"You did this," she accused, shaking her fist that clutched the flowers. "You!"

"What makes you think that?"

"Because no one else sends demons to do their dirty work," she spat. "What were you thinking? What was the point? Ordering your vile minion to shadow me around Earth, leaving flowers wherever I went! You're dreadful! Truly disgraceful! It's sick!""

Hands in his pockets, Lucifer stared blankly at her, his carefully controlled tone carrying through the gate. "You seem a little angry, angel."

She glowered at him. "Of course I'm angry!"

"Are you mad because I did it?" he asked. "Or are you mad because my brother didn't?"

She opened her mouth, prepared to respond, to give him a verbal lashing for toying with her, but the words were trapped inside of her, imprisoned, unable to escape their confinement inside her head. It wasn’t in her to lie, even when speaking to the greatest liar ever created, and the bitter truth brewed inside of her.

She wasn't really mad at him.

"That's what I figured," he muttered.

"You know nothing," she seethed. "Your pride makes you think you do, but you don't! Arrogant rage fills every inch of you! You’re insufferable!"

Lucifer raised his eyebrows. "You're the one lashing out here."

"At you! Sin has poisoned you! You think you're an almighty leader, worthy of praise, when you're not! There is only one God, and He certainly doesn't live down here, Satan!"

Lucifer just watched her, flinching as she spat his title like a curse, but he retained his outward coolness, taking the insult in stride. "Are you done now?"

"No!"

He flippantly waved his hand for her to proceed, but Serah could think of nothing more to say. She wasn't sure where her argument was going, or what point she was trying to make, when he wasn't even disputing her words.

Serah hesitated. "Fine. Yes. I’m done."

"Good," he said. "Now that you got all of that out of your system, it’s my turn."

Every muscle in Serah's body seized up in anticipation as she braced herself for the full force of Lucifer’s rage. She'd seen glimpses of the monster here and there, but she'd yet to face him completely unsheathed.

Lucifer opened his mouth, his devilish eyes ablaze, but his voice was a soft murmur instead of a magnificent scream. "You might be right about me."

"Oh, you're so full of yourself! You. . ." She trailed off, perplexed by his words. "Wait, what?"

"Maybe I'm the enemy. Maybe I'm evil. Maybe I am this Satan creature you make me out to be, the one the kids up top call the devil." He smirked, the devious red in his eyes fading away as his features softened, tension receding from his jaw. "It's possible, right?"

"Absolutely."

"But, then again, maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm just misunderstood, and you'll never know because you refuse to have an open mind about it."

She scoffed. "You expect me to believe you're the good guy?"

He barked with laughter. "Fuck no. Never think that. I'm not the hero here, angel, and I don’t want to be. But I'm not the bad guy, either."

"Then who is?"

He shrugged. "Hell, I don’t know. Maybe it's you."

"Me?"

"Well, you did just show up here and berate me for my kindness."

"You call ordering your wretched demons to stalk me kindness?"

"I meant the flowers, not the followers," he said. "Or didn't you like them?"

Her eyes darted to the flower still in her hand. "I liked them better when I thought they were from Michael."

"Aw, you shouldn't judge a flower by who picked it."

"You didn't pick it. One of your lackeys did."

"Technically," he said. "Unavoidable, given the circumstances, but the thought was still there."

"Why?" she asked. "What kind of game are you playing?"

"No game."

"Then what?"

"An apology."

An apology.

He was apologizing? If Serah hadn’t been confused before, she certainly was now.

Lucifer held his hand out. "May I?"

"May you what?"

"See the flower," he said. "I'll give it right back."

She gaped at him. "How do you expect that to happen?"

"Just hand it through the gate," he said. "I’ve told you, it can’t hurt you."

"It’s not the gate that concerns me."

"Come on, I’m not going to bite you. I’m not a vampire."

She rolled her eyes. "Vampires aren’t real."

"They are here. Everything’s real down here. If you can imagine it, it exists somewhere in one of these cages. But that’s beside the point. The fact of the matter is I’m not a vampire, nor am I a werewolf or a shape-shifter or a reaper or a fairy."

She blinked rapidly, thoughts of Nicki’s drawing invading her mind. "Fairy?"

"Evil little bastards. They zigzag in the air, biting anything they can get their teeth into. They’re deadly, so I make sure they’re locked up tight. Of course, they couldn’t kill an angel, though. Very little can."

She nodded slowly. "Only another angel."