Lucifer Damned (Morningstar Book 3), Percival Constantine [electric book reader .txt] 📗

trying to keep it. You’re still doing the Divine Choir’s dirty work, aren’t you?”

“I gave up any sympathy I had for the Divine Choir when I gave mankind free will.”

“I don’t think you did. Because for all your talk of free will and revolution, at the end of the day, you’re still just an angel. A self-loathing one, maybe, but an angel nonetheless. That’s why you never lost your wings like the rest of The Fallen. They rebelled in their hearts, but you never did.”

Those words cut Lucifer to the bone. He had always prided himself on his independence and how he was willing to do what no other being in history had ever done—to stand against oppression and fight for freedom.

But it was all a lie. A lie that was about to truly stand bare and face the light for the first time. And all Lucifer could do was watch as it all fell apart in front of him.

17

Mara wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she had expected when she told Lilith about Cocytus, but she thought there would have at least been some reaction. However, when Mara told her mistress that Lucifer’s abdication had also given the opportunity for many of Cocytus’s prisoners to escape, Lilith said nothing. One would be forgiven for thinking Lilith hadn’t even heard Mara’s words. Not even her expression shifted. Instead, Lilith simply said it was time for them to visit the current King of Hell.

Despite the title, it was mostly just an honorific. The Hell Lords who ruled over each domain had pretty much no restrictions placed on how they conducted their affairs. So long as the Hell Lords stayed within their borders—as most were fine to do—the King of Hell was more or less a figurehead.

The carriage carried them across the Badlands from Lilith’s domain to the center of Hell. Behind the walls of this land was a single tall tower where the King of Hell was the sole resident. It was the most sparsely populated of all the domains—less people were here than even in the Badlands.

The carriage pulled up to the front of the building and the driver opened the door for the passengers. Lilith disembarked first and just marched towards the entrance without waiting for Mara. The doors opened for them without aid and Lilith walked purposefully inside the tower and to the elevator. Mara caught up with her and once the elevator doors closed, they were alone once again.

“You haven’t said anything since I told you,” said Mara.

“There’s nothing for me to say,” said Lilith.

“Mistress—”

“You were on Earth as my representative,” said Lilith. “Your job was to inform me of crucial developments. And yet you thought the walls of the prison housing the worst Hell has to offer cracking open wasn’t notable.”

“It’s not that simple. The Morningstar said—”

Lilith pushed a button on the console and the elevator came to a sudden stop. She shoved Mara against the wall, her hands around the demon’s throat. Lilith lifted Mara just off the floor, her yellow eyes burning with intensity.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s me you work for, not the Morningstar, isn’t that true?”

Mara put up some struggle, then nodded in agreement.

“That means your loyalty to me should trump whatever affection you have for him,” said Lilith. “But instead, you chose to prioritize his desires over your responsibilities as my representative.”

“I-I’m sorry…” said Mara.

Lilith released her servant and Mara collapsed on the floor, coughing. She turned back to the console and pushed the button to reactivate the elevator.

“Get off your ass,” said Lilith. “We’ll address your insubordination after we clean up Lucifer’s mess.”

Mara stood, still rubbing her sore neck. She stayed against the wall, as far from Lilith as the limited space of the elevator would allow. Mara could have never envisioned a situation in which her fealty towards Lucifer and her responsibility to Lilith would come into conflict. Even at the time when she kept quiet about all this, she felt it was the right thing to do.

The elevator reached its destination and the doors opened. The room was filled with a haze of smoke and the scent of burning tobacco was evident as they entered. They moved through the top floor of the tower, until they found the King of Hell himself sitting in a chair, paging through a large, leather-bound book. He closed it and set it down on the floor beside him, then reached for a glass of scotch on a side table, right next to an ashtray with a burning cigarette resting on its edge.

If Mara hadn’t known who the king was, she would not have recognized him. Dense hair now covered the formally bald head and the goatee had grown into a full beard. He sipped the scotch as he watched the two of them with glowing, crimson eyes.

Luther Cross rose from his chair and moved towards the pair. Mara noted that he wasn’t dressed as stylishly as he used to be. Instead, she was more than a little surprised to see that he wore plaid pajama pants and a simple black t-shirt. He then surprised Mara by throwing his arms around her and giving her a big bear hug.

Mara’s eyes bulged in surprise. Her and Cross had come to an understanding of sorts when she worked with him on Earth, but they were by no means long-lost friends. His reaction was more than a little surprising for her.

“This is a nice surprise,” he said, patting her on the back and holding her tight as he swayed slightly from side to side.

“Y-yeah, it’s…good to see you, too, Luther…”

Mara gave Lilith a look that begged for some assistance. Lilith let it ride out a little bit longer, no doubt because of her anger at her servant. After a few moments, Lilith finally placed a hand on Cross’s shoulder.

“Luther, we’re here for an important reason,” she said.

Cross finally let Mara go free. He then gave Lilith a similar hug, but Lilith broke it