Hell On Heels(25)

“If she blows out a boy, Daddy might keep her,” Pride surmised.
“Possibly,” Sloth agreed. “But I just don’t see it.”
Sloth had visions. Unshareable visions. Violent and terrifying visions. She refused to speak of them because not all of her visions came to fruition. Free will had a habit of changing destiny constantly. So instead of scaring the crap out of everyone she kept them to herself. The only person privy to her visions was Satan. Sloth and our father were very close—he trusted her with enormous decisions.
As the crowds murmuring died down my father continued, “But the main reason I have called you here tonight is to celebrate my beautiful daughter, Dixie.”
The crowd whistled and clapped. Amanda seethed and I blushed. I might not be very evil, but I was certainly very well liked. My dad held his hand out to me and I went to him. I was truly mesmerized and I adored my Prince of Darkness, my father. I would do anything for him, anything he asked of me.
“Your deportment draws near,” he told me. “You shall transport to Earth and serve me well.”
"I know and I will serve you proudly," I whispered, trying not to cry, but fear and abandonment were forefront in my mind.
He pulled me close and hugged me. "This is for the best."
I nodded, unable to reply.
I didn’t want to leave my home, my family, my friends or Hayden. I could feel my eyes go crimson red beneath my closed lids. I slowly opened them and met my father's gaze that blazed red with emotion.
I heard Amanda hiss her displeasure at my father's attention to me. He turned on a dime and cut her to shreds with a look that sent her to her knees in fear. The crowd edged forward with excitement. She had better have a boy and it better be his or Amanda was dead. Satan raised his eyes to the room, clearly dismissing her. “The ones that have agreed to go to Earth with my child and protect her—come forward.”
There was snickering as Carl, Janet and Myrtle stepped forward. My insides boiled with rage at the way they were treated, but they seemed to be oblivious. Many of the caretakers of Lucifer’s daughters ended up dead. For real dead. Every time my siblings went to Earth, Uncle God sent a gaggle of Angels down to destroy us. I'd almost lost several of my sisters to God’s wrath.
To be fair, Demons killed Angels on sight also. Of course since we were all immortal and difficult to kill it took some doing. So even though a Demon may gain Satan’s highest praise by protecting the fruit of his loins, said Demon may not live long enough to enjoy it.
“Yes,” he said, his melodic voice booming through the room as my caretakers approached. “You are brave and well-suited for this journey. Myrtle, Keeper of Secrets, Carl the Destroyer and Janet the Atrocity Maker, you will go with my child and protect her. Kneel to me,” he commanded, and they did. He laid his hands on each of them and gave them another gift of Black Magic power. The Demonic audience hissed with jealously. I was hoping he’d give me a little extra magic hoohoo but he didn’t. Apparently I had an assload of powers on the way.
“You will leave three weeks from today,” Satan proclaimed. “Go and prepare.”
With that the crowd began to disperse. I quickly thanked and hugged Carl, Janet and Myrtle. I still couldn’t get over how pretty Janet looked without her fake beard. It really made me want to take a stab at Myrtle. I made my way back to my dad as I waved bye to Stella, miming a phone--international signal for I’ll call you.
“Dad?”
“Yes, Dixie?”
“I don’t want to leave,” I whispered.
“I know, baby,” he whispered back. “It won’t be for long and I will never be far from you. It’s time for you to come into who you are. When you were born I made a deal and part of that deal requires us to be parted for a while. Trust me, if I could keep you with me for eternity I would.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess if I wanted you to expand on what you just said, you won’t.” I watched him closely.
“You guessed right. I’ve said more than I should have already. Just remember that I love you and I always will, no matter what path you ultimately choose to take.”
“You’re kinda freakin’ me out, Dad,” I told him. I wanted him to keep talking as much as I wanted him to stop.
He grabbed me and hugged me hard. It felt so good. As he let me go, Amanda slithered over and took me into an embrace purely for my father's benefit. Cole and several other high-ranking Demons drew his attention away.
"You're a spoiled rotten little brat and you will fail. You will disappoint your father greatly, but I will be there for him when he realizes how much time he's wasted on you," she hissed viciously in my ear.