Levi,” he warned.
Belial stood from her chair. “Luci would never divulge our location, not even to his plaything. If they were able to track
us, that means they’re a hunter clan.”
Asmodeus’s eyes lit up. “We haven’t battled with hunters in so long,” he said, with a slow grin.
“Always such a fun massacre in the end,” Mephis agreed, watching Gali’s face for a reaction. She tried not to give it to them,
but the thought of these princes, these demons and devils, descending on the family she loved so dearly made her veins ice
over. Nana and the others would fight—of course they would fight—but some of them would die and many of them would be hurt,
and Gali couldn’t bear that happening just because she’d let herself want Lucifer with all the force her grandmother had warned
her against. It was shameful, and for an equally shameful moment, Gali simply felt small and powerless. She turned to her
monster, returning the pressure on Lucifer’s fingers and glancing up at him with a plea hidden in her eyes. Levi and Belial
saw it anyway, and both their faces hardened.
Lucifer looked back at her and nodded slightly, letting the black bleed into his eyes. When he raised his gaze to his princes,
all their bloodthirsty chatter fell into a dead silence before he even said a word.
“No one gets involved with the Kincaid family,” he ordered, his voice mild. “I’ll handle them myself.”
The princes exchanged glances, then Belial took a step forward. “You’ll have to intercept them before they get here, Luci.
You can’t ask us to do nothing if hunters attack our home.”
Lucifer’s mouth tightened slightly, but he nodded. “Agreed.”
Belial jerked her head in Gali’s direction. “Ticktock, Luci.”
Gali frowned, confused, but Lucifer ushered her to the door before she could ask any questions. She threw the room one last
glance, and a sea of unforgiving glares met her in response. Leviathan had picked up his sword, and his eyes carried judgment
so absolute, Gali could feel Death itself breathing on her neck.
Fuck.