“Holy fucking shit.” He sank back down on to the couch, looking at me wide eyed. He paused for a while, then demanded, “Nope. Nah uh. I need more information. Spill.”
“That’s all there is.”
“Fuck. That. Why did you kiss him? Let’s start there.” Seth wasn’t going to let me be.
“This guy was bothering me at school and…”
“Pause. Do you need his arse kicked?” Seth interrupted.
I smiled at him. “No, Lucifer handled it. I could’ve. But while he was talking I thought about… that night… when, um, when Lucifer and Sebastian were holding me and…” Seth gently squeezed my hand, indicating he understood. I smiled gratefully. “Anyway, Lucifer showed up, and he was looking fine, and I thought that it would stop that arsehole bothering me and make Lucifer laugh, so I kissed him.” I studied my hands.
“Did he laugh?”
“The fuck?! No, he didn’t laugh.” I snapped. Seth shrugged.
“I thought maybe that’s why you were in such a state.”
I rolled my eyes.
Seth’s eyes widened. “Did he profess his undying love for you?”
I felt the colour drain from my face. “He has undying love for me?!” I felt panic well up inside me.
“I don’t know! Does he?! Tell me!” Seth was too excited for my liking.
“No! Nothing like that. Ugh, I should’ve called Sera.”
“Bitch, please. Sera is the worst at girl talk.” Seth looked a little offended. I laughed at him.
“Ok, let me recap. So this guy was being a dick, you thought kissing our hottie of a King would shut him down, said hot King didn’t laugh at you, nor did he profess his undying love, but you are in a complete fucking state.” Seth’s eyes widened. “Fuck, did you tell him you loved him?!”
“What? No! I’m not in love with Lucifer!” I yelled at him.
“Ok, I’m officially confused. What happened after you kissed?”
“Nothing. He threatened Lachlan, he brought me home and dropped me off, and said goodbye.”
“With another kiss?” Seth’s eyes were flashing with excitement.
“No.”
“I don’t get it.” Seth spread his hands, frustration mounting in his voice.
“Ugh, Seth, I kissed him.” I put my hands over my face.
“Let me try again.” Seth was trying to be patient. “Guy was dick. Hot King shows up. You decide that kissing hot King will get rid of aforementioned dick. You kiss hot King. Aforementioned dick is gotten rid of, hot King takes you home, drops you off, and says goodbye platonically like nothing ever happened just like you wanted. WHAT AM I MISSING?” He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me.
Without taking my hands from my face, I mumbled, “It was fucking amazing.” Seth was quiet for so long I peeked at him from between my fingers. He was grinning at me.
“What?” I wailed.
“Nothing. I did not say a word.” Seth kept grinning.
“Why. Are. You. Grinning. Like. That.” I emphasised each word by punching his arm.
He laughed aloud at me, and grabbed my wrists. “I’m just happy for you both, that’s all.”
“No. Nope. Nuh uh. There is NOTHING to be ‘happy for us’ about.” I scowled.
“Do you like him?” Seth asked gently, trying not to smile.
“Nope. I am NOT crushing on the King of Hell.” I was adamant. “It’s just… I dunno… I wasn’t expecting it.”
“You kissed him !” Seth exclaimed. I rolled my eyes at him. “Ahhh.” He gave me a knowing smirk. “You didn’t expect to LIKE it.”
I took a deep breath. “No.” I admitted. “I did not expect to… enjoy it so much.” I could feel the heat in my face, and internally cursed my lack of control.
“Dear one.” His voice was serious and gentle. “It’s ok to have feelings, you know.”
I was not expecting that, and stared at him in shock. “I am not crushing on Lucifer.” I repeated myself firmly.
Seth stood, and shrugged. “Lust is a feeling.”
I spluttered, and he grinned at me.
“Your mum will be home soon, I’d better go. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”
“Yeah, bye.” I muttered.
“Oh, Katie? One last question. Was there tongue? And who slipped it first?”
I hurled a cushion at him, but he was gone by the time it reached where he had been standing. His laugh echoed in the room.
Thirteen.
The night of my birthday dinner came, and Seth managed to engineer it so I was sitting next to Lucifer. We exchanged pleasantries, and I introduced mum to Chris, who looked really nervous. “Can we give you presents now, or do we have to wait til after dinner?” Sebastian asked enthusiastically. I looked to mum.
“Go on then.” She laughed.
“Yay!” Sebastian gestured to Sera, who had brought a fairly large bag. She rolled her eyes at him, and handed him a gift, which he passed on to me, grinning. While I shyly unwrapped it, Sera handed gifts to all the others. It was a Pearl Jam shirt.
“Aw, Seb, I love it! Thank you!” His grin grew wider.
Chris’ gift to me was a scented candle. I smelled it curiously. Cinnamon. I tried hard not to blush and strenuously avoided Seth’s eyes as I said, “My favourite scent. Thanks, Chris!”
Sera gave me a beautiful holder for the candle.
“You guys, this is too much!” I exclaimed as Seth handed me a smaller box. He smiled gently.
“Happy birthday, Katie.” It was a silver bracelet, with Celtic knots and amethyst.
“Mum, look! It matches the ring you gave me!” I put it on and showed her.
“Excellent choice, young man.” Mum complimented Seth. He preened a little.
Lastly, Lucifer handed me a smaller box. “Happy birthday, dear one.” He murmured, his face unreadable. With trembling fingers, I opened it. It was a simple, dull coloured ring. It was wide on one side, and tapered on the other so that it met unevenly. It had simple patterns, added with a hammer.
“It’s handmade. I um… I had one of Seth’s…” He coughed, took a sip of water and said, “Sorry. One of Seth’s acquaintances made it for me. Do you like it?”
I slipped it on my finger. “I love it. Is it iron?” I asked, trying to sound merely curious, not completely incredulous.
“It is.” He smiled at me. I tried very, very hard not to think of what the implications might be of him giving me a ring made out of one of the two materials that could hurt him.
I fought back tears. “You guys, this is all too much.”
Mum came to my rescue, changing the subject. “So, what are everybody’s plans for next year?”
My eyes widened, and my heart thumped. I couldn’t think of anything to say.
Lucifer chose his words carefully, glancing at the others. “We’re all lucky enough to keep on hanging around with your daughter, Mrs. Longwood.”