Dove's POV

The right eye is vermilion, and the left eye is dark brown. His dark circles under his eyes have darkened even more over the years. With his perfect, sharp features, this man would pass as a model if you ask me. His hair gelled perfectly. Lucifer, the leader of the criminal organization, looks as good as ever.

"Hello~ Luci~" I sang while maintaining constant eye contact. I know I promised other people I wouldn't act or do anything weird around their leader, but in all honesty, I lied.

He chuckled lightly as he raised an eyebrow.

"Luci?" "Is that supposed to be my nickname?" He asked with amusement dripping from his voice.

It might look like he's behaving normally, all chuckling and all, but in reality, this man is planning my murder. He's way more unpredictable than I am, so it's hard for me to tell what his next move will be.

"Yep, I'm sure no one ever gave you a nickname, so I thought, why not give you one?" "After all, we are such close friends, aren't we?" I smirked.

He leaned in even closer to my face, holding my chin tightly. I winced in pain as I tried to pull my face away from his grip.

"You know, I can kill you here in a second and no one will even question my actions," he threatened, his vermilion eye sparkling.

"Go ahead, kill me." "You know I won't complain about it, so what is stopping you, Luci?" I asked, grinning.

"You have a bad habit of not letting go of your old habits," he said, letting go of my face. "There's no point in killing someone who already wants to die."
I laughed.

"Well then, I would like to talk to you about something," I said. He walked up to his bookshelf and picked up a book from the shelf.

"Tell me, Dove." "Do you still read?" He asked.

"Yep!" I said as I skipped to sit on the revolving chair—his revolving chair.

Fear was what Lucifer always sought in his victims—fear of death. And I never had that fear, so he won't kill me unless I show that fear.

"Have you read the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I haven't," I said. He smiled as he placed the novel in front of me.

"Read it when you go home," he said. I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head. This is not an everyday thing that you get a novel suggestion from Lucifer. I know Lucifer has always been a bookworm, but I have never heard him talk about anything he read.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked.

"No reason," he said, shrugging. But there is a reason; Lucifer never does anything without a reason. There is always a reason behind his actions.

"I know why you are here, Dove," Lucifer said as he poured two glasses of wine.

"How?" I asked as I spun with the chair.

"I have my ways..." he paused as he placed my wine glass in front of me while he took a sip from his glass. "Tell me, why is it that you want to break your soulmate bond?"

"My soulmate will never accept someone like me; moreover, he is dating Nina Robbins." "I'm sure you are aware of that," I said.

"Is that all?" Lucifer asked.

"I am starting to develop feelings for my soulmate's half-brother," she said. Hiding things from this man would be useless, because I know that he knows about it all. He's just pretending, so I will tell him everything.

Lucifer, out of nowhere, started chuckling, and his chuckles turned into fits of laughter. I don't know what to feel; it's not a usual thing to get to see the great Lucifer laughing.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Just reminded me of a joke," he said, wiping the tears from the side of his eyes. "What a sad joke."

A sad joke? Are jokes ever supposed to be sad? except for dark humor, but then again, dark humor is quite humorous too.

"We will help you," Lucifer said.

"But on one condition."

"What condition?" I asked.

"After you get your information from Bethany, you will let us deal with her on our own accord," he said. "I have been keeping an eye on her for quite some time now; she doesn't show any remorse for her past actions." "It would be better to erase the dirt permanently."

"Do whatever you wish to do with her." "I couldn't care less about it," I replied, drinking my wine in one go. "How much am I obligated to pay you?"

"Leviathan loves you, and I know he does not trust me much." "So, if helping you can gain his trust, I'm willing to do it for free," he said. "Take it as a payback for helping Asmodeus out of his depression."

"So are we friends now?" I asked.

"I don't make friends." "I only have six brothers and intel," he replied bluntly. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever then, I'll be taking my leave, Mr. Lucifer." I gave him a salute and stood up dramatically. His eyes still not leaving me, I proceeded to walk out of the room while he was still sipping on his wine and observing my every single movement.

I don't usually feel uncomfortable or nervous under anyone's stare, but Lucifer makes an exception. Except for Lucifer's gaze, he makes me nervous as hell. I still don't know how I survived this meeting or was able to act so carefree around him.

"Your father..." I paused my footsteps and turned around.

"What about my father?" I asked.

"Please accept my apologies for bringing this to your attention, but he is one of my top ten corrupts." "His crime is a bit milder than others." "So, I'm willing to give him some time to improvise," he said, pausing. "I hope you will be able to convince him to drop how he plays with the law in such an unfair way just to win." "If he doesn't change his ways, he'll have to give up on his life too."

"Why are you telling me this?" "Don't you just act without letting your victims know?" I asked.

"Dove Stanley, you might not be a friend or an informant," he said. "But you are special."

"I am special." "How?" I asked.

"Somethings are better left unsaid," he said.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have to finish some work before heading to bed."

I sighed as I proceeded to leave again. I opened the door and turned around one more time to give the mysterious man one last look.

"You should drink hot chocolate before you go to bed." "It will help you sleep," I said. Saying this, I closed the door.

"Thank goodness you're still alive, brat," said a deep voice from behind me. I squeaked in surprise as I turned to see Mammon standing there.

"Ah!" "It's just you," I said, sighing.

"Who else calls you a brat anyway?" He asked.

"Come on, we need to talk about something," he said as he caught my wrist and started to drag me somewhere.

He brought me to a balcony from which a lake was visible. It was beautiful scenery with the moon, lake, and cold breeze.

"It's pretty here," I said.

"What kind of games are you playing this time, Dove?" Mammon asked. "You know how dangerous it is to involve Lucifer."

"I know, and I am ready to risk it all," I replied. "If this risk can permanently free me from my lifelong curse,"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

And that's how I told Mammon everything about what happened between me and Vinter and how I had to seek the help of Lucifer because, without him, getting Bethany out of prison would be impossible.

"But Dove, don't you think breaking the bond would be too painful? I mean, I have seen Asmodeus suffer from the loss of his soulmate."

"Losing a soulmate and breaking the bond are two different things." "I'm sure breaking the bond won't be as painful," I said. "Moreover, Vinter is already digging his grave; I can't see him ruin himself; that's way more painful to watch." "I just want this never-ending pain to disappear, Mammon."

"I see." "So, you are running away as usual," he said, making my eyes widen.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean." "You know that you always run away when things get tough." "You are a coward," he said.

"You run away, trying to commit suicide, when life gets tough." "You run away from your soulmate when he needs you."

"You know nothing, so shut the hell up!" I yelled, closing my ears. Tears streamed down my eyes.

"I know everything about you, and you know that too!" "Levy, Bel, no one knows you better than me, so stop pretending that I don't know," he said. I wiped my tears as I glared at him.

"Why do you always do this?" I asked as my voice cracked. I never stopped glaring, though.

"Because someone needs to show you the truth and show you that you are a weakling in the disguise of strength," he replied.

"You still get nightmares, don't you?" He asked.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Your eyes are the same as Lucifer's," he said.

"Both you and Lucifer are so pitiful."

"You know too much," I said as I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked ahead.

"This is why I don't like talking to you for too long," I mumbled. He caught up with me soon enough.

"Oliver Harris." "I will probably be the one who will be assassinating him," Mammon stated. "It will be better if you inform the Harris brothers about it since you already know." "It'll save you from any more drama."

"I don't want to interrupt your work," I explained.

"You won't. Nothing can save Oliver from the clutches of the sins, but if you inform the brothers, it might strengthen your bond with Twilight. If he finds out about it in the future, tell him that you were already aware of his father's assassination." "It'll create a huge misunderstanding between you two," Mammon explained.

"I will deal with Twilight in my way and with Vinter too." "I don't need your advice," I said. He shrugged.

"You will eventually regret not listening to me, brat," he said, walking away.

Telling Vinter or Twilight about it would be like going against Lucifer, and I cannot make an enemy out of such a dangerous guy.

I know I will regret whatever decision I make, so I might as well choose the less painful path for now. Oh! Yes! I am a coward, and I have taken cowardly actions many times.

I was not born to be the epitome of goodness or kindness; such things only look good on heroes, not on someone who was painted to be the villain from the very beginning.

So, I will choose the path that will give me the least pain. I do not fear death, but I do fear pain.
Pain is my enemy, and I cannot walk alongside it, carrying it on my shoulder.

♤♤♤

Dove is the protagonist with a lot of antagonistic traits.