“Wait a minute…if Lucifer created him, couldn’t Lucifer destroy him?”
Julian considers my question. “I suppose.”
“Well, if he would, that would solve a giant problem.” Feeling hopeful, I pick up my spoon and break open the crust of the cottage pie.
“What on earth are you suggesting?” Tabatha asks, looking at me like I just suggested running around naked through the town square.
“On earth,” I echo and lose my appetite. Setting the spoon down, I push the tray back on the desk. “There’s something I have to tell you, and I need you to promise not to get mad.”
“I’ve heard that enough to know whatever you’re about to tell me is bad.” Tabatha crosses her arms and looks at me. “Out with it.”
“Lucifer broke out of Hell. He’s here on earth, and he’s been helping me.”
Tabatha’s eyes drill into mine, and she waits a beat before speaking, probably hoping I’m going to laugh and say I’m joking. “Helping you?”
“Abby almost died,” I start, voice thinning as I remember my sister lying in a pool of her own blood in her foyer. “And he healed her. And then the day before we left for vacation…there was a weird energy spike. That was me, and it was specific to the energy archangels put out. I didn’t mean to do it, and Lucifer came, took us to a strip club in Texas, and then made the angels think it was him. He led them away from me and it worked.”
“It did,” Julian says. “He has shifted the attention away from Callie.”
Tabatha strides to the other side of the office, long dress swishing around her feet. “I just…I…and you trust him?” She’s rarely ever flustered, though who can blame her?
“I think so.” I pick up the spoon again, nervously turning it around in my hands. “He’s the reason I was able to break the curse put on Lucas.”
“What?” Lucas asks, eyes flashing.
“We didn’t know how to transfer the curse from you into another body. I asked Lucifer, and he’s the one who told me I needed something undead.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew you’d have this reaction!” I close my eyes in a long blink and lean back. “I can’t explain it, but there’s something about him that I trust. He was kicked out of his home, had his family turn their back on him, and has been alone in Hell for thousands of years. I’m not defending the things he did, like create a demon who’ll stop at nothing to kill me, but I don’t think he’s as bad as we thought.”
“He’s the devil, Callie.” Tabatha’s eyes drill into mine. “He’s stolen thousands of souls from our ancestors.”
“I, uh, asked him about that,” I say, feeling like I’m digging myself into a hole. “He said he doesn’t make people give up their souls. It’s their choice and all he does is uphold his end of the deal.”
“And you believe him?”
“I want to,” I say quietly. “And I know he takes advantage, preys on people’s weaknesses. You’ll agree to things you wouldn’t normally agree to in a moment of desperation. I trust him. I’m not saying the rest of the world should, but for some reason, I believe him when he says he cares about me.”
“He had the chance to hurt you, twice now.” Lucas rests his hands on the back of my chair. “And he didn’t…unless he wants something else from you.”
“Like having you take his place in Hell?” Tabatha throws out her hand.
“He also told me it’s not that easy. I have to go willingly, but warned the demons will try to blackmail me into it. You know…say yes to being my demon-wife or I’ll kill your friends…that sort of thing.” I swallow hard. “I haven’t heard from Lucifer or my father in a while now, though, and with the most powerful angels in the universe going after him, I don’t think Lucifer is going to come back here.”
He told me himself my father was right to stay away, that it raises suspicions when archangels repeatedly come to earth. It raises so many more questions about my mother. Michael said they loved each other. They spoke about my future and planned for the worst. Their story wasn’t a one-and-done sort of thing.
They both risked everything just to be together.
“We can’t count on divine intervention,” Tabatha says. “If you can count the devil as divine. No, we’ll have to go forward on our own and come up with a plan. And the first part of that plan is you finishing dinner and then going to your room.”
“You’re sending me to my room?”
“You’re under my roof.” Tabatha winks. “I will work with Julian on the spell. I’d feel better if you stayed the night here regardless.”
“I would too,” Lucas agrees.
“We’ll have to leave before dawn.” I look at him. “Or we’ll have to stay the day.”