Page 6 of Falling for the Devil
Allowing Lucifer anywhere near his sister, much less purposefully putting them together, was an awaiting disaster of epic proportions. And if she was hurt in any manner, he would exact a pitiless vengeance.
Both Zeus and Ares glared at him. “Would you like to reword your question, Apollo, before it’s too late to retract it?” His brother, second only to Zeus in power and cruelty, ruled with an iron fist and was less likely to forgive a grievance. There were enough heads on spears across Olympus and numerous mortal worlds to attest to his temper. Everyone else—god or not—avoided him on a good day.
But Apollo refused to back down. This was his twin sister they were serving up to the wolves—or the other way around, depending on the situation.
An uncharacteristic grin spread up Zeus’s face followed by laughter that shook the ground and rocked the giant pillars that kept the tower from falling upon them. “Oh, son! So typical. Always on the ready to blast anyone who so much as looks at your sister. Trust me. I would wager all of Olympus that she is safer with the archangel than any other deity or person. Besides...”
A chill spread up Apollo’s spine the wider Zeus’s smile became. “What, Father? Besides... what?”
“You never had a mind for strategy. What a waste!” Ares snarled at him with his typical condescension. His brother had never spoken to him with any other tone. “Father has a magnificent plan to rid us of the angels’ meddling. Diana only needs to play her part.”
Fear warred with fury within him. To spite the angels would be an open declaration of war, one they couldn’t possibly win. To put Diana in the middle would be to serve her up as a sacrificial lamb. He would never allow that. His job was to avert evil, not contribute to it. It was not in his nature to endanger anyone without cause. He could certainly never place his twin in harm’s way.
But if history were any proof, he was the anomaly of the gods. Zeus would slaughter all his children, wives, concubines, and hybrid bastards across thousands of realms if it meant granting him a victory against even the most docile enemy for the slightest grudge.
“And what exactly is her part in all this? Is she even aware of it? Did you not notice her strange behavior earlier? She nearly swooned. A. Goddess. Does. Not. Swoon!” He stomped over to the window that overlooked Ceres’s grove of violet chaste trees. “And did you not witness Lucifer’s own behavior? He couldn’t take his eyes off her!”
In a cold tone that would freeze Hades itself, Zeus uttered, “Precisely. I couldn’t have arranged a better plan if I’d had millennia to prepare”—he paused because everyone knew he had spent millennia trying to strategize how to rid himself of the angels—“and it all just fell into perfect place without any of us needing to lift a finger.”
Apollo whipped around to see his father smack Ares on the shoulder good-naturedly. Were they out of their minds?
Ares drained his cup and slammed it down on an ivory table beside him, motioning a servant to refill it immediately. “Brother, did you not see the arrogance oozing from Lucifer the moment he stepped into our realm? His egotism as he faced off against a squad of my best soldiers? His sickening self-importance as he approached the throne?” He held a ripe pomegranate up to his lips, crimson liquid dripping between his fingers like blood.
“What is that saying?” Ares tapped his chin with the helm of a dagger he’d picked up from the table to carve the fruit. “Ah, yes. Pride goeth before the fall.”
Chapter 5
Just a Stroll Through the Park
Lucifer struggled to not ogle the resplendent goddess who strolled just ahead of him. It was as if the sun itself followed her and bowed to her glory. Light rays threaded through her vibrant rose-colored hair, forming a brilliant halo. Jasmine and the fragrance of early morning forest dew flowed from her, overwhelming the stench of blood and sweat from his own exertions on the coliseum floor. It washed over him with the coolness of silk, caressing his skin in its embrace. Despite the bounty of nature’s beauty around him, his eyes saw only Diana. A pain bordering on pleasure beat within his chest.
She had not turned around to speak to him since they’d exited the coliseum. At first, he had stammered a couple of questions to broker a conversation, but they had gone unanswered. Not even the guards her brother had assigned for the task of protecting her had uttered a syllable. So much for her reputed courtesy.
Why was he so desperate to hear her voice? Just a short while earlier, she had spoken to him with such disdain. An awkward attempt to show courage that he knew to be a deceit. Why she felt the need to put on a false bravado in the first place was disturbing. He suspected she’d been told stories about how mean and awful his kind were, and she had most likely been instilled with prejudice against angels from her inception.
But a part of him yearned to make her feel more at ease with him. There was no need for her to fear or despise him. He truly meant what he had said to Apollo. He would protect her with his life.
One more attempt at conversation...if that failed, he’d fill the empty air with his own monologue describing the beauty of Olympus until they either reached the palace or she at least acknowledged his presence.
“Diana, would you spare me a moment to take in my new surroundings? There is so much beauty to behold, I find myself overwhelmed with yearning to stop and enjoy the sites.”
They had entered a dense forest while he had been musing to himself but had just come into a clearing, where a spectacular waterfall fed a babbling brook. They were close enough that the spray from the relentlessly pounding falls danced all around them. The moisture coated his skin and parched lips. They had not even offered him any refreshments after his earlier victory.
A tingle of irritation radiated from Diana’s backside the moment her feet halted before stepping onto a quaint wooden bridge over the water. Moments passed in silence until an owl hooted from a nearby tree. Diana’s head tilted as if listening to a friend, followed by a deep sigh.
“Fine.” She marched over to a stone bench by the water’s edge. “Is this sufficient for you?” She gestured impatiently at the bench.
A smile crept up Lucifer’s face, stretching his cheeks to their capacity. He found an odd pleasure in annoying her. He strolled over to sit down but motioned for her to sit first. It would be ungentlemanly of him to leave her standing, although it would serve her right for the attitude she was throwing at him.
Her eyes rolled up until only the white parts showed, but with another exasperated sigh, she lowered herself to the opposite side of the small bench. He had misjudged its size, or to be honest, he hadn’t even noticed it. Diana was slender—and curvy in all the places that counted—but his giant form could barely fit on what surface remained.
Oh, well, guess she’ll have to deal with us being close.
The pain in his chest quickened in its rhythmic thrumming.
No, this is most certainly a bad idea.
Diana scooted as far as she could to the other side, but there was no way they could both fit without touching. The question was... Did he dare?