by G. Bailey
“What is brilliant?” Azi asks, stopping between the sofas. Nix jumps onto the sofa next to Connor, who shoves him to the other end. Trex leans against the window, keeping an eye out. Always the Protector, that one.
“The keeper agreed to the plan and that means Evie is an official princess,” Hali says, and I glare at her. “Princess Evie, the badass,” Hali laughs out, and some of the guys chuckle.
“Princess Evie…yeah I’m going to take a while to get used to that. I mean a princess that once shoved an entire plate of bacon in her mouth, in public, and didn’t even seem to chew it,” Azi says, and I turn to glare at him too.
“None of the princess crap. I’m hardly a princess yet, and even when I am, I don’t want to hear you guys call me it, or one of you is going to find a snake in your bed,” I warn, and they chuckle like I’m not being deadly serious.
“But being more serious, we found something else out while we were there,” Nix cuts into our laughter, and I nod, taking over the conversation.
“We saw Cex, Azi’s brother—” I stop when I see Azi is storming over to me. He leans down and grabs my shoulders tightly, red veins stretching from his eyes as his demon pushes to the surface.
“Who the fuck did you see?” he demands.
“Cex. He was one of your brothers that took you from Hell. He and Erica are doing the nasty, but I suspect he is using her,” I quickly tell him everything, knowing that he needs to know I am okay. That his brother didn’t touch me. Azi finally comes back into control and calms down. I place my hand over his on my shoulder and squeeze once, letting him know everything is okay without saying a word.
“Cex would use her and seduce her into what he wants. It is his sin,” Azi says, and leans back, rubbing his face. I wonder what Cex’s sin is exactly, but I doubt Azi will want to talk about it here. Azi doesn’t give into his sin, but he told me once that when his demon takes over, it is all he thinks about.
“Don’t you think it is about time you explain to us about your brothers?” Nix asks. “And what the hell sins are?”
“I only tell those I trust,” Azi tensely points out.
“I trust them, and you trust me, right?” I ask Azi, needing him to know where I stand on this. If we can’t trust these Protectors, then we can’t trust anyone. I know the Protectors have their own secrets, but they saved Hali and that earns them my trust. For now, anyway. Azi seems to pause to think my question through before he starts to pace.
“I don’t remember being young or being born. There was just me as a young demon, and I appeared one day on my knees in front of my parents. At least they told me that was who they were to me. We don’t look like they did, but we had no one else to guide us,” he starts off a story that he has never told me before. Azi stops and sits on the floor, crossing his huge legs and holding his hands out in front of him. Two balls of flames spark into life, and he shapes them as people. I remember him doing this trick for Hali once, and she loved it. Four men, and in front of them on the ground are four star-shaped objects. The flame men pick them up, holding them in the air and jumping sideways in a circle. The star shape matches a star mark that is on Azi’s thigh. He always told me it was linked to his sin, but not where it came from.
“We claimed our sins and danced all night. I was the fourth brother born. Cex is the second oldest, and the most powerful brother left,” he explains, and the flames fade into ash on the floor as he lowers his hands.
“What are the sins?” Trex asks.
“Our weakness. The thing we struggle to resist. We were told that if we give into our sin, then we will find our end and neither Hell nor Heaven will welcome us,” he says, avoiding telling them what the sin is, but answering in a way.
“The oldest brother…he was killed, right?” Connor asks after a while.
“Yes, because he gave into his sin. Look, the truth of it, I cannot beat Cex. Not alone, or even with help. He is very powerful, very secretive, and has loyalties to no one. I haven’t seen him in a very, very long time. No one has,” Azi explains.
“Then what is he doing with Erica?” I ask. He can’t be with the crazy bitch unless he wants something.
“Erica said she would get him into the grove,” Nix reminds me.
“What is the grove?” I ask, remembering the conversation.
“Fuck no,” Trex growls.
“She wouldn’t,” Connor says, nearly coughing on the pure shock rippling across his face.
“Guys…what is it? Why do you all look freaked out?” Hali asks.
“The grove…it is sacred to us and to be honest, only royals can enter it. Only royals have ever been inside, so we don’t know what it is,” Connor answers us.
“Well that doesn’t help us,” I huff.
“We know you go there to receive the runes that mark the new queen or king and receive extra powers,” Nix says.
“Okay, so say figuratively speaking that Erica becomes queen. How can she get Cex into the grove if only royals are allowed?” Azi asks. He has a point that needs answering.
“The king or queen can take up to four rune knights. The knights are given a bond to the royal, meaning they will know if she is hurt or just needs them for something. Your mother had two knights who both died in the angel war defending your mother,” Connor says.
“My mother fought in the war?” I question.
“I never knew her, but my mother did. She told me stories sometimes. I will tell you them all one day, or maybe even my mum could,” Connor says, and I nod, leaving it for now to focus on the problem.
“You think Erica will make Cex a knight? Can a demon even be a knight?” I ask Connor.
“As far as I know, there is nothing saying a rune knight has to be a Protector. They only need to be strong enough to survive the blessing,” he answers.
“Which an overlord demon could easily do,” Azi muses, and looks to me. “I’ve sent word to my brother, we are meeting him tomorrow, and we can find out what he knows.”
“Good,” I say and look towards Hali. “Hali, you are coming with us tomorrow.”
“Sweet!” she says, smiling at me. She is going to hate me when she realises why I want her to come. One look around at the guys, and they know. We are going to war, and that is no place for a child.
Fifty-Three
Connor
“Night guys, I’m shattered,” Evie says, yawning as she stands up and stretches. The stretch flashes a little sliver of her skin on her stomach, and simply that movement makes me rock hard. I causally move a cushion onto my lap and smile at her. Her long blue hair sways around her, making me want to do nothing but run my hands through it. It doesn’t help that she has tiny blue shorts and a black tank top on. Does she not get cold?
“See you in the morning,” I eventually cough out and she flashes me a puzzled look.
“Night, Vi,” Azi says, stretching his legs out on the sofa now she is off it.
“Sleep well, love,” Nix says, and she pats his shoulder as she goes past. Star jumps up off the floor and follows Evie to Hali’s room to sleep in there with her. Star very rarely lets Evie out of her sight now, and the odd times they aren’t together is because Evie has asked Star to watch Hali. That cat is no normal cat at all.
“Shouldn’t Trex be back in a minute?” Nix asks.
“Nope. He wanted to check the pass in case the snow has melted, and we can walk to the village,” I answer, and sit up straight. “We need to have a talk. I’ve been waiting for us all to be alone.”
“Let me guess, this talk is about Evie?” Nix asks, and I nod. Azi sits up on the sofa, crossing his arms and resting back.
“Spit it out then,” he says.
“Evie has trust issues and a fucked-up past of people letting her down. I like her, you both like her or even possibly love her. Trex won’t admit he likes her, but damn that isn’t going to last long with how possessive he is.”
“Then what do you suggest, Protector?” Azi asks, looking mildly curious. “I had Evi
e once and broke her trust. I will never risk doing that again or fucking up, and this situation is messy.”
“I suggest we all take it slow with her until Trex admits his feelings, and we have another chat with him involved. If we rush into our relationships with her, and he gets jealous, we fight and the only person that gets hurt is Evie.”
“Then she will shut us all out to protect herself,” Azi muses. “So, say I agree to this plan, how slow are you suggesting then?”
“As in going no further than kissing until Trex gives in,” I suggest.
“Says the asshole who has already gone a lot further than that,” Nix grumbles.
“Yeah, it caused big problems between Evie and Trex. He is barely talking to her now and stomping around the house like he is ready to kill something,” I reply.
“We should do this. I’ve known Evie for a long time, and you’re right. She won’t react well to us all fighting. We have to fight for her trust before we can think with our dicks,” Azi says and I nod. I look at Nix who throws his hands in the air.
“Fine. I know you’re right, but god we need to get her some new pyjamas as those little shorts are going to make me lose my mind,” he says, and I laugh with Azi.
“I feel that!”
“When we go to the Protectors, will they accept us all being with Evie? Will our relationships with her put her in more danger?” Azi asks.
“Quite simply, yes. Multiple relationships are highly frowned upon and never heard of in my people. Relationships with demons…well that’s not something anyone allows,” I say carefully.
“Then we should be careful with how close we are in public,” Azi offers.
“I doubt Evie is going to take our new plans well,” Nix says.
“That’s why it needs to be a secret. At the end of the day, this is for her own good, and I don’t want to scare her off,” I stress.
“None of us do. Evie excels at running away from things, let’s not give her any reason to leave us,” Azi adds.
“I like how you call yourself part of us now. I never thought I’d have an overlord demon friend,” I say, laughing as Azi scowls at me.
“I will still kill you if you piss me off.”
“Sure, sure,” I grin, and Nix shakes his head as he turns the tv up, and we go back to watching the movie. I get up to go to the fridge and Azi shouts over.
“Why don’t you get your new friend a beer?”
“Asshole,” I mutter, but I get him a beer anyways. It seems like we all want to be part of Evie’s life and are willing to fight for her. Let’s hope she wants us in the end.
Fifty-Four
Evie
I finish eating my bacon sandwich just as Nix comes into the lounge and looks at the tv. I immediately see his hair has been trimmed and the little beard he had grown is gone. He looks much better and hotter than I’ve ever seen him. He has a black shirt on, with three buttons undone to show off his tattoos. I wonder if they cover all parts of him?
“Jurassic Park?” Nix asks.
“Yeah it was on…and I used to love watching them with my friend. I haven’t had a chance to watch the new one, but it’s on my list of things to get around to,” I say, turning the film off.
“Would you ever tell me her name, love?” Nix very carefully asks. I’m not sure what he expects my reaction to be. It’s not that I don’t want to tell him, it’s just been a long time since I’ve spoken of her. Azi and Hali are the only ones who know the whole story, and it was hard to tell them. Though it was nice to have people remember her with me, and I liked telling Hali about her mother. Telling her stories how amazing her mum was, so she has happy memories.
“Would you tell me about your sister? And what happened to her?” I counter, and he shakes his head, holding out a hand.
“We have somewhere I want to take you to,” he explains. I shrug and put the plate on the couch and get up. Nix opens a portal, and we walk through, coming out in the middle of my apartment, next to the kitchen. Nix closes the portal as I look around, seeing that nothing looks touched. Everything seems frozen from the last time I was here.
“Why?” I ask.
“You need a dress for tonight, and don’t worry, Trex came here last night to make sure it was safe for you,” Nix explains.
“Why would I worry? I’m not some helpless girl and Trex knows that,” I comment, trying not to sound defensive, but it still comes out that way.
“Then why didn’t you want to come back here before now?” Nix asks as I run a finger over the dusty kitchen counter.
“Memories. I guess coming here makes me realise how I can never come back to this. Yes, I was in hiding, yes, I was a thief and killed to stay alive…but it was simple. There were no emotions involved, there was no haunting past I don’t know how to deal with,” I answer, going on a rant which I don’t even know where it came from. At the end of the day, I don’t know if my newfound life is going to be better than the one I had here with Hali, and that scares me. I’ve never been okay with change in my life, now everything is changing so fast that I can’t keep up.
“I’m here to talk about it. If you need someone. You know my past with my own parents isn’t good. Everything you learnt…well, it is part of you whether you like it or not,” he says, and I know he is right.
“Not all of it,” I say, “I know little to nothing about your sister.”
“I don’t—no can’t—talk about it much. It was all my fault,” Nix starts off and walks away from me. He goes and sits on the dusty sofa, resting his head back. I walk over to him, and I don’t know what comes over me as I climb onto his lap and wrap my arms around his neck. I don’t do hugs, or whatever this is, but some part of me knows he needs me close. I breathe in his minty scent and relax. Nix sighs, resting his head on my shoulder and wrapping his arms around me.
“Love, you send mixed signals,” Nix warns.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I reply. “I only know that you’re damn sexy and confusing all at the same time.”
“Neither do I, but I’m not going anywhere while we figure this out. Well, not until the day you ask me to leave,” Nix tells me, and gently kisses the top of my ear.
“I won’t ask,” I quietly reply.
“You might when you realise,” he says, and I give him a confused look, which he only ignores.
“Your sister?” I ask, needing to change the subject, and he stares at me for a long time, just fingers trailing up and down my back before he speaks.
“Astrid was our headstrong, beautiful sister. She was fiercely protective of Trex and me,” Nix states. “I always thought it was the brothers that should be the protective ones, but Astrid became our mother in a way after we lost our parents.”
“Gorgeous name. It sounds like we might have gotten along,” I say, making Nix chuckle.
“Yes, you would have, and caused trouble for everyone no doubt,” he replies and holds me a little tighter as he carries on the story. “The keepers sent Astrid and me on a mission while Connor and Trex were taking Erica out of the city on her monthly shopping trip.”
“Monthly shopping trip with guards to carry her shit? Damn, she is a spoilt brat,” I say and then gently shake my head. “Sorry, I went off on a rant. Carry on.”
“It’s okay, Erica was always spoilt. Astrid hated her and went off on one when Trex agreed to the engagement,” he tells me.
“I bet,” I reply. I think I would have loved their sister.
“Anyways, back to the mission. We went to find a Protector who had phoned for help on a simple demon raid. When we got there, the Protector was dead, and we were swamped by twenty demons,” he pauses. “We called for the keepers to help us, but they ignored it.”
“How did you survive that?” I ask.
“We were fighting back to back, slowly killing them, but a demon stabbed me in the leg. I blasted the five near me with holy fire, then tried to defend Astrid, but there were just too many of them. Astrid called a portal as I collaps
ed, and she somehow fought them to keep me alive. All I remember is her carrying me to the portal, screaming as demons attacked her back, and she was blasting holy fire everywhere. I fell into the portal just as a demon ripped out her heart in front of me,” he says, his body feeling so tense underneath me that all I can do is hold him tighter and press a kiss to his neck.
“Nix…” I drift off, not having a clue what to say to that. That’s the last time he saw his sister, and he had to watch her die saving him. No wonder he is a little messed up at times.
“That last image of her, it’s stuck up here, you know?” he says, tapping the side of his head.
“She saved you. That’s all you need to remember. She wouldn’t want you to remember her that way, she would want the happy memories. The ones full of laughter and protectiveness,” I say and place my forehead against his. I wipe the few tears on his cheeks away as I whisper, “That’s what I make myself remember of my friend. The good times and not the end.” I just stay still as he looks at me, feeling like neither one of us knows what to say. Nix leans a little closer, and when I expect him to kiss me, he doesn’t.
“What was your friend’s name, love?” Nix asks me.
“Rita,” I gasp out her name, even when it hurts me to say it, and he slams his lips onto mine. Nix doesn’t kiss me gently, not in any kind of way. He kisses me like he never wants me to forget him, like I belong to him, and damn, I don’t want to pull away. I slide my hands into his soft hair as the kiss deepens, and I lose all track of time until he pulls away.
“I can’t take this further, even if I want to,” he admits.
“Why?” I ask. We are both adults. Both single. I don’t get it.
“It’s complicated,” he chuckles at my confused face, and then sighs. “Thank you for opening up to me,” he tells me and kisses me one more time.
“I guess I could say the same to you,” I reply. “We should get back though. This place isn’t my home anymore, and it isn’t safe.”