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“Mr. Castile, the hunters are awake,” Terry tells Aiden as Aiden bites into a sandwich and hands me one for myself. I’m starving and take a huge monster-sized bite. Egg salad sandwiches are my favorite.
“Thank you, Terry, and please call me Aiden.” I don’t know how many times Aiden has corrected this, but he never seems annoyed to have to point it out again. “Just let me finish my sandwich.”
Before Terry leaves the room, he eyes Aiden strangely and looks to his sandwich. I share the same confusion. Demons don’t normally eat food, they can live fine off of souls alone, yet I’ve seen Aiden eat food a few times over the past few months.
“Why are you eating a sandwich?” I wonder, asking the question that was in Terry’s eyes.
“I stress eat,” he says after swallowing.
I squint at him as if searching for an answer, then I burst out laughing.
“I attained a taste for human food while I was around humans. I don’t need it, no, but I seem to crave it now and again, usually when I’m stressed out. I didn’t start relying on souls until I was almost twenty-one, and I lived with my step parents and siblings until about twenty-six, so there were a few years that I had to eat regular food to keep up a human appearance.”
“What happened?” I ask him. “I mean, I know that when you’re born a pure blood you have to kill someone before you have to rely on souls.”
Aiden looks surprised that I know this. “That wasn’t in any of the books I gave you,” he observes.
“Terry,” I answer.
He raises his brows. “Ah, of course.”
“At about age eighteen our minds start pushing us to kill and take on our true nature by making our tempers rise easily. My mother warned me about this before her death, so I was very careful when the time came. I was attacked at night, mugged, and this pure rage took over me. I turned, and I hit the guy out of instinct. I didn’t check my strength. I sent the poor guy flying into a brick wall and killed him instantly,” Aiden explains, monitoring my reaction.
“The poor guy? It was self-defense,” I argue.
He shrugs. “Still killed him. I had the ability to peel him off me and go on with my night.”
I shake my head. “He would’ve just attacked someone else.”
“Maybe,” he agrees. “But I don’t think he deserved to die.”
“You kill criminals all the time,” I remind him.
He nods. “They’re either killers or they harm children. I don’t have patience for either of those types of people. They both deserve death.”
I decide to change the subject. “So you’re stressed out about what’s downstairs. That’s why you’re eating a sandwich,” I state as a fact, not a question.
“Actually, no, I’m stressed out about you, your safety. I hate that you’re so fragile.” He finishes his sandwich, washes his hands, and dries them on a dish towel.
I pick up the second half of mine and bite into it. “Don’t worry about me. You have no reason to.”
“Megan, you’re my responsibility, and I care for you. Your life is important to me,” he says sternly.
“I have a question. Is Terry a guard or a servant?” I ask curiously. The question is kind of random, but it’s something that I’ve been curious about for quite a while. He performs both guard and servant duties. I’ve asked him before what exactly he is, and he just shrugged, as if he was unsure.
“Neither and both. He’s my butler sort of. I guess he’s like my right-hand man. I’m going downstairs to speak with my brothers, sister, and their buddy. I’ll be back later. If you’re off to bed, then goodnight.”
I finish my sandwich and then delve into a book, just as I usually do before bed. It isn’t long before Aiden returns, his face expressionless.
“Crispen is asking for you. I would normally ignore him, but I think you two have lots to talk about. If you don’t want to talk to him, then you definitely don’t have to. He’s behind ruby encrusted bars, and there’s no way he can get out.”
I swallow hard, but agree because I need closure with Crispen. I need to know what the entire reason is for him wanting me dead so badly. I can’t bring myself to believe that it’s merely what he says it is.
I know where the stairs leading to the basement are, so I find my way easily to where Aiden is keeping his siblings. Aiden comes with me for what I assume is moral support or supervision.
All three of them are in the set of cells closest to where we came down. There are nearly fifty cells down here, I’m not sure what for. They’re all empty. I’ve never been down here before now. I look down the hall lined with cells and see a door at the end. I assume that this is where Aiden goes to eat all the time. I am tempted to go through that door, but when I see Crispen, still covered in blood but healed, my heart sinks. His usual happy smirk is nowhere to be seen, and he looks like he’s about to blow steam from his ears. Sharing a cell with Crispen is Mason, and beside their cell Aria and the fourth hunter share a cell.
“You wanted to speak to me,” I say blankly, keeping my expression hidden. My heart races in my chest, and I feel nervous and scared, two emotions I never thought I’d feel around Crispen. Mason stares at me from behind Crispen, his eyes full of hatred. What reason do they have to hate me so god-damned much?
“What’s wrong with you?” Crispen demands venomously.
“Don’t even get me started. I’m a bit of a wreck, but you know that.” I make sure to keep a safe distance between me and the cage bars.
Crispen’s eyebrows pull together. “You’re living with a demon, Megan. What the hell!” Crispen is full of anger.
“Does it look so bad? I’m safe here, I’m wanted here, I feel like I actually belong somewhere for the first time in my life, Crispen. You of all people should know how badly I’ve needed this.”
“Is that all? You’re staying here because you think you’re like them?” He sneers, looking to Aiden. “You think that because of your blood, you belong with them?”
“Where is this hate coming from, Crispen? It’s not you.”
“Hell if it isn’t. Do you not recall me protecting you from these very bastards for weeks? They were after you, wanted to kill you.” Crispen’s jaw tightens, and he looks like he’s about to explode.
I cross my arms. If he’s going to bite, I’ll bite back. “Tell me, what is it that makes demons so evil? If they were trying to kill me, then why haven’t they yet? They didn’t want to kill me. My father just wanted to find me. Blayk and Landon are my half-brothers.”
I see Mason’s eyes bulge in surprise as I mention my relatives.
“Their very existence,” Crispen snarls. “You haven’t been immersed in this world long enough to see it, but they’re all evil. They’re playing you like a fiddle. They’re as dark as a creature can possibly be. They are hell itself. The things I’ve seen, oh, you wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen.” He shakes his head slowly and grimaces.
“Centuries ago, things were out of hand with the demons, brother, we were at war with ourselves, but now I can assure you that many of us are not as evil as you seem to think we are.” Aiden speaks up. “We have treaties with human world leaders, and we have rules and laws so we don’t become discovered by the majority of the human population.”
“Yes, exactly, demon, you have rules and laws so you don’t get discovered by humans, not because it’s morally right not to mess with humans, killing them, playing with them, torturing them, sucking their souls out, spreading demonic diseases through the population, and I could go on. Let me ask you, when was the last time you killed a human? Today, yesterday?” Crispen taunts.
Aiden swallows, glances to me, and then back to Crispen before answering, “This morning. I have to eat, or I’ll die, you know.”
“So you’d rather kill people on a near weekly basis than take your own life and end it all? That there is warped.”
“I have more control than that. I can go over a month,” Aiden argues.
Aria, Crispen, and Mason all look slightly surprised by this.
“Okay, so you’ve been alive for three hundred and some years. That means you’ve killed roughly three thousand and some humans in your lifetime alone. Tell me that’s not evil. Tell me that I’m the murderer here!” Crispen shouts, slamming against the bars. The ruby inside of them burns his skin, and he jumps backwards. Crispen’s words hit home hard. Three thousand people is a lot of people. A lot of people. Putting it into perspective like that is overwhelming, and I realize that Crispen has a valid point here. I suddenly feel sick at the thought of Aiden killing all of these people. “And even if you don’t kill them, and you change them into demons, guess what, they’re going to kill and create more too, adding more blood onto your hands! You have no conscience, no regrets! You’re a monster!”
I glance to Aiden who stands with his hands in his pocket in the corner of the cement room. I don’t know why, but I expect him to look unperturbed. When I look at him, I’m surprised to see defeat and pain on his face. He literally winces as if he’s been kicked in the nuts. Crispen has gotten to him. The two stare each other down momentarily, then Crispen turns to me again.
“How can you care at all for a monster like that?!” he challenges me.
I take a single step closer to the bars. “How many demons have you killed in your lifetime?”
He looks confused by my question. “I don’t know hundreds, maybe thousands.”
“Then what makes you any less of a murderer than Aiden?” I question.
“Let’s say I’ve killed only fifty demons. If all fifty of them lived as long as Aiden has then do the math, how many human lives have I saved by exterminating those demons?” Okay, Crispen has another point.
“Megan, don’t bother. He’s right, I don’t doubt that. I am a monster.” Aiden bites his bottom lip.
“Even he admits it, so why are you still here with him on their side?” Crispen tries again. “Do you want to end up like him? A monster?”
I focus on Aiden, making eye contact. “You’re far from a monster, okay? You rid the world of serial killers and pedophiles. You keep the world safe. I happen to think that’s heroic.”
Aiden’s eyes light up just enough for me to notice, then he blinks and a stoic expression takes over his face.
“If you didn’t take out those people, then they’d probably find more victims.” I turn back to Crispen. “Did you know that your brother only kills criminals, people who mean humans harm?” I smile as Crispen’s expression slips for a moment, before he can pull himself together. I can tell that, no, he didn’t know this.
Mason gets up and stands beside Crispen. Both men stare me down in silence as if they have nothing more to say, though I know that’s not the case.
“Is that true?” a crystal-like voice chimes from the cell next to Crispen and Mason’s. Aria stands now too, staring at Aiden.
Aiden says nothing but gives a small nod of the head.
“It doesn’t change anything,” Crispen voices, taking a moment to glare at Aria.
“In the scheme of things, it does not. I wish it did. Unfortunately, you’re still what you are. You still kill humans, and you still...you’re still a demon.” Aria looks at me momentarily before sitting back down.
Mason finally speaks up. “Why are we locked up down here? What do you want with us exactly? Is this some sick game to you?”
“You morons keep attacking me, and I keep throwing you on your asses. I have Megan to look out for now, and I can’t have you guys running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I can’t have you barging in here after Megan and putting her life in danger. She’s not even a fricken pure demon yet, and you’re after her ass. Why?”
Crispen explains that he’s after me because even though I’m not a demon, siding with one is just as bad and basically the same thing. Aiden then lips him off, cusses, and kicks a chunk of cement into his thigh.
“Why not just kill us, or do you not know how?” Crispen wonders.
“I know how to kill you, and I could make you what I am, but I’d rather not take away your souls without your permission, nor would I like to kill my siblings, even if not by blood.”
Aria squints at Aiden as if trying to see through a lie that doesn’t exist.
“He’s lying. If he knew how to kill us, he’d kill us. Demons don’t feel compassion or love by any means. Megan, he’ll tell you whatever he needs to tell you to convince you that he’s a good person. I hope you realize that.” Mason looks to me hopefully. “You can’t possibly trust anything that he says.”
I don’t get the chance to reply because Aiden says, “You know, I should be the one who hates you three. You attack me constantly, kill good people demon or not without even giving them a chance, and you killed my daughter. My daughter; your niece. You killed her, Crispen. You killed the thing I cared about most in my life. Is that not punishment enough for me, having to live an eternity without her?” When Aiden mentions his daughter, his level of anger and frustration rises significantly. His face goes red, and I can tell that he’s struggling to contain himself. “You have no idea how painful it is to know that my own brother killed my daughter. What kind of monster does that, hmm?”
Aria’s head rises, and she looks between the two men. “You did what, Crispen?” Aria doesn’t know?
Crispen turns to her smiling. “I killed his demonic bitch of a daughter, just like he said, Aria.”
“You killed...you killed my niece? I was an aunt? I didn’t even know that. Why has this never come up?” Aria demands, clearly pissed off. She seems to catch herself though, because her expression smooths over, and she brushes her hair with her fingers as if embarrassed by her outburst.
“I didn’t tell you because I know you have a soft spot for kids, and you’re emotionally weak at times. I didn’t tell Mason because I knew he’d tell you.”
This seems to enrage Aria. Her eyes shoot daggers at her brother. “What was her name?” she asks Aiden then, her eyes softening a little again.
“Karly. Her name was Karly. She was a halfling. She had the same eyes you have. Vivid blue,” Aiden says this while smiling, and I know that he appreciates her curiosity and genuine concern over her brother killing Karly.
“Aria, snap out of it. Are you for real right now?” Crispen demands, shaking his head. Mason seems to snap back into reality with these words as he too seemed interested in Karly for a mere moment.
Aria clears her throat and turns her back to everyone. The fourth hunter seems to be sleeping. No doubt he’s not as strong as the other three and needs more rest to heal.
“Are you saying you raped a human?” It’s Mason who asks this, sounding completely disgusted.
“Of course not!” Aiden shouts angrily. He then curses, scowling at his brother. “I fell in love with a human, though I doubt any of you even know what love is.”
Crispen scoffs. “And you do? Right.”
“How old was she?” Aria asks, turning back to face Aiden. “Karly, I mean, when she...died.”
“She was fifteen.”
Aria gapes. “Crispen! You killed a child? A halfling child? Why? You could have at least made her a hunter. What is wrong with you?”
Crispen is then in Aria’s face through the bars separating them. “A demon is a demon, you know that.”
“You didn’t kill Megan when you found her, she’s a halfling.”
“That was a mistake.” Crispen makes eye contact with me full of hate. “A moment of weakness.”
I can’t get over the extreme coldness in his eyes. It’s like he’s a completely different person than the Crispen I know and loved.
“What became of her mother?” Aria asks, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and begging Aiden for answers.
“She passed away young from cancer.”
Aria seems to be satisfied with her answers and shuts up. I can’t even imagine the fight that will instill between her and her brothers about this later. Crispen glares at her like she’s the demon in the room. Mason seems at a loss, like he doesn’t know what to think or feel.
A tear slides down her cheek, and she quickly brushes it away before they can see, but I see it, and by the look on Aiden’s face he seen it too. A look of fascination and confusion takes form on his face as he stares at her.
“I think it’s time for us to go to bed,” Aiden suggests to me.
I nod in agreement. If I stay down here any longer, I might do something stupid. I turn, and as soon as I do, a dull whistle sounds and Aiden is no longer in front of me. I turn to see him holding the chunk of cement he’d kicked at Crispen earlier. He clutches it so hard that it shatters into dust. I’m amazed by this amount of strength.
“I thought it was worth a shot,” Crispen grunts.
“What just happened?” I ask, not getting the situation at all.
“He just whipped this at your head in an attempt to kill you.”
