Here I was, face to face with the Devil. I had his permission to ask anything I wanted to know. So what did I want to know? Between Mal, Hell, and Lucifer himself I had no clue where to start. I started with the most basic.

"How do you know about me?"

"God isn't the only one who sees all. Besides, do you really think I wouldn't look over my own demons, if nothing else?"

Right, that made sense. He mentioned something before about Mal not wanting us to meet.

"Has Mal talked to you about me?"

He let out a low chuckle. "The boy can't stop talking about you. I try to have conversation with him and it always comes back to you. 'Venus did the cutest thing today' or 'Venus made this amazing meal for lunch' or 'Venus hit me real good with a book and almost knocked the wind out of me' or something along those lines."

I felt a little bad about the last one. "Sorry, I-"

"No, no, no." He said, waving it off. "I know what that boy's like. If anything I think you're going too easy on him."

Something about how he referred to Mal kept bugging me.

"Mr.- I mean, Lucifer." I grimaced involuntarily at the name, he laughed. "Sorry, umm. You keep calling Mal 'boy'. Aren't you the same age, technically speaking?"

He nodded in understanding. "Ah. Well, not exactly. I'm sure he's told you time is very different for us than you mortals. It's true, God created angels, but he didn't create us all at once. It feels like we were all created around the same time, but in reality millennia sometimes passed between the creation of different groups of angels. I was one of the first, Mal came much later. So, to me, he is a boy still." He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "He still behaves like one too."

"So, not all demons act like Mal?"

"Don't even suggest that!" He said laughing. "I don't think Hell could function if everyone was like Mal."

"Why is he your number two then?"

His face softened a little at this. "I know Mal has already told you of the Fall. He was a true friend to me during that time. Still very young, still hot-headed, but loyal to a fault. True loyalty and friendships are rare things to find, and despite his flippant behavior he takes his work very seriously. I couldn't ask for a harder worker. Even tonight, he was devoted enough to his work to leave you here for me to find."

"Where did you send him?"

"I told him there were some issues with lesser demons in the city, I needed him to go talk with them and make sure they were preforming at standard level or above. It won't keep him all night, but long enough."

"What is Mal's job exactly?"

He thought about it a moment. "I suppose the best thing I can compare it to is an assistant manager. He oversees the rest of my staff, performs lesser corporate duties I'm too busy to do, and will, occasionally, take my place as leader if I am away or occupied with something more important."

"Wow," I mumbled, "he never seems that busy."

Lucifer laughed at this. "I make it sound like a lot, but we perfected the system for Hell long ago. It's a well-oiled machine, so he only has to check in to make sure everything is working. The other duties are few and far between. He has a lot of free time, especially on business trips like these."

"He's on a business trip?" I asked.

"Well, he doesn't live in this realm. I sent him to this area to increase our soul collection. So, technically, yes. He is here until his work is finished."

A small shock went through me as he said this. Of course. Mal was here to work. When his work was done he would go back. Back to Hell? I felt a little sick at this thought, but not in the way I expected.

Mal was a demon, the top demon, Hell was probably his personal paradise. I wondered what this meant for us though, not that there was really an "us" per se. Did this mean I would never see him again? That he would disappear one day and that would be all? What would I do when he was gone? I felt sicker the more I thought about it.

A deep sigh interrupted my thoughts. "He truly doesn't realize how lucky he is."

"What?"

I looked up. Lucifer was shaking his head, the look he gave me was full of pity. Great, I was pitied by the Devil now. I had officially reached rock bottom.

Lucifer leaned across the table and grabbed my hand gently. "These stupid young demons. As you can see, I'm quite old, even by ageless standards. I'm sure you know wisdom comes from experience. Some of us learn what we want in life too late to have it. I have had many lusts in my life, eons of beautiful women, but none of them were 'love.' I married my work, I'm afraid. Hell never had a proper queen."

"I-I thought demons didn't have serious relationships." I stuttered. Having him so close made me nervous.

He let out a disgusted sound and shook his head again. "Young demons don't have serious relationships. They really are like children. The flesh, the carnal desires, and the orgies that last years sometimes! Like humans, their younger years are all about sex." He sighed and gave my hand a small squeeze. "When you reach my age you realize this is what you really want."

"This?" I asked.

He gestured around. "This. Everything that boy has now. A small home in a quiet town, a nice meal cooking in the kitchen, a beautiful woman to sit with you. Nothing more than that, only sit with you and hold your hand by the fire. Love, not lust. I know how that must sound coming from the Devil." He said with a smile. "It's true though. Lust is what I endorse, but love is what I desire. We all do.

I fear for Mal. That he might be living the greatest years of his existence right now, without appreciating them. I saw the pain in your face when I mentioned him leaving." I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to silence me. "You can't fool the Devil, so don't even try. You care for that boy. A good girl, a church girl, going against her every belief to care for a demon. He will never find a love like this again."

I blushed. "I-It's not like that! I care about him, but we're just friends. I don't love him, not that way."

"Really?" He asked. "You don't miss him when he's gone? You don't worry about him, even knowing he is an immortal? You don't burn with anger thinking about all the women he's been with over the years? Only God and I know that number."

He laughed. I snatched my hand away. He smiled.

"See?" He said. "You love that boy. All his stupid, reckless, inappropriate behavior, and you still love him."

"Even if I did, how I feel doesn't matter!" I shouted. He seemed surprised. "Mal himself told me that demons don't have serious relationships. 'Tease me, fuck me, suck me, toss me out with the trash. I really don't care.' That's what he said to me. Well I'm not that kind of girl, that's not the relationship I want, and I'm not going to give everything I have to a guy who's just going to abandon me!"

I felt hot tears stream down my cheeks. I was sad, I was angry, I was hurt, and I didn't even know at who. Lucifer walked over and sat next to me on the couch. He pulled a black handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed it against my cheek.

"You really are evil. All of you." I muttered wiping away my tears. "Why did you even come here tonight? To torture me like this? You keep going on and on about love, do you even know what it is?"

"Love is pain and suffering." He said quietly. "I did love once, truly love. A beautiful woman, inside and out. I could never make her mine.

Love makes us blind, it makes us stupid. It makes us cry, and laugh, and hate, and suffer. So why do we do it? Why do we bother to put ourselves through it? Because those of us who have truly experienced it know, when you find that person that completes you it transcends everything. The world, our lives, me, even God. The fool actually created something more powerful than himself."

I was shocked at this. Love. A force more powerful than God? Could he even create something like that? I thought about my life, where I was right now. Whether I was in love with Mal or not, I did love him.

He was right, I panicked during that fire the other day. Not because of the fire, but because I couldn't find Mal. I ignored my own safety completely to try to find him. I had completely accepted Mal as a demon, the very creature my beliefs, for lack of a better word, demonized. I was sitting in his living room having a conversation with Satan. I didn't need to do any of that. I wasn't trapped here. I could have left at any time. So why did I stay? In this epicenter of evil, in this domain of Hell, in this place that was the embodiment of everything I was raised to fear and despise? Was it really because of love?

The chiming of the an old grandfather clock broke me from this thought.

"Oh, the roast!" I jumped up and ran to the kitchen.

I opened the oven and let out a sigh of relief. It was fine. I grabbed out the roast and set it on the counter. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"I hope you don't want to retract your dinner offer now." Lucifer said. "It really wasn't my intention to hurt you. I only want you to open your eyes to all you have. Both of you.

Besides, this smells delicious. If I had a soul I think I'd sell it for a single bite."

He laughed. I couldn't help but smile at it myself.

"You can stay, but I don't think I want to talk much anymore." I said quietly.

"Such a sweet girl you've become." He whispered, almost to himself.

He stroked my hair gently. It was strange how comforting it felt. His lips pressed against the top of my head. I heard the front door click open.

"Damn it, Venus!" He said. "I told you to-"

He rushed around the corner, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lucifer.

Lucifer smiled at him, keeping his hand on my shoulder. "Mal! Perfect timing. It seems dinner just finished."

"I-why-how-" He sputtered incoherently.

"Such a lovely girl you have, Mal. So kind. She even invited me to dinner." He wrapped his arms around me as he spoke. I felt very uncomfortable. He sighed. "To have a woman like this waiting at home for you. Men have sold their souls for this pleasure, to you in fact."

He laughed as he said this and released me. I blushed a little.

Lucifer walked to the table. "Come Mal. She put all this effort into cooking, the least you can do is help set the table." He shook his head sadly. "Young demons, only playing with girls. You have no idea how to treat a real woman."

I looked at Mal cautiously. He was filled with rage. I prayed I wouldn't receive the bulk of it later.