“You’re sure Lucifer isn’t in Hell?” she asks. “How…how does that even work? I thought he was cast down there with chains. How did he break free?”
“He was, and I’m not exactly sure how he got out, but I do know he’s done it before. The last time was about twenty-five years ago, and Julian told me he went back willingly.”
“What are the chances he’ll do that again, like tomorrow?”
“Right?” I turn the heat up, knowing the chill I’m feeling isn’t entirely from the cold. “That would solve the biggest issue we have at hand right now.”
“The whole concept is hard to fathom.” She pulls the hair tie from her ponytail and lets her light brown hair fall around her face. “Like…how does Hell work? I mean, I know Lucifer is in charge of the demons, so without him there, they’re just…just free to do whatever they want?”
“I think so.” I recall Julian’s words about the demons older than Lucifer, the ones he locked up so he wouldn’t have to deal with them. What if they’re let out? How the hell do you fight a demon the devil himself is afraid of? “It’s not easy for lower-level demons to come and go unless a Gate has been opened. Obviously, they can come here from Hell, as the one possessing poor Kenny Gray showed us.” I rest my hands on my stomach, waiting to feel that little fluttering again. “A lot of those demons have been on earth for centuries already, tucked away in a demonic realm or on a spirit plane, waiting for some unsuspecting human to have a seance and help them cross over. But the really bad guys, they should stay in Hell where they belong.”
“Yeah, I’d definitely prefer it that way. If you need angel blood to sit on the throne, why are the other demons trying to take over?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re going to reassign the hierarchies of Hell. I need to brush up on my demonology, but Hell has a court full of demons handpicked by Lucifer. He named them back when he was newly cast down there and pissed the fuck off, so you can be sure those demons are the baddest of the bad, and Julian told me demons were created from darkness and only know darkness.”
“Well…fuck.”
“Right?” I subconsciously rub my stomach.
“Now what should we do?”
“It’s simple. I’m going to find that new boss and kill him.”I lean back in the kitchen chair, comforted by the familiar surroundings of Lucas’s Lincoln Park house. Ordering a pizza and coming here seemed like the best plan, where we could talk freely without anyone hearing us. And there are strong wardings placed on this house, which is a plus.
I just filled Easton in on what Melinda and I had talked about in the car but kept the part where I crowned myself Queen of Hell to myself. Everything is so complicated now, and I don’t know what’s considered a lie and what should be withheld for their benefit. The more you know can be dangerous when it comes to magic and demons, and now that word is spreading through the underworld, more and more demons will come looking for me.
With roughly four months left until I give birth, I’m sure I’m going to be calling on Melinda and Easton for help again. I’ll have to tell them everything, though if Lucifer would just get his ass back down to Hell, it would put an end to this all.
Though I know it’s not that easy.
He can’t go back to Hell—where demons have organized a revolt—snap his fingers, and have things go back to the way they used to be. Or can he? It would be really nice, Dad, if you could pop on over and stay long enough to actually answer some of my questions, dammit.
“And you haven’t heard from…from…him in a while?” Easton asks, meaning Lucifer. He’s had the same piece of pizza on his plate since we sat down, evidence to how shocked he is. I’m right about there as well, though I did eat a full-course meal at a fancy restaurant only a few hours ago.
“Right,” I tell him. “I haven’t heard from him or my father since the day after Thanksgiving. And I have a feeling we won’t hear from them anytime soon. Every time Michael comes to earth, it puts us both at risk of being discovered.”
Again.
“Even Julian just flies in and out now. Today was the first time I’ve seen him in a while, and he just came to dump some information and fly off again before anyone noticed he was hanging out with me.”
“How did Bael figure out who you were?” Easton asks. He knows Bael is dead because I let him know, but he doesn’t know the details of it.