Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 25

"Right. Sorry. No Adamandriel here." Then, under his breath, he mutters, "yet." Samandriel death glares him, and he shrugs innocently.

"Well, sorry I asked," Claire mutters. "And, obviously Anna's dating Cain, but what about Michael?"

"Cain?" Castiel repeats, looking to Lucifer expectantly. "Seriously? You never once told me about Anna and Cain?"

"I second this," Gabriel adds. "I thought you were better than this, Luce."

"I didn't know..." Lucifer says slowly. He looks over at Samandriel. "Did you know about Cain?"

"Nope," Samandriel replies quickly. Too quickly.

Lucifer narrows his eyes at him suspiciously. "Samandriel..."

"Yes?" he says weakly.

"Who's this Cain kid?"

Samandriel shrugs, a tight movement that shows he's lying when he says, "I don't know." He's never been a good liar.

"Samandriel, tell me about this Cain kid or I'll find out myself. And you know I can do it, and you know it will end worse than if you just tell me, so I suggest you tell me."

Samandriel sighs. "Fine. He's the — the new Dean Winchester of Wayward High, but different. He's, uh, he very... He..."

"He's what?" Lucifer demands, seeming almost scary in this moment. Lucifer's never scary. He's the little Novak puppy. But he can tell by Samandriel's tone, as can everyone else, that there's something bad about this Cain kid, and Lucifer's already gone into protective mode without even knowing why he has to.

"I don't know," Samandriel says finally. "But he's been dating Anna since, I don't know, beginning of last year? End of the year before, even? It's the talk of the school. Pretty much the new Dean and Lisa couple."

Castiel flinches slightly at the mention of Dean's ex. He knows they're over, but still.

"And neither of you told us?" Lucifer demands.

"I just didn't think it was that important," Samandriel tells him.

"Really? Because your tone sad otherwise. So I'll ask this again. Why didn't you tell us?"

Samandriel sighs, knowing he can't keep this from Lucifer. Lucifer always finds things out. "Because she told me not to," he admits.

"Why?" Lucifer demands.

"Because... Because he's Cain."

"Yeah, not helping," Lucifer replies.

"I heard angry people," Michael observes, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "Is everything okay?"

"Apparently, Anna's had a secret boyfriend," Gabriel informs him. "For two years."

"And?" Michael prompts. "I mean, with a brother like Lucifer, I wouldn't introduce my family to my boyfriend, either."

"Wait, do you have a boyfriend, too?" Lucifer asks.

"No, I'm being hypothetical," Michael replies. "That probably wasn't grammatically correct but whatever. My hypothetical boyfriend. But I don't see what the big deal is. She probably didn't want you to fangirl all over her life. I mean, I'm sure it's bad enough, being Castiel Novak's little sister. I don't think she wants to add the rest of her family to her name."

Lucifer looks to Samandriel expectantly. "Well?"

"Yeah, that's all," Samandriel agrees.
Lucifer narrows his eyes suspiciously, not believing him. "What's this Cain person like?"

Samandriel shrugs. "I don't know. I've never spoken to him in person. He's a senior."

"Then how can I discreetly find stuff out about him?" Lucifer asks.

"You probably can't," Samandriel replies. "Anna doesn't want you — any of you — near her relationship."

"I know all about Cain," Claire announces.

Samandriel glares at her, silently trying to shut her up, but she either doesn't get the memo or doesn't care. Probably the latter, actually, knowing her relationship with Anna.

"Star quarterback, killer soccer player, best pitcher we've got. Hot as fuck, too. He's a real player; been getting laid since middle school. Hmm, what else...?"

"And his relationship with Anna, is it ship worthy or do I need to crush him slowly and painfully with a bunch of pieces of stone?" Lucifer asks.

"Is there a middle ground?" Claire asks.

"Do I ship it, kill him, kill him slowly, or torture him as long and painfully as physically possible?" Lucifer clarifies.

There's an amused glint to Claire's eye as she says, "Definitely not ship worthy. He's a selfish pig who doesn't care about anything but sex. His life is run by his ego. Everything is about looks for him. He definitely wouldn't have dated Anna if she wasn't that pretty, and honestly, I'm surprised he thinks she's good enough.

"I'm ninety-six percent sure he's cheated on her, and eighty-four percent sure it's happened multiple times while he was sober — which isn't very often at parties. On the bright side, he doesn't drink or do drugs before game nights, so you don't have to worry 'bout that.

"But I have very little doubt they've slept together, and if Anna wasn't jumping for the chance, Cain pushed her into it. Not rape, exactly, but he probably would've dumped her if she didn't, and he's giving her social status a huge boost by being with her. She wouldn't risk it."

"Why are you telling us all of this?" Lucifer asks her. "Do you want him for yourself or something?"

Claire scoffs. "Yeah, right. I'm not a sex toy, and he knows it. He had a broken nose a few years ago to remind him."

Lucifer grins in spite of himself. "So, what, then? Just looking out for Anna?"

"More like throwing her under the bus," Claire replies. "If she's going to go all cold-war on me because I'm rivaling her for attention at home or some shit like that, I'll go nuclear war right back at her."

Lucifer nods in approval. "Nice. Thanks, Claire. Now, when Anna gets home," he cracks his knuckles, "I have some pseudo-parenting to do."