ch

Tensions in Magnus' penthouse were so high, Izzy could cut them with a knife.

That was why she decided to stay outside on the balcony, sitting on one of Magnus' lavish reclining chairs while Chairman Meow purred at her feet. The night air was cool and crisp, and best of all, the sound was muffled so she could hear none of the fraught discussion going on inside. Right before she stepped out, Clary had started arguing with Alec about the restraints they were using to hold Jace, how they would hurt him. Alec had argued that there would be no Jace to hurt if the Owl got away again. Izzy's heart lied somewhere in the middle, and usually she didn't mind being mediator, but her emotions were violent storm of rage and tears, so she gave into neither and left.

Now, she felt lonely. She was never alone anymore, not really, not with the baby, and that brought her a little comfort. Rubbing her belly was soothing, but only for a moment. It didn't change that Jace was possessed in the living room. It didn't change that Clary was hiding things. It didn't change that she had obliterated a vampire without knowing she could.

"Hey."

Speaking of vampires...

Simon stood awkwardly in front of Izzy's chair, giving an awkward little wave with his awkward little smile.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked, gesturing to the chair across from hers. Not next to hers. He was probably too afraid to get that close, and for good reason. Izzy didn't know how far Lucifer's claim went, if it was a one and done type thing or if it would obliterate any Downworlder who so much as tried to touch her. She didn't want to take the risk, not with Simon. She had actually kind of missed his dorky face, his swoopy hair, his puppy-dog demeanor.

"I'm sorry, again, for what happened," Izzy apologized. She wasn't sure what kind of relationship Simon had with his fledgling, but something she remembered from her talks with Raphael was how unique and special that bond was. How strong it was to connect two people together through blood, for life.

Simon sat down, fidgeting as he tried to get comfortable.

"It's not your fault. Heidi...she had her issues. I just wish I had gotten to her sooner. Maybe then, I could have helped her through them." Simon stared off into the distance, his face a mix of unreadable emotion. It was clear he wanted to talk, but not about Heidi. "So...how are you holding up?"

"It's fine, Simon," Izzy sighed, doing her best to smile and mean it. Truth be told, she was tired. Between fighting and killing Heidi, and then having to take down Jace, she was at her limit. They both were. "You can just ask."

Simon nodded, but remained silent. He looked at her, really looked. Izzy always thought he could see her better than most people. She felt slightly guilty for keeping things from him, especially when he always seemed to genuinely care about her.

"Looks like we've got the same problem," Simon said, gesturing between their foreheads.

"Looks like it."

"I got mine from the Seelie Queen. She kinda kidnapped and branded me, then left me to die in the middle of the woods."

As terrible as it was, Izzy couldn't help but laugh. "Definitely sounds like your kind of luck."

"Yeah," he laughed along with her, absentmindedly rubbing at his forehead. The mark shimmered faintly, an outline of a mark of power Izzy could feel vibrating from the tips of her ears down to the soles of her feet. Whatever mark the Seelie Queen gave to Simon, it was strong. "Where'd you get yours?"

Simon had been so honest, it was only fair for Izzy to be honest in return. "Lucifer Morningstar."

Simon's eyes nearly bugged out his head. "Serious?"

"Serious."

There was a moment Izzy could tell he was debating whether or not to believe her. That only made Izzy feel guiltier. Then, Simon asked, "Does it have something to do with why your heart is beating so strange?"

You could tell him, she thought. He's already half way there. But she just...couldn't. Izzy dropped her head and picked at a loose seam in her pants. "There's a lot going on that I should have told you about a long time ago. Reasons why I haven't been at the Institute, why I am the way I am now... and I promise, as soon as we sort Jace out, I'll tell you."

"Hey, it's okay." Simon reached out and placed his hand over Izzy's. There was a brief flash of warmth, a spark where two powerful barriers of magic met, but no fireworks, no explosions of mass destruction where Simon was reduced to ash. It was just...nice. Izzy looked up, a little teary eyed as Simon smiled warmly at her. "Whatever's going on, you know I got your back."

Izzy smiled and squeezed his hand. "Thanks, Simon."

For a moment, they stayed just as they were, soaking in the comfort of the only person who had an inkling of what the other was going through. For a moment, Izzy didn't feel as lonely.

Simon traced patterns around the old scars on he knuckles, and Izzy let herself think that maybe in another life they could've -

The doors to the balcony opened, and Magnus popped his head out. "Isabelle, Simon, we need you."

Izzy took her hand back and got up from her chair. She didn't say a word to Simon the two of them followed Magnus back into the apartment and into the kitchen where Alec and Clary stood at opposing ends of the counter, locked in some kind of stalemate. Clary's eyes were dark and red-rimmed, her chin pushed out in her usual display of petulance and stubbornness. Alec stood at full height, arms crossed over his chest, his mouth set in a firm, grim line.

"Jace is the Owl," Alec said as soon as Izzy and Simon entered the kitchen, and Izzy had the urge to run right back out lest she burst into tears (fucking hormones). It was hard enough trying to come to terms with everything she saw, everything she currently can see in front of her: Jace, chained in the center of a circle of symbols, spells, chains. "This whole time it wasn't his mental health. He was possessed."

"By an extremely powerful Greater Demon who gave him the ability to turn mundanes into demonic killers," Magnus added, as if that terrible nugget of truth made the situation any easier to stomach.

"We've defeated Greater Demons before. We will do it again, and free Jace," Alec said with absolute determination.

If this was all they were discussing, Izzy was confused as to why there was such a divide between Clary and Alec. Clary would do anything for Jace. Anything. What would make her so upset?

"This isn't just any Greater Demon," Magnus said gently, gravely. "When Clary was attacked by one that killed Ithuriel, she was able to create a depiction. I did some digging, and it matches this image from the Silent City archives." Magnus placed a hand-drawn sketch of the most grotesque creature Izzy had ever seen on the table. The image was curling around the edge, ancient, but still managed to strike fear between the hulking body, sharp claws, razor teeth, and beady eyes. "The demon is Lilith, Queen of Edom, Adam's first wife."

"Adam...as in Garden of Eden, Adam?" Izzy asked, just to make sure she was understanding the severity of the situation.

"The one and only."

"So what does that mean?" Simon asked. Oh, Simon. Oblivious, innocent Simon.

"She's the Mother of all Demons," Magnus said, as if that cleared up everything.

"Makes her more powerful than anything we've ever encountered," Alec continued, shaking his head as if something still didn't make sense. He leaned down and braced his hands on either side of the counter. "But of all people, why Jace?"

Clary, who had been suspiciously silent, had started to cry. Tears fell down her cheeks in messy, mascara-stained streaks. Her cries were silent, but damning. Izzy knew that Clary had been hiding something; they all had. This was the final proof, and she knew she was caught red-handed.

Clary took a deep breath and looked Alec in the eye. "Alec...what you felt that night...when your parabatai rune disappeared...you were right. Jace did die. Valentine killed him."

The silence in the room was deafening. Izzy felt her throat constrict, then spasm as air was forced through.

"I knew it," Alec said, his face twisted in a mess of emotion: relief, validation, grief, anger, pain.

"If he died, how did he come back?" Izzy asked, confused. Death was permanent, even for a Shadowhunter. There were no runes to bring the dead back to life. Unless...

"Because I made a wish to Raziel."

Another deafening silence. Izzy wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

"You made the wish?" she asked, unable to believe that Clary could be that selfish. Izzy loved her brother, would do almost anything for him. But to choose Jace over the whole world...how could Clary do that?

"I had to," Clary cried, tears falling in full force, ugly and desperate. "I had to! It was the only way to bring him back...but it made him vulnerable to Lilith, this beast who is powerful enough to murder Ithuriel...because of me..."

Clary was selfish at baseline. She was self-absorbed and narrow-minded. Her world consisted mainly of the things that directly affected her. But Clary only ever had the best intentions. She went above and beyond for those she loved. And now...and now those consequences were tearing her apart. Izzy wanted to feel that those consequences were justified, that Clary should have looked before she leapt and threw them all into apocalyptic situation with the Mother of Demons. But all Izzy felt in that moment was pity. Pity and profound gratefulness that her brother was alive.

"Alec, I am so sorry," Clary apologized, her head hung low in shame. "I should not have kept this from you. And I know what position this puts you in with the Clave. So if you want to send me to the Guard, I understand."

"Clary, no - " Simon protested, ready to fight to protect her, always a loyal best friend.

But that wasn't necessary. Alec was moving around the table to pull Clary into his arms. Izzy was taken aback. Never, ever, in a million years did she think that she would witness the day when Clary Fairchild and Alexander Lightwood hugged.

"I would have done the same thing," he confessed, and just like that, Clary melted like butter in his arms, the weight of her secret, her shame, gone.

They stood in silence, holding one another, for a few moments longer. Then, Clary peeled away, wiped her eyes, and gave an embarrassed little laugh.

No one knew where to go from there. There was still the matter of the Owl/Jace knocked out and locked up in Magnus' living room. There was still the matter of Heidi's attack and the amount of paperwork that would need to be filled out. There was still the matter of Lilith roaming free and causing chaos.

"We need to get him back," Alec said what everyone was thinking.

"There is a spell I could try, one that would send you inside Jace's mind to see if you could coax his subconscious to fight Lilith's control and put him back in control of his body," Magnus suggested, his expression grave as he stared them down. "Be warned: it wouldn't come without its risks. You could become trapped in Jace's mind, held hostage by his fear, his memories, until your own bodies withered away."

"If there's a chance it could work, we have to try," Alec said, ready to face down the odds for his parabatai.

It wasn't as easy of a decision for Izzy. She couldn't only think of the risks for herself, but the risks for the baby. Would getting Jace back be worth the life of her unborn child? The cynical part of her brain thought a minor complication with the spell could fix her problem, two birds with one stone. But she immediately recoiled at her dark, inner monologue. She wanted this child, but she also wanted Jace back. She wanted her baby to have a happy, whole family, or as close to the real deal as she could get. And she trusted Magnus to get them through the spell safely.

"I'm in," Izzy said.

"No, Izzy, I should be the one to go," Clary immediately jumped to volunteer. "I'm the one who got us into this mess."

"I know what you're trying to do, Clary, but you've been through enough."

You've also done enough, Izzy thought rather maliciously. Izzy was going to get her brother back, and when she did, she would make sure the love of his life was in one piece, not breaking down in tears.

"Simon, why don't you take Clary back to the Institute. We can take things from here," Izzy suggested. Emotion poured off of Clary in waves, and Izzy could barely handle her own. Whatever came next, whatever the night held for Jace, she would need all the strength of mind she could muster.

"You sure?" Simon asked. He glanced between Izzy, Alec, Magnus, and the monster in chains one room over.

"Yeah. You've both been through enough for today." That was an understatement. Izzy smiled softly and pulled Clary into a hug. Over her shoulder, she told Simon, "We'll talk tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah," Simon agreed with a nod, pacified. "Thanks."

Together, the Lightwood siblings watched as Clary and Simon let themselves out. The double doors shut with a heavy thud, wards shimmering, locking them in with the Owl.

Magnus cracked his neck, then his knuckles, magic sparking from his fingertips. "Let's get started."

..._...

The Owl was awake, up and restless. There was only so far his body would take him, and his frustration was palpable before Alec and Izzy entered the room Izzy had hesitations about this spell, about what it could do to Jace. But that was before the Owl opened his cruel, ugly mouth and wiped all those hesitations away.

"You think this can hold me?" he sneered, testing the limits of his bonds.

The shackles clanked together, angry and metallic, no doubt to the point of pain. Jace would have terrible bruises on his wrists come morning. Izzy tried not to think about that, tried to focus on the positive of having her brother back by morning.

"Valentine used them to hold an angel for twenty-five years," Izzy replied, matter of fact, unable to keep her own bit of smugness out of her tone. It wasn't often she got to taunt a demon, and Lilith deserved to be humbled.

The Owl lunged, unimpressed. "I'm no angel."

Those eyes, those damned eyes that bore holes into her soul from stories above, chilled Izzy to the bone.

"How much longer until Magnus is ready?" she asked, on edge.

"No time like the present," Magnus said in lieu of an excuse, rolling up his sleeves as he sauntered into the room.

"You don't wanna do this - " The Owl started, strangely nervous.

Too late. Magnus started the swirls of golden magic, connecting all three of them through the parabatai bond that glowed on Jace and Alec's skin. Izzy felt herself glowing, buzzing with magic that wasn't quite angelic, wasn't quite demonic, but something else. It was warm and welcoming and safe. It felt like family.

Then that feeling pulled her into Jace's head, and the real work began.

..._...

Sifting through Jace's mind was torture. It broke Izzy's heart over and over again, to have to walk through memories so integral and personal, so twisted from Lilith's control. Izzy wanted to save her brother, wanted to take him away from this horrible, terrible nightmare. And she was so close.

Finally, finally, after separating from Alec and winning over the trust of Jace's younger self, she was able to break through.

She turned the corner of this dark, cruel maze to find Jace and Alec standing face to face. She didn't believe it at first. What if this was just another trick, another mind game? But Jace's eyes lit up the moment he saw her, full of fear and hope.

"Jace?" she asked, cautious and just as hopeful.

"Izzy?" was his response, thick with tears.

Izzy looked over to find the child version of Jace was gone, like he was never there. Meaning...this Jace...he was real.

"Jace!" Relief flooded Izzy as she ran over and pulled her brother into a hug. He cried into her shoulder, and she couldn't help the little laugh that escaped her as she held him close and swore to never let him go.

Hurry! echoed Magnus' voice through Izzy's mind, and she pulled away from Jace.

The parabatai rune on Jace's abdomen had started to glow, as did Alec's. They were running out of time, the spell was fading, but it was okay. They had Jace now. It was time to go home.

"We have to go, now." Alec asserted, his Head of the Institute voice coming out.

Jace looked panicked. "I-I can't."

"What are you talking about?" Izzy asked. They had come all this way, risked so much...they couldn't leave him now.

"She's gonna come for me, she's never gonna let me go."

"No. We'll stop her. Together," Alec said, so matter of fact that he dared anyone to say otherwise. He cast a glance around the rapidly darkening space. They had minutes left at the most. "But we have to get out of here; we're running out of time."

"You can't. You can't stop her; no one can," Jace continued, frantic in his insistence. "There's only one way to help me. There's only one-one thing you can do."

"Hey - "

Alec started to reach for Jace, trying to get him to see that everything was going to be okay. But he stopped when he realized Jace had picked up a knife. Even in memory it was real: sharp and deadly and held with intent.

"Alec...I need you to kill me. Please," Jace begged, desperate and so very scared. He held the knife out to Alec, hilt trembling in his grip. "Please. I've tried. I've tried so many times, please, Alec. I'm begging you I need you to - "

"No," Alec said, voice booming over Jace's. He'd heard enough, and though his face was stoic, Izzy knew his heart was breaking, that he was feeling all the pain Jace felt, and that was a torture she was selfishly glad she was spared. Alec covered Jace's hand and pushed the knife back at him. "Never. You're coming with us. Okay?"

Jace didn't want to hear it. He took the knife and tried Izzy instead. He stood in front of her, manic and vulnerable, tears falling down his face.

"Please, listen, I did all those things," he confessed like it would make her change her mind, like it would make her hate him enough to go through with fratricide. "I threw Clary off that rooftop. I possessed all those mundanes..."

"Whatever it is, it isn't you, Jace. It's Lilith," Izzy swore, tears of her own clogging her throat.

This was hell. Absolute hell. They never should have gone into Jace's mind. They never should have followed him here, made things worse for him.

"It doesn't matter if I go with you," he said with a resigned shrug. "She's gonna find me, she's gonna make me do worse. You won't be able to stop her, you won't be able to stop me - " He cut himself off, didn't let himself finish whatever horrific thoughts were brewing. Instead, he extended the knife to Izzy. "If you love me, do it."

Izzy was wrong, before. This was hell. This precise moment. This was the kind of torment only the Devil could come up with, and Izzy wondered for a brief moment if the reason Lucifer ran away from Hell was because he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Do it."

Izzy recoiled, repulsed at the very thought. The weapon in her palm burned, imaginary or no. "No!"

"Do it, I'm begging you, please."

"Izzy no," Alec said, the angel on her shoulder to Jace's demon.

"Do it."

"NO!"

Izzy threw the knife to the ground, losing it in the shadow of memory. Damned thing should stay lost, far away from her brother's hands. She was shaking, paralyzed and teary-eyed. Jace looked just as devastated, crumpling in on himself.

Someone had to be the bigger person. Someone had to drag them out into the light.

So, Izzy sucked in a deep breath, and like she always did, she brought the Lightwood family together. They were getting out of this hell loop, even if she had to drag them kicking and screaming.

"We are leaving here, and you're going to come with us," she said, leaving no room for arguing. Jace held her gaze as she made him bend to her will. "You are going to come home, and you are going to hug Mom and Dad and Max. You are going make it up to Clary who has been worried sick about you. You are going to be the best warrior, brother, and uncle this damn world has ever seen. Because you are better than this, Jace. You are the best of all of us, and if there is anyone who can get through this, it's you. Do you hear me?"

Jace nodded, struck dumb by the force of Izzy's conviction.

"Three go in," Izzy said, and took Alec's hand. "Three come out."

"Don't let her take me again," Jace said, so scared and so hopeful, just like a child.

Alec locked eyes with Jace, solemn in his promise, "I won't. I promise."

The spell broke. There was a flash of light, and then, nothing.

When Izzy woke up, it was to Alec shouting, "No! No, she took Jace!"

A feeling of dread settled over Izzy. She looked over at Magnus, rubbing his throat and the magical burns marked into his skin. He looked just as defeated, his eyes full of sorrow.

"I'm sorry," he said, breathing heavily. "I couldn't stop her."

Alec slammed his hand on the ground. Magnus looked away. And Izzy looked at the broken chains, something dark settling inside her soul.

..._...

Minutes, moments, hours later, Izzy got up from the ground. She walked over to the chains, holding the weight in her hands. They should have worked. They should have kept Jace safe.

She should have kept Jace safe.

Lucifer had promised her a protective spell, charm, whatever. The shield that blew Heidi to bits should have blown Lilith away, too. She knew she was being unfair; she wasn't the one in immediate danger, Jace was. Still...there were so many rules to angels and demons, so many laws by which to abide. And none of them ever seemed to protect her family. It wasn't fair.

"He begged us," Alec said, lost in his own self loathing.

Magnus had gotten up to shut the balcony doors, still visibly shaken from the attack. He had yet to tell them what had happened while they were unconscious. Maybe he wouldn't, not when whatever had gone down had affected him so badly.

"He begged us to kill him," Alec said again, his voice containing an edge of manic anger.

"All the terrible things Lilith made Jace do..." Izzy couldn't bear to think of them. She dropped the chains and stood on shaking legs. "He said if she'd take him back, she'd make him do much worse."

"Now Lilith has him again, just like she said she would." Alec looked at Magnus, anger in his eyes. And while Izzy knew her brother wasn't mad at Magnus, didn't blame him, not really, she could see the hurt reflected there. Alec dropped his head. "We promised him we wouldn't let her take him back."

Magnus took a step toward Alec. "You did all you could."

Alec looked up at him, not willing to believe that, then back to Izzy. "We promised him."

Whatever plan or scheme or speech Alec had cooked up to get his parabatai back was lost as the front doors to Magnus' apartment were thrown open, the runes quickly bypassed thanks to Lilith's weakening them. A swarm of Shadowhunters - Clave officials, Izzy recognized from the cut of their suits and the formality at which they held their weapons - entered with their weapons drawn. At the front of the group was Victor Aldertree, bathed in an aura of superiority and smugness.

And to think, Izzy was once attracted to him.

"Isabelle Lightwood, you are hereby under arrest for the unlawful execution of a Downworlder, and are hereby summoned to Alicante to stand trial for your crimes against the Clave."

"What?" Alec asked, dumbly, disbelieving.

Aldertree ignored him completely. "Take her."

Two men left his side and took Izzy by the arms. Their grip was powerful, painful, but not an aggressive enough threat to trigger Lucifer's blessing. Izzy thrashed, trying to fight them off, but they wouldn't budge. Alec tried to intervene, but was checked by another man, and restrained.

"Careful, Mister Lightwood. This is a Clave matter. We wouldn't want the integrity of your Institute to come into question by interfering in matters above your station," Aldertree warned under the guise of being friendly, when really, Izzy could count each and every one of the teeth bared through that farce of a smile. He was enjoying this, immensely.

No matter how slimy, the threat worked. Alec stopped fighting, but that didn't stop his eyes from staring daggers into Aldertree, promising something painful.

"I'll be okay," Izzy said, trying to diffuse the situation, even if she didn't believe it.

She let herself be taken away like some kind of criminal. And maybe she was. Maybe the violent way in which Heidi died went against protocol, but at the end of the day, it was still self defense. Hopefully the Inquisitor would see it that way.

If she survived the trip to Alicante.

At the very back of the crowd, hiding behind other, larger men, stood Maryse Lightwood, runes and all. They stood proudly on her skin, the bold, black curve of deflect visible from the cut of her blouse.

I hope it was worth it, Izzy thought - half with fear, half with grief - as the Lightwood family lost two children in a row.

..._...

On the other side of the country, Lucifer Morningstar sat at his piano with a cigarette between his lips and a glass of whiskey atop the polished black lid.

All in all, Lucifer had been having a very productive week. The Detective had put away two armed robbers, a blackmailer holding his ex-wife's Chihuahua hostage, and a deranged stalker pretending to be a late-nineties Pamela Anderson - all with his expert assistance. So, imagine his absolute displeasure when the most loathsome voice interrupted his nightly rhythm and blues.

"Hello, Lucifer."

Fingers halted on an ear-splitting chord.

"Lilith. My, my, my what an unpleasant surprise," Lucifer greeted with more sneer than smile, and turned to face the woman standing unwelcome on his balcony.

It was no secret in celestial circles that he and Lilith didn't exactly get along. Something to do with her constantly trying to take his throne and turning the circles of Hell against him. Persistent, ancient wounds Lucifer preferred to ignore instead of face head-on when he was supposed to have a relaxing night in.

Suddenly, so many things made sense.

"What are you doing so far away from home?"

"I could ask you the same question, My Lord." Lilith dipped her head in a farce of perfect obeisance, dark hair falling like a curtain around her shoulders. Lucifer could have torn her throat out.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," he said instead, meandering over to the bar and pouring himself another heavy hand of top-shelf whiskey. "Drink?"

"No, thank you."

Fine, he didn't care for making her one anyway.

"Takes some nerve, disobeying direct orders, coming to Earth, showing up in the middle of the night on my front doorstep. Not to mention, releasing wraiths? Killing my brother? Someone's been a busy little minx!" Lucifer took a step closer for each word, until he was within arm's reach of the Mother of Demons. He looked her dead in the eye, took a sip of his whiskey. "Tell me, why shouldn't I kick your voluptuous posterior straight back to Hell?"

"Because I have a proposition for you."

"Oh?" This was new, and laughably bold. "What do you possibly have to offer me?"

"Partnership."

Had she gone completely mad?

"I'd rather not, thank you. As much as it tempts me to have both mother and daughter under my belt, Mazikeen would certainly protest, and I like her more. No offense."

"Not that kind of partnership," Lilith scoffed with a roll of her eyes, which was, quite frankly, offensive. It was one thing to be denied by the Detective, but by Lilith? That was just plain hurtful. She stepped around him, surveyed his penthouse with a mix of curiosity and disdain. "Things are changing in this world. The divide between celestial and mundane grows weaker by the century, and now, with the presence of both our children, it is fit to break."

"Both our children?"

Only Miss Lightwood's family was supposed to know about her condition; she wasn't even around other Nephilim to cause suspicion. But that didn't mean that she couldn't be spotted on a street corner or at a park or wherever it was pregnant women liked to roam. More alarming was the idea that Lilith had gotten her hands on some poor, unsuspecting creature and subjected it to unknown horrors. Hell, as he knew better than anyone, was no place to raise a child.

"My son and your child-to-be."

Her son?

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but demons can't have children. The only reason you're called the 'Mother of Demons' is because you raised the unfortunate derelicts Hell spat out - and poorly, might I add."

Lilith took the dig with grace, pointing her nose in the air even higher than before. "I may not have birthed Jonathan, but he has my blood. I gave it to a Nephilim who promised me an heir. He did not disappoint."

"An heir? An heir to what? To Hell? We both know only someone with celestial blood can sit on that throne."

"To Earth," Lilith said, as if this were obvious. She walked back to the balcony and looked out over Los Angeles. One hand gripped the railing so hard her nails cut into the glass. "This place is a wild, lawless wasteland. Humans trample over one another in dirty streets, clawing their way to the top of some imaginary hierarchy, hopeful for their day in the sun. They strive for purpose, for meaning. We can give that to them. Our children can give that to them."

"You're talking of bringing Hell to Earth?"

"I'm talking of building an empire that could last for all of time." The gleam in Lilith's eyes was unhinged, completely maniacal. She believed what she said was true, and that was the scariest part of all. "Jonathan is strong, and as soon as he is resurrected he will be stronger than ever before. Your child, half-Nephilm, half-celestial, will have abilities unlike any this universe has ever seen. Imagine the possibilities."

"Oh, I'm imagining. And it's chaos, Lilith. Unbridled, unadulterated chaos," Lucifer said slowly, pointedly, so he could get her to see just how terrible this grand plan really was. "I've seen where that road leads, and I won't go down it again."

Lilith wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes into dark, hateful slits. "I never took you for a coward."

"And I never took you for a fool!" Lucifer spat, his eyes flashing red in warning. "That's what this is, Lilith, a fool's errand. Humans won't just lie down and accept demons as their lords and masters. Heaven certainly won't take it without an all out, bloody war. Father would sooner wipe Hell out entirely than let it taint His precious creations."

Another sore spot in the myriad that plagued Lucifer. God had never been the forgiving type; He would always side with humanity over His own children. Lilith was delusional if she thought she even stood a chance, and Lucifer was conflicted about whether to stop her or encourage her to chase her dreams, only to enjoy seeing her crushed by her own hubris.

"So you won't join me." More of a statement than a question, but there was no denying the displeasure in Lilith's tone.

"My, how astute we are," Lucifer said snidely, finishing off his whiskey. He needed another, immediately. "Go home, Lilith. Go back to Hell where you belong."

Lucifer retreated to the bar where whiskey would erase every second of this awful conversation. Lilith was quiet for so long, Lucifer thought she had left. But then, she said just the thing to get Lucifer's blood boiling.

"Mark my words, Lucifer Morningstar: you will regret not joining me when you had the chance."

"Is that a threat?" Hypothetical. He knew it was a threat, he just couldn't believe she had the audacity to let it escape her poisonous lips. He had left her unchecked for too long. She had forgotten her place. She had forgotten who he was. Lucifer stood at his full height, his aura radiating menace as he paced slowly forward, gleaning sick satisfaction at the way Lilith panicked and took a step back. "You dare to threaten me, your King? I should rip your - "

His cellphone cut him off, ringtone buzzing obnoxiously from his breast pocket. Whoever it was, they had piss poor timing. He had half a mind to tear the imbecile a new asshole, until he saw whose name popped up on the caller ID. Lucifer sighed and turned his back to Lilith, holding up one finger to signal her to hold on. They would finish this in a moment, right after he let Chloe Jane Decker know exactly how peeved he was.

They were off to a good start as he opened the call with an enormously annoyed, "Yes, what is it?"

"Lucifer, I need you to come to the precinct immediately."

"I'm in the middle of something important, Detective. Can't it wait until - ?"

"They found two more bodies with tattoos similar to the Cathedral Cult victims." Lucifer's stomach dropped like a stone. His blood ran cold. "The case is reopened, and I need you to confirm it's a match. You're the only one with connections to Raziel and figuring out his MO."

"Right away, Detective," Lucifer said, on autopilot. He ended the call, not bothering to hear what else the Detective had to say. All his hard work, and she was still stumbling head first into danger. He could have screamed.

Lilith was involved in this somehow. The timing of her visit, the LAPD finding the bodies...it wasn't a coincidence. Something told Lucifer that she was far more involved in this than he knew, that there was something far more sinister going on. Whatever Lilith was planning, she had been planning it for a long time, and he and the Detective were merely flies caught in her web.

Well, there was one way to get answers.

"I've changed my mind. Tell me more about this grand plan of yours," Lucifer said with a clap of his hands, reorienting his focus to the first problem that knocked on his door. But his half-baked plan was baked in vain.

When he looked back to the balcony, Lilith was gone.