Author's note: Hello dear readers! I received so many good words for my last chapter that I got spurred into writing another one quickly. Your enthusiasm just carried me away! Thank you so much everyone! And thank you Bebec, my French Beta, for going through this text quickly to give me your always appreciated advices. I adore you Babe! Now place to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 24

A Show of Power

The FBI agents led Chloe and Daniel to a black van where they were blindfolded and thrown into the back accompanied by a few guards who made sure to prevent them from speaking to each other. Doom was brought into another van for the ride, all chained up and rightfully furious. Hopefully, the Hellhound would keep following Chloe's orders to cooperate and not hurt anyone.

In all appearances, it looked like they were brought to the same place where Maze and Amenadiel had seen the FBI bring the black panther-like creature the week before. It fit the distance and by the sound of it, they had to cross an armed gate such as Maze had described.

Only once they got inside the building were their blindfolds taken off. They crossed many armed soldiers along the way through the corridors. At least, Chloe guessed they were soldiers. They might be all clad in black with no apparent insignia, but the way they were holding themselves and the equipment they were carrying screamed military.

When she understood that Dan and she were about to be separated into different interrogation rooms, Chloe took the chance to whisper something to him. "Tell the whole truth. Otherwise I feel they'll get it out of us one way or another."

She got pushed hard from behind by a guard as a reward for breaking silence. Dan had received her message though, and nodded reluctantly. He didn't seem to like it any more than she did, but at this point, the Feds looked like they already knew a lot about the existence of angels and demons. Damn, they probably had a few of the latter in storage right here. Chloe felt they would gain more by cooperating with them than by trying to deny everything. And if they could avoid being tortured for information in the process, all the better, especially in Chloe's special condition. That agent in charge seemed like the kind who would not hesitate to use some nasty interrogation methods.

After Chloe was handcuffed to a table in a small room with a big one-way window and no other furniture than chairs, she was left alone for a moment. No doubt that some people were studying and discussing her from behind that window right this moment. It felt strange, wrong, to be the one on this side of the glass. She knew that the waiting was a usual method for letting suspects the time to get appropriately apprehensive and ready for interrogation. Unfortunately, it worked for her too. She was getting more and more nervous by the minute. So much in her life was at stake right now!

Faster than she thought it would take, the FBI Leader came back though, followed by Father Amantini, and to her surprise, by a General of the US Army in full uniform.

Her feeling about those armed soldiers she saw earlier was revealing to be right after all. She should probably have guessed the involvement of the army days ago. The military had most likely intervened as soon as the situation had been considered as a National security threat. Still, obviously the military preferred to leave the FBI officially in charge of the cases of demonic attacks and stay in the shadows. They were likely hoping to keep the population unaware of their implication for as long as possible. No need to fuel the crazy theories going around social Medias about military experiments, extra-terrestrial invasion, and such, hence the use of unmarked uniforms for their soldiers.

Father Amantini, all clad in his priest outfit, kept standing in the back of the room silently while the two other men took a seat in front of Chloe.

"Detective Decker, I am Agent Spencer, in charge of this special team, and General McMahon here is overseeing the whole operation. I suppose you understand that this is a case of National Security and as such, your usual rights don't apply here."

Chloe held herself straight and raised her chin high to show them that in spite of the dire situation she was in, she still had her pride intact. "I am well aware of that sir. Thank you very much for pointing it to me. Though I don't see why we shouldn't all stay civil since Detective Espinoza and I have the intention of fully cooperating with the authorities on this delicate matter."

Agent Spencer lifted an eyebrow doubtfully. "We'll see about that... "

Already out of patience with all the civilities, the general hit the table forcefully with open hands in a show of power. "Tell us where the other creatures from Hell are?" he all but screamed at Chloe.

She tried to stay calm. "I have no idea."

The general chuckled at her contemptuously. "Yet you went straight for that wolf man this morning. Are you trying to make me believe that it was a coincidence?"

Chloe reminded herself to breathe slowly to keep herself from exploding at him. "No, it wasn't. This morning, Detective Espinoza and I got assigned a case about an apparent murder that was lacking an actual body. Being aware that demons had escaped from Hell recently, we considered from the start the possibility that it could be related to a demon attack. By analysing the pattern of the many disappearances in the same neighborhood, we guessed properly that the demon could be hiding in that park, which happened to be right in the middle of his hunting ground. It was simple detective job."

The General seemed disappointed to not have nailed her with his argument. He sent a resentful look at the FBI agent, as if wondering if his team shouldn't have spotted that pattern themselves.

"Could there be any truth to this, Agent...?"

Spencer fidgeted under his scrutiny. "It's possible, General. I'll have my men analyse the information."

"See that you do."

To change the General's focus on something else, Spencer quickly got back to his questioning. "So, you admit that you already knew that demonic creatures were on Earth?"

"Yes." Short and simple.

"Good! Because we have video footages of your friend, the demon Mazikeen, in the company of an unknown black man, where a demonic creature has been retrieved by our team, and before that too at the Twilight Club the night of the massacre, that time with your «dog» at their sides. And knowing that you are involved with Lucifer Morningstar, the Devil himself, and are all but living with Mazikeen, it would seem quite unbelievable that you weren't aware of what was going on."

Chloe really tried not to comment, but the words left her mouth of their own volition. "Was that a question, sir?" she asked cockily.

Spencer's face tightened in anger. "The question is, what is the Devil doing? What are his plans? Why did he conjure demons on Earth? And where is he?"

Chloe knew this was coming, but it didn't lessen the hurt she felt at the accusations against Lucifer.

"Lucifer is not the one who brought those demons on Earth. It was a renegade angel called Vasariah who opened up the Hell's Gates with the help of a demon named Lilith. Lucifer and our group stopped them at the Abbey and killed a fair share of demons that day, but not before some of them could escape and get loose on LA, among them Lilith and a few of her personal guards. Even knowing that he was risking his life by going back to Hell, Lucifer went through the Gates to bring Vasariah there and lock him up in a cell as punishment for his crimes against humanity. Even though Lucifer survived the trip, it cost him his freedom. God has given him some momentary assignment down there and we don't know yet when he'll be able to come back. All I know is that it should be soon."

The news that the Hell's Gates had been opened didn't seem to surprise them, probably because the priest had deduced that much already. The rest of it though seemed to be a lot to take in for everyone.

However, what made Father Amantini react the most was the mention of a renegade angel. "You want us to believe that an angel is responsible for this? This is ludicrous!"

Chloe answered him with as much patience as she could muster. "Yet, you are convinced that Lucifer, an angel, could have done it?"

Amantini looked confused for a moment. "But, he is the Devil!"

"Yes, Lucifer has done some things in his youth that he's not very proud of, and God punished him for it by sending him to Hell to rule over the Underworld. Even if Lucifer will always be the Devil, he is on a path to redemption, and God himself seems to agree with that. Lucifer loves humanity and even sacrificed his freedom willingly to save us. Believe me Father, good and evil are not always black or white, and that's also true for angels and demons. It's a lot more complicated than that. What's most important is that Lucifer is not the threat here, Lilith and her demons are."

Father Amantini had fallen silent, obviously considering her words.

The General was starting to lose his patience. "The Devil is the Devil, and apparently even God agrees with that since he decided to put him back where he belongs, which is in Hell! I don't know why we should listen to her lies, the Devil is obviously the one who orchestrated all of this. We are losing our time here." He stood up all of a sudden to walk in the small space available, like a lion in a cage.

Agent Spencer racked his throat uncomfortable. "With all due respect, sir, we need proofs before we can conclude to anything for certain."

"I, for one, would very much hear more about what she has to say," cut in the priest politely.

The agent and even Father Amantini were giving Chloe the impression of being a lot more open minded than she'd first feared. Maybe she had a chance to convince them after all, if not McMahon.

The latter almost growled in frustration before sitting down again, signaling the FBI man to keep going on with the questioning.

"Why don't you start at the beginning, so we can all make our own mind about what is truly happening?" suggested Spencer.

Chloe was glad for the chance to tell everything. That way, she thought it would be easier to convince them. So she told about Vasariah's plan to use the medallions to open the Hell's Gates to bring Hell on Earth as a way to make humans believe in God again; she told of her daughter's kidnapping to be sacrificed and of her near death; of their efforts to hunt demons loose on LA and send them back to Hell; of Lilith continuing to elude them and of her attempts against their lives to take revenge for her daughter's death.

They let her talk without interrupting until she felt that she had said the essential for them to understand the situation.

Father Amantini still looked dubious. "So, you're saying that this Mazikeen is hunting down her own kind to send them back to Hell?"

"Yes, like Lucifer, she took a liking to humans since she lives here. Maze has gone through big changes lately. She is my friend and would never hurt humans no more than Lucifer would. I trust them both with my daughter's life and my own," Chloe emphasized with conviction.

Again, the general showed how little open minded he was. "There's still nothing you've said that proves that it wasn't Lucifer's doing. To hear you, he is only a misunderstood benevolent angel now. Allow me to doubt your words. You put the blame on an angel who supposedly turned bad, and on this Lilith, who you have no proof even exists. That's very convenient don't you think?"

Chloe was really doing her best to cooperate, but that prick was very close to making her lose her temper. "I'm sure if you look for traffic footages of Lilith and her men around the areas I told you they have been to, you would find proofs of her existence. Lilith is vicious and more dangerous than any demon you could have encountered until now. She was the General of the Infernal Host, for God's sake! You should be focusing on finding her instead of losing your time in harassing allies. You couldn't take her seriously enough!"

Agent Spencer ended the escalation of emotions right there before it got out of hands by changing the subject. He apparently had a list of questions on his pad that he wanted to get through.

"Miss Decker, you haven't talked yet about that black man we've seen twice in the company of Mazikeen. Tell us who he is and what his involvement is in all of this."

Chloe hesitated a moment before concluding that she'd better tell the truth about him than letting them think he was a threat, or worse, a demon. "His name is Amenadiel. He is God's eldest son, the first Archangel, and he is battling evil with us."

All three men gasped in surprise. After having absorbed her words for a few moments, McMahon and Spencer seemed to regain their previous scepticism, while the priest still looked shocked, almost in awe.

Father Amantini felt shaken to the core. He remembered very well the strange mixt of vibes he'd felt in the warehouse after they'd retrieved the demonic black panther; a demonic vibe mixt with something else, something that he believed might be divine. Decker's explanation just made so much sense! He'd never encountered a real angel before, well, aside from the Devil himself, but that didn't really count, did it? Lucifer's vibes back then had felt almost as bad as a demon's. Almost. But there had been something about him that had convinced Amantini that he was really the Devil, as Lucifer had claimed high and loud at the time. With this new piece of puzzle, he really started to believe that what Decker was telling might have truth in it. It might even all be true! Still, it wasn't time to rush to conclusions. After all, the Devil was known to be a master at deception.

Assuming by their strong reactions that she'd at least scored some points, Chloe pursued with the hope of scoring some more. "Lucifer and his brother are very close. Amenadiel has been living here on earth for a while now and he knows how much Lucifer has changed for the better over the millennia and how much humanity now counts for him. Even God is trying to mend his relationship with Lucifer lately."

This time, even the priest seemed dubious at her words.

Chloe wasn't so sure she trusted God about that last part either. Lucifer may have accused his Father of multiple deceptions and bad deeds, but he never actually accused Him of being a liar. So she was ready to give God the benefit of the doubt.

Chloe bent a little over the table in her will to plead her cause. "I can't tell you enough that Lucifer and our group are not the danger here. Lilith and her demons are, along with the few remaining demonic creatures still roaming the city. We want the same thing as you do, which is to get rid of them and make this city, and this world, safe again."

They were all considering her words, even though Chloe knew beforehand that it wouldn't be enough to convince them to trust her and her friends.

Then Agent Spencer retrieved a picture from a folder, and after some hesitation he showed it to her. "Do you recognise this woman?"

Chloe's eyes bulged in recognition. "This is Lilith! Where did you get this? And those two guys are the demons we killed at The Laguna Club during Maze's attempted kidnaping. Do you know where Lilith is?" Had she not been handcuffed to the table, Chloe would have bounced up in excitement.

The three men on the other side of the table looked at each other for a moment, as if unsure what to make of her answer.

"No, we don't know of her whereabouts," finally answered Agent Spencer. "This picture was taken by a surveillance camera outside a house where a woman was kidnapped last Tuesday. Are you sure this is this Lilith you were talking about? "

Chloe nodded vehemently. "Oh yes! I could never mistake her for anyone else."

Even though Chloe had only gotten a glimpse of Lilith at the battle of the Abbey, it had been enough to remember her forever. The demon also looked a lot like her daughter, Lilim, which Chloe had seen from damn close enough.

Then Chloe's detective instinct kicked in. "You mean that Lilith was there herself for that kidnapping? That doesn't sound like her. From what Lucifer told me about her, Lilith usually sends her demons to do her bidding. That person she kidnapped must be very important to her if she took the trouble of doing it herself."

Spencer looked across at Father Amantini uncertainly, as if wondering if he should say more. Then the priest made the decision for him and took the lead.

"I think you are right about her importance, Miss Decker. The woman who was taken is known to be the grand-daughter and only surviving member of a very powerful witch's linage. The Vatican had been keeping tabs on her for years, just in case she would show interest in magic. But until now, she seemed to have lived a normal life, like her mother had before she died of a heart attack some years ago. What does that tell you, Detective Decker?"

Chloe's mind was working a hundred miles an hour to try and remember what Maze had told of a past encounter with a witch. "Are you talking about a descendant of the witch who summoned a few demons here in LA during the 70's? If I remember well, you caught two of those demons yourself Father Amantini."

"I see that Lucifer Morningstar has told you about my encounter with him back then and that I ruined his plans of invading LA with his demons."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Chloe sat back in her chair and crossed her arms as well she could with one wrist chained to the table. "You really got it all backwards did you? That witch was not working for Lucifer. It's actually Maze who told me of that story and of how Lucifer and she had to come up on Earth to stop that witch and bring back to Hell those demons she invoked. You missed three of them by the way! Did you really think that this witch went crazy and ended up in an asylum by chance? It was Lucifer who put up a show to insure that she would lose her mind and never be a threat to humanity ever again."

The way the priest's eyes were shifting, Chloe knew he was thinking hard, reconsidering his whole encounter with the Devil. In spite of everything he just heard, he still tried to keep his defenses up, if somewhat a bit unconvincingly. "You really think the Devil gives a damn about humanity?"

"I know so, because I know Lucifer. I wouldn't be in love with him if it wasn't so. But you're missing the point here, Father. I see only one reason why Lilith would kidnap that woman, which is to make her invoke more demons on Earth. Even if she never practiced magic, which we can't be certain of, she might have the gift and could very well learn to use it and get strong enough to make that kind of spell. Her mother could have thought her some things before she died or even have passed down to her some magic spell books as a heritage. We really have no time to lose. We need to find that witch before Lilith can exploit her abilities."

The agent rubbed his eyes as if trying to untangle his thoughts. He seemed increasingly confused, while the priest looked more and more won over.

General McMahon though was as steadfast in his beliefs as he was at the beginning of this interrogation. "And how can we be sure that this Lilith, or whoever she might be, was not working for you from the start? You could be trying to use that witch to bring back on Earth the Devil that you love so much."

Chloe just wanted to slap that son of a bitch!

The hatred she felt for him had to be showing in her voice and all her manners. "I don't deny that my greatest wish is for Lucifer to come back to me. He doesn't deserve to be in Hell, but I would never, ever, hurt a human being to achieve that."

The general stood up and leant on the table with both hands, a contemptuous little smile at a corner of his lips. "Again, let me phrase it in a simpler way. How do we know you're not as evil and deceptive as the Devil is?"

Chloe took in a bemused breath. As stupid and infuriating as that General could be, he was right. She had no way of proving anything. Even if her story made sense, they would never trust her enough to let her go. She might be locked up for good for all she knew...

What about Trixie? What about that new life inside her? If those men ever discovered that she was pregnant with Lucifer's child, or worse, if she had to give birth in prison? What would they do to her child?

Chloe's increasing distress caused her unborn child to stir inside her. She couldn't physically feel it move yet after only three weeks of pregnancy, but shecould feel it, feel its nervousness.

Chloe quickly sent calming vibes to her baby to appease it and herself in the process.

Everything's gonna be ok, Love! Mommy's here. I will protect you!

After taking a few deep breaths, Chloe realised that she'd closed her eyes to communicate with her child. When she opened them up again, Father Amantini was looking at her with a strange bemused look.

Spurred up by Chloe's lack of answer, the general stated triumphantly. "That's what I thought!"

Still staring at the priest, Chloe saw him be dragged back to the present by the general's words.

Father Amantini surprised everyone with his next intervention. "Can I talk to you outside for a minute sirs?"

"Now?" asked McMahon, clearly annoyed to be interrupted in a moment of apparent victory.

"Yes sir! It's very important."

Even though Agent Spencer seemed almost as much irritated by Amantini's interruption, he was the first up to follow him outside. Without much choice left to him, McMahon followed them, but not before sending Chloe a nasty little smile.

Chloe found herself alone with her depressive thoughts. The wait that she expected to last only minutes turned into hours. Or at least that's how it felt to her. When the three men finally came back, to her utmost surprise, Dan was brought in and handcuffed beside her. He didn't look beaten or mishandled. Thank God! He just looked tired and as relieved to see her as she was to see him.

As relieved as she could be right now, Chloe realised that if Dan had been brought in here with her, there was certainly a good reason. And that reason was most certainly to confront them with an inconsistency in their stories...

"Are you ok, Chloe?" Dan hurried to ask.

"I'm fine, Dan, don't worry about me," she reassured him with a convincing smile. At least she hoped it was convincing.

Agent Spencer didn't let them more time to talk and resumed his questioning right away. "Your story, Miss Decker, seems to be matching that of Detective Espinoza, in most parts. Still, there remains many holes in both your accounts of the events, among them an important detail that you most likely left out intentionally."

Chloe narrowed her eyes in apprehension. What now?

With a small nod from the FBI agent, Father Amantini took the lead and walked around the table to come and stand close to Chloe and look down on her. "We're still not sure if Detective Espinoza lied to us about it, or if he really believes he told the truth, but he assured us that you are, Miss Decker, a perfectly normal human being... But we both know you're not...

Chloe barely heard the surprised intake of breath coming from Daniel beside her, so strong was the feeling of panic settling down in the pit of her stomach.

What did they know about her?

Were they aware of her miraculous origin at the specific request of God? No! They couldn't know that.

Chloe looked up straight in the priest's eyes and suddenly remembered how he had confirmed Doom's nature this morning just by looking at him. Amantini was, after all, helping the FBI track down demons. Could he have a gift for sensing demonic and celestial vibes? Could he have felt her baby's essence and mistaken it for her own? It was the most logical explanation.

She could play that card! She had to play that card, and make sure to be very convincing. It might be their only way out. Human or not, it was great time that she accepted who she was, who she had become...

She was a miracle, Lover of the Devil, soon to be Mother of a celestial child, new Daughter of God, and actual Queen of the Underworld!

A strange serenity settled over Chloe as her decision was made.

"You're right!" Chloe began calmly, addressing to everyone in the room. "You could say that I am more than human now. Powers have been given to me that were approved by God. Powers that go beyond your imagination."

Chloe had the clear impression that her voice had lowered a few octaves. As strange as it sounded, it didn't worry her, on the contrary, it was giving her even more self-confidence.

As she'd been hoping, the three officials were now staring at her in stunned silence.

Chloe reached out to her new powers and in an instant, her handcuffs were dangling open around her wrist. She stood up slowly, radiating off as much power as she could without actually killing the men in the room.

She became conscious that she was actually glowing with power from the inside out.

Now her voice sounded downright otherworldly. "I have been very patient with you all and your questioning. I even endured your lacks of respect and false accusations. But I think ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! "

The three men had backed away from her, their backs now against the wall. If they had guns with them, she was certain they would be pointing them at her. Daniel's lower jaw was slack in amazement. He looked as though he would have backed away from her too if he weren't fasten to the table.

Chloe locked her glowing gaze with each man in front of her alternatingly. "You want to know what I am? Who I am? Then bring me to that demon you caught earlier in the woods. I will show you who I am!"

The three officials visibly gulped.

At that moment, two armed guards barged in, but the general ordered them to stand down. Then he looked at the priest for support, clearly out of his depth.

Father Amantini held Chloe's gaze for another long moment, jaw slack with awe.

The priest finally nodded to his colleagues. "We'll do what she asks. I'll take responsibility for whatever happens."

After Chloe untied Dan with only the brush of a fingertip over his handcuff, she let go of her power and reversed to her normal self. Everyone seemed to be breathing better after that.

They all followed Agent Spencer through the labyrinth of corridors, Chloe and Dan right behind him with General McMahon and Father Amantini behind them. Chloe made sure to be the one to set the pace though, and with the way she was walking and holding herself, she looked more like a Queen being escorted by her subjects than a prisoner. Which seemed to be annoying the general a great lot. Thanks for little joys!

All the way, Dan was looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. Chloe had to force herself not to look straight at him at the risk of breaking character. She needed to stay focus on her plan and devote herself entirely to it. She would make a damage control with him later. Now was not the time to worry about that.

An elevator requiring a special access card finally brought them five stories down. The doors opened up into a big laboratory well furnished with top of the art technology. Many scientists were hard at work over what looked like to be samples and such.

Chloe stopped short in her tracks and scanned the place with a growing malaise until she spotted what she most feared, but expected to see here. Farther in the room, behind transparent plastic sheets was an unconscious furred creature lying on a table and being poked and probed by doctors. Through the fury rising inside her, Chloe was also a bit ashamed for feeling a deep relief that it wasn't Doom on this table.

When Agent Spencer eventually noticed that everyone behind him had stopped following, he stopped too and turned around to see what the problem was.

"What's the meaning of this?" Chloe asked with barely contained anger to the three representatives. She let a bit of power flow through her to give strength to her words.

Spencer had the decency to look ashamed, while Amantini seemed down right disgusted by the situation.

Only the general held his chin high and looked proud of what was going on in there. "We have to study those creatures of the Underworld if we want to be able to defend ourselves against them. We're at war Miss Decker! I have a duty to this Nation."

Chloe clenched her jaw in contempt. "We'll talk about that later, General!" While saying that, Chloe made sure to make her eyes glow with pure white light, just for the benefit of McMahon.

She saw his condescending smile melt instantly, and be replaced by a look of near fear.

Good! That man needed to be thought some lessons.

Spencer eventually resumed leading them to the other side of the lab where was a corridor with numerous metallic doors on each sides. Through the doors' windows reinforced with Plexiglas and bars, they could see something moving inside a few cells. They could also hear banging against walls, as if they were shaken under the onslaught of powerful things.

Demonic creatures! Chloe was sure of it.

She could count at least four of them, possibly more. Maybe Doom was behind one of those Doors? Chloe was tempted to force Spencer to give her hound back to her right now, but she reminded herself that what she was attempting to do here was not only to impress them, but above all to make them trust her. She doubted that having a Hellhound beside her would help built that trust.

Spencer stopped before a door in the middle of the corridor and glanced inside for a moment before unlocking it. He stepped in and signaled them to enter.

Chloe wasn't surprised to find the werewolf-looking beast chained up to the wall and looking drugged, if somehow still conscious. The way it was tied up was giving it just enough freedom to stand half way up or lie down.

In spite of its instability on its feet, the creature stood up to them defiantly as best it could and surprised Chloe by hissing between its sharp teeth, "I will kill you for thisss, humansss!"

Chloe never thought that this creature would have enough intelligence to speak. Chance was on her side. This new development could play in her favor.

Chloe walked slowly to the demon, making sure to stay just out of reach of its claws. She looked down at it mightily in silence for a few moments, letting it time to study her and feel her presence.

The power Chloe was reaching to through her child was the one Michael said felt oddly like Lucifer's. The one that had burnt down the Soul Eater.

She let herself bath in it, without actually letting it escape her hold.

The demon's instinctive fearful reaction told Chloe that it had felt it alright.

Now was the time to play her cards right.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked solemnly with that new strange voice of hers.

The demon recoiled against the wall. "I... I'm not sssure... Thisss can't be! You are not the Lightbringer, and yet, you feel jussst like him. Are you an angel? You cccertainly are no demon."

Chloe's glowing gaze bore straight through the demon's eyes and down to its core. She could almost feel its fear of her.

"No! I am neither. Yet, I, AM YOUR QUEEN!" The last words echoed through the cell like a thunder rolling through the land.

The shock of understanding sent the demon down on its knees in a heartbeat, its head boing low in deference to its new monarch.

"My Queen! Have pity on me. I didn't know the Devil had chosssen hisss Queen. We thought he had abandoned usss. Lilith sssaid he had. Pleaaasss, pardon me!"

Chloe kept staring down at her subject in silence for a long moment. Behind her, no one dared to talk or intervene. Chloe lingered a little longer to let the tension build in the room.

As she spoke at last, Chloe maintained the flow of power coursing through her. "I can excuse your ignorance."

The demon lifted its head with renewed hope.

"However... I cannot pardon you for disobeying Lucifer's law that forbids any demons from coming on Earth without specific orders from him," the Queen added decisively.

The creature's face fell. "But... but Lilith ordered it!" he begged.

"And...," his Monarch stopped him, "what about the law that forbids demons from killing human beings?"

The creature opened its jaws to start explaining itself, but closed it quickly, apparently short of arguments.

The Queen nodded knowingly. "Tell me, what is the expected punishment for such derogations to the laws?"

"My Queen...," it begged meekly.

"TELL ME!"The Queen's voice boomed impatiently across the room.

Contrarily to the first time Chloe had behaved as the Queen of the Underworld to question a demon at the request of Maze, this time, it didn't feel like an act. Chloe was the Queen of Hell, and would act as such. There was no going back now. She would embrace everything Lucifer had bequeathed to her, and everything it meant to be the Devil's Soulmate.

Shakily, the demon whispered his answer to his Queen."Death..."

The Ruler of the Underworld let a long moment pass before letting her decision known. Again, nobody in the room dared to intervene in this celestial trial.

The Queen finally gave her judgment. "Death, it shall be then!"

The Ruler gathered her power and focussed it in the palm of her right hand to create a beam of blinding light that consumed the werewolf in a matter of seconds.

The Queen's justice had been dealt.

Once it was all over, Chloe exhaled and let go of her power. She used all her self-control not to let her hands shake. Even if it had been a dangerous creature of the Underworld, killing it had felt horrible. Executing a living being felt a lot different than killing in self-defence. Yet she knew she had done the right thing in the circumstances. She just prayed that it would be the first and last execution she would ever have to make. But somehow she doubted it.

Chloe gathered herself before turning around to her human audience. Now her status as Queen of Hell had been revealed and enforced to those humans. She tried to ignore once more the scared look on Daniel's face.

The game was not over yet.

With just the right amount of power to boost her voice, the Queen drove the last nail in. "Now you know who I am. As long as Lucifer isn't back, I, am the law for every Underworld demons or creatures who dare walk the Earth. YOU, are not! Is that clear?"

The general and FBI agent hesitated only for a second before nodding together.

Chloe kept eying them alternately, trying to evaluate if her message had really been clear. The priest looked like he had just seen an angel in the flesh, and the other two men didn't look much better.

Message received then!

Chloe hoped that their doubts about her possible evil nature had been properly dissipated with her show of celestial power. At least it should be for Father Amantini who seemed to feel her essence. As for the other two men, even if they still doubted her nature, they would certainly think twice about keeping her detained. Her powers were way too great to be contained or challenged by humans. The smartest thing for them now would be to let her go.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, everyone around her became as still as statues, and an armed to the teeth Maze appeared in front of her in Amenadiel's arms. The angel's wings were displayed dangerously, ready to strike at the fist danger.

Maze jumped down and looked Chloe up and down anxiously. "You okay Decker? Should I kill them all?"

"Nooo! Don't harm them, please!" Chloe quickly warned both of them.

"Chloe, what were you thinking?" asked Amenadiel in exasperation. "You should have prayed to me as soon as they arrested you. I would have come for you right away, or Michael could have. As it is, we could only guess what happened when we couldn't reach either of you."

Chloe sighed tiredly, and passed a hand through her loose hair. She was starting to feel the exhaustion of having used so much power.

"I haven't called you, because believe it or not, I have everything under control."

They just stared at her in evident disbelief.

Chloe growled in frustration. "Just... Trust me okay!"

Then she remembered what had been Mazikeen's last mission. "Maze...?" Chloe ventured with broken hope at not seeing Lucifer with them.

"I'm sorry... He couldn't come. Yet." Maze was fidgeting nervously. "Now's not the time to talk about it, but Lucifer left me a letter for you," she add softly.

Chloe felt burning tears starting to form. No! Now was not the time for sorrow. She would have plenty of time for that later. Apparently, God and she didn't have the same definition of the word «soon» after all.

Chloe sniffed her tears back in. "We'll talk about that later. For the moment. I need you here with me to deal with the FBI and that stupid general. I can't allow for them to keep demons locked up down here and experiment on them. Maze, I need you to send those demons back to Hell. Most importantly, we need to forge an alliance with the authorities so we won't be looking over our shoulders forever."

"You want us to reveal ourselves? asked Amenadiel, uncertainly.

"At this point, it won't make a big difference. They knew too much already and I just revealed myself as The Queen of Hell anyway. "

"Aoutch! Decker! I sure would have liked to see that play out," Maze chuckled in amusement.

Amenadiel didn't seem amused at all.

Chloe looked at him imploringly, knowing that he was the one to be convinced. "Our best course of action now is to show all our cards and convince them that we are on the same side. Please, Amenadiel. I need your help!"

After a long moment of processing, Amenadiel simply nodded.

Maze sighed dejectedly. "I much preferred the option of killing them!"

Author's note: There we are, the group working hand in hand with the Feds! Ha! Ha! Surprised by the turn of events? I certainly hope so ;) I so like to surprise you! :))) Please let me know how you liked this new chapter. Lucifer's return is so close! Can't you feel the fires of Hell? XD Thanks for reading, and commenting.