25. Mal

Mal, Desmond, and Bash, please meet me in my quarters, Lucifer's voice rattled through my brain, like an intrusive thought.

His demand came right in the middle of Paranormal Conqueror, our favorite reality competition show. Supernatural pairs from all over the world would travel through the four realms, collecting clues to a shared destination. Whoever overcame the many obstacles along the way and got there first won. Since we had moved out of the New York house, we fell behind on the most recent season.

"We can go after this episode ends," Desmond said, absorbed in the show as he scratched Feta behind the ears.

"Yeah," I agreed.

One of the pairs was a hellbound and a vampire-siren hybrid, and they were the favorites to win this season. They just traversed through the volcanic sludge of the Third Circle of Hell when Lucifer interrupted again.

There better be some sort of cosmic emergency. Where the fuck are you all?

"One of us should go to hold him off, then the rest of us can finish it," Bash suggested before cramming a handful of potato chips in his mouth.

"Good idea. Go on," I encouraged him. Sure as fuck wasn't going to be me.

"No, you go!" He threw a chip at my face.

"You got to sleep in Diana's room last night. You should go," Desmond chimed in. "I'm not going because I don't give a fuck about making Lucifer wait."

"Seems like all three of you don't care!" Lucifer shouted after he sneakily faded into our barrack without a sound. It pissed us all off that he could override our wards. Ares was with him and they both looked annoyed.

"Guuuuuuys! We have a situation," Ares shouted as he vaulted over the back of the couch, landed on my lap, and knocked the wind out of me. He stole the bowl of chips right out of Bash's hands.

"My fucking crisps! You garbage disposal," Bash groused.

"Focus!" Lucifer snapped, waving his hand making the bowl disappear. "We may know where Red's hiding."

"How? Where?" Desmond asked. "I've been trying to figure it out, but he's been radio silent since Diana left."

"Long story short, Reded was somehow visiting Marilyn in her psyche while she was in equilibrium," Ares explained. "He did it from the throne room in Hell, which leads us to believe he may be there now. Diana is going to torture Damon for more information, and we'll plot from there."

"This could be a trap. I want to check her psyche and make sure it's not compromised," Bash demanded with urgency in his voice.

"We can arrange that at a later time. Right now, I need all hands on deck for this," Lucifer said.

"She's up for this?" Desmond asked. "None of us could get him to talk."

"She seems determined to break him," Lucifer said with pride in his voice. "And my daughter can do anything she puts her mind to. We'll all converge at his cell in thirty minutes." He waved his hand, and our television went blank. "Just so you don't get distracted."

He faded out, and the four of us stared at each other. Desmond linked us all. Az, is she with you?

Yes. We'll meet you all there. Taking some time to get into the zone, he replied.

Is she okay? I asked. If I were Diana I'd be on a rampage about this. Red crossed a line by invading Marilyn's psyche.

She's ready. See you there, Az said before cutting the link.

We all broke apart, going to our rooms to ready ourselves for Damon's last stand. I had every conviction that my princess would turn this piece of shit inside out before ruining him.

We all met in the living room with a few minutes to spare, then faded to the door outside his cell in the back of the dungeon.

"Guys, before we go in, we need to agree on something…" Bash said before we entered. He threw up a silencing spell. "If Diana for some reason can't handle this and needs our help, we step in—no matter what she wants or what her father says."

We all nodded in agreement, then Ares put his hand on the door, unlocking it with his magical signature.

When it came to our woman, the guys and I all agreed that her wellbeing came first.

Ares tookDamon out of his cell and tied him to a nymphwood cross similar to the one we found Desmond on at the warehouse. His once brilliantly orange eyes were dim, and his entire body sagged with exhaustion. Despite his immortality, his face aged with fine lines and wrinkles. He seemed like he was falling apart, and I had no clue how he'd continue to resist our methods to make him talk.

I also had no clue what Diana's next move was. Azazel said it was something different than what we were used to, but with the four of us, that could literally mean anything. We'd done some shit, seen some things. But I had faith that my princess would come in here swinging and get exactly what she was after.

"Where did Diana and Lucifer go?" Desmond asked.

"She wanted to talk to him, get some fatherly guidance I guess," I replied. I may not have been a huge fan of Lucifer after everything that happened, but there was no doubt he loved his daughter, in his own way. He was a better father than mine had been.

Lucifer entered the torture chamber in his Armani suit, eyeing Damon up like he was the personification of rotting garbage in his ratty old tee shirt and boxer briefs. When we set him on fire, we had to replace his clothing. And we weren't wasting good clothes on a future corpse.

"Unfortunately, Diana won't be joining us. She isn't feeling well," he informed us. "I'll be running the show now."

Ares immediately faded out of the room, presumably to check on her.

"Awww, how sad. Little Miss Diana Morningstar can't hack torture? She can't get her hands dirty doing wet work? What a poor fucking excuse for a successor, father," Damon spat.

"Still a better choice than you," Lucifer snickered. "At least Diana has potential and isn't fucked up like you are. You're mental, Damon. Damaged. Broken. Even as a child, I knew something wasn't right with you."

"Sure you're not talking about Oisín?" he panted, struggling to get the words out with how weak he was.

Diana just left? That doesn't seem right…Desmond linked us.

Yeah, you're right. She was so determined to do this… I'm going to check on her too,I linked. Lucifer was hiding something from us. He wouldn't just glaze over Diana being sick.

Ares popped back into the room, a devious glint to his eyes. I'd only seen this look on his face while he was elbow deep in battle or torturing someone. No, don't go. You're going to miss the show. Trust me, you'll want to see this.

Agreed, y'all are gonna want to stick around,Azazel assured us. I switched my focus back to Lucifer.

"You always had such jealousy toward Oisín. Your brother is so talented and smart, magically gifted, really." Lucifer had a point. Oisín Morningstar was a renowned menace to the magical community. I counted myself lucky to be on his good side, let alone someone he considered a friend.

"Oh yeah, so magically gifted that I was able to trap him into a debt and force him to spy on his own sister as a cat for years. Real prize," Damon huffed.

I felt despair curl around him and took a light pull of it, then promptly spit it out. His sadness tasted rancid. I didn't need a power boost that badly.

"Oh yeah, body morphing…a Morningstar power you didn't inherit. Instead of being jealous and hateful toward Oisín, you should have taken the opportunity to learn from him—teamed up with your more powerful sibling and worked together. But you're your mother's son, so I guess you aren't capable of higher thought. Or working with someone beyond lying on your back…"

Oh fuck, that was the classiest, most epic your mom I've ever heard,Bash linked me.

Ouch,that was a low blow, but one that obviously hit its mark. Damon's face screwed into a scowl, and little wisps of steam escaped from his ear.

"Don't you say shit about my mother! She loved you and you left her for a fucking water nymph! You flaunted your boyfriend in her face for years. You abandoned us!" Damon shouted, gasping for breath.

"She was a one night stand who knew the score. I only moved her into Hell so I could have a hand in raising you, but a fat lot of good that did me. You turned out to be a failure. A waste of genes and potential. You're a disappointment and I regret letting your whore mother bring you into the world."

"Stop it," Damon mumbled through tears. He was crying… None of us had been able to make him cry so far, let alone get such an emotional reaction from him.

"No, you need to hear it," Lucifer bellowed. "You couldn't even get rid of a presumably mortal girl and secure your throne. You had to team up with Red—an usurper—so you could have some morsel of rule over Hell that was your birthright in the first place! You're a disgrace to the Morningstar name! A son I never wanted who's only brought me shame and disappointment. I wish you were never born!"

"I'm sorry," Damon sniveled, his head hanging low. Tears streamed down his face and he choked on his own snot like a coward. "I just wanted you to love me! To be proud of me!"

The guys and I all looked at each other in shock.

Yeah, what a way to get your dad to love you… Treat your siblings like shit, try to steal his throne, fail, and then attack him with his sworn enemy, Ares scoffed. He would know, he had daddy issues that were almost as bad.

"The only way I would have a shred of pride in you is if you told us where Red is hiding. That way I could take the throne of Hell and usher in a new era of Morningstar glory," Lucifer quipped. "But you already said you didn't know, so you're useless to me—again. What a shock."

Lucifer strode toward the door, throwing over his shoulder, "Have fun, boys. He's yours to play with until you break him or somehow kill him."

"Wait," Damon rasped. The Prince of Darkness turned toward him. "I know…where Red hides," he forced out around gasps. "He doesn"t feel safe in Hell, so he keeps his forces there and hides…" he took another deep, rattling breath… "In the Fourth Realm, in a recreation of his castle in Pandemonium."

"Are you sure? How do I know you aren't lying to me?"

Damon offered his battered, broken hand to Lucifer. "I'll make a deal with you that I'm telling the truth."

Lucifer walked up to Damon, reached out his hand for a shake, then slapped him across the face. Then he backhanded him. His body vibrated, and his tall, stoic form melted into a curvy, cackling woman. Hells bells, Diana morphed into her father.

"Daddy doesn't love me!" she mockingly shrieked. "Boo fucking hoo, Damon. You're such a cliche. Such a sad, sorry excuse for a man, you should be ashamed of yourself for breaking so easily."

"Wh-what?" he stuttered. "You're not Lucifer?"

"Keep up, moron. I guess since you don't have it, you may not know how morphing works. I turned into Lucifer so I could hit you where it hurt—your daddy issues. You were right earlier, I can't do wet work with you, because it doesn't work. You may be impervious to pain, but you're an emotional wreck."

"You'll never beat him," Damon breathed barely able to speak. "He'll stop at nothing to rule Hell, and you're just a girl in his way."

Diana pulled his head up by his hair, looking him in the eye. "Wrong again, brother. I'm a woman in his way. A fucking nightmare waiting for him in the dark. I'll ruin him, just like I ruined you. When Lucifer reigns over Hell again, I'll spend eternity punishing him for what he did to me. You won't be so lucky, unfortunately."

The real Lucifer stepped into the room with a stone that looked eerily similar to the one he was trapped in. "Payback is a bitch, Damon. Hope you enjoy your new forever." He flipped the stone into the air, catching it in his hand.

"Was everything she said true?" Damon whispered to his father.

"Yes," he simply confirmed with no further explanation.

He and Diana joined hands, and a bright light burst from where they met. Damon was there one minute, then gone the next. Diana caught me staring at the stone and passed it to me. Damon's face was imprinted on it, like a carving. I felt his negative energy when I held it, and the urge to put it down and walk away washed over me like a tidal wave. I handed it to Bash, who similarly passed it off to Ares. The stone made its rounds amongst us.

"The magical skill used to make this is impressive," Desmond said as he passed it to Lucifer. "Diana…you're ruthless…"

She smiled at him, then hugged Lucifer. "I didn't do it alone. Lucifer told me what I needed to know to get him to crack, and Zaz helped me reach the conclusion of what strategy I had to use to get the job done."

Ares lifted his shirt, showing his abdomen to everyone. In a blank spot right above his six pack, was a portrait of Diana. But instead of her normal sweet, sultry face, she was steeled, a glint in her eyes that matched Ares'. "This is how you looked after you revealed yourself to Damon. You're a queen among women, Little Goddess, and now I can always look at your face and be reminded of how hot you look when you're crushing someone's dreams."

"Well, that wasn't creepy at all," Lucifer snarked. "That's an impressive likeness, Ares. Come on, everyone, let's put this stone where it'll never see the light of day and then grab something to eat."

"Proud of you, queen," I praised her as we traveled to our next destination.

"Queen?" she asked.

"Yes, Queen. Your princess days are over."