Page 13 of Lucifer's Redemption

Her head tilted to the side, waiting for me to answer.

"Fuck, son, give her your name,"Father spoke to me.

I cleared my throat. "I'm Lucifer." Uriel sat the plate full of honey on the table and rubbed her bare arms together as if she was cold.

My body reacted in an instant, emitting my heat to warm the surrounding air. I wanted to warm her body; she looked so cold.

Fuck.

"I'm the Goddess of Innocence. Everyone has been asking me my title today, so I guess that I should ask you. What are you the god of?"

I was cursed with destruction, the drive to destroy everything in my path. Part of me liked it, but I did not like the lack of control that filled me in its wake.

My body stiffened, but the fire did not fill my fingers. I was embarrassed—for the first time in my life.

I didn't want to tell her.

"That's okay! You don't have to tell me!" she quickly spoke. "I'm going to go outside in the garden to see the puppies." Uriel's hand went to mine and shook it frantically.

"Whoa! You tickle!" She lightly snorted.

After she dropped my hand, I looked at it in shock. The warmth and the fire instantly left my hand at our broken contact. I already missed it.

Fuck. She was my damn mate.

Uriel waved to my parents and me, sashaying her hips through the crowd and out the door.

"That went well," Father grumbled, now burping Lilith on his shoulder. Mother was grinning and bouncing foot to foot. I didn't want to break my stare on the door where Uriel had just left.

My body was pulling me towards her, the strange girl that piqued my interest. I wanted to know more about her. Despite my decision to lock myself in Tartarus tomorrow, I wanted to know what she was like, and what I would miss.

Putting one foot in front of the other, I charged across the room as the crowd parted before me, not daring to touch the God of Destruction. Athena caught my eye. The pensive look on her face exposed her amusement while she rubbed her chin. Her body turned abruptly, and she walked straight to my parents.

The clicks of my shoes echoed through the room. The she-wolves from my mother's pack watched me with steady eyes as I left through the garden door, following the white-dressed angel—that was supposed to be mine.

Chapter 6

Lucifer

Steppingoutofthefront palace doors, many of the guests continued to glare holes into my back. The heat of their stares only magnified my mission to find this girl and figure her out.

Surely, there was a spell cast on her; a spell that would use my emotions to cloud my judgment while they sought some sort of revenge against my family and me.

It was no secret that my father was, in fact, the God of Hell, but he wasn’t evil like the souls he punished. After my mother was saved from a sex trafficking ring, Father sent his demonic soldiers to pose as humans to uncover several entire rings of darkened souls which they were allowed to feed upon. The soul eaters became Father’s new favorite creation. They sucked the lives of corrupt humans and supernaturals, sending them straight to the doors of Hell for never-ending torture, bypassing the judgment table. Once in Hell, they received their very own private session with me.

Their lifeless bodies dropped to the floor with no detectable reason to explain their death to the humans. The demons then released the women and children held captive by these monsters and returned them to their homes. Mother helped with the entire operation when it first started. She and Father saved countless innocent lives.

Humans and supernaturals had become dauntless, no longer hiding in the dark, but operating in the open using simple code words and phrases. They believed that no one could uncover their heinous acts. It was a daily battle. The supernaturals knew my father was hunting them, but they did everything possible to continue their operations, selling and distributing sex slaves to buyers.

Could this Uriel be using her Innocence to make me believe she was my mate? It took my father years, thousands of years, to find my mother. Why would I find mine so quickly? Could I not see through her deception? Surely, my mother could discern the use of any sort of soul magic.

Uriel pranced down the cobblestone path, dancing with one foot on each rock. From afar, the hellhounds watched her skip down the trail, closer and closer to the sod. The thick grass was Mother’s joy. She loved to walk through it barefoot in the morning, letting her wolf roam free and dancing in the garden.

Father had forbidden any demon, god, or goddess to walk on the grass. He only permitted his precious mate and her beloved hellhounds to feel the special grass under their paws.

The hellhounds encroached slowly. Being the silent predators they were, they pawed through the grass stealthily. Their mouths salivated, the drool visibly dripping from their teeth while I stood against the palace walls watching her. My soul called for me to grab her arm and rescue her from the impending danger, but that could be her plan. The clicking sounds of my thick rings knocking against each other sounded as my fingers tightened into a fist. I continued to fight my urge to protect her as three hellhounds approached the sidewalk where Uriel stood.

As the ferocious beasts neared her location, Uriel took notice of them and smiled before waving right in front of their deadly maws.

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