Lucifer looked around the room, raising his eyebrow at me when he saw the broken window.
My anger seemed to disappear when I met his curious brown eyes. I sighed. “I threw a fish stick at Ella and Diego when they wanted to attack my parents. I kinda missed, though, and it went towards the window.”
“They chased?” he asked.
“Yep.”
I could feel the sweat heavily on my upper lip as I tried to act as normal as possible. However, there was only so much I could do with a man who literally came out of thin air.
“Who are you?” my father asked in a shaken voice.
I kind of felt bad for them— this was a scary situation. And the fact that this strange man had appeared out of nowhere, right in front of their only daughter, was probably extremely terrifying for them.
They weren’t dumb, though. I could see from the way their eyes kept shifting between us that they’d picked up on the familiarity.
Lucifer grinned.
“I’m getting a sense of deja vu here. Must be from the last time we spoke.”
My mother looked at him from head to toe. I flushed at the way her eyes sparkled as she eyed him again. I couldn’t believe her— checking out Lucifer while my dad, her husband, was right next to her.
Oh my lord, we really were a family of sinners.
“We haven’t met,” my father replied. “I’d remember someone stepping into the room out of nowhere.”
“Trust me, we’ve met. You just didn’t get the pleasure of seeing me the first time. Your daughter, on the other hand,” Lucifer smirked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Well, let’s just say my little miracle was always allowed that honor.”
The hairs on my arms raised as the soft material of his long sleeve shirt brushed against my neck. The smell of winter invaded my senses and clouded my mind.
I shook off his arm. My parents watched, horrified. I could see them connecting the dots and I anxiously waited. Would they admit to the deal they made with Lucifer? Would they finally tell me the truth?
My father was the first to react, his mouth dropping open in shock. Mother walked backwards into him. Her stance was closed off, even if she continued to check out Lucifer. Despite knowing who he was, they said nothing.
I glanced beside me at the man who turned my life completely upside down. He was eyeing my mother with a delicate sneer on his face, his nose adorably wrinkling as if he’d smelled something unpleasant.
I closed my eyes. If I wasn’t already going to hell for being touched by the devil, I would for what I was about to do to my parents.
“Mom, Dad,” I began, opening my eyes and taking a small step in their direction. “This is the guy I told you about, from my dreams. But despite everything, I don’t believe him.”
I mentally cringed at my words. I definitely could’ve phrased that in a way that wouldn’t have made me sound like a lunatic.
The look of shock and fury on Lucifer’s face would’ve terrified me any other day, but I was on a mission. I would draw out a confession from my parents if it was the last thing I did.
Which, based on how the room was slowly dropping in temperature, that might very well be the case. If I didn’t get him to understand, he’d end up dragging all of us to hell right that instant.
“You told me you never made a deal with him and I believe you. So tell this man he’s wrong and to leave me alone. Please,” I said, tightening my throat enough to make my voice crack at the end.
My eyes met Lucifer’s glare and I urged him to understand what I was doing. I looked from one eye to the other, hoping he would play along with me.
The corner of his lips twitched and nearly had me sagging in relief.
“Venu—” My father’s voice was cut off by Lucifer’s words.
“You think I lie, human? You would believe the words of these creatures over me?”
I glared. “The only creature here is you.” His eyes widened at my remark and a crooked smile slowly spread across his lips. I tried to ignore the way it made my stomach tighten.
“They are my parents and yes, I would believe them over you any day!”
Lucifer’s deep chuckle had tingles spreading down my spine. I shuddered.
“I was there, sweetheart,” he said in a low, mocking voice. His hand came up to brush against my cheek. “I saw them weep over their dead babe. I heard their prayers sent out through all the dimensions. I was the one they begged to save their baby, to give her a chance at life, no matter the cost. I was the one who reawakened their child with a touch of hellfire.”
I shook my head violently, jerking out of his grasp.
“You saw it, too.”
“No, they were lies you put in my head!” I let my pent up emotions come out and the tears that fell down my face were real. “My parents would never lie to me! I won’t fall for your words.”
The lights in the room flickered and my skin burned with the ice in his laughter.
“Do you really trust them?”
“Venus.” It was my mother this time.
“With my life,” I swore.
“Then prepare to die,” he said.
His arm wrapped around my throat and I automatically reached up to wrap my hands around it. Despite the loose hold he had on me, I could feel his arm flex beneath my fingers, tense and strong.
I gasped.
“No, stop! Please, stop, you’re hurting her!” my mother cried. Behind her, my father was breathing hard and his eyes shifted wildly around the room, most likely looking for a weapon.
“Am I?” Lucifer rasped out, pulling me further into his body. His chest was hard and cool against my back. When he spoke I felt the vibrations through my clothing, making me realize exactly how close we were.
This felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Getting distracted was not going to help me sell this act.
More tears fell down my face as I choked out, “Mom.”
“Baby, oh, baby. My sweet girl,” my mother cried. She slumped forward and my father caught her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, I lied. He was telling the truth, I was the one who lied.”
Lucifer’s hold on me tightened as I stumbled back into him, his other arm wrapping around my midsection.
“Why?” I gasped.
“To protect you. I couldn’t let you know, I didn’t want you to be ashamed of us for what we did,” my mother answered.
“Please, whatever you do, don’t kill her. Take us instead,” my father finally said.
“Why ever would I kill her?” Lucifer asked in a light tone. “I’m beginning to grow quite fond of this one,” he said, leaning down to run his nose against the side of my face.
I flushed and quickly stepped out of his arms.
“What…?” my mother whispered, looking up at me with a tearstained face. I wiped my own dried tears away with my fingertips.
“I can’t believe it took a life or death scenario for you to tell me the truth,” I muttered. “The devil himself was more truthful with me than my own parents.”
A bitter laugh escaped my lips as I shook my head.
“The devil? I don’t understand…” my father breathed.
“Oh, do stop pretending not to know who I am,” Lucifer answered. “I’m sure you knew who you were making a deal with that day. You did name your lovely daughter Venus, after all.”
I sighed. Now that my goal was complete, I was left feeling like my body was submerged twenty feet underwater.
“I just want to know why you haven’t paid him back. You’ll die if you don’t,” I said.
They both sighed. If I wasn’t so mentally exhausted I would be going gaga over how adorably in sync they were.
“We don’t want to damn our souls by killing someone, not even if it meant we got to live,” my mother answered.
Lucifer chuckled. I glanced up at him and he shook his head in amusement.
“Your souls are already damned simply for making a deal with me,” he said.
“No,” my mother breathed. “We— We didn’t know we were making a deal with the devil, so it doesn’t count. Our intentions were pure! You have no reason to drag us to Hell!”
I closed my eyes and sat on my bed, facing Lucifer. When I opened my eyes he was looking down at me, his lips tightening into a straight line.
“I don’t decide who goes where, I’ve just been around long enough to know how it works. With this, not even praying will save you— not that it worked much the first time around.”
With that, he whistled and a swirl of smoke came in through the window, surrounding him.
“Lucifer,” I called out— he turned to face me.
“Thank you,” I said. He gave a slight nod.
The smoke— Diego and Ella— spun faster around him until there was nothing left of either of them.
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