Page 192 of The Bonds of Indigo

A door opens to our right, and out come a few… Mundanes? I truly don’t know what they are, but they’re loud.

“Fuck, that was riveting!” a blonde girl shrieks as she clings to another woman with dark brown hair. “If only my body could take more of that high.”

“Ugh, yes please!” the other female says, sounding equally as inebriated as her friend.

Behind them steps a man taller than Kayn, holy Beyond. If I had to guess, maybe seven feet? There is no way he is shy of it. Whoever this male is, is monstrous, but stunning in his own way.

His skin is dark, comparable to gray, but nearly black with such a finish that he looks almost celestial. When he tilts his head, his long silvery-white hair flows past his chest that’s bare. Eyes so pale that at first I thought they lacked color, but there’s a very light hue of lavender. They glow brighter as they lock first on Lucifer, and then on me.

I swallow roughly from the sheer intensity of him.

“Oh, my! Lucifer!” one of the girls screams, but something keeps me fixed on the male. “I’ve been looking for you—well, we have.”

Luce doesn’t respond to them. Instead, he yanks me behind him, forcing me out of the man’s line of sight.

“Azer.”

“Lucifer.” If a voice could drip mystery, it’s his. “Who’s your pet?”

The blonde girl darts to my side, pulling my attention away from the two men. She’s smiling, and it’s now I see the bite marks covering her neck, streaked with dried blood.

“The prince never has pets,” she coos, placing her hands on my cheeks. “And when he does, he chooses someone like⁠—”

“Shut your mouth, Roman. Get your fucking sister and go.” Holy shit. Lucifer’s voice drops, deep and violent. So heavy the air itself feels strangled.

Roman tilts her head, her dark yellow eyes drilling right into me.

“Mortal slug.”

She spins away, her hair nearly brushing Lucifer’s arm. Something tells me if it had, she’d have lost more than just the strands that touched him.

“Rarely see you these days,” Azer says in a mocking tone.

Only after the women vanish down the hall, do I finally dare look at him again. “Father have you so busy you can’t ever make an appearance?”

Father?

Could he be…

No. He couldn’t be. What did Lucifer say? He owns everyone, which I guess would make Belial… everyone’s father.

In a sense.

Right?

I’m honestly surprised when Lucifer turns toward me, wraps an arm around my neck, and starts guiding me in the direction we were already headed. Unfortunately, whoever this white-haired male is, he clearly isn’t the type to just let us walk away.

Azer appears in front of us, one hand slipping into his pocket while the other runs the full length of his hair—from scalp to the ends that brush his chest. It’s then that I notice his ears are pointed at the tip.

“Don’t ignore me, Lucifer.”

“I’m busy.” His tone is sharp with a level of distaste I’ve never heard from him. “Now move.”

When Azer’s eyes slide to me, I tilt my head slightly in return. “What’s your name, mortal?”

“Her name is mine. Now back off.”

“Laying claim? I’m sure Father would love that.”