Lucifer’s Daughter(22)

Coming back out to my living room, I found Auric and Charon staring at each other; at least, I assumed Charon was staring. It was hard to tell with his hood and all.

I flopped into my chair and took another swallow of my beer before talking. “Okay, Charon, spill.”

Charon jerked his hood at Auric.



“I"m not leaving, so say what you need to Muriel.” Auric looked like an immovable wall–and a stubborn ass. Both traits I happened to admire, as I held an abundance of those qualities myself.

“It"s okay, Charon; I"m pretty sure he can be trusted.”

Auric looked offended by my remark, but hey, I"d only known him all of, like, three days. He hadn"t had time to earn my full trust–or my heart–yet.

“Have you heard about the movement to overthrow Lucifer?” asked Charon.

“When isn"t there a movement to overthrow him?” Seriously, it had been happening since the beginning of time, or so I"d been told.

“Well, this time, whoever is attempting it has managed to pull together some real muscle.”

“Who is it?” And why hadn"t my father told me?

Charon shook his hood. “That"s just it, we don"t know. There shouldn"t be anyone strong enough to attempt it. Your father has always been very careful about that.”

“Speaking of whom, why did Dad send you, instead of coming himself?”

“Yes, well, there was an incident that temporarily incapacitated him.”

I jumped up from chair. “What?”

“Your father"s okay,” Charon hastened to assure me. “But he had to take care of this little problem, so he asked me to come check on you and warn you. He wanted to send a guard or two, but he knows how much you hate that. To be honest, they kind of have their hands busy right now.”

“I should go to him,” I said. Daddy needed me.

“No!” Charon almost shouted; unusual for this usually mild mannered man–er, thing, or whatever Charon hid beneath the robe. “Your father wanted you to promise that you wouldn"t go to Hell. Promise me, Muriel.”

“Fine.” I slouched back down into my chair, sulking. Figured Dad would still treat me like a little girl. “So what am I supposed to do instead?”

“Stay safe. Your father will come speak to you when he can. Oh, and he had another message for me that didn"t make much sense.”

“What was it?”

“He said you were so grounded.”



I laughed. When Auric looked at me, puzzled, and Charon cocked his head, I howled even harder, „til tears streamed down my cheeks.

“I don"t suppose you"ll share with us what"s so funny?” asked Auric.

I tried to stifle my laughter, not an easy task. I"d always had an odd sense of humor. “Remember how I told you I"d been forbidden to see you?”

“Yes,” said Auric. Then I laughed again, as his face went slack with understanding. “Damn,” he muttered.

Charon just shook his head, and got up. “Kids. Anyway, I"ve passed on the message, and you seem to be in good hands. I"ll be off now. I"m sure my son"s managed to do something stupid to the boat by now, and I have a feeling it"s going to be busy at the river in the next little bit. Good luck, Muriel.”

“Bye, Charon,” I waved as he opened a dimensional portal and stepped through it.

“Well, I can certainly say there"s never a dull moment around you,” mused Auric.

“It"s all part of my charm,” I said with a bright smile.

“So Satan warned you about me did he?” asked Auric warily.

“I assume he meant you, since he never actually used your name. Just „that man." He told me to stay away from you, or else.”

“Or else what?” asked Auric frowning.

“Oh, please. I am not a little girl anymore, and my dad can"t tell me who I can date or not. So if you"re worried about it, don"t be. And if by chance he should show up and threaten you, let me know?” I said darkly. King of Hell or not, I would not allow my father to ruin this for me. I could do that all on my own.

“Speaking of showing up, shouldn"t we be preparing this place a bit more, in case demons come calling?”

“My place is safe. No demons in or out unless I invite them through that door. Well, except for Dad; you can"t keep him out from anywhere,” I grumbled.

“Why all the hardware, then?” he asked, his eyes taking in my shiny new accessories.

“Just in case I need to leave quickly. Speaking of leaving, are you still determined to stay?”



“I"m not going anywhere, Muriel,” he said looking at me steadily. His words gave me an erotic thrill; sure, I knew he meant tonight, but for a moment I allowed myself to fantasize that he meant forever. “So, does your bar have the same magical shield as this place?”