Chapter 41

Lucifer

We needed to leave, but we still hadn’t discussed where we were going. I could tell the werewolf was about to lose his patience with us. He’d been an enforcer for his pack before losing his arm. Enforcers weren’t the friendliest creatures.

Persephone was still questioning the vampires. By now, they likely regretted offering to answer her questions.

“We need to talk,” I told Beatrice, catching her hand to guide her from the room.

She nodded. “I suppose we do,” she agreed, allowing me to lead her into another room.

“Are you trying to avoid talking about your brother?” I asked.

“Not so much my brother as what I’m going to do now that he’s escaped,” she admitted.

“I can’t keep you safe in a human building,” I stated. “Your apartment is too dangerous.”

“It annoys me that you think I need someone to keep me safe,” she grumbled. “I’m a much more powerful witch than my brother.”

“Do you know many defensive spells?” I asked.

“A few,” she replied. “I’ve never been much of a fighter.”

“From what I’ve heard, your brother has no compassion,” I pointed out. “He’s also desperate. Both of those things make him more dangerous. You’re safest with me.”

“Can you see how being dragged off to Hell sounds bad?” she asked.

I chuckled at the way she phrased her question. “It may sound bad, but it’s for your own protection. My home is very nice. You’ll have everything you need.”

“Except good ice cream,” she argued.

“We can have ice cream brought in,” I assured her.

“The phones don’t work there half the time,” she added.

“They usually work in my home,” was my response. “It’s rare for me to have an outage of any kind. I’d say you’re just as likely to have an outage here as you are in my home.”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “What about Persephone? I wasn’t friends with her the last time I saw Desmond, but what if he finds out we’re living together? Where is she supposed to go? If he finds out where I live, he’ll go there. Desmond would have no problem hurting Persephone to get to me or to punish me.”

I hesitated. “I can keep her safe in the demon realm.”

Beatrice eyed me suspiciously. “You don’t sound convinced.”

“Things are more complicated where Persephone’s concerned,” I explained. “I can keep her safe from your brother, but there are other things to worry about in the demon realm.”

“Like what?” she asked. “I figured her mom was just being paranoid about fallen angels and demons, but you make it sound like there’s a real danger to Persephone in the demon realm.”

I didn’t want to tell her about Hades, but I’d lose her if I lied to her again. She’d meet him at some point, and I was certain she’d eventually put two and two together.

“My cousin, Hades, will be a problem once he learns Persephone’s name,” I admitted.

“Are you fucking with me?” she asked.

“Not at the moment,” I replied.

“Your cousin is Hades?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “My cousin is Hades. He was once worshiped as the god of the underworld.”

“And he’s married to a woman named Persephone?” she asked.

“No,” I replied.

“I suppose I should have said he’s in a relationship with a woman named Persephone,” she began. “Fallen angels don’t get married, right?”

“Not often,” I replied. “Hades isn’t currently seeing anyone.”

“So, the stories of him dragging Persephone off to the underworld aren’t true,” she deduced.

“They’re true,” I admitted. “It’s happened more times than I care to remember.”

“I see,” she said as she considered my words. “Your cousin has an unhealthy obsession with women named Persephone.”

“My cousin has a curse that can only be broken by finding the right woman named Persephone,” I explained. “I can’t go into details, but it’s enough to make him act crazy when he meets a woman with that name.”

“And you don’t want him to kidnap my friend,” she concluded.

“I’m hoping to avoid that,” I replied. “That is the sort of thing that will make you look down on a future with me.”

“I try to not judge others by their crazy relatives,” she told me. “As you may recall, my brother is a sociopathic killer.”

My response was a solemn nod.

“Hey,” she began as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t start acting all brooding about this. I just want to remind you that I’m the least likely person to judge you for having crazy relatives. I still expect you to protect my friend if we agree to stay with you.”

“I will protect both of you,” I assured Beatrice.

“Then, I’ll go,” she agreed before adding, “If it’s okay with Persephone. I can’t leave her here if she might get hurt.”

“Understood,” I told her. I still wasn’t sure how I’d handle things if she and Persephone refused to go with me, but I suspected whatever I decided wouldn’t win me any points with Beatrice.

There was no time to ponder the matter. Beatrice placed her hands on my chest, and I sucked in a sharp breath as all the blood rushed from my brain to my dick. I should wait until we got back to my place. I shouldn’t touch her now, but I’d already waited long enough, and her hands on my bare skin felt too good.

My knuckles brushed against her cheek as my eyes locked with hers. The green in her eyes glowed brighter, and her lips parted.

Not asking for permission, I claimed her lips. This time, there was no holding back. Beatrice submitted completely to my kiss, moaning as I explored her mouth. With a hand on her lower back, I pulled her close to my body. When one of her hands reached back to stroke the feathers on my wings, I groaned into her mouth, struggling to remember where we were. Her magic flared, wrapping around our bodies, and mine immediately responded. All my suspicions regarding her origins were confirmed. I felt her witch magic, but there was also an angelic power flowing from her body.

I had to break the kiss before I ended up fucking her against a wall. My self-control had been hanging by a thread before she’d touched my wings. Now, I was having trouble remembering that we were in someone else’s home. Beatrice wouldn’t be happy if an angry werewolf interrupted our first time together. With great effort, I released her sweet mouth. I should take a step back, but I wasn’t ready to release her just yet. Instead, I stroked her cheek with one hand while the other remained on her lower back. Her eyes swirled with desire as her magic continued to move along my body.

“You’re going to tell me we have to stop again,” she grumbled.

I chuckled at her irritation. “Only until we get back to my place.”

“Are you trying to use sex to get me to agree to stay with you?” she asked.

“To be honest, I’m not sure I’m capable of bargaining after having you touch my wings,” I confessed.

“It turns you on?” she asked, cocking her head to the side slightly.

“Only when you do it,” I assured her. “I may need to keep them in more often when you’re around.”

“I like touching your wings,” she confessed. “When Persephone touched them, I was jealous.”

“I know,” I replied. “As soon as I saw your expression, I regretted letting her touch my wings.”

“You don’t like making me jealous?” she asked.

“No,” I replied. “I want you to know that you are the only woman I want.”

“It makes me nervous when you say things like that,” she whispered, looking down.

I placed a finger under her chin, pressing up lightly until her gaze met mine again. “Why does it make you nervous?”

She shrugged. “I’m not quite ready to forgive you. This is also new, and you are a little intimidating.”

“Only a little?” I asked. “Most consider me terrifying.”

She shook her head. “You’re not that scary.”

“And that’s part of the reason I know you’re perfect for me,” I told her. “You see me as more than just Lucifer.”

“You are Lucifer,” she argued. “The real problem is that most people don’t see that you have a good side.”

“A good side?” I asked with a bark of laughter.

“Don’t even think about playing this game,” she warned.

“Which game?” I asked.

“The one where you pretend to believe you’re the embodiment of all evil so I’ll tell you all the good things about you,” she replied. “Humble, you are not.”

I laughed at her response before stepping back and lacing my fingers through hers. “You make me feel young, Beatrice. We should talk to Persephone about visiting the demon realm. How do you think she’ll react?”

“Like she does to everything else,” Beatrice replied. “She’ll be excited and have a million questions.”

“I’ll have Xavier accompany us back to answer all her questions,” I said with a grin.

“I hope he’s patient,” she replied with a laugh.