Chapter 41
T he instant Kyla said his name, Azazel couldn’t help but want to smile. His egotistical male pride burst through his veins in an instant making him want to grin like a Cheshire cat at anyone who looked his way.
However, upon seeing the instant rigidity in Dylan’s shoulders and feeling the tension in the air grow as thick as mud within a split second, Azazel somehow, by the grace of God, managed to restrain himself.
“Steady,” Lily said, pressing a hand to Kyla’s upper arm as she peered over to look at her. “How are you feeling? You ok?”
Kyla blinked several times, then turned her head to the left, taking in the sight of her gran. “Gran? What are you doing here?”
“Easy, Marmalade,” Malcolm said, moving to her feet and looking up at her. “Take a minute to readjust and then we’ll fill you in.”
“Uh-hum.”
The sound of a deep, sarcastic cough stole everyone’s attention. Azazel lifted his eyes to the source of the noise, then rolled them as he swore under his breath. Malcolm let out a sigh. Sam shrieked and jumped backwards, bumping into Balthazar who gladly slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.
Kyla settled her eyes on a tall, broad-shouldered man. With jet black hair, jet black eyes, and an air of arrogance she’d never seen on anyone, she knew whoever this was would be a force to be reckoned with.
“You could have waited,” Malcolm said, folding his arms over his chest.
“I prefer to strike whilst the iron’s hot—you know that better than anyone, Malpass,” the man replied.
Kyla watched her grandad, his shoulders square and stiff, his eyes narrowed, and a muscle in his neck twitching. He was angry. Why? Who was this?
“What’s going on?” Kyla asked. “Azazel, put me down, please.”
“Are you ok to stand?”
Kyla glared at him. “I don’t know if I don’t try, do I?”
Biting his lip to keep himself quiet, he gently lowered her to her feet. “You good?”
As Kyla took her weight, she nodded. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Let me introduce myself,” the man said, stepping forwards from the doorway and into the blood soaked room. His jet-black eyes gleamed with a streak of red as echoes of shouts and screams of agony whispered in the background, a wall of shadows surrounding him.
Seconds ticked by with no further indication of words coming from the man. Kyla folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? That’s your introduction?”
The shadows lifted and the background noise ceased. The man smirked, his eyes returning to normal. “I would have thought that little skit would have been enough for you to guess who I am.”
Kyla flashed him a sarcastic smile. “Oh, I’ve guessed that alright. What I mean is, are you going to tell me how to address you? Or do I just guess? Is it Lucifer, Satan, Krampus, Beast, Lord of the Flies, the Antichrist? Or perhaps Santa Clause depending on the time of year?”
“Kyla...,” Malcolm said. “Be very careful.”
The man shrugged his shoulders and stared at Kyla. “Well with Easter right around the corner, why not just call me the Easter Bunny?”
“Whatever takes your fancy,” Kyla replied, not dropping her eye contact with him.
The two stared each other out for several seconds before the man narrowed his eyes and took a step forwards. “Lucifer, Kyla. You address me as Lucifer.”
“Ok, no problem,” she replied, giving him a sickly-sweet smile. “Would you care to explain why you’re here, Lucifer?”
Flicking his eyes over to Azazel, and then Balthazar, he returned his attention to Kyla. “Since you were about to become a serial killer, you caught my attention. As Azazel and Balthazar will tell you, serial killers are escorted down to Hell by me personally. It used to be your grandad’s job, but we all know how that one turned out.”
“Ok, understood. However, I only killed one person so that kind of doesn’t warrant you being here.”
Lucifer lifted his right hand and waggled his index finger from side to side. “Ah ah. It’s your intentions that count, not what actually happened.”
Kyla snorted. “That’s ridiculous. That’s like letting a bomb off to kill one person but end up killing thousands and then saying ‘its fine, only meant to kill one’.”
He dropped his hand to his side and said, “Well in that case I would make an exception, so I guess what I’m really saying is I’m not making an exception for you.” He flashed her a lopsided grin. “Nothing personal. Just good business.”
“Business? Since when is there a business in taking souls to Hell?”
“Ah,” he said. “Now that is a whole other story that we don’t have time for today. Now—” he clapped his hands together “—shall we skip to the teary goodbyes? I’ve got a cannibal in Canada I need to catch before dinner.”
“Err, no. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Marmalade, don’t fight him. You will lose, trust me.”
Lucifer grinned. “Wise words spoken from the General of Hell himself. When are you coming back to visit us, Malpass? We miss you.”
“I think what you meant to say was that you bend the rules to however they suit you,” Kyla said, tilting her chin up in defiance.
Lucifer settled a steely glare on Kyla, quirking an eyebrow up at her. “My, my. You do have some balls. I guess you inherited those from your father.” He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “But yes, you’re right. I am judge, jury, and executioner so I can change the rules as I see fit.”
Kyla gasped. “What did you just say?”
“Ooops,” he said, slapping a hand over his mouth in mock horror. “Did I just let a little secret out of the bag?” He held one hand in front of the other and jokingly slapped the back of it. “Naughty boy.”
Malcolm took a step forwards, clenching his fists at his sides. He gave Lucifer such a hardened glare that it would have made anyone else wet themselves in an instant. “You told me you didn’t know who that was.”
Lucifer shrugged his shoulders. “Well, at the time you asked me, I didn’t.”
Malcolm widened his eyes. “Are you telling me you found out at some point?”
“Perhaps...”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Malcolm bellowed.
Lucifer lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. “You never asked again.”
“You slimy good for nothing mother—”
“Leave it, Malcolm,” Lily said, placing a hand on her husband’s forearm. “It’s done with and all in the past. You know how he works.”
Lucifer grinned. “Yes, Malcolm. Listen to the wife. Now there’s a good boy.”
Malcolm narrowed his eyes at his former boss. “Mary would be ashamed of you.”
In a split second, Lucifer’s eyes turned blood red, shadowed by black circles. He grew by four inches in height and width as his fingernails sharpened to knife points. He opened his mouth to reveal four-inch-long razor sharp teeth from one side to the other, top and bottom.
“Speak her name in my presence again, I dare you,” Lucifer boomed, his voice deep and full of authority.
Malcolm, still in his human form, folded his arms over his chest and smiled. “When you don’t react like this upon hearing her name then you can shower me with jibes about my wife all you like.” Malcolm took another step towards him, closing the gap between them. “But not a minute before. Do we have an understanding?”
Seconds ticked by, the tension in the air thickening with every millisecond. The two demons stared each other down, neither flickering nor giving in.
Lucifer took his eyes from Malcolm and flickered them towards Kyla. “Fine. We have an understanding.” He looked back at Malcom. “But don’t expect to pull rank over her, too.”
“Why are you so interested in her? You don’t normally bend the rules for something as small as one murder.”
Lucifer closed his mouth, his size slowly shrinking to its previous state, along with his teeth and fingernails. “She’s an elemental, Malcolm.”
“I’m well aware of that. You’ve never been too bothered about them before, Lucifer. So what’s going on?”
“I couldn’t possibly share that information with an ex-employee.”
Malcolm rolled his eyes. “Stop being an asshat and tell us what you know.”
Lucifer sighed, his eyes returning to their former jet-black depths. “Fine. Abaddon is her father. If you bothered to do your research on elementals, you’d realise that every single one of them has a mystery, unknown father. Can you guess who father’s them all?”
Lily gasped. “Of course. Now it makes sense. That’s why if one dies, they’re not replaced—none of them are replaced until that foursome is all dead.”
“Them’s the brains,” Lucifer said, fist-pumping the air. “You got a keeper there, Malpass.”
“I’m sorry,” Kyla said, holding a hand up. “But who the hell is Abaddon?”
Lucifer burst out laughing. “Oh, sweetheart. Think of me as the CEO and Abaddon as the MD.”
Kyla didn’t know what to say to that. “Oh.”
“Quite so, hmmm? What a lineage you have—my MD Abaddon for a father, a general for a grandfather, and a prince for a demi-soul. Who would have thought?”
Kyla’s mouth dropped open. “What? A what?”
Azazel scrubbed his hands over his face and stifled a groan. This was not what he wanted to happen right now.
Dylan looked at him, worry flooding him in an instant. “What is he talking about?” he whispered. “What the fuck is going on?”
Malcolm looked over his shoulder at Azazel and then back at Lucifer. “You have got to be kidding me?”
“Unfortunately,” Lucifer said, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “I’m really not.” He looked over at Balthazar and said, “Why don’t you tell him, Balthazar, what little spell you cast for this year’s holiday destination for you both?”
Malcolm turned his attention to Balthazar, eyeing him up as he waited for his answer.
Balthazar looked down at the floor, feeling more than a little foolish. “Amor aeternus,” he said, his voice all but a whisper.
“You moron,” Malcolm said, balling his fists. “You purposefully brought that idiot into my granddaughter’s life?”
“Hey,” Azazel said, taking a step forwards. “It’s not like either of us knew that Kyla would be involved in any way, is it? Hell, I didn’t even know he was doing that until I heard him cast the words.”
“Erm,” Kyla said, tentatively holding a hand up. “What the hell is a demi-soul?”
“Soul-mate, honey,” Lucifer said. “The other half of you—the part that completes you. And lucky for you, you have my finest prince, Azazel. Ta-dah!”
Kyla turned to look at Dylan, watching the sheer horror flood through his eyes. His skin paled ten shades of white and he moved his eyes to stare at the floor, his shoulders hunched. A little piece of her broke away.
“Don’t they make such a cute couple?” Lucifer said, his eyes lighting up with life.
“You’re an asshole of the highest degree,” Malcolm replied. “You know what needs to happen first. I can’t believe you’re putting her in this position after what she’s just been through.”
“No time like the present,” Lucifer said. He rolled his left wrist over, checking his skull shaped watch. “Speaking of, I must dash. Now, you two,” he said, looking at Azazel and Balthazar. “You know what you need to do.” Lucifer held his hands out, palms facing up. Seconds later two red roses materialised, one on each hand. “Hopefully, I’ll see you both at the end of your holiday. If not, well,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Been nice knowing you.”
With the click of his fingers he vanished into thin air, leaving the two red roses to drop to the floor. Almost a minute ticked by as they all stared at each other in silent shock.
All of a sudden, Lucifer reappeared, chuckling to himself. “Silly me. I got so caught up in all your family drama I forgot why I was even here.” He turned to look at Kyla and said, “Now, dear, given who your granddaddy is, I’ll give you a bit of leeway. You can come down to Hell when these two boys return. Well...” he looked at the roses on the floor “...if they don’t perish beforehand that is. If so, consider June twenty first your last day on dear old earth. I can’t wait to tell Abaddon who you’re hitched with. Them two—” he motioned his hand over to Azazel “—are like this,” he said, crossing his fingers with a mischievous grin on his face.
Kyla eyed the demon up for a second before deciding to try her luck. “What if you could have a trade?”
Lucifer quirked an eyebrow up. “A trade? I’m listening.”
Kyla looked over to the corner of the room where her two half-sisters were still quivering inside the tree. “You take those two instead of me.”
Lifting his nose in the air, as if trying to smell them, Lucifer motioned his hand at them. Like a curtain being dropped on stage, the vines fell away from the two sisters who were still huddled together, clutching onto each other for dear life.
“Yes,” he said. “I could be interested but only if I see them as beneficial to me in some way.” He roved over their bodies with his eyes several times, like a hungry lion deciding which part of the gazelle to go for. “They have their own abilities, I can smell it in their blood, although it’s somewhat dampened by that festering human DNA.” He struck a pose, tapping his index finger against his chin. Then his eyes lit up with a streak of red. He turned to Azazel and said, “I think they could have a use. What do you think, Zay Zay ?”
Azazel scraped his teeth together as his jade green eyes speckled with black. “I think they could be very good additions.”
“Excellent,” Lucifer said, clapping his hands together and smiling at everyone. “It’s a done deal. Now I really must dash. Kyla, see you soon, sweetheart.”
With a further single clap of his hands, he vanished again, taking Kyla’s two half-sisters with him.