Luc scoured the castle for signs of an Envy Demon but found no leads. The idea that someone had come to the stronghold of the First Circle and been close enough to put poison inside of my glass did not sit well with me.
If I had been connected to Hell, then the saliva would not have affected me. Whoever had administered the poison knew that I was very much mortal as well as pregnant. If it was the King Leviathan, then it was possible that Envy would try and take more territory. Neither Luc and I were stupid. It was obvious that Envy had something to do with the disappearance of Ba’el.
One of the difficulties of acquiring territory in Hell was that the circle was linked directly to their king. If the Monarch was missing it was like a gaping wound of leaking power. All the Original Seven could only leave for just over an hour at the time, and only once a day.
Levi could not have possibly killed Ba’el. Wrath was still standing and Hell was still very much real.
Also, as the King of the Second Circle, Ba’el was more powerful than the Leviathan King. It would haven unlikely for the weaker Demon to overpower Wrath.
As if to reassure me of his presence, my baby kicked against my hand. The healer had told me that Luc had reacted quickly and there would be no ill effects.
That could not have been said if I had been on my own.
Luc was overtaken with the need to find the spy inside of the castle. The thick cloying scent of the Devil’s magic clung to the walls, its dark tendrils licked my skin as I walked the corridors. The magic was seemingly protecting me as well as seeking answers from anyone that crossed it.
I was unable to go into the library since that day. The memories of choking on poison made my stomach turn whenever I was reach the end of the corridor.
Luc had my books moved to my chambers and I still inhaled the history of the First Circle as if I hadn’t lived it.
Pascal, the scribe, had documented my creation, my childhood and then our joint reign over Pride and Treachery. He had written about my banishment through the eyes of an impartial spectator.
Still bound by Luc’s magic, I had no way to defend myself. Although I was physically stronger than a human and had a millennium of training in various combat arts, my centre of gravity was off. I was huge and it was cumbersome.
Despite that, my growing size left me with an overwhelming sense of joy. It was the physical manifestation of my deepest desire. To have a child of my own.
It was easier to ignore a hypothetical death sentence in a future far away. I took it one day at a time. Birth my child and the rest would follow.
Luc was steadily losing his mind with the need to protect me. Guards would watch from a distance and his magic hung from my skin like a protective blanket.
Even though he had almost lost me and his child, Luc spent very little time in the castle. Near constantly pursuing concrete evidence of who had dared to touch the Devil’s consort.
In the end, it was not Luc that found the intruder. It was Meesha.
My Hellhound PA’s had been camped out at the Ice Castle since the poisoning, tasked with guarding me whilst Luc’s resourced were stretched between managing Pride, protecting Wrath and infiltrating Envy.
That day’s dinner show was a strange one. Luc had somehow managed to procure the soul of a Guinness world record holder. The longest hair to have ever been recorded.
The woman sobbed as her hands teared out every strand beyond her control.
Pride and Vanity came hand in hand.
Luc and I had been dining alone when the doors slammed open.
Meesha tugged the struggling skeletal Demon behind her, her grip was firmly on his throat. The Leviathan (a lackey, not the King) snapped his jaws, flinging black spittle as he lashed out at the hound.
“I found this one skulking in the sculpture garden.” Meesha hissed. The Pureblood growled, more feral than any hell denizen that I had ever seen.
It went without saying that the intruder had come from Envy. I found myself stepping forward as darkness tinged the edge of my vision. I looked at Meesha and then to the Demon that had tried to kill my baby.
I was trapped in a memory of when I was a young child. I felt his soft touch against my scalp as Luc pulled my hair and twisted it methodically into a braid.
We sat on the soft antique rug of his study, both of us with our legs crossed. The fire crackled and popped, but even my young mind knew that it was an illusion. The hellfire did not give off the same residual black smear as it did when I summoned it. Luc wanted me to feel comforted.
I was in my mental fortress, as I carefully inhaled and exhaled to stay calm.
Thwack.
I rubbed my belly absentmindedly with my free hand. The other hand rose over my head and using the force of my swing, the fire poker slammed down onto the Envy Demon’s head.
I heard his skull shatter. Traditionally, torture was not a pastime that I indulged in. That had changed when I heard learnt that someone wanted to harm my child.
“Darling?” Luc said softly, his fingers linked with mine as he took the bloody poker from my fist. I noted that my hands were stained with red. My mind floated with a sort of detachment that I had never experienced before. Luc’s eyes warmed when my gaze met his. His lips turned up into a soothing smile.
“He’s not much more than pulp, my Pet. I think you're done.”
I brushed down the front of my dress and straightened my hair, only to find that I was soaked and sticky from head to toe.
When had that happened? I wondered.
The darkness had completely taken over and I had lost myself. But I did not care.
No one would harm my unborn child, or I would reign down all Seven Hells.
Luc's hands cupped my waist, as much as he was able with my baby bump in the way. His hand affectionately rubbed my lower stomach and I felt the sensation of bubbles inside my womb. My child was kicking.
Wiping away a tear of happiness, I snuggled into Luc’s embrace.
“I’m worried.” I whispered, burying my head in the Devil’s shoulder.
Luc rubbed idle patterns on the skin of my back. The traitor’s blood had begun to dry and flake from my skin.
“It is only when you have something worth holding onto, that you risk losing it at all.” I mused.
“I will give you whatever you want, my Pet. Just say the words and all that you desire will be yours.”
I felt my lips turn up in a smile but it full of sadness. I wanted to believe him but even Luc’s power had limits.
I curled in on myself, feeling the beast inside of me lashing against the cage that I had built. Normally pain would negate the monster inside of me, but I would not allow my body to succumb. I needed to be alone. I needed to pace the room like a trapped animal until the tension eased. Torturing the Envy Demon had pushed me perilously close to the threshold of my sanity.
“Be Mine, Lucifer.”
“As you wish.” His kiss was harsh and demanding, a silent plea for my soul.
A deal was made.
Twinges in my lower back made it hard to get comfortable. I settled for taking a bath with Luc by my side. He carefully lathered up the shampoo in my hair. My large belly protruded from the water and every so often, I would see my skin stretch around a tiny foot or hand as my child kicked from the inside.
“This is heaven.” I sighed as Luc massaged my head.
“Glad to be of service.” Luc reached over and placed a delicate kiss on my soapy forehead.
“This reminds me of how we used to be.” I closed my eyes, completely at ease. “Before I went away.”
Luc's Adam’s Apple bobbed and he looked away.
I barely had time to cover my nudity with a towel when Abaddon burst into my bathroom. Luc was helping me out of the claw foot tub, as I was unable to manoeuvre myself without help.
“You better have a good reason for breaking the door to my Queen's chambers?” Luc crooked a brow at the Demon of Destruction.
Abe panted, but his eyes sparkled with the kind of excitement that only came from a seasoned warrior in combat.
“A Seraphim Angel was spotted in purgatory not an hour ago.” Abe said excitedly. You’d have thought he’d just received a birthday present.
Luc reached for the leather strap around his wrist and he tied his long hair back into a low ponytail. Straightening up to his full height, Luc shifted from a gentle lover to the feral warrior that people feared.
He glanced back at me.
“Go,” I urged. “We’ll be here when you get back.”
Luc nodded. Abe and he Laced into thin air and left me in the steam of my bathroom.
It wasn’t until I had dried my hair and dressed that I realised that I was the one that had provided the means for the Seraphim to enter Limbo.
A curl of dread arranged itself around my heart. It was just one soul, but Luc would not take kindly to his domain being intruded upon.
I sighed heavily and flopped down on the bed, unable to find a comfortable position. Lying on my back caused my lungs to squeeze and it made breathing uncomfortable. Another twinge wracked through my body, but that one had me gritting my teeth.
I pushed myself off the bed and decided to run another bath to alleviate the ache in my back.
A sharp object collided with the back of my head. My knees buckled and my hands jutted out to protect my bump.
Everything went black.
My back was pressed against a rigid metal surface. My skin was covered in gooseflesh and my breath fogged in front of me.
I was not restrained, but my head was full of cotton wool. My mouth lacked any sort of moisture.
I reached behind my head and swallowed any roiling nausea. I felt the lump on my crown. Someone had hit me with a blunt object. My sudden trip to unconsciousness made a lot more sense.
I sighed in exasperation. No one would have dared to have raised a hand to me whilst I was in full control of my faculties. I was powerless. Dead weight. Disabled.
An eerie humming came from the corner of the room. Some old folk song. Jimmy cracked corn.
I blinked past the white dots that obscured my vision. There was a person in the corner of the room, neatly arranging some of the artefacts from the archives. At least I knew where I was. Still in the First Circle.
The familiar sound of dropping cavern walls did little to comfort me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, hoping that my sense of smell had no abandoned me completely.
I recognised the warm charred incense of Hellhound and it made no sense. Surely the only people that were warring for my death were the Fourth Circle.
“Hello lover,” Meesha balanced Luc's enchanted falcata sword on the flat of her hand. Her smile was blindly radiant, showing every one of her pearly white teeth against her tan skin.
“Meesha,” I hissed in warning.
The hound stayed a fair distance from me, resting against the Book of Prophecies display as if it were mere furniture. My eyes flickered to the book just as the same intense pain that I had felt in the bathroom racked up my spine.
I gritted my teeth and groaned unable to stop the sound from leaving my mouth. Meesha did not notice.
“You were the one that was trying to kill me? My child?” I said through gritted teeth.
If I had full connection I would have used the threads of Hell to tear her apart until her ichor decorated every inch of the stone walls. I would have bathed in her blood.
Kept her alive whilst I took every finger and tooth, only to rip them off again when they regrew.
“Rather cowardly to attempt something like this whilst I have little power.” I mused, as I stared her down.
I looked to the floor and saw that Meesha had drawn a trapping Sigil around the table I was on. That was the reason for the lack of restraints.
Feeling through my Jean pockets, I felt my phone and each of the ingredients that I had taken to carrying around with me at times. I had little use for any of them unless I could throw the iPhone at the hound’s head and knock her out.
“I had help,” Meesha chuckled a deep and throaty laugh.
I narrowed my eyes and did not dignify her with a response.
Her hazel eyes flickered to the corner of the room. Samuel Rose sat with his hands tented in front of him.
“I’m just here to watch,” He licked his bottom lip. “After all, you took my mate from me.”
Another pain wracked through me and my heart stopped as realisation hit me.
I was having contractions.
Why in all the Seven Hells did my child feel like it was a convenient time to enter the world when I was trapped and held hostage?
“You’ll have to do more than watch if you plan retribution for your little pet.” I snarled, my upper body twisted off the table as another contraction wrenched through my back and lower legs.
Meesha advanced on me, staring down where I lay on the table. She cupped my face and leant in. Her nose touched mine and all I could see were her manic eyes. Her sheet of curly raven hair hid the rest of the archives from view.
“You think that people are pawns. Disposable. You move people around per your whims, Dahlia Clark.” Meesha words were breathy. I felt the sting of a blade trail down my cheek. I did not break eye contact.
“I am the Queen of the First Circle.” I breathed, so enough so that she would not hear me.
“What’s that?” she laughed.
“I said, I am the Queen of the First Circle.” I snarled. Using what little leverage I had, I slammed my head forward until I heard the thwunk of our skulls colliding. White stars blinked in front of my vision and I tasted copper. I had bitten my tongue. Rookie mistake. The knife clattered to the floor.
Meesha staggered back, her eyes flared a burnt tangerine. Glowing in the low light.
I rolled off the table, gritting my teeth as I held my side.
Samuel Rose sat in the corner, watching the entire exchange without emotion.
“You weren’t meant to remember your mate once Lucifer broke the connection.” I wheezed, standing behind the metal table as if it could block me from an incoming attacking.
Samuel clenched his fists but did not move. “But I do, and now my mate lays paralysed because of you.”
Meesha lurched forward and fell to the floor as my knees buckled from another contraction. I grabbed the leather handle of the hunting knife that had fallen to the floor. Clutching it in front of me, my hands trembled with pain.
Experiencing pain knowing that I would heal momentarily was very different that how humans felt pain. It was unbearable. Ceaseless. A war against mind and body.
My trousers were soaked and stuck to my legs. I looked down relieved to see that the liquid was clear. Although shocked by the constant gushing. I'd ever pissed myself or my waters had broken.
Meesha's eyes lowered until she took in my pain flushed expression and my trembling hands as I brandished the knife in front of me.
“I wish I could immortalize this moment.” She grinned.
“You’ll have to settle for living it. I doubt that anyone follows you on Snapchat.” I wheezed. I only knew what Snapchat was because of Luiz and a grin spread across my lips when I saw Meesha’s clenched jaw.
I'd hit the mark.
I probably shouldn’t have been taunting her when she was about to kill me, but I had faith that I could weasel my way out of any situation.
I turned to Samuel, the weak link of the two. He wanted no physical part in my demise, otherwise he would have been wielding the knife. The only reason that Meesha hadn’t jumped me, shifting into her hound form and ripped out my throat was because she was weak. She had never had the stomach to go against me.
“I can cure your mate.” I shifted my gaze to Samuel and stared at him. Silence reigned and I refused to back down until he blinked. He squirmed in his seat.
I licked my bottom lip. Weakness. Revenge and anger. Emotional fool.
“I need to be alive to do it.” I continued, another contraction wracked through my body and I felt a burning pressure against my cervix. I felt the need to bear down.
The pain became relentless and I gripped the edge of the table. Distracted by the haze of labour, Meesha darted forward and wrenched the knife from my weak fingers. She pressed it against my throat and I felt my chest become wet as my blood dripped freely from where she pressed the blade against my skin.
“Stop!” Samuel stood up. His hand outstretched and his eyes wild as he looked to the knife at my throat. “If what she says is true, then I need her alive.”
Meesha laughed without humour. “She’s a Treachery Demon. Lies are her currency.”
Samuel’s eyes flared pale ice blue.
I groaned and my eyes rolled back into my head.
Meesha slammed the handle of the knife into the side of my skull. I spat out a glob of blood that had collected in my mouth.
“What is wrong with you?” she hissed.
“I'm in labour, you’re an insolent and useless trollop!” I growled, reaching down without dignity. I pulled at my jeans until they collected at my ankles. I could not move to free them, unable to bend. I grunted like an animal. My two attackers eyed my position in disgust.
“Kill me or leave me. I don’t care.” I howled as my pain threshold was shot to shit.
Samuel did not need telling twice, he ran for the door. Slamming it as he left.
Meesha advanced, all emotion was replaced by cold lust for my demise. “Now I’ll get to kill your little baby too.” She smirked, pride coated her features. “Maybe I’ll even let you hold it before I slit both of your throats.”
My thighs were burning. I couldn’t stop the birth of my child, even if I knew that our deaths were imminent. I cursed and snarled with every breath.
Meesha stepped forward, and bent down low to survey my helpless position on the ground. My legs were spread and my knees bent. Her knife kissed the hard skin of my stomach.
“Maybe I'll slice you now and take the bastard for my own. Tell Luc that intruders came into the castle...? The Leviathan has made too many enemies now in his quest to take more territories. Lucifer will believe me. I know it.”
I whimpered as the hellhound’s taunts became background noise. There could have been a circus performing around me and I wouldn’t have had a clue.
I felt a small reprieve between contractions. I stretched and burned. I was almost there.
One more push.
I reached down to assess what was happening, my fingers brushed against a downy patch of hair.
My baby was almost with me.
I eyed the knife in Meesha’s hands. If no one would come, I could take the knife and gut the bitch whilst she was gloating. One last push.
The hound watched my pain with unbridled glee. Another gush of liquid pushed between my legs. A burning rip and then a pop, and I felt my baby slide down into my hands.
By preventing my child from falling into the stone floor, I had exposed myself.
The knife slammed into my chest, I gritted my teeth against the fresh pain. I forced my hands to cup the tiny squalling body of my infant child, not allowing myself to drop the baby despite the fact my head slammed against the solid floor.
I blinked as I felt my blood wet my legs. My chest.
Meesha ripped away from my touch as if she had been burnt. She looked to the sky in fear before disappearing in a flurry of Hellfire.
Darkness creeped along the edges of my vision.
When I opened my eyes, my Devil stared down at me and his child.
I was so tired...
My baby was a girl...