Chapter Ten
Serenity
Walking onto each level is insane. Each one has its own purpose and somehow, it’s always worse than the last level.
The screams of level five might very well haunt me.
It looks like a torture chamber pretty much, and it’s obviously where punishments are made. I could see why Kayla was scared to come down here. The screams and scent of blood were enough for me not to want to be sent down here. I only spent a couple minutes on that level before I had to leave.
I got to see some demons, demonesses, incubi, and succubi on my journey through. There are so many different types of demons down here. I never realized how many there were; however, I suppose I never thought much about it before.
I also saw how each sin was looked at differently.
Lucifer had explained that only family is immune to their powers and sins.
So, I never saw their powers in full effect until each brother walked up to a demon and showed me exactly what happens if their powers are activated.
Just standing close to anyone, or anything, is enough for the sin to take full effect.
If the whole family is standing with a demon, the effect doesn’t really work.
Lucifer explained how too many sins around made it difficult for the body and mind to focus on one.
Sometimes he would only send one to three of the brothers together if he has an important job for them, so that the sins have a more lightened effect.
It might be information overload to most people, but I loved learning about everything. It all made sense to me.
My favourite level would be level three.
That’s where all the beasts were, and some hellhounds were trained.
It was almost like a demonic beast zoo. I wanted to touch and pet everything.
I was pulled back a few times since they said most of the beasts would devour me, but I couldn’t help it if they were adorable.
Level seven, the last one, pretty much looked like the fiery pit of hell I had always envisioned.
Those screams were terrible. People were burning there for literally eternity. I was told that the worst of the worst humans were there.
I was processing everything the rest of the evening, but the men let me get lost in my head. I’m sure they thought I was probably scared of them now, but I just wanted to learn more about Hell. It’s so much more than I thought it was. It’s like a whole other world down here.
When it was time to be alone with Silas, I wasn’t nervous. It was easy to be around him; I knew I was safe. He showed me that he respected my boundaries.
I decided to be a bit bold tonight. I look over at him and slowly start making my way to the bedroom.
“I’m going to take a hot bath,” I mention to him.
“Okay, baby. Just relax after a long day,” he replies. He looks like he’s about to sit on the couch.
“Would you like to join me?” I ask, pausing to see if he catches on.
Okay, I said I was going to be bold, but my voice comes out a bit shaky.
Silas looks at me with soft eyes. “Are you sure, baby? Don’t push yourself if you aren’t ready.”
“I’m sure I want to have a bath with you,” I tell him and swallow hard.
This may not seem like that big of deal, but this is very intimate for me. He will be the first man that sees me naked.
“Okay, baby,” he says and follows me into the bathroom.
He runs the water to make sure it’s hot and puts some bath salts and bubbles in it. The one thing I love about his bathroom is that the floors are heated and the bathtub is huge. It can fit both of us, no problem.
I’m completely shaking by the time Silas turns around, and he looks me in the eyes as he slowly removes his shirt.
I swallow hard as I look at his body. To me, he’s perfection.
He’s got muscles, that’s for sure. I don’t know if he works out to look that way or if that’s just the way that he was made.
I have scars on my body, but I am not self conscious about them. If he doesn’t like them then that’s his problem, not mine. My nerves have more to do with any expectations he might have now that I initiated this step.
He walks towards me, grabs the hem of my shirt, and gives me a questioning look. I nod my head slightly.
His gaze doesn’t linger on any part of me; he just undresses me and grabs my hand to pull me towards the tub.
He climbs in and moves so that I can sit between his legs. I rest my back against his chest as he wraps his arms around me, and I feel my body relax. He always makes me feel at peace.
We sit there in each other’s company for a long time before he slowly starts washing my body. Once he’s done washing my front, I sit up and turn around so I can straddle his lap.
I grab the cloth and soap before slowly starting to washing his chest.
He looks at me with small smile.
“This is perfect, baby,” he says softly.
“I don’t know when I will be ready to give you more; I just wanted to feel close to you like this,” I tell him.
“Baby, we have so much time to be together in that way. I meant what I said, I’m not going to rush you. When we have sex, it’s going to be because you want it and I want it, not because it’s expected. We make our own rules for our relationship,” he tells me.
I lean in and kiss him softly. This is what I need; no pressure, just peace.
Silas
Serenity is so strong. I could tell it took a lot for her to ask me to have a bath with her. That’s why I didn’t make a big deal out of it.
I don’t ever want her to feel like she owes me anything.
After we wash each other up, I put on some boxers while she puts on some sleep shorts and a tank top. It doesn’t take long until we are both climbing into bed together.
I hold her as she falls asleep. I think about her scars. I didn’t want to bring attention to them, but I sure would like to find the fucker who did that to her.
My woman has so much beauty and kindness that it makes me wonder what my father was thinking of tying her with a sin like me, but I know that I will cherish her for eternity.
Once she’s asleep, I get up to meet my family in the main room. They are all sitting there looking tired. We have been looking for the being wanting to attack the family but, so far, we have no leads.
Everything has been a dead end, and we can’t ask Serenity to touch every person in Hell to find out who is betraying us.
“There has to be something we are missing,” Leopold says as I approach the table.
“How is my daughter?” my father asks when he sees me.
“She’s good. Resting right now,” I tell him.
“Everyone thinks they can challenge the family at some point. We have been through this many times,” Otis states.
“This time is different. I can feel it’s different,” our father says quietly.
Those words still us.
Lucifer is a powerful being.
It’s true that he has had many beings try to take Hell from him. It didn’t take much to show how much power we all have.
Having my dad feeling that we are up against something worse than anything we have ever faced before is concerning.
It makes us all on edge. We already are taking it very seriously since Serenity is at risk but, if our father feels this way, it is possible that we could be overthrown if we aren’t careful.
“We can’t keep her locked up here; she’s already getting bored,” I tell them.
“The hellhounds will be back soon, so she will have fun with them. Soon, another bride should be joining us,” my father says. His words have my brothers giving him their full attention.
I can’t help but chuckle. You can see the doomed expression on some of their faces, and the look of hope on others.
“Which one is it?” Gareth asks, looking hopeful.
“I said soon. It’s not time to tell yet, but she will be in need of her sin soon,” he says.
Wow, if he had acted like that before I met my bride, I would have gone crazy.
This time, there is a weakness in our family; the brides. Until all the bonds are formed and completed, the whole family is at risk.
I look at my father when a thought pops into my head.
“Do you get a bride?” I ask.
My brothers go quiet looking at each other, and then at my father, like the thought never occurred to them.
He doesn’t say anything for a moment, but gets this look on his face of sorrow and longing. He lets out a long sigh before he speaks.
“I had a bride once. She was my everything. Lilith was my world. She was taken from me too soon. We had created you boys together. Talked about what each of our sons and daughters would be like; having this big family. We were ready.”
He stops talking and looks away like he’s gathering the courage to keep going.
“What happened?” Jasper asks quietly.
“The first time someone tried to take my crown, they nearly succeeded. My Lilith had died during the fight, and I wasn’t sure If I could keep going on without my bride.
During her last moments, she reminded me of our promise to create the family we had always wanted.
I turned my grief into rage and annihilated anyone who dared to question me.
It’s how I stayed in power after losing my love. ”
The silence feels so loud in this moment.
I can tell on his face that the loss and agony from losing his bride never went away.
Without a word, my dad gets up and heads to his quarters.
“I can’t believe none of us thought about our father having a life before us,” Lorenzo says.
“It’s weird to think of our own parents having lives. I just always thought he made us. I never thought about him doing it because of love,” Gareth says.
“Your dad has lived for a long time. The sorrow he feels never went away or lessened. He just moves along, taking everything moment by moment, but he mourns constantly,” a voice says from the hallway. I look over and see my bride leaning against the wall with a sad expression on her face.
I hold out my hand to her. She walks over and sits directly on my lap.
“You knew?” Otis asks, sitting up straighter and looking at Serenity.
Serenity gives a little smile. “Of course I knew. Your father had let me take his hand one day so I could learn more about him. I think he wanted to open up to someone without actually saying the words out loud. The pain he feels is almost like it’s fresh and happened to him yesterday.”
“I wish we could bring her back for him,” Leopold states.
“I had been looking into a lot of your books and files in the library that you guys have here. The dust is so thick in there; when was the last time anyone went in there?” Serenity asks with wide eyes.
“Centuries. You were saying…” Lorenzo asks.
“In the library, I found information on reincarnation, and I think that there might be a possibility Lilith might have been put back on earth without her memories. The goal was to separate Lucifer and Lilith. They succeeded, but they didn’t know where to send her soul.
They likely just recycled her,” Serenity says excitedly.
“That’s a good theory, but there is no way to find if that’s true, or where she even is. Someone could have also taken her soul. We don’t know for sure if it was recycled,” Lorenzo says thoughtfully.
“Maybe it’s just a matter of time. We have no idea what kind of powers the other brides have but, as you guys have said, the family will be weak until each bond is formed and completed. That will also include Lucifer’s bride,” Serenity states.
“That’s true. I can’t believe no one realized that,” Otis says with a sigh.
“I think we need to wait and see what other powers are going to be added to the family,” I tell my brothers.
I just hope that we find something that can help point us in the right direction of finding our father’s bride.