Sir? Has Forrest really just called Aiden sir? He always calls him by first name. I cock an eyebrow and continue staring back and forth between the two of them.
Aiden nods a single time. “Come to my office at sunrise tomorrow.” Then Aiden turns back to me and smiles lightly. “You need to get cleaned up,” he whispers quietly enough for Forrest not to hear.
When I look again, Forrest is gone and it’s just Aiden and I. Aiden clutches my forearm again and pulls me to my bedroom. He closes the door behind us and rummages through my dressers as I collapse on the bed feeling exhausted, though, knowing that I can’t possibly sleep.
He holds a bundle of clothes in his left hand and approaches the adjoining bathroom. He turns on the bath and returns to fetch me. Instead of him insisting that I get up, he lifts me up into his arms and kisses my forehead gently.
“I’m beyond relieved that you’re alright,” he mumbles. “I was so worried.”
I realize then that I’m too tired, too lost in thought, to reply. I remain quiet as he sets me onto the bathroom counter and takes off my shirt. I don’t resist.
“Beautiful. You’re beautiful,” he muses, kissing me from my lips to my chest and stopping just above my bra. “Say something, you’re making me worry. Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Tell me everything. I’ll call for a servant to come help you bathe.”
Typical Aiden. Conservative. Why? I saw the way he kissed that human back in Toronto to impress that pure blood. Why can’t he kiss me like that? A shiver runs up my spine and I clench my teeth.
“Is there a servant you prefer?” he asks.
I should be able to bathe myself, but I’m just so exhausted that I can barely think. I can’t have a human servant, or can I? If Aiden’s close nothing bad will happen, right? I haven’t seen Tamzen in forever, not since before I became a pure demon. Having a human around will also help me learn restraint. Eventually I need to get used to being around humans. Other demons do it seemingly without effort, even Mason seems to have already mastered restraint. He doesn’t seem to struggle at all around Forrest unlike me, though, I must admit that I am getting better.
“Tamzen,” I request. Aiden nods and disappears from the room for only a moment. When he returns, he slowly, at a human pace, helps me with my shoes and then my pants. He stops there, though. Not just because he’s so conservative, but because Tamzen arrives. She looks worried and to my surprise, not frightened or surprised by my new eyes. Surely word has gotten around. I also have to remind myself that she grew up here, that she knows nothing but demons and this life. This is normal for her. She serves the castle, the royals, the demons. She nods slightly and hurries to adjust the water temperature. Aiden brings a chair in from the bedroom and sets it so it faces away from me.
“Aiden, sir,” Tamzen greets him with a curtsy. “And lady Megan, ma’am.”
“Don’t worry about formalities,” I beg. “I just need to get cleaned up. I’m covered in blood and dirt. I’m a mess,” I joke, except it’s not really a joke. I am a mess.
A very small, cautious smile takes ahold of her lips and she gets to removing the rest of my clothes. I hate to take advantage of the servants—of my friend Tamzen—but I just can’t handle doing this on my own. Her soul doesn’t even bother me because I’m too busy worrying about other things like the rebels, Aiden’s safety, Laney, Landon, Mason, and so many other things. I’ll have to find a way to repay her for this.
“I hope the temperature is to your liking,” Tamzen says quickly.
“I’m not about to be too picky right now, honestly, Tam Tam,” I force through a groan. I feel like I might pass out. Should I be worried?
Tamzen takes me in and then turns the bath on warmer. She then attempts to lift me, her tiny, frail arms shaking in protest. I push her away carefully and stand. I can handle this. It’s not worth her breaking her back. I set myself down into the tub and close my eyes. “I’m sorry you have to do this,” I tell her in a groan of ecstasy as the warm bath relaxes me.
She giggles lightly. “Don’t be sorry. It’s my job, and you look weak, my master.”
“Please,” I manage. “Call me Megan, Tam. Seriously. Call me Megan.”
She’s silent a moment. In fact, the room is so quiet that I wonder if both her and Aiden have left, that is, until I focus in on her heart beat.
“Megan,” Aiden says, breaking the silence. “How are you feeling? You sound….” he thinks. “Weak,” he decides. “You sound weak.”
I try to shrug but am unsure if my shoulders even move. Normally I’d be self-conscious about anyone besides a lover seeing my naked body, but I’m so entirely tired that I don’t even care.
“Tamzen, make sure she doesn’t drown. I need to speak to someone quick,” Aiden murmurs and I feel a burst of air hit me as he rushes by me and out of the bathroom.
Tamzen sighs. “You have given me a nickname, why?” she asks casually, though I can tell she is absolutely elated.
“Hmm?” I ask.
“You called me Tam Tam and then you called me Tam,” she reminds me.
I ease up into a sitting position as the water rises. Tamzen grabs my shoulders and aids in this movement.
“Friends give friends nicknames,” I decide after a moment. Tamzen rubs my scalp and applies shampoo.
“Friends? We are friends?” she asks meekly, just as Aiden returns. I can tell because I feel the rush of air. It isn’t until now that I realize he left me alone with Tamzen and her soul. Maybe resisting the hunger is mind over matter like he’s been telling me, like everyone has been telling me.
“Megan,” Landon greets grimly. “Good to see you’re okay.”
I cringe and move to cover myself. Does he not have any sense of privacy?
Aiden chuckles with amusement. “He’s out in the bedroom, love,” he assures me with admiration and clear warmth in his voice.
It doesn’t hit me until a moment later that if Aiden’s seen me move, seen me attempt to cover myself, then he is looking at me.
My face must show this even though I initially wanted Aiden to be the one to undress me because Tamzen giggles. “You’re covered in bubbles, lady...I mean, Megan. You don’t have to worry. Neither man can see you.”
I sigh with relief that I don’t understand. I’ve always been self-conscious about my body but…
“I apologize, sir Aiden,” Tamzen voices then seeming to catch herself. “I didn’t mean to speak.”
Confused, I open my eyes as Aiden begins to speak. “A friend of my Megan’s is also a friend of mine. Tamzen...is it?”
I meet eyes with Tamzen who looks not only surprised and taken aback, but humbled and almost ecstatic.
“I want to specifically assign you to Megan. That is, if you’d agree. She seems to adore you and she needs someone to help her with things,” Aiden continues.
I see Tamzen agree through vigorous nods even as he speaks. “Anything, master. I would be honored.”
“Very well then. I also trust that you will keep your friendship with Megan and I confidential. As is obvious, nothing you hear from any of us will you relay to any servant or pure or anyone.”
Tamzen continues to nod vigorously. “Of course. Not only because you are my master, but because Megan has been so gentle, caring, and generous with me, sir.”
“One last thing, call me Aiden, please.”
Tamzen’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t discontinue nodding. “Whatever you say, sir.”
I can’t help but smile a little.
Tamzen puts some sort of shampoo into my hair and begins to lather it. She seems more enthusiastic in her gestures now. I let her finish with my hair and help me out of the bath. She wraps me in a robe and then I tell Aiden that I’m decent.
Aiden turns to look at me and smiles.
I can barely hold myself up. My legs feel like they’re about to give way any second.
He rushes to me in an instant and scoops me off my feet. Before my foggy mind can make light of what is going
on, I am in bed, covers on me. Aiden sits at the foot of the bed and Landon sits in a chair across the room looking at me.
“What’s wrong with her?” Aiden demands.
Landon shrugs. “Clearly she needs a nap.”
Aiden cocks an eyebrow.
“Do you not sleep?” Landon asks curiously, standing.
Aiden shakes his head. “Of course not. I am a demon. I mean I can but I don't need to. Sometimes I just do it to make time move faster.”
Landon laughs as if what he’s said is funny. “I know that, dumbass, but the elixir has a few side effects. One is becoming tired. I rest like a human a few hours a week, sometimes more. It depends. Emotions become tiresome. Maybe there’s not enough of the elixir in you to cause this effect,” Landon notes, raising one finger. He’s thinking hard and seems very interested in Aiden’s lack of need to sleep. Landon looks to me and grins. “Sleep, my sister.”
His words almost sound hypnotic and I begin to feel my eyes droop.
Just before my eyes completely close, I see Aiden and Landon exchange the strangest look.
Chapter 5
I’m awoken by female voice singing lightly.
I look around the room to find Tamzen opening blinds and cleaning up.
“Good morning,” she chimes in an uplifting tone.
I rub my eyes and sit up. I’m still in my robe.
The smell of bacon and eggs hits me then and I almost jump for joy.
“Sir Landon insisted I bring you this,” she says, rushing a full plate over to me. “I told him that it’s abnormal for demons to eat, especially pures, but he insisted that you’d enjoy it.”
I nearly pounce out of bed to grab the plate and begin stuffing bacon into my mouth. It tastes so delicious that I could melt. I moan and grab some more from the plate.
Tamzen looks to me with shock and takes a step back like I might eat her next. I don’t feel an urge to take her soul like I normally do. Am I getting better at controlling myself? I sure as hell hope so.
Well, this is what I hope until there’s a knock on the door. I call for whomever it is to come in. When they do, I nearly lose all control right there. Forrest stands in the doorway looking far better than he did yesterday. Behind him is Aiden and Landon. Can’t a girl get some privacy?
I nearly lunge at Forrest like he’s the biggest, juiciest piece of bacon I’ve ever seen. Aiden rushes past the two other boys and looks me square in the eyes. “I need him, love, please don’t. He needs his soul for what I need him to do.”
“What is that?” I almost growl, not meaning to.
“I need someone with some sort of relation to the humans to be an ambassador. I have a meeting with one of the biggest world leaders today about my new reign. I need to show them that I am not my father. Having a demidemon by my side, a being half human, will help me convince them of this, so I need him with a soul.”
I close my eyes for a second and then nod as I focus on not taking his soul. Why are my reactions towards Tamzen and Forrest so different? I realize then that Aiden would never have left me alone with Tamzen if he didn’t know for sure that I wouldn’t attack her.
I glance to Tamzen and then back to Aiden who smiles.
“There are a lot of things that I haven't told you about. Things that I've kept from you for your own safety and because the law wouldn't allow me to tell you while you were still a halfling. Now, though, I need you to know some things so that you can understand everything better. Landon is going to stay with you for a few days while I’m gone. I trust him, Megan. I know you don’t, but I do. He’s going to explain some things and then when I get back he’s going to do some more explaining for the both of us regarding alchemy. I need to know if I can help my brother and sister become human again.”
Aiden kisses my forehead and leaves me alone with Tamzen and Landon. Tamzen busies herself with a duster.
“We’re going for a walk. Get dressed,” Landon instructs and leaves to give me some privacy.
I leap out of bed and Tamzen brings me a skirt and shirt. I put them on quickly and run a brush through my tangled hair before exiting the room.
The two of us, Landon and I, walk slowly up a set of stairs that I never knew existed. There are many things in this castle that I have yet to see. Many, many things, in fact.
Once we reach the top, Landon leads me to a balcony and brings me outside. From here it’s easy to see nearly all of Tartarus. It’s breathtaking. The view makes me want to explore the city. I haven’t seen much of it besides the castle and what little I seen yesterday.
“My dad used to drag me here,” Landon starts. “He’d come for council meetings and other things. As a royal, he came here often and both Blayk and I would come along sometimes. This was my favorite spot. While dad and Blayk were doing their things, I’d slip away and come stand here. Pretty, isn’t it? It hasn’t changed much over the last few centuries, unlike the human realm.”
I nod. The landscape is so raw unlike my home realm where technology takes over the land.
“I’m not a council member, but I’m royal so sometimes I get called here for my opinion and things. My job in life is to teach changeling children like Laney. I’m basically a school teacher. I teach them how to fight physically and mentally. I teach them the class system and the politics and history and things. I could be compared to an elementary school teacher in the human realm. I never got to pick my job as it was just assigned to me. It’s not a well-respected job like Aiden’s or my father’s or Blayk’s, but I love kids and the job keeps me from having to do some of the terrible things I’m sure Aiden’s had to do in his life. I love my job.”
I don’t know why he tells me this exactly. Maybe because he just wants me to know him better. I am surprised to hear Landon is a teacher, but now that I know this, I can see it. He was so good with Laney in Belize.
“What does Blayk do?” I wonder, hesitantly.
“He…” Landon looks unsure, like he’s not sure he should tell me. “He is a hunter. He searches the world for hunters like Crispen and tortures and turns them into demons. That’s how he found you. You were one of his targets because of that ring you wore.”
I straighten my back and bite my cheek nervously.
“Aiden wants me to start by telling you about Tamzen. For me to do that, I need to start elsewhere so you’ll understand,” Landon changes the subject. He sets a hand on my shoulder briefly before removing it and shoving it into his dress pants pocket. “There are more beings out there than just demons, humans, and half breeds, Megan. There are also other mythological or supernatural creatures.”
My eyes widen slightly and I find myself both surprised and intrigued. He must be joking. After learning that demons exist, you’d think that learning other creatures exist wouldn’t be so difficult to comprehend, but I feel…taken aback. I feel shocked, like demons existing makes all the sense in the world but other creatures existing is crazy.
I’m about to ask ‘like what?’ when he continues. “Here in hell there are vampires, deities, and hell hounds among some other less common breeds. In the human realm, though most species are now endangered or extinct, there are still rumored to be werewolves but most species the demons killed millennia ago or made treaties with and brought them to hell to keep them away from humans. So you could say that human folklore has some sort of truth to it.”
I look at him and he shrugs. “Oh, and of course there are mermaids.” A magnificent grin takes over his face and I punch his shoulder because I know that he is at least kidding about this last one. “Anyways.” He becomes serious. “Tamzen is a descendant of a long extinct supernatural breed called elementals. Elementals were once the demon’s greatest enemies, but that was long before I was born.”
“Tamzen isn’t human? Vampires? You must be joking,” I nearly beg.
Landon laughs lightly. “She is human, mostly, but somewhere in her DNA rests a little bit of elemental magic. Elementals could control elements to a degree. Back then, one
specializing in the water element might be able to make a river stop flowing or cause a tsunami. Tamzen, if water were her element, would be lucky to be able to stop a drop of water from hitting her head outside in the rain. Yet the demons keep close watch over the remaining hybrids since they were once our enemies. Each generation, they get weaker, more human. The reason you couldn’t sense a soul in Tamzen is because the elementals couldn’t have their souls taken unless by death when the soul is taken naturally. All of the humans who are here as slaves are in fact descendants of the elementals, though some have become so human-like that their souls can be taken.” Landon straightens his back and leans against the wall. “And vampires, yes. Though not the soft, mushy creatures pop culture makes them out to be in today’s world. I’ve only come across a few, as I don’t spend much time here and they aren’t allowed anywhere near Tartarus. They keep to the forests and deep darkness. They will suck the life out of any human or demon alike, so don’t venture off into the dark. You may be able to see in the darkness now, but that doesn’t make it any less of a risk. They, too, are soulless creatures, creatures from the darkest of nightmares.”
I cringe. “No one thought to warn me about this when they brought me here?” I ask, a little angry.
Landon shrugs. “In Tartarus you’re safe, but it’s why Aiden warns you against wandering and exploring without a guard. He has more than one reason to be afraid for your safety, you see. Hell hounds, on the other hand, are not harmful to demons nor are they harmful to humans who have not stuck a ticking time bomb on their heads.”
I cock an eyebrow in confusion.
“Another job held by pure bloods is a deal maker, otherwise known as a crossroads demon. Do you know what that is?” he asks, stiffening like the topic makes him uncomfortable.
I shake my head. I have no idea.
“Well, Megan, the treaty between the humans and the demons makes it so that demons can’t just go around slaughtering humans. In exchange, the general human population cannot know of our existence.”
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