Lucifer sighed and shifted on the chair. This house was just one of his illusions. I bet that he really didn’t live like this. I wished that I’d had more time with my mother. We were so close.
“She knew that I was a demon, but I never really told her the whole truth,” he admitted.
I thought about my life in a nutshell. Other demons had always treated me like a second-class being, and I encountered prejudice on a daily basis. Lucifer was a hypocrite. He oppressed mongrels, and now he was planning to let the whole world know that I was his daughter. Hell wasn’t my home and I would never agree to stay here.
“So how did you two meet? I don’t believe that one day you just decided to leave hell and have some fun on earth?”
“You may not believe it, but hell can be monotonous and I get bored easily. Humans are such fascinating creatures and I like being around them. Your mother caught my eye straight away. It was love at first sight, Maxine,” he explained, sounding nostalgic again. I wanted to laugh, but instead I rolled my eyes.
He couldn’t have been serious. From what I had seen, hell was twisted and convoluted.
“And now after you put me through this test in hell you want to declare me your real daughter. Tell me, did I understand this correctly?” I asked, thinking that maybe after that I could change something, change the way other full-blooded demons treated mongrels.
“My other daughter is the Princess of Monaco, my son works in the intelligence in Russia, and Marisa is a doctor in the US army. They are mongrels too, and they are doing fine. My children made their choice to stay on the outside. None of them have any idea who they really are. You will be the first, Maxine. Despite your flaws, I’m confident that you’re ready,” he said, and I continued staring at him, trying to understand what he wanted from me. Lucifer was obviously proud of what his other children had achieved and I didn’t give a crap if he thought that I was a loser. It was entirely his fault that my mother was dead and I ended up the way I had.
Fucking Princess of Monaco could go to hell for all I cared. Lucifer was playing with my life like it was a Monopoly game. Throwing dice and wondering how Maxine was going to screw up next.
Suddenly I thought about Summer. Matilda was looking after her, and I knew if I agreed to Lucifer’s terms then I could see her again very soon. Suddenly his offer was making sense.
“So you brought me here because you want me to take care of Alexis for you?” I asked, making sure that we were on the same page.
“That demon is becoming problematic. She’s trying to prove that she was born to defeat me,” he explained.
“Why don’t you kill her yourself? Why do you need me to do all the dirty work for you?”
“We both know that you have violated many of my rules on earth, Maxine. The illegitimate royal baby and the affair with the future king. Many demons would have been sent directly to the pits, but you on the other hand managed to live without caring for the consequences. I’m willing to overlook all that insubordination and leave you be, but you need to eliminate Alexis for me. I believe it’s a fair offer.”
I thought about the past and all the mistakes that I made on the way. I could defeat Alexis. She was healed, but I had my enchanted mongrel abilities. My experience and knowledge gave me some sort of advantage. I felt like I had a right to avenge Arthur, the father of my child. He didn’t have to die.
I knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, but I was done with hell. I needed to get back to London.
“All right, I’ll kill her for you, but I have a few conditions of my own. You might be Lucifer and my father, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat me like a lab rat, but what’s done is done. After all, I’m alive,” I stated firmly, having had enough of this bullshit. I wasn’t scared of him, even if he was the most powerful demon alive. I had lost my mother because of him and I just couldn’t forget about it. I suspected that my new identity would come with many new responsibilities, but I wasn’t going to worry about that now.
Lucifer didn’t look too pleased with what I said or probably thought, but I was done with messing around.
“What do you want?”
“Mongrels have been oppressed for as long as I’ve been living on earth. That has to change,” I stated. There was a possibility that I could die going after Alexis. That bitch was dangerous and I was negotiating with the dark lord conditions that may never be executed. “Also Rodriguez, that bastard tried to kill me. I want him gone from the palace.”
“I have to agree with you on that one point. I made a mistake appointing Rodriguez to the head of the faction. That demon went over my head too many times. I’ll deal with him accordingly.”
“That old demon tried to kill me twice and now he’s planning to go after Summer too. This isn’t even funny anymore,” I said, raging inside when I thought about Rodriguez conspiring with Beelzebub. Politics was never my strong side, but even I realised that all the six sinister demons had been doing what they pleased for a very long time. Lucifer wasn’t keeping any order in hell. He was right—things needed to change.
“Yes, consider it done, Maxine.”
“All right, so what about the first condition? Demons have been treating mongrels worse than animals. A group of them was being sold like slaves in the first circle. That’s not on. We have to be given more rights and we need to be treated equally.”
I remembered the way Bianca had talked about mongrels, and the way I had been treated over the years. It was racism on a huge scale in demonic terms. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, because killing Alexis wasn’t going to be easy. Now that she was healed, I suspected that she didn’t care about me anymore. She had way bigger fish to fry.
Lucifer stared at me intensely, probably trying to read my mind again. His power felt overbearing. I felt it zooming around me. I suspected that he was concealing most of his energy. It was a good tactic, trying to keep me calm.
I didn’t want to be worried about what was just about to happen. He said it himself that I deserved to be here, sitting in front of him. Over the years I never bothered to look for my father and now I knew that there was diabolical blood coursing through my veins. I was more powerful than any other mongrel on earth, excluding his other children of course.
“The population of mongrels is growing and they are becoming a real issue. Nothing is going to change it, Maxine. It’s been the same since demons were first allowed to travel to the human world. ”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. I’m your daughter, for fuck’s sake, and that should give me certain rights. You owe it to me for that cruel test that you put me through and for Arthur’s death.”
He shook his head and I folded my arms over my chest, ready to hold my ground.
“We both know that the new rules won’t be respected. Demonic attitude can’t be changed overnight.”
“I get it that this entire process will be lengthy, but give me your word and I’ll take care of Alexis for you.” I winked at him.
Now I understood that all the rumours about him were made up. Lucifer was a womaniser, and apparently he had real feelings just like any other demon.
“Fine, Maxine,” he agreed, and I was ready to clap my hands. “You have my word, although I believe that you’re slightly delusional. Demons won’t accept mongrels as equals.”
“I’ll figure this out somehow,” I told him. “As long as I have your word I can work out the logistics.”
“You have incredible abilities that are triggered by anger. Most of my mongrel children are powerful, but none of them is able to summon the gates of hell. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; your friends are your assets,” he added, and then we discussed what else could be done to change the situation of mongrels.
Maybe he was right. I had a bunch of good people around me. Ricky, Emma, Zachary, Zara, Paul and even Nameless. They were all ready to help me. I had to appreciate them more.
I kept telling myself that this whole conversation was going to stay between us. T
he fact that Lucifer himself was my father had made me feel kind of special, but I knew that this could complicate my life a bit later.
“So what now? Where do we go from here?” I asked, hoping that I needed to get to the outside as soon as this was physically possible.
“You will go back to London and then you will bring me Alexis’s heart,” he said, and I burst out in laughing.
“You have to be kidding me? It’s too messy to play around with people’s organs. I’ll kill her and that will be the end,” I said, knowing that she deserved being sent down to the pits to suffer forever.
“Just deal with her and our agreement will be settled. She has caused too much havoc on earth and in hell, for that matter,” he added, sounding annoyed. “We both got what we wanted. Let’s put that plan in motion now.”
I nodded and then a moment later, a very tall, white-haired girl, probably around my age, walked in smiling shyly. She wore a long blue dress and she was beautiful, having that innocent pure aura around her. I refused to guess if she was one of his many lovers.
It looked like some of the rumours on earth about him were true. Lucifer must have been moving around hell as Morpheus. I suspected that no one had ever seen him in his true form, even my mother and even his other lovers. Maybe it was just simpler for him to use that name and that body; that way whenever he showed up he didn’t have to cause havoc around his persona.
Lucifer’s face brightened up instantly and she leaned over, completely ignoring me and then whispered something into his ear.
He frowned and exhaled loudly. There were so many other things that I didn’t know about my father, but I told myself that I overstayed my welcome anyway. We agreed on a few things and now I needed to head back to earth.
“I have urgent business that I need to take care of. The uprising is causing me more trouble than I thought,” he muttered, standing up. “Hades will transport you to Limbo where you will make your way back to London.”
“Hades? The god of the underworld? I thought the guy was made up?”
“I’m the only god of the underworld. He’s just someone that works for me,” Lucifer muttered, sounding irritated. I guessed he liked his own position in hell, but it was funny that Hades was working for him. “He’s the God of Limbo if you really want to label him.”
He asked me to follow him through that magnificent mansion. There were other women laughing and relaxing in what looked like a library room, all staring at me with open curiosity. I couldn’t tell if they were demons or humans. My abilities failed to work around Lucifer.
We walked through the back door that took us to a long narrow corridor. Lucifer’s quarters weren’t much different from Bianca’s. It looked like he enjoyed luxury too. The dark lord himself opened the door that took me out to the open space in the desert, where the ground was covered with ash, probably from the pits. This time I finally saw the navy sky filled with stars.
Somewhere ahead I saw radiating light, probably from the volcano filled with lava and blood.
Seconds rolled by and I finally heard the sound of galloping horses. Soon the person who must have been Hades pulled the horses right in front of me, stopping his open carriage with two wheels. I felt the sting of twisted energy deep in the pit of my stomach. He had a black riding crop and had typical Greek features. Dark olive skin, black ears and masses of shiny dark hair. He was dressed all in leather and at the back of his mythological carriage there was a harpoon.
“Master, you summoned me,” he said, bowing in front of my father. His deep brown eyes went over my face briefly and I could have sworn that I saw a flicker of excitement in them.
“Yes, take my daughter down to the gate in Limbo. She needs to go back to the world outside,” Lucifer said and then turned around. “Remember, Maxine, everything we talked about. You have my blood in your veins.”
And that was it. Lucifer disappeared the moment he said those words, leaving me with someone that not meant to exist. He was the Greek God—that now served my father like an obedient dog. I had no idea how this came about, but I needed to remind myself that anything was possible in hell.
Chapter 12
“Already, of the handmaids of the sun four were behind. The fifth was at the pole, stretching its burning point towards the height.” ― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“Step into the carriage, daughter of man,” Hades told me with his deep, harsh voice. He didn’t seem terribly interested in the fact that I was his boss’s daughter. I didn’t care; he was taking me home and I was already imagining myself in a nice hot bath. My father had vanished, leaving me alone with the God of Limbo. He was tall with broad shoulders, looking a lot like an ancient warrior.
I obeyed Hades and stepped inside the carriage and squeezed myself at the back. The air was humid, but Hades was covered in thick layers of leather. He wasn’t a demon, but I sensed his strong, masculine energy. I figured that he was one of many other mysterious creatures that lived in the underworld.
I had made another deal with Lucifer. Alexis was my enemy and she needed to be brought to justice, to die or suffer greatly in one of those volcanic pits. Either option was good enough for me. Lucifer was going to be occupied dealing the uprising in hell and sorting out his sinister demons. I wasn’t surprised that demons were unhappy. Life in the underworld was tough. I was lucky that I was born on earth.
Bianca was dead, which meant that Alexis was the only one left, if I didn’t include Rodriguez. I took a deep breath, trying to enjoy the last view of my father’s homeland. It was a wild ride that was now coming to an end.
“Hold yourself in,” Hades ordered and started whipping his horses with the riding crop. We soon were moving through the empty ash land, into the tar darkness. My body was fully healed, so I leaned over the carriage and tried to enjoy the journey.
Unfortunately the trip quickly became very uncomfortable. The temperature soared, the dusty ash got into my eyes and mouth, and the whole carriage rattled loudly.
The entire time Hades seemed unmoved.
Fresh waves of energy rolled down my spine when I glanced back at his harpoon. I couldn’t wait to see my friends and have a proper drink. All the simple things that I used to take for granted were going to make me very happy when I got back. I wouldn’t have say no to liquid magic either. Maybe I wasn’t an addict anymore, but that craving kept reminding me that I was still a human.
My journey through hell had taught me that I wasn’t indifferent to others’ pain. I wanted to change mongrels’ lives for the better. But I hadn’t been given a chance to grieve for my lost prince. The journey through hell had made me realise that I still had to say goodbye to him. Zachary was waiting for me in London and I wanted to believe that we actually had a future together.
Hades kept whistling and whipping his beautiful animals so they moved quicker through this ashy land. He didn’t even glance back at me once, standing in his carriage looking proud and powerful.
There was something that made me feel slightly uneasy about this whole journey. I was done being paranoid, so I tried to ignore those negative thoughts.
We were riding past a large lake, and the landscape changed slightly. Our road was now filled with rocks. Soon Hades pulled on the horses’ reins and stopped them abruptly in the middle of nowhere.
I had a feeling that we hadn’t reached our destination yet.
“What’s going on? Why are we stopping here?” I asked, and an unexpected wave of fear held me still.
The truth was that I was scared, terrified actually for the first time since I’d gotten to hell. I hadn’t even been this frightened when Morpheus was leading me through Purgatory.
Hades turned around and I didn’t like the expression on his face. It was filled with greed and raging excitement that started my energy boiling.
“You’re a mongrel, and yet you’re his prodigy,” Hades said, and licked his upper lip.
I couldn’t show him that I was scared. This wasn’t a good strategy.
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“Things will change around here soon and demons will treat mongrels as equals,” I snapped, tapping into my source, just in case. My magic was on alert, and my heart started pumping more blood to my veins.
Maybe Lucifer had tricked me and he sent Hades to kill me. After all, he was Satan and he might have staged that entire conversation earlier on.
“Mongrel or not, you’re the first human that I ever transported in my carriage,” he snarled, and then he moved fast, too fast for me to react. He was suddenly in my space, slamming his wide body into me.
My knees gave out under his weight and seconds later I was lying beneath him. Some of my fingertips turned into flames, but my magic failed to rise above me. It was the first time that nothing was blocking my source; however, the shock must have locked my power in place. Terror whipped through me, turning into panic, then shifting into an ugly mass of emotions generated by adrenaline.
I tried to lock my thighs around him and shift away, but he was simply too strong. I couldn’t have forgotten how to fight.
“Get the fuck away from me or Lucifer will tear you apart,” I shouted, hitting him with my fists, and tangling myself underneath him. I most likely sounded stupid, but I had no idea what else to do.
“The master is going to be very busy with his demons and I have been denied earthly pleasure for far too long,” he said, looking at me with a sick heat. Then he ran his hands over my waist, touching my hips and chest. Alarm bells went off in my head. The fucker was planning to rape me. In desperation I started thinking about the moves that saved me countless times before. What the hell was wrong with me? I was a fighter and couldn’t even defend myself. My brain kept telling me that I was too strong for this, to act.