Page 144 of Lucifer's Redemption

“Youlookbeautiful,Uriel.”My mom pulled a curl away from one of the whisps who was curling my hair. My hair was a fluttery mess as at least fifty of the little blue balls of light continued to pull and braid. They were common in the world of Bergarian; they fluttered around the mates mostly and liked to cause trouble for the men, frequently teasing them.

I giggled as my mother tried to swat one away until they released the entirety of my hair and began working on my mom’s. Sitting down on the bench beside me, she sighed dejectedly.

“I guess there is no use in pushing them away is there?"

I hummed a quick ‘no’ and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was perfectly curled, styled down as Luci preferred. A small crown of white and gold roses adorned my head while my dress was filled with fluffy tulle and sparkling diamonds around the bodice that glowed through the skylight of the magnificent tent. My white toes continued to peak through the oatmeal-like sand particles where they were buried into the sand.

Mom’s hand brushed my hair to the side, looking down at the upper part of my chest. “I still can’t believe, in that short amount of time, he marked you.” Mom’s eyes closed, letting out a slow breath. “If I had known he was your mate when I left you—”

I grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. “You never would have left me there,” I whispered.

It had been well over a week since Kronos had been officially destroyed, by my new friend, Poseidon. He walked out of Tartarus a new god, and his eyes actually sparked while Zeus hugged him around his shoulders. Hades even had a newfound lightness to his steps when they entered the palace.

A celebration took over that night, Luci and I heard the yells and roars of praise as the twelve gods and their mates danced into the night. I wanted to go out to see the commotion when we entered our bedroom bidding them goodnight, but Luci kept me huddled in bed and gave us our own party, even having the servants bring in the finest desserts.

Luci’s hand never left my body. He even dared to pull me to the bathroom with him when he needed to wash. I giggled with him all night as our bodies intertwined with each other. We didn’t leave the room for a full three days when we finally heard banging on the other side of the door. Mom stood there with her hands on her hips while Dad looked on in horror behind her.

Mom said it had been enough time and we needed to grace the rest of the gods with our appearance. Luci didn’t like that and growled at her as he pulled me back around his body. I giggled and Mom’s eyes only softened before shrugging her shoulders.

“I didn’t think it would happen so soon,” Mom uttered again as the whisps finished with her hair. Her beautiful updo had tendrils of beautiful curls framing her face, making her look much younger, dare I even say look the same age as me?

“My little girl grew up overnight and got a mate, all without me. I didn’t even get to give you dating advice,” she whined.

I laid my head on her shoulder, smiling into the mirror. “Would you havereallygiven me dating advice? Or would you have just told me to stay away from him?”

Mom’s mouth pursed together, humming in thought. “You’re right; I would have told you to stay away.” Her finger traced my jaw until my father walked into the gorgeous tent.

The enormous glass chandelier swayed as the flap of the tent opened, showing Dad in his beautiful angel ceremonial garb which was slung over his chest. His wings dusted the sandy floor as he approached. As I stood up, my dress came to just tea-length on my legs and swayed as I gave him an enormous hug.

“Hi Dad,” I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“There’s my sugar!” He kissed my shoulder letting me go. “I’m surprised your mate isn’t standing outside the tent. He hasn’t let you out of his sight since last week.”

Dad rolled his eyes as he let go of me to kiss Mom on the cheek. “How are you, my goddess?” Mom only pulled him down for another kiss, tugging on his robes.

“Yuck,” I muttered.

I still couldn’t get used to Mom and Dad being all smoochy in front of me.

“Loki is keeping him busy,” I added to break the awkward passion developing between my parents. “Loki has some new power he discovered which permits him to talk to other birds.”

“Oh?” Dad looked up in surprise. “And why does that interest Lucifer?”

I shrugged my shoulders, not really knowing.Maybe he just wanted to get closer to his brother now that he had his anger under control.

“Knock, knock?” Luci’s mother walked in, she was wearing a light blue dress that cut off at her ankles, and her feet were bare like everyone else. Sweet harp music began playing in the background.

I smiled, running to the opening of the tent only to have Ember stop me. “Not so fast!” she sang, pulling me away. “There’s someone who wants to see you first.”

My head tilted in question until a big god with a slight twitch in his eye and a long, groomed beard entered. “Vulcan!” I squealed running to him, putting my arms around him.

“I’m surprised you remembered me.” His voice cracked. His hand came up to my head, petting it gently. My head barely reached his mid-chest, and his beard tickled my chin as I gazed up at him.

I hadn’t seen Vulcan since my near-death; he had taken it upon himself to help find all the missing monsters that had fallen into the ‘in-between’ world. It was dark and cold, and the wind had settled there. Poseidon spent most of the week with Vulcan as they extracted every single one and brought them back to the Underwater Palace to heal.

“Of course, I remember!” I squinted at him playfully. “How could I forget my favorite big brother?”

Vulcan smiled his pearly white teeth which were a sharp contrast to his unruly black beard. The sentiment made his eyes glassy when Mom and Dad walked up around us. The large group hug felt warm and familiar like it should have always been this way.

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