Morning Star
By: 24ko and Brenli
Chapter 4
It was nearly 10:30 at night when Juno came home from her shift at work. She still had her small black apron tied tightly around her waist, and a plain black tee-shirt that read 'Jack's Diner' on. She yawned widely as she entered the main floor of her apartment complex, digging for her keys. Just inside the door were the several mailboxes for the tenants. And a familiar tenant was already there, checking his own mail.
"Hey, Juno." He said, nodding his head. His black hair swung before his eyes, creating a picture of casual, bad boy edginess.
"Hey, Malachai."
"Just getting home?" He asked, staring at her with his piercing grey eyes.
He seemed to be the only man capable of making Juno feel so unsettled by his gaze, alone. She immediately had to swallow a strange lump in her throat, and she looked away. "Yeah… Dana called in sick, so I had to cover for her." Juno scoffed. "I told her not to have that last White Russian..."
"What a lightweight." Lucifer said with another crooked smile.
"No kidding." Juno rolled her eyes.
"You going straight to bed? Or would you like some company?" Lucifer asked, smirking at her.
"You just cut straight to the chase, don't you?" Juno said, trying to hide her smile.
"I don't like to mince words."
Juno shrugged her shoulders and made her way up the stairs to her apartment. "I suppose I wouldn't mind some company. I was just going to watch a movie."
"Perfect." Lucifer said, and followed her up the stairs.
Idly, Juno thought about what Osmie would say to her inviting him into her apartment for the evening. Although Juno knew she wouldn't do anything with Malachai, it was still kind of funny to picture Osmie's face. She had no idea why her newfound acquaintance had such a grudge against her neighbor. But Juno thought little of it. After all, Malachai was pretty harmless… right?
oOoOoOoOo
A pair of soft white thigh high socks, slightly wrinkled around a pair of ankles, waved about idly in the air as Osmie lay upon her belly, booting up her little white laptop. Her blue eyes shifted over to the glowing red numbers of her clock. 10:28 PM.
She sighed and wondered when the Marquis of Fear was planning on coming down to steal her into his… probably not-so-humble abode. She SHOULD have taken care of Lucifer by now… she KNEW that she should have…
But she was no fool, and understood that she might was well be going up against a giant. But what could she do, when she had ANOTHER giant PUSHING her to do this?
"Hello, Candidate Osmadiel." Her laptop chirped to her. It didn't HAVE to chirp like that… but Osmie kind of liked the chirping. She thought it was cute. "You have 3 unread emails."
Osmie ignored the helpful reminder. "Open Instant Chat." Her voice was low and tired as she prodded the vial of poison resting on her mattress. She waited for the series of quiet beeps that indicated the opening of her program, and then her laptop chirped again.
"Professor Bariel sends a request for live video chat. Accept?"
Perfect! Just the person she needed to talk to! "Yes!" Osmie chirped right back, and a big black screen appeared before lightening to reveal the face of her Modern Evils professor… of 2 times.
The familiar face of her professor seemed both surprised and relieved. "Oh, good. You're still alive."
"I might not be for much longer…" Osmie muttered darkly.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." Her little hands flailed wildly before the screen, making Professor Bariel blink.
"How goes your mission? Is the Dark King staying away from your Guarded?"
Osmie gave him a dry laugh. "Hardly. He seems very intent on laying claim on her. The fact that I'm here doesn't seem to be helping the situation at all."
"God grant you the aid you need, child." His voice quivered fearfully for her.
Osmie was glad. By this point, she was almost too tired to WANT to appear fearful. "I was hoping that YOU could aid me in some way, Professor."
"Absolutely!" Professor Bariel agreed heartily, leaning forward so that his big brown eyes momentarily took up the screen. The scraping against the floor let Osmie know that he was scooting his chair closer to his computer. "How may I help you?"
"I need any and all sources you might have concerning the Satans."
"The SATANS?" Bariel repeated, his glasses slipping down his nose. "… Your own texts are not enough?"
Osmie held up her leather bound, brown book. An entire section was marked off with pink sticky notes. "… Nope."
The professor seemed doubtful, one brow arched high. Osmie's silence was enough to make his face go ashy. "… No. SATANS? You are encountering the SATANS, as well?"
"Just Astaroth."
"ASTA-" Bariel's brown eyes seemed ready to pop out of their sockets. "Osmie, you must come back to Heaven at once!"
But her pale blonde strands swung around her head as she shook it. "The Dark King is after my Guarded. I have to stay."
"But ASTAROTH!" The professor's voice quivered again. "Has he hurt you?"
Osmie opened her mouth to speak, but a whimper slipped from Professor Bariel's lips and made her pouted mouth frown. "… He's right behind me, isn't he?"
"How did you guess?" The voice was cold at first, slithering into her ears, but his touch was rough, cruel. He flipped the poor Angel onto her back, and the blade of his knife was – once again – pressing against her throat. "Why is he still alive, Puppet???" His gold eyes burned into hers, shifting away when she dared to meet his gaze.
ALWAYS meeting his gaze. Looking into his eyes. One day, he was going to get around to plucking those eyes out of her pretty little face.
"UNHAND HER, DEMON!" Bariel snarled, but he could only do so much through a computer screen.
"I'M NOT SPEAKING TO YOU!" The Marquis snarled back, his free hand grabbing the vial of poison and holding it before the screen. "See this? This could kill this Pure, innocent Angel beneath me in 2 seconds. Of course, so could my knife, which is already in just the right spot." He pressed the knife against her throat, and Osmie let out a choked squeak.
"DON'T! DON'T HURT HER!" The professor was desperate. "She only wants to get Lucifer away from her Guarded! She has no quarrel with you!"
"Oh, I know. She's on my side. She's going to kill Lucifer tonight." He didn't need to look down to know that the blade of his knife was delivering a tender and violent kiss to her throat. Blood started to bead against the flesh. "And if she doesn't, I will kill her for wasting my time."
"STOP, STOP! YOU'RE HURTING HER!" Bariel cried.
Astaroth's face hovered dangerously close to her quivering face. A slow, easy smile spread over his features as he stared up at the screen. "… I know."
The Satan allowed the silence to fill the room, relishing in the fear smothering Bariel's face. He was glad that this Angel could react right. Even if this Osmie woman was afraid… well, she couldn't have been THAT afraid if she was so intent on STARING at him all the time. It was enough to make him want to… pluck her eyes out right now. He tossed around the idea, the blade of his knife prodding just under her left eye.
FINALLY, those beautiful, clear blue eyes closed as she whimpered. The Angel in the computer screen had his hands clasped together, mumbling prayers.
PRAYERS! HAH! Like those ever worked!
"Puppet," Astaroth tapped her cheek with the flat of his blade. He wouldn't pluck out her eyes, he'd decided. He wouldn't do it YET, anyway. "Watch this." He popped the top off the vial and poured the clear liquid over the blade of his knife, running it down each side. The excess splashed cold upon Osmie's white shirt, making her gasp. "This is a POISONED BLADE. You're going to stab Lucifer with this TONIGHT. Or else this blade will stab into YOU. Understood?"
Osmie remembered that he would strike her if she didn't answer promptly. "Y-yes!"
"Good." The Marquis rested the knife on her bosom and climbed off the bed, regarding the frightened Angel in the computer screen with a nod. "Nice meeting you."
And then he was gone.
Silence permeated the room before Osmie rolled back onto her belly, the poisoned knife tumbling onto her blankets.
"Sweet Jesus, Osmie, you're bleeding…!"
"… It's fine." Osmie's hand floated to the thin, shallow line at her throat, gently pushing on the torn skin. The damage was surprisingly insignificant, though in the heat of the moment Osmie had been sure that she'd been seriously hurt. "It will heal…"
Professor Bariel's voice was hushed and hurried. "I will send you everything I have on Astaroth immediately. Would you prefer hard copies or will computer files suffice?"
"Both."
"Consider it done, Osmie. May God help you." The screen went black, and then shrank away to reveal Osmie's wallpaper – a teddy bear leaning on a big, golden cross.
The computer chirped, unphased. "Professor Bariel has closed the video chat and is now offline. Would you like to check your email, Osmadiel?"
"No. Computer shut down." Osmie's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Goodbye, Osmadiel." The laptop's screen went black once more.
Osmie felt a sneer tugging on her pouted lips. "Goodbye." She repeated to no one. Goodbye. How disgustingly final, that one word. Goodbye.
She stared down at the blade, the blade that had sliced her flesh open several times, by now. If it did so this time, she would be dead.
She would do everything in her power to make sure that the knife would not cut her open, this time… But wait.
What if Lucifer was no where near her? She'd have to comb through the entire town searching for him! Osmie buried her face in her hands and groaned. Surely she was doomed. Surely she wouldn't find the Dark King in time. Surely Astaroth would FINALLY stab her deep in the throat and leave her for dead.
Then she heard the deep, silky and unmistakable voice… floating through the wall Osmie shared with Juno. And icy fear flooded Osmie at that moment, and her lips parted to taste the air. Dark and spicy energy seemed to fill her mouth, and she wanted to spit it back out.
At least that meant that Lucifer was still within her reach… Unfortunately, that also meant that JUNO was within HIS reach! Osmie's fingers automatically curled around the handle of the knife, and she sprinted to her door –
Wait. No. She needed to change her poison-drenched shirt and put on her shoes. That was easily taken care of, the white shirt switched with a burgundy one, and black ankle boots slipped onto her feet. There! Now she was ready!
No, no, wait. She couldn't just CHARGE into Juno's apartment and slay Lucifer… Curses! This was going to be more difficult than it needed to be!
As she pouted and tried to come up with a last-minute plan, she pressed her back against the wall she shared with Juno, allowing herself to listen in on whatever idle babble she might be sharing with the Dark King. She may as well keep tabs on Juno while waiting for Lucifer to leave, right…?
oOoOoOoOo
"So how long have you been working at Jack's?" Lucifer asked, gazing around Juno's apartment. She had a strange assortment of knick knacks scattered throughout her apartment. Little trinkets that varied from ceramic polished unicorns, to wooden dolphins, and stone dragons.
"About three weeks, now." Juno said, and Lucifer turned his gaze from her trinkets to watch her retreat to her bedroom. In the crack of the door, visible for only a moment as it swung closed, he saw her reach for the hem of her shirt....
His tongue flicked over his bottom lip as he contemplated rushing in there after her. Contemplated helping her undress that body and… tucking her in. He chuckled at the thought… it would be too easy.
In Heaven, he had learned that Patience is a virtue. And despite Lucifer's hatred for all things virtuous, if he had no patience, he wouldn't just be considering charging into Juno's bedroom while she changed. He wouldn't just be considering claiming exactly what he wanted. He would be doing it.
He had known Juno a grand total of two days, yet he already felt like he had the patience of Job.
A sugary soft scent tickled his nose, and Lucifer's eyes drifted to the wall beside him. He smiled a little, as though he could see the Angel pressed up against the other side… eavesdropping. Not that he minded. Juno's Guardian Angel was making this a lot more fun than Lucifer could have imagined.
Juno emerged from her bedroom, wearing a loose tank top and a different pair of lighter colored jeans. She was tightening the bun of hair behind her head, her gaze tilted down, her arms raised as her hands worked.
In that moment, Lucifer couldn't deny the obvious allure of Juno Monahan. Her movements were graceful, fluid, delicate. He thought back to a comment she had made about her family's genetic clumsiness, and he couldn't disagree more.
Her resemblance to Alexiel was indeed striking, but the subtle differences in her features did nothing to belittle that face.
She was beautiful.
Juno's body stiffened as he stepped closer. She hadn't realized that he had been watching her so intently. She certainly realized it, now… She stared up into those cool grey eyes, recognizing the look shining deep within them. A look of hunger… desire.
"Malachai?" She asked, her voice sticking in her throat, her gaze locked with his.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when he touched her. It was a single, gentle hand upon her waist, guiding her backwards. Her eyes never left his as he backed her against the same wall Osmie was pressed against, on the other side.
The sugary sweet scent was nearly enough to overpower Juno's. Lucifer looked at the wall as though he could see through the paint and wood, to see the angel whose scene was messing this up for him. He ignored the wall and focused on Juno again.
"Come to bed with me…" He said. He was careful to keep his voice free of any dark angelic glamours. No… He wanted to do this the old-fashioned way. By seducing the girl with nothing but his personality. His voice, and body. No magic. No cheap tricks.
From across the wall, Osmie's eyes became wide blue saucers. The Dark King dared to ask Juno to join him in BED? UNFATHOMABLE! HORRID! The Angel turned at that moment, pressing her ear tightly against the off-white paint of her wall. Surely her Guarded would decline. Surely Juno would say no…!
His voice was like silk against her skin. Silk that caused goosebumps to rise over every inch of her tender flesh. His hand on her waist caressed her with a crippling sensuality. This man was good, Juno thought, so good. It was easy to imagine herself in bed with him. But…
"No." She said, her voice very steady.
Not one foot away, Osmie grinned and hopped on her black ankle boots, the silver Angel wings on the zippers clinking against the leather. "That's my girl…!" Osmie whispered through the wall, enduring the spiciness of Lucifer's dark energy.
Lucifer's lips lifted at the corner, and he tried to picture the look on the nearby Angel's face at that moment. "No…?" His head dipped into the curve of her neck for a heartbeat, leaving a breath across the naked skin there. He lifted his face and looked down at her again. His palms pressed against the wall on either side of her, creating four barriers. The wall, his arms… and his body. And he stared down at her with a greater hunger. "You're so frail… weak. I could just force you." He added, almost whimsically, his tone dropping to something as hungry as his gaze.
Suddenly, Juno felt like a bird, trapped in the gaze of a serpent. She ignored the lump gathering in her throat, and surprisingly… she was not afraid of him.
But across that wall, Osmie was afraid of him. So afraid, and so ANGRY because of that fear, that she had the poisoned knife pointed right at the plaster. Her jaw was set and her eyes were narrowed, firm. She only wished that the knife was long enough to pierce all the way through the wall and enter through Lucifer's skull. One foot immediately swung out, toes pointed toward the door. ANY sign, she told herself. ANY sign of distress and Osmie would dash through that door and crash into Juno's apartment to save her. She might not be as strong as the Marquis or the King… but good Lord, she WAS strong enough to knock Juno's door off the hinges.
"But you won't." She said, her tone still even and calm.
"What makes you so sure?" He said, his voice an enticing purr.
Osmie's body leaned one inch toward her door, in spite of Juno's fearlessness.
"Because there's no fun in that, is there?"
Lucifer straightened a little. He was surprised, and oddly impressed by Juno's complete lack of fear. Humans were so easy to read. Humans could always say they're not afraid, even act like it. But the fear was always there, pungent, beneath the surface.
And Juno was not afraid of him. She was interested, intrigued… but not afraid.
Lucifer wondered why. People who knew no fear fell into two categories: first, they were too stupid to register danger. Second, they had stared death and pain in the face. They had met that enemy and conquered it. And now, he was dying to know which category Juno Monahan fit into.
And he was in luck, because he got his answer fairly quickly. His eyes traveled from her face, down her chest. And there, nestled in her cleavage, was an angry red line disappearing into the neckline of her shirt. He was slightly taken aback, wondering why he had never noticed this scar before. "What's this?" He asked, boldly tracing a finger along the rough line.
Osmie's blue eyes blinked rapidly at the sudden subject change. What was this? No further threat? No violent ravishment? He'd let his attempts at getting sex from her Guarded DIE in pursuit of enlightenment about a scar? There had to be some ulterior motive, here. Osmie wasn't going to wait any longer to find out. She pushed away from the wall and tucked the poisoned knife into one belt loop of her gray jeans, grateful that the burgundy top was long and loose enough to slip down and cover it, and stepped out of her apartment. No more eavesdropping. It was time to squash Lucifer's cunning plans – whatever they were – dead. Right under her boot.
She sucked in a quick breath. "Surgical scar." She said.
"… What kind of surgery?" Lucifer asked, his tone quiet.
"Open heart. I, uh… have a faulty ticker."
Lucifer stared into her green eyes, and idly traced his index finger up and down the topmost portion of her scar. "Did they fix it?"
"They put a band-aid on it. I could relapse." She said the words almost breathlessly, as though Lucifer were hypnotizing her deepest secrets right out of her.
Of course, Lucifer wasn't. He still wasn't using a bit of glamour on her. She was intoxicated by his face, his voice, and his light touch alone. "If you're sick… Why do you smoke?"
Her eyes narrowed. "What are you? The Surgeon General?" She snapped.
The doorbell buzzed obnoxiously. Not even a second passed before a light but persistent knocking commenced. Osmie tapped the heel of one ankle boot against the ground in impatience and bit her pouted bottom lip. Ten seconds, she told herself as she rang the doorbell again, only to keep on knocking. Ten seconds, and then she'd try to open the door herself. Maybe that was rash… but this was the DEVIL she was dealing with, here. She couldn't afford to be all THAT hesitant, even if it DID make her look like a loon.
A wry smile tugged at the corners of the Dark King's mouth. "… We have company." He said quietly to Juno, his hand moving to grip her arm.
"Who could that be…?" Juno asked, still breathless from their intimate contact. She shook free of his arm and headed for her door, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Who is it?" She called to the door.
"It's Osmie! Osmie Cole? Your neighbor?" The Angel tried to refrain from knocking on the door. Maybe she had WONDERFUL reason to be nervous, antsy, but she couldn't let Juno KNOW. She had to keep her cool. Osmie took a deep breath, in through her nose, out through her mouth. "Is L… Malachai in there with you?"
Juno arched a brow in confusion, and looked over her shoulder at Lucifer. He looked annoyed, all of a sudden. "Yeah, he's in here." Juno said, and she pulled open her door.
Osmie's blue eyes were wide with mock-happiness. "Oh, good! I needed to find you!" … But what for? Once again, she had no great cover, no excuse. What in the world would she need LUCIFER for? Her body immediately tensed, brain working hard for a reason to get him out of her Guarded's room. Her eyes darted about for some visual clue. What lie could she make? What last-minute excuse? "… I need you help with something!" But WHAT? Ugh, Osmie wasn't ANY good at this…
"No you don't." Lucifer said flatly, annoyed beyond all measure at Osmie's sudden, bothersome intrusion. He was finally starting to break Juno down, and with one final comment he had angered her. Before he could even make it up to her, her stupid Guardian Angel had to ruin it.
Osmie's eyes narrowed into thin blue slits. "Yes. I do." Not that she knew what he needed his help for… WHY couldn't she come up with an excuse? Anger bubbled up and made it even HARDER to think. Maybe she should just STAB the bastard. Who cares? She'd go back up to Heaven after that and watch over Juno from there. It didn't matter what Juno thought of her down here. Yes, she should just STAB the Dark King!
Then her shoulders slumped. No, she couldn't do it with her Guarded so close. Even if she COULD just go back to Heaven right after. She couldn't just… stab him and scare the daylights out of Juno. She locked her arms behind her back and tried to ignore the rage. She had to think… Then she spotted a row of strange, mixed up knick knacks on a shelf, and she silently praised Juno for her odd but WONDERFUL quirk. "I need help putting up some shelving. It's sort of annoying having to do it all by myself…"
"Then hire a handy man." Lucifer glared at her. "Do you normally go knocking around doors in the middle of the night to coerce people into doing your chores? Afraid you'll break a nail?"
"Don't be mean, Malachai." Juno said, those beautiful lips forming a delicate pout.
Lucifer's frown deepened. How could he get rid of Osmie without ticking Juno off? Clearly, Juno was on Osmie's side, here.
And Osmie could have whooped for joy… but that would have seemed rather out of place. She mirrored Juno's pout just then, though it looked childish compared to Juno's delicate pucker. "I'm fairly new to the Big City, too, you know… I have no money left in my bank account after the move. I can't hire a handy man." 'So get over it and let me kill you,' she almost added. Almost.
Osmie's story was enough to completely win Juno over, much to Lucifer's dismay. "I think you should help her, Malachai. It would be sweet."
Lucifer's lip twitched. Sweet? Was she serious? First, he had to hold her purse, and now, putting up shelves for her friends? Was Lucifer becoming whipped by a woman already? He grumbled. She had better be worth it. "Alright. Fine. I'll help you put up your 'shelves'." He said that last word with a sneer. He knew perfectly well she wasn't looking for someone to help with shelves. But it wasn't like Juno was privy to any of the masked conflicts between them.
Osmie's smile was wide and pleasant, sugar and sun. "THANK YOU! Thank you SO much!" She made her voice soft and friendly as she stepped backwards out of Juno's door, and then she nodded toward Juno and said, "Hey, I'm going clubbing tomorrow night. Would you like to come along? Scope out some guys?" She could not resist shooting Lucifer a sapphire glare for a split-second. An extra verbal barb wouldn't be too big a deal. He was going to die soon, anyway.
"I'll go. But not to scope out guys." Juno smiled. "No men for me, remember?"
"Pity." Lucifer said, his voice a silken purr as he walked passed her towards the door, sweeping a hand along her spine as he went. And Juno shivered. Visibly shivered at his touch. "Shall we?" He said to Osmie, not bothering to hide his triumphant smirk.
Osmie sent the Dark King a sharp glare, but then smiled at Juno as they made their exit. "Just a girl's night out, then. Later, Juno!" She kept her grin when she looked back at Lucifer, but her eyes hardened all over again. "Let's go…"
"Let's." Lucifer brushed his thumb along Juno's chin as he left. "Goodnight… Juno."
"Goodnight…" Juno said quietly as she shut the door behind Osmie and Lucifer. She leaned against the wood and tried to calm her racing heart. Good Lord… Malachai Lawrence was going to be the end of her.
Osmie could practically FEEL Juno's heart fluttering from behind the door, and she bit back the scowl as she opened her door and waved Lucifer in. She hoped she wasn't too late. She hoped that when she killed Lucifer, it wouldn't serve to break poor Juno's heart. It shouldn't, right? Juno hadn't known Lucifer for that long. In fact, Juno didn't actually KNOW Lucifer, anyway!
So there was no real need to worry. After the deed was done she could spend some time distracting her Guarded, bringing her out of whatever slump this would throw her into, and everything would be right with the world. A world without Lucifer.
The Guardian Angel took a deep breath, her fingers trailing along the handle of the poisoned knife. The little Angel that could… she'd do this.
She'd slay the Dark King.
To be continued…