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Author: Midika
last update Last Updated: 2022-05-23 08:12:18
~Aspen

Kastriv helped me tend to Kaia wounds, before allowing her to rest upstairs while we came down to talk.

I barely get to sit down before Kastriv starts speaking. "You can't go back."

"I don't want to make this difficult for everyone...What if he seriously pursues this?" I question.

Would Oliver kill me? Absolutely, and he would get away with it as well, once he exposed me for being a Demon.

Or worse, he could hurt Kaia again...

Kastriv settles into the couch next to me. "He likely will, but that doesn't mean you can go back to him. He was abusive."

"I don't want to go back. But what about Kaia?" I sigh, trying to press down the fear rolling around my stomach, although it's impossible. I have to face this, not run away.

"I'll protect her," Kastriv assures me. "Just like I'll protect you."

I turn toward him, feeling the power flowing off him, a consequence of his risking anger. How many spirits are around us now, whispering in his ear? I wonder how they feel about me, if they are t
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    ~AspenI should have known this would happen. It was too easy, too perfect.Atari has two guards come in to take us down to the holding cells at the very bottom of the manor, dragging us ruthlessly without a care in the world.I'm surprised Atari didn't just kill me on the spot. I suppose she gets more pleasure out of watching us suffer."No...this can't be happening!" the spirit shrieks from next to me, trying to pull against the guards grip.I'm not bothering with any protest. Even if I manage to escape from these guards, there isn’t a chance I’ll make it out of here. Knowing my luck, I’ll bump into a Noble who isn’t interested in helping me out."Of course it's happening. You betrayed me,” I hiss back, nearly falling straight onto my face as my foot bumps under a rug."I had to. I couldn't keep living like I was."I grit my teeth, trying not to let my anger overcome me. "You weren't living. That's the point. And now, many Demon's are going to die and so are you.""I thought if I ca

  • A Demon’s Kiss   43

    ~AspenIt takes me a day to recover.Kastriv doesn’t leave my side the entire time, patiently waiting for me to regain my confidence after my encounter with my mother. Has hasn’t pushed me, which is probably because he doesn’t want me to go through with this anyway.I have no other choice. That’s why today, I’m doing it.“You don’t have to do this,” Kastriv reminds me quietly, watching me pace across the room, making sure everything is in place.This has to go right. “I know, I know. But I need to do this,” I tell him firmly. It’s exactly what I’ve been telling him all night. He hasn’t been interested in listening, though. He’s pushed and pushed with the hope of changing my mind, but nothing can.This is the only chance I’m going to have to save my own life, and all other Demon’s.“It’s not too late to find another way,” Kastriv breathes, grabbing my hand to stop me from pacing.“It is, and you know that,” I remind him pointedly, standing between his legs as he sits on the edge of th

  • A Demon’s Kiss   42

    ~AspenThere is no more conversation for mother and I to have, and she knows it.Someone comes to collect me, taking me upstairs to my old bedroom. The feeling in my legs is taking it's time to come back, so escaping isn't an option right now.I'm laid down on the bed before being left to myself, the door closing behind the guards.I stare up at the roof, gritting my teeth. Beneath me is my old bed. I spent many nights like this, staring up at the ceiling, wishing I were elsewhere.Turning my head, I examine my room.It hasn't changed much, which is a surprise. I would have thought mother would have stripped everything that resembled me away, using the space for her own interests. But nothing has been touched.I screw my nose up at all the dust. This is terrible...I wish I could rip this entire room to shreds, along with all the dark, cruel memories.It takes a few hours of laying on the bed before the feeling in my legs fully returns. I sit up, wincing at the sharp pain in my back.T

  • A Demon’s Kiss   41

    ~AspenEverything hurts. Everything.Groaning, I lift my head up, blinking my wary eyes open.I’m in a room, dimly lit with not a window in sight. When I go to move, I realise quickly that my hands are tied behind me.And even more grimly, it comes to my attention that I have no feeling in my legs. I stare down at them, willing them to move, but it’s as if I can’t remember what it was like to ever control them.I’ve been stabbed in the back. By my own mother. Literally and figuratively.I’m going to die…I can’t feel my legs or even where I’ve been stabbed. Clearly it’s damaged me forever, that there is no coming back from this.I want to scream, but like my legs, my mind is entirely numb.The door in front of me opens, a bright light assaulting my vision.Someone steps into the room, the door closing behind them.“Mother?” I ask, my voice croaky and raw.“Ah. You’re awake. Good.” She clasps her hands together, pulling a chair from the shadows so she can sit in front of her.I haven’t

  • A Demon’s Kiss   40

    ~AspenI explain it all to him as fast as I can manage.The entire time he stays silent, his expression grave. Doubt starts spreading across his face the more I detail the spirits plan, making it clear that he already isn't on board with this."I'm not going to let Atari hurt you," he insists, grabbing my hands, as if to prove to me that nothing to do with the spirit matters...that I don't need its help."I don't think you can stop her. I don't think anyone can, even Keo," I tell him firmly.She's a Demon, her powers unknown. She has managed to manipulate seven powerful Angel-bloods...if she can do this, then she is very capable of using magic to kill all Demon's in an instance.Kastriv looks sceptical. "But this spirit can?""Apparently." I shrug.He frowns, rubbing the back of his neck. "You should know that spirits cannot always be trusted. They don't abide by a moral system as we do."I nod grimly. I know that, but this spirit has spent far too long trying desperately to get in co

  • A Demon’s Kiss   39

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  • A Demon’s Kiss   38

    ~AspenIt doesn't take time for Keo to locate Kastriv's parents.We gave him a day to return home, filled with the knowledge of everything Kastriv could impart about his parents to him. It's not much, since they were taken from him so long ago, but Keo seemed convinced he 's capable of tracking them down.He's returned today, looking both determined and wary.Seeing Keo unsure of himself isn't a good sign. He seems to know the result of everything that happens across these lands. It's uncanny, quite frankly."It's simple, in theory," Keo exclaims, stalking back and forth in front of Kastriv and I.Kastriv sighs. "Go on.""Your parents are in Territory One, not far from here," he announces. Kastriv sits up a little straighter, a dulled down version of his true shock crossing his face.He doesn't want Keo to see how much that information pleases him. He doesn't want him to know how desperate he has been over the years to hear that. To know he is one step closer to seeing his parents aga

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