They stared at each other.
Who the fuck is this? Why is she in Lucifer’s private rooms and why the fuck does she look like sex on legs? Is he fucking this woman? Is that why she’s wearing such provocative clothing?
Anger flooded her senses. No. She realised it wasn’t anger. It was jealousy. How could she be jealous? Lucifer didn’t mean anything to her.
“Hello,” the woman said. “You must be my Lord’s guest.”
Candace almost choked on her own breath. Her Lord? What? Was she talking about Lucifer?
“Who are you?”
“Mallmomoz, but you may call me Mall.”
Candace folded her arms across her chest, levelling the woman with a questioning stare.
“What exactly did he say about me?”
“My Lord informed me he had a guest. I have strict instructions not to allow anyone else access to his rooms.”
She supposed as the King of Hell, he would require his subjects to refer to him as such.
“And what is it that you do for Lucifer?”
Mall smiled at her, shaking her head a little.
“I assist him in running his domain. I suppose you could refer to me as his personal assistant. Oh, he left you a note on the counter over there.”
Mall pointed to the breakfast bar. Candace didn’t move. This was his assistant. Did that mean she wasn’t some kind of sexual plaything for him? Why would she even think that Lucifer had one of those in the first place? Mall didn’t look much like a demon.
“Would it be rude of me to ask what exactly you are?” Candace said.
“A succubus, but do not worry, my duty is to my Lord. You are his guest, and as such, you are not to be harmed under any circumstances.”
She let out the breath she was holding. If Mall was a succubus, it explained why she looked the way she did. She took slow steps towards the breakfast bar, interested in why Lucifer had left her a note.
I have left you something in the fridge. 2 minutes in the microwave, no longer.
She opened the fridge and sure enough, there was a plate inside covered by a plastic lid. She didn’t even look under it as she shoved it in the microwave. She was hungry. It’s why she’d been looking for him in the first place. She hadn’t eaten so well in years.
“Um, so… where is he?” she asked Mall whilst she waited.
“In the throne room. He didn’t wish to wake you. He asked me to retrieve something for him and to check if you had eaten.”
Lucifer being considerate was something new on her.
The microwave dinged. She pulled out the plate and took off the lid. It was a simple pasta dish, but she appreciated it nonetheless. Grabbing a glass of water, she sat down at the breakfast bar and tucked in.
“You can tell him I have,” she said between mouthfuls.
“You are not what I expected.”
Candace turned, looking at Mall with confusion.
“When my Lord informed me of your presence, he did not say much about you. Only that you had accidentally arrived in Hell and whilst we are unable to return to Earth, you would be under his protection.”
“Does he not have guests then?”
“Not often, no.”
She turned back to her plate. She felt like she’d just learnt a great deal about the King of Hell in the last five minutes.
“How long have you been his assistant?”
“We do not measure time here, but I suppose around four hundred human years.”
Candace almost spat out her food. Four hundred years? Then she remembered. Lucifer was the original fallen angel.
He’s immortal, you big idiot.
“Will you tell me more about him?”
She wasn’t quite sure why she’d asked that.
“I’m not sure I should be talking about him and I really must get back.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have… Forget I said anything.”
She stared down at her almost empty plate. She hadn’t realised she’d eaten it so fast. The stool next to her was pulled back. Mall sat down and turned to her, placing her tablet down on the counter.
“My Lord has been irritable for months since he returned to Earth. I worry we will not find a way to reverse what He has done to Hell.”
“You mean the whole being stuck down here thing.”
“Yes, but since you arrived, he’s been worse. He paces the throne room with a restlessness I have never seen before. He usually spends most of his time in here, but it seems that with you around, he is less inclined to return to his rooms.”
Candace knew very well why that was. Whilst he’d been making sure she ate well, he barely spent any more time than he had to around her. She could see the longing, desire in his eyes whenever they were together in the same room. It made it difficult to focus on anything but him.
I can’t. I just can’t. It wouldn’t be right. He’s the Devil.
There were a million reasons why she couldn’t let him take her, but all of them seemed to disappear out of her head whenever he was near.
“Um, well… we don’t exactly see eye to eye.”
“And yet he protects you all the same.”
Candace shrugged. She wasn’t about to tell Mall that Lucifer was only doing this because he wanted to fuck her. The thought of it brought heat to her cheeks.
“Tell me, what do you do back on Earth?” Mall said.
“Oh well, I’m emissary to the fae. You see, I’m only a half blood. My father is a witch. I attend to his affairs in London.”
“Interesting.”
By the time Lucifer arrived back, Mall and Candace had been chatting for what
