Of Light And Shadows

Chapter Forty Four...

"It's nice to see you too, darling," Jezebeth simpered. Lucifer took hold of her wrist and removed her hand from his chest, taking a step back from her.

"Why are you here?"

"Well fine," Jezebeth huffed. Her voice was sickly sweet and it set Jia on edge. "If you don't want to small talk I'll just get right down to it. Your father is here for our wedding tomorrow."

"Hold up, what?" Mammon asked.

"I'm sure if it were tomorrow our father would have told me," Lucifer replied, arching an eyebrow. "Where is he?"

"Oh he's downstairs in the drawing room tormenting Michael's children," Jezebeth giggled. In an instant Lucifer was gone, swallowed by a cloud of black shadows.

"Crap," Mammon muttered before disappearing as well. Belphegor pressed a hand to his face and sighed.

"Nothing is ever simple in this place. Come on Jia." He held out his arm and she took it, looking back at Jezebeth. As the darkness rose up to transport her, the red haired woman winked and blew her a smug kiss.

"Ignore her," Bell muttered as they were deposited outside the Drawing Room. Jia shuddered; the last time she entered that room Lucifer was murdered in cold blood and she was kissed by the Devil.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside to find Beelzebub, Asmodeus and Leviathan kneeling in front of Satan with pained looks on their faces. He was staring at them intently, his red eyes glowing as he did something to them Jia couldn't see, but it obviously hurt. She could sense pulses of energy emanating from him sharply and reached out to try and interpret them, careful to make sure he didn't notice.

What she found was him forcefully searching their memories for any involvement in disrupting his plans. He crashed through their minds like a raging bull, sending pain ricocheting through them with every lumbering step.

"Father," Lucifer said softly. "You're hurting them. They've done nothing wrong." He moved to stand in front of him and flinched almost imperceptibly when the full force of Satan's power hit him like a freight train. The three brothers sagged forwards on their hands and knees the second they were released, panting heavily.

Lucifer stood in the onslaught like a mountain in a storm, immovable and unwavering. He kept his chin up, his shoulders square and his eyes firmly fixed on his father. Jia marvelled at the sheer strength of his mental defences, cultivated over thousands of years to be impassable to anyone he didn't want in his thoughts. While Satan's jabs and strikes of power were painful, they were useless. He would learn nothing from the mighty first born.

"Stop," Lucifer said just as softly, no anger or hostility in his tone. "You didn't come here to battle with them or with me. Tell me why you're really here, sir."

Satan stared at Lucifer for so long Jia thought he was going to strike his son again, but eventually he folded his arms across his chest and nodded.

"You're to marry Jezebeth. Tomorrow. Everything is arranged already. I've waited too long for you to choose a partner and I'm tired of it."

"I'm not marrying her. If it were essential to maintain a steady rule then you'd be married as well." Lucifer's reply was clear and brooked no argument, which made Satan bristle.

"You'll marry Jezebeth, or you'll witness others suffer because of it." Satan's eyes slid to where Jia stood and her stomach flipped.

"I won't." Lucifer folded his arms across his chest and stared his father down.

"You," Satan hissed, pointing at Jia and speaking with such forceful venom that she flinched. "Come here." The weight of his command slapped down on her like an anvil, then wrapped around her and moved her body like a puppet. She let out a startled yelp as her legs carried her forwards towards him.