Page 9 of Undesirable (Devilish #3)

Lucifer’s temper spiked. He couldn’t strike out the way he wanted. Not only was Lire a traitor to Hell, but he tried scaring away Lucifer’s mate with his lies.

“No one cares about your theories, traitor. Jormungandr can’t see us here. He’s powerless in my plane.”

Lire’s ever-changing eyes focused on Lucifer and turned amber. He was a lust demon. Only his mate would see his true face. Everyone else saw their deepest fantasy. His greatest desire was Riku, so he had Riku’s eyes.

“Riku was created for you. He is more than just a godling. He’s the perfect silent weapon.

Jormungandr knew you couldn’t resist his beauty and wouldn’t fear his venom.

It seems you should have. It’s the poison that kills you now.

Once you’re dead, your demons will overrun the world and destroy all that Celeste has created.

His revenge complete without ever lifting a finger. ”

Riku covered his mouth, looking horrified. “I did this.” The words were whispered and muffled, but Lucifer didn’t miss them.

No one gave him time to think.

Frost jumped in. “Celeste sent Lire with a medical kit, but I’m not sure how to fix this. All I can think of is blood. You need powerful blood, but I don’t know from who or how much.”

Riku immediately switched gears, going from terrified to a soldier in an instant.

He had fought in many wars and understood triage on the battlefield.

“Why blood? How will that help? Just tell me what to do.” He made Lucifer proud.

Lucifer just wished this entire thing wouldn’t destroy them the way he knew it would.

If he lived, Riku would hate him, because now there was no avoiding the truth.

Frost blinked at him, and Lucifer knew—there was no going back. He was about to drop Lucifer’s biggest secret. “As the original vampire, blood and magic are the only cures for Lucifer. So, magical blood.”

“Druid blood,” Lire said. “Your blood, Frost.”

Frost made a helpless gesture. “I don’t think mine will be strong enough.”

“No one is biting my mate.” The roared words were every bit as furious as they should be. Gemini was Frost’s other half. Biting was his right. No one else’s.

Riku stared at him. There was nothing. No emotions. No thoughts. It was as if Frost had emptied him with the truth.

“There are other ways to get blood. We could do something like a transfusion. Like I said, I don’t think I’m strong enough. But there’s no reason we can’t start with me, though. Just until we come up with a better choice.” Frost opened his bag and pulled out an IV line and needle.

Lire shifted from foot to foot. “I maybe know of someone who could help, but I’ll have to leave here, and there’s no guarantee they’ll agree. No one can hear my call from here. I’ll have to go in person.”

Frost didn’t look his way. “Go. I’ll be fine.”

“Baby—”

“If he goes into a frenzy, no one here could protect you?” Lire said, cutting off Gemini.

“You couldn’t either,” Lucifer added, even though it was to his detriment.

Frost didn’t stop working. “Lucifer won’t hurt me.”

“You’re still the biggest idiot I know.”

Frost met his stare. “You won’t hurt me.”

It hit Lucifer. Frost saw things no one else did. His calm wasn’t a facade. He knew everything would be okay because he knew.

“Okay.”

Gemini released a long tirade of cursing.

Lire leapt, vanishing through the mirror.

In no time, blood flowed from Frost to Lucifer.

Gemini paced the floor. His hate-filled gaze never wavered from Lucifer.

Riku walked away, disappearing into the next room.

He still felt him. Riku sat on the couch, but his mind was still a black void.

Lucifer had to focus on something else. He chose Frost. Frost was the one who hurt the least.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

Frost chuckled. “Is it even helping?”

Lucifer turned inward. He could talk without feeling like there were razor blades in his throat, so there was that. “Yes, but you should stop.”

“I will when Lire gets back.”

Gemini released a low, deadly-sounding growl.

Lucifer ignored him, but they were on the same side. “It might be a long time before he returns. He might not come back. Lire is a traitor to his kind. He shouldn’t be here.”

“I’ll remember that the next time your ass needs saving.” Lire pounced from the mirror onto the bed beside him. He held up two bags of blood. “One wants me to tell you this isn’t for you. It’s to save the world.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. He hadn’t asked anyone for help other than Frost. This place would freeze over before he did so again. Next time, he would let the world burn, especially since he had obviously lost his mate.

Frost grabbed both bags and hooked a line to each arm. “Normally, I would never do things this way, but it’s you, so… ”

Despite his situation, Lucifer laughed. The moment the first drop of fresh blood hit his veins, he recognized the connection. His nephew had helped. The other came from someone old and powerful, but he didn’t know them. Druids didn’t pass into Hell. They were reborn. They were all strangers to him.

Lire worked at Frost’s side, helping him set up makeshift IV poles.

Lucifer studied him. He was one of Lucifer’s favorite creations. His ability to destroy minds was… chef’s kiss. Lucifer hated that Lire had turned on him.

“Why did you betray me?”

Lire didn’t look his way, but a small smile touched his lips. “Only you would think of my going to protect your sister and her grandson as a betrayal.”

“She turned on me first, so you speak on things you know nothing about.”

Lire shook his head. He finally met Lucifer’s stare. “Ultimately, it wasn’t about her. I was given two mates.”

Bitterness welled in Lucifer’s throat. He couldn’t offer that.

That wasn’t his place in the circle of life.

The best he could give was a concubine of deviant demons.

He couldn’t compete with the power of soulmates.

Lucifer had always been the disappointing twin.

Of course, Celeste would use her powers to turn one of his favorites away from him.

“That’ll do it.” He swallowed. “You all should go. I’ll either live or I won’t.

You’ve done all you can.” They had done more than they should or could by revealing his secrets and destroying his mating.

He wasn’t angry with them. Lucifer felt nothing.

It was him. He had always been the abomination.

Lire and Frost exchanged glances and then both found chairs to pull close to the bed.

Gemini draped himself across Frost’s feet with his gaze locked on the door.

It was obvious he still expected an attack.

Lucifer was too tired to roll his eyes anymore today.

“How did Celeste betray you?”

Lire surprised Lucifer with the earnestness of his question. It genuinely sounded like he cared. That was… odd.

He supposed they had time to kill. Lucifer cleared his throat.

“Despite us being identical, it was always obvious I was different. It was like I existed to be the dark to Celeste’s light, but she was still the only person I loved.

Obviously, we were close, so she knew from the very beginning about my curse.

She kept it hidden. Protected me. Then I caught Jormungandr’s eye.

I’ve always done as I pleased, and it pleased me to do him.

” An evil and dead-sounding chuckle escaped Lucifer.

“I didn’t take it seriously. We weren’t mates.

More than that, we were gods who could have and do whatever we wanted.

It seemed so ridiculous to take our tryst to heart.

” Lucifer shifted uncomfortably. He couldn’t sound weak, but the story was what it was.

“In fact, there was a human with druid blood, who I enjoyed more than most. He fed me and kept my secret. There was no one else like me. Drinking blood to survive was unnatural in every way. As a druid, he saw the world differently. Blood is magic, and it made perfect sense to him that it would sustain me. After all, I was a god. He thought that’s what we all do.

Admittedly, I allowed him to hang on to that belief, but it didn’t matter.

There were no other gods that visited the plane Celeste had created.

At least, that’s what I thought.” The rage still lived inside him and bubbled hot.

Today, Lucifer didn’t know if it was Riku’s venom or the past that ate at his guts like acid.

“It seemed Jormungandr thought we were more than I did. At some point, he followed me and learned everything. He struck up an affair with the druid to get even with me. That wasn’t enough, though.

He began to let it slip to others about my affliction.

When I found out—” Lucifer swallowed. It had been the first time he had blacked out and leveled a town.

He had torn them apart piece by piece, including his favorite lover.

Lucifer didn’t even recall doing it. He never did when the episodes hit.

“Let’s just say I didn’t handle it well.

Celeste was furious and scared, but mostly just pissed.

She banished me to this place and barred me from the heavens.

Jormungandr swore he would destroy me and level everything Celeste ever created for touching anyone else.

Celeste is my sister. She should’ve had my back.

I would’ve had hers. No matter what she did, I would’ve stood by her.

” He shrugged. Lucifer refused to show his pain over the loss of his only family so she could keep her toys.

“So, I made this place my own. She isn’t the only one who can create life.

But I’m the dark one. Everything I make…

” He motioned around him, knowing his creation would speak for itself.

Maybe some of his demons had good hearts, but they were still poison.

Speaking of which. “Your mates. Are they human?”

Lire shook his head. “Vampire.”

Still, Lire’s touch would drive them insane.

Celeste had created a race mirrored after him to protect her fragile beings from his creations.

There was no way they had a good life together.

Demons poisoned everything they touched.

The venom literally secreted from their skin.

The only way to stop it was at Lucifer’s will.

“Come here.”

To his credit, Lire didn’t hesitate or question him. It was obvious he was a warrior. Lucifer understood why Celeste had chosen him.

When Lire was close enough to touch, Lucifer set his hand on his arm. “There. For your service today.”

Lire blinked. “What did you do?”

“You’re no longer a nope rope.”

A laugh burst from Frost at the human joke about venomous snakes.

Lucifer realized he felt worlds better.

Lire still looked confused.

Lucifer sighed. “You can now touch people without infecting them.”

He licked his lips, looking nervous. “Are you serious? I mean, I’ve been able to touch my mates for a while now, but no one else. Are you serious?”

Lucifer’s attention was fully invested. The attack on his blood was all but forgotten. “How? How are you able to touch anyone?” If there was a loophole, Lucifer needed to know it.

Lire’s expression snapped closed. “At great sacrifice to someone who didn’t deserve it after years of torment at the hands of one of yours.”

Tamil. That explained the lingering poison Lucifer had destroyed in his blood.

It seemed he should make an effort to get to know this nephew.

He had missed some things while dealing with his own drama.

Lucifer felt better by the second now. He could take on anything.

But bonding with a new to him family member had to wait.

First, he had to save his relationship with Riku.

That was one battle he already felt doomed to lose.