Black City

Which is why I kind of lost my mind for a second, and stomped over to Puck, and clocked him.

I’m sure Puck could have stopped me from hitting him if he’d suspected that was what I was going to do. But he probably thought I had more self-preservation than that.

The sound of my fist hitting his flesh seemed to echo through the house.

There was a second where he was shocked, and staring, and then I was up against the wall with his forearm under my neck, and I was choking.

“How dare you,” Puck said.

I kicked him in the balls and he dropped me. I haven’t met a male of any species that could tolerate that. I landed more or less on my feet after a momentary stumble, and rubbed my throat.

“You didn’t spend enough time researching me,” I said hoarsely. “I dare whatever the hell I want. You will tell Nathaniel why you did what you did, and then you will take us to Titania’s court.”

“What makes you think I must comply with your demands? You are the one in debt to me,” Puck said. We were only inches apart from each other. I wondered what kind of effect nightfire would have on him.

As it happened, I didn’t have to find out. Nathaniel’s sword came around his father’s throat.

“You can do what Madeline says, or you can have your throat slit,” Nathaniel said.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Puck said. “Did not Lucifer warn you about destroying ancient creatures?”

“I killed Azazel,” I said. “I diminished Oberon. Maybe you’ve noticed that I tend to do things without regard for the consequences.”

“Oh, yes, you are Lucifer’s child,” Puck said bitterly. “Queen of all you survey. You have even taken my son in your thrall.”

“Nathaniel is nobody’s thrall,” I said. “And I’m nobody’s queen.”

“You will be if Lucifer has his way,” Puck said, then sighed tiredly. “Stand down, Nathaniel. I will tell you all.”

Nathaniel looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. He pulled the sword away from Puck’s throat.

Puck looked at me speculatively. “Would you have let him kill me?”

I looked at him steadily, so he could see the truth in my eyes. “Maybe not over this. But if there ever comes a time when you are a threat to me and mine, I will eliminate you.”

He shook his head in wonderment. “No wonder Lucifer has chosen you. Most creatures have more sense than to threaten me.”

“Madeline fears nothing,” Nathaniel said with a touch of pride.

That wasn’t true. I was afraid of lots of things—more things than I could count, actually. But I didn’t see any value in admitting that fear when everyone I encountered was a lot more strong and powerful than I was.

Puck wandered over to my bookshelf, scanning the titles. “You should know that Lucifer and I do not get along.”

“I noticed that,” I said. “Care to tell us why?”

“Lucifer believes that as the firstborn, he has the right to rule all. Our siblings and I disagree.”

“There are more of you?” I asked, alarmed. That was all I needed—more frighteningly powerful relatives running around.

“Yes,” Puck said. “There are four of us.”

“And one of you is in the lake,” Nathaniel said thoughtfully. “I could feel his presence.”

“Why is your brother in my lake?” I said. I did not like this at all.

Puck shrugged. “Alerian settled there some time ago—perhaps three hundred years? He said that he was going to rest for a while. None of us questioned him at the time, as he has a habit of slumbering through decades. But…”

“But?” I asked.

“I wonder if he sensed this area would become geographically important,” Puck said. “He is better than any of the rest of us at seeing the future. Alerian sees things more precisely.”

“And now that the area is geographically important, he’s waking up to do… what?”

“I imagine that he has intentions of some sort. I am not privy to them.”

Awesome. Another immensely powerful being with intentions. “And your other sibling? Is that one hanging around here, too, hoping to take advantage?”

“We do not speak much of Daharan,” Puck said. “He keeps to himself.”

“Does he have plans for total world domination? Because if he does, I want to add him to the list.”

“Very likely,” Puck said, and it was not a kind smile. “None of us seem to be able to leave well enough alone.”

Lucifer had three siblings. One of them had me in his debt, and one of them was rising from Lake Michigan for his own fell purpose. It seemed I had another crisis looming on the horizon, but first we had to sort out the Nathaniel/Puck issue. The clock was ticking—for J.B. and for the city.

“So you and Lucifer have some sibling rivalry issues,” I said. “What does that have to do with Nathaniel?”

“Some time ago I considered that it would be wise to have a person well placed in Lucifer’s court who was loyal to me.”

“I can see the wisdom of such a thing,” Nathaniel said. “But how does it benefit you when I did not know who you were or that I might be loyal to you?”

“When the time was correct I would have revealed myself, and your legacy, to you.”

“And you thought that I would immediately swear allegiance to you?” Nathaniel said skeptically.

“You would have been unable to do otherwise. The time would have been right,” Puck said.

“This plan seems like it has a lot of potential to backfire,” I said. There was something bugging me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. “What, exactly, is ‘the right time’? You let him believe he was Zerachiel’s son for thousands of years.”

“When I was prepared to move against Lucifer,” Puck said vaguely.

Move against Lucifer, I thought. Why was he being so circumspect? If he wanted a loyal son who would help him overthrow Lucifer, then why not raise that child as his own…And then everything slid into place.

“You weren’t saving your revelation so you could have a loyal person in Lucifer’s court,” I said. I could feel my anger rising again. “You were never going to tell Nathaniel in the first place. You were just going to flip the switch.”

Nathaniel looked from me to Puck. Puck’s expression was stony, revealing nothing.

“Madeline, what do you mean by ‘flip the switch’?” Nathaniel said.

“He’s made you a Manchurian candidate,” I said. “He was never going to tell you he was your father. When the time came, and you were close enough, he was going to unleash you on Lucifer. You’d never know why you killed him, but it wouldn’t matter because you’d probably die in the process anyway. I imagine that killing something as old as Lucifer would make a big explosion.”

Puck nodded slightly.

Nathaniel looked horrified. “You would set me on Lord Lucifer as an assassin?”

Puck wandered around the room, picking up my things, inspecting them, putting them down again. “Whatever my intentions, they have been undone by this woman.”

“This does not change the fact that your intentions sucked,” I said. “Did you even care about him at all? Or was he nothing but a means to an end to you?”

“How did you do it?” Puck asked curiously. “I would have said no power but mine could release his legacy.”

“I take it by your avoidance of my question that you did not give a care about Nathaniel at all.”

“I take it by your avoidance of my question that whatever occurred likely involved physical intimacy, because you possess an annoyingly human sense of modesty.”

“What happens now?” Nathaniel said, breaking into my verbal tennis match with Puck. I’d almost forgotten he was in the room. “My legacy has been revealed, at least partially. Am I in danger? When next I see Lord Lucifer, will I attempt to kill him?”