N/A: I don't think I'll be able to keep the frequency of updates that high, but since I've had such a great welcome here, I'm trying to reward your enthusiasm and kindness. Enjoy!

Thanks a lot, Aytheria, for highlighting the typo!

Let there be Truth - Taste no evil 2

"Then, shouldn't he be wise?" Chloe asked, thinking about the billions of years the devil must have lived. Wisdom came with age, didn't it?

"I am afraid not," the reverend said. "We are talking about an immortal being. Concepts of time, and thus of age, are of no consequence in this matter. The experiences of such an entity in the immaterial plane are not comparable to ours on Earth. Our elders are wiser than us because they made mistake, they were hurt, and they learned not to be. Lucifer rebelled against God, his father, and since then he has lived away from Heaven, in a kingdom of his own."

"So… What?" An idea suddenly struck her. An idea that fitted perfectly. "Lucifer is a teenager?" Of course, he was. The constant urges, the need to be a smart-mouth, rebellion against authority, a feeling of indestructability, a complete disregard for consequences.

The reverend covered his mouth. "Interesting thought. I never saw it under this angle. Yes, in a way it fits. The need to assert one's own authority over their own lives, and a very axiological view of the world."

"Axiological?" Chloe frowned. She didn't exactly study English literature to be a Detective.

"Good or bad," he said. "When one wants to find oneself, right and wrong need to be clearly established. There are many templates, many of which are actually religious, but they don't need to be. I have a nephew who's a rock fan and he hates rap on principle. He never looked for a song that might appeal to him, he just rejects it entirely."

Stubborn, Chloe thought. Yes, it definitely fitted Lucifer.

The clean-shaved, round-bellied Frenchman shook Lucifer's hand with a chuckle, his eyes on Chloe. "You were not kidding, my friend," he said with an heavy Mediterranean accent. "You are, Madame, breath-taking." He shook her hand just as he had with Lucifer. Perhaps the man had experience enough with women to know not to treat them differently? Chloe thought. "If you would like to follow me, I've prepared my most romantic table for you, with a view on the city."

Chloe scanned the room and immediately smiled. She spotted a candle-lit table just by the large windows, but most importantly, she recognized her target sitting next to it. Not only would she have eyes on the subject, she could probably hear his whole conversation. Most worryingly, he could probably also listen to hers, and if Lucifer was as discreet as ever… Her smile faded.

"Madame?" Maurice said, perceptive man that he was.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just famished." At least, she didn't have to lie about that. With all the stress her business with Lucifer had left her with, she hardly had any appetite. However, the scents coming from the room, all around her, in this beautiful restaurant untied the knot in her belly, and her stomach could have been growling.

Artyom Asimov was a bear of a man, six foot four for a good two hundred and fifty pounds. He had a hard face with angular edges and his shoulders were broad enough that she could see them framing Lucifer's face at the table. Despite his rather primal appearance, the man seemed to have good manner. He sat straight, thanked the waiter, recommended a soup to his guests and spoke with a charming Russian accent. Yes, charming. It takes a gentleman to make that accent sound appealing, Chloe thought.

"Are you allergic to shellfish?" Lucifer asked.

"No," she replied absent-mindedly as she kept focus on the conversation that was happening next to them.

"Then, you must try the lobster, it's to die for. I should know. I once had a scammer go to hell after dining here, hence the question about allergies." He smiled at his own joke, but Chloe could barely see it, her mind totally focused on her hearing rather than her vision.

Lucifer lowered his menu to look at her but it soon turned into a stare. "I hope I'm not boring you," he said, very passive-aggressive.

Once again, she didn't care. "No, no," she said. "The lobster will be fine."

He tried to meet her eyes, but she wasn't looking anywhere really. The conversation had picked up behind and shipping routes were being discussed, although she didn't really understand what they were saying. The blue door, the green door, it must have been a code because it made no sense and…

"Privet, big boy!"

Chloe snapped out of it when she realized Lucifer had just turned around to slap his hand on Asimov's shoulder. She bit her tongue so she wouldn't ask what the hell he was doing, and watch the events unfold as the air-headed date she pretended to be.

"Do I know you?" Asimov did not sound charming anymore.

"No, I don't think so, but you should." He let go of his shoulder to try and shake his hand. "My name is Lucifer. Morningstar. I own the Lux, you must have heard about it."

"Not interested," Asimov said and he turned around. Or at least he tried, because Lucifer grabbed his arm before he could. All kinds of alarms started to sound in Chloe's head.

"Well, if you're preferring New York to Louisiana to import whatever it is you're smuggling into the country, maybe you need to be interested."

Suddenly everyone at Asimov's table was looking straight at Lucifer. Chloe immediately felt like calling reinforcement, but then again, she was curious to find out what Lucifer really knew. She did her best to ignore the raging anger that arose from the fact he didn't tell her beforehand that he knew anything about this kind of transactions. LAPD could have used a bit of translation.

"The blue door? The green door? It's all very transparent and you haven't changed your parlance since the poor Iago died."

"You knew Iago?" an old man asked. He had a large burn scar on his neck and talked very slowly.

"Knew? Oh, I know the fellow! He's very chatty, especially when you…" Lucifer had a nasty grin. "You don't need to know. I wouldn't want to inspire new ways of torturing people. I know you're very efficient at the task already."

"Iago isn't dead?" Asimov exclaimed. He even seemed a bit panicked at the idea.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. He is very dead. His soul passed a good decade ago. I wouldn't worry about him. Although he did say he admired your initiative. I mean, killing your own mentor, it must have been quite the game-changer." From amused, Lucifer's mood suddenly turned to threatening. "But never mind what the poor chap is experiencing in hell. Your punishment will be tenfold."

"Take your hand off of me," Asimov warned.

For a second, Lucifer had a look that said 'make me', but he finally let go of the mobster. "Of course."

Asimov said something in Russian to the table and they all stood up at once.

Lucifer turned to Asimov's associates as well. "But if any of you would like to know a better way to get into the country, one that even old Iago didn't know, feel free to call me. Lux, it's in the phonebook. And the Internet, of course."

Chloe stood in shock as the target and his accomplices left the premises. The words that came to her mind would have made a hardened sailor blush like a debutante.