Soon, the girls' eotions stabilized, and they calmed down. They were still scared, but at least they knew they were safe. And that was enough for them.
Lucifer then turned to Claire, who had been silent all this time. She just stood there, watching everything unfold before her with a stoic expression on her face.
But Lucifer didn't miss the subtle trembling of her hands or the slight moisture on the corners of her eyes. Those were signs that she was trying to hold back her emotions and remain calm. However, he wasn't going to let her suffer alone. Not when he could ease her worries.
"Claire." Lucifer called out to her. When she didn't respond, Lucifer walked up to Clair and wrapped his arms around her waist. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Claire shook her head slightly, but she didn't move away from his embrace. Her body felt rigid and stiff under his touch, as if she were a statue made of stone. Yet despite her lack of movement, Lucifer could feel her heartbeat racing against his chest, pounding away like a drum.
"It's over, Claire. You can relax now." Lucifer whispered into her ear while caressing her hair. "No one will harm you anymore. So just let go of that fear and relax, alright?"
A sigh escaped Claire's lips as she relaxed into Lucifer's arms. She closed her eyes and allowed all the tension in her body to drain away like melting ice under the sun. After that, she wrapped her hands around Lucifer's waist and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
"Thank you." That was all Claire managed to say before tears started flowing down her cheeks without warning. She couldn't hold back anymore and began pouring out all the emotions she had bottled up inside. All the stress, fear, anxiety, worry, and frustration of the past few minutes came out in a single moment.
Her muffled sobs shook Lucifer's heart, reminding him of how vulnerable this woman could be despite her strength.
And in that moment, Lucifer realized how much he liked this girl. This beautiful woman who had a tough exterior but was soft on the inside. She may act cold and indifferent, but he knew there was more to her than that. She wasn't just an emotionless doll or a machine that followed orders without question. She was a human being with her own thoughts and feelings.
A real person who felt happiness, sorrow, pain, anger, and joy just like everyone else.
A woman with so much to give. A woman who deserved love and affection.
'Yes, she does.' Lucifer thought to himself as he tightened his grip on Claire's body, holding her close to him. Then he lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
As soon as Lucifer gave in, Melody and the others cheered and giggled in excitement. Their eyes sparkled like stars, shining brighter than ever before. They looked so happy that it warmed Lucifer's heart to see them like this. It was like seeing flowers blooming in spring after a long winter.
'Is this really something to be so happy about? Just what are these girls thinking?' Lucifer wondered but didn't bother asking them since he liked having them close to him as well.
"So, where should we go?" Lucifer asked Melody and the other girls. "Do you all have any place in mind? Or do you want me to choose somewhere?"
"Why bother? We can just stay in this hotel!" Melody suggested. "It's late already, so we wouldn't find anywhere decent anyway. We might as well enjoy ourselves here, right?"
"Huh, but don't you think that's kind of inappropriate?" Elena chimed in with a frown on her face. "I mean, we can't let our guard down after what happened tonight. Plus, what if the media reports about it? We don't want to be associated with any kind of scandal."
"Come on, it'll be fine!" Susan joined in and took Lucifer by the arm, leaning into him with a mischievous grin. "Besides, I bet you guys are also too tired to go out, aren't you? Let's just rest here for tonight."
Lila also nodded her head. "I agree. I don't want to go around searching for a place to stay in such a big city. And I definitely don't want to spend the whole night alone. Not after everything that happened here."
Lucifer glanced at the other girls and saw them nodding in agreement as well. Even Claire seemed willing to go along with the idea.
"Alright, alright. We can stay here for tonight then." Lucifer gave up. He was a bit tired from using the new power, and it didn't sound too bad staying in a hotel anyway. "I am sure the hotel management will give us a few rooms for free to stay tonight; after all, it was their fault the security was compromised and allowed this to happen in the first place."
Lucifer's words caused Rina to smile and nod her head. "Yes, that would be the best course of action. We can take multiple rooms for appearance's sake, but we can stay together in a single room for as long as we wish."
"Okay. I will handle the reservation. You all wait here for a bit." Claire said and walked away to talk to the hotel manager, making arrangements for their stay. He became surprised at first when he heard Claire asking for seven rooms but agreed without complaint, offering her several free rooms to spend the night. He even promised to have someone prepare a special dinner for them to enjoy.
With the arrangement settled, Lucifer took Melody and the other girls up to his hotel room and sat on the bed. They all sat next to each other, talking about what happened and sharing their thoughts about the experience.
Everyone was still shaken up by the events that had transpired, but they felt better after getting it off their chests. It was a bit difficult at first, but once they started talking, it was like they couldn't stop themselves. They talked about everything that came into their heads and expressed their emotions like they never had before without holding back anything.