FIFTEEN: Coward

Dove's POV

Right eye vermilion, left eye dark brown. His dark circles under his eyes have darkened even more over the years. With his perfect sharp features, this man would pass as a model if you ask me. His hair gelled perfectly. Lucifer; the leader of the criminal organization 'the sins' looks as good as ever.

"Hello~ Luci~" I sang as I never broke eye contact. I know I promised other sins I won't act or do anything weird around their leader, but in all honesty- I lied.

He chuckled lightly as he raised an eyebrow of his.

"Luci? Is that supposed to be my nickname?" He asked amusement dripping from his voice.

It might look like he's behaving normal all chuckling and all, but in reality, this man is planning my murder. He's way more unpredictable than I am, so it's hard for me to tell what's his next move.

"Yep~ I'm sure no one ever gave you a nickname, so I thought why not give you one? After all, we are such close friends, aren't we?" I smirked.

He leaned in even closer to my face as he held my chin tightly. I winced in pain as I tried to pull my face away from his grip.

"You know, I can kill you here in a second and no one will even question my actions," he threatened, his vermilion eye sparkled.

"Go ahead, kill me. You know I won't complain about it, so what is stopping you, Luci?" I asked grinning.

"You have a bad habit of not letting go of your old habits," he said letting go of my face. "There's no point in killing someone who already wants to die."

I laughed.

"Well then, I would like to talk to you about something," I said. He walked up to his bookshelf and picked up a book from the shelf.

"Tell me, Dove. Do you still read?" He asked.

"Yep!" I said as I skipped to sit on the revolving chair- his revolving chair.

Fear was what Lucifer always sought in his victims; fear of death. And I never had that fear, so he won't kill me unless I show that fear.

"Have you read the 'strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I haven't," I said. He smiled as he placed the novel in front of me.

"Read it when you go home," he said. I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head. This is not an everyday thing that you get a novel suggestion from Lucifer. I know Lucifer has always been a bookworm, but I have never seen him talk about anything he read.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked.

"No reason," he said shrugging. There's a reason though, Lucifer does nothing that has no reason. There always is a reason behind his actions.

"I know why you are here Dove," Lucifer said as he poured 2 glasses of wine.

"How?" I asked as I spun with the chair.

"I have my ways..." he paused as he placed my wine glass in front of me while he took a sip from his glass. "Tell me, why is it that you want to break your soulmate bond?"

"My soulmate will never accept someone like me, moreover he is dating Nina Robbins. I'm sure you are aware of that," I said.

"Is that all?" Lucifer asked.

"I am starting to develop feelings for my soulmate's half-brother," hiding things from this man would be useless, because I know that he knows about it all. He's just pretending so I will tell him everything.

Lucifer out of nowhere started chuckling, and his chuckles turned into fits of laughter. I don't know what to feel, it's not a usual thing you get to see the great Lucifer laughing.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Just reminded me of a joke," he said wiping the tears from the side of his eyes. "What a sad joke."

A sad joke? Are jokes ever supposed to be sad? Except for dark humor, but then again dark humor are quite humorous too.

"We will help you," Lucifer said.

"But on one condition."

"What condition?" I asked.

"After you get your information from Bethany, you will let us deal with her on our accord," he said. "I have been keeping an eye on her for quite some time now, she doesn't show any remorse for her past actions. It would be better to erase the dirt permanently."

"Do whatever you wish to do with her. I couldn't care less about it," I replied drinking my wine in one go. "How much money do I have to pay to you?"

"Leviathan loves you and I know he does not trust me much. So, if helping you can bring his trust in me, I'm willing to do it for free," he said. "Take it as a payback for helping Asmodeus out of his depression."

"So are we friends now?" I asked.

"I don't make friends. I only have 6 brothers and intels," he replied bluntly. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever then, I'll be taking my leave, Mr. Lucifer," I gave him a salute and stood up dramatically. His eyes still not leaving me, I proceeded to walk out of the room while he was still sipping on his wine observing my every single movement.

I don't usually feel uncomfortable or nervous under anyone's stare, but Lucifer makes an exception. He makes me hell nervous. I still don't know how I survived this meeting or was able to act such carefree around him.

"Your father..." I paused my footsteps and turned around.

"What about my father?" I asked.

"I apologize in advance to tell you this, but he is in my top 10 list of corrupts. His crime is a bit milder than others. So, I'm willing to give him some time to improvise..." he paused. "I hope you will be able to convince him to drop how he plays with the law in such unfair way just to win. If he doesn't change his ways, he'll have to give up on his life too."

"Why are you telling me this? Don't you just act without letting your victims know?" I asked.

"Dove Stanley, you might not be a friend or an intel..." he said. "But you are special."

"I am special? How?" I asked.

"Somethings are better left unsaid," he said.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have to finish some work before heading to bed."

I sighed as I proceeded to leave again. I opened the door and turned around once again just to give one last glance to the mysterious man.

"You should drink hot chocolate before you go to bed. It will help you sleep," I said. Saying this I closed the door.

"Thank goodness you are alive brat," I heard the familiar deep voice from behind me. I squeaked in surprise as I turned to see Mammon standing there.

"Ah! It's just you," I said sighing.

"Who else calls you brat anyway?" He asked.

"Come on, we need to talk about something," he said as he caught my wrist and started to drag me somewhere.

He brought me to a balcony from where a lake was visible. It was beautiful scenery with the moon, lake and cold breeze.

"It's pretty here," I said.

"What kind of games are you playing this time, Dove?" Mammon asked. "You know how dangerous it is to involve Lucifer."

"I know and I am ready to risk it all," I replied. "If this risk can free me permanently from my lifelong curse."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

And that's how I told Mammon everything about what happened between me and Vinter to how I had to seek the help of Lucifer cause without him getting Bethany out of prison would be impossible.

"But Dove, don't you think breaking the bond would be too painful? I mean I have seen Asmodeus suffer from the loss of his soulmate-"

"Losing a soulmate and breaking the bond are two different things. I'm sure breaking the bond won't be as painful," I said. "Moreover Vinter is already digging his grave, I can't see him ruin himself that's way more painful to watch. I just want this never-ending pain to disappear, Mammon."

"I see. So, you are running away as usual," he said making my eyes widen.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. You know that you always run away when things get tough. You are a coward," he said.

"You run away trying to commit suicide when life gets tough. You run away from your soulmate when he needs you-"

"You know nothing, so shut the hell up!" I yelled closing my ears. Tears streamed down my eyes.

"I know everything about you and you know that too! Levy, Bel no one knows you better than me so stop pretending that I don't know," he said. I wiped my tears as I glare at him.

"Why do you always do this?" I asked as my voice cracked. I never stopped glaring though.

"Because someone needs to show you the truth and show you that you are a weakling in the disguise of strength," he replied.

"You still get nightmares, don't you?" He asked.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Your eyes are the same as that of Lucifer's," he said.

"Both you and Lucifer are so pitiful."

"You know too much," I said as I shoved my hands in my pocket and walked ahead.

"This is why I don't like talking to you for too long," I mumbled. He caught up with me soon enough.

"Oliver Harris. I will probably be the one who will be assassinating him," Mammon stated. "It will be better if you inform the Harris brothers about it since you already know. It'll save you from any more drama."

"I don't want to come in between your work," I said.

"You won't. Nothing can save Oliver from the clutches of 'the sins', but if you inform the brothers, it might strengthen your bond with Twilight. Cause if he finds out about it in future that you were already aware of his father's assassination. It'll create a huge misunderstanding between you two," Mammon explained.

"I will deal with Twilight in my accordance and with Vinter too. I don't need your advice," I said. He shrugged.

"You will eventually regret not listening to me, brat," he said walking away.

Telling Vinter or Twilight about it would be like going against Lucifer and I cannot make an enemy out of such a dangerous guy.

I know I will regret whatever decision I will take, so I might as well choose the less painful path for now. Oh! Yes! I am a coward and I have taken cowardly actions many times.

I was not born to be the epitome of goodness or kindness, such things only look good on heroes, not on someone who was painted to be the villain from the very beginning.

So, I will choose the path that will give me the least pain. Because I do not fear death, but I fear pain.

Pain is my enemy and I cannot walk alongside it, carrying it on my shoulder.