Page 22

22

BASH

“ G od of War and Personification of Chaos,” Ares corrected Lucifer. “As in I will make your life chaos if you harm my woman in any way, shape or form,” Ares growled.

Vaulo’s face paled, but before he could respond, I asked, “I’m assuming you’re not one of the Council members who charged us?” I wasn’t going to stand by and let a traitor into the fold, even if he had repented.

“No. As soon as Tabatha brought charges against you all, I went into hiding. No one in their right mind would go against you. When Desmond reached out to me, I came right away.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Vaulo. What kind of paranormal being are you?”

“I’m a serpent shifter,” he stated. “Each culture has their own term for us.”

Diana sat in the chair next to her father, giving the serpent shifter a neutral expression. I tried to mindlink her, but her mental wards were up, which was smart when meeting a new person. Especially one with his powers.

“Vaulo has connections to the American media and military, and we’re hoping he can use them to reverse some of the damage Red has done,” Lucifer explained.

“How do you plan to leverage them?” she asked.

“One of my powers is mind control. I’ll convince the media outlets to report the footage was fake, and retract the stories.”

“This solution could cause more issues than it solves,” Ares commented. “We have survivors in secure recovery locations, and you’ll need to alter their memories as well.”

“I can do that. But I rather humans argue and point the blame at the media, who they already distrust, than at you all,” he explained.

I agreed. The media was already shyte. Most humans took the news with a grain of salt anyway. The small amount of humans who would be impacted by us spinning the story was worth it to keep the entire world safe.

“Many humans already believed in the paranormal before Red’s breach. We need to get through this war without revealing my existence and that Hell is a real place. I’d rather stay in folklore, if possible,” Lucifer said with a laugh.

“I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with you being here,” Diana said calmly. “Your powers seem like the perfect solution, but they’re also a security risk.”

“Good point, LG. He can very easily warp our minds to gather intel and take that information back to Red. Or use his powers to take advantage of someone,” Ares added.

“Desmond promised me safe haven here from the Council and Red,” Vaulo said, sweat gathering on his forehead. “If you don’t take me in, they’ll find me and kill me. He turned to Lucifer and said, “You told me I could stay here.”

Lucifer sat back in his chair. His mischievous smile spread across his face, and I had been in enough meetings with him to know this was where he’d rake Vaulo over the coals. The man was called the Prince of Darkness for a reason. He could manipulate anyone, and he was either using his daughter as a pawn to do so or she was in on it.

“No, I said I would be willing to let you stay here, but you’d have to run your plan by my daughter first. As my heir apparent, her opinion matters to me.”

I caught the faintest glimpse of surprise on Diana’s face before she schooled it back to cold indifference. She had to know she was second in line for the throne, right? It may not have been explicitly stated, but Oisín had made it clear he didn’t want it. Michael couldn’t take it unless he fell from grace. Maybe one of the guys would want it, but I highly doubted any of us would be accepted into the position.

Poor Vaulo was shaking in his boots. “What can I do to convince you?”

“I want you to make a deal with me and Lucifer, promising us you will only use your powers on our enemy and pre-approved targets. Myself, our leadership, our military, and anyone we consider under our protection who resides in Pit 13 is off limits. If you break it, you lose your power and we end your life.” She stated her terms calmly, like she had already thought of them ahead of time.

Can Lucifer strip someone of their powers? Ares asked me.

I have no clue, but he can break a soulbond and has threatened my claimbond on Diana, so I bet he can.

If anyone can do it, it’s Lucifer Fucking Morningstar, my nightmare of a father in law.

Vaulo shakily exhaled, as if it pained him to even think of being stripped of his power. “Alright.”

He extended both of his hands. Diana took one, her father the other. Then he took her free hand, so everyone was joined.

“You agree to only use your powers on our enemy and pre-approved targets. Myself, our leadership, our military, and anyone we consider under our protection who resides in Pit 13 is off limits. In exchange for your obedience, you’ll receive a position in the Morningstar army on the special teams unit, and we will protect you from the Princeps Council and Red. If you break this deal, you lose your power and we end your life,” Diana clearly stated.

“I agree to your terms.” Sparks erupted from their hands, and the deal was sealed.

There was another knock at the door. Lucifer waved the door open, allowing Judas in. His leather pants and half buttoned white shirt were lackluster compared to his usual rockstar chic style. Dark circles under his eyes and a strained face didn’t bode well for his emotional state. Usually he was the life of the party, but his expression was blank.

Is he okay? Diana asked me.

I’m not sure. I can do some recon and find out, I promised her. He had been a good friend of mine for centuries. I had my suspicions as to why he wasn’t himself, but I’d confront him about it later.

“This is Judas Costa, the leader of the Costa Vampire Coven. He’s one of the people you just agreed not to harm. He’ll show you to your apartment and update you on how things work around here,” Lucifer offered.

Vaulo’s jaw dropped and his eyebrow hid in his hairline when Judas smiled, revealing his gleaming white fangs. Vampires were known to hunt and drain serpent shifters for their blood because of its unique and rich taste, almost driving the already rare shifters to extinction. The practice, although frowned upon in modern times, wasn’t illegal. And as the old saying went, anything goes in Hell .

“Don’t worry, I won’t bite…unless you sign a consent form,” Judas said, winking at him. “Come on, I’ll show you to your apartment. We gave you one on the ground floor in case you want to slither outside.” Vaulo cautiously followed him out of the room, keeping several feet of distance between them.

When they were gone, I felt Lucifer touch up his wards, ensuring a contained room.

“You’re devious,” he told his daughter, giving her a prideful smile. “Good instinct, serpent shifters are known to have questionable ethics regarding their power.”

“I was serious when I linked you. I would have killed him myself if he didn’t agree to the deal. Our leadership team is exceptionally powerful, but our soldiers may not be. I’m not letting him take advantage of anyone. And if he does—” Diana slashed her finger like a knife across her neck.

“Atta girl,” I said.

“How is Angela?” Lucifer asked Diana.

“She’s good. Quelier has kept her company. He visits her every day,” Diana said in a scandalous voice.

Lucifer rolled his eyes, huffing in frustration.

“So I’ve heard. It’s not bad enough you brought him on board and made a Fae Deal with him, but now he’s trying to join the family,” he groused.

“Whatever history you have with him is your fault. Don’t blame him,” Diana said. “She seems really taken with him, so I don’t think you can do much about it.”

“Neither can Judas, apparently,” I added in, crossing one leg over the other. “She refuses to see him, and she blocked his mindlink…”

“We gotta fix that before it backfires on her,” Lucifer said.

“Um, no we don’t. Ang has a lot of complicated feelings, and Judas has to give her time. He was an asshole to her before he created her, Dad,” Diana defended her aunt.

You missed all the gossip because you were being a punk ass bitch, but he played the hot and cold game too much. Was sorta a jerk about it. Angela shut that shit down, Ares filled me in.

“Yes, we do. Judas is her fated mate and her sire. The longer they’re apart, the longer they suffer. If Judas suffers, his fighting suffers. He leads a major section of our army, and he needs to be on his A-game,” Lucifer explained.

“And Angie’s transition will suffer. She needs guidance,” I explained again, but gentler this time.

“She seems fine. Quelier keeps her fed and happy. Judas just needs to stop being a cry baby and up his game,” Ares said, like it was so simple. Simple is as simple does.

“Her lack of suffering is probably because she’s drinking Fae blood daily. That shit is rocket fuel for vampires. Technically Judas doesn’t need to do anything—he just needs proximity. If she can stomach him being in her general presence, it’ll keep him from going off the deep end,” I suggested.

“I’ll have a talk with her,” Lucifer said, rising from his seat. “I can’t afford to have any part of this army suffer right now. We may have won the last battle, but all it takes is one fuck up to turn the tide.” He faded out, leaving the rest of us behind.

I felt unease slithering down the claimbond I shared with Diana. My first instinct was to fix her feelings—make her feel happy, or fuck her to exhaustion as a distraction. A toxic part of me, the one I pushed deep down, wanted to pick a fight with her so she’d have something else to focus her nervous energy on but none of that would help her. She needed somewhere to just exist in her feelings. And even though I sucked at feelings and sappy shit, I could try to be her safe space.

Sorry A-Bomb, I linked before taking her hand and fading away.

The sky was the limit when we renovated Pit 13. We could create anything we wanted, and I made sure to make a special place for Diana. It took time to customize and decorate, but it was finished enough for her to see it. Maybe even use it.

I landed us right at the outskirts of our part of Pit 13. I had asked Lucifer to create a dense forest to separate our part from where the punished rotted for eternity. At the edge of the treeline, I built her a tiny, unassuming cabin.

She peered around with a confused look. “What are we doing?”

“This is the forest separating the punished from our military base. The cabin is my gift to you.”

Taking her hand, I walked her the short distance to the cabin. She gasped as I opened the door, revealing walls lined with book laden shelves. In the center of the tiny cabin was a comfortable king-size daybed, perfect for curling up with a good book. I even included a little mini fridge and snack pantry.

“Bash, thank you. It’s amazing…” she trailed off as she flitted through the titles.

“You never take time to yourself, and even if you did, there’s nowhere private for you to rest. You share your apartment with us. The library is a public place. This space is just for you. I’m the only other one who knows about it.” Not even Lucifer, in his all-knowing glory, knew I built this for her. “It’s warded to keep everyone but you and me out.”

“You and me?” she teased me, running her hand down my chest. “Are you going to corner me in here while I try to read?”

“No, but I may bring you here when I want alone time with you,” I admitted, pulling her into me. I weaved my fingers into her hair and kissed her neck. “I’m an incubus, it’s only natural for me to want to hoard you all to myself.”

She kissed me, slow and deep. “I’m sure it’s absolutely bollocks to share me.” She giggled, falling back onto the bed.

She snapped her fingers, and two copies of a paperback book with a shirtless man on the cover appeared in her hand. “I’m setting a two hour timer. You want to read this dark romance with me?”

Honestly, not really. Reading was more Mal’s hobby than mine. But if reading with her meant being able to hold her in my arms and having her to myself…I was game.

I got into bed, scooping her in my arms so the book laid between us. “Let me guess…he’s a hot, stoic guy with a deep, dark secret that will break the lady’s heart?”

She cackled, the sound of her laughter vibrating through me. “Of course he does!”

As she flipped through the pages and sank into me, I reminded myself it was all worth it.