Chapter 26

Lucifer

“And tonight, there’s nothing going on in Hell,” I complained as I took a sip of my drink. Few people knew that the best whisky came from Hell.

I had my guards scouring the detention area to look for those involved with the riots. I’d even gone there to help for a short time before calling it a day. There hadn’t even been a fight among prisoners in the time I’d been there. I was tempted to go back to search, just to give me something to do.

It wasn’t often I felt this edgy. Usually, I enjoyed a relaxing day at home. The Hellhounds were curled up by the fire, snoring softly. They were exhausted after being given free-rein to terrorize the prisoners in the detention area earlier that day. The screams from the demon they’d devoured had been the most activity we’d seen all day. I might have stopped them had the demon not kicked one of the Hellhounds. As far as I was concerned, that demon had been too stupid to live.

“Dad!” Lucy called out just before she raced into the room. The door slammed against the wall, and my Hellhounds jumped to their feet, eyes glowing red as they snarled at Lucy. “Sit!” she ordered them.

They didn’t look happy about it, but they obeyed her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I wanted to let you know that I’m heading out to meet up with some friends,” she announced.

“What friends?” I asked suspiciously.

“Beatrice and Persephone,” she replied. “Actually, Beatrice might be too busy. Persephone invited me for a late dinner, and she’s going to try to convince Beatrice to come.”

I smiled at my daughter’s excitement. She didn’t have many friends, and it was nice to see her going out. It was my fault she was so isolated. People were afraid of me, and by extension, they feared Lucy.

“Did you tell them who you are?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said with an eye roll. “I want people to like me for who I am.”

My daughter made a good point, one that had me frowning. I needed to tell Beatrice the truth soon. First, I had to tell Lucy the truth. The last thing I wanted was for my daughter to figure this out on her own while she was out with Beatrice.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” I began.

“Can it wait?” she asked, looking over her shoulder to the door.

“No,” I replied.

She blew out a frustrated breath and sat in the chair across from me. “Are you going to warn me about the dangers of hanging out with witches?”

“What dangers?” I asked with a shake of my head.

“I figured you’d tell me they were going to introduce me to depraved warlocks,” she explained. “You tend to worry whenever I leave the demon realm.”

I probably should warn her about depraved warlocks, but that could wait. I didn’t expect Beatrice or Persephone would get my daughter into any kind of trouble.

“No, that’s not what I want to talk to you about,” I assured her. “I know Beatrice.”

My Hellhounds jumped up and began chattering all at once.

“You do?”

“We like her.”

“Bring her here.”

“Ours!”

“Calm down,” I told the beasts.

“How do you know Beatrice?” my daughter asked suspiciously. “Did you track her down to interrogate her about our meeting? I will never forgive you if you scare off my friend.”

“I’m dating her,” I explained.

“Does she know?” she asked slowly.

“She knows we’re dating,” I assured her.

“Don’t play games with me, Dad,” she warned, her brown eyes glowing with a yellow flame. “Does she know who you are? It didn’t seem that way when I met her.”

“I’m going to tell her,” I assured Lucy.

“When?” she demanded. “This is the kind of thing you should have told her before you started dating.”

“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “I haven’t been able to find a date because of who I am. Beatrice likes me. She knows I’m a fallen angel.”

“But she doesn’t know your name?” Lucy asked.

“I told her my name is Dev,” I explained.

“How is this even possible?” Lucy asked. “It’s easy to find out what you look like. How can she not know who you really are?”

I shrugged. “I’m still amazed at my luck.”

“Luck? You call it luck that you’re able to lie to her?” Lucy asked.

“It’s the only way,” I insisted. “She stole my SUV.”

“When?” Lucy asked. “I was going to borrow it tonight.”

“Before she met me,” I replied. “If she’d known who I was, she would have shied away. I didn’t know she was the one who’d stolen it until she told me. Only, she thought she was confessing that to Dev.”

“I guess she would have done her best to avoid you if she’d known who you are,” Lucy agreed. “I still don’t like the idea of you lying to my friend.”

“I’m going to tell her,” I insisted. “Don’t let the truth slip before I get a chance to tell her.”

“Well, there go my plans for the night,” she grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“I’m sorry,” I told her. Lucy was a terrible liar. She was surprisingly innocent for a fallen angel.

“You’d better tell her soon,” she warned before getting to her feet and storming out of the room.

She was right. I needed to tell Beatrice the next time I saw her. There were far too many people who could reveal the truth, and things wouldn’t end well if she found out from someone else.