Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
“Are you sure this is the right way to go?” Lilith stared at her phone lying on the table and ran her tongue over a fang.
She’d asked her friends to meet her at the local coffee shop.
“It seems like it would be a lot simpler if I told him we were soulmates. He would accept it eventually, just as I will.” Maybe.
She still had a hard time believing that, after all these millennia, fate would create a life partner who refused to date vampires for the cursed Queen of the Night.
But her friends could be quite convincing.
“Absolutely not.” Venus looked at her as if she’d grown a second set of fangs. “You are not, under any circumstances, to tell him that.”
“Listen to her, Lil,” Eve said. “The Goddess of Love knows what she’s talking about.”
Lilith huffed. “Back me up, Dee. Don’t you think…”
Deirdre shook her head adamantly. “If Azrael had told me we were soulmates from the get-go, I’d have turned tail and hauled my undead ass back to New Orleans. He has to figure it out on his own, or it will never work.”
“I’ve never believed in soulmates, and it’s crap like this that makes me skeptical still. Why all the games?”
Venus gave her a sympathetic look. “Because hearts are delicate, especially ones that have been broken before.”
Surely she was talking about Spencer’s heart.
His ex-fiancée had been wicked to him. Of course, Adam kicking Lilith out of Eden and having her cursed for all eternity wasn’t exactly kind either.
Yes, her heart had been broken too, but the scars had hardened it into a block of stone encased in ice and barbed wire. Lilith was anything but delicate.
Anyway, the Goddess of Love was perpetually single, so how could she be the authority on relationships? And Eve…her luck with the man she was made for didn’t last much longer than Lilith’s. Neither of them had ever experienced the mysterious happily ever after they claimed to help people achieve.
With Esther’s life at stake, Lilith had removed the barbed wire from her heart, and in the short time she’d known Spencer, he’d managed to thaw a few layers of ice. But happily ever after? She looked at Deirdre. “Is it worth the hassle?”
“Down to the last drop.”
Venus rested a hand on Lilith’s. “He is your soulmate. I feel it in my blood.”
Who was Lilith to argue with blood? “Will you come with me to talk to Lucifer? I don’t think he’s going to like my idea.”
“He'll despise it.” Venus grinned wickedly. “But I’m sure we can convince him. I’ll meet you at the palace in ten.”
Lilith stopped by her house on the way to Lucifer’s castle. Esther lifted her head when she offered her a freeze-dried mouse, but the snake’s coloring was still yellowish white.
“I’m trying my best, my sweet, sweet danger noodle.
” She stroked her familiar’s smooth scales, and Esther thankfully ate her dinner.
Lilith couldn’t be sure if it was the excitement of what she was about to offer Spencer or if it was the man himself making her sluggish pulse thrum, but Esther was moving and eating, so she was on the right track.
“Come, Percival.” Lilith stepped out the front door, and her crow flew ahead of her toward Lucifer’s palace.
The ruler of The Underworld sat behind a massive dark wood desk in his office. His elbows rested on the arms of a high-backed leather chair, and he steepled his fingers as she knocked on the open door. “Come in, Lilith. Venus said you have a proposition for me.”
The Goddess of Love sat in one of two black leather chairs facing his desk, and Lilith sank into the other one.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
Lilith cleared her throat. “I’ve been around almost as long as you have.”
He huffed an incredulous laugh. “Not quite.”
She straightened her spine. “Anyway…”
Venus gave her an encouraging nod.
“I’ve been all over the world, lived through nearly every century, and I have connections with some very old beings topside. People who were around back when humans believed in magic.”
“I am aware.” He made a circular motion with his hand, urging her to hurry it up.
“I met a man, an owl shifter, who’s part of an adventure show called The Hunt for Cryptids. His show is about to get canceled, and…” She pressed her lips together and glanced at Venus, who patted her shoulder and whispered, “Get to the point.”
Lilith nodded. “I’d like permission to take him to some of my contacts and to film evidence that magic used to exist, or at least that people fully believed it did.”
Lucifer scowled. “You want to expose the topside supes on television?”
“Not expose them. I simply want to show them signs that supes could possibly exist. Spencer and his friends are all supes themselves. They would never actually reveal anyone’s magic.”
“Magic is kept secret for a reason.” He grabbed a pen and a pad of paper. “You said his name is Spencer? Who else works on this show? I’m putting an end to it.”
“Lucifer, no.” Lilith’s chest turned into a trampoline for her heart, which bounced a few times before getting stuck in her throat. Why did she listen to Venus? She should have just done it and dealt with the consequences later. Lucifer wasn’t even aware of the show until she opened her big mouth.
“I swear they’re not causing any harm. They interview people who believe in cryptids, and then they film themselves trying to find them. The show’s host is a sasquatch, and you know those are the most elusive beings of all. I just want to help them out so they don’t lose their jobs.”
“They can find employment elsewhere.” Lucifer set his pen down.
“Spencer can’t. It’s a long story, Luce, but I need to help him. Esther’s life depends on it.”
Lucifer cocked his head and looked at Venus before focusing on Lilith. “Your snake’s condition has improved since you met this man?”
“He’s her soulmate.” Venus crossed her legs, clasping her hands on her knee.
Lucifer let out a deep belly laugh. “You should have led with that. I couldn’t for the life of me ascertain why you’d be so intent on aiding a simple shifter. An owl at that.”
Lilith ground her teeth. There was nothing simple about Spencer, and his owl was the most beautiful animal she’d ever seen. “It’s been a hard fact for me to swallow as well, but I can’t deny the urge to help him.”
“Why doesn’t he move to The Underworld with you? Your soulmate won’t need employment, just as you don’t.”
She grimaced. “He doesn’t know it yet. He’s fighting the pull, and this is the only way I can get close to him.”
He steepled his fingers again. “I see. And which of your contacts do you plan to start with?”
“I want to take them to Andrei.” A man she’d turned centuries ago, her old friend lived in a delightfully gothic castle in Romania. Perfect for their show.
Lucifer laughed so hard he nearly busted a gut. Tears welled in his eyes as his body rocked with amusement, and he wiped them away before they could fall. “You want to take your soon-to-be lover to your old lover’s home? Dear Lilith, I’m not sure you’ve thought this through.”
She’d considered that when the idea first formed, but they needed something big to keep their show on the air, and Andrei could provide it.
“Very well. You have my blessing.” Lucifer waved a hand, dismissing her. “Don’t screw this up.”
Her jaw tightened. “I won’t.”
“Actually, if you can fail in grand proportions akin to the apple debacle, you may screw up all you like. It’s been a while since I’ve been blamed for epic debauchery on Earth.”
Lilith rose, narrowing her eyes. “Thanks for your permission.”