[Lucifer] Ch: 59 [The Devil's Heart, The Angel's Fall] (Patreon)

SHOUTOUT FOR Tobias Eisenhut FOR JOINING THE TERMINATOR TIER> Thank you for the big boost.

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Alexandra walked toward the bar with a smile, her attention moving between Lucifer, Chloe, and the little girl standing beside them.

Chloe stood up as she approached, recognizing the actress from the Marcus Vale investigation. Before she could say anything, Alexandra reached Lucifer, placed a hand against his chest, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Hey, you," Alexandra greeted him with a smile. "I was nearby, so I thought I'd drop in. Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Lucifer looked rather pleased by the unexpected greeting. "Alexandra, darling! You're always a welcome interruption. Though you've arrived during a rather unusual family reunion."

Chloe watched them with an expression she couldn't quite explain. The kiss had caught her off guard, and for some strange reason, seeing Alexandra being so comfortable with Lucifer bothered her more than it should've.

'Why do I even care?'

She quickly pushed the thought aside.

Alexandra turned toward Trixie, who was watching the newcomer with open curiosity. She bent slightly and extended her hand with a friendly smile. "Hi! I'm Alexandra."

Trixie immediately shook her hand. "I'm Trixie! Well, my real name is Beatrice, but everybody calls me Trixie."

"Nice to meet you, Trixie. That's a really pretty dress you've got there," Alexandra said, looking at the glitter covering her cheeks. "And... lots of glitter."

Trixie glanced down at herself before smiling. "Thanks! Nana dressed me up because she wanted me to be in a movie."

Alexandra looked interested. "Really? That's pretty exciting. Do you like acting?"

Trixie considered the question before shrugging. "I don't know. But I wanna be the president of Mars when I grow up."

Alexandra laughed. "Now, that's definitely an interesting career choice. I think you'd make a great president, but you'll have to read a lot of books first."

Lucifer rested a hand on Trixie's head. "I've already offered to fund her campaign. The little human has considerably more ambition than most politicians I've encountered."

Chloe shook her head at their conversation before looking toward Alexandra again. She remembered meeting her at Lux during the Marcus Vale investigation, and she'd occasionally heard Lucifer mention spending time with her.

Still, the kiss had made something rather obvious.

"So, you two are..." Chloe began, glancing between them.

Alexandra smiled and slipped an arm around Lucifer's waist. "Yeah, we're dating."

"Oh!" Chloe nodded, managing a polite smile. "That's nice. I didn't realize things had gotten serious between you two."

"Well, we're still getting to know each other," Alexandra replied casually. "But we've been having a really good time together."

Lucifer glanced between them.

'Oh, this is interesting.'

He could practically feel the temperature rising.

Chloe's smile was perfectly polite, though something about the way she looked at Alexandra suggested she wasn't entirely comfortable. Alexandra, meanwhile, seemed to have noticed Chloe's interest in Lucifer and was looking at the detective with growing curiosity. Then, there was Maze's cold glare behind him. 

Lucifer felt a familiar excitement building. 

'Bloody hell. Is that a little competitive spirit I detect?'

He'd always enjoyed being the center of attention, and this situation was becoming considerably more entertaining than he'd expected.

Trixie suddenly tugged his sleeve. "Lucifer, does that mean you took her to a movie?"

Alexandra raised an eyebrow and looked at Lucifer. "Yeah, Lucifer... Did you?"

Trixie looked toward Alexandra. "He took me to see Kung Fu Panda 3! And he bought me chocolate cake and ice cream! Oh, and we also had popcorn, Fanta, candies, and he bought me a cool bag."

Alexandra looked at Lucifer with amusement. "You took her to see Kung Fu Panda?"

Lucifer immediately looked offended. "Why does everyone find that so difficult to believe? It was a perfectly respectable cinematic experience."

Chloe laughed despite herself. "He also fed her enough sugar to keep her awake half the night."

Alexandra grinned. "Sounds like you two had quite an adventure."

Lucifer looked between the two women again.

'Oh, this is going to be fun.'

Chloe checked the time on her phone before turning toward Trixie. "Come on, Monkey. We should get home. Nana's probably worried sick about you, and we still need to have a little talk about leaving the house without telling anyone."

Trixie nodded reluctantly before turning toward Alexandra. "It was nice meeting you! You should come see another movie with Lucifer and me."

Alexandra smiled and gave her a little wave. "I'd like that. Maybe next time you can pick something he hasn't already seen."

"Anything with less singing, preferably," Lucifer added while patting Trixie's head. "And remember, Trixie, presidents of Mars don't run away from home without informing their parents. So, next time you want to run away, give Maze a call... Or me." He took out a business card and gave it to her.

Trixie giggled before taking the card and giving Lucifer another hug. "Bye bye, Maze. It was nice meeting you." She waved goodbye to Maze, who returned the gesture with a casual salute.

Chloe thanked them both again before taking Trixie's hand and heading toward the entrance. She glanced back once and caught Alexandra standing comfortably beside Lucifer, her fingers resting against his arm.

For some reason, that image stayed with her as she walked outside.

Once they were gone, Alexandra turned toward Lucifer. "So, you babysit, watch animated movies, and help solve murders. Anything else I should know about?"

"An extraordinary number of things, actually," Lucifer replied, slipping an arm around her waist. "Although I suggest we discuss them somewhere more private."

Alexandra laughed and kissed him. "Upstairs?"

Lucifer grinned. "Excellent suggestion."

He guided her toward the private elevator while Maze watched them from behind the bar. 'I want a date too, Lucifer,' Maze thought.

As the doors closed, Alexandra pulled him closer for another kiss, and Lucifer happily forgot about the afternoon's unexpected complications.

...

[Meanwhile...]

[Linda's Apartment]

Linda sat on her bed. Religious books lay scattered across her bed, turning the room into a makeshift library.

A Bible was next to her laptop. She also had books about angels, demons, Christian traditions, and different religions. She had printed articles after searching for a long time about Lucifer Morningstar.

She had been reading for weeks, trying to understand what he said. Now, after seeing what she saw, each page made her have even more questions.

Heaven and Hell were real. So were God and the Devil. And she had slept with the Devil.

The real Devil.

Even worse, she loved him.

"Oh God," Linda said quietly, covering her face with her hands. "I don't know if you're listening to me or keeping an eye on me since I'm smaller than a speck of dust in your eyes and you obviously have better things to do... I just... I... What should I do?" She fell back onto her pillows.

She stayed like that for a few seconds.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Lucifer's huge wings spread out in his bedroom. The white feathers were beautiful, and the red ones were like nothing she had ever imagined an angel could have.

She heard them move and felt the air on her skin.

There was no way to explain that away.

Linda lowered her hands and looked at the ceiling.

What bothered her the most was remembering Lucifer's face when she pulled away from him.

He had looked sad.

After months of asking him to be honest, she finally got the proof she wanted. Her first reaction was fear.

"I handled that really well," she said to herself.

But how was she supposed to react? She had spent her whole adult life studying people's minds. Now she had to accept that the man she had been treating was an immortal angel who had ruled Hell.

Linda reached for the Bible and turned to some marked pages.

Some parts said the Devil tricks people. But Lucifer had said many times that he couldn't lie, and she had seen him struggle to answer questions instead of just making things up.

And what about his story of living as a human in another world? His memories of dying and then waking up as Lucifer?

She had no way to understand that.

Linda closed the book and put it next to her.

Her phone was on the nightstand. She picked it up, opened Lucifer's contact, and looked at his name.

She wanted to call him.

She also wanted a few more days to think.

After almost a minute, Linda put the phone down without calling.

"Great," she whispered, hugging a pillow. "I love the Devil, and I have no idea what to do about it."

...

[Meanwhile...]

[Amenadiel's Room]

Amenadiel sat in an armchair with his eyes closed, trying to make sense of everything that had happened since he'd come to Earth.

For days, he'd been replaying his confrontation with Lucifer at the penthouse. He'd tried dismissing his brother's accusations as another attempt to avoid responsibility, but the more he thought about them, the harder that became.

Lucifer had been right.

Amenadiel had crossed lines that no angel should've crossed, especially one who proudly called himself God's most loyal servant.

He remembered following Lucifer around Los Angeles, watching his every movement while searching for something that might convince him to return to Hell. When that failed, he'd approached Mazikeen, hoping to turn the demon against her own king.

Then came the wings.

He'd genuinely believed using Lucifer's severed wings against him would make his younger brother remember his responsibilities. Instead, Lucifer had burned them, and Amenadiel had responded by attacking him in rage.

And when even violence failed, he'd gone further.

Malcolm Graham.

Amenadiel opened his eyes and stared toward the window.

He'd entered Hell without permission, pulled a condemned soul from its punishment, and restored that soul to a dead body. He'd promised Malcolm eternal salvation in exchange for murdering Lucifer.

The memory made him deeply uncomfortable.

He'd offered a place in Heaven as though it belonged to him to give away.

Who had authorized that promise?

Certainly not Father.

Amenadiel rubbed a hand across his face as another thought returned.

'What would've happened if Mazikeen hadn't stopped Malcolm?'

The man had gone after an innocent little girl. Amenadiel hadn't ordered him to do that, but he'd released a dangerous criminal into the world and given him every reason to believe his future crimes would be forgiven.

That responsibility belonged to him.

He remembered Lucifer's anger when they'd confronted each other.

'Every drop of blood he spilled, every innocent life he snuffed out, would have been squarely on your hands, brother.'

Amenadiel lowered his head.

For so long, he'd looked down upon humans as weak, selfish creatures who needed guidance. He'd considered himself above their petty lies, ambitions, and desperate attempts to justify wrongdoing.

Yet what had he been doing?

Scheming behind his brother's back, manipulating a demon, breaking divine law and promising rewards he had no authority to grant.

He'd even arranged for someone to murder his own brother.

And whenever his conscience questioned those decisions, he'd silenced it with the same convenient explanation: 'I'm doing Father's will.'

Amenadiel slowly leaned back and closed his eyes again.

God's Enforcer.

God's Messenger.

His Loyal Soldier.

His Favorite Son.

Those titles had meant everything to him for countless millennia. He'd obeyed Father's commands without hesitation, believing that his loyalty made him different from Lucifer.

But Father hadn't spoken to him in centuries.

How many of his recent decisions had actually been about divine responsibility? And how many had simply been attempts to prove that he was still Father's favorite?

'I wanted to bring Lucifer back because it was my duty.'

He repeated the thought several times.

Each repetition sounded less convincing. He'd treated Lucifer's return to Hell as some personal test he needed to pass. Every refusal had felt like another failure, another humiliation, another reason to become more desperate. And somewhere along the way, he'd forgotten why he was supposed to be protecting humanity in the first place.

Amenadiel pressed his palms against his eyes.

"Father... what have I done?"

A sharp pain suddenly stabbed through his upper back.

He straightened immediately, reaching behind his shoulder as the sensation spread toward his spine.

At first, he thought it was another lingering injury from his fight with Lucifer.

Then the pain intensified.

"Argh!"

Amenadiel lurched out of the armchair, knocking it backward as an agonizing pressure built beneath his shoulder blades. His muscles tightened uncontrollably, and something inside his back seemed to twist.

He stumbled toward the wall, bracing himself against it with one hand.

"What... what's happening?"

Another burst of pain forced him onto his knees.

His shirt stretched across his shoulders before tearing as his wings suddenly pushed outward.

Amenadiel screamed.

The enormous dark wings burst from his back, spreading across the room and sending loose feathers scattering over the floor.

But something was terribly wrong.

Amenadiel twisted around, struggling to look at them.

His beautiful wings, the very symbol of his celestial nature, were deteriorating before his eyes.

The once-powerful feathers had become dull and brittle. Patches of exposed, discolored skin appeared between them, while several sections looked diseased and rotten. Feathers loosened with every movement, drifting toward the floor in lifeless clumps.

Amenadiel stared in horror.

He tried folding them, but another wave of pain tore through his back. One wing twitched helplessly while several more feathers fell around him.

Amenadiel was unable to understand how something he'd carried proudly for millions of years could deteriorate so suddenly.

His wings had always been proof of his divinity, his place in Heaven, and his unwavering loyalty to Father. Now they were falling apart before his eyes, and he couldn't escape the terrible thought that he'd brought this upon himself.

Another wave of pain tore through his back, forcing him to brace both hands against the floor.

"ARGHHHH!"

Amenadiel struggled to straighten himself, his damaged wings trembling behind him. Tears gathered in his eyes as he slowly raised his head toward the ceiling, looking beyond it toward the distant Silver City where he'd once stood so proudly.

"FATHER!" he screamed, his voice breaking with pain and desperation. "PLEASE! WHAT HAVE I BECOME?!"