Devilish Mate

20

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Olivia said, as she rose to her feet.

“Olivia is the only known half-succubus, half-angel hybrid,” Lucifer said. “She currently acts as the official liaison between angels and demons, working for Archangel Gabriel and myself to keep the peace. I thought she might be able to help you balance living between both worlds.”

“I would appreciate that,” I said. So many of my memories were of war between angels and demons, a war I’d fought on both sides. Now we were at peace, but things between the two races still seemed strained, and I was definitely caught in the middle as an angel surrounded by demons.

“I asked Olivia’s other mates to join us as well,” Lucifer said. “As angels, they can answer your questions and work with you to control your powers.” He nodded toward a serious man with cool, calculating eyes and glossy black hair. “Bastien, in particular, should be able to help with that. He’s also an Ofanim.”

Bastien bowed his head in response. “I shall assist you however I can.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Lucifer turned toward the handsome olive-skinned man sitting at the bar, who flashed me a charming smile, his eyes sparkling. “This is Marcus. He’s the one who resurrected you. I plan to send him to heal Brandy’s mother.”

I stepped forward and took Marcus’s hands, giving them a light squeeze. “Thank you for using your powers to bring me back, and for helping my friend. I owe you so much.”

“It’s what I do,” he said, with a quick wink.

Lucifer nodded toward the last person in the room, a broad-shouldered, muscular man with golden hair and a square jaw. “Callan is Jophiel’s son. Your nephew.”

My eyes widened as I studied Callan closer. He did have some of Jophiel’s look to him, though I suspected he had a lot of his father in there too. He stood near the window overlooking Las Vegas, as if trying to remain as far away from Lucifer as possible, and I wondered if there was some history there.

“I look forward to getting to know you. My relationship with my sister is…” I hesitated, searching for the diplomatic word. “Strained. But I hope that won’t stop us from being a family.”

Callan grunted. “My relationship with my mother is strained too. She’s not exactly an easy person to love.”

“No, she’s not,” I said with a faint smile. “Jophiel mentioned she had another son too.”

“Yes. Ekariel.” Callan’s jaw clenched. “He was kidnapped as a child and held for years by a human cult bent on killing all supernaturals. He’s currently taking some classes at Seraphim Academy so he can catch up on everything he missed over the years.”

How terrible. Jophiel had mentioned the same thing, but it had happened after I was turned human. Maybe I should be taking classes with him also—I obviously had a lot to catch up on also. “I hope to meet him too someday.”

“I should get going so I can heal your friend.” Marcus set down his glass and stood. He leaned forward and kissed Olivia on the cheek. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I watched their interactions closely. Was Olivia with all four of these men? And they were just…okay with it? Including my son? How interesting. I supposed if she was part succubus she’d need more than one person to satisfy her needs, but in my vague memories I’d never seen a Lilim with actual mates before. They tended to not form attachments, from what I recalled. Then again, Asmodeus had given up his incubus powers and immortality to be with Brandy, so I supposed anything was possible.

“We should probably head out too,” Olivia said.

“We’ll begin training tomorrow after you’ve had a chance to rest,” Bastien told me.

“Thank you.” I swallowed in an attempt to bring my emotions back under control, but it was hard. I looked again at the people in the room, including my nephew and my son, remembering all they’d done for me. I wouldn’t be alive now if not for them. “I can’t thank you all enough.”

Once everyone had left, I spun around to face Lucifer. “Why didn’t you tell me about Kassiel?”

He let out a frustrated sigh as he moved behind the bar. “As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been slowly doling out information about your past lives to not overwhelm you. When you walked into my penthouse and asked me to find your friend, I couldn’t exactly say, ‘hey, I know we just met, but we have three sons together.’”

Three... Yes.

I remembered now. In the back corners of my mind, I’d known I had children, but now the feeling inside me sharpened, and with it came two other names: Belial and Damien.

“Where are they now?” I asked. Belial was the oldest, born during my original life as Eve. Damien came second, when I was Persephone, and Kassiel was the youngest. They each had centuries between them, but that was fairly normal since having a child as an immortal was difficult and rare.

Lucifer scowled and poured himself a drink. “I haven’t seen either of them in years.”

“Why not?” I sat on a barstool and watched the amber liquid pour into his glass. “I’ll take one too.”

Lucifer arched one of his perfect, dark eyebrows, looking every inch the handsome devil he was. “I thought you didn’t drink.”

“That was back when I thought my parents were killed by a drunk driver.” As soon as he poured me a glass, I downed it and set the glass down, feeling the burn in my throat. Not that it would affect me now that I was an angel again. And if there was ever a time for a drink, it was now.