"What did you just say to me"
Lucifer's voice dropped low enough to make the air feel heavy.
Nanisha didn't get a chance to answer, One second he was across the room the next he was in front of her close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body his presence overwhelming ancient suffocating and before her brain could fully register it his hand came up and wrapped around her throat.
"Hell" he repeated slowly tilting his head slightly as if tasting the word as if it offended him on a personal level "you stand in my chamber laugh in my presence and dare to demand hell as if I grant wishes like some desperate lesser deity"
His thumb shifted under her jaw lifting her face forcing her to look directly at him his eyes.
"Hell" Lucifer repeated her previous suggestion then scoffed a little while his hand got more tighter on her neck, "You think you can survive a day in hell?" Lucifer questioned not expecting an answer.
"L… Lucifer you're hurting me"
Her voice came out strained barely steady the words catching as his fingers tightened around her throat, "You provoke me" he said low almost a growl his thumb pressing harder beneath her jaw forcing her head back against the wall the stone biting into her skull "and then you speak of pain"
"I can't—" she tried again her fingers trembling as she pushed at his arm but he was immovable terrifyingly calm in his strength "I can't breathe"
He loosened his grip abruptly and shoved her backward
Nanisha fell onto the bed the force knocking the breath from her lungs her hair spilling across the sheets as she stared up at him
"You have far too much audacity," he said darkly stepping toward her again his voice no longer raised but sharpened like steel
"Do not ever confront me like that again," he continued each word deliberate controlled dangerous "or that will be the last day you ever see."
He looked down at her without apology without hesitation as though what he had just done was nothing more than discipline
"Your father described you as calm… submissive," Lucifer muttered under his breath irritation laced through his tone "I do not understand why you behave like this."
Nanisha slowly turned onto her side her fingers rising to massage the reddened skin of her neck refusing to look at him refusing to give him the reaction he was clearly waiting for
Lucifer's jaw tightened at her silence
"Sermon was a liar," he spat suddenly his voice cutting through the room like a blade "and he deserved to die."
He waited to see her snap or cry as he talked about her dead dad, But she didn't
She simply adjusted herself on the bed her movements slow deliberate as if his words had bounced off her
Her fingers continued to rub the soreness from her throat
Ignoring him completely.
Lucifer stood watching her waiting for a reaction but she just shifted on the bed rubbed her neck and turned away breathing slow and steady shadows curled closer to her he noticed and his jaw tightened no one had ever done this in sixty billion years she was asleep like he meant nothing and that unsettled him he grabbed his cloak stepping out of the room angrily.
Lucifer walked into the grand dining hall the maids instantly bowing low his steps echoing across the marble floor, "I shouldn't have bonded with her" he muttered under his breath voice low sharp like a blade cutting through the silence the maids trembling as his words brushed past them "I should kill her and find a submissive lady" he continued teeth clenched "she annoys me"
"She thinks she can mock me, ignore me and survive" he said softly now voice more dangerous than anger more like calculation "she doesn't know what she is dealing with"
Lucifer sat at his throne, trailing he raised a hand summoning a djinns on earth, "prepare a place I am coming I will stay they will obey nothing missed nothing unguarded"
"Okay your highness" the djinn said head still bowed low not daring to meet his eyes voice shaking like fire under ice "how long would you be staying on earth"
"I can't say" Lucifer said sharp eyes narrowing the shadows bending closer to him "for a while"
The djinn froze hearing the words his chest tight sweat prickling at the back of his neck he swallowed hard "b…but King" he stammered voice trembling "you can't reside on earth for that long you need to rule hell too staying there for that long may be… a bad choice"
Lucifer's gaze dropped slowly, "bad choice?" he whispered low enough to chill the djinn to the bone "do you think I care about choice?"
The djinn shook his head quickly "n…no your highness" voice barely a breath.
Lucifer's hand flexed his fingers curling like claws the air seemed to thicken around him "I go where I choose I take what I will I stay as long as I need nothing on earth nothing in hell nothing alive can command me"
The djinn nodded so fast his head almost hit the floor "y…yes your highness everything will be ready"
Lucifer waved a hand the djinn froze, head bowed, unsure if he could leave, then finally retreated, disappearing into the thin air.
Lucifer remained seated on his throne, He watched Nanisha lying on his bed through his magic crimson eyes, he watched as her chest rose and fell slowly, hair spread around her, completely oblivious as if she hadn't almost been strangled moments ago.
"Sleep well, little queen," he muttered under his breath, voice low, almost amused, almost dangerous. "You have no idea what you've done… or what's coming."
"She thinks she can survive me," he muttered low, voice like ice, almost a hiss, "tomorrow… I'll end her."
He leaned forward, fingers curling on the armrest, shadows bending closer, drawn to her presence, yet nothing about her gave him pause. "I should have found a proper bride," he spat, jaw tight, "submissive, respectful, one who knows her place… not this insolent child."
"By morning," he whispered, voice sharper now, "she will learn what it means to cross me… or she will be gone."