The Devil's Daughter: A Paranormal Romance

by Shyenna Renee

  “Nope.” He pops the p. “He needs to be careful not to hit his head for at least a few weeks.”

  “Great,” I mumble before sitting next to his hospital bed. “This is going to be a long couple weeks then.”

  CHAPTER 23

  |celeste|

  “Antonio Rodriguez!” Zeke screams triumphantly as he bursts through my bedroom door.

  “What?” I pull off my glasses and set down the files I’ve been reading.

  “Antonio Rodriguez is the one who owns the blood you found on the glass, and you were correct: he has a criminal record.” He takes a seat next to me and places a stack of papers in my lap.

  “How’d you know he is a criminal?” he asks.

  I focus on the stack of papers currently making my legs fall asleep from the weight.

  “Well,” I began, “every supernatural creature has a file in the Head Council’s record room, whether they’re criminals or not. When we ran the blood through the system and came back with nothing, we knew it was a criminal who most likely served time for some very bad things but was able to delete it. Very few are rich enough to get it done, so he’s either a rich criminal or he’s working for someone of very high power.”

  “Well, he’s not rich, I can tell you that.”

  I look at Zeke, curious as to how he got the information.

  “His soul is damned to hell for everything he’s done. That’s why I was able to find so much info on him.” He gestures lightly to the twenty pounds worth of words on my lap. “Read that and you’ll know him like you know the back of your hand.”

  “That’s why you were gone for three days? I wish you would’ve called and said you had something. I thought maybe you had reached a dead end, or something happened because you did find something.”

  He rubs away a fake tear while holding his hand to his heart. “Aww, my granddaughter was worried about me. How sweet.”

  Despite the playfulness, Zeke still exuded danger, and I needed to remind myself of that. He may claim to be my grandfather who is on my side, but he had been a stranger just a few days ago, and if he claims that he has the same blood running in his veins, I know enough from my own experience that the devil could easily come out.

  I just roll my eyes and decide to play along. I playfully shove him out of the room.

  “I’m sorry I worried you, but in the realm of the damned, time is slower. Three days here is only a few hours there,” he says sincerely before giving me a very awkward hug.

  I lightly tap his back, not really knowing what else to do.

  I’ve never been one to give or be given hugs.

  After a couple more seconds, he clears his throat and backs away. “I’m glad to hear you’re accepting me as your grandfather.”

  “Well, I’d like to be on good terms with at least one person in my family.”

  “I’m surprised you’re so trusting of my word and who I am though. Why is that?”

  His concern seems genuine, and I smile hesitantly, trying my best not to look guilty. “It’s not that big of a deal, but I may or may not have taken a piece of your hair and ran a DNA test to see if we were actually related.” I rock back forth on the heel and soles of my foot while I wait for his reaction.

  To my surprise, he lets out a full belly-aching laugh. He holds on to the wall as he bends over and releases loud joyful chuckles.

  “What a fun story to tell your children,” he says the words in between fits of laughter.

  “You’re not mad?”

  “Why would I be mad, darling? You just needed proof to be able to trust me. That’s all. I would’ve gladly done a cheek swab or given a blood sample if you asked.” He stands up straight, fixes his overcoat and then heads towards the door. “I’m just happy you’re starting to accept me as family. Good night, Celeste.”

  ***

  “Hello?” There is a light knock from my bedroom door as I flip through the pages of the countless papers my grandfather gave me.

  “Yes?” I call out, not bothering to look up. I hear the door creak open then shut before the thumping of footsteps comes from behind me.

  “What are you doing, Celeste? I called and texted like one hundred times,” Austin says and then sits down beside me.

  “You have?”

  He gives one small nod when I look up, and I check my phone to confirm.

  “Oh, you did. Sorry, I didn’t hear it going off.” I set the small device down and return to my reading.

  “What could you possibly be reading that has you up at 3:30 in the morning and ignoring me?”

  He snatches away the papers on my desk and scans through it. “Okay, who is Antonio Rodriguez, and should I be worried?”

  “No, you don’t have to be worried.” I chuckle lightly. “He’s one of the guys who helped kidnap my uncle. Zeke found his file after I gave him the blood sample we got from the car crash.”

  “Anything interesting?” He pulls my chair closer to his while I continue reading where I left off.

  “Yeah, this dude has done some crazy stuff.” An unladylike snort escapes my mouth. “He’s a trained assassin that has killed over a hundred people. His specialties are kidnapping and torturing his victims before he shoots them execution style.”

  “Whoa! Really?” Austin says in shock as he reads along with me.

  “Yeah, there are even some crime scene photos to prove it.” I pull out some of the pictures included in the file given by Zeke.

  As I lay out the photos, I start catching the words in one of the reports and find something interesting. “Hold on. Look at this!” I say, excitement clear in my voice.

  “What is it?”

  “Paragraph four in the report, look.” I turn the paper towards Austin and point to the paragraph in question. “It says here that a couple of years ago, in a span of ten months, victims of torture and mutilation ended up near warehouses. They all had wounds of the same nature, and reason of death was ultimately a single gunshot wound at the center of the forehead.” I pause to let the information sink in. When he doesn’t speak, I continue. “Now, get this. On each of the victim, some sort of mattress fiber was found. They were all made from the same material, and they finally traced it back to an old mattress company.

  Austin nods and looks at the pictures still. He clearly isn’t one to shy away from grisly murders. I’m pretty sure he has his fair share of spilling blood

  “Serial kidnappers and killers have to stick to their routine. This man, Antonio, is the man from Jack’s memories.” I flip to the front page and point to the photo. “He’s second in command, and he probably agreed to help whoever is doing this with the condition that he could stick to his routine. Kidnapping members of my family was only the beginning.”

  “But wait. Doesn’t that mean he’s going to kill your family after torturing them?”

  “If he is merely killing for pleasure, then yes, but if his boss is really using them as bait to lure me to him, then Antonio will only kill them as a last resort. We should actually be expecting a call or something from them to negotiate my family’s release.”

  “That’s good then, right?” he asks.

  “I don’t know.” I scrunch my eyebrows together as I think. “I mean, they would have to know I’m here which means they either got that information from one of my family members that they captured, or you have a mole here working for them.”

  Silence falls around us. Only our breathing can be heard in the quiet of the night as we get lost in our thoughts, thinking of the different possible ways this could all go down and reach the same ending.

  CHAPTER 24

  |celeste|

  “Look, I have an idea!” I call out as I walk into Austin’s office. Cal, Jack, Aston, Vance, and Zeke turn to look at me as the door bursts open. “We need to find out if someone in the pack is a mole. The kidnappers know too much. They have to be working from someone on the inside. I suggest we have everyone investigated.”

  “Wait! Hold up.” Austin stands f
rom his chair, and everyone’s gaze turn towards him. “I have my best people looking for your family, alright. There’s no need to investigate the pack and cause unnecessary panic or rumors. “

  “Austin, anything is possible,” I tell him in a raised voice. “Someone in your pack could be a mole.

  He shakes his head, and I know he is trying to reign in his emotions. “Celeste, none of my members have anything to gain by working with these kidnappers. I can vouch for them. You can trust them.”

  “What makes you think the kidnappers didn’t offer some kind of deal to your pack’s weakest link to get them to talk?”

  He scoffs. “There is no spy in my pack. They’re loyal.”

  “Well, so is my family.” I step forward, and a low growl sounds from my clenched teeth.

  “No one would betray me for any sort of deal.” He steps out from behind his desk, his dominance and authority clearly on display. “Torture, on the other hand, would probably break your family’s loyalty. So, they gave you away.”

  “They’ve all been through all kinds of torture and never have they cracked. They’re rogues, remember?” I ask, my voice hard and high. “Unlike your pampered pack members. Half of them probably never saw silver before. Trust me; they’d be the ones to break someone’s trust long before any of my family does.”

  I turn to leave, but Austin’s hand grabs hold of my arm, preventing me from getting any further.

  “Those “pampered pack members” are my family, so I’d be careful with what I say if I were you,” he whispers low into my ear before Cal, Zeke, and Jack comes up next to him and pulls him away from me.

  “Calm down, Austin. You don’t want to do something you’ll regret,” Jack warns while I rub the soreness from my reddened arm.

  “Maybe you’re the one I shouldn’t trust, Alpha,” I taunt him. I head for the door, and everyone follows me except for Aston and Vance.

  |AUSTIN|

  “What the hell, man?” It is the first thing I hear after I hear the door shut.

  “You just hurt your mate, our luna, and probably put a hold on your relationship,” Aston admonishes.

  “I’m her alpha, and she was disrespecting me. She needed to be reprimanded.” I push his arm back down to his side.

  “You’re not her alpha,” Vance says in a calmer but still edgy tone. “You’re her equal. Even if you were, she’s not in the pack yet, so you have no rule over her.”

  “She’s on my land,” I argue.

  “It’s going to be both of your land,” Vance chimes in, “but you don’t need me to tell you that when you have Aston. So if you’ll excuse me, I have a luna to talk to.”

  With that, he leaves me with Aston.

  |celeste|

  I storm off to my room with my only remaining family members right behind me. I slam open the door and I head straight to my desk.

  “I was wrong,” I mumbled, more to myself than anyone. “We can’t trust Austin to help. It was stupid of me to think it would work.”

  As I turn around, I find a pouting Cal, a confused Jack, and an excited Zeke.

  “What?” I ask all three.

  “You don’t have faith in your mate?” Cal asks.

  “What’s happening?” Jacks question

  And then there was Zeke. “Where are we going?”

  Looks like my grandfather is the only one who gets what I’m saying.

  “No Cal, I don’t have faith in my mate. It was stupid of me to think he’d actually be helpful. We’re leaving the pack territory, Jack. We’re going to look for our family on our own. As for your question, Zeke, I was hoping you know of a place we can stay at.” I turn to each person as I answer their questions.

  Cal’s face falls completely while Jack looks cool with what’s happening.

  “I know a place, Celeste,” Zeke responds. “Just pack your bags and I’ll take you there. Let’s get packing, boys.”

  As the door closes, I sigh and get started on packing the essentials. Not a second later, a knock sounds at my door.

  “Come in,” I call out, thinking it’s Zeke.

  “Luna, what’s going on?”

  I turn around, and I see Austin’s gamma, Vance, instead of my grandfather.

  I mentally roll my eyes at the intrusion. His alpha had said enough.

  “I’m leaving with Zeke tonight,” I say as I got to packing.

  “Why? Is something wrong?” He shuts my bedroom door and walks towards me.

  “Yes, your Alpha is a hot-headed ass who doesn’t understand that rogues work differently than a pack. We’re more loyal.”

  He takes a seat on my bed, thinking my statement over. “How are they more loyal?”

  “When a rogue puts their faith in someone completely, the other wolf won’t ever betray them. Their trust in that person is all they have to rely on; no pack, no warriors, or alpha to protect them. That goes for the other rogue. Trust is all we have; just those few people they know will have their back until they breathe their final breath.” I shut my suitcase and zip it up before turning to him. “You should know that. You were a rogue once too.”

  “I was one a long time ago, but I was never lucky enough to meet people whom I could trust like that. Hell, it took me a year to fully trust Austin and his pack after everything I went through. But because of his kindness, I’d never betray him, and I know everyone else in this pack feels the same.”

  “He hasn’t showed kindness to his pack in years,” I countered. “After what he put them through for not having a mate by his side, I have no doubt it’s someone here.”

  There is a knock on the door, and Zeke comes in with his case packed. “We’re waiting outside for you.”

  I give him a curt nod before turning back to Vance.

  “When will you be back?” he asks.

  “I don’t know. When will I be able to trust Austin?”

  “I don’t know.” There is sadness laced in his voice. “Be safe.”

  “You’re not going to stop me?” I grow confused as he hands me my suitcase.

  “I want to, but you being away for a bit while Austin tries to figure out how to be a mate might be the best thing for everyone right now. Just promise you’ll come back before Austin finds you and drags you back.” He chuckles at the last part and I give him a grateful smile before pulling him into a hug.

  “Of course, I will. He’s my mate. I can’t leave home for long. Besides, you still have to teach me about how it works to have super good friends apart from family.”

  I pull away from him, and I turn to leave. Vance stops me after one step. “Just to warn you, I mind-linked Austin and told him to come.”

  “Why? I thought you were letting me leave?” My hope deflates as I look at him.

  “I am but what kind of gamma would I be if I didn’t at least warn my alpha?” He laughs lightly before gently pushing me towards Zeke. “Now go. He’s only a few turns away.”

  I run off into the hall with Zeke while I wave goodbye to Vance.

  “So, how are we leaving?” I ask the group.

  Zeke gives a sly smile before a red flame appears, floating above his palm with those intricate black markings glowing on his skin.

  “By demon magic of course.”

  The flame soon grows to become a large blanket around us. It’s surprisingly not deathly hot, but it’s creepy all the same.

  It engulfs us, and we disappear from the pack house only to reappear in the living room of a rather large mansion.

  CHAPTER 25

  |Austin|

  “Where is she!?” I bust into her room, only to see her closet empty and Vance standing in the middle of it

  “I will explain everything to you once you calm down.” He takes a seat at the edge of her bed with his hands folded in his lap.

  “There’s nothing to explain. Just tell me where my mate is.”

  He stays silent, just watching me as my breathing calms down and the anger on my face slowly melts away into fear.

  �
��Where is she?” I question again.

  “Please sit, Austin, and don’t get mad.”

  I do as he says, sitting down in the arm chair by the window.

  “She left…”

  I try to stand at the news but he motions for me to calm down.

  “Hear me out,” he says quickly, and I take a second to think before reluctantly sitting to let him speak.

  “She left with Zeke, and I don’t know where they went, so don’t ask.” He points his finger at me in a warning before continuing. “She left because she can’t trust you; not when it comes to the safety of her family.”

  “She can’t trust me? I’m her mate and she belongs here with me.” I growl at him, but he gives me a deadly glare and tells me to shut it.

  “She can’t trust you because you refuse to believe there is a traitor in your pack.”

  “Because there isn’t! My pack is loyal. It’s her family that betrayed her,” I shout as I stand and start to pace the room.

  “No, it wasn’t, Austin. If you would just calm down, I could explain to you why there is no way in hell her family would’ve ratted her out,” he yells back, his face turning red from anger and his fists clenched at his sides.

  “Fine,” I grumble and cross my arms.

  “Okay.” He runs his hand through his hair and releases a long, tired sigh. “Look, you’ve lived in a pack your whole life, so you don’t get it when Celeste says her family didn’t do it. But she is right; her family didn’t betray her because rogues are way more loyal to a person than a pack member when it comes down to it. A pack member will most likely live a privileged life with hundreds of people there when they need them until they die, while a rogue will be on their own, fending for themselves and witnessing unbelievable horrors.”

  He takes a second to collect his thoughts before continuing.

  “Once a rogue actually does put their faith and trust in a person, that is an almost unbreakable bond. They won’t ever betray that person. A pack member, on the other hand, especially a member from a pack where their alpha became cruel and cold for not having his mate…” he gestures to me which has me looking down in shame.