An armchair close to him combusted with a scream, collapsing into a heap of ash. The fire behind the grate leaped and whirled. Lucifer knew he was losing form and control, but so what? So fuckingwhat.
“Perhaps I have been weak,” Lucifer hissed, scales dragging under his words. “Perhaps I have led you to believe that we are equals, small demons running around on a mortal fucking playground.”
Asmodeus raised placating hands. “No, Lucifer.”
“Perhaps you think my affection for Galilee makes me vulnerable.” Lucifer’s voice was doubling and redoubling, legions of snakes slithering over one another. “Perhaps we have been on this side too long and you have all forgottenwho the fuck you’re speaking to.”
The parlor flooded with impressions: oceans of sulfur boiling with wrath, wet and bloody flapping skins, screams and screams under a roar of magma. It was a melody in Lucifer’s ears, power singing down his arms.
“Perhaps you all need a reminder,” he offered, with razored teeth and wheels dancing from his eyes.
Leviathan stepped closer even as flames licked up from the walnutfloors. He placed his hands against Lucifer’s face, long fingers brushing against the Devil’s temples. “Luci,” he said. “You promised. Remember?”
It would have been easy to forget, but Luciferdidremember. He’d made a choice, centuries ago, to not be this kind of king anymore. Levi was staring at him with calm golden eyes, unafraid and waiting to see if the Devil would tear him to pieces. Lucifer had promised. Lucifer never broke his word, but they were tempting him sorely. “Do not provoke me and expect nothing in return,” he growled.
Leviathan nodded. “You’re right. We fucked up. We’ve been disrespectful and remiss in our duties.” He shot Belial and the others a hard stare. “It won’t happen again.”
A chorus of apologies and agreements rang from the princes, and Lucifer could hear the fear thrumming underneath it. When it came down to it, their power was just a flicker, while his was a blaze. He took a deep searing breath and folded his wings into his back as Levi’s hands dropped from his face, leaving his skin lonely.
“Give me a report,” he said, his voice flat.
Belial rose up from her knees and clasped her hands behind her back. “One of the wards faltered—I’m still not sure why. Something shot out through the gate, fast as fuck. All I saw were dark flashes, and then they vanished into the wall.”
“They will take corporeal form,” Levi said, “whatever they are.”
This was all bad news. “The hellgate is still weakening,” Lucifer said. “These wards aren’t enough.”
“I left Beelzebub on guard and sent Astaroth to track down the shadows that slipped out,” Belial continued. She and Levi shared a quick look, and Lucifer ground his back teeth together.
“Let me guess, there’s more.”
“Therewassomething else,” Belial admitted, “but I wasn’t sure if it was... real.”
“Belial...” Leviathan shook his head. “It was real.”
Lucifer frowned. “Get to the point.”
“Levi tasted some residue.” Her voice was rushing now. “It was infinitesimal, just a shadow of a glimmer, exposed only when the gate cracked open. I couldn’t be sure if it was accurate, so I was reluctant to share it as a certain finding—”
She cut off short as Lucifer raised a hand to silence her. Leviathan was never wrong, and Belial knew it, which meant she justwantedhim to be wrong and she wanted it very badly.
“What did you find?” Lucifer asked Levi. “And why did you take so long to tell me all this?”
Levi shrugged. “You were withher. It wasn’t secure.”
“You should have interrupted.” The words left Lucifer’s mouth before he processed them fully, and of course Levi took him up on it.
“Idid. And you told me to get out.” There was a smirk playing on Levi’s mouth, but it died away quickly. “You’re not going to like it, Luci.”
Lucifer simply waited.
“It was just a glimmer, as Belial said, but when I examined the point at which the unknown entity got out, the residue tasted... angelic.”
Angelic.
Lucifer’s mind went blank for a second, before a surge of white noise filled it again. Fuck.
Fuck.
