"You have no right to defend her," Lucivar growled at Azazeal.
Lucivar did not typically have an issue with how Azazeal looked after Cassie but this morning, he had let her out on her own to ride with Elizabeth in her condition. When Cassie and Elizabeth had come back in the afternoon, both Daemon and Lucivar's senses were heightened in response to Janelle's progressing moontime. It was unfortunate but not surprising that with Marian, Cassie and Elizabeth all in various phases of their own moontime, that the boys could no longer maintain even the merest vestiges of civilized behavior.
Daemon and Lucivar had been irresistibly drawn to the scents of vulnerable females and had attempted to round them up like sheep and then pet and coddle them like kittens. It was a Warlord Princes' delight to have four cranky witches to fuss over, especially when Cassie and Elizabeth didn't know the rules, but they too soon grew tired of this confusing over-thoughtfulness and when Elizabeth escaped (naughty witch) and tried to extricate Cassie, that's when Azazeal was alerted and the fun had begun.
"I am her…," Azazeal started to retort and then looked at Cassie in uncertainty.
"We know how to look after a female, which is more than I can say for…." Lucivar started and then was cut off.
"De Geig," Lucifer said with surprising forcefulness, his eyes taking in both Lucivar and Daemon with contempt.
Lucifer then launched into a speech in angelic that, despite confusing their guests, caused them all to stop and listen. Even Azazeal turned his attention towards Lucifer with uncharacteristic attentiveness.
"What is he saying?" Jaenelle said and everyone naturally assumed that Azazeal would translate but he was rapt. Cassie could feel Azazeal's agreement with what Lucifer was saying, at least initially, and then his attitude changed to one of a sort of indebted concern.
Cassie then began to translate as best she could for herself as well as for everyone in the room.
"You are unsuitable," he had started, "You have never looked at her with love. You have never let her love set your soul ablaze. You have never yearned to use yourself in her service. You have never whispered to her of your devotion. You have never taken away her pain or given her pleasure. You have never worshiped her body with your own. And you have never given yourself over to her wrath. You have never felt its bite and welcomed it with submission. You have never trembled in the awe it deserves and known what it is to sacrifice everything to it. You are not worthy to serve."
Unfortunately, this speech had more of an effect on the Ladies than it did the Warlord Princes. Lucifer was much more powerful then they were but in their state of mind, he was an upstart Warlord Prince using power to mask his ineptness at protecting his female. It didn't help that Azazeal had used the moment of distraction to collect Cassie into his arms, thereby undermining their protection.
"We will see who is worthy," Daemon purred and started the internal descent into the Black.
"NO!" Jaenelle shouted but it was too late to stop him. Everyone tensed and prepared for disaster in the few seconds they had before Daemon unleashed. Azazeal wrapped himself around Cassie as tightly as he could. Lucivar went to Marian and shielded them both while Jaenelle moved close and enclosed them all in her Blackest power.
Elizabeth grabbed on to Lucifer's right arm and buried her face in his shoulder. Lucifer however made no move and regarded Daemon with a kind of serene menace.
When Daemon came rushing up from the depths of the abyss, there was a wild intensity in his eyes and a kind of joy at the feeling of all his power condensed into one devastating blast. For a split second he could sense everyone in the room with frightening clarity and hurried to focus his attack on his enemies. Then everything went dark. The release of all of that Black power took its toll on his body before he had a chance to appreciate the beauty of his killing field.
Elizabeth felt it like a hum that vibrates into the very core of your being. She shut her eyes and then opened them a second later to find everyone, except Daemon, exactly where they were before.
She looked up at Lucifer, who, sensing her confusion, said, "I dampened the effect…significantly. He has exhausted himself."
Jaenelle went and knelt beside Daemon putting his head in her lap and looking down at him with concern. He's eyes soon fluttered open and then he gave her a toothy grin. Seeing that he was fine, Jaenelle then proceeded to scold him.
"I hope you're proud of yourself. A silly male, that's what you are, and YOU," she whirled around and Lucivar who was creeping up to check on this brother and then took three steps back when she pointed her finger at him, "You're the instigator. Brothers," she said disparagingly, "brothers are always trouble…"
"But the females in the Coven…" the brave if foolish Daemon started reasonably, hoping to explain to his grumpy wife and Queen that they were only doing their job.
Jaenelle leapt up and Daemon's head crashed unceremoniously on the ground, "Ow!," he murmured quietly not particularly interested in regaining her attention again as it would only promote more scolding.
"Cassie and Elizabeth are not in the Coven!" Jaenelle announced and then gently, "They are both my dear friends, but they have their own males, who are more than capable of fussing over them sufficiently."
Lucivar looked about to add his two cents but Jaenelle glared him in to silence.
"Besides, I'm feeling a bit tired, I think. I would like to lie down," she said with a meaningful look at Marian.
"A warm brew would be nice," Marian grumbled convincingly, "and maybe a nice bath."
Daemon and Lucifer jumped into action with what would have been comedic eagerness if it weren't for the fact that this was so natural to them. They quickly ushered their Ladies out of the room and Jaenelle gave a quick wink to Cassie as they left to be pampered by Warlord Princes now more interested in fussing than in fighting.
When they had left, Elizabeth turned to Lucifer and smiled at him meekly as a woman grateful for her man's protection. She was not normally a weak woman but she was not a warrior either. She had the natural inclination to talk out a problem and let the men get physical. And when they did get physical, as was often the case with the feisty Blood around, she appreciated that facet of the male in her own way.
Elizabeth would have laughed at herself, but she, almost warily, moved in close to Lucifer's body and tilting her head down regarded him through her thick eyelashes. He put his left hand at her waist but his uncertainty about what else to do came off as male nonchalance about his victory and the reward that she was offering. She playfully fingered the gold bracelet on the right wrist and he tensed, inhaling a shaky breath through his teeth. But that was not what she wanted, not right now, not the servant, but the warrior, so the feeling that had threatened to over take him flitted away. He lowered his had and gave her a forceful and ravishing kiss before turning them both towards Cassie and Azazeal.
Azazeal was looking at Cassie strangely, as if he was both in love and terrified of her at the same time. She knew something was bothering him by the way he had instigated the fight and by the way that he had failed to use silver tongue. But before she coaxed the truth out of him, she had a question for Lucifer.
"That's part of it isn't it?" Cassie asked Lucifer. She didn't need to elaborate about how curious she was about Lucifer's penchant for the occasional violent sexual encounter. "You knew God's wrath too."
"I knew Him," was Lucifer's reply.
"You never told me you knew that part of Him," Azazeal said, "That explains why you were never afraid of calling down His wrath. You were the only one who did not fear His punishment."
"I was afraid," Lucifer replied, "I was terrified. It is one thing to simply know His fury for what it is and quite another to call His genuine anger down upon yourself. But it is not in my nature to turn away from Him. I tried to force His hand to punish me so that I could be forgiven. I didn't realize that my abandonment was the punishment…or at least the consequence for my choice."
"And with me?" Elizabeth asked.
Lucifer smiled wickedly down at her. "You, my dear, have an admirable temper. It scares me stiff," he winked at her and she blushed.
"And," he continued more seriously, "I must know it if I am to know you."
Elizabeth blushed more deeply. It was hard for her to think of some of the things she had done to him without the benefit of the red fog of anger or the haze of sexual desire, especially now that he was not gallivanting around wrecking havoc in the world as when they had first met. But he had continued to encourage her to…express herself even after he had satisfied himself that she would correct him rather than banish him. He had always approached their sometimes brutal encounters with a kind of openness and intimacy that went beyond what humans could share with each other. He wanted to experience her in all of her manifestations and he was capable of facing her at her worst with love and acceptance.
"Come help me with the horses," Elizabeth said and she took his hand.
When they had left, Cassie turned back to Azazeal and inspected him carefully. He had that look that he got when any wrong move on her part would mean an emotional disaster. She put her hands to his face and said, "Tell me what is wrong."