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“Swallow,” he tells me, stroking my bottom lip with his thumb again. I do as I’m told, and the moment I do, he reaches down and pulls me into his lap again, wrapping his arms around me and holding me against his chest as I straddle him. His forehead leans against mine, and his eyes flutter closed, and for the first time since he got back to our room, he seems to truly relax.
“Thank you,” he murmurs.
I wrap my arms around him, nodding as I breathe in his familiar scent, which is mixed with the unfamiliar smells of battle and blood.
I know he’s not thanking me just for helping with his wounds, since they would’ve healed even without me doing anything. And I know he isn’t just talking about the blowjob either. It’s about so much more than that, about things I don’t think either of us can put into words.
So I don’t even try to find the words for it.
I just lean into his embrace, sending out a silent prayer of gratitude to whatever forces of fate might be out there looking over us, thanking them for bringing him back to me in one piece.
Chapter21
Sophia
For the firstcouple of days after Lucifer’s return, we spend most of our time in bed, which I have no complaints about. After Diana’s visit, I was worried about feeling like a prisoner, but it turns out thatchoosingto stay in our quarters together as much as possible is much different than being trapped alone in the room against my will.
But of course it can’t last. After a few days’ respite, Cephalus starts dragging Lucifer away for hours at a time again.
I guess this is how I should expect life to be, now that the man I love is back to being a revered leader in Hell’s army. As long as he doesn’t have to leave for another battle any time soon, I can force myself to be okay with the long hours he spends away.
On this particular evening, he was called away hours ago, and it’s nearly dinner time when he walks through the door. A dark scowl tugs at his lips, and he kisses me absently, his mood hardly seeming to lighten at all.
“Bad news?” I ask, biting my lip as we separate.
“Let’s eat,” he says. “I’ll fill you in later.”
Worry cramps my stomach, but I don’t press the issue. As we eat dinner in the great hall, I pick up on a lot of murmured conversations and everybody seems to be in a worse mood than usual. It’s still difficult for me to gauge demonic moods accurately every time, but I’m fairly certain everybody’s kind of pissed off. The conversation at our usual table is lackluster at best, and Lucifer doesn’t even attempt to engage with it. He eats quickly, then pats my thigh.
“I have some people to talk to,” he informs me as he stands. “Stay here, I’ll come back.”
After our argument regarding my personal autonomy, I’m half inclined to ignore his order and go mingle with people. But then I look around at the people themselves, and there isn’t a whole lot of mingling going on. Everybody seems pretty subdued, and the people who are finished with their dinners are huddled in tight little groups, talking amongst themselves. Even Aurora seems distracted and disinclined to play her usual games.
The atmosphere is so tense in here I’m afraid I’ll trip an explosion if I do much of anything. I watch as Lucifer goes and speaks with the generals or captains or whatever, the other leaders of Hell’s army. They all look… well, pissed isn’t really the right word. Grim, maybe? Resigned and dreading whatever it is. They speak in terse undertones for several minutes, then Lucifer returns to the table.
“Are you finished?” he asks.
With a confirming nod, we head out, and as we cross the dining hall I notice a lot of eyes following us out.
Something is definitely going on, and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to like it, whatever it is. Lucifer projects tension with every step until we’re back in our room. Then he exhales, deliberately relaxing, but it doesn’t seem to help much.
“Cephalus is planning a retaliatory attack against the angels,” he tells me.
I frown, confused. “Wait, what? Retaliatory attack? But I thought you won the last battle. What is there to retaliate against?”
“Winning is both difficult to determine outright, and largely a matter of opinion. The angels broke a lot of unspoken rules. Not even rules so much as traditions, which is what I fought so hard to get my father to do himself before Uriel’s death. They used old weapons in new ways, they employed trickery, and their initial approach was very much inspired by guerilla warfare.”
“That sounds almost human,” I remark without thinking.
He grimaces and gives me a tight nod. “Exactly why my father was so against it for so long. He’s changing his tune now, though, which is what today’s meeting was about. He essentially wants me to give the council a crash course on human war tactics, and he wants to implement them immediately.”
A shock runs down my spine, and my skin goes cold. “Immediately? As innow?”
He shakes his head, and I can breathe again. “Not now. We aren’t ready yet, but with the way he’s pushing, he won’t be waiting too long.” Lucifer pauses for a long, pensive moment. “He knows I’m not committed, Sophia. I never made a secret of it. I believe that he’s intending to take full advantage of my presence as quickly as possible. He’s planning one battle overtly, but I know him well enough to see what he’s really doing.”
There is a pause, but when he doesn’t fill it, I ask, “What is it that he’s really doing?”
Lucifer rolls his jaw, staring grimly into the shadows. “He’s planning several hits, back to back. Not a shotgun approach, which is what he would do before, but full strength attacks again and again, so close together that the angels won’t have time to recover. There’s just one thing he hasn’t considered, or has considered, and chosen to ignore.”
