Chapter 1
FLORA
Arriving back home, Alice and I were met by a hysterical housekeeper, who was screaming that we arrived hours late. Mrs. Jane wasn’t angry with us—it wasn’t her angry yell—but she was stressed.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Jane,” I replied, walking further inside the kitchen. “But we couldn’t get home sooner because of the bad weather.”
She vigorously nodded. “I know, I know.”
“What’s wrong, Mrs. Jane?” Alice asked before I could.
“We have a crisis. Our Lord has not returned home, and—”
“Lord Black is here!” Freddy came running into the kitchen.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Jane sighed, holding her hand against her chest.
For a moment, I was relieved as well, but then I remembered that Lucifer had been with me the whole time. I had not seen him since last night, though.
“His carriage just passed the gates, so he will be here in a few minutes,” Freddy added as he stood beside Jane.
“Good.” Jane smiled, relieved. “Our lord knows how to deal with these people better than we do.”
“What people?” I asked.
Mrs. Jane looked at Alice and me, her eyes shifting between us. “We have special guests—the Order, to be precise!”
“T-the Order?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes. We told them that our lord was out, but they refused to leave!”
My heart sank, immediately worried for Lucifer. And for myself. Did the Order find out who Lord Ambrose Black really was? Or perhaps they knew I’d figured out my past? More than one question formed in my head. As if there weren’t already a hundred in there.
Lucifer and I still had much to discuss, and we would do so tonight, but it seemed I would have to wait.
“Yes, they simply refused!” Freddy replied loudly. “So we’ve been forced to entertain them for the last three and a half hours, and they are not nice people—not nice people at all! I even caught one snooping in one of the drawers!”
“Shhh, stupid boy!” Jane held her finger in front of Freddy’s mouth and whispered, “What if they can hear you!”
Kitty walked past me with the tea cart, almost rolling it over my toes. Our eyes met. “Ah, look who’s here again,” she said. “What a great moment for you both to take two days off.”
“Oh, piss off, Kitty-Shitty,” Alice snapped. “As if we could have predicted that the Order would visit Lord Black today!”
“I bet Lord Black didn’t even know himself,” I replied.
If he had known, he would’ve told me. In fact, he would have ordered me to stay with Leonora. But it was too late for that now. They were already here, in our house, snooping in the drawers. They must know something. They must! The world twisted around me until Alice’s hand brought me back to reality.
She pulled at my arm. “Come! Mrs. Jane ordered us to get into proper clothing and get back to the kitchen at once.”
We rushed over to our room.
As I slipped into my black servant’s dress, I looked out the window to see Lucifer’s carriage stopping in front of the entrance. He stepped out of the carriage and was welcomed by Mr. Abraham, who was furiously pointing at the house, his old face red like an overripe tomato. His face was always like that when he was stressed.
Lucifer’s eyes found mine, and for a moment we held each other’s gaze. He smiled softly and went inside.
Nearly done, Alice groaned, fighting with one of the buttons of her black boot. “I can’t get this damned button open. Bloody hell!”
Hell.
I’d been in Hell, and I’d loved it.
It was a place, not with lakes of fire and a burning sky, but with black, glittering rocks and a purple bed. And it was Lucifer’s home. Would it be my home one day, too? That was one of the questions I had. It didn’t scare me anymore, though. Because I would never again be scared of anything involving him.
It was almost as if last night had been a dream, the evidence of our encounter erased. My nightgown was magically restored, the floor was intact, and my skin had lost the bruises Lucifer had left. But I knew in my heart that it had been very real and it would forever stay in my memory.
“Finally!” Alice breathed out, finally succeeding in opening the darned button and putting on her boot.
When we were both dressed, we hastened back to the kitchen.
“Here, lassie,” Alex shouted at me, motioning for me to get over to her. “I just heard they will be staying for lunch, so I could use an extra hand.”
“Of course.” I washed my hands. “What can I do for you?”
“Can you make a simple soup?” Alex asked.
“I can make vegetable soup, but I really don’t know if it will be up to the Order’s standards—”
“I’ll taste it. Get to it, please.” She grabbed a dead chicken, laying it on the kitchen counter. “While I pluck this beauty.”
***
As I was in the middle of cutting onions, Gregory entered the kitchen. “Morning, Flora,” he said, standing beside me and looking over my shoulder. “Can I help with anything in here?”
“Not really, I’m afraid. But, uh, shouldn’t you be with our lord?” I asked worriedly.
“No, he wants me here,” Gregory replied, before adding in a whisper, “to watch over you.”
Lucifer had sent Gregory to watch over me?
I turned around. “You know about…?”
He dipped his chin. “I know all. We come from the same place.”
Gregory came from Hell as well?
“I didn’t know that,” I said.
“There’s more you don’t know.” Gregory answered, his eyes crinkling in a smile. “For now, you must trust he’s doing well. And know that I’m here when you need me.”
I opened my mouth to answer but was interrupted.
“What are you two whispering over there?” Alice asked as she and Hetty joined our conversation. “Should I be worried?”
Hetty chuckled. “Or are you asking for advice again, Gregory?”
“No advice.” The man smirked. “And there’s only one woman I like.” He pulled Alice closer to him. “You… But I must say that I like you a little jealous.”
Alice giggled. “Oh, you do, huh?”
“M-hm.”
“Alice and Hetty, get back to work!” Mrs. Jane shouted from her room, which was adjacent to the kitchen.
“Alright, we must be on our way again!” Alice said before she kissed Gregory one last time and she and Hetty left the kitchen again.
“Gregory?” Alex asked, picking up a large metal bowl from the kitchen counter. “Can you help me out? I need this dough kneaded for about fifteen minutes, and my arms are killing me.”
“Yes, milady,” Gregory replied before he took the bowl from her hands and took his place at the kitchen table.
He looked at me, one pale blue eye giving me a wink. He was here, guarding me, by our lord’s orders, and it made me feel safer, indeed.
After cutting the onions, I went on with leek and carrots. It was a simple task, giving my mind freedom to wander off, taking me back to last night once more.
I pictured Lucifer’s eyes, red and shiny, staring into my soul. His long tongue, tasting my body, and his lips, sighing into my ear. His clawed hands, gentler than they looked, caressing every inch of my overheated skin. His tail, curling around me, holding me in place with a firm yet soft grip. But none of those had felt as good as his thick, vein-riddled, rock-hard, dripping—
“That’s plenty enough, lassie!” Alex shouted.
I felt my face flush. Even with all the drama going on in our lives, I couldn’t stop these filthy thoughts. Lucifer and his touches were addictive to me. He was like a drug that I needed every day.
Alex pointed at the pot on the stove she was stirring. “You can toss it into the broth now.”
“Oh y-yes.” I muttered, grabbing the tray full of chopped vegetables. I walked over to the pot and tossed everything into the boiling dark brown liquid.
“Are you alright, though?” Alex touched my forehead.
“Yes, I was just thinking.”
She chuckled. “I often daydream when I’m chopping away, too. I think about a fair, handsome man who visits me at night…” She raised her hand and held a pink, plucked chicken in the air. Looking at it, she continued, “And he offers me a whole different kind of succulent pink flesh…”
My mouth fell open before I managed to utter, “Alex!”
“What? Wasn’t that what was on your mind?” She touched my cheek. “Your skin is hot and red. You were definitely having a few happy thoughts.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“You do not need to know anything about my t-thoughts,” I said, her words bringing my earlier feelings back to the surface. My cheeks flamed even hotter. “And I never would’ve guessed you would share such naughty thoughts.”
Alex laughed. “I might be ugly and fat, but I still have needs.”
“You’re not ugly and fat!” I answered. “You’re a voluptuous lady, and that’s because you like your food. And, I mean, who doesn’t? Your food is great!”
“There are a few lies and one truth there.”
For the next few minutes, I did my best to make Alex see that she was beautiful in her own way. My attempts didn’t seem to have much effect, but I couldn’t let her speak about herself like that. She, Alice, and Hetty were my only female friends and I found them all beautiful people.
Talking to Alex was also a nice distraction from the many unanswered questions in my mind. She made it seem like today was just another typical day, like any other, and not a day where I’d just figured out that my soulmate and lover from a past life was the Devil himself, that the Order—who was hunting for him—was literally in the same room with him right now, and that one of the goddesses brought me back to life as a pawn.
But today was not a typical day at all. And no other day would ever be as simple as the days used to be. My innocence was gone. I now knew what the goddesses and Order were capable of. Good was evil and evil was good. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Please, Lucifer… Please be safe.
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