The doorman lifted the velvet rope and waved Ella into Lux, bypassing all the "beautiful people" who were waiting in line. She tried to ignore their dirty looks. She'd stopped off at her apartment to shower and change into something nice, but she wasn't dressed up in her Las Vegas bling, and she was nobody the paparazzi were going to be fighting over. She was Chloe's friend, however. That counted for a lot, apparently.

The doorman said quietly, "Welcome to Lux, Ms. Lopez." He knew her name! Her shoulders lifted and she almost strutted into the nightclub. Take that, losers in line!

It was still early, and Lux wasn't as crowded as it would be later in the evening. Still, the music was rocking and the dancers were dancing, and it took her a long minute to spot Chloe off in the corner, surrounded by three other women. Was it? Yes! Chloe was with Maze and Linda—and Eve as well! It was The Tribe plus one!

Ella made her way through the dancers and sat down at the table. "How's it going, peeps?" Everybody smiled at her.

She looked at Chloe, really looked at her. Chloe looked beautiful tonight. She was wearing a dark Valentino sleeveless dress. Her hair had never looked better. Obviously, retirement agreed with her buena amiga.

But Linda? Not so much. A small stain on her blouse, easy to miss. Dark circles under the eyes. Nothing that a few weeks of sleep wouldn't cure, but not exactly radiating health and happiness at the moment. Linda needed a hug, stat.

Maze and Eve were the same as always, of course. Well, except for the cuts on Maze's face, which Ella judged to have been left by a knife, probably one with a four-inch blade, not serrated. And Eve was sporting a black eye on her left orbit. A fist, Ella thought. About a day ago; not longer than two days, for sure. So: basically, the same as always.

"So happy to see you all," Ella said. "I thought it was just going to be Chloe and me tonight, but the more the merrier, right?"

Eve said, "Maze and I kind of butted-in to your party, Ella. We didn't know you had a date with Chloe. We'll be happy to find another table, if you'd like us to."

Maze looked at Eve as if she were insane. "What? Leave the party before it gets started? No way! Plus, Decker said free drinks. Drink up, partner. I need you good and lubricated for what I've got planned for you tonight."

They all stood to get their hugs. Ella made sure that Linda got the best one. Pobre mamacita!

As always, Maze pretended she didn't like to be hugged, but Ella knew she really did. And Eve? Eve was always up for a hug.

After the hugs were done, Chloe held up a finger and the cute bartender hoofed it over to see what Ella wanted to drink. Ella wanted to party, but she also wanted to pump Chloe for information, so she asked for a single shot of Patron over ice, with lime wedges on the side. No salt necessary, muchas gracias.

When the drink arrived, Chloe said, "Jerry, meet Ella. Ella, meet Jerry." Ella met Jerry's eyes and … time froze. Whoops! Stop it! I'm not ready for that, Ella thought. As if mere thoughts could stop what had just happened. They broke eye contact and he went back to the bar, but Ella caught him staring at her, a puzzled look on his face. She shook her head. She did not need another bad boy bartender in her life.

Maze and Eve had been oblivious to the spark, but Linda and Chloe had caught it. They smiled at Ella, wishing her only the best. Chloe leaned forward and quietly said, "He's a good guy, Ella. Working his way through law school. No rap sheet whatsoever; I checked. No wife, no kids. Thorough background screen; clean as a whistle."

"Uh-huh," Ella replied. "But I'm not—"

"Ready?" Linda said. "Of course you are, Ella. All you have to do is decide to be ready."

Ella tried to smile back, but she was a bit shaken at the unexpected moment she'd just had with … was Jerry his name? Yeah, Jerry. That had been too weird. She said, "Uh, thanks guys. Really; I appreciate it. But that's not why I came. I came to catch up with you, Chloe."

Chloe shook her head and smiled. "Okay. Sure. We can talk; that's why you're here." She paused and her smile got bigger. "But don't pretend that you'd turn down a little extra, a little unexpected bonus along with the conversation."

"I don't know …"

"Just think about it Ella. Obviously, there was something there. We saw it. You want his number, that's not a problem. But if not … then let's have some drinks and catch-up, just the way you wanted to."

Maze and Ella hit the dance floor, leaving Ella with Chloe and Linda. They sipped their drinks and made small talk, while avoiding the real questions Ella wanted to ask. Ella found herself talking about Joe Replacement Dude and his boring homicide case that he was pursuing at the pace of molasses.

"So there was this bachelor party at a vacant house in Bel Air. Six dudes there plus the groom-to-be, making seven. Fingerprints all over the place, all matches for the seven dudes. Except for one print on the vic's belt, where somebody had grabbed her from behind and pushed her headfirst into the porcelain tub. Another print on the tub itself, smeared. No way to tell for certain if it matches the print on the belt."

Chloe was interested. After all, this had been her career. "So the theory is that there was an eighth person there, along with the vic?"

Ella nodded. "Yep. But none of the seven suspects will admit it. Everybody says the house was empty, except for them."

"And the vic, right?"

"Right. But they say they never went upstairs. According to them, they used the downstairs bathroom only." She paused. "And the forensics seem to support that story. Let's just say these dudes didn't have the best aim."

"Then how was the victim discovered?"

"Good question. It was a tip received the next day, well after the party was over and the suspects had driven—or should I say been driven—home. TOD about one to two A.M."

"So the seven are alibis for each other?"

"Exactly. They hung out together all night—according to them. Drinking Jack all night, based on the number of empty bottles. Nobody left; nobody went upstairs."

"Sounds like kind of a boring bachelor party."

Ella smiled. "Well, you would know."

Chloe grimaced. "First of all, thanks for reminding me about that, Ella. Second of all, you're right. That was the most boring bachelorette party in the history of the world. If it hadn't been for that bus …"

"Okay, amiga. Sorry to bring up the old memories. Couldn't resist, though. Anyway, you're with Lucifer now, right?"

"Yes. We're together, and it's solid, Ella. Not like the other times. We're both all in this time."

"So when's the wedding?"

Linda, who had been sipping her third Smash, choked on her drink.

Chloe handled the question better. Maybe it was her training and experience helping her, but she answered calmly. "Wedding? What makes you think Lucifer and I are getting married?"

Ella hesitated. She didn't want to discuss Rae-Rae, even though she'd once told Chloe she had a friend who happened to be a ghost. Thinking quickly, she pointed at Chloe's left hand. "Well, are you or are you not wearing a ring, girl?"

Chloe held up her hand, admitting that, yes, there was a ring on the finger normally reserved for engagement rings and wedding bands. Hard to deny it.

Maze saw the ring from the dance floor. In half a second, she was holding Chloe's hand in hers, looking at the ring. "That's my mother's ring," she said. "He gave you my mother's ring!"

Chloe was puzzled. "Are you sure, Maze?"

"Of course I'm sure, Decker. That's my mother's ring. He kept it for her for more than 70 years. Lucifer gave it to me when she died." Maze looked at Linda when she said that her mother had died. Linda nodded back.

"I gave it back to him after Eve turned it down, said she didn't want it. I thought he would keep the ring. Turns out he had a different plan."

Chloe was quiet for a moment, then she said, "You okay with this, Maze? After all, it was your mother's ring."

Maze shrugged. "Yeah, I'm down with it. Eve didn't want it and I don't want it. You can have the ring if you like it. Truth is, she doesn't deserve to be remembered."

Ella said, "Who, Maze? Your mama?"

Maze nodded. "Yeah. Don't want to talk about it, though." She dropped Chloe's hand and headed back to the dance floor. They heard her yell at Jerry, "More shots, Jer—pronto!"

"Well, that was weird," Ella said. "I didn't even realize that Lucifer knew Maze's mom. What was her name?"

Linda and Chloe answered together. "Lilith," they said.

"Lilith? Like in the Bible? Isiah Chapter 34?"

They both nodded. "Like in the Bible," Linda said. "Adam's first wife, according to some sources."

"Wow. So you're telling me that Maze's mother was named Lilith, and she gave her ring to Lucifer, and then Lucifer gave the ring to Chloe? And Maze offered the ring to Eve, who didn't want it?"

Chloe nodded. "Seems that way."

"That is so strange!" Ella said. "So many biblical references going on here … Lucifer, Lilith, Adam and our Eve here." She shook her head. "What is up with Lucifer? 'Cause all this biblical stuff is pretty weird for a dude who says he never goes to church. And speaking of church—"

"Lucifer has not asked me to marry him," Chloe said firmly.

Ella was going to continue pushing, but Chloe changed the subject. "Let's talk some more about the homicide. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?"

Ella sighed and nodded. She'd find another way to bring up the marriage. "It is kinda interesting, but you'd never know it from the way Joe Nothing is handling the case."

"So tell me about the vic. What do you know?"

"The vic's name is Kathy Jacobsen. Age 23, recently arrived in LA from Indianapolis. Staying at The Oakwood in Toluca Hills. Part-time waitress, part-time student at Irving Berlin's School of Acting in Fairfax. Full-time aspiring actress."

Chloe nodded. Lots of young women came to LA in search of an acting career. Very few actually found one.

"And the suspects?"

"They all work together on a TV show in production at Warner Brothers. Different jobs, but all associated with the same show. One guy, Barry, is engaged, and they got together to celebrate. Or so the story goes."

Chloe asked, "Who's Barry marrying? Was she okay with this bachelor party in Bel Air?"

Ella answered, "I'm not sure what her name is. It's not like Detective Joe discusses the case with me. Not like you used to." She paused. "Anyway, maybe she was okay with the party, because it was about as tame as you could get in LA. Just booze. No drugs, no strippers, no hookers. Maybe Barry and the boys agreed to that in order for her to be okay with the bachelor party." She shrugged. "Something for Joey to follow-up on, if he ever gets around to it."

Chloe nodded. She would have been all over the fiancée; obvious suspect. But it wasn't her case, as she had to remind herself. "So, just to summarize: seven party boys downstairs drinking Jack Daniels; our vic and one unknown suspect upstairs. No known interaction between them. And the only connection is that the party boys worked in TV production and the victim was an aspiring actress. Not a lot to go on."

Ella nodded. "That about sums it up. Except we got a hit on the upstairs fingerprint just before I left the lab to come over here. So our unknown suspect is now known."

At that point, Linda began to snore. Chloe and Ella smiled at her. Poor thing had been exhausted. Chloe thought for a moment, then picked up her phone. "Hey Amenadiel. I've got a sleeping mama over here who could use a quick ride home, if you know what I'm saying. … Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'll have her upstairs in the penthouse in about five minutes. You can pick her up there, okay? Yeah, thanks. She can pick up her car tomorrow; it'll be fine here overnight."

Ella was puzzled at that interchange. "I don't get it. Amenadiel is going to pick up Linda from the penthouse? Why not the front door? And who's going to watch Charlie when Amenadiel's coming over to get her?"

Chloe took a deep breath. This was going to be a hard lesson for Ella. But then she had a thought about how to approach things. "Ella, before I answer all your questions, I need to ask you something."

"Sure, girl. Ask me anything."

"It's about faith."

"Right up my alley!"

"Okay, good. But first I need to take care of Linda." She motioned to one of the bouncers on duty. "Please take Dr. Martin to the penthouse. She'll sleep it off there. Have Benny make sure her car's okay."

"Yes, ma'am." The bouncer picked up Linda and took her towards the elevator.

Chloe turned to Ella. "Now, back to faith. Here's my question, and I want you to think carefully about your answer."

"No problemo. Fire away."

"You have faith, right?"

"Yeah, I like to think so. I have my doubts, too. But I have faith. Faith in the Big Guy."

"So what would happen if you knew the truth. If you knew everything? If you knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Ella didn't get the question. "Knew what?"

"Ella, what would happen to your faith if you knew about Heaven and Hell? If you knew what parts of the Bible were accurate and what parts had been … mistranslated or even embellished? If you knew, beyond a doubt, everything you'd been taking on faith all these years? The truth, the falsehoods. Everything. What would that do to your faith?"

Ella considered the question. She thought about it for quite some time, while Chloe watched her carefully, and Eve and Maze continued to sweat on the dance floor. Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw a couple of men hit on the dancers and be rejected. Ignoring that little scene, she continued to focus on Ella, who was deep in thought about the question Chloe had asked her.

"Wow. What a question," Ella finally said. "I might need another drink to get through that one." Chloe nodded and signaled to Jerry. "Okay, another drink is on the way. But that doesn't answer the question."

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I mean, I want to know, you know? My mind is wired for figuring stuff out. But my heart is also wired for faith. They're both a part of me, a part of who I am." Ella didn't look up at Jerry as he delivered her Patron. Chloe noticed he seemed disappointed at that. "I honestly don't know how to answer. Mind telling me why you're asking?"

Chloe looked at Ella. "Because it matters. A lot. I can answer your questions. I can answer all of your questions—or at least most of them. But if I do, then I'm afraid it will destroy your faith, or maybe transform it into something you don't want. And maybe you'll regret everything. So before I answer your questions, you need to decide whether you want to take that risk."

Ella downed her Patron in one gulp. Chloe signaled Jerry for another one.

"Wow! That's … heavy. I did not expect you to go there. Not at all."

Chloe pointed at Eve, bouncing on the dance floor next to Maze. "Eve, right? Garden of Eden. Tree of Knowledge. Forbidden fruit. You see where I'm going with this?"

"You're saying that you're offering me an apple."

Chloe smiled, but her blue-green eyes were serious. "Exactly. I have knowledge, but be careful what you ask for."

Jerry delivered the Patron, and this time Ella looked up and caught his eyes. Time froze again, or at least it seemed that way to her. He must have felt the same way, because he made no move to leave the table. Chloe had to clear her throat, several times, before he woke up and picked up Ella's empty glass. "Thank you, Jerry," Chloe said through a smile.

"No problem, boss," was his reply.

"Boss?" Ella asked.

Chloe nodded. "Yep. Co-owner, now."

"But I thought you were moving—"

"And we are. Slowly."

"Same with the whole marriage thing?"

Chloe nodded again. "Yes. Now back to faith. You need to decide. Either keep your faith, or ask me questions and get answers. Answers that may threaten that faith. Live in the Garden or take a bite from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Your decision."

"I'm … not sure. I think I need some more time."

"I understand. Believe me: I understand completely. Take as much time as you need. Meanwhile, I'll talk a little about me."

Ella smiled. "I'd like that." She took a sip from her drink.

"So Lucifer and I are living together, here at Lux. I see Trixie every day after school but she spends the nights with my mom; sometimes with Dan's parents. I'd have her living with us if I could but, honestly, this is no place for her and there's no room upstairs. We've talked about moving to one of Lucifer's other houses, but we can't make up our minds. We'll probably pick one and sell the others, eventually."

"What happened to north of Florida?"

"North of Florida is still happening, but we don't want to rush into anything. It's a big move; lots of changes for Lucifer and Trixie, and for me. Until we're ready, we're living in LA, trying to keep things on an even keel."

It was Chloe's turn to sip from her drink. She was surprised to find it empty. She looked up at caught Jerry's eye. Even though the bar was three people deep, he saw her right away. She guessed he'd been keeping an eye on her table, but she also guessed he wasn't focused on her. She lifted her glass and he nodded: another Macallan 25 Year on the way.

Ella quietly said, "You two need to get married. Soon."

Chloe was a bit surprised at that. Ella telling her to get married was entirely different from a friendly inquiry. It just didn't make sense: Ella had never been a traditionalist. Where was this coming from?

"I don't … understand."

"You two are like magnets. Sometimes you attract each other and get stuck; other times you repel each other. Right now, you're stuck together. I think you need to make it official before something happens to push you apart."

"I don't get it. Why is this so important to you?"

Ella sighed. This was gonna be hard. "Look, you know when I told you that I have a friend, a friend who's a ghost?"

Chloe nodded.

"And you didn't laugh at me. I appreciated that, you know. For most of my life, anybody I told about Rae-Rae wanted to lock me up or drug me. Or both. But not you." She paused. "Anyway, Rae-Rae came to visit, and she asked me to find out when you and Luce are tying the knot. When and where."

"But we don't …"

"Right. Then she said that if you didn't have any firm plans, I should tell you to hurry it up."

"That's … weird." Chloe had a sudden thought. "Ella, tell me: did this 'Rae-Rae' have wings?"

Ella laughed. "I totally get why you would ask that! But no, she's not a guardian angel; just a guardian ghost."

"A guardian ghost who wants Lucifer and I married quickly."

"That's right. And no, she didn't tell me why."

At that point, Maze and Eve sat back down, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Jerry brought over some waters and more shots without being asked to do so. Chloe smiled thanks, but he wasn't looking at her; he was staring at Ella. Maze noticed it and started to say something, but Chloe shook her head. "Not now, Maze."

Maze smiled and looked at Jerry. "Fine, Decker. Not now." She shooed him away, still smiling.

"So Decker, what did you tell this little ball of horniness, anyway?"

"Not much, Maze. I asked her whether she wanted to take a bite from the apple, or stay in the Garden. She's still thinking about it."

Eve looked up. "Oh, take a bite from the apple! That's what I did, and look where I am now!" She leaned over and kissed Maze deeply. Maze leaned back and pulled her down …

"Hold it!" Chloe said firmly. "If you want a room, go get one." She looked at Maze. "It's not like you don't know where they are."

Maze pushed Eve away, but only a little. She was panting. "Right. You never were big on PDAs." She played with Eve's hair. "Soon. Let's wait just a little longer."

Eve nodded and looked at Ella. "Forget what I said, Ella. Make up your own mind." Chloe noticed her hand was below the table. That explained why Maze was panting.

Ella smiled back. She didn't really understand what Eve was saying, but Eve was always so sweet and caring.

Chloe put her hand on Ella's shoulder, to make sure she had her attention. "You think about what I said, okay? You want knowledge, there's a price to be paid. In your case, I don't know if the price is worth it."

"I hear you. And now I'm wondering what this knowledge is, if it comes at such a steep price."

Chole replied, "And while you think about it, I'll talk with Lucifer about … Rae-Rae's concerns. I'm not saying we won't ever get married, but I don't want to rush into anything the way I did with … the way I did last time."

Ella downed her drink. "Deal. And thanks for the party tonight, Chloe. Or should I say 'Boss'?"

Chloe was going to answer, but Ella had left the table. She was on her way to the bar. Chloe saw that Jerry pushed a tall girl out of the way so that Ella could sit down. That tall girl was a fashion model; Chloe recognized her from last month's Vogue cover. Hmmm, isn't that interesting?

Maze and Eve seemed to be done with their public foreplay. Maze slammed her empty shot glass down and said, "Later, Decker. Thanks for the party! Me and Eve here have a date back at our place. Gotta go."

Eve hugged Chloe goodnight. She whispered in Chloe's ear, "Take care of Lucifer."

Then they both walked out, holding each other closely.

Chloe looked over at Ella and Jerry, deep in conversation, and took the rest of her drink up to the penthouse. She had a lot to discuss with Lucifer. She hoped he was in the mood for talk, even though she suspected he had more immediate physical needs. She smiled, planning how to get both needs met.