Lucifer

"Leah," I said as I walked into the kitchen. She stopped cooking breakfast to face me and I walked past her to the refrigerator. "Take the day off."

"Are you sure?" She questioned hesitantly.

"I'm sure. We have a family matter to tend to and I don't want to bore you with the details."

"Okay sir," she said lowly as she looked at the stove. I opened the cool water bottle and looked around awkwardly as I took a sip. When she noticed I was still standing around, she looked up at me flustered. "Oh, you mean now?"

"Yes."

"What about the food?" She asked, gesturing to the stove.

"I can handle it," I shrugged.

"You can't coin thou-..." I raised my brow at her words but she pursed her lips and nodded slowly. "I'm leaving, chef."

I gave her a single nod and she scurried out of the kitchen. I set the water bottle down and rubbed my hands against my sweats before attempting to finish cooking the eggs. I mimicked the moves I had seen her done over the years with a bit of struggle, but eventually got the hang of it.

I gagged as I smelled the scent of bacon in the air and I scrunched my nose. If it wasn't for James loving it, I'd ban it from the house. I hated every single thing about it.

I set down the spoon for the eggs and pinched my nose as I flipped the bacon.

"Is something burning?" I heard James's voice from behind me.

"Umm," I hummed as I looked around. "I don't think so."

"The pancakes," he said.

"What?"

"The pancakes are burning," he pointed out.

"What pancakes?"

I heard him sigh as he walked towards the stove and he turned off the flame. As he did, I noticed the big flat top of pancakes and my mouth dropped. "I didn't even see those!"

"Your vision is leaving," he snickered. I scowled at him and he took the spoon from my hand and began examining the eggs. "And you didn't notice the eggs turning brown?"

"I just can't cook," I muttered as I stepped away from the stove.

"Clearly," he laughed. He turned off all of the flames on the stove and began throwing everything away and I crossed my arms.

"So you'd rather starve?"

"None of us are going to starve," he said. "I'll cook breakfast."

"Have a blast," I said lowly as I sat down on the stool.

"You should let me teach you," he said as he washed the pans.

"Why?"

"So you'll know how to do it when I'm gone."

"You're leaving?" I questioned.

"Well in six years I'll be eighteen," he reminded me.

"Leaving for college?"

"Yup."

"Eww," I groaned. "People go to college to make money. You have all the money in the world in your hands, James. So why do you need to? It's a waste of time, isn't it?"

"I'm not going for the money," he said as he walked to the refrigerator. He pulled out the eggs and sighed before facing me. "It's for the experience. Did you ever go to college?"

"No, I didn't," I muttered. "Even if I wanted to, no one wants the devil at their university."

"See? That's exactly why I'm going to open my own school one day," he beamed.

"You're still on that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He questioned.

"You're a kid. I thought it was one of those passing things. When you were younger you wanted to be a pilot and the next day you wanted to work at an ice cream parlor."

"I'm older now," he shrugged. "I know what I want to do."

"You're eleven," I muttered.

"I'm turning twelve in two weeks," he reminded me. "I'm basically an adult."

"Still, you should be dreaming about being a firefighter or something. Why a school? Schools are boring."

"Because I want a school for people like you, Syn, Queen...my sister...a school where we can all go and feel safe," he said. "People don't want to be friends with me because the son of Lucifer is my father. I want a place where that's not a crazy thing."

"So a school for the super-supernatural?"

"Just for any kid that doesn't feel at home in their own school. It doesn't matter what creature they are as long as they don't judge people," he said.

I tried to give him a disgusted look to stop myself from smiling, but I couldn't help it. He was growing up right in front of me and I couldn't stop myself from being proud of the man he was already becoming. It made me look back in the way I saw Syn's accomplishments in the past.

I remember him bringing me drawings and grades from school that he seemed to like. I would disregard them and switch his focus to his duty to Hell. I wondered if I wasn't so hell-bent on revenge...could he have had a better childhood?

"That actually sounds nice," I admitted. "I have no idea how you turned into such a great kid."

"Well, it's probably because you're a great grandad."

Awww. "Eww."

James eyed me suspiciously as he began cooking and I cleared my throat. "Are you about to cry?" He asked me.

"No, not at all," I said seriously as I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"Sure," he dragged.

I rubbed my eyes and remained quiet as he continued cooking. My phone buzzing in my pocket reminded me of the events to come today and I sighed.

Syn: What time do I need to be there?
10:21 a.m.

Me: Noon works.
10:21 a.m.

I groaned and ran a hand through my hair as I set my phone down and I thought about what to do. I told him I wanted to meet, but I hoped that I would have a solution to our entire situation. I still hadn't signed the papers and I was plagued with hours on end of thinking about them.

I had exhausted almost every option and there was only one last thing to do. I'd been waiting to decide whether or not to do it, but now it seemed like I didn't have a choice. Pushing away all of my worries, I looked up at James and sighed.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he said.

"Do you want to stay here with me, or would you like to go back to living with Syn?"

꧁꧂

Author's Note
This chapter was a little insight into the next book series👀 if yk yk👀

What choice do y'all think James will make?
Lmk your thoughts ✨