Lucifer (The Devil Chronicles #1)

Chapter 14

We were outside her house. Her house.

"Luke, who is she?" Charlie asked, her arms across her stomach.

I sigh and turn around to face her. I had to tell her. "Kate is my ex," I admitted. I see Charlie's face: hurt. "Look, she was kinda my soulmate before you were. But things didn't work out. It really sucked but there's nothing I can do to change the past."

Charlie nods and keeps her eyes trained on the sidewalk. I know I've hurt her, probably irreversibly. But there's something else she's going to need to know before we walk in there.

"Charlie, look, there's something else." I coughed, fully knowing there was no going back.

"What is it?"

"I have--" I was interrupted by tiny arms wrapping around my waist.

"Uncle Luke!" I heard him say. I laugh, relieved, and turn around.

"Hi buddy!" I exclaim, picking him up. I turn around to face Charlie again and see that she knows. Her hand is covering her mouth and tears are streaming down her cheeks. I silently plead that she won't saying anything out loud. "Go inside, okay? I'll be right in. Tell your mom I'm here." I say, putting Tommy down. He nods his head, his curly hair bobbing. He runs inside, the door slamming behind him.

"Does he know?" Charlie gasps out, tears still running down her cheeks. 

"No," I say, rubbing the back of my neck. What am I supposed to do, hold her?

"Why not?" She asks.

"What am I supposed to tell him? Hey, son, your father's the ruler of the Underworld!" I mutter sarcastically, which absolutely does not help the situation. I see more hurt in Charlie's eyes as I confirm what she suspected. Tommy is my son.

The front door opens and Kate steps out, Tommy peeking out behind her. She does not look happy to see me. I guess I'm just really good at pissing off women today.

"Hey, Kate," I said, chuckling nervously. Her eyes narrowed at me.

"What do you want?" She said through clenched teeth.

"I need to talk to you," I insisted, walking up to the front door, Charlie slowly following behind me. Kate looks her up and down with a not so nice look. Shit, I am so screwed.

"So talk," Kate said, crossing her arms. I gave Charlie a look and she immediately looks away. I sigh. Goddammit, I hate sighing.

"Uh, well a rogue angel may or may not be coming after you--" I started.

"Tommy, please go play." Kate said interrupting me, ushering her boy away from the door. 

"What are you doing here?" She asked again, her eyes hardening once more.

"Um, could we talk inside? It's a long story," I insisted. Kate glanced from me to Charlie, then back at me. Finally, she nodded and opened the door to let us inside.

We walked into her living room that had been covered with toys. Kate kicked them aside and sat down on a chair in the corner. Charlie and I sat on the couch across from her. I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees, staring at the floor. Charlie sat next to me, as far away as she possibly could.

"Talk." Kate commanded, glaring at me. She was still super pissed at me, simply for being a male and getting her pregnant. I'll admit, not my best move, but we were soulmates, supposedly. I couldn't stay with her, we both knew that. I made sure she was comfortable and had all the help she needed. 

"Okay, so there's a rogue angel after us and we think he might have found my connection to you. So, we need to find a safe--"

"Stop right there." Kate interrupted, standing up. "I don't want to hear about this. I finally have a normal life, you can't just waltz in here and ruin that!"

I stood up, towering over her. "I'm trying to protect you!" I yelled back, trying to explain. Charlie stood up and opened her mouth but before she could say anything, the lights went out. I heard a scream and a foul smell clouded my vision. Then I fell to the floor, consciousness slipping from me. The last thing I heard was a laugh, an evil laugh.

***

"Lucifer? Lucifer!!!" I heard someone scream and felt my body being shaken. I was cold. That's all I could process, that I was freezing. I managed to open my eyes and everything was blurry, colors were all blurred together.

"Lucifer, get up, please!" Someone yelled into my ear. My vision finally came into focus and I sat up, rubbing my head.

"What happened?" I asked Kate, who was kneeling next to me.

She opened her mouth but then clamped it shut, her eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't place.

"Where's Charlie?" I asked, looking around the room. I looked back at Kate, waiting for an answer.

"Lucifer, I passed out." Kate said, her eyes filling with pity.

My mind couldn't process what she was saying. "So, where is she?"

"She's gone, Lucifer."