Lucifer turned away from Adela and took a few steps towards the door.
“Shade,” he said.
The same dark figure that warned them of the alpha’s arrival materialized before them in a vaguely humanoid shape, despite being entirely made of darkness.
As before, this being seemed to seep out of the brick that this dungeon was made of.
It made Adela nervous that it was watching them all the time.
She was someone who valued privacy since she was starved of it.
All she hoped for was a place to gather herself where she could truly be alone.
“Your Majesty,” Shade greeted, bowing slightly.
“Prepare a guest room for Lady Adela,” he requested.
“She has no luggage and will need all the basics.” “At once, Sire.” The figure dematerialized shortly after.
“A butler of some kind?” Adela asked.
Lucifer chuckled faintly.
“Calling him that would be underselling how useful he is to me,” he admitted.
“But enough of that.
Are you okay to walk?” “I’m fine,” Adela insisted.
He looked at her from head to toe.
She hadn’t been only moments before, but he imagined not many people were privy to her true thoughts and feelings.
“If that changes, let me know,” he responded.
Then he gestured for her to walk with him.
“I’ll show you the way from the dungeons to where you will be staying.” The Devil walked through the dungeon’s door, holding it open for his guest.
When it was closed, he walked beside her as he began to explain where they were.
Adela noticed that he waited for her rather than walking ahead.
This Devil, who had presided over Hell for who knows how long, didn’t hold himself above others.
She wanted to trust him with everything but found herself still aloof.
“This is only the outer wall,” he began.
“An area accessible to my guards.
If you’ve noticed, you can only see down over the city because everything in my palace is above us and through that wall.” She nodded slowly, taking it all in.
To her right, there was a wall that did obscure everything in her view.
Before, she was too disoriented to pay it much attention.
“The city is different than what I expected,” she admitted.
That caused Lucifer to stop.
“Another stereotype?” he wondered, a smirk pulling at his lips.
She stepped towards the wall that looked over the city, and her blue eyes scanned the surprisingly beautiful surroundings.
While most everything was made of black onyx and street lights were red dots littered all throughout, the darkness didn’t scare her.
“Fewer flames,” she admitted.
“No screaming of the eternally damned.” “People aren’t as bad as most think,” Lucifer confessed.
“Not many are punished forever.” She had stopped believing in a higher power a long time ago, but he was making her want to reconsider.
It caused her to look at him as he also looked over his domain.
“It’s… Beautiful,” she explained.
He looked at the city fondly, but knew there were other things at hand.
“Let’s continue before the red moon rises, and things get far more hectic,” he suggested.
“Lead the way.” Adela had only scratched the surface of the next tower they entered and hadn’t properly seen inside.
This time, they stepped inside and she realized that stairs went up and into the wall beside them.
It was then that she was finally able to look up and see the castle that Lucifer called his home.
Menacing was all Adela could describe it.
As with all the buildings, it was onyx.
Fog came from unknown places and caused it to be faintly obscured.
The black brick architecture was impressive even in the darkness.
There were red lanterns spread evenly so that it wasn’t total darkness.
Most surprising was the sweet smell Adela noticed.
Her nose was admittedly stronger than the average person’s.
“Welcome to where you’ll be staying,” Lucifer said.
There weren’t words to describe this feeling Adela had.
She should be more petrified of the future, but found herself being pulled in one direction easily.
Even though she had made up her mind to leave the wolves, more realizations cropped up about how abnormal the werewolf colony was.
Or maybe how genuinely kind Lucifer was.
She couldn’t tell what was extreme and what wasn’t.
This path put them on a walkway that led up to the first level of the castle.
She noticed he got quieter as they approached the front entrance.
Upon his arrival, anyone in the hallway halted.
Adela noticed that those serving in the castle were made of all different humanoid and supernatural races.
She had so many questions but not a moment to ask them.
Action returned in a flurry as servants rushed to greet their King.
However, rather than doing it out of fear, the demons seemed eager to serve—almost relieved that their master had returned.
His insistence not to be called a title were lost to all of the servants as Sire, Master, Your Majesty rang out.
Overall, he waved off their attention.
“You’ll get used to their nonsense,” Lucifer assured her.
They walked deeper into the heart of the castle.
Soon, they found an elevator with an intricately etched silver door that opened without a button needing to be pressed.
Not even when selecting a floor did Lucifer have to press a button.
It seemed to all be in his head.
“This will lead you to your room,” he said.
“The 11th floor is where my personal guests stay.” They made it to their floor, and the doors opened, revealing another dark hallway that led to a selection of guest rooms.
“Calling me a ‘personal guest’ is flattering when the truth is that I’m a refugee taking advantage of your offer,” she admitted.
“Well, the refugee needs protection, and the floor that is two below my personal quarters will be the best bet to ensure that.” “You really put some thought into it,” she said.
“Is that sarcasm?” he wondered.
Lucifer seemed to have a specific room in mind when he led her to it and opened the door.
Right away, Adela was surprised to find that this dark place could offer comforts or that black stone could be this breathtaking.
Her guest room wasn’t the basics as Lucifer had requested.
It looked like an expensive hotel suite.
For a few moments, Adela walked through the room.
It was slowly sinking in that things could look up for her.
“It wasn’t sarcasm,” she finally said.
“I feel robotic, like I don’t know how to be grateful.” But she had become thoughtful as she looked through a room she felt she didn’t fully deserve.
Her feeling of unworthiness clawed inside of her skull, but she resisted voicing it.
Lucifer normally stayed away from her, but he got a bit closer.
“I want you to use me for everything I can offer,” he admitted.
“I have been ignoring a brewing problem for a long time, and you’re the catalyst for change.
If anything, I’m thankful for you.
My gratitude is in the form of this room and whatever else you could request while you’re staying here.” She seemed to shrink as she tucked her hair behind her ear and couldn’t look directly at him when he observed her.
She walked towards a window that offered her such a beautiful view of distant gardens and the city, looking forward to how it might look when Hell’s red moon rose.
“What I want is knowledge so that I can have my revenge,” she began quietly.
“And you seem to know a few things.” “I’ve lived lifetimes,” he responded.
“I don’t forget things easily.” “Is it really impossible to break a bond?” she asked.