CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT


TOUGH TALK


Chloe Decker's leg bounces as she leans forward, her hands clasped at her chin with her elbows on her knees. She admits that she didn't know the whole situation in Forks until recently; from vampires to Ariel leaving to go to Heaven because a sadistic priest with demon blades got a hold of her. Considering the priest's ties to Kinsley, she can't help but feel somewhat responsible for what happened. The least she can do is try to solve the rest of the problem to make sure this doesn't happen again. She tries to shove the revelation of vampires being real to the very back of her mind until she needs it; the detective in her, however, burns to ask questions.

But one problem at a time.

Chloe smiles when the elevator comes down, Ariel soon exiting it. She admits that she hasn't done the best job at reaching out to Lucifer's favorite sister - in part due to how she was when she first arrived. But Lucifer immediately gets up, arms outstretched with a wide grin; as much as he tries to hide it sometimes, he really does love his sister - his family. She watches curiously at the man who comes with Ariel; gorgeous, though not quite her type. Carlisle Cullen; she glances to the matching rings on their fingers. He keeps a hand on the small of Ariel's back, even as Lucifer greets them warmly, his eyes briefly glancing at everyone in the room. His hand slips to Ariel's waist tightly, bringing her in almost protectively. Chloe doesn't know a thing about vampires, but Carlisle Cullen looks the least vampiric; nothing like any of the stories she's heard. She supposes Lucifer is nothing like his stories either.

Carlisle's eyes flicker to everyone in the room, brows furrowing at the people he doesn't know; each one smells human at least, with no one else smelling of underlying rot like Mazikeen nor of the cleansinsing scent like Amenadiel. He supposes that's a good thing, not quite sure if he has the mental capacity to entertain the idea of meeting more angels and whatever it was Mazikeen was (he has a few ideas, considering she doesn't seem the angelic type). Carlisle finally has to let Ariel go when she heads toward Amenadiel with Lucifer. She presses a kiss to his temple, squeezing his hand once before she lets go.

He feels at a loss of what to do or how to introduce himself.

"Chloe Decker," Chloe sticks her hand out politely. He takes the offered hand immediately, smiling politely at the human woman.

"Carlisle Cullen," Carlisle glances around, "Are you -"

"-I'm human," Chloe reassures him, though it wasn't the question that he was intending to ask, having already known due to her smell. "I'm Lucifer's partner."

That was what he was meaning to ask. Lucifer's partner. Not wife, not spouse, but partner. An odd term, if a bit uncommonly used nowadays (though according to Alice, it is quickly coming back into fashion in attempts to normalize the term). Either way, she says it with a strong endearment and he supposes that perhaps marriage, and the terms that come with it, just simply aren't for everyone. But the love is clear between them, as Chloe glances toward Lucifer as she speaks, her eyes gleaming in a sense of concern and care. He meets her gaze for a moment, the same emotions reflected in them, before he turns back to his conversation with his siblings.

"It's nice to meet you again, Doctor," Linda piques up, leaning forward from her spot, her smile welcoming.

He nods in greeting to her, but his eyes are still focused deeply on his to-be wife and her siblings. He notes the standoff way that they gather around, separated from their partners. He wonders if this is a normal occurrence - for them to exclude their partners from events, either intentionally or unintentionally. Likely with the best intentions, he should hope.

He frowns at the things he overhears; he wonders if it's his place to intervene. Ariel has made it clear that she has boundaries, certain things that she just simply won't so easily open up about or things that she likes to keep to herself. If she wants her privacy, he will give it to her. As much as he doesn't like it at times.

Ariel finally looks his way and sighs deeply, her eyes full of regret. The conversation between her brothers, hushed tones of should they or shouldn't they debates, grows silent as she plops down beside Carlisle one of the lounging couches. Her head leaning against his shoulder, he wraps an arm around her without question.

"Well it's decided then," Lucifer claps his hands together with tight lips, "We'll use Ariel as bait to draw the misguided demon out. The good news is that now that I know whose blade was behind the incident, I know exactly how we can draw her out."

"Lucifer, it's not a decision if we didn't all talk about it," Chloe adds in with a tired sigh, "We can't just use her sister like that when we don't know what the demon is capable of. We're not even sure that it's just one of them out of there. For all we know, it could be another uprising."

Carlisle tightens his grip around his mate. He heard the siblings' conversation, but hearing it declared so bluntly makes it harder to swallow. Ariel's eyes are closed; seemingly too tired to really fight on the subject.

"I'm not sure if I can agree with her being used as bait," Carlisle speaks up. "Actually, I am quite against the idea."

Ariel's eyes peek up at him, her voice tired, "I wouldn't agree to it if I actually thought that she had even a chance of getting the jump on me. If pretending to be helpless will draw her out, I will do it. Then I -"

She glances at her brother, Lucifer's eyes gleaming menacingly, then continues.

"-We can do what's necessary."

Carlisle doesn't like the way that Lucifer lights up at that nor the dark undertone in Ariel's words. As if she has plans on what to do with the one behind her incident with Briar. Plans that, in any other situation or if it didn't involve what hurt her, he would have disagreed with. But he can't say he will feel much pity for the fate that awaits the one that was behind her death (despite her coming back, it was a death - at least to him).

"Do you even have any idea why anyone would be doing this in the first place," Linda asks, leaning forward by resting her elbows on her knees, hands crossed under her chin. Amenadiel joins her, opting to stand with his hand on her shoulder.

"That is still a little unclear," Lucifer admits, "Yana is the one who owns the blades that Briar used. She's always been outspoken about how she disagreed with the way things were done. Long before Dromos and the others tried to take Charlie. I've been asking around and apparently she wasn't fond of the way Dromos tried to upthrown me either."

Lucifer glances at Ariel, with an almost pained understanding, "My best guess is that dear Yana believes that if I can't rule and if they can't get ahold of Charlie, then maybe she can convince another angel to take over."

"Me?" Ariel sits up properly, brows furrowed. Her hand squeezes Carlisle's knee. "I was there when they tried to take Charlie. Why would she think I was a good alternative?"

Everyone in the room winces. Chloe, in particular, remembers the way that Ariel seemed to tear through the bodies of the makeshift army without effort - viciously, without mercy. She rubs her arm when she also remembers just how close Ariel was to doing the same to her in her rage.

"Sister," Amenadiel voices gently, "Lucifer isn't the only one made to be a punisher. It's not too much of a stretch for them to want to reach out to you. Your massacres and punishments on the humans were very… widespread knowledge."

His eyes flicker to Carlisle, unsure if he's even aware of just how gruesome Ariel used to be, "And the way you acted when Charlie was taken - I understand your rage, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the demons were impressed."

Ariel grows awfully quiet, her eyes downcast as she moves as close as she possibly can to Carlisle. He doesn't pull away from her, instead drawing her closer as he plants a soft kiss to her forehead. He whispers soft reassurances in her ear, encouragement about how far she's come and how proud he is of her. Still, a sense of unfamiliar guilt rises in her gut, refusing to even look Chloe in the eyes.

"Why would Briar take my wings," Ariel questions suddenly, "If Yana wants me to take the throne away from Lucy, I don't understand why Briar has to be involved at all."

"The rules are that an angel has to rule Hell," Lucifer speaks up as he sits down beside Chloe, his legs widespread as his arms lean against the top of the couch, "Doesn't say anything about having wings. After all, you really only need them to come up, not down."

Carlisle isn't a fan of what that implies. The mere idea of Ariel being trapped down there makes his eyes go dark. He can't imagine losing her that way and he refuses to let Yana, demon or not, get a hold of his precious dove.