A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(80)

A thunderous clap split the silence, and everything went dark.





Chapter Thirty-Three


The first thing I noticed when I could open my eyes was light. Lots and lots of annoying, bright light. I was seated in an ornate chair. Bright red with gold and green jewels. Next to me sat Dad, with Mom on his right. Kendra and Lukas were on the other side. No sign of Cassidy. The ceiling was vaulted, and if it hadn’t been for the visible support beams, I would have sworn it wasn’t there at all. There were stars as far as the eye could see.

“Admiring my ceiling?” a voice asked. Lucifer strode into view. Behind him, by the door, was Valefar. “I’m fond of the stars, aren’t you, Valefar? We don’t have them here. Pity.”

Here. The only place I knew of that didn’t have stars was the Shadow Realm. I stood and took a step forward. “Please,” I said. “Don’t freak about us stealing the prison. We were only—”

Lucifer snapped his fingers. Suddenly I was in the seat again.

“Your methods, while unconventional, and dare I say dangerous, worked. Gressil is back in his cage.”

“We obeyed your command,” Dad said from his own ugly chair. Unlike me, he didn’t try getting up. “I aided in rescuing the Belfair witch, not Gressil’s recapture.”

Lucifer turned to Dad. “You’re actions are not in question, Damien.”

Mom, however, stood. Yep. I was my mother’s daughter through and through. “Then whose are?”

Lucifer’s gaze fell on Mom, and I held my breath. Dad did, too. But instead of being angry, the King of Hell smiled. “Klaire Darker. It is an honor to have you in my home.”

Mom wasn’t impressed. “And why are we here?” A swell of pride rushed through me. My mom. Badass, even in the face of Lucifer himself.

“Klaire,” Dad whispered. He alternated between watching Lucifer and glaring at Valefar.

“It’s all right, Damien. I like a woman who speaks her mind.” He paced back and forth in front of the chairs, hands clasped behind his back. “Maybe you’re here because I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done.”

“Maybe,” Mom said. “But that’s not the reason.”

Lucifer grinned. “Actually, it is. In a manner of speaking.” He began to pace from one side of the room to the other. “As I’m sure you know, the Shadow Realm has rules. Rules that I take seriously. A house without rules will end up in chaos. Damien came to me recently and asked me to break two of those rules.”

I knew I shouldn’t interrupt—especially, of all people, Lucifer—but my lips were moving before I could think twice. “You’re letting me out of my contract with Valefar?”

Lucifer frowned, and when I glanced over at Val, even though I knew it was my imagination, he actually looked hurt. “There is nothing I can do about that. In the Shadow Realm, you are considered of age. You made that deal having knowledge of its pros and cons. You are tied to it. No, Damien asked me something else. Something that I denied him because I felt it would, in the end, be detrimental to our house.”

Dad stood. He kept his expression neutral, but there was still a hint of shock.

“As a thank you, for recapturing Gressil, I am going to reverse my decision.” He turned to Dad. “Damien, Master of the House of Pride, your request is granted.”

“I’m confused. How—” A flash of light cut through the room, and when I could see again, we were all back in the clearing. “How does him granting his favor say thank you to us?” I finished. “I really hate when demons do that.”

“Damien,” Mom said slowly. It was dark, but the moon was full. She was standing a few feet away next to Kendra, and she didn’t look happy. “I want to know what’s going on.”

Dad took a step toward her. There was sadness in his eyes. “I love you, Klaire. I knew from the moment I saw you that you were different from other humans.” He took a step back, out of the moonlight, and melted into the shadows. When he reemerged, he was standing in front of her. “But there are rules I must live by. Unbreakable rules that forbid me from tying myself to a human.”

Hell in a hailstorm…

He faded into the darkness again, and when he reappeared, this time he was behind her. His right hand lay flat against the ground when he went down on one knee with his head bowed. His left was curled around something dark. “I approached Lucifer with a loophole. One that might allow me…” His head rose, and he opened his fist. In the center of his palm was a small silver circle with a glinting black stone. “Klaire, of the Darker Clan, I ask you to bind yourself to me for eternity. To be mine and mine alone until the sun no longer rises above this world.”

Mom blinked once and then again. “Did you just—did you just ask me—”

Dad stood and slipped the ring onto her finger. “Marry me, Klaire.”





Chapter Thirty-Four


As far as weeks go, this one had been a doozy. I’d officially started collecting on deals for Val, we’d been threatened by a demon with a grudge, put on notice by the ruler of Hell, and as of yesterday, my parents were getting married.

About damn time.

I’d talked to Kendra earlier. She still hadn’t found her mother. After we’d gotten zapped to the Shadow Realm by Lucifer, Cassidy disappeared. I was sure nothing funky had happened, and Kendra wasn’t worried, either. Her mother was probably just laying low. She’d betrayed the entire coven, as well as the Belfair name. That wasn’t going to go down without serious repercussions. Kendra said she was okay with it all—her mother did it to herself, after all—but I still worried that when the time came, she’d have a hard time with it. The mantle of coven leader fell to her shoulders by default, and she was going to take some time to sort things out before making it official. I couldn’t blame her. She was terrified to take on that much responsibility.