Of Light And Shadows
Chapter Fifteen...

Jia awoke from the nightmare with a start and hissed in pain as the jerking motion of her sitting up sent lightning shooting through her skull. She collapsed back against the pillows immediately, burying her face in the black fabric to try and blot it out.

And then she lifted her head and frowned at the pillowcase through the white spots clouding her vision. She could’ve sworn her pillows were grey.

“I take it by that noise that your head still hurts?” The question held a hint of amusement as she turned to see Lucifer still lying beside her.

They were both on top of the bedding, still in yesterday’s clothes, and he was on his back with an arm crooked over his eyes again to shield them from the morning light slanting in through a gap in the curtains. It seemed they’d slept right through the night.

“I feel like I got kicked by a moose,” she groaned.

“...A moose?”

“It looks like a horse with a giant nose and weird horns.”

“I know what a moose is. I just wonder why you picked that animal specifically.”

“They have big hooves and they look mean,” she shrugged. He chuckled and removed the arm across his face to look at her. He had dark circles under his eyes and the red of his irises had dulled somewhat. “You look exhausted.”

“I told you it’d leave me out of action for a day or two.” He turned slowly onto his side to face her, groaning as the movement stirred another wave of nausea. “I can’t remember the last time I felt ready to be sick at a moment’s notice.”

“Don’t throw up on me,” she warned.

“I won’t. I’m probably more likely to pass out again than I am to actually be sick.”

“You’re still feeling faint?”

“Yes,” he answered. “I’ve never seen mental defences like that. You must really have been afraid as a child to do that to yourself. It seems that you acted on pure instinct.” He paused. “Are you ready to talk about it?”

“It’s not like I can hide it anymore is it?” she sighed. “You’ve seen the sort of things he does to me.” She ground her teeth. “I can’t believe I only exist because that beast attacked my mother. We have to help her.”

Any familial affection she harboured towards Abaddon was long gone and in its place burned white hot hatred.

“I agree. You and I must be the only ones that know. If either of my brothers were involved in helping an Angel they could be hurt.”

“Won’t they be mad if we keep it from them?”

“They can be as mad as they like. It’s for their safety.”

“Why would they end up hurt?”

“If my father replaces out he’ll come for me.” Jia’s stomach knotted.

“Then I can’t ask you to help me. I won’t.”

“You don’t get a choice. You’re coming with me or I’m going on my own.” He spoke so calmly about something so dangerous. She almost laughed. Of course he did. He was Lucifer Morningstar. The name wasn’t famous for nothing.

“It’s strange to see the reason the other Demons respect you so much. You’re fearless,” she said quietly. He chuckled.

“I’m not fearless. Not in the slightest. I just can’t stand the idea of someone suffering because of the Demons when it’s my family’s job to keep them in line. The Ruling Caste exists purely to govern this realm and my father is failing miserably at it, apparently.” She watched as his brow furrowed. “We’d be best going for your mother when Abaddon is out. If we can avoid facing him I’d prefer it. It’s the safest way to get Lauviah out of the house.”

“He’s usually out during the day for work. He’s a politician.”

“A politician? Odd. Demons don’t usually bother going for positions like that in the human world. It risks drawing attention to them.” He shook his head, brushing it off for the moment. “It would be better to go in at night to avoid being seen, but if he’s out through the day we should risk it.”

“Thank you for doing this. I’ve been nothing but trouble since I got back here,” Jia mumbled. His answering grin was wide, showing off his elongated incisors.

“You’re always nothing but trouble. It keeps my life interesting.” She laughed despite the bleak situation and then she grimaced against the headache that followed.

“Ouch, no, that hurts. Don’t make me laugh.” She waited for the pain to pass before looking back at him. “What do we do once we’ve got my mum out of the house?”

“We bring her here and call Archangel Michael. If he’s able to take her with him she’ll return to the Angelic Realm until she’s back to her former glory.”

“And if he isn’t?”

“Then we need a plan B. Either way she has to come back here. As long as she stays by Abaddon she’ll remain enslaved. I need to get her away from him so I can break the compulsion and the best way to do that is to switch between realms with her.” His eyes darkened.

“If we don’t stop him he’ll go after my mother again. He might even come after me.”

“I plan to kill him.” His expression stayed blank despite the shock she knew was obvious on her face. “I won’t let him endanger you or your mother again if I can help it. The safest thing for all of us is to get rid of him before he can run to Satan.”

“...Alright then. We kill him.” A strange sense of calm settled over her as she thought of killing her father. It was the least he deserved for everything he’d done.

“Then it’s settled.” She felt Lucifer squeeze her hand reassuringly and she smiled. After a moment he let go and struggled to a sitting position, groaning as he did. She noticed when he moved that he touched his chest rather than his head.

“Does your chest hurt?”

“A pact with me is very different to the one you have with Mammon. He has a sense of when you’re in pain whereas I experience it. Right down to the smallest bruise.” He turned and arched an eyebrow at her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt in so many places?”

“I’m not.” He sighed and unbuttoned his shirt slowly, slipping it over his shoulders.

She gasped when she saw the state of him. In the centre of his chest, right over his heart, the pact mark was inked in darkest black on his pale skin. It would’ve been nice if the rest of him weren’t black and blue.

She realised that underneath her clothes her own body was in the same state. She’d grown so accustomed to the pain that she barely noticed it anymore. She never looked at herself in the mirror to see what her damaged body looked like.

“You can’t lie to me now.”

“I guess I’m used to it,” she answered meekly. “Why doesn’t this happen to Mammon?”

“One of the reasons my father and I don’t make pacts with anyone is this.” He gestured at the marks. “The stronger the Demon is, the more powerful the link becomes. The jump in strength between Mammon and I is significant which is why he doesn’t bruise or feel actual pain when you get hurt.”

“So right now you have your headache, my headache and all of my bruises?”

“Yes. What the hell happened to your neck?” She reached up to touch the fading footprint absently, biting her lip and refusing to answer as her eyes strayed to the matching patch at the base of his skull. ”Jia.” He said her name sternly enough that she sighed.

“He stood on it the morning Evan and I were attacked. I thought the ointment the lady in the Infirmary used was supposed to heal it.”

“Yes, to an extent. Superficial bruises and cuts are one thing but bruises in muscle tissues are another entirely.” He passed a hand over his eyes. “We need to get you to the Infirmary to be healed properly before going to help your mother.” He tried to stand but a wave of dizziness made him sit down again. “Unfortunately I can’t walk yet.”

“So if you get hurt will I feel it?”

“No. I made the pact with you. If it had been the other way around then yes, you’d feel it. This way it’s only me that takes a beating for both of us.”

“You couldn’t have picked a clumsier person to make a pact with,” she joked. He didn’t smile.

“Running into a fist isn’t clumsy, Jia. Had I known how much you were hurting when I found out what he was doing to you, I would’ve hunted and killed him there and then. As soon as your mother is safe I intend to cut off his head myself.”

Lucifer had murder in his eyes as he spoke. She looked at the smooth skin of his back and saw again the perfect print of a shoe at the nape of his neck. Other older bruises mottled the skin here and there, mirroring all the points where she ached.

Now she could see the extent of her injuries she could feel all of them. Seeing such damage made her realise just how much she’d been through. How many times had she had a bruise fade only to be replaced by another?

Lucifer turned as he heard her breath catch in her throat, seeing the tears in her eyes immediately. His eyebrows pulled together and he crawled slowly back to her, sitting back against the headboard and encircling her with his arms.

“All I seem to do is cry,” she sniffled.

“At least you won’t wet my shirt this time.” She chuckled through the tears. It was a weak, shaky sound. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I forget that he’s still your father.”

“I don’t care about that,” she answered, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder. Being held by him was different to how it felt with Mammon, but it was nice. She felt warmth deep in her chest as his arm tightened around her.

“I’m upset because I can see now what he did to me. I never stopped to look at the rest of me. As long as my face was fixable I could go to class and I could go to work.” Saying it out loud made her cry harder.

“I’m going to enjoy watching him turn to ash,” Lucifer muttered.

Behind his words a low growl rolled through his chest. She supposed it should have frightened her. It was inhuman, reminding her that he was an apex predator even in the Demonic Realm. But she couldn’t bring herself to be afraid. She’d never felt safer with anyone.

After a while his breathing evened out and she looked up to see he was asleep again. His face was peaceful save for the slight crease between his brows as the headache bothered him even in his slumber.

Guilt crept in as she glanced back at the many bruises mottling his skin. If she’d known her getting hurt would do that to him, she’d never have let him make a pact with her. She sat like that for a while with him, more than happy to let him sleep it off as she nestled into his side.