Of Light And Shadows
Chapter Seventeen...

“Nice to see you back on your feet,” Mammon grinned, clapping his brother on the back. Lucifer folded his arms across his chest, dressed in a smart fitted suit of deep black with a grey shirt. Jia had been fully healed from her bruising and when the marks faded from her skin they faded from his as well.

“It’s nice to be out of bed,” Louie replied.

“Never leave me to run this school without you again. It’s been the worst four days of my life. Now are you gonna tell us what happened to Jia when she was a kid or do we have to guess?”

“I was horribly abused throughout my childhood,” she said before Lucifer could speak. “I didn’t remember anything because my father almost killed me the night you found me. I was so terrified that I shut myself off from everything that had happened to me before that point.” Mammon’s mouth fell open.

“Now do you understand why I said nothing?” Lucifer muttered, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you feel better for knowing?” Bell asked, touching her shoulder gently as his silver-haired brother fidgeted awkwardly.

“I do. Hopefully it’ll mean I can move past it all.” She tried a smile and he returned it instantly.

“Does that mean you’ll both be back in classes now?” Mammon asked hopefully. Jia and Lucifer shared a look.

“There’s something I have to take care of in the human world for now and then I’ll be coming back to classes afterwards,” she replied.

“Can you and Belphegor handle things here for one more day?” The brothers looked surprised that Lucifer was going with her himself, but they nodded and didn’t pursue it. Mammon looked like he wanted to complain, but putting his foot firmly in his mouth had cowed his caustic attitude.

“When we get back do you think I can go see Evan?” Jia asked.

“No,” Mammon answered immediately.

“He’s too volatile to be around anyone,” Bell agreed.

“Give it time,” Lucifer said gently. “It’s only been a few days.” She frowned, but she understood. “We should go.”

“We’ll be back in a few hours,” she told Mammon and Bell. They nodded and waved goodbye as they walked away. When they were gone Lucifer turned to her, letting his hands drop to his sides.

“Are you ready?”

“Let’s go get my mother.” She was wearing the jeans she’d arrived in and a pair of boots with a leather jacket she’d managed to borrow from Sytri. There was a knife tucked into her waistband. Lucifer didn’t bother with weapons.

He held a gloved hand out to her and she took it, stepping into the shadows with him. They stepped out into the space at the side of her house, concealed from the street by the shrubs down the side of the lawn. Lucifer listened intently, moving closer to the porch as Jia’s stomach clenched with fear.

“I can only hear one heartbeat,” he said. “It’s too weak to belong to anybody but your mother. Let’s go.”

She followed him to the front door, fishing her key out of her pocket. Her hand trembled as she slid it into the lock and pushed the door open. They stepped inside and she felt the familiar sick feeling of coming home rising in her stomach.

“My mother’s room is through here.” She led him up the stairs and stopped outside the door her mother had been trapped behind for years. “Mum?” she said softly. “We’re here to help you.” There was no answer but Jia knew she’d been heard. Lucifer touched the wood and frowned.

“There’s a very strong locking sigil on this door. It’s going to take me some time to dismantle it. Gather some of your clothes while you wait. We may as well take what we can back with us until we can sort out something permanent for you.” She nodded and headed to her bedroom while he got to work.

She was stuffing her clothes into a duffel bag when she heard the front door open and froze. Her heart ratcheted up as she stood and left the room. Lucifer watched her intently as she passed him on the upstairs landing, clearly reluctant to let her go.

“Stay here. You have to get that door open no matter what,” she whispered. His jaw clenched but he nodded and went back to dismantling the sigil as she walked downstairs, his movements smooth despite his increased urgency.

Her father looked up when he saw her enter the room, his face going blank with surprise for a moment before it contorted into a hateful sneer.

“Where the hell have you been?” he snapped.

“I had exams,” she lied. “I stayed with Evan for a few days so I could get some rest. I can’t pass them without sleep and food and I wasn’t getting that here.” She squared her shoulders and raised her chin defiantly, feeling the comforting weight of the knife at her back.

Abaddon stalked slowly across the room until he towered over her. He gripped her by the throat and squeezed, lifting her onto her toes. She felt his fingers close around her neck hard enough to bruise and her mind strayed to Lucifer, hoping he wouldn’t come flying down the stairs until he’d opened the door.

“I told you not to see him anymore,” Abaddon hissed. Spittle flecked his lips and a thick vein bulged in his forehead. “I told you that you weren’t to sleep as your punishment. You defied me?” She met his gaze, anger burning in her chest.

“I did.” She forced the words out around the obstruction at her throat. Abaddon growled and tossed her to the ground.

She landed on the wooden coffee table and it splintered beneath her as the Demon placed a boot on her rib cage and pressed down until she was afraid her bones would crack. She prayed Lucifer could carry on unlocking the sigil through the pain she knew he’d be feeling too.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“You should be!” He leaned down and slapped her across the face, his nails drawing blood as they sliced across her cheek. She clenched her teeth just before the impact to avoid biting her tongue. It made the slap more immediately painful, but she knew from experience that biting through her tongue was far worse.

“I let you live under my roof and you repay me by doing a disappearing act and disobeying me. You go and stay with that human like some dirty whore. That won’t do, Lisbeth. You need to learn that I’m in charge here.” As he spoke he lifted his weight from her enough that she could move. She got her arm beneath her, scrabbling for her weapon.

“My name is Jia,” she answered through gritted teeth. “And you’re not in charge of me anymore.”

Her hand closed around the hilt of the knife in her jeans as he pressed down harder again, forcing the air out of her lungs. The pressure hurt her shoulder but she managed to wiggle it free. She bucked her hips and threw her torso upwards to unbalance him.

When he stumbled she slashed him across the leg with the blade just as she felt her first rib pop. He howled and hopped away, giving her a second to roll over and cough against the pain.

While he was still hopping she managed to get her feet beneath her and back away, holding the knife out in case he decided to attack again. He narrowed his eyes and snarled at her, letting go of his injured leg.

“How dare you?” Abaddon hissed. “How dare you defy me? I’m your master! You were born to serve me and you will obey.”

He lunged and his shoulder slammed into her torso hard enough to make her cry out as she felt another rib pop. She managed to twist away from him and smack the hilt of the knife against his temple.

As she tried to move further away his foot snaked out and swept her legs from beneath her. She hit the ground hard and rolled, winded. His boot slammed into her stomach and she curled up around it, clinging on through the white hot pain and reaching up to stab the knife deep into his thigh. Abaddon punched her across the face as he roared, staggering back.

He tore the blade from his leg and hurled it at her too quick for her to dodge. She squeezed her eyes shut as it whistled towards her head.

A rush of air followed by dull thud and a soft snarl made her open them again. She watched in shock as Lucifer pulled the blade from his stomach. Shadows rose from his skin like smoke and she realised as she saw the profile of his face that he was angry enough to reveal his true form.

His ears were tapered to a delicate point, two smooth black horns protruded from his dark hair and his eyes glowed brilliant crimson, illuminated with flickering hellfire. He looked every inch a Demon Prince as he dropped the knife and his black wings unfurled. She was surprised to see they were feathered.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, Abaddon?” he hissed. His usually velvet voice had an echoing quality to it that sent a shiver down her spine. She was glad he was on her side.

"Lucifer? What are you doing here?” Abe’s eyes were wide with shock.

“I’m here to kill you.” His head tilted as he ignored the blood dripping from his wound. A thin slash ran across his cheek, identical to Jia’s. “You’ve broken our cardinal laws, Abaddon. I know you have an Angel upstairs.”

“How do you know that?” her father snarled.

“I remember everything,” Jia snapped as she rose to her feet, one hand pressed against her cracked ribs. “I know what you’ve been doing to my mother. I know what I am.” She spat blood from her split gums onto the carpet. “And I know what you are.”

“You’ve been with him these last few days? Not the human?” She nodded. Abaddon’s eyes bulged with fear before narrowing again as he glared at them. “This isn’t over,” he warned, and then he stepped back into darkness and vanished.

Lucifer growled in frustration but didn’t try to follow as the other Demon shadow walked away. He stared angrily at the spot where Abaddon had disappeared for several minutes before Jia touched his arm.

“Calm down, Louie,” she said softly. He sighed and closed his eyes, returning to his normal self as the shadows around him swelled and disappeared. The horns and wings sifted away in a wispy cloud of blackness. “Are you okay?”

“Never mind me. He broke your ribs.”

“And that means he broke yours too.” She glanced down at his stomach. “You were stabbed. Don’t pretend I’m in a worse state than you.”

“I’m alright.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I broke the sigil. We can get your mother now.” As soon as he said the words she was running. She lurched up the stairs and burst into the bedroom, ignoring the splintering pain in her chest as her ribs grated.

She was greeted by gloom. The curtains were drawn, shutting out the light and casting long shadows across the space, which was empty except for a single wardrobe and a bed. Somebody was laid under a ragged sheet, staring at the ceiling.