Chapter 4
LUCIFER
“You do not leave this flat,” I warn, giving Wade and Caspian the darkest looks I can muster. I can’t stand the dark-haired mated siren since Maeve hates him.
But I’ve never actually had an issue with the giraffe shifter before today.
Right now, though, when my mate is so vulnerable, I hate the idea of leaving her.
It’s even worse knowing that her crazy, possessed, psychopathic stalker can access the flats.
I don’t feel comfortable being away from her.
There aren’t many people in this universe that I trust—never mind trusting them with the most precious thing to me.
I’m the only one who can keep her safe. I can keep her demons at bay, I can fight the shadows, and I’ll let her breathe.
Sure, Hadrian and Draven can be there. She’s got to have someone to be mad at that isn’t me, but they’re not people I can depend on just yet.
Not when she’s in this state.
Not when this fucking stalker has crossed the lines that he has.
Hell, if Jules wasn’t too busy sucking my uncle’s horn, or cock, or whatever, I might give him a little turn to be in the room with us. Maeve would enjoy tearing him to shreds, and Hades deserves the entertainment.
Instead, I’ve got to leave her with Tweedle-dum and whatever the fuck Caspian is. Tweedle-dee is not a good enough insult for him.
“I don’t give a fuck if the building gets set on fire and your families are burning alive, you stick to Maeve like fucking glue. She doesn’t leave your sight, not even when you blink.”
“Are you really telling me that you would be happy if my mate died just because Maeve was in a building that caught on fire through no fault of our own?” Caspian asks, and there’s such a dry note to his voice that I can’t even regret my over-the-line threat.
Mates are always off limits, even to me. You can joke, you can tease, you can even threaten to murder a man, but you never ever talk about hurting their mate.
It’s not acceptable. The mate bond is one of the most protected bonds for any shifter.
But, in this situation, when my Maeve is already uncomfortable around Caspian, he can fuck right off if he thinks that he and his pathetic family mean anything to me.
Honestly, he’s lucky I haven’t just put an arrow through his head right now. I might do it when I get back, depending on how pissed off I am with this fucking meeting.
I’m raging that we’ve got to leave her here, and I’d love nothing more than to use him to expel my rage.
I nod, glaring at him. “And even if she’s lucky enough to escape, I’ll light your entire family on fire myself if a single fleck of soot lands on Maeve.
She doesn’t like shit touching her and hates being dirty.
So, you better watch my mate properly, the pair of you, or you’re not going to like the consequences.
I am putting her life in your pathetic hands. ”
“It’s interesting that you referred to her as your mate,” Wade says with a cheeky smirk on his ugly fucking face. His bright gold eyes twinkle in the light, but they won’t be anywhere near as light when I permanently shut the lights off inside his head.
He’s shorter than I am, and I know that he’s on the Fox’s payroll so I can have updates regularly without having to deal with him, but that doesn’t give me any relief right now.
I want Maeve to be handcuffed to my side.
“No, I fucking didn’t,” I grit out, lying through my teeth. My heart is thudding at how careless and reckless I was by sharing that with them. “Nothing between Maeve and I is your business. Get inside, watch her, and shut your fucking mouth or I will make sure it is permanently shut.”
I turn away from the two of them, shout another goodbye to Maeve, and stride out of the flat as I try to calm myself down. My mate is not very impressed at how much we’re all hovering—especially me.
But at least I can lord it over the others that she’s being polite to me while hating their guts.
Well, Maeve-polite.
She has wished Hades dead at least seventeen times, and Draven has been practically ignored after he had his little outburst.
So, at least I’m winning in that regard.
I’m going to shift and fly over to Atticus’s home rather than bothering with the car. I’d rather leave it here in case the Stupid Siren and Gangly Giraffe need to take Maeve anywhere so that at least she can be comfortable.
Fuck, I’m really off my game today if these are the best nicknames I can come up with.
As I feel the shift beginning, my form shrinks down, a sudden lightness sweeping over me. It’s as if my very essence condenses, something primal awakening within.
My limbs shorten, and a mischievous energy bubbles up—familiar, yet wild. I can sense my size dwindling, my presence becoming smaller but more chaotic, like a flicker of something mischievous ready to escape.
The transition is quick, almost instinctual, leaving behind my usual form for the impish guise—less grandeur, more mischief, and a surge of raw, untamed power.
I feel free—like I’m exactly who I’m meant to be and in my purest form.
It doesn’t take me long to get there despite the fact that I don’t put much effort into the flight. I’m not in any rush. I need this time to calm myself down so that when I do have to deal with Atticus and the rest of the goon squad, I don’t blow up at one of them.
Well, accidentally—I probably will on purpose.
Besides, Maeve needs me on the top of my game for this shit so we can handle things properly. My beautiful, precious mate, who has faced more horrors than anyone could ever deserve, needs me.
Me.
I promised myself that I’d end them for her. I promised her that it would be me who slits their throats, that I’d take the lives from them—the ones they stole from her.
Her father—stepfather, misery maker, scum.
Her mother.
And then, each one of the worthless, spineless men who dared touch her.
Each one was on my list.
So, to have this stalker of hers decide to take one of them from me… it’s doubled how long it’s going to take for me to murder him. No longer will he get a mostly swift death, but instead, it’s going to be long, drawn out, and bloody.
The bastard did not deserve to be the one to wipe that slimy cunt from the Earth. It was my job. Maeve admitted she couldn’t do it. That she wanted him dead. That she wished he was gone.
But she knew she’d never be able to do it herself. I could have. I would have.
Fucking selfish cunt.
The shift back to my human form is rapid, and I bang on the king’s front door, not even bothering with a respectable knock. I don’t wait around to be invited inside and instead let myself in.
They’re used to it by now.
And besides, it’s not like I can be yelled at for upsetting their mate when she’s not even here. Instead, she’s invading my home—well, Maeve’s home… my mate, my heart, my home.
Nora being one of Maeve’s friends is a good thing most of the time, but right now, it means that people can selfishly pull me away from my girl under the guise of “the queen of the pride is there under protection, so nothing could ever happen to her”.
Weak ass excuse if you ask me.
But it worked.
“It’s about fucking time you got here,” the bear shifter snaps at me the moment I enter the office.
I flip Orson off without even looking at him. I never used to mind the bear, but my mate hates him since he touched her the day they met, so he’s dead to me, too.
The fact that he’s so pathetically desperate for some friends, that he’s begging me to talk to him, is embarrassing. I’d never go behind her back this way.
Not a fucking chance.
I give Devoss a nod and ignore the griffin shifter sitting opposite Atticus, for Fin’s own sake. The dark haired man is unable to control his inner animal, and I know for a fact that my imp would rile him up further for the fun of it.
Griffin’s the weakest man in this room, and if it weren’t for his bond with Nora, he’d not be in this meeting right now. He can’t handle the energy of all of the dominant shifters, especially since Hades, Draven, and I are all mythicals.
Unlike his animal, Griffin himself is very chill and has no desire to force his way to the top of the food chain, but his griffin does. If he was raised with mythicals, or spent enough time honing his abilities, I have no doubt he’d be able to rival… well, maybe Julian.
Not the rest of us.
I would expect the sweater vest-wearing man to be on Nora Watch rather than here, which is quite intriguing. He doesn’t have much use, and yet, somehow, Atticus has found a need for him.
Speaking of the king, he’s sitting behind his desk, looking as regal as ever in his usual office attire. His suit jacket is hung over the back of his chair, and the top two buttons are undone on his shirt, but, otherwise, he’s ready for a shoot.
Or whatever it is that he does for work.
His second-in-command, Orson, is obviously sprawled across a two-seater sofa all by himself like the fat fuck he is. His dirty blonde hair is tied back in the stupid hipster-looking style he prefers as he loafs around.
Draven is peering out of the window almost as if his eyesight could reach Maeve’s block of flats from here. It can’t. I’ve already tried. But I think he’s as pissed about the location for this meeting as I am.
Hades and Malachi are sitting on the same sofa, both at the very ends of it, neither looking at each other. I don’t know if my cousin has gotten into a battle with the tiger, but it’s a foolish affair.
The tiger is powerful, sure, but he’s not on our level. It’s a wasted effort. Plus, he’s cocky, arrogant, and can be pretty funny.
There’s no need to cause shit with Kai. He does it for you, and then you can just laugh at the mess he gets himself into.
Devoss has wisely positioned himself on the counter right next to the alcohol, so it’s now in reach for him just to get a drink whenever anyone pisses him off.
I’m quite jealous of that fact, really.