I walked down the hallway in quick steps. My height was above average so it was easier to take larger steps. I frowned in thought. Asmodeus had appeared out of the blue, saying that I should head to the council room right now.
I had a sinking feeling in my stomach for some reason and my eyes narrowed in annoyance. My hands pushed open the doors to the large room, ignoring the protests of the demons standing guard outside the room.
I came to half as my eyes met the demon masters'. It took me about half a second to decipher what was going on, and I wasn't happy about it.
I turned towards my father, hands on my hip while maintaining a cool expression. I smiled as I began, 'If you wanted me out, Father, you could've just said so.'
I waved a hand towards all the demon exile documents on the table in a noncommittal gesture, 'No need for such frivolous formalities.'
He sat back in his chair and looked at me with a raised chin, 'I don't know what you're talking about.'
I laughed and turned to the demon master- who was watching our exchange with amusement, 'You can't exile me.'
He raised his brows and smirked, 'And why's that?'
I sat at the table and crossed one knee over the other. My hand grabbed one of the knives hidden underneath my coat and flipped it, catching it midair, 'I'm your best bet,' I pointed the end of my dagger at Azrael, who was glaring at me so harshly I wondered if he was about to blow me to pieces. 'He's getting rusty.'
Samael was full-on smiling as my father stood up in anger. His chair fell backwards from the sudden movement as shadows swirled around him in a silent storm.
He stared down at me as I blinked up at him in patience. I knew he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack me and finish me off in one go. Unfortunately, today wasn't the day I was going to die.
The demon master shared my sentiments as he said, 'Sit down, Azrael,' Then, looked at me and nodded, 'You too, Náli.'
I smirked at my dad and took up an open spot beside the demon master. Beelzebub wasn't there, and I voiced it out loud, 'Where's Beelzebub?'
'He's bringing over some more papers,' The demon master said while gathering the mess of the papers on the table already.
As soon as Beelzebub came in, Samael began, 'Okay then, Náli,' He turned towards me, 'Azrael has reason to believe that you plan to kill him.'
My gasp was so fake even Beelzebub gave me a surprised look. I cleared my throat and said in an incredulous tone, 'Kill him?! My father?!'
Azrael threw me a disgusted look and tossed a bag of something in my direction. I took it with an indifferent expression but was frowning inside. My hand reached inside, and I touched something rough and powdery.
I frowned but was screaming inside. I had no idea how he had gotten a hold of this powder when I had been so careful. It was the same one I had used to sneak into his chamber.
Instead of glaring at Azrael, I looked up in confusion, 'What's this got to do with me killing my father?'
'He says you sneaked into his chamber,' He pointed at Azrael who was barring his teeth at me like a wild animal, '-and stole something important.'
I turned towards Azrael with raised brows, 'What is this-' I made air quotes and smirked, 'something important?'
He glared at me and said in a low, threatening voice, 'Give it back, Náli..'
I sat back in my chair and said, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' I threw the powder bag onto the table, saying, '-and this doesn't prove anything.'
Then, I met the demon master's gaze head-on. Ignoring the protests of Azrael, I felt Samael's voice in my head, 'Do you have it?'
I considered it for a second, I could lie and say that I didn't. But the demon master was good at picking up lies. I would be in big trouble if I was caught lying. But if I told him that I did steal from Azrael, he'll most likely ask me to show what it was.
Then, an idea popped up in my head. I gave a very slight nod.
The demon master turned towards Azrael, saying, 'We'll discuss this tomorrow.'
Azrael blinked in surprise, taken aback by the abrupt dismissal. I sat back in my chair with my arms folded, preparing for the fight that was about to take place.
It seemed that Samael and Azrael couldn't stay in the same room without fighting for more than ten minutes. I met Beelzebub's anxious gaze and winked. He shook his head at me.
He was too much of a worry wart, always assuming the worst whenever a fight took place between these two. I remember the time he had told me that he worried the demon master would end up killing Azrael.
He said, and I quote, 'Náli dear, you should sit your father down. Talk to him and explain to him how he should show respect to the demon master. If something happens to him, who's going to take care of you?'
I had had a laughing fit for almost ten minutes. I was on the verge of tears when I patted Beelzebub's back and told him something along the lines of being reborn as an angel in the afterlife.
As predicted, Azrael stood up in anger for the second time since I had entered the room. It made me wonder if he had done this before my presence as well.
He was almost red in the face at this point- from anger or embarrassment or both, I couldn't tell. He pointed a finger and said in a loud voice, 'So you believe her?!'
Samael sighed, 'There isn't enough proof, Azr-'
Azrael slammed his hands on the table and screamed, 'She stole it!'
The demon master stood up as well. His dark powers were menacing to even look at as he glared at Azrael, 'How dare you raise your voice at me?'
Azrael was still in his bubble of anger, not fazed in the slightest by Samael's powers when he said, 'Because you're stupid!'
'Azrael!' The demon master's voice echoed in the room and all the other demons ran away. It was never a pretty site whenever Samael was angry, someone always ended up getting hurt.
The shadows swirling around the two were getting bigger and darker.
The demon master pointed a finger towards the doors and said in a low voice, 'Get. Out.'
My father glared at Samael for a minute. I was pretty sure he was contemplating if he should attack or not. But, he turned away- his majestic coats sweeping behind him and walked out of the room.
The doors slammed shut loudly behind him. Slowly, the demon master calmed down and took his place at the head of the table.
He didn't towards me but asked, 'Where is it?'
'Somewhere,' I answered vaguely.
That got his attention. The demon master assessed me with narrowed eyes. I maintained a cool exterior but could see Beelzebub sweating buckets behind him.
Samuel huffed and turned towards the papers, 'You're exactly like your father.'
'Please,' I began and raised a hand as if to stop him, 'That's an embarrassment and you know it.'
'Náli, I need it,' The demon master said in a serious tone, 'By tomorrow.'
With that, he stood up and walked out of the room. I looked at Beelzebub with raised eyebrows. He was checking his watch and shrugged, 'It's his resting time.'
I chuckled and walked out of the room as well. My hand drifted into my right pocket and pulled out the small pocket watch. It belongs to Azrael because I had seen him carrying it a few times.
It was a mix of a clock and a portal. I had heard this from a few older demons that Azrael's watch alerted him to when a soul was ready to be collected.
This was true because I had gotten about ten alerts since I had stolen the watch yesterday. Another thing I noticed while analyzing the watch the entire day was that it reflected the demon souls in Limbo.
That phenomenon was new to me, and I didn't know what to make of it. It would make sense if the demon master had asked Azrael to do it, but it seemed unlikely that Samael would do something like that.
Considering their neverending rivalry, I don't think the demon master would trust my father with such a delicate task. So the million-dollar question was that why was Azrael keeping track of demon souls?