Chapter 6

Lucifer

After spending time with Beatrice, the last thing I wanted to do was question the prisoners involved in the most recent riot.

“This shit is getting old,” I muttered as I made my way to the interrogation room with Rainer by my side. We’d both stripped out of our shirts upon returning to Hell, and our black wings rested against our backs. With our wings out, we could tap into more of our fallen angel power, not that we were likely to need it when questioning these demons. They weren’t going to be in much of a mood to fight.

Xavier and Hades had three demons locked in a room I liked to call the nightmare room. It took whatever you feared most and made it a reality. It was often messy but effective. There was always at least one demon or fallen angel who lost control of their bowels in the room. The screams from the room’s inhabitants echoed down the hall.

Xavier and Hades were leaning against the wall, watching my approach. Both were still shirtless, but neither had their wings out, likely at Xavier’s urging. While he was willing to draw on his fallen angel powers when he had to, he preferred to rely on his witch magic. Xavier was Rainer’s younger brother by just over a year, but they looked nothing alike. Rainer had dark brown hair and harsh features. His brown eyes glowed silver in his fallen angel form. Xavier had pale blond hair that rested at his shoulders. His blue eyes became almost purple in his fallen angel form.

“Did you get anything out of them before you put them in there?” I asked.

“Not a peep,” Hades replied with a cruel twist of his lips. His black hair was a tangled mess, and his golden eyes held more than a hint of madness. My cousin was losing what little empathy he’d once possessed. I’d begun to wonder if I’d need to end his existence at some point in the very near future. He didn’t need to be here. Hades voluntarily worked in the detention areas for his own twisted reasons.

“We checked twice to see if their pleas for mercy meant they were ready to talk, but they all refused to give us any information,” Xavier added. “I’d say we have two possibilities.”

I raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

It was Hades who spoke next. “Either these dumb fucks came up with this idea on their own, or they’re too afraid to turn on the real leader.”

“Some of our most vicious demons are housed in this prison,” I mused. “This particular riot wouldn’t surprise me were it not for the other uprisings we’ve had in recent months. They’ve all been in the same area, yet involved different demons each time. Someone else is pulling the strings.”

“That is the most likely scenario,” Xavier agreed.

“I need to see a list of prisoners,” I told Rainer.

Rainer pulled up the information on his phone and then mouthed the words to a spell to make it display on the wall across from him.

As I scanned the list of prisoners, highlighting the ones I felt were smart enough to pull something like this off, I paused when I came to one name in particular. “Desmond LaCroix. That’s not a demon name.”

“He’s the warlock who stole your SUV,” Xavier explained.

“You put the warlock who stole my SUV in this prison?” I asked Rainer incredulously. I held an ugly grudge, but I’d never consider putting a warlock in one of the toughest prisons in Hell simply because he’d stolen from me.

“He’s also Beatrice’s brother,” Rainer added. “The little bastard tried to kill her, and that’s far from the worst thing he’s done.”

My eyes narrowed. “The Council of Witches won’t like this.”

“I don’t plan to tell them,” Rainer said with a shrug.

“You know his sister?” Hades asked.

I nodded. “Yes, I met her tonight. I’m seeing her again tomorrow.”

“Dev is seeing her tomorrow,” Rainer corrected me, laughing at my glare. “I need to update them on this. You wouldn’t want one of them blowing your cover, would you?”

“She doesn’t know who you are?” Hades asked with wide eyes. “Where has she been living? In a cave in the middle of nowhere?”

“Beatrice is a loner,” Rainer explained. “At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

“And you didn’t tell her who you are?” Xavier asked.

“It’s better this way,” I replied.

“I guess it could work if you’re only looking to have a little fun with her,” Hades remarked.

“She may be the one,” I confessed. “I don’t want her to base her opinion solely on me being Lucifer. If she gets to know me before discovering who I am, her feelings will be more genuine. I like her.”

“She’ll be pissed when she realizes you lied,” Xavier pointed out.

Rainer said nothing. We’d already talked about this, and he agreed with me. This was the only way.

“I like that idea,” Hades said thoughtfully. “Maybe I should try that when I meet Persephone.”

“You’d be better off if you stopped meeting Persephone,” I muttered.

My cousin frowned. His curse had ruled him for thousands of years. It was long ago foretold that Hades could only love Persephone. He’d laughed at the seer and mocked her prediction. As it turned out, the seer was a favorite of Aphrodite, and that bitch can be more than a little nasty when she’s angered. Not only can Hades only love the Persephone who he’s destined to end up with, he also can’t come with any other woman. The man’s had blue balls for about three thousand years. It has definitely affected his mood. It’s also made him more than a little crazy. He’s kidnapped more than one Persephone, hoping each would be the woman for him. He had yet to find the Persephone he was fated to love.

I was determined to make sure he never met Beatrice’s friend. Aside from not wanting my cousin’s insane desire to kidnap every woman named Persephone to ruin my chances with Beatrice, this Persephone couldn’t be the one. She was far too sweet and innocent. Fate would never put her with someone like Hades, who often made me seem good-natured.

“Let’s see if we can get any information from our guests,” I told the others.

As soon as we entered the room, the screaming stopped, and the demons collapsed to the floor. They were all the same variety of demon. Vicious by nature, we had many of them imprisoned because they often went around slaughtering others in the demon realm just to drink their blood. They were never allowed in the human realm, and I’d often considered doing away with the species. They were all short and wide, with skin so translucent you could see the blood flowing through their veins. Each had a large horn on their hairless head and razor-sharp teeth that hung over their lower lip.

“Are you enjoying your stay here?” I asked with a pleasant smile as I strolled around the room.

“Please,” one whimpered. He was shaking. The others were curled in on themselves. “We’re sorry. We won’t do it again.”

“Who put you up to this?” I asked.

“No one,” wept one of the demons.

“It was our idea,” another insisted.

“I don’t believe you,” I told them, grabbing one by the horn and tossing him against the wall at the far end of the room. He whimpered as he collapsed to the ground. “Now, you can either answer me honestly, or you can spend some more time enjoying this room. All I need is a name, and I’ll send you back.”

“Can’t we play with them a little first?” Hades asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“I don’t see why not,” I replied casually.

“Should we cut their horns off?” I asked.

“And shove them down their lying throats,” Rainer added in a bored tone.

I shrugged. “Why not? It will give them an excuse for not talking.”

“Lashton!” one shouted. “Lashton is behind the riots.”

“Go check it out,” I told Xavier and Rainer before smiling at the demons. “I think you’re lying.”

None of the demons said a word. All looked terrified of what was to come. “We’ll be back for you in the morning,” I began as I headed to the door. “If there’s time,” I added.

Hades chuckled as they screamed. “Now, that was fun.”

“It was,” I admitted with a grin before a frown marred my face. I wondered how Beatrice would feel about what I’d done. With a shake of my head, I reminded myself, I wasn’t torturing the innocent. My job wasn’t always easy, and she didn’t seem terribly timid. At least, I hoped she wasn’t timid.