Lucifer's Bride [Complete]

85

    A few demons look up and notice us, snapping to attention and nudging their friends to do the same. The hall, once filled with the sounds of gossip and laughter, is now deathly quiet as each demon bows to us. The silence is eerie, and I shiver slightly from being watched by so many eyes.

"Do they have to be silent?" I ask quietly.

"No. they simply do it out of respect and fear." Lucifer looks over his shoulder at me. "Why?"

I meet his gaze. "It's unnerving."

He never stops walking, but his mind seems to pause for a moment. His eyes slide back and forth between the rows of demons surrounding us. He lifts his head, eyes facing forward, and straightens his wings.

"As you were," he announces to the crowd.

There's a deafening silence in the hallway, followed by a burst of noise. The demons resume their chatter once we've passed by them. They're all clearly relieved that they can talk freely again, as am I. The noise stops that horrifying silence from taking over.

We make our way down the hall, moving faster than usual. I manage to peek up at my husband and see a slight sly grin on his face. He's excited about something, though I can't imagine what. I run through the rolodex of demons in my head and can't come up with any powerful enough that he'd want me to meet. Mentally, I shrug and follow him closely, anxious to meet this mystery person he's so eager to drag me to.

Near the end of the hallway, Lucifer takes a sharp left and pulls me down a pitch-black corridor. There's no candles, no sconces – nothing to light our way. But Lucifer seems to know exactly where he's going. He darts left and right, leading me through a black maze that I could never escape by myself. I grip his hand tighter, terrified of losing my grip and getting separated in this dark labyrinth.

"Lucifer," I gasp, frightened by the lack of light and sound.

"We're almost there," he whispers. I can hear the smile in his voice.

We make a final turn and pass through an enormous archway, spilling into the deepest, darkest part of Hell. We stand on a giant rock outcropping jutting out into the middle of the Fire Pits. The souls of countless sinners swirling around us at the flow along the flaming river Styx, screaming for a salvation that will never come. I stare down at them, pitying their fate but reminding myself that being here is their fault. There's nothing I can do to help them.

At the very edge of the ledge is a throne, made of twisted metal much like my own but far more sinister. The spikes are longer and sharper, the jewels encrusting the surface only black and red, the metal rusted and jagged-looking. Resting on one gilded armrest of the chair is a heavily muscled arm. The skin is the color of a starless sky and covered with thick veins that bulge and pulse. Long, talon-like claws stretch out from long fingers. They tap rhythmically on the metal chair, waiting for something.

Holy shit! Who the hell is this?

"My brother," Lucifer calls out as he takes a step forward.

Brother?

The talons freeze, the muscles in the arms tensing in anticipation.

"There is someone I want you to meet." Lucifer's smile has erupted into a wide, enthusiastic grin.

"Is that so?" A deep, booming voice rumbles toward us, full of malice and intrigue. "Who is it?"

"Our queen, brother." Lucifer responds happily.

The voice lets out a deep, excited sigh. The arm shifts as the body attached to it rises from the chair. The chair itself is too tall for us to see the owner of the voice, so I wait anxiously for our guest to show his face.

Truthfully, I'm not sure I want to meet this 'brother' of my husband. The voice alone has me scared to death, so I can only imagine what his actual form looks like. I take a tentative step behind my husband, using his immortal angelic body as a shield for my fragile human one. Quick, sharp steps echo across the rock, alerting us of our guest's appearance. He steps around the chair and turns to face us, a wicked smile crossing his lips.

I nearly faint. This 'brother' of my husband is the actual physical embodiment of evil himself. Black-skinned, flame-eyed and all-around vicious-looking. His teeth are filed to razor points, making his smile a shark's grin. I'll admit he has a darkly handsome face, but it's much more sinister and malicious than my husband's. The flesh of his well-muscled body is covered in thick scars and striking designs of glowing gold. He wears a pair of plain black jeans and nothing else. His feet are covered in a sticky black substance that sizzles on the rock. The bright crimson of his eyes are offset by the darkness of his pupils, elongated and turned sideways like a goat's

Well, I'm dead.

Our dark guest strides toward us, the smile on his face widening. "Ah, so this is our Amelia," his voice, deep and resonating, shakes me to the core. "Prettier than I thought she'd be."

"You knew how she looked!" Lucifer snaps playfully.

"Have a little patience with me. I'd forgotten how blessed she was," he snarls, his eyes sliding down to my very exposed chest.

I take another step back, horrified that this is who Lucifer was so excited for me to meet. I don't like him staring at me. He's horrifying, certainly not the beautiful husband I'd come to love and cherish.

"Amelia." Lucifer notices my apprehension and reaches behind his back to grab my wrist. He pulls me around to stand in front of him, spinning me so that I'm facing his darker friend. His hands grip my shoulders and his lips brush against my ear. "Meet my other half."

I pause, becoming painfully confused. "Other...half?"

He nods. "I'm a man created of many ideas. My father made me an almost identical copy of himself, but with free will and a mind of my own. I possess the qualities of both a kind, intelligent angel - "

" - And a sadistic, playful demon," the other half finishes for him, giving me a wicked grin.

"A few centuries after dad kicked me out, the opposing sides of my personality split into two separate beings that shared one mind. The two of us-" he motions to himself and his darker half, "-are the physical incarnations of those sides. I'm the lighter angelic side; he's my darker, more malicious side."

The other half smiles proudly. "Think of me as all your husband's evil thoughts and pent-up rage given form."

I stare blankly at the darker half, still confused. So, technically I have one husband, but with two bodies? My mind stops turning for a moment, overheated from the amount of information passing through. Slowly, I manage to piece the puzzle together and my brain resumes its original movements.

"Amelia?" Lucifer croons in my ear.