Chapter 110: Lucifer "I Can Fix This."
"Pardon me, my Prince, but I'll spend this afternoon alone," his Baby Girl said with a huge, forced smile before turning her back to him and the whole table. Annoyance, anger, and a sprinkle of hurt remained in her wake.
Lucifer took a couple of steps to follow, but of course, he was stopped,
"Lover's quarrel?" Micheal laughed, "I'm not surprised. How could anyone put up with you as a partner? I can't fathom."
Lucifer slowly turned with a big forced smile of his own, "I'd love to say I asked advice from your past lovers, Uncle, but I think we all know hands can't talk," he snapped, "And before you chime in, Father, your love life is strewn with married women and a demon who threatened the life of her own child, none of which you ever cared about, so please save it," Lucifer added as he walked out of the courtyard, not waiting for a response.
Lucifer walked across the grass, his hands shoved into his pants pockets as the mild breeze ruffled his hair and blew it into his face. However, he didn't care. His thoughts were focused on his wife's sudden emotional shift. What could he have done or said to upset her? She said it wasn't Anglique's presence, so then what was it? What could he have done to shift her mode so drastically?
By the time he stepped into the castle, Lucifer had resolved to find his Baby Girl, figure out what he had done, and fix it. As he walked for the back stairs, someone grabbed his shoulder. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he had tuned out everything around him.
"What!" he demanded, turning around to meet Viskiam's gaze.
"Maybe you should just let Kathrine Ann be? Give her some time to—"
"Maybe you should add a Lady to that. I've heard Angelique isn't the only one who has lost favor with the Princess," Lucifer rebutted.
"Only because I helped you."
"Seeing as we're both in the dog house, you obviously didn't do a very good job," Lucifer smirked, "So what did you do to earn my Baby Girl's scorn?"
"I listened to you," he huffed, "You texted me something along the lines of Kathrine Ann being in the garden and that I needed to find her and keep her safe, and you would explain later. Well, I did as you asked, only to walk her back to a room filled with broken glass and blood. She blames me for helping you hide the poisoning from her," Viskiam explained, giving Lucifer the puzzle piece he was looking for.
"Well, she's not wrong. You did do that," Lucifer laughed, relieved and believing this was a minor issue that would be easy to clear up. All he had to do was explain that everything he did was to keep her safe.
"I didn't know! You never explained," Viskiam spat.
"I was a bit preoccupied being poisoned," he defended. "So sorry for inconveniencing you."
"You know you are impossible. I don't know how she puts up with you," Viskiam sighed, exasperated by Lucifer's behavior.
"Easy," Lucifer smirked, "She accepts me for who I am because she's a loving, kind, and overall good person. Too good for me or anyone else, if I'm being honest. When I plead my case, apologize for upsetting her, and explain my actions, she'll listen, understand why I did it, and forgive me," Lucifer explained. "Also, it helps that she thinks I'm sexy and cute. As far as you, my friend? Could be centuries," he laughed, turning his back on the elf, "But if you're real sweet to me, I might put in a good word," he offered, walking away towards the back staircase.
Lucifer opened the door to their room, finding it dark and empty. Not bothering to step in, he turned away and slammed the door.
"Where have you run, Baby Girl?" he asked.
~~~
It was afternoon when Lucifer stood in front of his office doors. His eyes narrowed, and his lips pressed. He could feel her presence inside. He had searched everywhere for his wife. The garden, the hot springs, the river, the game room, the kitchen, their room a couple more times, but somehow, this room escaped his consideration, and of course, that is where she would be.
He pushed open the heavy doors and stepped in. As expected, he found his Baby Girl curled up in his desk chair, sound asleep. One leg pulled up under the other, and her torso slightly turned into the chair as her head lulled to the side. Her hands were loosely clutching a neglected book in her lap. Next, his eyes shifted to his desk, which had a handful of books open and scatted across it.
Quietly, he crossed the room to his sleeping wife and began taking in the scene. First, he grabbed the barely touched glass of whiskey she poured from his stash and thought about what a terrible influence he was. Sipping from the glass, he looked at the open books on his desk. Lucifer lifted the covers to read titles and flipped through a few pages. A couple were written by his father, another two by Hell historians, and the one in the middle was a book that taught the phonetics of Hellish with a notebook resting in the center filled with notes about the language written in his Baby Girls handwriting.
Finally, he grabbed the book from her lap. 'The History of Brimstone' was written by his father but mass published, so the handwriting was not his, meaning the words on the paper were in Hellish. The book was his father's polished recollections of Hell from the very beginning till the Hell it is now, or at least at the time of the publication. However, not much had changed until his Baby Girl's dazzling arrival.
Lucifer had read the book but didn't care for it. It was accurate but boring. Also, there was a chapter that referenced him. His father spoke of him more as a business partner than his son. In fact, he didn't refer to him as his son at all. Today that would be fine, but when the book came out, Lucifer was a young adult trying to make his father proud, and the short chapter that lacked any compassion stung.
"I was reading that," her sleepy voice fussed.
"Were you?" he smiled, putting the book down on the desk. "It looked to me like you were napping."
"What do you want, Lucifer?" she grumbled, straightening up in the chair and stretching her neck.
"To do what I do best," he replied with a guilty smile.
"Make me angry?" she asked with a yawn.
"Oof. Second best?"
"Let's hear it then," she sighed, scanning the desk before looking back at him with a furrowed brow, "And give me my drink back."
Lucifer fought hard against the smile threatening to break through as he handed her back her glass, knowing she would not be pleased with his amusement, "Baby Girl, I really must insist that you not drink anything without it being tested first, at least until we catch who's spiking drinks with poison."
She stared him in the eyes as she defiantly sipped the drink. "I had Vassal bring it up. She assured me it was safe. Now, I believe you owe me an explanation, assuming you've figured out what you did."
"I'm sorry that I worried you and that you came upon our room in such disorder," he offered as she took another sip while raising one brow,
"And?" she asked, placing the glass down and crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'm sorry that you felt betrayed by my actions, but—"
"Lucifer—" she warned.
"But, I will not now, nor will I ever apologize for doing what was best for your safety."
"Get out," she snapped as her annoyance filled the space between them.
"Nope," he refused and leaned over, taking the glass of whiskey off the desk and sipping it.
"We talked about you lying to me. You have no idea what I—"
"No, you talked about me hiding things from you, and I did not lie to you," he corrected calmly, "Kathrine Ann, you have quickly become one of the most important things in my life, and I will not have you taken from me. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, even if it means, momentarily, keeping things from you."
"That is not fair, Lucifer! How would you feel if I did the same thing to—"
"If you had drank that poison, you would have died a mentally and physically torturous death!" Lucifer snapped, losing his calm. With a deep breath and another sip, he continued, "As soon as I tasted that whiskey, I knew what I was dealing with, and I knew I had a limited amount of time to react. I didn't have time to theorize, deduce, or devise a plan. All I knew was that the drink was meant for one of us, and if it was meant for me, most likely, it was so someone could get to you. I feared they were somewhere close, just waiting till I was too weak to make their move, and that is why I sent you away. That's why I reached out to Viskiam. I would do it again right now if I knew it would keep you safe."
Lucifer thought he had explained himself clearly, but her emotions became even more intense as she stood up from the chair and faced him with fire in her glistening eyes. She shook her head and scoffed, "If you're not going to leave, then I will. And don't bother following me this time. Since my feelings don't seem to matter to you, there's nothing left to talk about."
She stepped around him, but he grabbed her arm, careful to avoid her injured wrist. She stopped but didn't turn to face him. Lucifer sensed his wife's overwhelming frustration and heard the light sniffles. Lucifer tugged her arm and pulled her to him. Her back to his front, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly.
"Speak. I won't interrupt till you're done," he promised, resting his chin on her head.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone