Page 96 of Premonition of Peace

“Much as it pains me to admit this, August and I agree on this. You get to get on board, Marcel.” Lucifer sighed. “Which brings me to the next point of order. We need to nip this jealousy in the bud. The last thing she needs from us is fighting. If we make our issues her problem to sort out, I fear my little witch may, in time, come to regret binding herself to you both.”

“Says the asshole who?—”

“Ah-ah,” Lucifer wagged his finger. “See? This is why we’re out here and not in there.”

Marcel got to his feet and started to walk by me but paused when I grabbed his upper arm. Firm, but not tight. Not threatening. “He’s got a point,” I said quietly. “Out of all of us, you’re struggling the most because you had her first.”

“I’m not?—”

“Denying it won’t help us,” I said flatly, changing tactics. “Like it or not, we’re in a relationship in some capacity. It’s not just with her, but in a sense, with each other. If this is going to work we need to be transparent about our shortcomings and work through that shit. See a therapist if you need to, but don’t let it sit and fester. She doesn’t deserve that.”

A slow clap came from the couch where Lucifer was bringing his hands together. “Well said.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes. Marcel was her first love. I understood the original connection, even if it didn’t make sense to me why he still mattered to her so much. But Lucifer? I had no idea what she saw in that hedonistic man child. Maybe one day I would. He had eternity to prove himself.

“Fine.” Marcel’s shoulders deflated as the tension eased out. “I have some issues I need to work through. I will. But none of us are thrilled about sharing in any capacity. I’m not alone in that.” He backed up a few steps and collapsed in the chair he was sitting in only moments ago.

“You’re not,” I agreed. “But it’s different for us. I knew the score from the beginning. Lucifer existed as a ghost for most of the last year. He watched her start to move on with me. We both knew that we wouldn’t get her to ourselves and accepted it anyways. You weren’t like that. Youhadher, until you lost her. This is a second chance for you.”

“Do you have a point to make or . . .”

“See? This is why no one likes you,” Lucifer said, gesturing to Marcel.

“Stop baiting him,” I grumbled, then continued on. “You said you’re up for this, that you’re all in for her—but are you really? Can you stomach that she’s not only yours butoursas well? Because if not—” Any lingering civility dropped from Marcel’s gaze. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees with his fingers steepled. The scent of ink and parchment along with something else distinctlyotherpermeated the air. His magic.

“Let me make myself clear,” Marcel said, voice dropping to a lower tone. “I love her more than anything in this world, or the next. I’m willing to die for her. Putting aside my jealousy is the least of what I will do to make my sunbeam happy. So if you two neanderthals are part of the deal, so be it.”

“Fair enough.”

“Now that that’s sorted,” Lucifer started, then hummed. “The last thing I want to address is time.”

“Nathalie said she’ll choose how to spend her time,” Marcel said, eyes narrowing. “Dictating what she does is only going to land us in the doghouse. By all means you’re welcome to, but I won’t be following.”

“Right,” Lucifer responded acidly. “But we have to agree there will be no monopolizing of her time. If she’s ours then—well. I don’t know where I was going with that, but there’s no ‘i’ in team.”

“There is a ‘me’,” I muttered to myself. Marcel cracked a smirk and Lucifer ignored it.

“Thought we were on the same side, incubus.”

I sighed. “I think it’s good to not knowingly monopolize her time, but something you both need to remember in all this is that she’s a person. People can’t equally split things all the time. She gets to choose. Sometimes she might need one of us more than the other, and we have to be okay with that.”

“It’s one thing if she wants it,” Lucifer said, eyes narrowing on me. “It’s another to knowingly sabotage another mate so you can have her all to yourself.”

“No offense, but—” Marcel started.

“Offense taken.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“Literally everything that comes after ‘no offense’ is offensive,” Lucifer shot back dismissively. “Again, this is why no one likes you.”

“Enough,” I said to them both. Lucifer, it seems, had a decent point in calling this meeting if how they were acting was anything to go by. “I agree to not manipulate or monopolize our mate. Marcel?”

“I can do that; the real question iscan he?” He thrust his chin in Lucifer’s direction.

Irritation made Lucifer tighten his jaw. “Obviously. I’m the one that wanted the meeting. It’s calledcommunication. That’s how relationships work. Look it up sometime.”

I damn near choked. That fucker took my words and used them as his own.

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