Shoot Your Shot

Chapter 19

The moment his eyes landed on the other snake he was crossing his arms. "No." Lucifer rolled his eyes and stepped closer. He didn't want to hear what the man had to say. He didn't care in the slightest what the man wanted, or needed, or even any orders he might dole out as the King, he wouldn't do them.

"Is that how we're going to be? What if it's a great and wonderful opportunity for you? What if it gives you everything you could ever want and more? Money, power, status-"

"The answer is no. And very firm and unshakable no." Turning back to the engine, he continued what he had been working on before the interruption.

"Thomas-"

"Sir Pentious. If you don't mind, I'd rather not be so informal with you." From what he saw as he glanced back at the man, he was not incredibly thrilled to hear that. Not that Pentious gave a damn what the man thought anymore.

"Sir Pentious, I can give you anything you want, just name it and it's yours." Sitting up, he looked at the man with fire and hatred.

"I want my love back! But you've already destroyed that, now haven't you!" Setting the wrench down on the cart beside him, he crossed his arms again. "I only want one thing, and you can't give that to me. Beyond that, the only thing I would love to see is your precious, perfect city burnt to the ground by your own people." He watched the King as his smile strained.

"Maybe I was wrong about your secondary sin being lust. Maybe it truly was just wrath."

"I am not so hateful. I agree with your original deduction; it is lust. A lust for him and him alone, and for you specifically it is a blood lust."

"You lied to me, Thomas!"

"To protect him!" Straightening his back, he stood his ground against the King, his hood flaring in his rage. "You lied to me first by saying that you didn't know who the real Overlord was. You not only knew, you didn't need me for anything, so the entire situation was just a game for you." He hissed the words at the other man and saw the anger flash through those yellow eyes. He was ready for whatever the man wanted to do to him, because anything was better than living day to day knowing his love was a lost cause. "You let me fall in love with him, and then when I did what I had to, to keep him safe, you ripped it away from me. For that, I will watch and laugh as your world burns." Lucifer shook his head.

"How did you do it? How were you able to lie to me, to my face? Nobody lies to me." He looked genuinely confused. Pentious thought back to that day and the feeling that had pushed him; the voice, the pressure on his spine, and felt a shiver rush through him.

"There was a voice. Sort of, it sounded more like millions of tortured souls screaming in my ears. And they told me to lie to you, told me to protect him and pushed me to do so." He slowly shook his head and smiled. "And to protect Arackniss, I would do anything." Watching the King, Pentious saw the look of confusion melt into realization, then shock, and finally settle in concession.

"Sir Pentious, my request this time is a very simple one and I can't ask anyone else for this." Rolling his eyes, Pentious shook his head, ready to refuse. "I need you to stop him, before he destroys every ring in Hell."

"Too bad there's nothing you have for payment that I'm accepting at this time. Sorry, but my answer still stands. No."

"He still loves you, you must know that. And you clearly still love him, so why not try?" He continued to shake his head.

"I'll say it a million more times that I love him, but that doesn't change what happened because of your poor choices. Maybe I will try, after he's leveled the city, if we survive it. I won't even attempt it unless you're able to give me something even remotely close in value." Grabbing the wrench, he turned back to the engine and picked back up where he'd left off. There was silence between them for long stretching moments before heard the shifting of fabric as the man moved.