Lucifer Damned (Morningstar Book 3) by Percival Constantine (books to read in your 20s female .TXT) 📗

“It’s so good to see you both together again,” he said. “Mara, you’re lookin’ great! How are things going up at Lust? How’s Chicago? Y’know, I could really go for some Lou Malnati’s right about now…”

“Luther, please. We really need to talk to you about something very important,” said Lilith. “It’s about the Morningstar.”

Cross’s eyes seemed to darken when he heard that title. “Lucifer…” He turned back to the chair and picked up his drink and cigarette. “Let’s go in the next room and you can tell me all about it.”

He started walking ahead of them. Mara and Lilith lingered in the room for another few moments.

“Lilith, what happened to him?” she asked.

“Being the King of Hell is a pretty solitary existence,” said Lilith. “With nothing really to do and no one around, Cross…kind of fell into a bit of a depression.”

“I thought he was going to make changes in Hell. Try to reform it,” said Mara.

“He tried,” said Lilith. “But the Infernal Court refused to work with him. Every time he tried to fix something down here, he was met with opposition. And finally, he just sort of…gave up. So now he just sits here in his tower and keeps to himself, no different than Lucifer once did.”

Lilith left Mara and followed Cross into the next room. Mara waited another moment before she joined them. In the adjoining room were two loveseats and a large recliner, arranged in a U pattern around a glass coffee table. Cross sat in the recliner and both Mara and Lilith claimed a loveseat for themselves.

“So what’s this about Lucifer?” asked Cross. “Hope he’s enjoying his retirement.”

He spoke that last word with no shortage of venom in his tone.

“The retirement hasn’t been going as expected,” said Mara.

“Good.”

“Actually, not so good,” said Mara. “When he left Hell, there was an unintended consequence. The walls of Cocytus became weakened without his presence and he’s been trying to take care of the inmates that escaped to Earth.”

Cross took a slow drag on his cigarette, his gaze fixed on Mara. “The breakout. Those prisoners that have been causing trouble in the Badlands. That’s all because of Lucifer?”

“You’ve had problems with them down here, too?” asked Mara.

“More than you can imagine,” said Cross. “Every time I hear from the Court, it’s a complaint about the prisoners. I even tried to go to Cocytus one time to speak with Erebus, but he refused to grant me an audience.”

“What’s been happening?” asked Mara.

“Most of them are in the Badlands,” said Lilith.

“At first I’d hoped it’d be a good way to get rid of them,” said Cross. “There’s not much that survives long in the Badlands.”

“But it didn’t quite work out as expected,” said Lilith, then she looked at Cross. “Beelzebub told her the rumors.”

When Cross looked at Mara, his expression was one of hurt. “You went to Beelzebub before you came to me? After all this time?”

Mara sighed. “Lucifer felt it was more important to give you your space. He wanted to keep this under the radar, didn’t want to be seen as potentially interfering with your rule.”

“Can we focus, Luther?” asked Lilith. “We have more important things to concern ourselves with than you feeling snubbed.”

Cross rubbed his face. “You’re right, it’s just…” He sighed. “I’ve been down here a very long time. This isn’t exactly turning out the way I expected.” He snuffed out his cigarette and then leaned forward. “So where is Lucifer now?”

“I don’t know,” said Mara. “We were traveling to Cocytus so Lucifer could meet with Erebus, but then our caravan was attacked by raiders. I was knocked out by an explosion and then I woke up in Lilith’s realm. But as for the Morningstar…”

“His body wasn’t among the dead,” added Lilith. “We think they took him. And it seems likely that this rumored ringleader in the Badlands might be involved.”

“And what’s worse is he’s lost his powers,” said Mara.

“What do you think the raiders wanted with him?” asked Cross.

“If it’s someone who escaped from Cocytus, then they would have reason to go after the Morningstar,” said Mara. “Maybe revenge or as some kind of a bargaining chip with the Court.”

“So how’d they find out Lucifer was back in Hell when I didn’t even know?” asked Cross.

“I think there might be a traitor in Beelzebub’s court,” said Lilith. “Would seem the first step is speaking with him. And you being the King of Hell means you have the authority to intervene in a matter like this.”

Cross gave Lilith an uncertain gaze. “You know I’m not too keen on getting mixed up with others like that. And Beelzebub’s hardly one of my biggest fans.”

“Maybe not, but the Morningstar is missing and whoever is in Beelzebub’s court may know something we don’t,” said Mara. “We have to try and for that, we need you to intervene.”

“Yeah, I get that,” said Cross. “I just want you to know that if I get involved, there’s no guarantee we can keep a lid on this. The rest of the Court will find out about this. Not only would they learn that Lucifer is back, but it might also come out that he was indirectly responsible for what happened to Cocytus. You sure that’s a risk you want to take?”

“No, I’m not,” said Mara. “But the Morningstar is out there somewhere, possibly in grave danger. Do I really have any other choice in the matter?”

Cross nodded. “Guess it’s about time I got out of this tower, huh?”

Lilith held out her hand and gestured to Cross’s entire body. “You might want to consider cleaning yourself up a little bit. If you go into Beelzebub’s court looking like a college graduate who moves back home and can’t find a job, I doubt it will project the right image.”

Cross looked down at his clothes and ran his fingers through his beard and hair. “I kind of like the new look. Think it conveys that I’ve got a relaxed personality.”

“Right now, you need to convey strength,”