Chapter 21

Catalina's POV

I hated him. I hated him and his stupid brother.

"I apologize for Gabriel's behavior. Sometimes he can be a bit dramatic". Micheal walked over to where I was seated on the couch and handed me a cup of water.

Note to self, Kick Gabriel's ass later.

I took the glass from Micheal's hand, throwing the water in his face, and tossed the now empty glass across the room. Shattering it against the wall. Micheal chuckled as he wiped the water from his face.

"I can see why my brother picked you."

Picked?

Before I could even respond, Micheal's cold hand was around my throat as he picked me up and threw me across the room, landing in the pile of broken glass. The sound of glass crunching under his boot caused me to look up, he was in front of me again, bending down as he picked me up by my throat and held me against the wall.

"Let me make one thing clear, I am not like my brothers. I will not tolerate your disrespect."

Screw you.

I spit in his face which only made him angry,

I felt his rough calloused hand slap me across my face before throwing me across the room again, my head hitting the base of the kitchen island.

"You are making it very difficult for me to want to keep you alive."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I choked out at him as blood dripped from my mouth. The red droplets hit the floor, mixing with the glass.

Micheal walked over and knelt in front of me, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him,

"If you die, the lock I placed on Hell opens and Lucifer can return home, raise his armies, and kill us all."

LIAR!

"So I suggest you learn to play nice with me if you want to live."

"Where is Gabriel?" I had enough of Micheal and honestly, I was ready to kick Gabriel's ass if he left me here with him alone.

"Gabriel is out and will be back soon."

Micheal finally released me and I was able to stand up. Shards of glass still pierced my skin. Everything in my body ached as I stood up.

"I'll wait for Gabriel in my room."

I didn't wait for his reply as I turned my back to him and slowly made my way back to my room. Each step feeling his heated gaze aimed at my back.

I hate him.

* * *

Lucifer's POV

"Who else knows how to break the lock?"

He knew. He fucking knew. All this time.

The bastard knew all these years and kept it to himself. I should be pissed. I should be angry and hurt yet I understood.

"Just Michael and I."

Only them? Interesting.

"I am only doing this to keep Catalina safe."

Catalina. Damn, I miss her.

"Do you honestly think I would hurt her?"

I would never hurt her and I hoped that Gabriel would realize that. However, if someone had harmed her, there would be nowhere in this world that they could hide. I would hunt them down and bring her their heart.

"I think you would do anything to return to your people."

I would.

I would do anything. Sacrifice anything. Except for her.

"I would never harm her Gabriel."

"Do not lie to me, brother. Do you really expect me to believe that you have feelings for her? Do you expect me to believe that you actually care about her? You showed no feelings towards her until after The Fates showed us that vision. So what changed Lucifer?"

Everything. Everything had changed.

I didn't understand what was happening or why but I had found myself getting closer to her. I wanted to be close to her and be there. I wanted to hear everything she had to say just so I could hear her voice. I wanted to train with her longer just so I could spend more time with her. I needed her. I wanted her. I craved her.

That night in her bedroom, when I had tucked her into bed and admitted to her that I had begun to think I was in love with her, the Fates confirmed what I had already thought. What I had already known to be true and was slowly starting to realize.

"I do not expect you to believe what I say, and yes I admit I acted more on my feelings when I saw the vision but make no mistake brother, I have cared for Catalina longer than I wish to admit."

From the moment I met her, I was drawn to her. I couldn't understand why, in the beginning, I thought it was because we were so similar. Seeing her filled with such rage and pain. It was like looking into a mirror and seeing a younger version of myself.

"Perhaps I should have made it known sooner and trust me. It is the one thing in my life I regret, but I chose not to. I chose to keep my distance and damn it I shouldn't have. I acted more after the vision because it confirmed what I already felt and had hoped to be true."

I leaned forward, pressing both my hands on the kitchen island, I leaned in closer,

"I didn't tell her about the vision because I wanted it to be her choice. Brother, you have told me from the beginning that she has had everything taken from her. That she has had very few choices in her life. I would not take another choice from her. I would not be that person to her."

From what Gabriel had told me Catalina didn't get a lot of say in any decisions in her life. Everything she did was controlled by another person without keeping what she wanted in mind. I wouldn't be that person to her. I wouldn't be another person who made decisions for her and told her how things were going to be. This was her life and she deserved to have a say.

Gabriel backed away from the island and walked toward the cabinet grabbing two shot glasses and a drink and poured himself and me a drink.

"When did you know?"

Here we go.

"The night of the bar. She was in the library. I had gone out for a flight and when I came back the light was on. I went to turn it off, I thought maybe she had forgotten to turn it off but she was in there. She had a book in her hand, she didn't even notice I walked in, she had a book in one hand and was twirling a piece of hair in the other. She had a small smile on her face. I should've walked away but I just found myself watching her. She looked so content and happy. She turned the page in her book and her smile got wider, and in that moment I thought to myself that she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and that I would do anything to see her smile like that again."

I didn't tell him about the nightmare that happened and the almost kiss we shared. That was a moment between me and her. No one else but I would never forget that night as long as I lived and when she got here, when I was able to hold her and look into those beautiful green eyes again, I would tell her.

"Do you love her Lucifer? Truly?"

"Yes," I said, without hesitation

More than anything.

Gabriel went silent as he took another shot, slamming the glass down,

"I want to believe you. I do but I-" He cut himself off, taking his eyes off mine as he gazed around the room,

"I want to believe that this isn't some great ploy by you-"

"It's not."

Gabriel's eyes found mine and I could see everything he was thinking. The doubt. The worry. A million accusations and questions roaming around in his head. His response however surprised me.

"We have a problem then."

"The only problem is that Micheal is with her."

Gabriel rolled his eyes,

"Micheal wouldn't hurt her."

Bullshit!

"You know Micheal wouldn't hesitate to hurt anyone to get what he wanted."

Gabriel crossed his arms, a slight wariness looming in his eyes

"So what do you propose we do then brother?"

Get her out of harm's way first!

"First things first, we get her away from Micheal, then we bring her here and we explain everything. The lock, The vision, all of it."

I started to head for the door but Gabriel's words stopped me. His words were like ice plaguing the warmth of blood coursing through my veins.

"You can't go to her Lucifer."

Very slowly I turned,

"Repeat that for me brother."

I watched as Gabriel made his way over and stood right in front of the door. Blocking it from me.

"If you show up Micheal will just take her to another location. Micheal believes that you will kill her to go home so he's going to do what he can to keep her alive. Even if it means keeping her away from you."

Over my dead fucking body!

Gabriel was right though. If I went where she was, Micheal would just take her somewhere else. And that was unacceptable.

"So you just expect me to sit on my ass and do nothing!?"

Gabriel sighed,

"I think we should-"

Gabriel's words were cut off by a bang on the door of the house. No one else should know about this place except for us and Catalina. But, if she was with Micheal…

Gabriel and I spared a glance at each other as we pulled out our daggers and stood beside the door, Gabriel looked at me and I nodded back to him, a silent signal for him to open the door. Slowly he grabbed the knob and ripped the door open, only to be punched in the face.

Immediately I moved but a dagger was thrown at my head, I ducked just in time and the dagger missed my head as it hit the wall. I looked back at the person at the door.

Catalina.

Her eyes burning bright orange.

* * *

Catalina's POV

I hate him.

Micheal was a pain in my ass. A dangerous pain in my ass. I just needed to lay low until Gabriel got back. I went straight into the bathroom and started painfully taking out the shards of glass that still stuck to my body. Some pieces went deeper than others and it was utterly painful to get them out.

Twenty-two. Twenty-two pieces were in my body.

I grabbed a book off my nightstand and started to head to my bed when an intruding voice interrupted me.

"I will never understand the infatuation with reading ridiculous false stories."

You've got to be kidding me…

I turned to find Micheal beginning to make his way into my room.

"They say reading makes you smarter yet I disagree, there is nothing smart about filling your head with false hope and expectations."

"If you are going to keep insulting me you can leave." I snapped at him,

Micheal walked over to me, took the book from my hands, and threw it across the room like he threw me.

A loud noise sounded throughout the house as my hand connected with his face, Slowly his head turned back to face me,

"If you try that again I will break every last bone in your hand. Do you understand me!"

"Don't throw my things and I won't have to slap you!"

Micheal leaned back away from me as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"Since you are so interested in stories, let me tell you one about my brother."

I scoffed and said to Micheal,

"I have no interest in hearing about Gabriel." I started to turn away from Micheal but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him.

Micheal leaned in, his mouth a few short inches from mine, and said

"I'm not interested in talking about Gabriel. I am talking about Lucifer."

I looked up to face him,

"What kind of story?"

Micheal released my wrist and made his way towards my bed where he motioned for me to sit beside him.

"The truth. About him and who he is."

"Let me guess you're going to tell me he's this evil person bent on destruction and suffering."

I've heard all this stuff when I was a child and it's all lies.

"Many eons ago, when the world was new, every God and Goddess of every religion struggled for power. Each wanting to be at the top of the food chain. It resulted in a war between the mortals that lasted years and cost many many lives. Eventually, everyone had enough. No one knows why except for them and I don't particularly care but they came together and agreed to split this world and let you mortals decide what they believed and who they followed." Micheal slightly tensed as he continued,

"Unfortunately the mortals at the time were too far gone, many of them went mad during the war, claiming their god was the only god and began slaughtering those who opposed them. Once again the Gods came together and decided to give this world a fresh start. You probably refer to it as the Great Flood. No one survived despite what some stories say. After a few years of rebuilding the world, my father and the other Gods of the world came together to create you mortals. A brand new creation for a brand new world. Imbuing a piece of each god inside them. The mortals could choose who to follow. Each Deity created one man and one woman. For my father, it was Adam and Lilith."

So all the gods reshaped the world?

"There was only one rule for all of them, the souls needed a place to go after they parted. Everyone agreed there needed to be a place for good souls to go, a place for bad souls to go, and a place in the middle for those who still needed purification. How it was run was up to the deities and whatever system they wanted. My father had enlisted my two brothers and me to help. I ruled over Heaven, Gabriel ruled over Purgatory and Lucifer ruled over Hell. For a few centuries, everything was good, the Gods were happy, My father was happy, the mortals were happy and my brothers were happy. Or so I thought. After a while Lucifer seemed to get annoyed anytime our father brought up the mortals, we of course did not think anything of it as Lucifer had always had a little bit more anger to him than we did. We just assumed the ways of Hell were getting to him. Running Hell was a task no one really wanted but Lucifer was perfect for it. We butted heads of course but we are brothers so it was only natural for him to be angry with me. I think Lucifer was always upset that I was the better of us three, but he would never say how he felt."

Arrogant prick.

"One day I noticed Lucifer acting a bit strange. Engaging in conversations with others he typically did not talk to, but once he finished talking with them they all had this strange look on their faces. I thought nothing of it until I heard one of them mention a name I hadn't heard in centuries, Lilith. I immediately panicked. Thinking something was wrong-"

Lilith? I think I've heard that name before.

"Who's Lilith?" I asked him.

Micheal glared at me but explained,

"Try to keep up but Lilith was the first woman my father created. She was made to serve Adam and given the gift of immortality."

Micheal continued the story,

" I grew worried so I asked around about Lucifer's whereabouts the past few days. According to the others Lucifer had been visiting the mortals quite often-"

"If Lilith had the gift of Immortality, why would you be worried?"

"As long as she served Adam, she had immortality and I feared my brother would disrupt that. So I rushed to my father with the others who had confirmed where Lucifer was going, they admitted to my father that Lucifer had been visiting the mortals, one in particular, Lilith. I expressed my concern to my father. Telling him we should check on Lilith to make sure she was alright. My father agreed. Unfortunately, we could not find Lilith, but we found Adam."

Where the hell did Lilith go?

"Adam disclosed that Lilith had been getting increasingly difficult to work with around the time that Lucifer began his visits. It was clear that Lucifer had begun to taint Lilith, but yet it was not enough for our father, he sent Adam back with instructions to watch over Lilith. Perhaps if my father had done something then, we could have avoided the mess that happened. My father instructed us to keep quiet about what was said but to be on guard. So we waited and watched. Everyone was on edge about what would happen. A few days later we got our answer. I saw Lucifer, he looked angry. More angry than I had ever seen him and I decided to reach out, Lucifer said that he didn't understand our father's creations and that he wished they would just disappear."

What did he mean by disappear?

"I immediately decided to tell my father, I was concerned that Lucifer wanted to harm the mortals, and my father requested Adam and Lilith back, However when I went to retrieve them Lilith was nowhere to be found so I could only bring Adam back. Adam had disclosed to my father that Lilith refused him and she had left with Lucifer and that Lucifer had threatened him."

Lilith went with Lucifer? Why would she sacrifice her immortality?

"Our worst fears had been confirmed. Lucifer had tainted Lilith and wanted to end everything my father and the others worked so hard to create. My father and I had discussed what to do and ultimately the best decision was to lock him away where he could do no more harm. I suggested locking him away and my father agreed however, my father suggested Lucifer be put in the mortal world without his powers so that hopefully he could learn to love the mortals again. I asked my father how we would keep Lucifer from entering Hell and reusing his powers and my father suggested I come up with the lock myself. So I did, I made a lock I knew he could never break and so that night my father and I requested Lucifer and told him his punishment while Gabriel placed the lock on Hell."

But why would Lucifer take Lilith? It doesn't make sense.

"Lucifer of course denied the allegations but my father had heard enough from witnesses and had seen the evidence. My father did surprise us all and tell Lucifer that if he handed Lilith over then all would be forgiven, of course, he did not. So my father carried out his decision. Lucifer fell and Hell was locked. Of course, we had to still have balance in the world so while Lucifer could never return to Hell unless the lock was broken, his little creations could still slither out. Making deals and terrorizing the mortals. But he could never go back without breaking the lock and without his powers he could never summon one of his little creations to help him and they could not summon him. I kicked Lucifer out myself and when I returned I found my father gone. Apparently, he had decided losing Lucifer and his little creation was too much and had left. My father was gone and the lock remained for countless centuries, unchanged, unbroken, and untouched. Until now."

"What do you mean until now?"

The lock isn't broken because Lucifer is still here.

"When I made the lock I wanted to make sure that if Lucifer ever did figure out a way to break the lock, it would cost him everything, just like his actions cost us our father." Micheal's gaze locked on mine as he continued, my heart beating as if it was seconds from popping out of my chest as he spoke.

"If Lucifer wants to open the lock, he has to spill the blood of the one who loves him. That my dear is where you come in."

He's lying, he has to be lying.

"Did you really think it was a coincidence that he started acting differently towards you all of a sudden?"

I stood up and pushed Micheal away and began to head for the door but Micheal's voice stopped me,

"Somehow my brother finally figured out how to break the lock. Put the pieces together Catalina, I'm sure you're a smart girl."

I was just a pawn in this game. Lucifer saw me as a vulnerable weak individual he could manipulate.

Did you really think it was a coincidence that he started acting differently towards you all of a sudden?

Gabriel had said the same thing and now so did Micheal.

No Lucifer wouldn't lie to me and he sure as hell wouldn't kill me! He wouldn't. Would he?

I was so lost in my own head that I didn't even hear Micheal as he came up behind me and placed his hands on my hips, that slight spark returning as he bent down and whispered,

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way Catalina. I'm sorry that you had to find out that Lucifer thought you were nothing more than just a pretty sacrifice. I'm sorry he made you fall so hard but if you stay here with me and Gabriel we will make sure you are taken care of and that Lucifer is dealt with for you."

I turned around and Micheal lifted a hand and brushed a piece of hair out of my face as he whispered again,

"Get some rest, Catalina. You've dealt with enough for today. I will wake you when Gabriel returns."

Micheal walked around me and out of the room and shut my door behind him.

This was bullshit! Complete and utter bullshit!

It had to be a lie! It had to be. Lucifer wouldn't do that- Unless it was the only way to get back. Glancing around the room I immediately picked up two daggers that Gabriel gifted me, locked my bedroom door and climbed out of the window, and began to head for the house.

I had been a pawn in my mother's twisted games for years. I refused to be another pawn in whatever game Lucifer was playing. I wasn't going to die. Not today or anytime soon.