Chương 9: 9
*Lucifer's POV*
"You are not wearing that." My tongue was sharp as I watched my daughter walk down the stairs in a sleeveless black dress.
"Oh shush." Elizabeth said, smacking my arm. "She looks beautiful."
She was beautiful. She had Elizabeth's hair, long bright blonde locks that somehow managed to look windswept all the time. And playing sports through most of school had made her lean and fit. Her brilliant blue eyes sparkled just like the gems I had nicknamed her for.
And that was the problem. If I thought my daughter was beautiful, what the fuck would some eighteen-year-old, hormone-driven boy think of her? My job was to protect her, and I was going to do that until it killed me.
"Come here," Elizabeth said, her arms outstretched and open to her daughter. She pulled Alex into a tight hug. "Her first dance. You should be excited." She turned to me, an expectant look on her face.
"Ya ya." I grumbled, "At least take a jacket with you, Sapphire."
"Alright, Dad." She rolled her eyes and hugged me. I held her tightly to me.
"I swear it was just yesterday that I held you for the first time," I whispered.
Alex laughed and pushed me away. "Stop that." She took a deep breath, the smile on her face reflected in her eyes. "He'll be here soon. You both need to disappear."
I wanted to argue, but Elizabeth took my hand and began to drag me away up the stairs. "Come on." She chuckled, "Let's not embarrass her any more than we already have."
"I embarrass her?" I asked in disbelief, letting myself be led away. "You're kidding, right? I'm the cool dad. Isn't that right, Sapphire?"
"It's 'Alex', dad." She laughed behind us.
"Have fun tonight, sweetheart," Elizabeth called, dragging me up the stairs.
We entered our bedroom and I let out a sigh. "Since when has she wanted me to call her 'Alex'?" I grumbled. Elizabeth laughed and sat on the edge of our bed. "What? What am I not getting?"
"She's seventeen. I think she's just getting a little old for…nicknames." She shrugged.
I frowned. "Quiet, Sunbeam. As the Prince of Darkness, I will do what I want."
"The Prince of Darkness, huh?" She got up and came over to me, taking my wrist in her hands and kissing me quickly. "Haven't heard you call yourself that in a while. Kinda sexy."
I chuckled and pulled her into a hug. "You haven't changed a bit," I said, kissing her forehead.
"Power is attractive." Elizabeth shrugged again and pulled from my grip. "Wann take a shower?"
A smile spread across my lips, "Do you have to ask, Sunbeam?" I smacked her ass as she turned away from me and laughed.
"I'm gonna get a drink," I said. Elizabeth nodded, turning another page of her book and pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. It had dulled slightly with age, but it was still a warm golden honey color.
I slid out of bed, left the bedroom, and went down the stairs to the small bar we kept in the living room. I pulled a bottle of whiskey and a rock glass from the shelf below the counter. I poured a little of the golden liquid into the glass before stopping when I heard a sniffle. I stopped and listened, waiting for another sound before looking back around the door frame. I could just barely make out a crying silhouette sitting in the window seat next to the front door.
I walked over to her slowly, flicking on a light as I got closer. "Alex?" I asked softly. The young girl jumped and looked up from her knees, wiping tears from her cheeks. "What's wrong? Why are you home already?"
Alex got to her feet, she was no longer wearing her dress, instead, she was now dressed in an old t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She walked over to me and hugged me tightly, crying. I wrapped my arms tightly around her.
"He never showed up." She sobbed.
"Oh, Alex. I'm so sorry…" I wasn't sure what else to say. I felt like I could feel her hurt in my heart. And a small part of my being wanted nothing more than to find the boy who'd done it and beat his face in. Why would anyone ditch my perfect girl? "Grab a jacket. We're going out."
She looked up at me, eyes red and puffy. "Ok." She sniffled, backing away from me.
"Elizabeth!" I called up the stairs as I grabbed my own coat and house keys.
"What's wrong?" She asked, appearing at the top of the stairs.
"I'm taking Alex out for a bit. We'll be home later." I told her, giving her a small smile.
"Ok?" Elizabeth looked confused, but she didn't argue against it.
"Can we take Mom's car?" Alex asked, appearing at my side again, her face hidden behind her hair now.
"Sure," I said, snatching up the GTO's keys as we headed to the garage.
I opened the side door for her and closed it again after she got in. As I pulled out of the garage, Alex rolled down her window, letting the cold night air into the car and making her hair blow in it. She took the aux cord and plugged her phone into it, immediately playing Thunderstruck.
"You're just like your mother," I said, smiling and watching my daughter from the corner of my eye. She was absent-mindedly playing air guitar along her leg. "I thought you'd stopped taking lessons."
Her blue eyes met mine before I looked back at the road. "I didn't stop. They just got moved to when you were at work."
"Ah," I mumbled. How had I not noticed that? What else had missed out on? "I don't hear you practice anymore."
Alex shrugged.
"We could play together sometimes. I haven't played in a while, and some instruments have changed a bit since when I was younger, but…"
"You can play?" She asked, curious. "I didn't know that."
"I can. I used to be quite good." I smiled. "All of heaven would stop to listen."
Alex laughed and her smile brightened again. It was such a nice sight. "Ya, sure Dad." Her tone was sarcastic.
I pulled into a diner that sat on the outside of town. It was one of our favorite spots. We made our way inside, a waitress came to take our order before we'd even been able to find a seat.
"All of Heaven, huh?" Alex asked with a grin, playing with the paper sleeve of a straw she'd opened.
"All of Heaven," I said with a nod. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Sapphire."
She laughed lightly. "Apparently."
"You ok?"I asked, taking a sip of my soda.
Her gentle smile fell and guilt flooded my chest as tears brimmed her eyes again. She shrugged and slouched in her seat.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. What a jackass." I said gruffly.
"Dad." A small smile appeared on her face again. "You know mom doesn't like you swearing."
"Ya? Well, she's not fucking here." I said with a laugh. I felt like I was trying too hard to make her smile again. Anything to distract her.
It worked. "Can I swear?"
"I don't give a damn." I shrugged.
"He's such a stupid prick!" Alex grumbled. I almost choked on my soda at the weak curse. "I'm sure he has a fucking tiny dick." I coughed on another sip, making her laugh. "Thanks, Dad."
I nodded, placing my drink down and punching it away from me as I cleared my throat. At this point, the waitress brought over our order of ice cream sundaes and Alex's order of fries. She immediately dipped a fry into the chocolate and ate it.
"So…what else can you do that I don't know about?" She asked.
"I thought for a second. "Your mother and I met in jail."
"You what?" The shock on her face was striking.
I smiled and nodded. "She got caught running away and I was in for…" I paused, thinking of the best way to put it. "Damaging public property."
"No way," Alex said, taking a bite of her treat. "How old were you?"
"She was about..twenty-one or twenty-two. I was about a thousand years old."
Alex laughed again and nodded. "I'm sure that's totally how it went down. You're stories are never believable." I couldn't help but smile, too. Her smile was just so contagious. It lit up the whole room like a miniature sun. "So, mom ran away from home? My mom?"
"Have you met your grandmother?" I asked, pointing my spoon at her.
"She's crazy." We said in unison.
We laughed before descending into a moment of silence.
"Hey, Sapphi…Alex. I want to tell you something." I said.
"You don't have to call me 'Alex', dad. I'm sorry I said that earlier.." Her smile fell again.
I sighed. "I just wanted to tell you that boys are jerks and I'm sorry. It's not fair that this happened to you. And I hope you know that this isn't because you're a bad person. You're so wonderful and beautiful and…and smart and funny. Any man is going to be incredibly lucky to have you."
Alex's cheeks turned rosey and she hid her face in her hands. "Thanks, Dad." A small laugh came from her. "How did you come up with the name?"
"Sapphire?" I asked, "Your eyes. They were so big when you were born."
She shook her head. "Not that one. 'Alex'. Some cellmate or something?"
I chuckled, "No. Your mother had a very good friend who passed away the year before you were born. She was a very good woman who cared about your mother very much. She would have taken a bullet for her if the time ever came. She's who you're named after."
She nodded thoughtfully. "As long as it wasn't after like Alexander the Great or something."
"Oh, he wasn't that great. I met him."
Alex laughed again. "You're not that old."
"You'd be surprised," I mumbled.
"Ok, now I have to know your name." She said, excitement in her voice.
"What?" I asked through a bite of ice cream. "What about it?"
"What kind of parents just name their kid 'Lucy'? Did your parents have some sort of Johnny Cash obsession and they didn't like the name Sue?"
"You're way too much like your mother." I accused. She smiled brightly. "It's just Lucy." I lied.
"Just Lucy." She repeated. "I don't believe you one bit. It's short for something."
"Scouts honor," I said, holding up my fingers.
"You were never a scout!" She shot at me, eating another ice cream covered fry. "I'm going to the bathroom. I want the truth when I come back."
I nodded as she left the table. It was good to see her smiling and laughing again so soon. It was so hard when she was sad. I wanted to do everything I could to make her happy, but I knew I couldn't. Everything was so difficult here and with only so much grace left…I wasn't sure what I was going to do when it finally ran out. It had been a long eighteen years already.
And telling her the truth? I couldn't tell her the truth. She didn't need to know it yet and hopefully never would need to know it. The less she knew about everything, the better her life would be. Even Elizabeth had agreed with me on that, even though she missed hunting.
I frowned and looked at my watch. Alex had been gone for a while. I scooted from the booth and walked over to the bathroom door, knocking on it. "Alex? You ok in there?" There was no answer. "Alex?"
I turned to look out the large front window as I heard muffled shouts. I watched as a young girl with blonde hair was dragged towards a car. My heart stopped in my chest and before I knew it, I was running out the door as fast as I could.
"Get off me!" I could hear her shout as she struggled.
"Alex!" I yelled, racing across the parking lot towards her.
"Dad!" She shouted as a tall man forced her into the car.
The door slammed shut and the man got into the driver's seat, starting the car. I grabbed for the door handle and tried to yank it open, but it was already locked. The car drove away from me, the handle pulling from my grip with the smell of burnt rubber as the car shot away into the night.
"Alex!" I yelled, chasing after the car, even though I knew I had no chance of keeping up with it without wings.
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