Chapter Eight
Serenity
If I had known sooner about the hellhounds, I would have brought them up. I didn’t know they were supposed to always be around.
The staff walks in. They all look scared to be summoned. It must not happen often.
There are about a dozen of them, and they are lined up against the wall while we all sit there and stare them down. The longer we are quiet, the more anxious they get.
Is it weird that I love watching them squirm?
“I had just been informed my hellhounds have been missing for days. Why was I not told sooner?” Lucifer starts.
When no one says anything, I can see Lucifer getting angrier. “Speak!”
“I thought you had ordered them away, so I never said anything,” one of the men says.
“I have you on duty to feed them. You didn’t think to question me?” Lucifer asks while slowly standing up and walking towards the man, demon, being, whatever he is.
I watch as he swallows hard and sweat starts to form on his forehead.
“I don’t know what happened to them,” he says, sounding panicked.
“Serenity dear?” Lucifer asks, calling me over his shoulder.
“Yes?” I ask.
“Come here for a second…”
I move to stand up, but Silas stops me.
“Why does she have to go over there?” he asks.
“Trust me, son, no harm will come to your bride. I just want to see something,” Lucifer states and gestures for me to walk over to them.
I walk over to him and he whispers, “I want you to just shake his hand.”
I look at him oddly, but it’s nothing drastic. I hate touching people but it will only just be for a second, I tell myself.
“Have you met my new daughter? This is Serenity. Serenity, this is Hunter. He is the keeper of the hellhounds,” he says, and I hold my hand out to shake.
The second my hand touches his, I am lost in what I can only explain as information overload.
I see everything this guy had done or thought in his whole existence.
I want to pull away, but I think about the missing hellhounds.
I try to concentrate on them, and I find my mind being pulled towards a memory.
I see him looking towards the palace before injecting something into the hellhounds.
He drags them outside the perimeter where someone else takes them.
I pull my hand back gasping. I clutch my hand to my chest and look towards the man.
“What happened?” the guy asks, looking at me confused.
“She saw into your soul everything you had done in your miserable existence,” Lucifer states.
“How did you know she could do that?” Silas asks, coming up behind me.
“I saw it when she accidently touched Jasper. She didn’t touch long enough for every piece of information on him, but enough for me to see what her new power is,” Lucifer states.
“What’s her power?” Leopold asks.
“Psyometry. She can sense and read through touch. As her power strengthens, she will be not only able to read any human or being, but she will be able to read any object as well,” Lucifer says while looking at me like a proud father.
“That’s a fucking powerful one,” Lorenzo says in awe.
“Back to this fucker,” Fredrick says.
“What did you see?” Lucifer asks me.
“He made sure no one was looking and drugged them before dragging them out of the palace perimeter where someone else took them,” I tell them, glaring at the man.
“No one else from the staff helped?” Lucifer asks.
I shake my head. “No, he acted alone out of all these people. Why did he need to drug them?”
“Because hellhounds are hard to kill, and only strong beings or demons have the strength. I made them for protection of the palace, and all of Hell in order to keep anyone from getting out without my permission. Everyone is down here for a reason,” Lucifer states.
“We will circle back to that after we deal with this dude. Who was the other person?” I ask. I don’t know why I’m taking over the interrogation, but I’m going to roll with it.
I like how everyone steps back and lets me deal with it.
“The rest of you over there, so you can see what happens when someone betrays the family and messes with my puppies,” I state while pointing to the wall.
They move without question, and the being in front of me is starting to look scared.
“Who did you give them to?” I ask.
“I’m not telling anyone shit,” he says, but I can tell he’s trying to be tough and it’s all fake.
“Hmmm… well that just won’t do,” I say as I circle him slowly.
“You’re just a human. You can’t hurt me,” he whispers so the others won’t hear.
I look at Lucifer and see that he heard every word. He looks like he’s going to do something, but I shake my head.
I grab the blade I keep on me. I know it’s sharp.
I always make sure of that for my protection.
I move fast since he’s standing close to the wall behind him.
I grab the hand that he used to inject the needles into the puppies and stand it into the wall.
I move fast, so that no one had realized what I was doing until it was done.
“What the fuck?” the being screams in pain.
I hear Lorenzo laugh for the first time. “That was fucking awesome,” he states.
I look at the being, tilt my head, and give him an innocent look. “Did you think you could keep this hand? You know, the one you used to inject drugs into my puppies?”
“How did you do that? You’re fucking mortal,” the being spits out angrily.
“Since you won’t be alive long enough to tell anyone, I guess I should have told you that I’m not mortal anymore.
My strength and powers grow with every minute.
You also don’t spend most of your life defending yourself without knowing a few things.
Oh, and Papa Lucifer here had spelled my blades so that I could defend myself from scum like you,” I say with a shrug.
Silas looks at his dad who nods back at him.
“I told you I would always make sure she’s safe,” he states.
“I would start speaking now before I get impatient,” I say before grabbing another blade and twirling it around.
“I don’t know who he is,” the guy says.
I shake my head and ‘tsk’ at him.
“That’s not going to do,” I say before throwing the knife down. It lands in the middle of his foot.
Hunter screams again.
“I didn’t see who he was. He just wanted the hounds out of the way,” he says through pain.
“Why does he need them out of the way?” I ask, grabbing another blade.
“Seriously, how many blades does she have on her?” Gareth asks, amazed.
“Seven,” Silas replies.
I smirk at Silas’ reply. He has watched me put them on everyday. He hasn’t asked me why but, after what I told him, I think he already knows.
“You are just going to let her stab me? I have been working for you guys for centuries,” Hunter pleads.
“Yet, you also betrayed us and gave our hellhounds away,” Lorenzo spits out angrily.
“They are just beasts. You can get more.”
Hunter screams the last part of his sentence when I throw the other knife through his arm.
“Where are they?!” I shout.
“All he said was that he needed them away from the palace, and he would bring them back after he got what he wanted. I don’t know any more than that,” Hunter says through his pain.
I look him over before looking back to Lucifer and frowning.
“He seems to be in more pain than I expected. Are all your demons this weak?”
Lucifer chuckles and shakes his head.
“I might have added an extra kick to your blades,” he answers.
I grab another blade and look down at it.
“Fascinating,” I reply.
Lorenzo starts laughing as Hunter pleads.
“This shit is hilarious because she probably knows everything he does by touching him. She’s just torturing him for fun,” Lorenzo exclaims.
Hunter pauses screaming and looks at me in horror. Everyone else starts laughing.
“I never caught onto that,” Garett says through his laughter.
I smirk at Lorenzo.
“I wondered how long it was going to take until someone caught on,” I state.
“Now that you’ve had your fun, sweetie, Hunter here has an appointment in purgatory,” Lucifer says as he waves his hand at Hunter. I catch the horror on Hunter’s face before he disappears.
Great, another question I’ll need to ask later.
“The rest of you can leave,” I say, waving a hand at them like I’m the boss of this place.
Silas
My crazy little bride.
She is so much stronger than she gives herself credit for.
She just seamlessly took over the interrogation, and my father had a proud smile the whole time he observed it happening. I think we were all proud of her.
There are so many little things that have impressed me about my bride as I have been getting to know her over the past week.
She lets me hold her, which I know is hard for her to do.
I will go as slow as she needs. I want her to be sure about us. I want her to feel safe with me when she finally decides to have me completely.
Holding her is enough for me.
We sit back down, and she tells me that the man Hunter had spoken with had hidden his identity. Well, even if he didn’t, I don’t think she would have known who he was.
We haven’t shown her Hell properly yet. With the amount of people going missing, we have all wanted to keep her in the palace where we know it’s safe.
“I think he’s trying to find a way into the palace; he was asking about the barrier and how it works for the staff and family to get in and out.
He had offered Hunter a passage to the topside, and assured him that there was a way that you wouldn’t be able to track him as long as he stood by his side when the time came,” Serenity says.
“We have all known something is coming for a while now. We have all been working hard to figure out what that was,” Jasper says quietly.
“I think this is bigger than we realize,” Fredrick states. We all nod our heads in agreement.
“What would they want in the palace?” Serenity asks.
“This is the family home, but there isn’t much here worth risking their lives for. The only thing I can think of is that they want to make some sort of attack on the family,” Lucifer says.
“Maybe they are trying to weaken us? It has been centuries since someone has tried to take your throne, father,” Leopold states.
“There is always someone wanting father’s throne. When are they going to learn?” Lorenzo asks with a sigh.
“What’s the best way to weaken you?” Serenity asks.
“My sons. When I created them, I took a piece of myself and put it in each and every single one of my children. Killing any of my children would weaken me. If all of my children were gone, then my throne could be taken,” my father tells her.
She’s silent for a minute as she contemplates his answer.
“All of your children?” she asks.
My dad nods his head.
“Yes, all of my children.”
“Even your daughters?” Serenity asks, not breaking eye contact with him.
Everyone freezes, taking in the meaning of her words.
“Our brides?” Otis gasps.
“My daughters. That has to be it. They are weak until the bonds are fully formed but, until then, they can easily be killed,” my dad states while his eyes widen at the realization.
“Then whoever it is has to be after Serenity because no one knows who the other six are,” Gareth mentions.
“How do we get the bonds to become complete?” I ask.
“Your bond is already forming. As your feelings grow, the stronger it becomes. Once you have fully accepted the bond, the bond is complete. There was nothing physical to the bond, which is why Serenity’s gifts have already started to develop.
“How do our lives get tied together to the point where I won’t have any mortality?” Serenity asks.
“We have a ceremony to unite my daughters and sons,” my dad tells her.
“Like a wedding?” Serenity asks.
“Yes, only in this ceremony, you guys drink a drop of each other’s blood and it’s sealed. Whenever you are ready, we will set up the ceremony,” my dad tells her.
We talk more about how we are going to have one person on Serenity until we know she’s safe. Once her life is tied to mine, it will be different. She would heal faster if someone tried to attack her. Until then, we can’t let her be alone.
Once I notice Serenity getting tired, we say our goodnights and head to our side of the palace.
The second we get into bed, Serenity cuddles into me. I wrap my arms around her without hesitation.
Being with her like this makes me feel at peace.
She lifts her head and looks up at me for a second as she seems to be deciding something. There is a moment of hesitation before she moves closer and her lips come down to mine.
I still for a moment because it was unexpected, but then I softly return her kiss.
Kissing her feels like everything I have been waiting for. I wouldn’t give this feeling up for anything.
How can I be this crazy about someone I didn’t know existed only a month ago?
The feeling of peace and home that she gives me makes me not want to rush this. There is no way I would want to fuck this up.
When the kiss ends, I look at her and smile. I kiss her on the forehead, and she puts her head back on my chest.
Whoever is after her will have to go through me. There is no way I would let anyone take her from me.
I’ll kill anyone who thinks they could harm her.