Chapter Text
“The measure of a man’s heart
lies in what he’s willing to sacrifice for his family.”
--qtations.com/53
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“No. That can’t be right.”
Lucifer stared in the mirror with horror. The carvings in the black iron collar around his neck glowed an unearthly green hue, mocking him. With shaking hands, he grabbed the iron and rubbed it anxiously, hoping that it was a mistake. It had to be a mistake.
Chloe had burnt out the collar -- surely Aphrodite couldn’t follow him here...?
A quick glance back at the bed showed him that his lovely bride still slept... good. There had to be some way to fix this. Bloody hell, they had just gotten married! It figured that the bloody goddess would choose this day, of all days, to show up. Thinking hard, Lucifer ran through his options. He already knew that he couldn’t get the collar off, so there wasn’t any point in trying that again. Staying would only endanger Chloe, and he definitely couldn’t have that. That left leaving and facing the goddess on his own.
Nodding to himself in the mirror, he decided that it was the best plan of action. He wasn’t bloody incapacitated this time! Weapons were what he needed, and a plan. A plan.... How did one deal with a vampiric goddess?
The sound of movement from the vicinity of the bedroom had him looking over in panic. Was his lovely wife waking up? No no no, that was not good. He had to make sure she didn’t know what he was about to do -- she would just protest and insist on going with him. That was definitely not a bloody option.
Desperate to hide the telltale glow of the collar, Lucifer strode to the closet and whipped out a black tie. With deft hands he wound it around the iron. Uncomfortable, since it put a little pressure around his neck, but necessary. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Chloe lift her head from her pillow and look around.
“Lucifer?” he heard her call.
“Coming, love!” he replied, shrugging on his silk robe and trying to make himself look presentable. He took a close look in the mirror -- his face showed the panic he felt. Bloody hell, all she had to do was look at him, and she’d know something was up. Making dinner under the bright kitchen lights was definitely out. The cover of darkness was what he needed.
Taking a deep breath, he tried his best to relax. He was the Devil -- he could pull this off. He had to.
With quick strides he walked back over to the master bedroom, where Chloe was sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She looked so beautiful as she held the sheet to her body, with a face soft from sleep and her hair in disarray. Yawning, she asked, “What time is it?”
“Oh, around seven o’clock,” he answered.
“Oh... no wonder I’m hungry,” she said as she turned to look at him. Her slumberous, sexy eyes made Lucifer’s insides burn like a torch. Luckily, she had given him the exact opening he needed.
“Oh, really, love? Perhaps I can do something to satisfy that hunger of yours,” he said in a low, sultry voice as he threw off the robe and joined her in bed. Taking her in his arms and resting her back on the bed, he kissed her deeply before resting his forehead on hers. “Interested?” he breathed softly.
“Well yes, very, but... food?” she whispered as she brought her hand up and caressed his stubble-lined cheek.
Lucifer started stroking her body, coaxing a moan from her lips. “Later, love...” he rumbled seductively. “Later....”
One last time, he thought as he pulled her close and surrounded himself with her warmth and love. One last memory to take with him into battle....
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Lucifer took a little longer than he intended with Chloe, but he found it very difficult to leave. The fear of losing to Aphrodite had given his lovemaking a desperate edge, making him burn brighter and hotter -- they had gone up in flames like never before. Had she felt his anxiety? Hopefully she still suspected nothing was wrong.
Carefully disengaging himself from his sleeping wife’s embrace, he slipped out of bed. As silent as a shadow he dressed, all the while casting anxious glances at Chloe to make sure she had not awakened. Quick, sharp movements removed the tie from the bloody collar. Having left off his shirt and suit jacket, he unfolded his great wings without any hindrance and shook them out. All he needed now was a weapon.
Lucifer strode to the coat closet and slid out the duffel bag from Hell. It was starting to get light -- he’d have to have Amenadiel refill it one day. Crouching down, he quietly opened it and saw a limited choice of weaponry -- knives, a morning star, a few random blades, and a battle axe. No sword or war hammer, which he would have preferred. Battle axe it would be, then. The clinking of metal hitting metal sounded terribly loud to his ears as he pulled the weapon out from under the other arms. He leaned to one side, glancing into the master bedroom. Was she stirring? No.... he was safe. As silently as possible he shoved the duffel bag back into the closet and rose to his feet.
He’d need to leave a message for Chloe -- she’d be furious if she found him gone without any explanation. The thought of his wife in a rage aroused him terribly, and for a brief second his brain demanded he stay to watch the fireworks -- but no. He grabbed some paper off of his study desk and jotted a quick note before leaving it on the bar. She’d be sure to see it there.
Even though it was imperative that he leave quickly, the fallen angel still took the time to make his way to the side of the bed and take a last look at his wife. How he wished things were different! But if all went well, perhaps she wouldn’t even know he had been gone. Leaning over, he gently kissed Chloe’s forehead. Warmth filled his heart when she smiled in her sleep.
“I’ll be back soon, love,” he whispered.
Then with purposeful strides, he walked to the balcony. He didn’t look back -- it would only weaken his resolve. His wings stretched wide as he launched himself into the sky.
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Chloe woke up slowly, blinking in the darkness. She didn’t know what time it was; they had never gotten dinner and her stomach was growling. Reaching over for her lover, her hand met emptiness. With a start, she woke up completely.
“Lucifer?” she called.
Silence.
She pulled herself out of bed, reached for the robe her husband had thrown on the floor and shrugged it on. A sense of foreboding filled her, for the apartment was deathly quiet. What the hell -- it was their wedding night! Where was Lucifer?
As she searched each room of the penthouse, her mind ran through possible explanations for his disappearance. Did he run out of food or drink? Or perhaps he was checking on LUX? Neither one of those made any sense. He always had food in stock, and surely Mazikeen would watch over LUX, especially today! So what the hell?!
One last call to make sure he really wasn’t hiding somewhere.... “Lucifer, answer me!”
Something on the bar counter caught her eye. Pinned down by a bottle of whiskey was a piece of paper with writing in Lucifer’s neat, masculine scrawl. With narrowed eyes, Chloe approached it as if it were a coiled snake. Snatching it up, she read:
“Dearheart --
I’m sorry but I have to leave. Some business has come up that needs taking care of. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but don’t worry, love.
Your husband,
L.”
“What the hell kind of business takes a man away from his wife on his wedding day?” she cried as she crumpled up the note. She threw the paper back onto the counter and put her head into her hand.
Chloe’s detective mind started going into overtime. Had he gotten any calls? Not that she had heard, and he did have a fairly loud ringtone -- “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” always made her laugh, considering whose phone it was on. No text messages either. So then what could have possibly torn him away? She was fairly sure she would have heard him talking, if he had called someone. So... what did that leave? The only thing that was was out of the ordinary was....
The collar he wore.
Thinking back, she recalled that in the dark, the collar had felt strange when her hand had brushed against it. He had flinched away, as usual, but not before her hand had made contact with it. It felt... soft. Material? Yes -- he had covered it up. That had been the only thing out of the ordinary. So his disappearance had something to do with the collar -- which meant it involved the one who had put it on him. Lucifer had never told her anything about the goddess who had held him prisoner, other than that she had put the collar on him... but what if she and the collar were linked in some way? Could the goddess come here, because he was here?
“Oh god,” she breathed. A terrible feeling washed over her. Had Lucifer gone to confront the goddess who had tortured him?
No. No no no. He would not do that. Not on their wedding day. Not without telling her. She rushed over to her purse and frantically searched for her phone. With shaking hands, she dialed Amenadiel.
The phone rang a few times -- too long, in Chloe’s opinion -- before the angel picked up. “Chloe?”
She could barely hear his voice over LUX’s booming music in the background. “Amenadiel, is Lucifer with you?”
“Lucifer?” The astonishment was plain in his voice. “Why would Lucifer be with me?”
Oh god, no.
“Did you speak with him after the reception?”
“No... why? What’s going on, Chloe?” he asked, puzzled.
Chloe heaved a big sigh. “Lucifer’s gone missing.”
“Missing? Today?!”
“Yes. Can you come up? I think I’m going to need some help.”
“Sure. Be right up.”
After hanging up the phone, Chloe threw her eyes skyward and let out a string of invectives that would have shocked her husband, finally ending with, “God damn you, Lucifer!”
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Lucifer perched on one of the many cliffs along the coastline, and waited. He could have easily been mistaken for a stone gargoyle in the moonlight, with his big wings spread. With the battle axe resting loosely in his hand, anyone looking at him would have thought he was relaxed. Instead, his nerves were strung as tight as a bowstring. He had never been very good at waiting.
“Well! There you are, my pet,” a woman’s voice called out from behind him.
Looking over his shoulder, Lucifer saw the blonde goddess approaching. Thankfully she didn’t have Chloe’s face on, but her own. “Goddess,” he greeted as he straightened to his full height and turned.
Aphrodite looked even more beautiful in the moonlight, but in Lucifer’s eyes, she was hideous. There was a horrible hunger in her eyes, and she licked her lips as she watched him approach.
“Are you ready to submit to me, my dear Lucifer? I can’t wait to taste you again.”
When he was about ten feet away from her, the fallen angel stopped and hefted the battle axe into a ready position. “I’m not tied up with rope this time, you trollop.”
“Ooooh, my little pet has a stinger,” she cooed, then snickered. “Not that it will do any good. That collar of mine will stop you from harming me.”
She waved with her hand, but Lucifer felt nothing from the iron ring around his neck. No doubt if Chloe hadn’t burned most of it out, he would be walking into Aphrodite’s arms right now like a lamb to the slaughter. Instead he started circling her, keeping a good distance between them.
The goddess’s expression fell with disappointment. Then anger flared through her face, turning it into something very ugly. “What have you done?” she screamed at him as she waved her hand again and again.
A wicked smile lit Lucifer’s face. “Wouldn’t you like to know, you bloody bitch?” and took the opportunity to rush her.
Her eyebrows rose with surprise as she dodged the swipe of the axe. “So you want to play?” she snarled, then laughed harshly as she pulled a long knife from her belt. Her eyes suddenly glinted with intensity as she bared her teeth in a feral grin. “Very well, my pet. Let’s dance.”