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Early in the morning, while in bed, I awaken to a man’s scream and jump out of bed. Aiden has allowed me to have a ruby knife for hunters and a brass knife for demons in my room for my own safety. I pull both from my nightstand drawer just as Terry comes hurdling into the room without knocking.
“Megan, you’re going to have to get down to the cellar. The captives have escaped,” he says in a harsh whisper. I clench my teeth as fear bursts through me. I know that by the time I get to the cellar, one of the four will catch me, even with twenty-four guards holding them back. I also know that if I stay here, they will find me just as fast. I am dead. Especially if Crispen finds me first.
I glance to the clock. I usually get up in an hour, and Aiden said he’d be home before I got up. I pray that he comes home soon, like right now. I try to tell myself that I’m going to die in the next few months anyways, so I shouldn’t be freaking out, but, well, I’m freaking out.
Terry comes towards me, and I know he’s thinking about picking me up and carrying me to the cellar. The cellar is across the house. I know we won’t make it. We’d have to run right by them.
“Wait,” I demand and run from the room.
Terry’s eyes widen in surprise, and he follows me. I run into Aiden’s bedroom. It’s only the second time I’ve been in here. The first time was when I first moved in, and I accidentally mistook his room for my own, as they’re next to each other.
I search the huge room frantically for what I’m looking for. My eyes dart around quickly, until I find a medium-sized picture frame on one desk. Ah ha! I grab it and take a seat on the bed. I know this is a long shot, but I know I saw the way both Mason and Aria reacted to hearing about Aiden’s daughter.
Terry looks to me confused, but then smiles. “You think that will work?” he asks me, as he eyes the object in my hand.
I shake my head. “No, it’s a long shot, but it’s all I have right now.”
He smiles sadly and nods. “You’re clever, Megan.” I think it’s the first time he’s ever called me by my first name. I smile at him appreciatively, even though I’m shaking with fright.
Terry retreats into the hallway and only seconds later, a flash of movement catches my eye as someone enters the room. Aria stops in front of me. Her eyes widening when she sees what I hold.
“Is that...?” she starts.
I nod and hand her the picture slowly.
“Oh my gosh. I know she’s not technically blood related to me, but I think she has my eyes, look,” Aria points enthusiastically. “God, I’ve always wanted a child. Hunters can’t reproduce.” I’m not sure if she says the last part to me or to herself. “She’s so beautiful.” I get up slowly, bringing my knives with me and pick up another picture from a different spot. I hand it to her carefully.
“Oh, and this is the child’s mother, isn’t it? What a lovely woman. I wonder if she knew what he was.”
“I’m not sure,” I answer. “He talks about her often. He loved her.”
Aria looks between the two pictures a moment longer in silence and a tear falls down her cheek. “Megan, we have to get you out of here. Crispen and Jayden won’t hesitate to kill you, and I don’t fully trust Mason either.”
“There’s no time,” I press, happy that my plan has at least bought me some time.
“I think we can get you out of here,” she insists just as Mason and Jayden come through the door. Never mind.
Aria turns and holds up a hand, warning them to stop. Then she hands the photo frames to Mason. Mason takes them, a muscle moving in his jaw.
“I don’t like this. I don’t like that Crispen killed Aiden’s daughter,” Mason states blankly. “But I also don’t like that he’s a demon. I don’t think Megan should necessarily be punished for staying with Aiden either. She’s a halfling, not a full demon. She’s not a threat. Not now while she has her soul. She’s defenseless and basically human. I feel it’s wrong to kill her, although my body senses her demon blood and wants me too. I have morals, believe it or not.”
Jayden smiles. “I only came along with you guys because I thought we were going off to kill demons. No one said anything about a halfling, and I don’t kill halflings. They’re basically human.”
“I love Crispen, but he is wrong here. I won’t hurt Megan either,” Aria adds, just as a quick movement behind them catches my eye. I expect it to be Crispen, but it’s Aiden. He snaps Jayden’s neck like a twig and then Mason’s, before I can understand what is going on. The pictures Mason holds hit the ground with a crash as the glass breaks.
“Stop!” I cry. I know this won’t kill them, but it has to hurt. “She’s not going to hurt me!”
Aiden stops, standing between Aria and I. He glowers at her and then looks to me. There’s something in his eyes that I don’t quite understand at first. Then I realize that it’s ice. His eyes are not warm right now but cold. I wonder just how cold.
I rush over to Mason and grab the pictures with broken frames from beside him. I then hand them to Aiden. Aiden stares at them a moment before closing his eyes for a near minute as if fighting with himself. He opens them and meets eyes with Aria who looks a little frightened.
“I don’t like coming home from a shitty meeting in the place I hate most to find my psychotic siblings attacking and killing my guards, servants, and the only person on this earth that I can actually stand,” Aiden growls. He tosses the broken picture frames onto the bed gently. “How did you get out?”
“Crispen had a house key in his pocket that your guards missed. With Jayden’s help, the guys ground it on the cement and fashioned it into a viable lock pick,” Aria answers smoothly.
Mason and Jayden get up to their feet, taking the scene in. Apparently neck snapping doesn’t put them out of commission long.
While Aiden’s distracted by Mason and Jayden’s motion and not paying attention, something moves behind him quickly, and suddenly there is a brass knife through the back of his ribcage and out the front of his chest.
I gasp in complete shock. No, no this can’t be happening. He can’t die.
Aiden slumps to the ground.
Everyone jumps on Crispen before he can reach me and tackles him to the ground. The cusses, shouts, and insults don’t phase me, because I’m too caught up in Aiden’s limp body on the floor. This is not happening. How? I’ve watched the way he fights before, he’s a god. How has this happened?
Terry comes limping into the room, clearly injured. He doesn’t look taken aback by the scene in front of him which surprises me. I warn him not to fight the hunters, he won’t stand a chance.
He comes and sits beside me, worry in his eyes. No doubt worry for me.
“Tie him up and take him home,” Aria instructs Jayden. “I’m staying here with Megan, until Crispen is locked up and isn’t a threat to her. She can’t stay here unprotected. When he’s locked up, let me know. Mason, go if you want, but I’m staying. I’ll get Megan set up with a plane ticket and get her somewhere that Crispen won’t find her.”
“You bitch!” Crispen shouts at Aria.
Aria rolls her eyes.
“If you’re staying then I am too. I’m not leaving you in a demon’s home alone. Even if that demon is dead. There are too many others around.”
Mason finds some rope from somewhere in the house, then Jayden drags Crispen from the building. I am surprised that Aria and Mason stay with me. They must know that they’re risking their lives. If other demons come, that could be it for them.
We all sit in silence for a while, Terry stares out the window watching Jayden take away Crispen.
“Okay, they’re gone,” Terry sighs. “Megan, do you trust these two?” he asks referring to Aria and Mason.
I shrug. “They haven’t tried to kill me yet, and they’re risking their lives being here.”
He nods. “Very well.”
I wipe tears away from my eyes while Aria and Mason stare at their brother on the floor. I can’t tell if they’re sad or what emotion they feel.
“I don’t know what to think about this. I’m only here because I don’t want to leave Aria alone with demons, and I don’t think Megan deserves death,” Mason mutters.
Terry walks over to Aiden, flips him around and then looks to Aria, Mason and me. “Very well then, since I doubt I can convince you to leave, please listen closely. None of you will tell anyone ever about what is about to happen.”
Aria, Mason and I stare at each other and then nod in unison. Confusion taking over all three of our expressions.
I let the tears flow from my eyes, as I stare at Aiden’s unmoving body.
“I need your word,” Terry grumbles.
We all give him our word.
Terry clutches the handle of the knife and pulls it out from Aiden’s back. Then he flips him back over onto his back. “You three should leave the room if you value your lives, he will be hungry when he awakens and anything with a soul will be ideal. He won’t be able to control the hunger.”
Shocked, I stare at Terry. “What? He’s not dead?”
“No, he is not dead. He is too powerful to die from such a silly blade.” Terry laughs at my revelation.
Aria and Mason look just as confused as I feel. Terry motions for the door, and I decide I better get out of here, before I get my soul sucked out. My heartbeat returns to a regular pace, as I realize that Aiden is going to be okay. Holy hell. I almost had a heart attack. I just thought I just lost the only person that truly cares about me.
Terry zips by us no doubt off to grab Aiden a snack from the room in the basement.
When the three of us make it out to the main living room, we take in the slaughter of guards in the small space. My hand flies to my mouth, and the pain of loss overwhelms me again. I’ve gotten to know many of the guards who have been killed the past few days by the hunters, and now they’re all dead.
“Oh my god...” I trail off, staring at the mess. Blood is everywhere. At least last time when this all went down it mostly happened outside. This time there are at least twenty bodies leaking blood everywhere. I wonder if the servants were all killed along with the guards. Terry seems to be the only survivor. Aiden will need all new furniture and carpet. Everything will need bleach. “These poor people...”
I find my two personal guards Hermus and Vandike sprawled out on the floor and shake my head quickly as if trying to erase the image from my head. They died protecting me. All of these people died protecting me. My stomach feels like it drops out my butt. Dear god.
Terry races into the room with a person slung over his shoulder. “Stand back from them, if any are still breathing, they’ll suck out your soul to heal without even thinking.”
Aria’s eyes widen. “Of course. Come on.”
She tugs my forearm and leads me into the kitchen where we all sit at the table.
“I’m so sorry about all of this,” she whispers. “The hunter in me has no sympathy towards demons. I need to stay more in touch with my humanity.”
Mason groans. “No, Aria, you don’t. Demons are still demons. Crispen just went too far with wanting to kill. I don’t believe in killing halflings. They are half human.”
“Mason, I really don’t know what to think anymore. I mean, he killed our niece, demon or not she was a child and only a halfling.”
“Yes, I’m aware. I know. He has no sympathy for anything demon related,” Mason admits.
“We’re in no way demons, but do you think he’ll come after us for being demon sympathizers or something now?” Aria asks Mason who shrugs and shakes his head.
“No. We’re not demons. It’s the blood that makes him all crazy. It’s why I was so surprised when he risked his life protecting Megan from Blayk and Landon all that time,” Mason grumbles and steals a banana from the table.
“I don’t get it. How can he go from being my best friend to wanting me dead?” I ask them, hoping for answers.
Mason speaks up. “He loved you, you got kidnapped by demons, and you chose those demons over him, then you came to visit him with his biggest enemy, then got in a brawl and stabbed him. I think it’s fair to say that he hates you for multiple reasons.”
Aria sighs and runs her fingers through her beautiful long hair. “He’s always been the most controlled by his instincts. We thought having you around would change his ways and his attitude. It did change it for a time then what Mason said all happened. Sometimes he picks a target, and he won’t stop hunting that target until they’re dead. He gets wrapped up in the hunt and nothing can stop him. We’ve followed Aiden around the world for this very reason. Crispen won’t let up, although we’ve failed so many times over.”
“It’s an obsession,” Mason adds.
“It’s why I’ve been travelling the world,” Aria adds. “I couldn’t take his attitude anymore, so I left him with Mason.”
One question still remains, how did I not notice this or see it coming.
“I don’t think I could go from loving someone one day to wanting to kill them the next.” I straighten in my chair and take the last banana on the table.
“He’s letting instinct rule him instead of common sense, emotion, and intelligence. We have the ability to block out our humanity. We don’t dare do it, because we end up no better than the demons, but Crispen was hurt after you left, and we think he shut his off. It’s not the first or tenth time he’s done this. He does it whenever he feels emotional pain, then we have to deal with consequences until he snaps out of it,” Mason tells me almost reluctantly. I wonder if it’s because he hates comparing hunters to demons. “Don’t get me wrong, either way, we want to kill the demons more than anything, but we can control ourselves, have restraint, and the ability to use common sense. When we drop this control and rely on our instincts, we lose our heads and make dumb decisions, but it keeps us from feeling emotions that we should feel, even if they’re painful. Crispen can be a baby quite honestly.”
What they tell me doesn’t really make me feel any better about the situation.
“Megan, just so you know, when or if you decide to become a demon, just know, that I will not show mercy. Once you’re a demon, you are fair game. You are like any other demon. I just want you to understand that,” Mason tells me grimly. “I’m here only because Aria is and because you’re a halfling.”
Aria stares at me but doesn’t say anything. I wonder what she’s thinking.
“I’m not going to become a demon,” I inform them with an eye roll. “Don’t worry. I choose death over giving up my soul.”
“You could become a hunt-” Mason starts, but I cut him off.
“No, I can’t live that life either. I won’t hurt anyone.”
“Coming here, we didn’t know that Crispen wanted to kill you, Megan. We thought he wanted to take you back to our place. We thought this was a rescue mission,” Aria admits. “I never would’ve gone along with this had I known. I’m sorry.”
I nod, accepting her apology. Silence ensues.
When Aiden steps into the room, I sigh with relief and jump up to go hug him. He wraps his arms around me tightly, as I squeeze him.
“Hmm, three of us in the same room, and you haven’t attacked me yet. What’s changed?” Aiden asks, no warmth in his voice. This is unlike Aiden, and I can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with his business trip.
“We were just staying long enough for you to wake up and make sure Crispen or someone didn’t come and hurt Megan,” Aria explains, and the two of them stand up.
Aiden disappears from my side in an instant and slams Mason into a wall. “You guys picked a really bad time to piss me off. I just spent far too much time in hell to deal with this problem maturely. I’ve warned you to stay off my property and to quit following me, how many times? I’m done. This crossed the line. If Megan would have gotten hurt, you’d all be suffering, you’re lucky I’m feeling a little bit of mercy, and I’m only going to punish one of you. Or maybe that’s worse, actually because the other two will make your life a living hell like they’ve done mine.” Aiden’s voice is surprisingly cold, bone chilling.
“Aiden, it’s okay, let them go,” I encourage him in a shaky voice. His behavior reminds me of Adison.
Terry comes into the room, no longer limping. “You cannot stop him, Megan. He is not in control of himself. Each day he will become more himself. It usually takes three to four days. Until then, you must be careful. Do not taunt or push him.”
Of course, everyone else also hears this. Aiden smiles while the other two grimace. Of course he must be all crazy now.
“Aiden, chill out. They didn’t hurt me,” I remind him.
“Crispen would’ve if he could, and he did stab me in the back in an attempt to kill me.”
He has a point, but I’m not sure it warrants whatever he’s about to do now.
“I’m tired of the three of yours bullshit,” Aiden warns. He doesn’t swear often, so this scares me a little. I wince. He’s gone from gentleman to savage in less than twenty-four hours.
Aria jumps on Aiden, and Aiden elbows her harshly, sending her flying into a wall. Mason struggles to get free. I grip the brass knife in my hand. If I can get it through his heart, then maybe we can leave him like that for a few days until he gets over this moodiness.
Terry must see me grip my knife, because he shakes his head sadly. “They’ve been trying to kill him for three hundred years. It’s time they learn their lesson. Do you know how many guards they’ve killed? Servants? Innocent demons?”
Three hundred years is a long time, but I know for a fact that Aiden will regret whatever he’s about to do once he snaps out of his mood. What Terry says may be true, but they are family to Aiden. He will regret this. I know he will.
Aiden mumbles a few words in another language, then the familiar sight of a smoke-like substance passes between the two men. Aiden is clearly turning Mason into a demon.
I gasp, my hand flying to my gaping mouth. Holy shit.
Aria races towards them but then seems to change her plans. She runs up to me and slams me into a wall, holding a knife to my throat.
“Hurt my brother and I’ll hurt her, Aiden! I don’t want to, but I will!”
Aiden pulls away from Mason, and Mason drops to the floor in a slump. Aiden laughs and flicks his wrist, this somehow seems to send Aria flying across the room.
“Aiden, enough!” I shout, I’m so done with the violence and hate. Yes, I agree that Aria, Crispen, and Mason need to bugger off and find a new demon to chase, but I don’t think Mason deserves to have to give up his soul and ultimately his free will without his consent. Death would be a kinder alternative.
Aiden looks to me and seems to find his way out of the haze a little. He blinks rapidly and shakes his head. Aiden glances to Mason and races to his side. He cusses again, and I watch as he returns Mason’s soul to him. He must’ve had doubts before I yelled at him, or he would’ve ‘swallowed’ Mason’s soul and not kept it as if unsure. Then Aiden pulls Mason up and sets him into Aria’s arms.
“Get out of here now. I am not in control. The ritual has been performed on him. If someone sucks his soul, his fate is set in stone. I am so sorry,” Aiden says quickly and points to the door. “You have to go.”
Aiden grips his head with both hands and makes a terrible noise. He falls to his knees. I stare in shock beside Terry.
“Aiden is strong. He is fighting the darkness. I’ve never seen him snap out of it like that. I believe he has you to thank for his brother’s soul remaining intact. Come now, shall we give him some privacy?”
I’m about to turn and follow Terry reluctantly, when Aiden calls my name as though he’s in pain. I face him and squat down. I’ve never seen him so...fragile, so weak and vulnerable, so not in control.
“Yes?” I ask softly.
“Thank you,” he answers, sounding more like the Aiden I’m used to. “Go with Terry, but stay inside where it’s safe.”
I stare at him a second longer. “Are you alright?”
“I’ll be fine, Megan, don’t worry about me.”
