Chapter 17 Maeve
MAEVE
Was it really only yesterday I was standing outside this stupid room preparing for the Graves family brunch?
Sadly.
At least this is the last time I’ll have to endure it before I get to leave. Because, fuck me, I’m sick of the lot of them.
Lucifer’s parents have left, and so has Tarun, but Leanne, Marianne, and their mates have stayed. Leanne I understand— she’s determined to protect her heir from the darkness she claims that taints their line.
Or whatever bullshit she dressed it up as.
Marianne staying when her son left makes far less sense.
She’s never favoured the compound, not when she’s practically fawned over at her pack—pride, den, whatever.
So, why she’s still here, I have no idea. She’s clearly after something, though.
And, annoyingly, for whatever reason, Adrian hasn’t kicked them out.
The asshole actually likes his family.
“You’re stalling,” Hades says, lifting a brow at me. “You okay?”
“Of course,” I mutter, despite it being a blatant lie. I'm drained.
Therapy does that to me—even the good kind with George. I always leave wrung out, a little fragile around the edges, craving quiet and calm.
It’s like an emotional hangover I can’t shake off.
With Dr Jones, though, the exhaustion is different. Heavier and more physical. Much more taxing on my body and my mind.
I spend the entire session bracing against her mental attacks, fighting not to fracture under the pressure she applies so deliberately.
She’s brutally methodical about it and knows exactly how far she can push to make it hurt.
Manipulative cow.
With a heavy sigh, I push open the doors to the smaller dining room. It feels empty, and not just because we’re the first to arrive.
No, there’s a lack of warmth in this room, a hollowness that seeps into my bones and adds to my emotional drain.
The air itself feels charged with an electric current, humming with a promise of an ambush I know is coming.
The long obsidian table is laid out for the ten of us, and I have to swallow the urge to gag at the level of formality on display.
I don’t understand why Adrian’s gone to all of this effort. When I used to live here, we never went all out like this unless he was hosting someone important.
Is this show for his sisters? For me?
Or for someone else entirely?
I have no idea, and it’s unsettling. This viper’s pit is not the place I want to walk around ignorant.
The table is a study in gold and black, dripping with rich elitism I’ve always despised.
Gold-rimmed plates, crystal goblets, and folded napkins with the Tribunal crest embroidered on.
This entire table layout is absurd, but I don’t think anyone other than me finds it funny.
Dinner isn’t for another fifteen minutes, and nobody else is going to arrive on time. They never have before—they all think being fashionably late is a good thing.
Assholes.
The three Graves men with me now are likely only on time because I refuse to be late—not because they possess any sense of timekeeping themselves.
Expensive food scents are already beginning to drift from the service doors at the back—buttery brioche, roasted meat, and something citrusy that makes my throat tingle.
Let’s hope it’s the citrus and not me sensing the poison they’re going to attempt to kill me with.
“I’m fucking starving,” Lucifer announces.
He strolls past me, utterly unbothered by the tension in the air, dragging his fingertips along the back of the chairs like he’s choosing which one he likes best.
Clearly, he’s planning on ignoring the name tags that indicate his seat.
Hades stays close behind me, almost as if he’s guarding against the possibility that I might turn and bolt.
Foolish man. No matter how anxious I am, I’d never flee.
Adrian wouldn’t allow for it, and I’d never reward him with my spectacle.
“Me, too,” Julian adds, kicking his brother as he passes. “But that’s because Mum has forbidden me from snacking before this.”
Where I’m anxious, they aren’t. It’s obvious, even in their body language, how at ease they are here in hell.
The three men have managed to make themselves at home in hell’s compound. I know that I shouldn’t resent them for it, but I do.
I wish it was easier for me to pretend, to let it roll off me.
But I’m weak.
“Aw, does Baby Jules get told no more chocolate from his mummy?” Lucifer taunts.
“Don’t be a cunt,” Hades says, shooting his cousin a dirty look. “Julian would never dare eat something so plebeian in front of her.”
I scoff, eyeing the three of them with open distrust. “Are you seriously telling me chocolate is not allowed to be consumed in front of Leanne?”
Hades grins. “Not the cheap kind of chocolate my brother prefers, starlet. If it doesn’t sound expensive, then it’s not good enough for her pure little angel.”
The emphasis on the last three words twists something ugly in my chest because I know that’s exactly how they made Hades feel for his entire life.
As if he was less than for having black fucking fur.
And you know—the dark aspect, but still. They cultivated that.
My chromius stretches inside me, tail flicking out like she expects bloodshed at any moment.
As long as it’s not mine, I’ll be happy.
“Come on, Cuz, don’t be so jealous,” Lucifer says lightly, plucking up a golden name card and flicking it between his fingers.
I don’t know whose seat he’s taken, but it definitely wasn’t his own.
“Why are we being so formal tonight?” I ask, unease threading through my voice.
Julian snatches the card Lucifer flicked from across the table. “Put that down. You’re causing a scene.”
“There’s literally nobody here to witness it, you dramatic little cretin,” Hades mutters, striding closer. “Where do you want to sit, Maeve?”
Fucking hell.
He gestures to my options—the one between Lucifer and an empty chair, or the one next to Julian and another empty chair.
I shrug and point to Lucifer. Julian’s a weak man who I don’t particularly like, so he’s not going to be much of a shield when things go wrong.
Lucifer and I are mostly back on solid ground after realising his betrayal had nothing to do with me.
Hadrian nods and reaches for another name card—his mother’s, fucking hell—swapping it neatly with his own.
At least I won’t be the one risking a poisoning just for daring to touch the gold.
No, I risk that just by existing.
Lucifer pulls my chair out, and I grimace as I step towards it. My heels echo sharply in the silent room, and despite my chair having a clear view of both exits, I still feel exposed. Weirdly vulnerable in a way I can’t quite articulate.
“You can’t ever just do things easily, can you?” Julian asks, and I sneer at the prick.
“You can’t ever just be silent, can you?” I mirror his tone, hoping he hears how entitled he sounded.
Arrogant asshole.
His eyes widen, an almost comically panicked look flashing across his ugly face. “I wasn’t talking to you, Maeve—I swear. I was talking to Luc. I’d never say something so rude to you. Honest. I’m sorry, little light.”
Little light. Gag me now before I vomit over the table.
“If you wanted to address me,” Lucifer says pleasantly, flashing a vicious grin across the table, “you could use my new honorific.”
Julian blinks. “Your… what?”
I smirk, not sure if he’s just confused by Lucifer’s teasing or if he doesn’t know what an honorific is.
Probably the latter.
“Lord,” Lucifer says, leaning forward and resting his chin onto his hands. “Lord Lucifer.”
“Lord?” Julian demands.
“Yes?” Lucifer’s grin is wicked, and his eyes flicker in the light. “I really thought it would be harder to convince you all to use it. But you’ve got to admit, it’s pretty sexy, right?”
“The only time I’m calling you Lord, is when—” Hades starts.
The doors swing open dramatically, and he slams his jaw shut.
Pity. I was hoping to add to that conversation.
I turn as Leanne and Gavin enter the room, both of them draped in gold. Because, of course, they are.
Her dress is floor-length, as if we’re attending a fucking charity gala rather than a family dinner. Gavin’s suit is complementary—black, but threaded through with gold detailing.
Fucking hell.
Neither of them speaks to us, but the look of thinly veiled disgust on Leanne’s face fills the silence nicely. Especially since, for now, it’s not directed my way.
It’s hard to decide who the pegasus hates more—me, Hades, Lucifer, or… well, me again, but this time for stealing her heir.
Fool.
If I could give the fucker back, I’d have done it with no hesitation. Unfortunately, he’s a deluded clinger with severe separation issues.
“Hello, Auntie. Uncle,” Lucifer says cheerily. “We’ve done some rearranging. We found the seating a little… unwelcoming. Feel free to pick your poison.”
“And have you poisoned us, Nephew?” Gavin asks, pulling out Leanne’s chair for her.
Unsurprisingly, she takes her newly assigned seat without comment. I cringe as Julian leans in to brush a kiss against her cheek.
So fucking clingy.
I’m honestly more surprised that he didn’t kiss her lips. She seems like that kind of boy mum, where it concerns her precious angel.
“I’d not give you the warning if I had.” Lucifer waggles his brows, and I smother my giggles.
Ignoring his parents entirely, Hades glances down at me. “Tired?”
“No,” I lie, doing my best to ignore the way he’s studying my face.
Does he really think I’d admit to any weakness in front of these people? They’d suggest a nap in my bed just to slit my throat while I sleep.
He lifts a brow, not even pretending to believe me. Lucifer exhales through his nose, cracking his knuckles like he needs to cause a bigger distraction for me.
Very sweet.
“Where is my brother?” Leanne asks coolly, her gaze landing on me.
I’m not going to answer her question. Not when my stomach twists at the mere mention of him.
Adrian may not be here yet, but his shadow still presses into the room all the same—like a cold thumb to the back of my neck.