Chapter Eighteen: Family Affairs
Lucifer glared daggers at Michael across the table where they both sat, and Jesus Christ was watching the two lob words and hurl insults at one another like volleyballs over a net.
"This is an error of cosmic levels," Michael noted before taking another sip of the scotch in front of him. Glenlivet; Michael was not cheap to drink with, but he was the only one of their brothers with any real taste in that regard, Lucifer reasoned.
"I thought Father didn't make mistakes." Lucifer retorted, taking another sip of his own drink and glancing at Jesus who was drinking some local artisan craft beer that Lucifer didn't give a fuck about. They had opted to meet in the mortal realm because it was neutral territory, all in all.
"Well, He doesn't... that doesn't mean some moron in soul processing is as infallible." Michael reasoned.
"Always the company man. Mikey." Lucifer drawled, raising his glass in a mock salute. "So help correct the mistake of the peons, but do not penalize Gwendolyn and Evangeline for it."
"Are you certainly they even want what you are suggesting?" Jesus asked quietly. "Maybe there is a reason she - they; what is the proper pronoun here? - was born like this. Ever considered that?"
"Well, has anyone asked the old man?" Lucifer asked the two of them, the two most likely to have done so. Both looked askance and a little awkward. "Is he on another one of his sabbaticals?"
Michael shrugged but didn't meet Lucifer's gaze. "You know how He is. He gets frustrated and needs to get away, and we should all be glad that he does. Remember the last time he decided to just 'stick it out' when humanity wasn't working right? He got so fed up β"
"Yeah, yeah, Noah, ark... I recall." Lucifer shook his head. "But my point remains, how can we know? And regardless, why are you punishing them for it?"
"It does seem a little extreme," Jesus said to Michael. "What is the purpose of making Lucifer choose between them? Of never allowing him to see one again?"
Michael's lips twisted a little and his hazel eyes glinted with an almost malicious light. "We ensure that much power is never in his hands at one time again. The woman is a danger. If I had just cause to remove her from this lifeβ"
Michael was prepared for Lucifer's sudden eruption of violence. What he was not prepared for was the sudden flash of anger on the face of their youngest brother, however. Jesus raised a hand and stopped Lucifer's fist from connecting with Michael's chiseled, obnoxiously heroic jaw line without much effort, but the energy that emanated from the Nazarene flung Michael haphazardly back against the wall of the dark little bar located in the backwoods of a small Wyoming town. A century and a half ago, men with names like Wild Bill and the Sundance Kid had drank here. Now, two angels and a messiah were drinking and having an argument.
"You are a dick," Jesus said frankly to Michael. "Have you given no thought to what you are asking of these women?" He leaned across the table and looked a startled Michael dead in the eyes. "My Magda is in there, Michael. Part of her, at any rate."
"An you are fine with him defiling her?" Michael spat, his lip curling as he eyed Lucifer, who still looked less than pleased about not being permitted to hit him. And was seriously considering trying again, if he was honest.
Jesus rubbed his temples as if to expel a headache. "She was never mine to keep, Michael. And I was always happy that she chose to love me. That she also had others never upset or bothered me; I knew where her heart lie."
Lucifer smirked, sat back down and took another swig of his whiskey. "Oh, the sacrilege. If only those celibate monks in the churches could hear you now, baby brother. They'd be appalled."
Jesus shrugged. "Let us not pretend that what is built in my name often reflects what I tried to teach."
Michael stood up, and pulled on the heavy woolen pea coat that was hanging off the back of his chair. His brown hair was tousled a bit from the sudden shove from Jesus, but he ran a rand through the chestnut waves and looked directly at both of his younger siblings. "You want me to do this, you have my terms. Don't like them, find someone else with a blade that can sever souls." He took the final swig of his Glenlivet's and set the tumbler back down. "But hear me on this, both of you: that woman, as she is, whole and in tact is a ticking time bomb. The pagans have known it her whole life and they have tried to keep her because they aren't strong enough to control her. The way she absorbs and transforms with spiritual essence is... dangerous. Don't you imagine for a moment she is controllable if she remains as twin souls locked in a single vessel. And sooner or later, someone will come for her. What I am offering you is the only way you can protect her. So, ask yourself... who are you protecting? Them? Or yourself?"
Without further preamble, there was a shift in the air and Michael was gone. Lucifer didn't even bother to glance at the mortals in the bar. He knew they all registered nothing. He stared into the bottom of his glass and said nothing, torn between wanting to smite something or simply make someone bleed. Michael always had that affect on him. Self-righteous asshole.
"What are you going to do?" Jesus asked, taking a sip of his beer, and he leaned back in his chair, crossing his sandaled feet at the ankles as he reclined, resting his man-bun back on his interlaced fingers behind his head.
Lucifer ran his hand through his own pale waves in frustration and sighed. "Nothing. For right now, I am doing nothing. It isn't my choice to make."
Jesus looked astonished. "That may be the truest thing you ever said, bro." He regarded Lucifer across the table. "She is good for you."
"And that is bad for many." Lucifer tossed a couple bills down on the table. "I got this. Thanks for trying to help with him."
Jesus shrugged and stood up with him. "I will help if I can in any way. I've never given up on Gwen or Evangeline, even if they don't consider me apart of their personal pantheon all the time. Gwen's mother still prays for her."