Devilish Love

13. Deviled Eggs

Chapter 13: Deviled Eggs

As I cracked open the door, the devil Lucifer saw me. I saw his eyes go wide before they rearranged themselves in their normal resting position. His eyes morphed colours again, changing into a fiery red. It drew my attention, and I tried not to look at them in complete and utter fascination, which was really what I wanted to do right there and then. 

I heard Ianthe giggling from in the room, and I promptly shut the door. Spirits. They're always so...well, spirited. 

He was in his normal attire. I supposed he had a thousand of the same outfit. Either that or he always wore the same cloak and clothes. I hoped not, because it was bound to stink after a thousand and forty-nine years. Had he popped out of the womb wearing the cloak? Had he even popped out of the womb? How the hell were devils born?

If I kept wondering about the technicalities of the afterlife, I feared my brain would explode. Not a good thing, since I still needed my wits with me. 

Lucifer raised his arm halfway up his body and crooked it slightly. I knew he wanted me to take it, but he hadn't exactly asked, so that meant I could have some fun. Grinning secretly to myself, I started to walk down the corridor, putting one foot in front of the other oh-so-carefully. He strode after me and caught up without even panting. That was annoying. How could someone be so perfect?

His arm was still in the same position. He cleared his throat slightly and I turned my head. "Got a cough?" I inquired politely.

"Your perfume irritates my respiratory system," He agreed.

Rolling my eyes, I stalked down the corridor. The corridor was lined with lamps in the shape of skulls and bright white lights, and statues here and there. Some were cute, some not so. There were also paintings and pictures, and I assumed they were all of Lucifer. One was a two-year-old Lucifer with a thumb in his mouth, staring up at the camera.Wait. Maybe I was simply assuming that he was two, because he might have been like, a hundred years old. I was confused. 

 Another of him as a teen. He had still been beautiful then. A thousand years, and he hadn't aged like humans did. Unfair.

Finally, he instructed, "Please take my arm. Father will kill me if you do not."

"Is that so?" I asked, looking up at him, a teasing smile on my face. 

"Listen, be careful when you address him," Lucifer warned darkly. "Father is not one to be trifled with."

"Truffles? There will be truffles? Like the mushrooms or chocolate truffle?" I cried eagerly.

"Trifled," he retorted, obviously annoyed. "Perhaps you are also deaf as well as smelly, Kayla Marie."

"Hmph," I muttered. "Says the ancient old dude. I bet your armpits haven't been washed in five hundred years."

He chose not to reply, and wisely so, because I probably would not have wanted to know if his armpits had been washed or not. Ignorance was definitely bliss. I realised that now. A thought occurred to me. "Do you eat deviled eggs?" I asked.

He frowned, slowing down to match my pace as he saw I saw struggling to match with his stride. "Would that not be cannibalism?"

"Uh...they're eggs."

"Devil's eggs," he replied. "But- devils do not reproduce by eggs. We simply-"

"Stop! Too much info!" I cried, putting my hands over my ears. My hands knocked on my hoop earrings. Although I had wondered about it, I decided it was one of the things better left unanswered.

"You asked," he shrugged.

"Lucifer, I think you live under a rock. How can you not know half the things I am saying? It's like you're talking Greek, and I'm talking Chinese!"

"You speak Chinese?" he asked in awe. "I've heard it's the world's hardest language. Did I mention I've been trying to master it for two hundred years?"

"Ah," I said. "Well, that's a very long time. You either suck at Chinese or you're just a perfectionist."

"I am both," he conceded after a moment's thought. 

We had reached the dining room by now. It had grand golden doors. I tried my best to look unimpressed, because I wanted to act cool. 

There, exposed. 

I suddenly caught sight of a camera lens peeking out of a corner behind a pillar. I knew I had to ramp up my act. Even though I had no idea who the video was for, cameras meant acting. I gripped Lucifer's arm tighter and started laughing hysterically. "Play along for the cameras," I hissed.

Lucifer twisted his face into a grimace. The sad thing was, I think he was actually trying to smile.

I would go back to my room and laugh at Lucifer later. For now, we stepped into the dining room, and I almost lost my breath.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, which was impossibly high. Majestic stone pillars held up the room. Candles were lit all around, giving the room a mystical glow, and a long dining table was in the centre of the room, with a white linen tablecloth and black plates and cutlery. But the food caught my eye. It looked so good. My stomach rumbled, and I tried to hide my extreme embarrassment. I knew Lucifer had heard it too, because one of his ears pricked up, but he did not deign to mention it, to my relief.

"Yo," I whispered.

Lucifer glanced down at me in a patronising manner.

"Where's scary Papa?"I dared to ask. 

His stare turned into a very pointed glare, and he spun his head away from me, marching us forward. That's when I saw dear old Devil Papa. He was sitting on a throne that had materialised in the middle of the room. The throne was cool. It was black and metallic gray, surrounded by wickedly sharp daggers pointing straight at me. Lucifer stiffened, but I stared in admiration. That was one amazing throne design.

"Father," Lucifer said in a low voice, bowing. I quickly did the same. Devil Papa alighted easily and the throne disappeared. He was just as tall as his son, and almost as beautiful. Except he did have a few gray hairs in his head. I suppose one did get gray hairs after a few thousand years. And he had cold eyes that were an obsidian black, without changing colours like Lucifer's eyes. Streaks of red decorated his arms like tattoos. 

Devil Papa's eyes raked over my outfit, and I knew in that instant that he had selected it himself. I shuddered. Pervert. He noticed, of course. His sharp eyes missed nothing. He chuckled and snapped his fingers. Behind me, there was a cry of surprise from the cameraman. Oh, no. The cameras were turned off.

"Come here," He said, eyeing me hungrily like a predator to prey.

Oh no I don't, I wanted to say. But I obediently went, because this Devil Papa reeked of power and I had this suspicion he would destroy me easily enough if I dared to disobey him. Lucifer had not moved, he was unblinking and standing straight like one of the stone pillars we had walked past earlier.

He leaned in and whispered in my ear. "You have a letter from the Heavenly King. Now behave yourself, okay? No matter what."

I didn't like the way he said that. Not at all.