Page 111 of Live Like Legends

“The whole story is quite long and obnoxiously boring, but the short version is Lilith had no idea how to get what she wanted. The angels were able to entice her to do both, she expresses both of her own volition.”

“And you tell me thisnow?”

“I hate disappointment just as much as you do, father. I wanted to make sure she was good enough before a riot started. I am smarter than you may think. I know Lucifer doesn’t like things rattling Hell unless he deems it worthy, so before acommotion was started, I wanted to make sure I had everything in place before bringing her to everyone.” I practically bit my own tongue thinking about that fucking angel and his heroics. He had cost me so much and he would fucking pay for it, as would everyone else she deemed to care about. “She carestoomuch. She can be the final weapon we need to take Heaven’s Gate by storm. She could either be a part of the masterful chaos or she could be yet another reason it manifests anyway. It was a perfect fucking plan.”

“Until it wasn’t,” my father added, scoffing. “You let them take her back and now they are just waiting. You’ve made deeper enemies of the angels. Brilliant son.”

I pointed my finger at him. “Ah, but they think I’m dead. They might be waiting, but the thought of my death will ease them into a settling kind of contentment. I was completely ready to throw my energy into Leviathan until Dani displayed her power and it was a thrilling surprise.”

My father looked me up and down, eventually turning his back to me. “What are you even considering, Dimitri?”

“No more games, no more big plans. We come to them, death at the ready.”

“She was brought up by Lilith, you really think that girl will come so easily.” It was a rhetorical question meant to undermine me.

“Surrender will be her only option. If everyone is dead, she will have no one to save now will she?”

My father looked over his shoulder at me, a small smile full of mischief on his lips. “A hybrid, you say?”

I let out a sigh. “I could watch her burn the world, father. It would be mesmerizing.”

He nodded, running his index finger over his eyebrow. “Angel blood is my favorite kind as you know and as much as I would love to approve of this endeavor…”

The air in the room became stale and changed from humid to ice cold in a matter of minutes. The temperature rapidly changed back and forth while the doorknob turned, swinging open. Lilith stepped inside, an impartial expression on her face.

A tall figure loomed behind her, moving around her thin frame to place himself at the center of the room.

My father cleared his throat, bowing his head. “Lucifer.”

The King of Hell inclined his head towards my father. His hair was black, cut short on the sides with more on top that occasionally fell into his face. He had a trimmed beard that sat neatly around his cut jawline. His eyes were the color of charcoal and could burn into your soul whenever he pleased.

He smiled, but that smile could be so deceiving. That was the same smile he wore when he was sentencing deaths. Lucifer nodded towards me. “I do hope you are alright, Dimitri.”

“I’m well, thank you.”

“I heard there was quite a commotion in the prison. Was that of your doing?” He asked this casually, but I knew my answer mattered if I was getting out of his unscathed.

“I brought something into the prison, yes. The commotion was not of my doing.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “And whose was it, hmm?”

I looked over to Lilith, but I heard Lucifer chuckle. His laugh was dark and almost brooding. “Don’t look to her, my boy. She works for me, not you. She would not have her station if not for me and your father would not be where he is if I hadn’t wanted it that way, so please let us not pretend like I don’t know the entire story.” He glanced at Lilith before giving me his attention again. “I am asking you what happened. Be careful about your answer, I assure you.”

I liked to test my father on any occasion I got, but Lucifer was a different story. I told him what happened, every detail I could conjure up. He stood there and listened as if he wouldn’twant to be anywhere else. He took in my words, almost as if he was committing them to memory and sizing them up next to whatever Lilith told him.

When I was done, he placed his hands in his pants pockets and closed his eyes. He tsked. “I thought you told me that girl wouldn’t be a problem.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement. He looked down at Lilith, tilting his head to the side.

“She wasn’t. I thought she was dead, I was planning on leaving it be.”

“Yet, here we stand. A hurt Son of Hell and a hybrid nowhere to be found.”

Lilith pointed a finger at herself. “That isnotmy fault!” Her voice grew louder.

My father nearly snickered when Lucifer got closer to her face, his eyes flashing a reddish color. “Youhadto go to the human realm and pluck her right from her death. Youhadto train her and give her that dagger. Youhadto recruit that idiotic angel and that Enchanter. Youhadme convinced that you could tear her soul out and keep her in line, but of course you could not. I gave you a second chance after you caused that mind numbing catastrophe in Oculus all those years ago andthis…thisis how you repay me!”

“Lucifer, I…” Lilith started, but he put a hand up, stopping her.

“You were something great once, but you let this idea of yours, this Soul Seether run amuck.” He placed a hand on her neck, circling behind her. “I kept you around for so many reasons. Some of those reasons will forever remain between you and me, but it doesn’t seem like Dimitri’s plan has room for you.”

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