Chapter 56 A Brother’s Game
Selena’s lips parted, but no sound came. Her chest hammered violently, each thump echoing the memories she had buried deep the laughter of sunlit streets she once roamed, the warmth of sunlight on her skin, the sharp sting of pain she had vowed never to feel again. Her hands clenched at her sides, trembling slightly. She couldn’t look at him. Not yet.
Lucifer’s smile was faint, a slow curve that never reached the storm in his eyes. Dark, hollow eyes that had witnessed centuries of betrayal, war, and loss, now pinned her in place. She felt a shiver crawl up her spine, her skin prickling under his gaze.
He already knew her answer. Her silence changed nothing.
Because this was never about her.
It was about Michael.
Lucifer’s jaw tightened. His fingers flexed at his sides, subtle yet tense. In his mind, he traced Michael’s inevitable moves the humans he would twist, the traps he would set. The last war had cost Michael some of his power, but Lucifer knew his brother’s obsession wouldn’t allow him to rest. He would stop at nothing to reclaim what he had lost to return as the unstoppable angel he had once been.
“When… when are we going back to the human realm?” Selena’s voice trembled, laced with excitement. A small spark of the joy she had once carried lit her eyes, fragile yet uncontainable.
I met her gaze, the corner of my lips tugging upward in a small, reassuring smile. Her eyes widened, a mix of disbelief and hope shining through.
“Yes,” I said, nodding once, steady and certain.
Lucifer’s hand reached for hers, warm and firm, holding her like she might slip away if he let go. A quiet pulse of energy seemed to hum between them, invisible but tangible, as if the air itself recognized the bond. In the blink of an eye, the world around them shifted. One heartbeat later, they were standing in New York, Lucifer’s mansion looming dark and grand against the night sky.
Selena spun on the spot, eyes wide as she drank in the grandeur. Her steps echoed over the polished floors, light and careless, and a laugh, pure and unguarded, escaped her lips. Joy bubbled up from deep within her, bright and reckless, and she ran across the compound as if she’d been set free. Lucifer watched in silence, chest tight, a rare, almost imperceptible smile tugging at his lips.
She returned to him, cheeks flushed, strands of hair catching the chandelier light. Her gaze dropped shyly, hands fidgeting at the hem of her sleeve. She pinched her finger nervously, and he raised an eyebrow.
“Speak up,” he murmured.
“How long… how long are we staying on Earth?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, trembling with both curiosity and the thrill of anticipation.
Lucifer’s fingers lifted, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The touch was deliberate, gentle, almost intimate. “For as long as you want,” he murmured, his voice low and steady, carrying a weight and promise that made her chest flutter in ways she didn’t fully understand.
Selena’s excitement spilled over, unstoppable. She spun on her heel, laughter bubbling from her lips, light and free, as she dashed toward her room. The sound of her joy echoed through the mansion, leaving a trail of warmth behind her.
Lucifer stiffened when a sudden chill slid along his spine, a presence brushing against him like a whisper of danger. He turned sharply, eyes sweeping the room, muscles coiled for a fight, but found nothing.
Only a note lay on the floor, its edges curling as if it carried its own dark intent. Scrawled in a familiar hand, the message seemed to pulse with malice:
You can keep her as long as you can, but know she is mated to another the same man you are trying to destroy. Don’t forget, a mate bond is not easily broken.
Anger roared through Lucifer’s chest like wildfire. His fingers clenched around the paper, the crumpling sound sharp in the silence. Flames licked the edges as the note turned to ash, sparks falling like bitter warnings onto the polished floor.
“Morgan,” he growled, voice low and dangerous, and Master Morgana appeared beside him, as if summoned by the intensity of his fury.
“What makes you so angry?” she asked, calm but probing, her gaze steady on him.
Lucifer’s lips curled into a smirk that didn’t touch the darkness in his eyes. “What do you think if Michael is already on Earth?”
Morgana’s brow furrowed, confusion and unease flickering across her features.
“That’s impossible,” she whispered. “If Michael were here, he wouldn’t wait. He would have come straight for you.”
Lucifer stepped closer, shadows stretching along the walls like dark fingers. His smirk deepened, sharp and dangerous. “What if he’s waiting… for the perfect moment to strike?”
Morgana’s eyes widened, the weight of his words sinking in, and silence settled between them like a living thing.
Lucifer’s gaze drifted to the floor where the ashes had fallen, flames of thought flickering behind his eyes. Only one mind could have sent that note and Lucifer knew, with chilling certainty, exactly whose it was.
Michael.
AUTHOR NOTE
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