6

It had been over a week since their last meeting. Lucifer had been secretly training Gadreel and Azaliah for the tournament but other than that, he didn't call them for a meeting anymore. He went on his own to work on the plan that he had created. He couldn't fully trust them, they had doubted him before and that could be a problem for him if he let them do most of his work.

Adriel was concerned. Not because she didn't think Lucifer couldn't take care of himself, but she thought he had called off the plot. She didn't really care about anything but him, she wanted to be close to him and these secret meetings of theirs made that possible. She had just finished rigorous training with Gadreel and was sharpening her sword. She glanced occasionally at the door of his house, waiting for Lucifer to come out and look at her. he had only seen him in the big hall and she wasn't even concentrating when the angels sang to God.

After a while, she sighed in defeat and got up from her seat. Gadreel's attention was drawn to her and he grabbed her by her arm, Adriel's glare did not sway him.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked her. Adriel frowned at him.

"Where do you think?" She asked back. Gadreel's eyes narrowed.

"Don't be stupid". He said." If he didn't call you then you have no business in his home". Adriel scoffed and released her hand from his grip.

"You don't get to tell me what to do". She replied. Gadreel shook his head and began to walk away.

"You're going to get yourself killed". He yelled as he moved away from her. Adriel rolled her eyes before spreading her wings and flew to Lucifer's house.

She landed softly on the floor. With a sigh, she opened the door of the house without knocking.

She immediately felt Lucifer's presence in the room. Her whole body shivered as she moved further into the room. Lucifer was nowhere to be seen but it felt like he was somewhere hiding, waiting for her to make a wrong move.

When she stood at the middle of the room, the door slammed by itself and Adriel shrieked and turned to the door. She had thought that Lucifer would be behind her but he wasn't.. She closed her eyes and sighed trying to calm herself. When she turned, however, she stood face to face with Lucifer, and the expression on his face was not welcoming at all.

She let out a nervous laugh before clutching her chest all while trying to stay normal under Lucifer's angry, intense gaze.

"Master Lucifer, I just wanted to..."

"The same way you walked in...show yourself out". He said with a straight face. Adriel was taken aback by his words but she didn't move. Her eyes kept darting from Lucifer to the door wishing that Lucifer would change his mind about his statement. The response she got, however, was the complete opposite. He grabbed her by the neck and began to squeeze. The familiar feeling of pain started to engulf her and she weakly hit Lucifer's hand in an attempt to stop him.

"I am getting really tired of this type of private visits you have been attempting lately Adriel". He finally spoke. "If I need you I will call you". Adriel struggled to nod. Lucifer's neck squeezes were different than the normal neck squeeze. His hands were slowly burning the skin of Adriel while choking her and he was doing it slowly, enjoying the pain he inflicted on her.

"Well..." Lucifer said, but Adriel could not speak. After a few moments of staring her in the eyes, he let her go and a smirk appeared on his face.

"I must say Adriel, you have quite the endurance".

He said as he bent over to meet her gaze. Then just like that, he frowned again.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. Adriel tried to talk but she only wheezed and she stared at Lucifer with pleading eyes. He however narrowed his eyes at her before awkwardly patting her back. Adriel grabbed him and laid her head on his lap. Lucifer stiffened and everything in his body was asking him to push her head to the wall. But he stayed there and kept patting her head and back. He didn't even know if she was crying, he didn't really care. He was glad Adriel was facing down so she wouldn't see the disgusted look on his face. After a while, Lucifer wiggled on the floor uncomfortably and Adriel raised her head. Her neck had completely healed and her eyes were a bit puffed. Lucifer almost groaned in frustration.

'You still haven't answered my question." He said to her. Adriel nodded before staring at Lucifer with puppy dog eyes. Lucifer thought he would puke.

"I wanted to find out if the plan is still in phase". She said. Lucifer clenched his jaw. That's it?

"It is". Came with a short reply. Adriel nodded again.

"okay". There was an awkward silence between them. Adriel knew she would replay this moment over and over in her head and Lucifer knew he might probably throw Adriel out of his house very soon.

"You can get out now". Adriel stood up and made started walking slowly to the door. Before her hands could touch the door, Lucifer called out to her.

"Wait". He said. Adriel bit her lower lip to stop the smile from revealing itself.

"Yes, Master?". She said her eyes bulging wide. Lucifer stared at her for a while before sighing. He walked over to a table and picked up a white cloth from it. He then walked up to her and stretched his arm out.

"Use this to cover your eyes, don't make people think I'm a monster". He said with a straight face. Adriel stared at him before taking the cloth her mouth wide open. She turned, opened the door, and stepped out. When she turned to look at Lucifer again, the door was slammed in her face.

Adriel sighed and put the cloth over her face. She started walking slowly towards the training grounds again. She would smile anytime she remembered how Lucifer made her cry on his lap but then her face will squeeze again when she remembered how he slammed the door at her face. He was confusing her. Did he even like her?

As she walked, she noticed that the patterns some angels took in their guarding positions were different from the original position. The angels she noticed was scattered in different places, it was hard to notice something was going on. Adriel laughed lightly. It seemed that Lucifer was doing some planning on his own. With her heart full of confidence, she continued walking back to the grounds. Very soon, heaven will experience the greatest tournament ever.