Synching With the Devil's Son

Chapter 72

Lucien's P.O.V.

I land in Hell and start walking toward my father's office, trying to formulate what I'm going to say to him. I need to convince him what I'm feeling for Bella is not a transient or frivolous thing. I've never felt like this before. I want to wake up with Bella in my arms every morning, for the rest of eternity. I'm not sure that's even possible, so at the very least, I want to spend her lifetime together...we can live in Heaven once she passes and I will help my father in Hell as needed. I suddenly realize Dad never had that opportunity to be with my mother, partly because she chose to leave us, but mostly because he has been banned from entering Heaven's realm. We never sat down to discuss our family dynamic, and I understand, sadly, that it is all my fault. I never gave his emotions any consideration, I was just an angry, immature asshole who looked at his father with scorn. Well, that stops today. I sympathize with him a lot more now than I did three days ago.

I pass a number of Demons who nod in greeting, some say hello, some just lower their eyes and walk faster. I despise this place, but since I want to build a relationship with my father, I am going to have to change my attitude. There are not a lot of redeeming qualities in Hell though. The light is dim, ash constantly falls from the sky but never accumulates, and the smells of sulphur, brimstone and treacle are unrelenting. The screaming and sobbing of the damned echo throughout the area, and I have the same thought I always do when I hear them begging, 'you should have lived your life more honestly, assholes!'

As I near my Dads office, one of the head demons, Xirus, stops me. "Prince Lucien, may I have a moment of your time?" he asks, head bowed in deference. His voice is laced with the deep demonic tones of hate and wrath, and not for the first time, I am glad my soul will never be tortured by Xirus.

"Of course, Xirus, but first, do you know if my Dad is in his office?"

"He is not," Xirus says, "that is why I need to speak with you."

"Is there something wrong?"

He looks at me quizzically, "Why should there be something wrong?"

"I don't know," I say sarcastically, "I'm here to meet with Dad in his office, he's not there, and you want to speak with me," I say, annoyed. Demons are very good at torturing people, pretty good at following orders, but cannot think outside the box. They are the most literal entities in the universe, and do not aspire to be anything more than what they were created for. I guess there is a kind of poetic symmetry in that, but their inability to operate through multilayered thought processes leaves me irritated every time I deal with them.

Xirus looks at me like I'm speaking a language he's never heard of, which would be impossible since Demons speak every language. I sigh, getting my irritation under control. "What do you need to ask me, Xirus?"

"There is a new group of psychopaths who arrived yesterday, and I wanted to know if you can greet them?" he says, standing so still you would have thought he was made of stone. "Your father is unavailable at the moment, and they have been in holding cells for a long time."

I curse inwardly, my meeting with my father will have to wait, and say, "Sure," turning to follow him toward our intake platform. Maybe Dad will be back in his office when I am done. Another hour isn't going to make or break anything, I just need to learn to have some patience. I have to approach him calmly because the last thing I need is my father with his guard up, perhaps even upset at Bella for a perceived injustice against my person. He may not have been a loving father, but he sure is a protective one.