Chapter 36 – Devil in Morning Light
He walked into the suite's small bar area. Polished mahogany counters. Golden taps. Fridge that only stocked things with French or Italian names and a dozen types of ice cubes. But more importantly—
There it was.
His favorite artifact.
The Espresso Machine.
Shiny. Chrome.
He stroked the side of it like it was a long-lost lover.
"Hello, gorgeous."
A pod clicked into place. A rare capsule blend that probably cost more than most people's rent. Dark roast. Hints of cinnamon. Blessed by some minor fire god, maybe. Lux pressed the button and leaned against the counter as it hissed to life.
-Whiiiisssshhh. Grrroowwwllll.
Steam. Aroma.
Perfect.
He sipped.
And yeah—
Instant mood lift.
Liquid therapy.
He sighed like a man reborn.
Still smiling.
Still warm.
Still alive.
Then… he glanced at the clock.
And the smile cracked.
"Wait…" he leaned closer. "It's only 7:21 AM?!"
His voice wasn't loud.
But the betrayal was real.
[Well, yeah.]
[You're in the mortal realm. It's June. Summer time. What did you expect? Sunlight at 4:45 AM. Birds yelling at 5. Also, waking up in the morning has been your habit for like, oh, a hundred years. If you had time to sleep.]
Lux groaned.
"Pathetic…" he muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. "I finally sleep like a mortal king after a royal orgy and the universe still gives me morning?"
He stared at the espresso in his hand like it was the only thing keeping him tethered to existence.
Took another sip.
Better.
He opened the suite doors and stepped out onto the private rooftop balcony.
The early morning air brushed across his skin. The skyline of Sovereign Grand towered in the distance, shimmering beneath the gold-touched clouds. Birds flew past, too energetic. The sun was aggressively sunny. The trees below rustled like they had secrets.
Lux exhaled slowly.
Devil in morning light.
Bare-chested. Coffee in hand. Smirking faintly like the world owed him a massage.
Yeah.
Dramatic.
Exactly how he liked it.
The espresso was good. Too good, actually. Lux could practically feel it repairing his spine, resetting his moral compass, and gently whispering that maybe he didn't need to burn something down today.
Maybe.
He leaned on the rooftop railing like it owed him money, sipping lazily from his cup while the early morning city stretched and yawned below. Shirtless, freshly laid, and highly caffeinated, Lux Vaelthorn was at his peak.
And then—
[WARNING. Incoming entity detected!]
[Classification: Angelic.]
[Proximity: Close.]
[Purpose: Messenger.]
[Status: Non-hostile… probably.]
Lux blinked slowly. "Oh boy," he muttered.
Another sip.
Still calm.
Still smug.
"Let me guess," he said aloud to no one. "Here comes the divine review for what I did last night."
And right on cue—
The air split.
Not gently.
No shimmer. No soft chimes or fluttering feathers.
This was a rip.
Like someone just grabbed reality by the neck and tore it open like a cheap gift bag.
A glowing, holy rift formed in midair ten feet in front of Lux. It flickered like a cracked mirror filled with starlight and judgment. At first, it was small—maybe the size of a dinner plate.
Lux didn't even flinch.
"Great. Here comes the divine clipboard," he muttered, sipping again. "Probably some tiny cherub with a speech impediment and delusions of procedure."
But then the rift expanded.
And kept expanding.
Three feet.
Ten.
Twenty.
Until—
-BOOM!
The entire sky above the Sovereign Grand lit up like someone drop-kicked a cathedral into the atmosphere.
The rift tore wider, cosmic light leaking through it, and what emerged— Was a giant eye.
Not "oh look an eye" size.
It was a hotel-sized.
The damn thing was as big as the tower itself, hovering in the rift like a divine surveillance camera forged in a cosmic courtroom. A single, burning eye, framed by two massive, radiant wings that stretched across the sky like judgment itself had come to sip tea and file a lawsuit.
Lux cringed mid-sip.
"The hell?!" he hissed, nearly choking on his espresso.
Luckily, mortals couldn't see it—unless they were clairvoyant, really high, or somehow both. It was one of those truths that most people never caught on to, but he'd seen it all before.
The air vibrated with divine weight. The glass panels behind him trembled.
The eye blinked once. The flap of its wings didn't move wind.
It moved meaning.
And then it spoke.
A deep, genderless voice that didn't echo—it just was. Like the word of law from a mouth that never existed.
"Spawn of Greed."
Lux rolled his eyes.
Yup. That old chestnut.
"Hi there," he replied flatly.
"Identify why you are here."
Lux took another long sip, like he was on trial and didn't give a single damn.
"Vacation."
There was a pause. The kind that felt like an entire council of angels stopped mid-choir to look at each other in divine confusion.
Then the voice returned.
"You have—"
"I was having sex," Lux interrupted, pointing with his cup like it was a legal document. "Last night. Yup. At least five or six rounds. I mean—I lost count after round three, to be honest. You try keeping track while a billionaire heiress is literally screaming your name into a penthouse pillow."
The eye didn't move.
Didn't blink.
But something about the light behind it dimmed for a moment, like the sheer pettiness of his tone short-circuited some celestial expectations.
Lux straightened a bit, suddenly slipping into full-on devil attorney mode. Sharp smirk. Coffee in one hand. Finger raised in the other like he was about to lecture the heavens.
"Look, before you pull out some glowing scroll of wrath or whatever, I'd like to remind you I'm fully within my rights to be here."
The eye said nothing.
Lux nodded to himself.
"Under the Multiplanar Decree Clause 47, sub-section C, paragraph 13—also known as the 'Infernal Neutrality Accord'—I, Lux Vaelthorn, firstborn of Seraphyne the Lustborne and Zavros the Greed Lord, have legal and metaphysical permission to visit the mortal realm under the following terms."