Chapter Thirty-Seven
FLASH
Ariel entrusts the dress to Alice and Rosalie for safe keeping, with Alice reassuring her that she will put it in a place that Carlisle will never find. Rosalie gives a halfhearted promise to make sure that Emmett doesn't ruin it either. But with them safely transporting the dress to home, Ariel starts to fly toward LA.
Lucifer promises her answers over the phone, with the insistence of talking it over in person, she can't put it off any longer than she has to. Just thinking about it makes the skin on her back itch and burn with gone, but not forgotten, scars. She needs to know whose blades are responsible and if they had any part in Briar's plan; she needs to know if her family is in danger. Thoughts of Charlie's almost abduction swirls in her mind, merging with memories of blood dripping down her skin.
She's soaring over the forest in Forks and takes a deep breath. The view would have been beautiful, breathtaking even, but all she can see is how Carlisle emerged from the treeline, soaked down to his skin with dark blood. His hands are covered and he looks at her with heartbroken dark eyes, cloudy beyond recognition. He picks her up gently, she feels the blood of his kill and the blood from her own injury intermixing in the linen of his shirt. He doesn't smell like the fresh cologne and pine, but metallic.
She curses, nearly crashing into a secluded spot beside the hospital under the cover of dusk. She's not the only who deserves answers, she tells herself. She's not the only one that Briar hurt and because of what happened to her - because of blades that should have never have been in Briar's possession - Carlisle broke his promise. He's done more than she could - or should - have ever asked.
She manages to sneak her way into the hospital, an easy task with most of the staff gone by now, and finds Carlisle in his office. He immediately looks surprised at her appearance; he was sure that Alice would take at least another few hours looking at dresses, but the surprise is quickly gone, replaced with a soft fondness. He wastes no time in taking her up in his arms, kissing her temple with a hand at her waist.
"Back so soon, love," his voice laced with amusement, "I would have expected Alice to keep you in Seattle longer. Ah, did you find your dress?"
He watches her curiously, wandering absently if she'll give away any details on what to expect for their wedding, but instead she's stiff in his arms with furrowed brows. His expression drops, "What's wrong, darling?"
"Lucifer called me." Her voice is too soft for human hearing, "He found out more information about the knives."
His fingers curl into her side a smidge too tight to be comfortable, his eyes glossy with dark clouds. He looks at her, he sees her covered in her blood with gauging wounds, he can feel the blood between his fingers. His hand trembles against her skin as it gently grazes against her back. It lasts for only a moment, a flash of a memory, but it's enough for him to lock his jaw with a steeled determination.
"I'll accompany you, my dove." He kisses the top of her forehead. "I'll do everything I can so that the last of that mess is taken care of."
It's a shackle holding them down, he can feel it, and now there is hope for a sense of closure. If he wants to protect her, keep this from happening again, then he needs to do all he can to take care of wherever those blades came from to assure it does not happen again.
Los Angeles is lit up by their arrival, not by day, but by the amount of club lights. It's not like Forks, covered in the darkness with little light streaming to the road by half broken street lights and only the moon. That alone is enough for Carlisle to feel out of place and odd when they land on a balcony of a nightclub LUX.
He knows his Latin well enough to know that this has to be Lucifer's club. It's a larger building than he expected, but he supposes he should have expected something so lavious for the devil. Ariel doesn't seem too concerned about anyone spotting them and as she leads him into the building, he can see that the balcony they landed on didn't go into the club directly but instead into a lavash living space.
"Do we need someone to invite you in," Ariel lightly jests, seeing his hesitation in entering. He gives her an awkward smile as he composes himself, entering confidently.
"Not quite dear, I just haven't been in a club since - well I think it was the late 1800s." He hesitates then adds, "England."
Ariel hums; she can't quite say she was the biggest fan of England at that time, but then again, she was often in the countries that were on the losing side of Britain's then expansion. But she can't quite picture Carlisle venturing far from Europe and what he knows, he always sticks to places that are familiar. It's one of the reasons she was surprised, but pleasantly touched, that he's venturing this far outside of his comfort level.
Ariel tuts, almost absently, "Ah, I believe I was busy in Sao at that time."
He stores that small bit of information in the back of his mind; every bit of small things he learns of her, he keeps tucked away, treasuring it.
Ariel doesn't get too far from him as she leads him through the space, looking for her brother. Carlisle grabs her hand for reassurance that she accepts gladly.
The first person they find isn't her brothers; Carlisle wonders absently if this is Lucifer's partner, but Ariel had made it clear that Detective Chloe Decker was human. This woman is not. She doesn't smell like any of the angels, instead she smells of rotting flesh and decay. It's strong enough that he almost takes a step back, eyes flickering questionably between her almost angry expression and Ariel's exasperated face.
"Maze." Ariel greets simply, her voice flat.
Mazikeen doesn't look at Ariel, instead eying Carlisle up. While Ariel's anger made him feel like prey, this woman's very presence makes him feel as though he is a small piece of meat. The gleam in her eye makes it hard for him to determine just what type of prey he is to her. Finally, she scoffs and just raises a brow, crossing her arms tightly.
"A bit of a pretty boy, isn't he? You've gone soft for an angelic punisher."
Ariel glances over Mazikeen's shoulder to another woman, whose approaching with a much friendlier demeanor.
"You're one to talk, Mazikeen," there's a ghost of a more mean smirk on her face as the woman happily wraps her arms around Mazikeen's shoulders from behind.
"Ariel, I never got the chance to tell you congratulations! Is this the guy?"
This woman is human, Carlisle deduces quickly as her almost sickenly sweet scent hits him. She looks Carlisle over with a familiar gleam of lustful appreciation; he's seen that look often on the faces of nurses.
"He's cute," she states bluntly and loudly, despite winking at Ariel as if she stated a secret. "I bet the sex is amazing."
"Him?" Mazikeen questions in disagreement, but Eve remains firm in her statement.
Carlisle's shirt collar feels a bit tighter than normal, flustered he tries to adjust it, refusing to quite meet anyone's eyes. He tries to gently move the conversation along, but instead, Ariel indulges the topic further.
"He does quite well actually," Ariel's eyes scream of mischief as the woman practically screams in delight while Mazikeen snorts.
"Clubs closed for the night. Lucifer's in the lobby." Mazikeen finally gives them information, jutting her thumb toward the elevator behind her. "Everyone else is there too except for the brats."
So no Charlie or Trixie this time around, Ariel absently supposed that's for the best considering the topic of conversation they're here for.
Carlisle squeezes her hand and with that, they enter the elevator.
