go back into the lake until you come up with a solution.”
“Lucifer, no,” I said gently.
“It's what I would have done to Jesus.” He met my stare forlornly. “How can I refuse to make the same sacrifice that I would have forced upon him?”
“Because you have control now,” I said firmly. “Look, if you start to feel as if you can't control him, we'll figure out a way to restrain you. But it doesn't have to be a box in the Lake of Fire. We could contain you another way. A way that's not so...”
“Bleak?” Lucifer asked with a sad smile. “Very well, my vicious. I will be on guard.”
“And so will I,” Raphael declared. “If you start to act strangely, I'm tattling on you.”
“I expect no less,” Lucifer said with a small smile as he stood, then he pulled Raph to his feet and embraced him. “Thank you, Raphael. Thank you for caring about me enough to send me Elaria. Without you, we'd still be trapped there.”
“You're my god.” Raphael cleared his throat. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Lucifer grinned.
“The others are safe?” Raphael asked gruffly.
“They are,” Lucifer confirmed.
“Good. That's good.” Raphael cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable.
“Don't worry, dude, no one's gonna tell people that you love Lucifer.” Cerberus slapped Raphael on the back. “I mean, no one but me. I'm telling everyone.”
“Fuck you, dick,” Raphael huffed but also grinned.
“Why am I always being called a dick?” Cerberus mused.
“Gee, could it possibly be because you are one?” Raph asked dryly.
“Have you ever noticed how many insults are body parts?” I mused.
Cerberus squished up his face in thought. “Huh. Yeah, you're right.”
“Take dick, for example,” I said. “What's wrong with dicks? I happen to think they're great. And then there's ass, and pussy, and asshole, and even heel, along with all the different versions of them. Why do we vilify our bodies? Why is someone a boob when they do something stupid? Why are they are cunt when they do something mean? Do you know, I tried to use voice dictation on my phone the other day and it asterisked the word pussy? Pussy is such a bad word that even my phone bleeps it out. It wrote down dick with no problem but not pussy.”
“I suppose it's because humans are very attached to their bodies,” Lucifer mused. “They call them their temples and spend a lot of time and money making them beautiful. Conversely, when someone is bad, they relate them to the parts of themselves that they don't like. Perhaps their ass is too big or their dick too little.”
“I think you're overthinking swear words,” Declan drawled. “People call each other dicks because it's funny. Most of those body parts are taboo to speak of in public so vilifying them, as you put it, Elaria, gives humans a way to say the words without being scorned.”
“Whatever,” Cerberus huffed. “This shit is too deep for me. But there is a very important question I'd like answered.”
“What would that be?” Darcraxis frowned at Cer.
“Why was Elaria telling her phone to write down the words dick and pussy?” Cerberus grinned at me. “What exactly were you making a note of, El?”
“I was writing a note to remind myself that you're a dick and you kinda be a pussy about it,” I said wryly.
Everyone laughed, Cerberus laughed the hardest.
“Well, I must get back to Angelus,” Lucifer said as he stood. “I'm sure my people are getting nervous.”
“Okay.” I got up to hug him. “I'm glad you're safe, Luke.”
“Thank you for coming for me, my vicious.”
“We should be going too,” Verin said gruffly to me. “I want to let my mother know that we're all right.”
Lucifer frowned. “I'm surprised to find you here, King Verin. I appreciate your concern, of course, but I didn't expect Elaria to call on you for help.”
We all went still.
“Yep, thanks for your help, Your Majesty!” Raphael said brightly. “We'd better go now, Lucifer.”
Lucifer frowned and looked from Raphael to Verin and then to me. “He hugged you,” he said to me as his eyes narrowed. “When we first arrived, he hugged you and told you not to do that again. He said it as if he had a right to, Elaria.”
I sighed. “Because he does. Verin and I... you see, the RS started getting stronger, and I needed more fuel, and then I almost died—”
“You what?!” Lucifer roared.
“I didn't, obviously.” I held up a hand to calm him. “But Vivian cast a spell on Verin