Chapter 30 Lucifer
LUCIFER
Luc carried Dex to the front line, where everyone stood frozen, watching them approach with everything from horrified expressions to indifference.
“What the fuck?” Onyx snarled, fear cutting his delicate face. “Dex, no.”
“How could you?” Dante yelled at Pamala.
“Who is this?” Malachi’s voice boomed, drowning out everyone else. His cutting tone stung Luc’s frayed nerves.
He set Dex on his feet and grabbed his hand. “Malachi, Mother, Father—I see you recovered—may I present to you my mate, Dex Colt. My unbonded, human mate. My living, mortal mate.”
Luc smiled like the villain he’d been, fangs down, a hysterical triumph setting his fire roaring so fiercely he could almost hear it.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Onyx hissed, but Luc’s attention was fixed on the three council members.
At last, the penny dropped.
Malachi hissed, lips curling back. He threw Hollis—who he’d still had pinned by the throat—to the ground. Isabella gripped Cenric so hard his arm cracked, and he grunted.
Onyx sputtered incoherently. Luc might as well spell it out. His brother was clearly too stressed to think clearly, and he deserved to know they’d been saved.
Besides, Luc couldn’t deny his smug, vindictive side.
He loved sticking it to authority. Dramatically.
“You can slaughter us to try and stop what we know from getting through, but a crime like that must be covered up. No witnesses. It could have been done. We demons and the Eternals you deemed traitors would have ceased to exist. No one in the Eternal Realm would have asked where I’d gone when they hadn’t seen me in thousands of years.
You could easily fabricate an explanation for the missing guards.
The witch and vampires would have gone to Hell.
There would have been no one to expose you for so grossly breaking the ultimate rule.
It would have been a perfect crime. Except, along came Dex.
The man who saw the truth of the universe and enlightened me.
The source of truth, if you will. Kill him, and he’ll go straight to the Eternal Realm to ruin you all. ”
There was a beat of silence.
Onyx cackled, worthy of a villain. “Checkmate, motherfuckers.”
“Wait!” Dex tugged on Luc’s arm. “You were about to be killed?”
Luc smiled, no longer feral, but soft. “It’s all right, Dex. The danger is gone. You saved us.”
Dex trembled, and Luc pulled him close. Over Dex’s shoulder, Luc’s attention landed on his parents and Malachi, who all appeared shell-shocked.
“Shall we make a deal? It’s the only way for you to save face.
You didn’t actually commit mass murder—merely considered it—so your eternal lives are safe, but you don’t want to be shunned once everyone hears about this.
Maybe you should let witches and vampires in.
At least then you can say you did something right. ”
Cenric gave his head a tiny shake, like he was trying to dislodge something irritating. “You’re asking us to restructure the universe. That isn’t… We can’t…”
“This battle is lost.” Malachi drowned out Cenric’s stammering, his eyes flaring bright before going out and revealing golden irises.
He cleared his throat, his stance shifting from aggressive to authoritative.
“We didn’t know magic and mortality could coexist. It simply wasn’t the way.
The Realm of the Damned had to be created.
But now that we know better, we are correcting our mistake.
The Realm of the Damned will be abolished and all souls welcomed into the Eternal Realm. ”
His spin on the story curled Luc’s lip, but he let it go.
If the council wanted to pretend they hadn’t known it was all a lie, fine.
Some of them probably hadn’t been aware.
Luc wasn’t even sure if Malachi had known, or if his violent reaction was as much shock as it was an instinct to cling to power.
It didn’t matter anymore. Not when things were being put right.
Cenric and Isabella shared an unreadable look.
“Looks like you got your way, Lucifer,” Cenric said as if he were five years old. “This doesn’t mean any of the Fallen are coming home. The rule that Eternals must not enter Earth exists regardless, and the council can enforce it if we wish.”
Ash growled, his fist clenched at his side.
“If you wish. Hmph. The reason behind the rule was to protect a balance that doesn’t exist, but you’re right, when we left, we accepted that we would never return.
It was our choice, and we aren’t asking to come home.
The Fallen will remain on Earth as long as all other beings are welcomed. ”
“Yes, fine,” Malachi boomed as if losing patience.
They had to wrap this up. Luc hurried to add, “All beings, including bonded demons’ mates.”
Malachi’s face scrunched, confused. On anyone less terrifying, the expression would have been comical. “What do bonded mates need from the Eternal Realm?”
Dex cleared his throat. “Um… Hi. As a mate who wants to bond, I’d also like to complete my mortal life cycle. My loved ones are waiting in the afterlife, and I need to see them again.”
Malachi growled, and Dex shrank into Luc’s arms. “Lucifer will never be allowed into the Eternal Realm. This is not negotiable.”
“Dex isn’t asking you to allow me anywhere. Permit him to visit his family and stay in the Eternal Realm for a time before returning to me on Earth. Any other mate should be allowed the same.”
Malachi rubbed a bloody hand over his face, making him even more terrifying.
“Fine. We can’t deny that now. Not if we admit—agree—that the sacred balance isn’t as cut and dry as we believed.
Humans should be allowed to complete their life cycle, even if it is their last. There will be two realms once more.
But no other travel between realms is permitted, and falling to Earth is still forbidden.
Humans deserve their mortal world. That, at least, we can protect. ”
Whether it was a genuine desire to protect Earth or a way to hold on to the last shred of control over Eternal beings, Luc couldn’t say. Maybe one day, falling wouldn’t be a crime. The Eternal Realm was on the brink of change, and Luc had no idea what Eternals would push for.
He’d be on Earth with his mate, and that was more than fine with him. “How do we know you won’t change your mind? How will Dex get into the Eternal Realm?”
Malachi stepped to the side and waved his hand before him, clearing the mist from the archway to reveal a deep valley flanked by lush mountains and roaring waterfalls. “He’s welcome to enter now.”
Dex made a sound like a hurt animal, and his fingers dug into Luc’s side.
Luc cupped his face. “It’s all right. You can go. I’ll be waiting right here when you come back.”
“I don’t want to go now.” A tear slid down Dex’s cheek as his gaze wandered to the eternal valley before them. “I want to live my life and come back when it would have ended if I weren’t living forever. It’s too soon.”
Luc kissed his forehead, his fire dormant and heart bursting with love. “Then that’s when you’ll come. When it feels right.”
Malachi called the mist back with another wave of his hand. “When he is ready, he will be admitted once, same as any other like him who bonds with a demon. Witch, human, or vampire.”
Hollis marched toward Malachi, fierce for someone who was half of Malachi’s massive size and had already had his throat crushed by the brute. “Make an unbreakable oath. They shouldn’t have to risk you changing your mind.”
“You dare give me orders?” Malachi ripped the necklace marking Hollis as a guard from around his neck. “You are dismissed from the gateway’s service.”
Hollis lifted his chin. “I was quitting anyway.”
“Can you just make the oath, Malachi?” Onyx snapped as only he could at a time like this. “I want to get the fuck out of here. My longing for the Eternal Realm has been cured. I have a mate waiting, and all the family I need on Earth.”
He glared at his and Luc’s parents, who stood like the unfeeling statues Luc had always known them to be.
Luc would gladly never see their mother or father again.
Did they regret any of their actions? Luc hoped Onyx wasn’t hurting. Cenric and Isabella weren’t worth it.
Malachi stooped and selected a stray pebble to bind his oath, and promised that all demons’ mates would be allowed one entry into the Eternal Realm.
He handed the glowing pebble to Dex. “No need to bring this with you. The magic is binding either way, but take this as a token. As proof.”
With that, Malachi disappeared into the mist, Isabella and Cenric following close behind.
When she was almost completely out of sight, Isabella paused. “I’m sorry this didn’t work out better.” She disappeared.
“What the fuck was that?” Onyx gestured into the mist. “That wasn’t an apology for shit. Damnation, part of me forgot how awful they were. Sorry, Luc. You did a great job of showing your remorse. Especially given they’re who raised us.”
A laugh burst from Luc. “That’s a low bar, Onyx. Doing better than our parents was the bare minimum I expected to accomplish in life.”
“Right?” Onyx’s lips quirked.
Luc scooped Dex into his arms. “Come on. It’s time to go home.”