ONLY ANGEL | B. Barnes

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Lucifer's mansion glowed viciously with darkwood, a vast lake shining from one of the large windows - allowing the man to solemnly watch the idle slosh of the water. Lucifer stared at his hellhound: Clegane, barking at the naked lake that he nearly hissed at the dog for disrupting the solitude. In broad daylight, the devil chose to allow a fire to burn behind him, the sparks loud and melting with the soft wind of the open window.

He shifted in his seat, steel eyes vacant as he thought about his daughter - about his brother. There was no need to dwell on the past, the memory of being banished from his home still fresh on his mind, clawing at his brain as he shook his head from the thought. His father's voice booming of his ignorance, of his selfishness still fresh in his mind, never withering away. A countless reminder that he was unwanted, nobody to his father. His thoughts drifted back to his daughter, he had seen her once, when she was a child - the day before she was instructed to be sent to Earth. He had held her close, the warmth of her fresh body reminding him of everything he had been deprived of for the last seven millenia. He remembered how she had gurgled in his grasp, her small stubby fingers featherly washing over his jaw. He had only held onto her tighter.

A moment between father and daughter.

His mind drifted over to the meeting between that guardian angel and his brother, and his jaw clenched. After he had left the premises of the building, and out of purgatory he had gone straight to Tony Stark, the messenger between Heaven and Hell. As he had left, he could feel his brother's penetrating gaze burning holes at the back of his figure, causing the devil to only straighten his posture, adding an incredible amount of elegance to his step. He will not be seen as weak by his brother - especially the younger one.

Knowing Tony Stark for as long as he had been banished, he knew all of the man's quirks. He had recognized the faint amusement in his brown eyes, with the mixture of concern for his closest friend as he had opened the satanic church's doors. He had seen the way Stark's chest had slightly gone down in a huff, before the man could question him. The duo had soaked in each other's presence for over an hour, before the devil had the courage to ask about his daughter. The questions he wanted to ask had been burning his throat, edging him to spill to the man.

Of course, Tony Stark knew that his questions were going to come in one way or another. A friendly smile was styled on his features as he watched the devil fumble over his words for the girl, noting how their quirks were eerily similar: a distinctive twitch in their brows when they would ask a question, in a tone that Stark would pick up as a wince. They were obviously related, both sitting on his office chair with the same look in their eye.

Lucifer had cleared his throat, placed his right leg over the left. Stark raised a brow at the sound, mimicking the man sitting in his seat. "How did she look?" Said Lucifer, unsure on how to delve deeper into his daughter. "Did she look like me?"

The man smirked, he could sense the nervousness - which was odd for the devil - roll off him in tidal waves. "Fortunately, she didn't inherit them scary ass eyes." He paused, carefully watching the devil. "She's got your quirks, Lucy."

Lucifer's lip twitched at the ounce of information. They were similar. He gestured for the messenger to continue, shifting in his seat to calm the curiosity. "The priest, Barton - I had a sense that she had trouble over coming into the church. She kept shifting about-" he snaps his fingers. "-guilt, there was a lot of that."

"I see," Lucifer drew on, sorrow growing in his chest, which his heat licked at comfortably. He felt bad for his child for the guilt from killing the priest. "And, what of her heat?"

A grin broke out on the messenger's face, he leaned forward in his seat. "Remarkable."

————111————