Diablos
Chapter forty-two
We traveled for several days, taking more breaks than necessary. We were postponing getting home as long as we could, both of us knew it, neither saying it out loud.
It was time. We were back in town, and Bren had called half an hour ago to tell me King was out and wouldn't be back for several hours. This was our chance to explain everything to our brothers, hoping they would understand.
Would they accept two of their brothers being together? Could they understand why Dagon hid that he was a demon, and could they accept that I was one now, too? So many what-ifs crowded my mind.
My heart hammered in my chest, all previous calm gone. I took deep breaths and focused on the thread connecting me to Dagon, drawing comfort from his hand in mine.
Mostly, I was worried about Dagon. He acted indifferent during the ride, but I felt his unease through our bond, and it hurt to see him this way.
As we pulled into the driveway, determination surged within me. Dagon had always protected us from the shadows, watching silently. He carried his pain alone after losing his brother, but that ended now. It was my turn to protect him.
Dagon parked and faced me, masking his feelings behind harsh lines and a cold stare, though I saw warmth and love hidden beneath. He leaned over, kissing me softly. "It'll be okay, trust me."
Even now, he comforted me. But what did he need in this moment?
The front door flew open, and our brothers rushed out. Bren sprinted toward us, and I jumped from the car, grinning. He threw himself at me. "I missed youuu!"
"I missed you too, Bren."
After checking me over, he tackled Dagon, who stumbled, clearly shocked. Bren shook him playfully. "Jesus, don't you know how to give a hug?"
Dagon awkwardly hugged him back, relaxing a bit.
Wild hugged me next. "You okay, little one?"
"I told you we'd be fine." He nodded, stepping aside.
Andras approached Dagon, then me. "Glad you're home." He didn't hug, but his eyes spoke volumes.
Luc silently hugged us both, warmth evident in his quiet manner.
"Let's talk inside," Bren suggested. "Luggage?"
"We'll grab it later," I answered. "We need to talk first. Let's go to the gaming room."
They exchanged looks, but Dagon guided them inside. Fuck, I didn’t know how any of them would react. The only person I was not worried about was Bren, and it was comforting to know we’d have someone on our side.
“How do you want to do this?” I heard Dagon’s voice in my mind.
“Let me do the talking in the beginning?”
“Okay.”
Once gathered, Bren poured whiskey, handing me a glass without comment. Dagon stood stiffly between us, uncertain. It was like he didn’t know how to act and didn’t feel he belonged here.
Taking a deep breath, I began, "There's a lot to tell you, and honestly, it's hard to start. I'm asking you to listen to our story, our side. And then you make your own decisions on how to react and if you still want us in your life.”
“What's going on?” Wild asked, confused.
I contemplated where to begin and what to say first. But all it took was seeing Dagon so uncomfortable, and I knew. Not taking my eyes off him, I took another sip of my whiskey and left it on the bar. His eyes widened because he realized what I was about to do.
Taking one step and then another, I approached him and took his hand in mine. Leaning over, I whispered in his ear, “You belong here.”
His tension eased slightly. When we pulled apart, I looked at our brothers, and their reaction would have been hilarious if I wasn’t so worried. Andras and Wilder’s jaws were on the floor, Luc looked confused, and Bren was smiling like a fool.
“Dagon and I are together. I know it might seem strange or uncomfortable. Seeing your two adopted brothers, umm, dating each other. But we hope it won’t come between us.”
They were all silent, their gaze ping-ponging between Dagon and me. Bren broke the silence first by approaching us and wrapping his hands around our shoulders from behind.
“This is what I call enemies-to-lovers,” he said to the others.
Andras got up and approached Dagon.
“You love him?” Andras asked.
“Yes, I love him more than anything.”
Andras shoved him. I was about to stand before Dagon and scream at Andras, but they both started laughing.
“Idiot.” The word carried fondness. “I’m happy for both of you. My only problem is that this one kept it a secret from me, but he’ll get his punishment later.”
Smirking, Andras backed off and went back to sit on the couch. I turned to Wilder and Luc. Luc was the first one to speak. “This is beyond weird, but if you’re happy, that’s all that matters. You’re not blood-related, so,” he shrugged.
I smiled at him and checked Wild, who didn’t meet my gaze. “Wild?”
“It will take some time to get used to, but as long as you two don’t break up and force us to take sides, I’m okay with it.”
Dagon relaxed, and both of us felt relieved. I guess now was the time to drop the bigger bomb. Or was it bigger? Yep, it was.
“You don’t need to worry about us breaking up. That’s impossible. We won’t ever break up because we're mates, and we have completed our bond.”
Alright, maybe that wasn’t the best introduction to ‘Hey, we’re demon mates.’ Perhaps we should have started by saying that we were demons. I mean, Dagon was always a demon.
Now, they stared at me like I was crazy. Huh, I guess that was how King felt when he told us he was an angel.
“You couldn’t give me a heads-up?” Dagon asked.
Smirking, I turned to him and answered, “Nope, it’s better to do it quickly and efficiently.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that.”
“What? I can’t sugarcoat it.”
“You usually love sugarcoating, and now you can’t?”
“Yes!”
“What are you two doing?” Bren’s voice interrupted our conversation.
“Talk,” both of us said at the same time.
“Talk?” Bren asked, puzzled.
I nodded at Dagon. It was time for him to tell his story. He sighed, let go of me, and ruffled his hair with his hands. Pacing close to the window, the carefully crafted mask started to crack in front of all of us.
“I would never leave Di. He's everything to me, and I love him more than you can imagine. And yes, he's my mate. I've known that for years. That’s why I stayed away from him.” He threw one last worried look my way, bracing himself like he was preparing for a blow. “I’m a demon.”
Shock and disbelief flashed across our brothers' faces. Andras opened his mouth, looking from Dagon to me, clearly struggling for words, before finally closing it again. Wilder, however, jumped from the couch and quickly positioned himself between Dagon and the others.
Dagon's walls rose higher, his expression shuttering.
"I'm a demon too," I said through gritted teeth.
Wild's head whipped toward me so quickly that for a second, he seemed like the supernatural being. "What?"
"I'm a demon too. Unlike Dagon, I wasn't born this way, I chose it. I chose it when I accepted our mate bond, and again when I took the bow and arrow. I pledged my loyalty and my soul to Lucifer. I had to make that choice, and I made it without an ounce of regret."
Meeting their gazes, I let my vulnerable side show, but stayed ready to protect Dagon and myself.
"Don't ever for a second question my choice, or whether either of us is a threat to any of you."
Wild staggered backward, and I couldn’t even look at him. I knew he didn’t see the brother he used to know in me, but to stand between Dagon and the others? Did he seriously know so little about Dagon? What had Dagon ever done to him?
"This was my choice, and I won't let anyone question me," I repeated firmly.
"If it comes down to bonding with your own objects one day, you'll have to make a choice too.
Lucifer created these objects before he fell.
When we wield them, we're forced to choose a side.
We can't have both. You either pledge your loyalty and soul to Heaven or Hell.”
For some reason I focused my attention on Bren. Immediately, I knew something was wrong. Bren stood frozen, glass halfway to his lips. His eyes blazed, and then all at once, anger and pain erupted across his features. He screamed, throwing his glass into the wall.
Dagon moved instantly, placing himself protectively in front of me, but I pushed him aside and hurried to Bren.
"Bren?"
"What else?" His face was red, eyes glassy with unshed tears. "What else did he lie about?"
"Bren?" I asked again, feeling lost.
He began laughing hysterically, making my heart clench. I looked desperately at Dagon, but he seemed just as confused and worried as I felt. This wasn't Bren. Our sunshine was never like this. And suddenly, I realized Bren and I had both been masking parts of ourselves all along.
"You know what? At this point, I should've known better. I shouldn't even be shocked or surprised anymore."
"Hey, it's okay-"
"No, it's not."
He stormed to the bar, roughly shoving Wild aside when he tried to intervene. Pouring another drink, he swallowed a big gulp before returning to me.
"Just for the record, I'm not angry at you or Dagon. I don't give a fuck if you're both demons, you're still my brothers, my family."
Tears blurred my vision as I pulled him into a fierce hug. Luc joined us too. We stood there in silence for a long moment before I felt it. Fuck. Panic surged through me as my gaze flew to Dagon's, confirming he felt it too.
"King is here," I announced just as the door burst open.
King stood in his angel form, knife drawn at his side. Horror and shock flashed in his eyes when he saw two demons in his home… his sons.
Dagon froze completely, and I moved before I realized what I was doing.
Eight years.
The number was in my head before the bow was in my hand.
Eight years of King saying I'm trying to protect you both.
Eight years of infatuation and hormonal curiosity.
Eight years of Dagon walking out of rooms because the angel-father of this house had told him his love wasn't real.
Eight years of Dagon and I living in our own personal Hell.
Eight years of Dagon distancing himself from the others too because he couldn't bear the pain of being near me.
Not today.
Not in this house. Not with a knife in King's hand pointed at the man who is my mate.
Standing protectively before Dagon, I summoned my bow and arrow. Drawing the arrow taut, I aimed it directly at our father's chest. King's eyes widened, but I couldn't afford to think about his feelings or all that he was to me. Not now.
The bond between me and Dagon went steady. The shaking I should have felt didn't come. My hand on the bowstring was rock-still. The Archer didn't shake. The Archer aimed. The Archer waited.
I saw the moment King saw my eyes.
The shimmer surfaced. His face did something I will remember for the rest of my life.
He didn't flinch. He didn't reach for his blade.
He went still in a way only an angel can go still.
The way a centuries-old being goes still when it realizes a child it has loved has been remade into something Hell could now negotiate with directly.
He saw the gold and the red. He saw who had claimed them.
He saw what I had done.
The grief in his face would have undone me at any other moment.
Not now.
"Stand back," I warned.
"Di-Diablos?" he stammered, clearly shaken.
My voice was colder and harsher than I'd ever heard it. "Stand back. If you try to hurt Dagon, I won't hesitate."
The voice that came out of me wasn't mine or maybe it was. It was a voice I hadn't heard before – colder, lower, threaded with something I could only describe as Hell. It belonged to whatever I had become in that field with the bow in my hands and Lucifer's red eyes on me.
Part of me was afraid of it.
Most of me wasn't.
The room fell deadly silent. King and I stared at each other, the tension nearly unbearable. Time felt suspended, but I refused to look away. I'd made my choice long before coming home – I would protect the person I love, no matter the cost.
“Di?” Dagon said my name in a whisper. His voice broke, and my heart followed. “Please put it down. You could hurt him.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No. I’ll put it down when I hear he won’t try anything.” I told Dagon before addressing King, “Change back into your human form and put away your knife.”
The pain in King's eyes nearly undid me, but I stood my ground. Finally, he shifted back to human form, putting the knife aside. I exhaled but remained cautious. I'd seen how quickly demons could move, and I was certain angels could do the same.
King could strike faster than I could react if I lowered my guard.
And the sad truth was that I don't trust our father.
“Summon Blue,” I told Dagon through our bond.
“What?” Dagon asked out loud, obviously shocked by my request.
“Do it or the bow stays.”
My eyes stayed locked on King as Blue materialized beside me. King's eyes widened again, while Blue shook himself off and settled protectively at my feet, gaze trained on our father.
I relaxed but warned, “Don’t even think about trying anything. This is your one and only warning.”
The bow and arrow dissolved into black smoke before returning to my wrist as a tattoo. Stepping back, I stood next to Dagon and took his hand firmly in mine.
And then, only then, my hands started to shake.
Not all of me. Just the hands. The same hands that had been steady on the bowstring thirty seconds ago were now trembling against Dagon's palm hard enough that he closed his fingers around them and pulled them tight against his side.
I felt the shimmer leave my eyes. The cold voice retreated. Somewhere underneath the Archer, the bookworm with OCD was still standing, and the bookworm had just pointed a weapon at his father.
I didn't cry.
The crying would come later. In some other room. With Dagon, or alone, I didn't know yet which.
For now I just stood there with my shaking hands inside Dagon's, watching King watch me, and waited for whatever came next.
Facing King now, I knew nothing would ever be the same. The moment I'd pointed that arrow at our father had irrevocably changed everything.
Yet, even if I could turn back time, I would make the same choice again. No matter the cost, I would keep Dagon safe. I would keep our brothers safe, even if it meant losing the father I loved with all my heart.
My heart ached deeply, but my mind couldn't forget everything King had done: standing between Dagon and me, dismissing our feelings as infatuation, lying about who he was, withholding truths about the objects, forcing the object bond onto me.
Love is powerful, love is many things, but even love shouldn't forget and forgive harm done in its name or justified by some higher belief.
Standing with Dagon now, I knew we'd survive whatever heartbreak lay ahead, because we had each other.