Black City

“Yes,” Puck said. “There are four of us.”

“And one of you is in the lake,” Nathaniel said thoughtfully. “I could feel his presence.”

“Why is your brother in my lake?” I said. I did not like this at all.

Puck shrugged. “Alerian settled there some time ago—perhaps three hundred years? He said that he was going to rest for a while. None of us questioned him at the time, as he has a habit of slumbering through decades. But…”

“But?” I asked.

“I wonder if he sensed this area would become geographically important,” Puck said. “He is better than any of the rest of us at seeing the future. Alerian sees things more precisely.”

“And now that the area is geographically important, he’s waking up to do…what?”

“I imagine that he has intentions of some sort. I am not privy to them.”

Awesome. Another immensely powerful being with intentions. “And your other sibling? Is that one hanging around here, too, hoping to take advantage?”

“We do not speak much of Daharan,” Puck said. “He keeps to himself.”

“Does he have plans for total world domination? Because if he does, I want to add him to the list.”

“Very likely,” Puck said, and it was not a kind smile. “None of us seem to be able to leave well enough alone.”

Lucifer had three siblings. One of them had me in his debt, and one of them was rising from Lake Michigan for his own fell purpose. It seemed I had another crisis looming on the horizon, but first we had to sort out the Nathaniel/Puck issue. The clock was ticking—for J.B. and for the city.

“So you and Lucifer have some sibling rivalry issues,” I said. “What does that have to do with Nathaniel?”

“Some time ago I considered that it would be wise to have a person well placed in Lucifer’s court who was loyal to me.”

“I can see the wisdom of such a thing,” Nathaniel said. “But how does it benefit you when I did not know who you were or that I might be loyal to you?”

“When the time was correct I would have revealed myself, and your legacy, to you.”

“And you thought that I would immediately swear allegiance to you?” Nathaniel said skeptically.

“You would have been unable to do otherwise. The time would have been right,” Puck said.

“This plan seems like it has a lot of potential to backfire,” I said. There was something bugging me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. “What, exactly, is ‘the right time’? You let him believe he was Zerachiel’s son for thousands of years.”

“When I was prepared to move against Lucifer,” Puck said vaguely.

Move against Lucifer, I thought. Why was he being so circumspect? If he wanted a loyal son who would help him overthrow Lucifer, then why not raise that child as his own…And then everything slid into place.

“You weren’t saving your revelation so you could have a loyal person in Lucifer’s court,” I said. I could feel my anger rising again. “You were never going to tell Nathaniel in the first place. You were just going to flip the switch.”

Nathaniel looked from me to Puck. Puck’s expression was stony, revealing nothing.

“Madeline, what do you mean by ‘flip the switch’?” Nathaniel said.

“He’s made you a Manchurian candidate,” I said. “He was never going to tell you he was your father. When the time came, and you were close enough, he was going to unleash you on Lucifer. You’d never know why you killed him, but it wouldn’t matter because you’d probably die in the process anyway. I imagine that killing something as old as Lucifer would make a big explosion.”

Puck nodded slightly.

Nathaniel looked horrified. “You would set me on Lord Lucifer as an assassin?”

Puck wandered around the room, picking up my things, inspecting them, putting them down again. “Whatever my intentions, they have been undone by this woman.”

“This does not change the fact that your intentions sucked,” I said. “Did you even care about him at all? Or was he nothing but a means to an end to you?”

“How did you do it?” Puck asked curiously. “I would have said no power but mine could release his legacy.”

“I take it by your avoidance of my question that you did not give a care about Nathaniel at all.”

“I take it by your avoidance of my question that whatever occurred likely involved physical intimacy, because you possess an annoyingly human sense of modesty.”

“What happens now?” Nathaniel said, breaking into my verbal tennis match with Puck. I’d almost forgotten he was in the room. “My legacy has been revealed, at least partially. Am I in danger? When next I see Lord Lucifer, will I attempt to kill him?”

Puck gave Nathaniel a speculative look, like he was X-raying his son with his eyes. “The enchantment I laid on you seems to have changed. Really, Madeline. It is astounding that you managed to undo thousands of years of planning in a moment.”

“Will I attempt to kill Lucifer?” Nathaniel asked urgently.

Puck shook his head, but he seemed resigned instead of especially angry. I did not trust that. Puck was a mystery to me, like Lucifer, and Lucifer liked to play the long game. If Puck was giving up on Nathaniel as Lucifer’s killer, then he must be anticipating some other benefit from the situation.