Chapter 2

Los Angeles, you could say, was often frequented or inhabited by strangely dressed people. Actors, cosplayers, various enthusiasts, all flocked towards the bright lights and bustling heights of the city. However, as the morning stretched into noon, four adolescents made their way across the Sunset Strip who did not look as though they belonged in the slightest. All four looked profoundly uncomfortable, but not with the attention they were attracting from passers-by, but as though they were guilty, like children afraid to be caught doing something they shouldn't.

'That was a stroke of genius back there, remembering that LA was also known as the City of Angels,' a silver-blonde boy said to a dark-haired girl as they walked, long white robes billowing in their wake. 'Well done, cousin.'

'I still can't believe Soph stole a book from Grandfather's library,' hissed another girl, glaring at a third.

'Well it's not like He's using it,' she reasoned back. 'Besides, we would never have gotten a lead, as you call it, without my doing so.'

'Woah,' the dark-haired girl said suddenly, stopping the others in their tracks. 'There. That's the place.'

'Have you seen this building before, Cora?' one of the other girls asked.

'No,' the other – Cora – replied. 'Letters.'

'L… U… X…' the boy read hesitantly. 'What's that in English? I'm out of practice with reading the Latin alphabet.'

'Lux,' another of the girls read out. 'Means 'light'. Does seem more likely than the other places we've visited, doesn't it?'

'Well,' the boy said. 'No use dawdling.'

They went inside.

Immediately through the door (which had been locked, but curiously sprung open at the touch) was a staircase leading down to an open space. Not daring to venture further, the group gathered at the top, looking around.

'Anyone here?' one of the girls said tentatively.

'One human female,' the boy replied. 'That's all.'

'Can we leave, then?' one of the other girls asked. 'We really shouldn't be here.'

'Are you kidding?' the lad retorted. 'I'd rather be here – did you see those funny moving boxes with wheels on? Anyone could get seriously hurt with one of them!'

'They're called cars, Sach,' the girl with equally silver-blonde hair admonished. 'Humans use them to get around now. Faster than horses, see.'

'I'll say!'

'We're sure just the one human?' the other girl asked.

'Aye,' Cora responded. 'At least for now.'

'Someone should go talk to her. You know – see if she knows anything?' Sach suggested.

'Go on then,' the girl – his sister? – challenged him.

'Not me,' he responded. 'I read somewhere – human females don't like it when unknown men approach them. It makes them uncomfortable.'

'Oh catch yourself on, brother!' his sister replied. 'You look like a teenage boy! She'll probably just ask you where your mammy is.'

'Probably throw you out,' Cora piped up. 'They got dead strict about younglings drinking these days, so they have.'

'I'm not doing it!' the boy insisted. 'I speak English the least well of you all!'

'Well, you're doing fine right now!'

'Because I'm not nervous around you lot!'

'Aren't you, though?'

'Oh for Heaven's sake!' the other girl said, quieting the group. 'I'll go and talk to the human. But I want it known the lengths I went to help with this, alright?'

Unbeknownst to them, the human in question, with a tablet in hand and earbuds in, had heard the entire conversation.

Chloe had done, she thought, a stellar job at compartmentalising and quashing the tidal wave of insecurity that threatened to consume her. Not only had Lucifer not told her about his daughter until she had tracked him down and demanded an explanation, but Amenadiel, Maze and Dan had all found out before she had.

Not even Dan, she remembered, at the elevator descended with her and Lucifer in it. Dan as a ghost. Her dead ex-husband was more in the loop with her boyfriend's life than she was.

Ugh. It was all so much. She was definitely going to need a talk with Linda soon…

When the elevator dinged at club level, Lucifer handed her a tablet, covered in a velvet case with LUX-2 embossed on one side.

'On this tablet, the app connects to the cameras by the stairs, front doors, and just outside,' he explained to her. 'I'll go grab the other one from the office. It'll show you when you open it a live feed, we can work out how to access the history on it together.'

'Okay,' she said, her detective-wired brain engaged, to the point that her personal misgivings were forgotten. 'Just to be clear, we're looking for an eighteen to twenty-year-old, medium build, with dark hair?'

'Pink highlights,' Lucifer added. 'Resting mean face, and, if we're unlucky, razor-sharp wings.'

'Right,' she nodded.

'I'll only be a minute or two, darling,' Lucifer said, quickly giving her a kiss on the cheek, before making his way towards a door just off from the bar.

Chloe made her way down the steps towards the bar too and fired up the device, finding a new pair of earbuds in the case cover. She smiled when, a few seconds later, a drink was slid across to her by Patrick.

'I'm just headed out on break, Ms Decker,' he said. 'But nice to see you, as always.'

'You too!' she called after the young bartender. She opened the home security camera app, plugged in the earbuds, and familiarised herself with the live tracking of the scenes outside and just inside the nightclub.

Lucifer sighed as the door headed from the club to the storerooms and offices closed behind him. He had upset Chloe again, he knew it. He had hidden the truth of the other evening purely because he did not believe it was happening, and thought it best to investigate alone, find nothing and forget about it rather than upset Chloe over a falsehood. But now it just seemed ridiculous to him that he'd even tried – she was a clever detective, she would have found it out eventually anyway –

'Boo!' a voice shouted.

Lucifer jumped and whirled around. 'What the – oh bloody Hell, Dan!'

'Haha, gotcha, man! Hey – are you doing okay?'

'I think the bigger question here is what are you doing out here, Daniel?'

'Hey man, I was curious. The last time I came out here, Maze knocked me out. And look at me now – I'm a ghost! She can't do anything to me now.' He proved his point by shoving one hand through the opposite wall. 'And, well, turns out being invisible is no fun, man. I miss talking to people.'

Lucifer sighed. 'Very well. A tour of Lux's back area it is, then. But let's make it quick. And as we go, I'm going to need you to tell me every detail you can remember about the angel that got you out of Hell.'

'Oh for Heaven's sake! I'll go and talk to the human. But I want it known the lengths I went to help with this, alright?' an irritated female voice with a south-eastern English accent said, hushing the other adolescents around her.

'Should we go too?' another voice said.

'Let's wait here and listen,' the boy said. 'She can handle herself for two minutes.'

Chloe discreetly took out the earbud she had had in at full volume as she heard quiet footsteps padding down Lux's staircase and across to the bar where she sat. She carefully covered the tablet screen, security app still open, with the case.

'Um… hello? E-excuse me?'

Chloe turned around.

A tall, slim young woman of around twenty years of age stood in front of her, although her long, plain white dress and lack of makeup made her look younger. She was much clearer in the flesh than on the tiny square of tablet screen. Soft golden hair was pulled back into two braids, not unlike the style Trixie had recently started sporting. Her hands twisted together awkwardly as she peered at Chloe with beautiful blue-green eyes.

'Hello,' Chloe said gently, sensing the girl's anxiety. 'Can I help you?'

'I'm looking for a friend of mine named Rory,' she said, quickly but clearly, fingers trembling but voice steady. 'Have you seen anyone by that name around here?'

'No, I haven't, sorry,' Chloe replied. A strange sensation lodged itself in her chest, a warmth of sorts, that blossomed across her gut. There was a peculiar instinct there, to comfort and protect. The girl's face was familiar, but she was sure she had not seen her before. 'Where did you last see your friend?'

'H-home,' the girl answered, struggling to keep eye contact with her nerves. 'But we don't live here.'

'Okay,' Chloe nodded softly, reaching for the tiny notepad and pen she still kept in a pocket of her jeans out of habit. 'What's your mobile number? If a Rory turns up, I can –'

The spell was broken by another of Lux's bartenders – Sarah, Chloe was sure her name was – walking past briskly, a tray of clean shot glasses in hand.

'Girrrrl,' she cooed as she went by. 'Cute dress, love the sleeves!'

'Um, th-thank you,' she stuttered. 'I-I should go!'

'Wait!' Chloe called after her, but it was too late. The girl was already halfway up the steps. Chloe watched as she bolted back to her other friends with a panicked, 'No, nothing, let's go!'

'Sorry,' Sarah said, rounding the bar and putting the tray down. 'Is she your sister? I still can't serve anyone underage…'

'No, it's okay,' Chloe said. She swiped a few times on the tablet, saving the footage for later. Then she looked around – surely it had been long enough for Lucifer to be back by now?

'And last but not least, this is the other office,' Lucifer said. 'Which is where I was actually trying to get to in the first place.' He made quick work of unplugging LUX-1 from its charger and moving back to the door.

'Nice,' Dan said, peering around. 'Look, man, I really appreciate you letting me hang out here while I figure the whole ghost thing out.'

'Yes, well,' Lucifer replied as they made their way back towards the main club. 'I can't help but feel partly responsible for your current predicament. Now, if you don't mind, I must get back to the Detective; we've still got a rogue angel on the loose. Unless you remember anything else?'

'No, I already told you everything,' Dan said. 'She didn't tell me her name or where she was from, she hates ping-pong, and the only other angel she mentioned knowing was Michael.'

'Michael?' a look of disgust formed on Lucifer's face. 'I'd really rather not go to him for help on this.'

'Look, man, just have faith,' Dan continued. 'You'll find her, and you can talk everything out. And maybe, y'know, figure out a way to get me to Heaven between you, no biggie.'

'What's your plan in the meantime?'

'I'm gonna head back to the precinct,' Dan replied. 'Try and figure out if there's anything there that's causing my guilt. I went and saw Ella earlier – she couldn't see me, but her new pet frog could.'

'Yes, how is Miss Lopez doing?'

'She's okay, missing you and Chloe I think. Oh – next time you see her, tell her that her favourite beaker rolled behind her filing cabinet yesterday, she's been looking for that!'

'Right…' Lucifer drawled. 'Good to know you've been spending your time on Earth so wisely, Daniel, but yes, I shall let Miss Lopez know. Right, if there's nothing else, I really must be off.'

'Tell Chloe I miss her, too,' Dan added.

'I shall, when she's more settled with the idea of you being back,' he promised. With one hand on the doorknob, 'Catch you later, Casper!'

'No!' Dan shouted after him. 'Don't start with that!'

'I've got it, Chloe!' Lucifer called out as he made his way to the bar. His girlfriend was sat still, the other tablet clutched in one hand, half a glass of wine in the other, and she was staring at the stairs confusedly.

'Oh no,' he said. 'I don't think time has started slowing again already?'

Chloe snapped out of her trance. 'Oh hey, Lucifer. No, it's okay, it's just… I think I just met some of your siblings?'

Lucifer looked mutinous. 'What?'

'No, no – everything's fine,' Chloe was quick to reassure him. 'Only one spoke to me…' And she quickly recounted the conversation.

'They seem comfortingly unfamiliar,' he said when she was done. 'Sounds like a dare to me, and a human one at that.' He leaned over the bar and had a quick murmured conversation with the bartender. 'If the girl you spoke to returns, Sarah here has instructions to get some contact information we can pass on if necessary.'

Chloe was unconvinced but nodded. 'Alright. I saved the footage of them anyhow, just in case.'

The ride back up to the penthouse was silent, Chloe pondering on the group of teenagers in Lux, Lucifer wondering whether to tell her about his conversation with Dan. Avoidance won – in the end – Chloe still seemed irritated with him. Better to save that for later, and focus on one thing at a time.

When they arrived at the penthouse, Lucifer made a beeline for his laptop, while Chloe placed both tablets on the bar. The two worked together to set up the equipment.

Just as they sat down, the elevator chimed again.

'Maze? Eve?' Lucifer said in surprise. 'Were we expecting you?'

'Uh, hi guys?' Chloe's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Sup, Lucifer, 'sup Decker,' Maze said as she sauntered in, Eve closely behind. 'We've had a couple of weird conversations with both Amenadiel and Dan today. You still got an angel you're trying to track down?'

'We're still trying to find out a name, and procure an image,' Lucifer said, gesturing to the technology at the bar. 'I don't think we're quite ready for a full-on bounty hunt yet, Maze, but I appreciate your enthusiasm.' He looked around for a second. 'Eve, darling, you don't think you could pass me the SD card on top of the piano? Thank you…'

'Wait, Eve!' Chloe said, a new train of thought in formation. 'You lived in Heaven for thousands of years, right? Did you ever… hear anything about Lucifer having a child?'

'No…' the prehistoric woman looked reflective. 'I heard a lot of gossip over the years, but no. There were rumours that another angel, I don't remember which one, one with a long name, had a daughter, must've been like a millennia and a half ago… but I never did find out if that was true.'

'Ah, of course, my lesser-known brother, real name 'Long', street name 'Name," Lucifer said as Maze got busy at the bar, pouring drinks for Eve and herself.

'Gee, I don't know Luce, it was a while ago,' Eve said. 'Besides, wasn't everyone saying that Charlie is the first half-angel kid around?'

'Yeah, but God also said that Charlie was human, honey,' Maze countered, handing her fiancé an appletini. 'And you remember what happened this morning, right, while we were –'

'Okay!' Chloe interrupted, putting up her hands to stop any further detail coming forth. 'Shall we focus? Do you two want to help us go over Lux's security footage?'

Maze scoffed. 'Hard pass, Chloe, I've done enough of that in my time.' She downed the rest of her whiskey, lowering the tumbler back to the bar with an audible crash. 'C'mon Eve, we've got a wedding to plan. Let us know if you need a kickass bounty-hunting duo to go kick ass, Lucifer.'

'Oh hold on,' Eve replied. 'We literally just got here. Plus, I'm not gonna lie I am curious to see this mystery angelic intruder.'

Lucifer shot Chloe a help me look, but the conversation was stilted by another chiming of the elevator. This time, it was Linda who stepped into his home, with a sleeping Charlie in his stroller.

'Ah, party at the penthouse it is,' he said. 'Hello, Doctor, what brings you to my humble abode?'

'Concern, mostly,' his therapist replied. 'You cancelled our session yesterday, and Amenadiel has gone totally AWOL. And I have a couple of hours to kill, so I was kinda hoping to get something of an explanation for both.'

'My brother has gone to the Silver City, Doctor,' Lucifer explained as Linda made her way over to Chloe and Eve. 'He thinks he might find some information in Dad's godly library about how to manage your spawn's new abilities. And I'm sorry I cancelled without warning but,' he paused, gesturing around the room. 'I've got a bit of a new situation.'

'What situation?' Linda sounded equally exasperated and worried. 'What's going on – is someone hurt?'

'No, Linda,' Chloe reassured her softly. 'We're trying to track someone down.'

'It appears, Doctor, that at some point I may have fathered an illegitimate half-angel child,' he explained. 'A young woman showed up here two days ago, angrily saying that I was her father and that I abandoned her. When I pointed out how ridiculous her claim was, she flew off in an epic huff.'

'Hoo boy,' Linda said. 'That's a new one. And now you're trying to find her because…'

'Because there's a possibility that she may have been telling the truth.'

'That's wonderful, Lucifer, congratulations!' Linda smiled genuinely. 'How are you feeling about all of this? I need to know everything… you know, as your therapist.'

'As the mother of her cousin too,' Maze disguised behind several fake coughs.

Linda surveyed the room, noticing how Maze was grinning ear to ear, clearly enjoying Lucifer's discomfort, twirling one of her hell-forged blades, Eve's doe eyes darting between everyone, the way Chloe's fingers tapped anxiously against the cool surface of the bar as she looked at the floor between a pair of tablets and where she stood, and the way Lucifer looked like he wanted to bolt. 'On second thoughts, maybe this can wait until our private session. Which I would like to schedule with you if that's okay?'

'Of course, Doctor,' he said, charming smile firmly back in place. 'Does tomorrow afternoon work for you?'

As the devil and his therapist organised their appointment, Eve placed a soft hand on Chloe's shoulder. 'Is everything okay?'

'Yeah! Yeah…' Chloe broke out of her trance and aimed for a smile. 'Glad to be doing something useful, you know?'

'Don't bullshit us,' Maze said quietly. 'You're low-key mad that we found out about Lucifer's kid before you did. You're so green with envy I can smell it a mile off.'

'Yeah, okay,' Chloe sighed. 'I'll admit, after dropping everything to be his consultant, and then finding out yesterday that he'd flown across the country to hunt down his exes without so much as a word, it kinda pissed me off. But I'm okay, honestly – at least I know now.'

'Seen Dan yet?' Maze asked. 'Well not seen, but you know, communicated with via Lucifer?'

'Wait what?' Linda's voice carried from further across the room. 'Dan's back too?'

'See?' Maze said to Chloe, with a friendly slap on the back that nearly sent her careening into the bar. 'At least you weren't the last to find this shit out.' She wandered over to the couch. 'Yeah, Linda. He's a ghost, though, so… you won't be able to see him, or speak to him unless me or an angel are with you.'

'How is that even possible?' Linda's eyes were as round as saucers.

'Ah…' Lucifer stuttered. 'Well, it appears that the same angel that rocked up here also managed to somehow fly Daniel out of his hell-loop.'

'That's a thing?'

'Never happened before,' Maze said. 'That kid is something else.'

The elevator door chimed once more.

'Oh, bloody Hell,' Lucifer whirled around. 'Who's tha- oh, hello again, brother.' The older angel had a solemn expression on his face, but brightened considerably at the sight of his son, still asleep in the stroller.

'Hey, Luci… and everyone else,' Amenadiel said. 'What's going on?'

'Impromptu party at the penthouse,' Lucifer answered. Then, as he glanced as his sleeping nephew, 'Not as raucous as the usual shenanigans but for once I'm not complaining.'

'Did you find anything that could help Charlie?' Linda asked.

'All I found was this.' Amenadiel held up a wide, flat book, bound in gold so bright that it made Chloe, Linda and Eve squint. Noticing the humans' reactions, he hastily placed it atop Lucifer's piano and opened to the first blank page, hiding the divine cover from view.

'What is 'this', brother?' Lucifer asked, drawing level with it, running a finger over inked ancient runes he could not transcribe.

'It's called the Book of Nephilim,' Amenadiel said. 'There are Latin translations in there, too – and pictures.' He fixed his younger brother with a stare. 'I only looked at the first page, Luci. But if you truly have a daughter… she should be in here.'

Eve and Linda both gasped; Chloe and Maze moved closer.

'What are you waiting for?' Maze demanded after a few seconds. 'Open it up, Lucifer!'

'Maze,' Linda admonished softly. 'Perhaps Lucifer would rather do this in private?'

'No way,' the demoness hit back. 'If me and Eve are bounty-hunting this girl, we need a name and a picture. Chloe's his girlfriend slash baby-step-mama, and you and Amenadiel are her aunt and uncle.' She leaned back, one hand on her hip, daring to be challenged. 'And Auntie Maze and Auntie Eve care too, I guess.'

'Take your time, Lucifer,' his therapist advised him gently.

The devil looked briefly at the expectant faces around him, squeezed the hand Chloe had draped over his shoulder, took a deep breath, and opened the book.