[Lucifer] Ch: 39 [So He Sent the Devil] (Patreon)

[That Night] [Carver’s Penthouse]

Carver Cruz slept peacefully beneath expensive sheets while the lights of Los Angeles glowed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of his penthouse.

The little disturbance at the Players’ Club event had barely registered as anything important by the time the night ended. Kevin Jolson had shown up making accusations, his missing sister had somehow appeared afterward, and both siblings had been taken away by the police once guns became involved.

Messy, certainly, though hardly enough to ruin Carver’s evening.

The event resumed right on schedule. He gave another speech, posed for photos, and sipped top-shelf whiskey. To reassure the crowd, he stuck around long enough to joke about crazy people obsessing over successful men. Soon after, the room finally settled back into a normal rhythm.

As far as Carver was concerned, the problem had solved itself.

By one in the morning, he was asleep beneath expensive sheets without a single worry disturbing him.

Then the room became cold.

Carver shifted beneath the blanket.

The penthouse had excellent climate control, yet a chill crawled across his skin and settled deep beneath it. Something heavier followed, an invisible pressure pressing against his mind until every instinct told him he wasn’t alone.

He kept his eyes closed.

Someone was watching him.

Carver swallowed and remained perfectly still.

His handgun was beneath the pillow.

He’d started keeping it there years ago after receiving threats from angry husbands, furious boyfriends, and women who claimed he’d destroyed their lives. Carver had always considered those people dramatic.

Tonight, the weapon suddenly felt extremely necessary.

He slowly moved one hand beneath the pillow.

His fingers touched cold metal.

Carver gripped the handgun, opened his eyes, and exploded upward. He jumped back against the headboard while bringing the weapon forward with both hands.

Then he saw the figure standing near the foot of his bed.

Carver jerked so violently that his shoulder struck the wall as he shouted, “Holy hell!”

The thing watching him looked vaguely human.

Only vaguely.

A tall man stood several feet away in an immaculate dark suit, though the face above the collar belonged to something that had walked directly out of humanity’s oldest nightmares.

Burned flesh covered his features.

The skin looked raw, red, and ruined, stretched across a monstrous skull while his eyes glowed with an unnatural fire. Shadows moved around him despite the complete stillness of the room, and something hot flickered beneath the darkness surrounding his body.

Carver fired.

The first gunshot shattered the silence.

Then another followed.

And another.

"Aaaaaa!!!!" Carver screamed as he emptied the entire magazine into the creature standing before him.

Lucifer barely moved.

His hand became a blur.

Every bullet disappeared before reaching him.

The gun clicked uselessly once the magazine ran empty.

Carver stopped pulling the trigger. His entire body began trembling.

Lucifer clenched his fist, grinding the metal until it broke apart into tiny fragments. Then he opened his hand and blew across his palm.

Metal dust scattered through the darkness.

Carver’s mouth fell open.

Lucifer smiled as a fiery aura rolled across his Devil face and his burning eyes brightened.

“Oh no, there is no holy in Hell,” Lucifer said with a cold smile. “There’s only pain... endless pain and suffering.”

The handgun slipped from Carver’s fingers and landed on the mattress. He scrambled backward until his back pressed completely against the headboard. “No. No, no, no,” Carver whispered while staring at the creature before him. “This isn’t real. This is a dream. Oh god!”

Lucifer took one slow step forward.

Carver immediately crossed himself with shaking fingers and began mumbling every prayer he could remember from childhood.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Please, God, please help me. Please, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”

Lucifer stopped beside the bed.

His head tilted slightly.

“God?” Lucifer asked as though Carver had said something amusing. “Dad doesn’t have time to deal with scum like you personally.”

Carver stared at him.

Lucifer leaned closer, and the fire in his eyes intensified.

“So he sent the Devil.”

Carver’s face drained of color.

His breathing became fast and shallow as the meaning finally crashed through every layer of denial.

“The Devil,” he whispered.

Lucifer smiled.

Carver’s control disappeared completely.

“Please don’t kill me,” he begged as tears gathered in his eyes. “Please, I’ll do anything. Money, houses, whatever you want. I’ll give you everything.”

Lucifer’s expression became almost offended.

“You genuinely believe I came here for your money?”

Carver shook his head desperately. “I don’t know. Please, just tell me what you want.”

Lucifer stepped closer until he stood directly beside the bed. “You’re going to bail out Kevin and Lindsay Jolson,” he said. “Every lawyer, every bond, every legal expense required to get them out becomes your responsibility.”

Carver nodded frantically.

“Yes. Yes, I’ll do it.”

Lucifer continued without reacting to the promise. “Then you’re going to find every woman you manipulated, humiliated, exploited, or used while building that pathetic little empire of yours.”

Carver’s expression tightened.

“There are quite a few,” Lucifer added with cold amusement. “You’re going to transfer your wealth to them. Properties, investments, accounts, whatever can legally be divided among the women whose lives you treated like material for your career.”

Carver stared at him in horror. “All my money?”

Lucifer’s fiery eyes narrowed.

Carver immediately nodded again. “Yes. Fine. I’ll do it. I'll give them everything.”

“Afterward, you’ll publicly reveal everything you’ve done,” Lucifer continued. “Every manipulation, every lie, every woman whose privacy you violated, and every disgusting little technique you sold to insecure men while pretending cruelty was confidence.”

Carver’s lips trembled.

“You’ll apologize publicly to every one of them without any tricks,” Lucifer said.

Carver could barely breathe.

Lucifer leaned closer.

“Do all of that, and perhaps you’ll earn a tiny amount of good karma before your miserable life eventually ends.”

Hope flickered across Carver’s face.

Lucifer smiled cruelly.

“Don’t misunderstand me. You’re still going to Hell.”

The hope disappeared immediately.

“At least that little bit of karma might reduce your suffering when you arrive,” Lucifer continued. “Perhaps the demons will only peel away your skin for a few centuries before becoming creative.”

Carver’s bladder finally gave out. He pissed his pants.

Lucifer looked down briefly before returning his gaze toward Carver without comment.

Carver was crying now.

“I’ll do it,” he whispered. “I swear I’ll do everything.”

Lucifer blinked.

One moment he stood beside the bed. The next, his Devil face was inches from Carver’s. Carver screamed and slammed his head against the headboard. Lucifer stared directly into his eyes.

He placed one hand against Carver’s chest.

Pain exploded through him.

"Don't mistake reality as a dream."

Carver screamed as a small burst of hellfire burned beneath Lucifer’s palm. The heat lasted only a few seconds, though it felt as if molten metal had been pressed directly into his soul.

Lucifer removed his hand.

A faint red mark glowed across Carver’s chest.

“A little reminder,” Lucifer said. “If you fail to do what I asked, you’ll burn for the rest of your life.”

Carver stared at the mark in terror.

Lucifer’s smile returned. “I can’t kill you because Dad has rules,” he said. “But I can torment you until eternity feels merciful.”

The bedroom lights flickered.

Carver squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened them again, Lucifer was gone.

The cold pressure vanished with him.

Carver remained frozen against the headboard, staring at the empty space where the Devil had stood.

Several seconds passed before his lungs finally remembered how to work.

"Haaahh!" He gasped for breath as he touched his chest and looked down. He saw the faint red mark glowing around his chest.

His entire body began shaking again and...

Boooop! Peefff! He shat his pants with a terrible sound. 

---

[LUX] [Next Night]

The next night, Chloe sat at the bar inside Lux with her phone propped against a whiskey glass. Lucifer sat beside her, looking completely relaxed while the news anchor discussed Carver Cruz’s sudden and very public collapse.

The report listed apology statements, property transfers, legal settlements, and financial payments already being arranged for dozens of women.

Chloe scrolled farther and frowned. “Looks like our self-proclaimed sex god has suddenly grown a conscience.”

Lucifer took a slow sip of whiskey. “Miracles do happen, Detective. Although I suspect terror is occasionally more effective than personal growth.”

Chloe glanced at him. “He’s paying Kevin and Lindsay’s legal fees too. He also admitted he used Lindsay’s real name in that book and exposed private details about her.”

Lucifer took another sip. “A revolting little man finally discovering consequences. How terribly poetic.”

Chloe kept scrolling. The number of women mentioned in the reports kept increasing. “There are so many of them. Some say he ruined careers, relationships, and reputations just so he could sell another book or seminar.”

Lucifer swirled the whiskey inside his glass. “Then perhaps giving away his fortune is an appropriate beginning.”

Chloe looked toward him suspiciously. “You seem unusually satisfied about this.”

Lucifer smiled and raised his glass toward the television.

“I simply enjoy seeing people receive exactly what they deserve.”

"But you still haven't told how you knew about Kevin and Lindsay's plan?" 

Lucifer emptied his glass and looked directly into her eyes. “I’ve seen something remarkably similar play out before.”

Chloe frowned. “Where?”

“On a screen.”

Her eyes narrowed. “A movie?”

Lucifer gave a small shrug as he signed the bartender to pour another drink. “Television, actually. Young woman with a grudge, manipulative maggot who deserved it, elaborate revenge scheme involving money and a disappearance. The similarities were rather difficult to ignore.”

Chloe stared at him. “And from that, you somehow figured out exactly what Kevin and Lindsay were doing?”

“I recognized the pattern, Detective. Once Kevin started behaving exactly as I expected, the rest became considerably easier.”

“That’s convenient.”

“Life occasionally is.”