I moved toward the portal, and Nathaniel put his hand on my arm. “Let me go first.”
The argument we’d had the day before rang in my ears, and I started to shake my head no.
But before I could raise a protest he’d stepped forward and disappeared into the hole.
“Dammit,” I swore as Samiel dropped in right after Nathaniel, almost as if the two of them had coordinated it ahead of time.
Jude looked at me and gestured toward the portal.
“You’re not going to try to go in front of me to make sure the helpless woman is safe?” I said.
“No, because it’s my job to stay here until you’re through in case anything comes out of the woodwork at this end,” Jude said, smiling a little.
“So they did arrange it ahead of time,” I said.
“You didn’t have to take twenty years to pack,” Beezle said. “They had too much time to discuss things among themselves.”
“Just hold tight,” I said, and stepped into the portal.
I expected the usual feeling of having my brain squeezed between my ears, but this portal felt sort of light and floaty. If that was Lucifer’s doing, then I was grateful, although I would never tell him so. It would be nice to arrive at the other end without feeling nauseous for a change.
The trip was over almost before I knew it. One second I was in the portal, and the next moment I had landed softly on a plush carpet, blinking in surprise at my many-greats-grandfather, who stood waiting for me with the beaming smile of a game-show host.
“Air Morningstar,” Lucifer said, winking. “The only way to travel. Much more comfortable than your usual portal, yes?”
This was not the first time that I’d had the disquieting feeling that Lucifer could read minds, although he strenuously protested otherwise.
“Nothing but the best for my future grandson,” he said, a greedy light in his eyes as he looked at my burgeoning belly. “You may want to step to one side, Madeline. I believe my friend Judas is arriving.”
Lucifer lightly pressed my shoulder and guided me to his side so that we could see Jude arrive. The wolf narrowed his eyes at his old enemy.
“Morningstar,” Jude growled.
“Judas,” Lucifer said merrily, ignoring the malice in Jude’s tone. “Welcome to my humble home.”
I glanced around the room and thought that Lucifer’s idea of humble and my idea of humble were two very different things.
The room had quite obviously been decorated by someone with piles of money and the taste to go with it. He’d eschewed the baroque-madness look favored by so many other ancient creatures and gone with clean, modern lines and simple colors. It didn’t look like a comfortable room for cozying up with a book, but neither did it look like the kind of place where you’d be afraid to sit down because you might break the furniture.
Samiel and Nathaniel stood off to one side, holding their bags. I opened my mouth to yell at Nathaniel for going into the portal before me and realized that Lucifer watched me closely. Was he looking for a wedge to drive between Nathaniel and me? Everything I did for the next few days was going to be observed. I’d better start acting accordingly.
“Thanks for having us here,” I said, trying to sound sincere.
Lucifer’s eyes crinkled in laughter. “You look as though you just swallowed a toad, Granddaughter.”
I guess fake sincerity is not my best thing.
“Come, I will have Zaniel show you to your rooms and then you will join us in the main hall. Evangeline is greeting the other guests there,” he said.
He led us to a door that opened onto a hallway. Zaniel, the messenger who’d delivered the wedding invitation to me, stood there like a soldier at rest.
“Show my granddaughter and her entourage to their rooms,” Lucifer said. “Then you will escort them to the hall for cocktails.”
“Entourage?” Beezle muttered. “We’re her family.”
Lucifer gave Beezle an amused look, and Beezle glared back at him.
Zaniel nodded his head once. “Of course, Lord Lucifer.”
Lucifer bent to kiss my cheek, so he didn’t see the flare of emotion in Zaniel’s eyes. This kid really did not like me.
I steeled myself not to shrink away from Lucifer. At the touch of his lips on my cheek, the darkness inside me opened its eyes.
Lucifer pulled away from me after that brief touch, his eyes dark with anticipation. He’d felt the magic inside me, felt like call to like. And he was happy that I was here, where he could try to bend that magic to his will.
I gave him a steady look, so he would know that I wasn’t scared, and that I wouldn’t surrender.
The Morningstar only turned away from me, smiling.
10
Zaniel led us through the maze of hallways and stairways that seemed to comprise Lucifer’s house. It reminded me quite a bit of Azazel’s home, which had been a warren of little rooms, most of them filled with horrors. Lucifer might not be a scientist experimenting the way Azazel had been, but I had no doubt there were plenty of things I did not want to see behind these doors. He was nicknamed the Prince of Darkness for a reason.
We were brought to the topmost floor of the mansion, and Zaniel bowed.
“You and your people have the entire floor at your disposal, Ms. Black,” he said.
“Okay,” I said, passing my suitcase to Nathaniel. “Why don’t you three go find rooms? I just want to have a quick word with Zaniel here.”
Samiel and Jude looked uncertain, glancing at Nathaniel.