The Devil's Lover: The Wish by Dahlia Lu

own. I
would feel more at ease if you stay close to me.”
    "And you would protect me?” her little
voice was unsure.
    "Yes,” he assured her.
    Lucifer led her through a long and
dark hallway. Their footsteps echoed on the marble floor. Kali paid
close attention to the beautiful winged statues placed along the
long hallway. She had never seen anything that looked so
life-like.
    The door from the hallway led to a
brighter room with a domed ceiling. Two stairways swept up either
side of the room, framing three large doors in the middle. Lucifer
led Kali through the middle door into a cold and spacious room.
There was a long red carpet leading to the altar; on that altar was
an imposing throne.
    “ Is this the throne room?”
Kali asked.
    “ Very perceptive,” he
praised her. He strode down the altar, not letting go of her hand.
He seated himself on the throne, overlooking the room.
    “ Isn't this place too big
for one person?” Kali asked curiously.
    "There are others like myself. Only
the highest ranked demons are granted access to this
castle.”
    “ I haven’t seen anyone
since we got here.”
    “ They will arrive
shortly,” Lucifer pointed to the hallway they had passed through.
Many summoning circles suddenly seemed to draw themselves the
marble floor. From each circle, a demon emerged. Feathers from
their wings flew in every direction.
    Their clothing clearly indicated that
they were nobles and aristocrats. The females were embellished with
beautiful jewelry, and the male wore baroque period adornments.
They approached the throne and bowed before their master. "My lord,
you've returned.”
    The human girl caught their attention
right away. They glanced at each other, obviously silently debating
how they should react to this intrusion.
    A male demon came closer to inspect
her. “Is she a souvenir from the mortal world, Lord
Lucifer?”
    “ Since when do I answer to
you?” Lucifer asked.
    The male demon stepped back,
threatened by Lucifer’s tone. A gorgeous female demon came to
Lucifer’s side and placed both of her arms on his shoulders. “Are
you so bored that you must bring a human to our realm, my lord?”
she whispered into his ear.
    Soren flew into through a window into
the throne room, landing before the altar.
    “ You should remember your
place, Adria.” he said to the female demon.
    “ My place is beside Lord
Lucifer,” she responded. 
“May we have her once you’re done with her?” another male demon
peered at the girl.
    Lucifer reached for Kali’s hand and
pulled her toward him to sit neatly on his lap. He lifted her chin
with the tips of his finger and placed a kiss on her lips. She was
speechless and didn't know how to react.
    “ She is my woman,” Lucifer
declared. “I will hand her over to no one.”
    The demons looked to each other,
perplexed. He sounded too serious to be taken casually. Was it an
official declaration?
    “ It means,” Soren
explained, “Lord Lucifer had placed all of Hell, including us,
beneath her feet.” 
     
    †††††
     
    Lucifer walked down the long corridor
towards the room at the end. When he tried to open the door, it was
locked. He politely gave a knock to give her a sense of privacy. He
knew she had heard the echoes of his approaching
footsteps.
    “ Open the door for me,
Kali,” he said though the door.
    “ I don’t want to see you,”
Kali retorted from the bed. She grabbed hold of a fluffy pillow to
bury her face in. Even though she was grateful to him for bringing
Chevalier back to life, she couldn’t help being upset with him. How
could she face him when everything about him was fabricated to
deceive her? What made it even more degrading was that she fell for
his act! He must have laughed at her vulnerabilities.
    “ You can’t avoid me
forever,” he said.
    She lifted her head up in order to
reply, "I only said I would be your prisoner, I said nothing about
seeing you.”
    “ You will not open the
door?” he asked again, still