Chapter 19

Match made in Hell

"So?" Lucifer asked. "What do you think?"

Mia was tense to say the least and she kept her arms crossed when she forced herself to take a quick look around. She had never been in any kind of hotel suite, especially a royal suite. The place was huge; it covered almost the entire floor. There were several rooms and bathrooms, all of them were full of luxurious details, including a marble foyer, dining room area for over 20 people, very expensive looking furniture and artwork, a Jacuzzi bath with steam shower, a golden chandelier and several huge flat screen TVs. The suite also included a service kitchen for those who traveled with a personal chef. Just the thought felt unrealistic to Mia; she hadn't even been able to imagine something like this.

"Where's my brother?" she asked tensely.

"He'll be here soon, no need to worry."

Cautiously Mia walked around in the huge living room; she tried her best to ignore all the food on the coffee table. Fruits, berries, pastries… She couldn't deny that she was hungry, but she wasn't going to eat anything here. For all she knew, the food might be poisoned. Not that the devil needed to poison her, he could easily kill her if he wanted to. Still she wasn't going touch the food, no matter how good it looked.

"You live here?" she murmured.

"Yes, for now. I hope you find the quality of the accommodation adequate."

Mia kept her arms crossed, she didn't look at him. All she wanted was to be in that small motel room with Sam. She was scared, nervous and confused; she couldn't understand what the devil wanted from her. What was going to happen to her? What he had said about him being the missing piece of her, she prayed that it wasn't true. Sam was that piece, not him. He was the devil. He was…evil. Why had she let him touch her? And why hadn't she been repulsed by his touch? She didn't want to admit it, but his touch had felt almost…what, natural? No, she refused to accept that. He had done something to her, somehow distort her thoughts. That was the only explanation.

"I've never been in a place like this," she muttered absentmindedly and stared at the painting on the wall. Beautiful garden… She stepped closer and noticed that the painting was actually called The Garden of Eden. Talk about irony…

"That wouldn't be the case if things would have gone like they were supposed to," he replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I meant for you to grow up in a nice home. I never wanted you to suffer."

She turned to look at him, she couldn't control her curiosity.

"What are you talking about?"

He smiled and took a step towards her.

"This lovely body of yours, I made it for you. A real masterpiece, I might add."

She stared at him disbelievingly, her eyes widened in terror.

"What? You…"

No, no, no, if he was saying what she thought he was saying… Please no…

"Are you saying that you're my…father?" she heard herself asking.

He seemed amused.

"No, my dear, I'm not your father."

She didn't think that she had ever been so relieved. Her life already sucked enough, she certainly didn't want to be the antichrist. But…

"What…what am I?"

She tensed when he stepped in front of her, but for some reason she didn't back away. He smiled and cupped her face, touching her cheeks with his thumbs.

"You're a very special young lady," he replied. "The woman who gave birth to you was never meant to keep you; I meant for you to have everything you could ever want. Unfortunately I couldn't be here myself and the demon who was supposed to handle things failed, he let that woman to leave with you. For that I'm truly sorry."

Mia glared at him.

"'That woman' was my mom," she hissed.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

"She gave birth to you, yes, but surely you agree that she wasn't in any way capable of looking after you…"

"You don't know anything about her," Mia snapped and took a step back. "And you don't know anything about me."

Lucifer observed her for a brief moment before replying, he seemed curious.

"You are defending her after everything she did. Why?"

"What do you think? She was my mom and she did her best." Mia paused and snorted. "I'm the one who ruined her life."

"Why would you think that?"

"You know why," Mia snapped. "She was an innocent girl and you put me in her. I don't know what kind of monster I am, but I know I made her a different person. She suffered and died because of me."

"Hmm," Lucifer hummed and crossed his arms. "Let me tell you something about that 'innocent' girl. Yes, she was a virgin when she became pregnant, she had to be, you needed a pure body, but that doesn't mean she would have been innocent. No, those little sinful urges… She had them a long time before you, but she was forced to suppress them. She was taught that she had to be chaste, a good girl; all the thoughts concerning the joys of the flesh were evil, impure. After she was cast out… Well, she was finally free to be who she really was. You didn't corrupt her."

Mia shook her head; she didn't know what to think.

"How would you know all that?"

"I know many things," he replied smiling. "Speaking of which, I have something to show you."

"What?" she asked cautiously.

"Your room. Please."

He waited patiently until she decided to follow him after a brief hesitation. He opened one of the closed doors and stepped aside.

"Perhaps I do know a thing or two about you," he stated.

Mia's eyes widened when she saw the room, it was like a luxury version of her apartment. Her twin bed had been replaced with a queen size canopy bed, but the floral print cover and the cushions looked the same than hers. So did the curtains and the sofa, although it seemed to be brand new and more comfortable than the old sofa she had bought from a secondhand store. There were also two matching armchairs, an ottoman and a nicer version of her modest coffee table. And of course a huge flat screen TV.

Her porcelain angels had been placed neatly on a shelf and her dream catcher was hanging above the bed. She was stunned when she looked around and opened two doors. A huge bathroom with a tub and a steam shower and a walk-in dressing room. Some of the clothes were hers from home, but most of them weren't. Finally she noticed the most important thing on the bed. George. She was just about to pick the tiger up, but then she remembered that she wasn't alone.

"What do you think?" Lucifer asked.

"Why?" she muttered. "Why would you do all this for me?"

"I want you to be comfortable here," he replied. "Anything you want or need, you'll have. All you have to do is ask."

She was quiet for a moment before turning to look at him.

"I want to know what I am and what it is you want from me."

"Ah. Well…"

A knock on the door interrupted him.

"Excuse me, sir," a male voice said. "We brought the human you requested."

If Mia wasn't mistaken, Lucifer seemed slightly annoyed.

"Bring him here."

Mia gasped when the door opened and some man shoved Oliver inside. He seemed unharmed, but he was most definitely horrified.

"Ollie!" Mia cried out and ran to him. He didn't have time to say anything when she wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"Mia?" he murmured. "What…"

"It's okay," she assured and tapped his back in a calming gesture. "Everything is going to be okay."

"She's Lucifer's…what?" Dean asked.

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"His grace," he snorted. "G-R-A-C-E. Do you want a Spanish translation?"

"What… How can she be his grace?"

"That's a good question," Castiel stated, he was staring at Gabriel.

He snorted and crossed his arms.

"Release me, then maybe we can talk."

"I don't think so," Dean huffed. "You'll be gone the second we put that fire out."

"And why wouldn't I be?" Gabriel asked sharply. "You have made it very clear that you don't trust me, so why would I tell you anything?"

"Brother, please," Castiel pleaded. "I know that you don't want this world to be destroyed, please help us stop Lucifer."

Gabriel burst into laughter.

"Stop him? Too late, I'm afraid. All thanks to you geniuses."

"What are you saying?" Dean asked. "That he's invincible now?"

"More or less. He was already powerful enough, but now when you practically handed him his grace back…"

"Mia," Sam murmured.

Gabriel frowned.

"What?"

Slowly Sam looked up and clenched his fists.

"Her name is Mia. She's a good person who likes tea, cucumber sandwiches, Disney animations, especially Beauty and the Beast, nature documentaries, organizing things, colorful flowers, red velvet cake and Johnny Depp. She has a brother who she loves and she wants to feel safe. She's a person, not some object."

"Yes," Gabriel replied after a moment of silence. "She does have a human body, so technically that makes her a person. And as I said, you're attracted to her because…"

"I heard you the first time," Sam snapped. "You think I only care about her because I'm Lucifer's vessel. That's what you all think, right?"

"Sam," Dean sighed. "We can talk about this later; right now we need to know more about her." He paused and looked at Gabriel. "Do you know what Lucifer is going to do with her? I mean, I thought that an angel loses his mojo when he loses his grace."

"A normal angel yes, an archangel no," Gabriel replied. "Lucifer was stripped of his grace as a punishment when he defied our Father. Michael tried to look for his grace for a long time, but he never found it. We never imagined that Lucifer actually managed to take it with him when he fell."

"And now Lucifer has given it a human body," Castiel stated.

"Yes, so it seems."

"Why?" Dean asked. "If he wanted it back, why didn't he just…I don't know, swallowed it or something?"

Sam glared at Dean, but he tried to ignore that.

"He couldn't, not when he was cut off from Heaven," Gabriel responded.

"And now?" Dean paused when he realized something. "He's not going to eat her, is he?"

"Of course not, you moron, why would he do that," Gabriel snorted. "He still can't have his grace back in him, but it seems that he found a way to harvest its power."

"Meaning what?"

Gabriel glanced at Sam before replying.

"My best guess would be a physical contact."

Sam's eyes darkened.

"What?"

Gabriel raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just guessing here."

"Physical contact?" Dean repeated. "You mean…"

"Yep. The closest physical contact there is." He paused and looked at Sam. "You want that, don't you? You want her?"

Sam gritted his teeth.

"What does that have to…"

"I think we both know. Lucifer believes you're going to eventually say yes to him and then... Let's just say that I don't think you and the little lady are going to ride to the sunset together. What you would have would literally be a match made in Hell."