"Wren? Wren!" cried a voice at my bedroom door. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach.
"What the hell, Charlie!" I yelled at my cousin before checking what time it was on my phone. "It's 6AM!" I shouted at him.
"And your birthday!" came the annoyed response. I sat up quickly. Seriously? It was my birthday?
I whipped out my phone again and looked at the date. July 11th.
I lunged off my bed and wrenched open the bedroom door. "I'm 16!" I shouted in my cousins face happily. Charlie winced before smiling back at me. "Why are you not more excited?" I shouted as I jumped up and down and slapped his arm. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Of course i'm excited, Wren, because I showed up at your house at 6 AM," he raised his arms and rolled his eyes again. "You live across the street," I reminded him before his head got too big.
"Mom!" I yelled enthusiastically down the hall. A small head poked out from the bedroom next to mine. "Happy birthday Wren, but can you shut up?" Lucien asked sleepily.
I bounded over to my brothers side and hit him on the arm playfully. "Sure, bro," I said after ruffling up the eight year olds jet black hair. He looked up at me with warm brown eyes. "Hey!" Lucien complained. I laughed. "Okay bud, i'll let you sleep,"
Lucien bobbed his head with a tired; "Mmhm," before disappearing back in his room.
"Mom!" I called again, quieter this time.
"I'm in here, Wren," a voice said from the kitchen. With a grin I grabbed Charlie's arm and dragged him after me down the stairs and into the kitchen.
A woman in her late forties with honey blond hair that none of her children had inherited sat at the dining table, coffee mug in one hand, phone in the other. "Happy birthday, babe," Chloe Decker smiled. I plopped down into the seat beside her and wrapped my arms around my mother. My hand bumped on the badge that rested over her hip and I had to hold in a sigh. Chloe was still a detective, so she could get hurt, shot or killed at any moment.
And so could her children.
I knew that Trixie had been kidnapped and also held at gunpoint, and I also knew that Lucien, or me, or even Charlie could be gunned down at any moment. But that wasn't going o stop my mom from doing what she loved.
"I know it's your birthday, honey, but can you and Charlie run down to your dads nightclub later today?" Chloe asked. "He's been at work all night and I need him home."
I nodded and grinned again. Visiting Lux was always fun, especially when I was allowed to. I scratched at my nose ring and said, "We'll stop by after we go see your parents and Auntie Maze, right, Charlie?" I turned my head to my best friend. Charlie nodded and linked his arms with me.
"You guys aren't gonna have breakfast?" Chloe asked as we stood up.
"Not hungry," Charlie and I said at the same time. Chloe chuckled. "Alright, you two, have fun, but not too much fun!" she called after us and we ran out the door.
As we entered Charlie's house across the street I immediately noticed Amenadiel wasn't there. Maze was, though, so I ran right into her arms, earning a small oof from her. We broke apart and she studied me at arms length, her eyes skimming over my long jet black hair with lilac tips, my light blue eyes that were so much like my mother's, and my many piercings. She scrunched up her nose, than said; "You lost weight,"
I doubled over with laughter. "Wow, thanks, Maze!" I said loudly, causing Charlie's mom to look from around the corner. "Wren!" Linda cried happily. I ran past Maze and wrapped my arms around Linda. Charlie silently joined me and Linda hugged her son too.
"Mom, where's Dad?" Charlie asked before I could. Linda looked around and shrugged a bit. "He went to see Lucifer at Lux." Linda said with a wave of her hand. "Why don't you two stay for a bit? Have some breakfast maybe," she added as her sons stomach grumbled. I shrugged. "Why not?"
I checked the clock after a few hours spent at Linda's. Time really seemed to fly by there. At some point when the sky had already began to darken, a younger-looking woman showed up at the door.
Linda immediately stood up from the couch and shielded me and Charlie with her body. Maze whipped out her knives and said in a low growl; "Eve,"
The woman, presumably Eve, lifted her hands up in surrender. "I just want to talk," she said, her eyes flicking between Maze and Linda. Maze growled and tucked one of her knives away, but Linda didn't step away from us. She had her eyes fixed on Eve, who was now walking slowly towards us. "Don't come any closer, Eve," Linda suddenly said. Me and Charlie exchanged a quick glance. Linda wasn't the kind of person who held grudges or had beef with anyone.
Eve didn't dare sit down- Maze was reached for her back pocket again. "I just want to talk," she repeated. Maze scoffed and threw herself back down, onto the couch.
Eve finally noticed me and Charlie, still half- hidden by Linda's arms. "Linda, I'm not going to touch your kids," Eve lifted a hand to her forehead. Linda put her chin up, but didn't correct the stranger. Then Eve scrunched her eyebrows together and looked at me quizzically. Her eyes skimmed over my toned skin, my black hair, the shape of my eyes.
"Your Lucifer's daughter," Eve breathed. I exchanged another look with my cousin.
"You know my dad..?" I asked cautiously. Linda finally sat down again, put kept one of her hands on Charlie's knee protectively. The strangers eyes jumped to meet his, and her face lit up. "Charlie!" she cried. I jumped, startled. Why did this woman know Charlie's name?
"The last time I carried you, you were this big!" Eve exclaimed, showing the length between her shoulder and her waist. Charlie looked at his mother, confused. "Um, who is this person?" he whispered into Linda's ear.
"Why are you here, Eve?" Maze suddenly cut in, her eyes blazing with fury. I had never seen Maze this mad, and that was saying something. Eve cleared her throat awkwardly- clearly there was history between her and Maze. "I-I, um, I needed to talk to, uh, Lucifer," Eve spluttered. I raised an eyebrow. Maze's eyebrows looked like they were going to fly right off of her forehead. "He doesn't love you, he's moved on," Linda said gently.
"I, uh, I can see that," Eve inclined her head in my direction. She frowned slightly as she studied my eyes. "With, um.." she trailed off. Maze raised her eyebrows higher still. "With Chloe Decker," Maze confirmed coldly. Eve let out a small oh, and nodded slowly. "Yes," she agreed, watching me. I decided I did not like this woman, and got to my feet. "Charlie and I are going to Lux now " I announced. Charlie looked surprised, but he got to his feet with only a moment's hesitation. Linda nodded and walked us to the door, leaving Maze and the strange woman staring at each other awkwardly in the living room. "Is that Eve, Eve?" Charlie muttered to his mother. Linda nodded slightly and the two of them exchanged a look. I frowned but let it be.
"See you two later," Linda said softly as we left the house and got into an Uber. "Stay safe!" she added as we drove off.
Arriving at Lux, I could already see that a party was in place. Me and Charlie ran up to the bouncer, who immediately gave us crap for looking underage.
"Sorry, can I see your ID's?" he asked us. I groaned and Charlie rolled his eyes. "I'm the owner's daughter, Wren," I told the bouncer. "And isn't it rude to assume someones age based on how they look?" I added as an afterthought. The bouncer raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure Lucifer would want his daughter in his club, do you?" he asked the guy behind me. I leaned in.
"C'mon, dude, why don't you let a girl and her friend in, just for tonight?" I whispered to the bouncer, who looked confuse for a millisecond, before stepping aside to let us through. Me and Charlie walked past him, and I giggled as he looked around in confusion, probably wondering why he was standing a few feet to the left of where he used to be. Charlie was giving me a strange look. "What?" I hissed at him as we entered the club.
"And still I wonder why you doubt that you're dad's actually the devil," he muttered, more to himself than to me. I rolled my eyes, not this conversation again.
My dad never lied, it was kind of his whole thing. But he always told me, "I'm the devil," or "Wren, did you know you're a celestial?"
I mean, that is some of the biggest load of baloney I've ever heard, and I talk to Maze.
Charlie seemed to believe it, he even disappeared for days at a time with his dad to go visit 'The Silver City', during holidays. When he came back, it would be all he talked about for weeks. And then, I had my weird mojo thing that Charlie says I inherited from my dad, where my mom says it's just the 'power of suggestion'.
But my 'ability' wasn't exactly like my dads. I could get people to listen to what I said by going into a trance, and then not remembering afterwards. Or something. I compared it to Allison's power from the Umbrella Academy. That sounds really nerdy. And sounded much cooler in my head. Maybe I should try saying 'I heard a rumour," someday. On the other hand, my dad could draw out people's forbidden desires whenever he pleased- as long as his victim is looking him in the eyes.
Whatever. I didn't need to think about this right now. I needed Dad home.
"Charlie, is it just me, or do I hear radio chatter?"
Charlie gave me a quizzical look. "My mom's a cop," I said. "Uh huh," Charlie murmured as we stepped into the club. The music was still going, but the club itself was empty, except for a few police officers, a strange something on the ground that I couldn't see, and my father.
We started towards the hubbub before I was grabbed by the shoulder and spun around. An officer stood there with a stern facial expression.
"Sorry, club's closed," he said with a heavy Yorkshire accent. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and Charlie put an arm around my waist protectively. "My dad owns the club," I said shortly.
The officer raised his eyebrows at me, then his expression melted from smug to afraid. "Uh, um," he stuttered, walking backwards quickly.
"Oh, hello, dear," a British accented voice said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see my father walking towards me, his arms extended slightly.
"Dad!" I said happily, folding into his chest. I felt his lips brush the top of my head before he acknowledged the officer behind me. "Is there a problem?" he asked airily.
"Uh, no, sorry, Mr Morningstar," the officer spluttered before he stumbled away.
"Did he hurt you?" Lucifer murmured into my scalp. I shook my head and pulled away from him. "Happy birthday, dear," Lucifer said with a smile. I grinned back at him before walked back to stand next to my cousin. Charlie impulsively put an arm around me again, like he always did when he was worried about me.
"You're father's here too, Charlie," Lucifer said with a friendly wink. "And someone else," he added, not looking as friendly. "Great," Charlie said with a strange look at him.
"What happened here, Dad?" I asked as we passed the group of cops, gathered around the strange and large lump in the middle.
"There's been a murder," Lucifer said heavily. I found myself looking over on of the officers shoulders to get a better look at the body. It was a young girl, no more that 23, lying on the ground with her eyes open, seeing nothing. I shuddered and leaned into Charlie's chest. I was short for my age, and Charlie was tall for his- he was 17, and around 3 heads taller then me. So I always felt safe around him, especially when he kept me close.
Lucifer walked us into the elevator, and clicked the penthouse level. I sensed Charlie and Lucifer exchanging looks over my head, and I shifted, uncomfortable. What did they know that I didn't?
The elevator doors opened and I let go of Charlie as I walked into the familiar penthouse. My uncle was sitting on the red leather couch, his head angled down, breathing heavily and holding a drink. Lucifer gently moved me aside and walked to his brothers side.
"Brother," Lucifer said. Amenadiel tilted his head and I noticed a small cut above his eyebrow. "What happened, brother?" Lucifer asked in a low growl. I looked around and noticed the mess that was my fathers penthouse. It looked like there had been a fight.
"What happened, brother?!" Lucifer asked loudly.
"He got away," My uncle answered in a low voice. Charlie pushed past me and sat down on his fathers other side.
"Father," Charlie growled. Amenadiel turned his head slightly, side to side.
With a sigh, Charlie stood up again and walked back to the elevator, dragging me along with him. He pushed the button. "What are doing? We can't leave!" I hissed at him. Charlie looked back over his shoulder. Lucifer had walked into his bedroom. Amenadiel had turned his head to look out the window. "Don't you want to know what happened to Amenadiel?!" I whispered frantically. He looked at me quietly. "It's not our place," he muttered, but even as he said it, he didn't look convinced. "Oh, c'mon, Charlie," I whispered frantically as the elevator dinged. We stared at each other for a long moment as the elevator doors opened. At the last second, he pulled me down, behind the bar. "Fine," he said quietly.