Duke looked back at him firmly. "Right now I need this," he said. "I need to take care of you two and make sure you're okay."

Lucifer getting hurt hadn't been his fault, and hitting Octavia had been the only thing he could do in the moment, and that knowledge would work its way down into his feelings about it all eventually. In the meantime . . . he wanted to hover.

"You know, now that I won't knock myself unconscious or go into a murderous rage just by trying."