17. Dagon
Chapter seventeen
Dagon
We reached the village at noon. The sun was still shining, which made me relax a little. I didn’t know what to expect from this so-called friend of King's. I wanted to be prepared for anything and not be ambushed in the dark.
I enjoyed the ride with Diablos, and I hoped I reassured him that there was nothing to worry about. Holding his hand felt right. If anything, I was annoyed when we arrived, and I had to let go.
The village was tiny, only around twenty houses. All of them were identical, and it was disturbing. What took me by surprise was the presence of demons. I hit the brakes the second I sensed them.
“What’s wrong?” Di asked, panic creeping into his voice.
I had a split second to decide. Did I move forward, or did I go back? I sensed lower-level demons, probably Soulborn. I bet demons occupied every house here. We had no clues about where else to go or what else to do, so I continued. I wasn’t afraid of some low-level bastards.
We reached the last house, the one King had given us as the address. The house was painted dark green. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary two-story home.
I could sense how Di tensed, so I reached for his hand again.
“Don’t worry. It will be fine. Nothing will happen.” He squeezed my hand, and my chest warmed. I was getting addicted to touching him. “Let’s get this over with.”
Before we left the car, I added, “Don’t reveal anything, and I mean anything, personal about yourself. If he asks a personal question, lie immediately. Leave most of the talking to me.”
Di looked confused, but he breathed deeply and said, “Okay. But be careful.”
I tried to reassure him with a nod and a smile. I wasn’t worried about this demon. He was the one who should be worried about me. If I sensed a threat, no matter how small, I was going to rip this motherfucker’s head off and set it on fire along with this stupid-looking house.
“Let’s go.”
As I opened my door, I was immediately greeted by the fresh air and a light breeze.
However, underneath it all, I sensed the unpleasant notes of Soulborn demons.
Yes, there were demons here. Not one, not two…
I didn’t know exactly how many, but there were a lot.
The good thing was, they were all Soulborns.
I jogged to the other side of the car, where Di was waiting.
He was playing with his ring again. I wanted to say something more, but we were outside now, and I knew that even though Soulborns didn’t have exceptional hearing abilities, there was still a chance of being overheard.
The village felt haunted. There were no people outside despite the daylight, no children playing.
I decided it was for the best to hurry and get this over with.
Stepping onto the threshold, I banged on the door. No need for a bell. Like hell, was I going to be polite with a Soulborn. After a few seconds, a man looking in his fifties opened the door. His hair was gray, and he looked like an ordinary human, but I knew what he was.
“You two must be Dagon and Diablos,” the man said, clearly disturbed by us, probably because of my size. “Come on in.”
Di looked a little pale. I touched his back in silent support.
Abruptly, his features relaxed. His face shifted from shocked to composed, his posture became carefree, and his eyes turned warm and sweet.
It was like watching someone change from one person to another.
I was shocked at how quickly he adjusted.
It was like we were on a podium, and he was getting into his role in a flash because there was no time left for his part.
I wondered if he did it often. Did he hide his emotions at home as well?
I had never seen him do this before. I was still reeling from seeing him like this when he nudged me in the ribs.
We followed the demon to his living room. One wall was lined with books and little figures. It would creep most people out. There was one narrow couch, a chair, and a table. That was it.
He gestured to the couch for us to sit, so we did.
“Sorry, where are my manners? My name is Joshua.”
“Nice to meet you.” Di smiled at him and answered before I could say something.
My blood was boiling. I didn’t like him talking to this fucking demon.
“Do you want something to drink? I could get you-”
I cut him off before he could finish, “No. We’re here for business. The sooner we get to the point, the better.”
I could feel how cold my voice was, but there was no way I could soften it. Joshua stiffened at my words but nodded and sat in the chair. I was glad I sat close to it so Di could be on my other side.
“Our father told us you can help us somehow,” I said.
“Yes. Your father’s friend and I are old acquaintances.”
“Can we get to the point?”
Was King’s angel friend acquainted with a demon? What the fuck? I wasn’t going to worry about that now. I had to focus on getting Di away from this demon.
“Dagon.” The warning in Di’s voice was evident, but I could detect the fear too, so I tried to calm down. To my surprise, Joshua laughed.
“Of course, we will get to the point. What do you know about the object?”
He looked at Di, and my body tensed again. First, I didn’t like him looking and talking to him. Second, he said the object. This caught my attention. How much did he know? Did he know more than us?
“The object? Our father said you’ll tell us.”
Well played, Di.
“Well, the object you’re searching for is bound to you. That much you know. When you get close to it, you'll feel it. Your body will react in a way that alerts you to where exactly it is. The closest I can describe it is with intuition and fire.”
“Fire?” I asked.
“It will feel like your blood is boiling. The object will reach out to you and warm your skin, your blood, your being.” There was an excited gleam in his eyes that I didn’t like at all. “At least, those were the rumors.”
“What else can you tell us? This doesn’t answer the question of how to find it.”
“Not far from here, maybe two days by car, there’s a deserted town. As far as I know, no one has lived there for the past fifty years. It has an apocalyptic vibe. One of my neighbors passed close to it a week ago and sensed something compelling, something wrong there.”
Was he fucking kidding me right now? My face was a mask of interest, but my blood was boiling from the inside. Something powerful? Was he stupid, or did he think I was? There were tons of things that could be powerful out there.
"I think it's that object because my neighbor described it as a heavy feeling in the air that suffocates you, fogs up your brain, makes you dissociate from the present, and most importantly, he saw a red-white light there."
Now, that was something. But it wasn’t concrete either. There was no guarantee it was the object. I waited for Joshua to continue, but he just stared at us.
“Is this all?” I wasn’t going to ask him for more information. It would be the wrong choice.
“Only one more thing.” He looked toward Di again, “What will you do with the object when you find it?”
Di appeared thoughtful for a second before shrugging. “Who knows? I mean, I don’t care about it, so I’ll see what happens.”
Di smirked, obviously trying to let Joshua think whatever he wanted. It was a success. Joshua smiled and nodded.
I got up and drew Di up with me. “We'll be leaving now.”
We started walking toward the door when he interrupted us. “You can stay for the night. It's already dark out there.”
“Thank you for your kind offer, but I want to get this over with and go party somewhere.” Di grinned wildly.
The demon smiled, nodded, and opened the door for us.
Without saying another word, we stormed to our car.
I started it and got us out of there as fast as I could.
There was something very wrong with this place, very, very wrong.
My instincts were screaming at me to get the fuck away from there.
They never lie, especially when they're this strong. Since that moment all those years ago, I had never felt my instincts flare like this. It was a clear sign, and I didn’t want to ignore it.
I broke all speed limits. When I stopped feeling the remnants of that awful gut feeling, I pulled over. Looking over at Di, I saw him visibly shaking and playing with his ring. Fuck, he didn’t look good.
“Di. Look at me.”
Gently, I touched his jaw and turned his face to me. His eyes were unfocused. He wasn’t here with me. My heart shuddered, and panic rose. Something happened back in that damn house to disturb him so much. What exactly? I wasn’t sure, but if I saw that demon again, I’d kill him on sight.
“Di, listen to my voice.” When there was no reaction, I added desperately, “Please.”
It happened slowly, but he turned to me, and I could see a little bit of my Di there, though his eyes were still glassy.
I couldn't take it anymore. Unbuckling both my belt and his, I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled our bodies together. I embraced him with both arms and gently caressed his hair.
“You’re safe. Everything is okay. You’re safe.”
I tried to calm him down, holding him tight and not letting go for a second. Saying soothing words, I tried to think of something that would bring him back to me. My heart was frantic, my pulse skyrocketing, and my insides were a raging inferno of anger and worry.
“We’re safe.” When he heard this, he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. Abruptly, his arms came around me, and he hugged me back, burying his face in the crook of my neck. I could feel him returning to me, so I repeated the words I'd said last. “We’re safe.”
With my heart breaking and my focus on Di, I made a promise to myself. I'd be damned if I let something like this happen to him again.
Was I overprotective? No. They hadn't seen anything yet.
I lurked in the shadows all this time. But I was done with that.
My obsession with Di was beyond healthy, and I knew it.
My protective instincts were on a whole other deranged level.
I'd suppressed it all to the best of my ability for years.
No more. Diablos Hughes might never be mine in the way I yearned for, but he was mine to protect.