Chapter Seven
It took us much longer to return to warmer climates. Our extended stay in the frozen city meant that we had missed our plane. Instead we were forced to explain to the researchers why their extremely expensive machinery no longer purred like a kitten and instead grumbled and choked like the poor thing was on its death bed. The double hagglund had crawled to the research base with dents and scrapes marking every surface. Only a fallen angel could crash a bloody vehicle into the only wall of ice for miles.
Flopping back onto the sofa, I checked my phone for the tenth time. I was learning more and more as the minutes went on that I was definitely not a patient woman. Then again waiting for Lucius was constantly becoming a bad habit. He had the worst timekeeping skills. But he was the ruler of the underworld and obviously being the big man in the fiery pits meant that the world revolved around him and his schedule. It wouldn’t have been an issue but the man was three hours late.
“Cass, just eat the last wrap. Lucius can moan all he likes.” I stated, waving my hand at the plate sat alone on top of Lucius' overly pricey desk. “If he had been on time, he could have had the sweet chilli chicken. Now he can just go without.”
Castiel didn’t need any extra prodding. With a huge grin on his normally expressionless face , he scooped up the last delicacy before striding across the room and taking a seat at Lucius’ desk, even going so far as to put his feet up as he ravenously worked his way through Lucius’ snack. I shrugged my shoulders and turned my gaze out towards the city.
“Do you know where he is?”
I didn’t take my eyes off of the London skyline which had finally stopped smouldering and now looked like it was finally ready to begin again. I could even see the glint of the weak sunlight reflecting off of the cars below. They were no more than tiny specs but they were a source of hope, provided death didn’t strike a blow and bring about total destruction and chaos. There were only so many times that the world could recover from the attempted apocalypses before they were successful.
“He was meeting with Hades. Apparently Hades has found himself a new girlfriend so he’s taking her to meet the family so to speak.” I murmured absently.
The skyline which had been relatively clear with a few spots of white fluffy clouds dotted here only a few minutes before had become dark and murky. A storm was brewing and quickly.
Drawing my cardigan closer to my body, I shivered. Nothing good would come of this situation and no doubt the casualty list would only increase as time went by.
“Hades has a girlfriend? How on earth did he manage that?” One of the power twins remarked before grunting.
Glancing over my shoulder, I rolled my eyes as I caught the play by play as the two heavily muscled men launched at each other from opposite sides of Lucius’s office and fell to the floor in a playful scuffle. Bruises and cut immediately formed on their faces but neither seemed particularly bothered by the painful looking injuries. Then again they had fought in angelic battled that would put this little fist fight to shame and had lived to tell the tale.
I shook my head.
It was so easy to get distracted – somehow it was easier than facing the truth of the matter. That people were going to die whether I took action or stood on the side lines. The only difference would be the number.
“And what is going on here?! “
I jolted at the intrusion of Lucius’ loud booming voice. As imposing as ever in his power suit, the tie loosened now that there were no prying eyes, the man simply leant against the doorframe with a smile on his face.
“How long have you been stood there?” I asked, finally bringing myself off of the sofa so I could face him.
Lucius chuckled. “Only a minute. It was nice seeing them acting like fools. It’s been too long since anyone had a reason to be childish or laugh.”
I nodded my head and beckoned him into the room.
“How was Hades, still big and jolly?” I asked, the tall mountain of a man was an incredible site to see. Being blonde and beautiful was definitely not one would expect from the god of the underworld.
“Overly jolly.” Lucius shut the door behind him with a soft click before striding over to his desk. Castiel was too busy licking his fingers to pay too much care to the situation. Thus it was with a yelp and with wide eyes that he went tumbling onto the floor as Lucius grabbed both of his leg which had been resting on his desk and tugged.
Not even batting a lid at his fallen comrade, Lucius strutted around the desk and perched his pristinely suited behind onto his leather chair and sighed.
“It seems he might finally have found the queen of the underworld. It’s just a shame that it might be a little too late.” Running his hand through his hair, Lucius lifted his tired eyes and met mine, holding my gaze and refusing to let go. “I suppose in times like these you just have to take all of the happy moments that you can. For all we know we might not live long enough for the so called happy ever afters.”
“Come on Lucius,” Clementine piped up with a flick of her orange hair, breaking her usual silence. “You can’t be pessimistic now. Do you not believe our father has a plan? I do and I do not think that this is it. It is a challenge that we must work together to overcome. But we will overcome it. We will beat death even if we only set him back a few millennia.”
“But that’s the problem Clem. We don’t even know where to start. Where does one find conquest? He or she is the missing brother to Death who may help us – if they feel like it.” Lucius laughed bitterly, slapping his palms down onto the desk as looked over at as us all. “Or he may just turn around and stab us in the back… oh and let’s not forget he could be anywhere or anything. Our chances really aren’t looking good.”
Binah, who had been keeping silent as she stared pensively at the wall, now cleared her throat delicately as she rolled her eyes at Lucius.
“Men,” She clucked her tongue and tilted her chin up in the air to make her look more superior. “You only think of the obvious. If you want to draw someone’s attention, someone like a horseman of the apocalypse, they you need to dangle a bit of bait.”
I groaned and tried to ignore the hope that was flaring in the eyes of each of the men. More than anything they wanted a confrontation, a battle. But there was nothing glorious about battles. I had seen it. They had seen it. And yet every time the opportunity came, they would jump head first into the fire without even thinking of the possible consequences.
“We have the perfect lure already. Some of the less pleasant creatures have crawled out of the pit and what better way to draw a horseman to us than pure chaos. Just follow the trouble and maybe stir some up ourselves and he is sure to come. The only problem we have is that any trouble we cause may also bring along our good friends death, famine and war.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re forgetting one thing. Conquest could be standing right beside me and we would never be any the wiser. How are we even going to know this ‘being’ when we see him? That’s assuming it’s a man. Can something that can become anything truly have a gender?”
I shook my head before letting my gaze fall on each of them individually.
I stopped at Caius and Caine who were both blank faced as they leant against the wall with their bulging arms folded across their chests. It was the eyes though that startled me. The completely white eyes were usually unreadable and rather eerie. And yet for once, I could see the churn of emotion – I could even see from my position on the other side of the room that their eyes weren’t completely white. The conflict had brought the barest hint of colour to their irises so they now had a barely discernible ring of green that swirled and churned despite their emotionless exterior.
“Enough Savannah, we have to fight. Death killed Mephistopheles and I will not rest until he is avenged.” Lucius shouted as pushed to his feet and slapped his hands down on his desk with such force that it actually cracked and groaned under the force.
“That’s beside the point.” I stamped my foot on the floor and glared at him. “We need to concentrate on leashing these things, not creating more chaos and death. Don’t you think we are just playing into the hands of death as it is?”
With eyes that glowed bright with fierce energy, Lucius strutted around the desk and curled his finger in my direction. Unable to stop myself, my feet pulled me across to him so that I could feel his hot breath fanning across my face as he postured like an angry bear.
“And what exactly is your plan Savannah?” His nostrils flared as he rolled his shoulders. His emotions were running high and I could see the muscles in his upper body rippling as he struggled to maintain control.
“I don’t have one at the moment.” I admitted, tearing my gaze away.
Lucius Satani snorted and the glare he sent my way was full of bitterness and unconcealed hate. “So I am just supposed to sit here and do nothing. I don’t work that way. And neither do you. If you were just a bystander, you would have died two years ago. You are a fighter, just like the rest of us.”
I rolled my own shoulders as my wings fought for freedom. I didn’t feel threatened from this completely foreign version of Lucius but I didn’t like it. This was the face of a stranger. For once I actually felt I was looking into the face of someone ancient, someone powerful – someone capable of terrible things.
“That may be so but we cannot run in to this without a plan. It’s how people get killed.”
I could feel the attention of every single fallen angel in the room.
“I have lost too much already and I refuse to lose any more people that I love due to a half arsed plan and an unwillingness to listen to reason.”
My chest rose and fell rapidly and my control finally slipped allowing my wings to unfurl from my back.
“I need you Lucius. Danny and I need you. You’ve lost too much. Don’t throw yourself into the fire because you think it is the only way. There is always another way if we are prepared to look for it.”
Lucius stilled with his attention wholly on me. His dark brows lifted as his mouth fell agape. Disbelief - that was the only word for it. After a few seconds he clamped his mouth shut and gritted his teeth together.
“We go with Binah’s plan.”
My heart lurched and my wings fluttered behind me. It was going to happen again. We were going to run head first into battle like our half-cocked journey to the North Pole and we were going to lose someone else.
I clenched my jaw and dragged my gaze away from Lucius’ beautiful eyes. It physically hurt my heart to think that just one mistake could mean that he was gone. That the family I had imagined for us would not exist. Sure they were silly dreams but they were my dreams nonetheless. And what is a person who doesn’t have hopes and dreams - that doesn’t have something to live for?
Lost. Lifeless.
Firm hands took my shoulders. I shivered and stared blankly ahead even as fingers tilted my chin up, warm breath fanning over my skin. I sucked in a sharp breath and blinked stupidly at the beautiful face before me as his strong hands enticed me into the warmth of his body. And then I was being kissed.
Any thoughts of death or lifelessness were quickly thrown out of the window as Lucius took possession of my mind, body and soul. Something overtook me then and the chaste kiss on the lips quickly became a desperate plea to the other. We kissed each other with such ferocity that our teeth clashed together before we found our rhythm.
It took a moment for the shock to wear off and even then I did not stop. Lucius was kissing me so thoroughly that no part of my mouth was left unexplored. It was incredible and passionate. And yet it filled me with a sorrow so deep that it actually brought tears to my eyes. I felt like the moment was fleeting and I needed to hold onto it with everything I had. My arms wound tightly around his neck, holding him closer to me and then closer still. I could feel the beat of his heart through our layers of clothing as our wings wrapped around us to form a warm and safe cocoon.
I pulled away and panted. My kiss swollen lips tingled as I stared up at Lucius. His dark hair was all over the place and his lips were swollen too.
“I can’t lose you Lucius.” I whispered.
He closed his eyes for several long seconds before his wings ruffled around us in agitation.
“Nor I lose you. But whether we like it or not, death is coming.” His lips pressed to my forehead before releasing a mournful sigh. “We just have to choose whether we sit aside and wait for it to happen or whether we stand up and fight. I am not a bystander. I will fight. And so will you because that’s who you are.”
I nodded and let my wings retract back into my body.
“Thanks, I think I needed that.” I whispered rolling my shoulder to ease the discomfort.
“The kiss or the pep talk.” Lucius asked with a suggestive waggle of his brows.
A smile made its way onto my lips. When he did that, I saw the man that I had met at the very beginning - before I had known that he was so much more than a womanizer.
“Both.” I answered before my eyes swept over the rather empty room. “Where did everyone go?”
“They left to give us privacy and to prepare.”
I looked away.
“It’s going to happen whether I like it or not.” I stated with absolute certainty. Pulling in a deep breath, I met Lucius’ gaze once more. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
With a laugh Lucius strutted away towards the door from his office. He paused at the threshold and gave me a cheeky grin.”
“Now where would the fun in that be?”