Halfling (Black Petals Book 1) (22 page)

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 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 our place. We thought this was a rescue mission,” Aria admits. “I never would’ve went 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 having 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 doubt 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.”

I very reluctantly follow Terry up a set of stairs to a living room I haven’t spent much time in. He pulls out a checker board and tosses me the black pieces. I sit across from him at the coffee table, and he whoops my ass five or six times in the game before Aiden comes upstairs.

When I see him enter the room, I can’t help but grin. Why? Shouldn’t I be mad at him or something? He did just save my life. If he’d been a few seconds later getting home, Crispen might have been stabbing me and not him.

He smiles back, but it’s a sad smile. “Mind taking a walk with me?”

I nod quickly and ditch the checker game. Terry doesn’t seem to mind, surely he was getting tired of kicking my ass anyhow. I follow Aiden out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door without saying a word.

Finally, he asks me if I’m alright, and I tell him that I’m fine, though disturbed by all of the death around here lately.

“I’m sorry for snapping. I thought I had it under control, until I got home and seen all my guards dead. I thought for sure you were dead, and then I saw them all in my room with you, and Crispen stabbed me.

I snapped. They really did pick the wrong time to fuck with me. I almost…I almost took my brother’s soul. If you hadn’t...
yelled
at me and gotten my attention, he would’ve become a demon, and I’d never be able to forgive myself.”

“Well, it’s over and done with now,” I answer, not sure what to say.

“Yes, you’re right. I’ve lived long enough to know that.”

I let him know I’m glad he’s feeling more like himself, then we talk about small things, happier things. Like the weather and my current favorite song. It’s relaxing and feels nice. We remain outside until it’s dark, then we lie under the stars and talk about our favorite memories. We laugh, we cry, we learn. We talk about our biggest fears and our greatest accomplishments. I find myself opening up more than ever to Aiden and vice versa.

“It’s funny, isn’t it? How fast we can change, and how much something so small can change us?” Aiden asks, getting closer to me on the cold ground and putting his burly arm underneath my neck for comfort. It feels nice to be close to him, safe and
right
. “If my siblings were ever warming up to me, they’re definitely not any longer,” he whispers sadly when I don’t answer.

“They have major issues. It’s not you, and I don’t even think it’s them really as much as it’s what they are. I think you have a chance with Aria, maybe Mason too at the very least.”

Aiden sighs loudly.

A question I’ve been wanting to ask him pops into my head, and I blurt it out. “That brass didn’t kill you, why?”

He turns his head from the sky and looks over at me. I do the same. We stare at each other, and a muscle moves in his jaw as if he doesn’t want to answer. He hesitates a minute longer before giving me a half smile. “I am a little more
important
than I’ve let on,” he answers, grinning ever so softly. He props himself up on his elbow and stares down at me intensely as if I’m somehow fascinating to him. “I am a son of Lucian. Do you know what that means?”

I nod slowly, not quite processing. Is he saying what I think he’s saying? My heart skips a beat, as I put the pieces together slowly.

“I can only be killed by hell fire, which means I can’t in any way possible be killed while not in hell for starters. Brass puts me to sleep for a while, but eventually I wake up, and I am able to pull it out if it’s not pulled out by someone else beforehand. The only side effect of this immunity is that afterwards, when I wake up, I’m nearly starving, and I can’t control myself. It takes a lot out of me.”

I interrupt him, asking him if I’m hearing this all right.

He stares at me, taking in my expression carefully before quirking a slight half smile, telling me that I am on the right track.

I am completely shocked by this revelation. I gawk at him like he’s some sort of freak, even though I don’t mean to.

My shocked stares cause him to sit up further. He licks his lips.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” he asks.

I shake my head quickly. “No, I do. I saw the shock on Aria and Mason’s face when they learnt that you weren’t dead. They obviously have never seen anything like it. So you’re…you’re like the devil’s son?”

A smirk emerges on his face. “Sort of I guess,” he says through a deep chuckle. “That’s not my official title, but calling me the devil’s son kind of makes me feel bad ass.” He chuckles again, smiling wickedly. I’ve never seen him smile so much.

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. What are the chances that I could fall into the care of the king of hell’s son? Is that a better title?

“Are you scared?” Aiden asks me. When I look back to his gaze, I expect to see humor, but in reality, he seems legitimately worried that I might be scared of him.

I pretend to debate it, but then a smile breaks out on my face, I can’t help it.

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head at me. “You should be. Most people are terrified of me.”

“Well,
I’m
not.”

“Not even after my earlier display?”

“No.” I pull my hair back into the elastic I have around my wrist and sit up beside him. “So do you have an official title? Like Prince of Hell or something?”

He looks at me dubiously and snorts out a quick laugh. “
Prince of Hell
? You must be joking, really? That’s the best you can come up with?”

“What then?” I wonder, honestly curious.

“I am just Aiden or Mr. Castile.”

Well, that’s boring. No official title? “And let me guess, your father just goes by Lucian or Mr. Castile?” I tease.

“He goes by Lucian. I’ve never heard his last name spoken. I took my mother’s last name.”

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. How
boring
.

“So that’s why you can do so many cool tricks then!” I exclaim with partial mock enthusiasm.

He nods, smirking a little. “Yeah, that’s why.” He straightens the sleeve of his dress shirt carefully, playing with the cufflink for a moment.

I then ask him about the meeting he went to, and he admits that it was a meeting regarding the future of hell. His father has been murdered, and Aiden is the only surviving offspring of Lucian.

“I didn’t know him well. Not at all so don’t start apologizing for his death or whatever,” Aiden warns me. His expression is unreadable.

“So…you’re…you’re like the king of hell then? Not the prince.” I ask him, trying to lighten his suddenly grim mood. “
You
are the devil. Oh my god I’m sitting beside Lucifer or Hades or whatever.”

He glares at me. “What religion are you? You’re mixing them all up and putting them all together in a clump you know.”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if I have a religion honestly,” I admit, twiddling my thumbs.

“Well, I guess you could say that I’m the king of hell, but that title sounds a little tacky, don’t you think?”

“It sounds badass to me.” I giggle. He doesn’t look amused.

“I’m going to have to be there often. I’m not going to be able to remain the man I am. I’m going to do terrible things without any control. Megan, you’re still my responsibility, but I’m going to have to have someone else mentor you. I can’t take you with me there.”

The situation’s urgency catches up with me, and my humor disappears. Aiden was in hell for only hours and look what happened to him, and if he sends me to someone else, chances are they’re not going to be like Aiden. I’m going to be placed in some evil pure blood demon’s care, and who knows how terrible that will be.

“Take me with you, it’s only three months until my choice has to be made, and I’m a halfling, hell won’t affect me the same,” I push, knowing that this too is a terrible idea.

“I couldn’t do that to you, Megan. You have no idea how terrible that place is. You’d rather die than be there, and it’s not safe for you,” he urges.

“But it’s safe for me with someone else?!” I demand, holding back tears. Call me a baby but seriously.

“I’ll make sure you are put into good hands. I’ll compel them if I have to,” Aiden promises. Compelling other pure bloods is against the law. Then again, isn’t Aiden the law now? He looks like he’s about to crack, and I realize that I’m not the only one that is going through this harsh reality. Aiden is the one who must give up his life, his remaining humanity, to become a leader of something he hardly wants anything to do with.

“Why don’t you just say no and tell them that you won’t do it?”

“That’s not how it works. They need someone powerful to do this job, not someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing and can be killed with a silly brass knife. It has to be me. I was born for this. I was trained for this by my father.”

“But you hate hell!” I whine like a little girl.

“Megan, I do hate hell, and I hate what hell does to demons which is exactly why I have to do this. I can change things. I can protect humanity better than my father, because I’ve felt humanity before.”

“You just said it yourself, you’ll lose yourself. What happens when you go all bat-shit crazy and decide you don’t give a flying fuck about humans or demons? What if you end up just like your father?”

Aiden flinches, and I know I’ve hit a soft spot, but I think that my question is a valid one. He says nothing in return but stands up and begins walking to the house. I sprint after him.

“I’m sorry, but isn’t that something to think about?” I half apologize.

“
Yes
, it is. Don’t think I haven’t thought about it, but I don’t have a
choice
. I
have
to do this one way or another. I won’t let some moron who knows nothing come into power and call war on humanity or something nuts. Hell needs someone who understands the process. Hell sorts the evil souls from the humans who pass away and makes sure they’re not reborn. Hell has a purpose. It’s not just there for wreaking havoc and creating murderous demons. We save a lot more good souls than we take for sustenance.”

I know I don’t know a lot about the interworking’s of hell, but I do know that Aiden has a point.

“Yes, it’s become corrupt. Yes, it’s become more evil than anyone could have imagined, but when you spend your whole life in that place, surrounded by the evil human souls from all of eternity, you become a little evil yourself. I will keep the current rules and make sure that demons continue to visit hell on a regular basis so that they can handle their jobs with ease.” Aiden’s face becomes flushed.

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes before he continues. “You cannot be an innocent little thing like you and get assigned to torturing souls or ripping them from bodies and delivering them to hell. There’s a reason demons are crazy and psycho and evil, Megan, it’s because they have to be. They were created this way for a reason. Believe it or not, I am trying to help humanity. I am trying to ensure, like my father, that humanity stays as kind and loving and soft as possible. We were created to keep the humans this way, and my father dedicated his life to this cause.”

Aiden finally opens his eyes again, and his jaw muscles tighten and relax. “If it ends with me becoming a little evil, then so be it if it saves millions or billions of human lives. My father was a psychopath, but he never let our true purpose out of sight. He couldn’t, it’s in our blood. If I give this position to someone without my knowledge, experience, and wisdom, someone whose blood isn’t as strongly royal as my own, then eventually we will lose our purpose. As a race, we will forget our niche. There is
a lot
more to this that what you think there is, Megan. The demons aren’t just psychopaths without a purpose or reason to exist.”

And just like that, my eyes finally open to reality. Demons
do
have a purpose, a big one, and Aiden’s tried to explain this to me numerous times. I’ve read books and listened to him speak about this.
How
have I not understood until now? Suddenly I feel like a complete moron. A naïve moron. A childish moron. A selfish moron.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in and swallow hard. I’m about to say I’m sorry when Aiden speaks up again. “I’m sorry that it has to be this way. I’m sorry that I have to leave, and I’m sorry that I have to leave you with a stranger that’s probably going to be an asshat, okay? But this is bigger than you and me. This is
big
, Megan,
really
big.” He runs his hand through his tousled hair, stress clear in his expression.

“You’re right, I get it. I mean, I don’t
get
it obviously, but I know what you’re saying, and I understand what you have to do. I’m sorry, but Aiden look at it this way. In a few months, I’m going to have to make a really big decision, and I’m going to pick death, because I don’t know if I’m strong enough to kill innocent people even if it means that I’m saving even more innocent people in the end. I have
months,
and you are the
only
person who even gives a flying fuck about me at all on this planet. Take me with you,
please
. I can’t spent the last few months of my life alone.
I won’t do it.
” I say these things as my future comes crashing down on me. I have no future. What is staying with him in hell going to hurt if I’m just going to die in a few months anyways?