Demon Angel

always make the best decisions, though I would try to emulate you."
    "Do you think you could be as I am, Lilith?"
    "I could never be half as magnificent, Father."
    "You should lie to the human. You should lie always."
    She lowered her eyes. "You are so very benevolent, Father, to share your wisdom with a worm such as I."
    Perhaps she had gone too far with the last remark; he stared at her without expression, but the fire in the hearth leapt and crackled.
    "I can smell his seed within you. It defiles my Realm."
    "It was not my intention to defile, Father, only to offer proof of his weakening."
    "And your own?"
    "Is but a part of my design, Father. He thinks to save me, and I give him as much hope as possible toward that end: I plan to make him believe that my reaction and desire is genuine before I take that false hope away and destroy him, as per our bargain," she said, and her stomach clenched as she realized she'd done exactly as Hugh had predicted: attempted to lie to herself.
    "Your pleasure was genuine."
    She shrugged carelessly. "It was but a physical manifestation of the pleasure I took in deceiving him."
    "You lie."
    "As you wished, Father."
    "You care for him."
    She fell silent, not daring to hope that Hugh had been right about Lucifer's response as he had been of hers, that his plan might work after all.
    "How delightful, then, that you must kill him." He sat forward, resting his elbows on the arms of the chair. "I have a surprise for you, Lilith. Two surprises, actually."
    Tensing, she prepared to flee. "Yes?"
    "The first is a visitor. We found him wandering the Pit."
    She frowned, confused. But she recognized the long, confident strides of the Guardian who entered the den, his physical scent.
    Michael.
    Lucifer did not rise from his seat; nor did she, or turn to acknowledge him, though it left her blind to the Guardian's expressions and appearance.
    "You are embarrassing me, daughter."
    Anger in that statement; she leapt to her feet, forcing a smile. "I'm certain that the Doyen understands he is not worthy of notice when in the company of such as yourself, Father."
    Michael nodded slowly, his obsidian gaze unreadable as it traveled between Lucifer and Lilith. With his black feathered wings, soot-stained toga and bronzed skin, the Doyen looked more the denizen Below than Lucifer, but she did not make the observation aloud.
    "Would you take tea?" Lilith said.
    "No. I have only come to look for someone I misplaced. I will be leaving shortly; I wished to pay my respects." Michael's tone made it clear he had little, if any, respect for the demon lord.
    "Misplaced?" Lucifer echoed, and laughed. "Careless of you, I daresay. Be certain that if I find this lost soul, I shall find a place for him."
    "Yes." Michael did not look away from Lilith. "I sense your halfling is eager to return to Earth."
    "I have a bargain to fulfill," Lilith said quietly, wishing the Guardian would not speak of, or to, her at all. His attention would only put her in line of Lucifer's anger.
    "Hugh. Do you truly believe you'll succeed where you failed before?" His lips quirked, and he turned to Lucifer. "You have indeed made her in your image; she fails too often to be anything but your daughter."
    "She'll not fail in this," Lucifer murmured.
    "All of those you transformed have been worthless, the result of a faulty ritual—else they would still populate this realm," Michael said. Lilith stood, absolutely still, and they spoke as if she did not exist. Vexing, but safer than notice. "And applying that false transformation to the nosferatu will not save you from inevitable ruin."
    "It gave the halflings power; there was nothing faulty in the ritual, only the recipients."
    "You could not make true demons from a human template."
    "And that is why I shall succeed with the nosferatu," Lucifer said, smiling. "They are pure, of the original angelic orders, and their power will add to mine."
    Michael started, as if in realization. Strange, Lilith thought; she had never seen him react with such obviousness. Would Lucifer know it was unusual?
    "Their power to kill men," Michael said slowly. "That is what they trade; they would kill in service of you."
    "Much more efficient than the halflings, don't you agree? And at little inconvenience to myself; they only wish for access to Hell, safety from my demons, and a territory in my realm in exchange. Belial's would be the perfect size, would it not?"
    It would not. Though Lilith could readily believe the