Old Demon and the Sea Witch (Welcome to Hell #9) - Eve Langlais Page 0,32

throne, and wear the crown of fire and thorns. But it shan’t be a gentle passing, and the blood of the mother shall stain the hands of the child, soaking into the very river of death to signal the start of a new reign.’”

I blinked. “That’s—”

“The prophecy my wife has been searching for. The one that disappeared from Hell’s library a while back.”

“You have it?”

Lucifer rolled his shoulders, and the baby did a chubby-armed stretch, still sleeping, but his mouth opened to yawn. “I used to have it. I threw it in Hell’s furnace when I found out that Gaia was pregnant.”

“Why?” I whispered the word. Because I didn’t get the impression that fear had led to him destroying a prophecy.

Lucifer eyed me. The baby opened a sleepy lid and watched me. In an uncanny moment of synchronicity, they both smiled, mirror images of evil. It was Lucifer who said, “Because it is the only one that claims Gaia will die, too.”

I had a moment of stunned silence as my mind wrapped around the admission. “You don’t want Gaia to have it because it involves her.”

“It involves her being killed by our child!” Lucifer growled. “The one thing she loves almost as much as me. It has to be a lie. I won’t let it happen.”

It was strangely romantic in a perverse way.

“So, you would prevent my possible death but do nothing about your own?” Gaia appeared in a swirl of green taffeta.

Lucifer drew up tall. Taller surely than the ceiling had room for. “I am the Lord of Hell. I am allowed to be selfish. I insist all the prophecies be about me. And only me.”

“Those damned things all claim you die by our son’s hand. I won’t allow it.”

“He is the Son of Perdition. The Branch of the Terrible Ones,” Lucifer intoned. “He won’t have a choice.”

“We all have a choice, you big, horny idiot.” Gaia somehow managed to be in Lucifer’s arms, the fabric of her skirt swirling around his legs.

“We do get to choose, and mine involves ensuring you have a long life. So, deal with it,” the devil growled.

“Oh, Luc.” She breathed his name as she gave him a kiss.

I stared at the ceiling, ignoring the wet sounds that followed. The baby wisely made a noise of complaint.

“How did you know I was looking for the prophecy?” Gaia asked, a touch breathless.

“Ah, my dear, conniving wife. Did you really think I wouldn’t know you were visiting another man?” Lucifer’s nose flared, and his breath huffed hot smoke.

“Jealous?” she said, batting lashes that resembled the wings of a butterfly.

“Extremely. When was the last time you snuck off to be with me?”

“Is my big, bad devil feeling neglected?”

“Yes.”

I began to inch away as the passion between them charged, two forces of nature, pushing and pulling, ready to combust.

With a baby between them.

Lucifer and Gaia stared at each other.

“I need you,” he said.

“Need you more,” she parroted. “Shax, be a dear and mind Damian for us.”

“But—Dottie—and Ian—and—”

“Everything will be fine. You’ll see Dorothy tomorrow when we dock in Atlantis. Ian is screwed no matter what. So, enjoy some time with Damian. After all, you are his demon father.” The non-Catholic equivalent of a Godfather.

I groaned. “Why me?”

“Because I lost a coin toss,” Lucifer grumbled. “Now, stop being a cock-blocker and take the baby.”

Before I could run screaming, the baby ended up on my shoulder, snoring and drooling.

Gaia waggled her fingers. “We’ll grab him in the morning before we dock. Remember, he only drinks breastmilk.”

Plink. Plink.

A pair of bottles appeared alongside a stack of diapers and sleepers.

“But…”

“I owe you,” Lucifer said with a wink. “Now, I’m off to plow me wench.”

“Oh, I’ll shiver your timbers, all right.” A giggle that faded as they stepped through a portal to somewhere else, leaving me with the devil’s baby.

Since I’d only cared for Ian starting at the toddler years, I had no issue at all hunting down a true expert. Valaska took pity on me and let me hang out with her family. When the baby woke, my nieces/nephews kept the child entertained. Then Damian kept us busy for a few hours, chasing after him as he pulled a baby Jack and kept popping in and out of places on the ship. Inside the mouth of an Orc proved to be the most heart-stopping place.

By dawn, we were all passed out, me on the floor with Damian tied to my chest.

“Rise and shine, mateys!” It was a beaming Lucifer who came to