A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(36)

“What is she doing here?” Dad demanded.

“I’m—” I swallowed the rest of it, not trusting myself to speak. Valefar was right. Dad would rush off if he knew Mom had been hurt.

“In case you don’t recall,” Valefar said with a sideways glance in my direction, “I granted you your freedom. I was in need of a new Regent.”

My stomach tightened. Regent? That’s what Cassidy had called Gressil.

Dad’s temper flared, and my stomach clenched. Whatever a Regent was, I was fairly sure I wanted no part of it. I wanted to insist they tell me, but Dad, totally furious, kept going. “You have hundreds of minions suited for that. She is in no way qualified, nor does she know the rules of the Shadow Realm. This is insanity.”

“Does your Regent know the rules of the realm, Damien?”

Dad looked like he wanted to argue, but instead, and without even looking at me, he whirled around and stalked back to his seat across the table. Everyone else was settling in as well. “What’s—”

“Shh,” Valefar hissed. The door across the room creaked open, and his head snapped around. A tall man in an expensive-looking black suit walked in. Curly black hair and a smile that made the temperature drop. “Do not speak unless spoken to. Lucifer will not tolerate your chatter as I do.”

Lucifer? I opened my mouth to ask what he meant—he’d spoken to me, after all—but suit guy had stepped up to the end of the table and taken the seat on the end. All eyes focused forward.

Hell in a hailstorm.

Lucifer. The Lucifer.

“We have a problem,” Lucifer said. He braced both hands against the tabletop and pierced the group with a steely glare. “Gressil is free and looking for a way back home—”

As much as I needed to know the score on Gressil, his words turned to mush in my ears. All I could think about was Mom. Was she awake? Scared? God, she was probably wondering where I was.

Lucifer slammed his hand against the table, refocusing my attention. “…looking to free my brother, and as we all know, that cannot be allowed.”

“How did this happen?” one of the demons from across the table shouted. He was sitting beside a shorter demon with a wicked smile and slightly pointed teeth. Every few moments, I’d see him nod in my direction. The demon equivalent of hey, how you doin’? Or maybe he was contemplating ways to skin me alive. Either way, it was creepy and I had to look away.

Lucifer took a deep breath, and acid began to bubble in my belly. His gaze swiveled toward Valefar and me, and as he leaned forward on the table, for a second I forgot about Mom. With the King of Hell staring daggers of death at me, I was sure she’d understand. “How indeed? Do you have any light to shed on this, Regent?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, dumbfounded, but coming up with an excuse wasn’t necessary. He hadn’t been talking to me.

Valefar bent his head. “My Lord. My new Regent is…unique. She spends most of her time—”

Lucifer growled. “Spare me the details, Valefar. I’m aware of your Regent’s pedigree.” He pushed off the table and clucked his tongue. “Honestly. A partially human Regent? Your standards are lowering with age, my friend, but enough about that. What I want to know is how you plan on fixing the problem?”

“She’ll recapture him, of course,” Valefar responded, picking his head up. He looked 100 percent confident. Good. That made one of us, at least.

“Just like that, yes? Tell me, do you think your timid pet will be a sufficient match for Gressil?”

Pet? I’d just been insulted by the King of Hell. Day complete.

Valefar chuckled. “My Regent is anything but timid, I assure you.”

Lucifer seemed to consider this. Finally, he said, “I suppose we shall see, won’t we? Your Regent unleashed a dangerous entity. One with the potential to interrupt the peace and prosperity we’ve worked so hard to achieve here. In addition to her fixing the problem, punishment is in order. Might I suggest a decade in the pit?”

I tamped down the urge to vomit. I’d bet a lifetime without chocolate that he wasn’t referring to the rough side of Penance, outside the Ledges. My imagination went wild. Everything from the typical movie scene—me chained to a huge rock with some horn-toting demon whipping me for all eternity—to being pushed into a literal, never-ending pit.

“It was me.” Lukas shot from his chair. Dad tried to drag him back to his seat, but Lukas jerked his arm free, facing Lucifer with a defiant glare. “I was the one who broke the mirror and set the demon free. She had no part in it.”

“Lukas,” Dad snarled.

Chivalry was kind of hot and all, but that didn’t make it any less annoying—or badly timed. I didn’t know much about what was going on here, but I got that the situation was deep. I mean, hello? Lucifer? There wasn’t any point in us both taking the fall. Technically, neither of us had broken the mirror. Lucy-Elaine had done it. Granted, I’d kind of provoked her, but still… Playing point-the-finger wasn’t going to get us anywhere right now.

I stood as well. “He’s trying to protect me, um…” What the hell did you call the ruler of hell? Your evilness? “Your Majesty…?”

Lucifer made his way around to where I was. With his dark eyes fixated on me, an icy chill raced up my back, and even though I was positive that it was just nerves, I found it hard to breathe. “Loyalty is an admirable trait, Jessie Darker. One I hold in high regard.” He turned to Lukas, whose gaze never wavered. “This dynamic intrigues me, so I will grant you both a favor. Leniency.”