Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
KAIN
“ H ow the fuck is she keeping her presence hidden from us? We are fated fucking mates, I should be able to sense her no matter what,” I said as I hit Bones’ punching bag. Our new room was huge thanks to Alaric’s father. The alpha wolf might be annoying when he popped in unannounced, but he had his uses.
I didn’t have to go back to my old apartment to get anything; the Alpha had supplied us with new beds, clothes, and workout equipment. The room, which used to be Lilah’s, was now the size of a small auditorium. Everything was black, just the way we liked it. I had never felt more at home. I just missed my damned mate.
“She’s more powerful than any of us, now. Her magic is the one that connects us all,” Trigger said. I growled at Trigger’s gleeful tone.
The ass-wipe was so goo goo gee gaw for Ivy that everything she did made him have hearts in his eyes. Even this fight just made him harder for her. The fool.
I, on the other hand, wanted to steal Dex’s ropes off his waist and tie her to my bed until she understood everything, I did was to keep her safe. My father would strike soon. He was never going to stop coming after her. We all spent our time killing his spies, but he wouldn’t sit on the sidelines for long. If Trigger wasn’t great with potions Lucifer would have already gotten into her head through her dreams.
I glared but responded to Trigger. “I know that shit, but she’s not invincible. She can’t fight this battle on her own. I will not lose her?—”
“But you will if you don’t meet her halfway. She is the lead demon now. You can’t just order her around. If you keep trying, she’ll never be with us,” Dex said with his head down in shame. “I want to keep her safe, but I was wrong to think locking her up was the right thing. She’ll be in this fight with us or without us. Especially since her uncle said her parents might still be alive.”
I nodded as I hugged the punching bag with deep breaths. My demon had trouble with the change in status. We had always been the strongest. We’d probably be more powerful than Lucifer, if our magic wasn’t locked down.
My shadow creatures erupted from me, racing around the room in chaotic circles. Octopus-like beings, Hellhounds, demon bugs, and massive beasts used the space as their playground. Yet, nothing was displaced or destroyed.
Dex let out a little squeak at seeing the horde just appear. My brothers were used to it by now. Since my demon lost the number one spot, it needed to release the built-up tension. I was now in a constant state of needing to prove myself. The feeling made me act like a dick, and I knew it. My demon wouldn’t settle, though. Ivy didn’t seem to care about her own life, and it made him push even harder.
“I know,” was all I could say. I knew I’d messed up again last night. The hurt in her eyes had nearly broken me. But I didn’t know how to fix it. My demon had a stranglehold on me, calming him down was impossible. “I can’t fucking help it. What am I supposed to do?”
I’d shared my feelings with them, but they didn’t have solutions either. Their irritation with me was palpable, but they understood I was trying—failing miserably, but still trying.
My favorite shadow wrapped his tentacles around my leg for support. I smiled down at him and patted his head. Smokey, in his puppy form, rolled on the ground next to me whining. He missed Ivy, but she knew I could keep an eye on her through him, so she hadn’t let Smokey near her either. The poor guy missed her as much as I did. I knelt to give him more attention. The creature only tolerated a few more caresses before he moved away.
At the same time, Bones coughed as he exited the bathroom. The calming magical shower worked on him, but his lungs weren’t happy about it. Anything to keep us calm with our missing mate was a good thing in my book, though.
“I’ve got a plan,” said Bones when his throat felt better. Steam from the bathroom still seemed to follow him around.
I perked up like a dog at hearing the word plan. It had been my job to make those, but I was desperate. Accepting help didn’t mean I was weak… right? What if I was too weak for my mate to even want me? Was that why she really stayed away?
Bones spoke, pushing those insecurities into the box in the back of my mind where I kept all the crappy shit at. “So, listen to the full plan before you freak out. Especially you, Dex.”
That made the Incubus sit up. He rolled his red eyes and scratched his black horns. “We kidnap our mate and force her to listen to us.”
Dex and even Alaric stood up, growling. Alaric had recently let his vampire side numb his emotions, so it was surprising that he cared. But I should have known better—Ivy was the only thing that grounded him. That and his books. Him and Dex have been staying with us since Ivy hadn’t been home, and I actually enjoyed their presence. I may not feel Ivy in the bond because she blocked us, but I could feel them which calmed me. Funny how I used to envy and hate them for having Ivy, now they felt like brothers to me and my demon.
“What the fuck, dude? Do I have to chop off your dick? We just had this di?—”
Bones put up his hand. “Chill the cry-baby moment and listen. We are fucking demons. Ivy’s demon is her natural form now. We are thinking like humans because that’s where she’s from, but we need to do what demons do to their mate when arguing.”
Trigger stood cheering. “Fuck yeah!”
My grin stretched wide. This was what we needed. She was too powerful to do this the human way, Bones was right. That was why she ran from us.
Dex threw up his hands. “What does that mean?”
Trigger scoffed. “For a demon that was born here?—”
“I was raised as a whore in an orphanage, we didn’t get to go out and do things the demon way .” Dex used air quotes around the last words.
Alaric growled at the word whore, making Dex’s eyes roll. They didn’t tell us everything, but Dex got the chance at revenge not too long ago. Since then, he had been tough on himself, but I didn’t think he meant it in a harsh way like Alaric thought. It was almost said with a stubborn determination. Like he refused to let his bad past ruin his good future.
“Well,” Bones continued, “it means we grab her, tie her up, and lay out our side of things while we work out an arrangement that suits both sides.”
“While we give her tons of orgasms!” Trigger practically giggled as he skipped around, forcing a few of my shadows that had stopped running to dance with him.
“Come on give me smooches.”
They growled and snapped at my brother, but he didn’t care. The fucker just tried to kiss them.
I had never seen my hell beast, which resembled a man and a bear run toward me so fast. It hit my chest, making pain course through me as it hid inside me. The others moved my way more slowly to not look as weak.
I threw one of Alaric’s books at Triggers head. “Stop messing with my shadows. You know they won’t hurt you.”
“Hey!” both him and Alaric said in unison.
Bones was done dressing in his black shirt and leather pants when he chimed in. “I am tired of not having my mate close to me. I spent years with that harpy Tila, and it’s time for all of us to have our happiness. Come on. We have to try.”
Dex softened. “I get it, but if she says no, we aren’t forcing her.”
"Never. I promise.”
My stomach rolled with excitement when they nodded their agreement. Yes. Finally! My demon would open up if she was tied down, and he had the upper hand. I just needed her to know what was going on with me. I didn’t want to hurt her. I just needed everyone to be safe.
“Alright, let’s get to class. The last thing we need is to flunk a class and get eaten by a professor.” This fight had gone on long enough, we all needed things to change before Lucifer struck. Like I knew he would.
My shadow creatures always guided me and my brothers through the halls since they loved to change and blur for the Master demons, but Dex navigated on his own without problem. The fucking building even wanted pets from him like a damn dog. My shadows didn’t even do that, and they were a part of me. The Incubus must have bewitched the souls or something.
But my jealousy wouldn’t ruin a good day. I was finally free of my magical disguise. The triplets died yesterday. They were me and my brothers’ disguises when we were working with Ivy but still mated to Tila. We were working with Ivy but still mated to Tila. We were working with Ivy but still mated to Tila. We didn’t need anyone using that information against us somehow, so we got rid of the triplets.
We made sure to put on a show in front of everyone. People were targeting Dex and Alaric since Ivy distanced herself from them, so they were going to be the ones to kill us. That way, most of the demons would back off. The other ones, I could kill for them. I smiled as I replayed the event in my mind.
I pushed Alaric, making him sit back down. We were all in the cafeteria to have the best audience. My red form was bulkier than my body, so I had to focus on my movements to make sure they didn’t appear too awkward. The stronger demons would notice a slip up like that.
“Sit the fuck down. We’re taking the Succubus bitch and you two are going back to your fucking hole in the ground.” My voice boomed around the room, silencing everyone. Demons loved drama and loved fights even more.
Trigger and Bones who were in the same disguise as me, since we were triplets, turned around laughing. We had the same gray eyes and red beards, but we wore different colors to not confuse Ivy. Bones wore white, I wore black, and Trigger wore red. He almost looked naked as we strolled along. The circular tables were full, even on the slave side.
Then, it was Dex’s turn to act. People needed to see he wasn’t the same submissive demon. They needed to see the predator, the protector he was always meant to be.
With a battle cry, he tackled me to the floor. The knife he drove into me was an illusion. Trigger’s hand glowed as he made the blood splatter and the weapons drip. Trigger even found a spell where a body could lose their limbs for an hour and be fine. With no pain. That was unheard of.
So, when my arm was ripped off my body, I had to remind myself to scream for all I was worth. That blood might be fake, but we asked the floor to clean the liquid up so no one could use it or test it.
My brother’s screams made me flinch, and I had to hold myself back from actually fighting. The triplets were in the top twenty in the academy, but they weren’t that powerful, so I needed to make sure not to let my power escape me. The cheers from the audience weren’t helping. By the time, the show was finished, and the triplets were proclaimed dead, and Ivy’s mates had our hearts in their hands, I was ready to hide in a dark corner far away.
Everything went smoothly, and the illusion worked perfectly. That kind of spell took a lot out of him, but Trigger managed the burnout well by resting for the next two days with an energy balm on his chest. He was truly a force to be reckoned with these days. A sense of pride swelled inside me. We had all been through so much—tortured, abused, and paraded in front of an audience–that thrived on our suffering. Watching him grow into a powerhouse warmed my cold heart.
That’s why I hated crowds. Everyone’s eyes always drifted toward me, making me feel like I was on stage again. Just like this morning when we stepped out of the dark hallway. There were too many people for my liking. But, given my feelings toward everyone except my bonded family, that was to be expected.
People attempted to talk to me, but I ignored them. Being in the top five most powerful in the school was like being a celebrity. Being Lucifer’s son made it a thousand times worse. Someone always wanted to be near or talk to me. They had no idea about the turmoil inside.
My trauma wasn’t publicly known, but the ones that did know, always used it against me. Even my old mate. The flashes of Tila demanding I fuck her in front of the whole faction sizzled on my brain. She’d threatened to let Lucifer know that we were up to something. We worked hard to get him to think he had control over us, so I couldn’t let her do that. I hid my suffering by using my shadows to fuck the wench.
When she used her new abilities from Lucifer’s blood to force Trigger to eat her out because of a fit of jealousy that was it for me. Any speck of caring I had for the woman vanished. She was just another one of my tormentors. Just like the woman we called Terror.
The flashes that brought those memories gave me an instant headache. Cutting, carving, so much pain, raping, performing her torture in front of a crowd … I scrunched my eyes closed and pushed down the fucked-up memories.
I rolled my shoulders as our group walked past the student lounge that was only for the House of Sin. My fingernails dug into my palms, so I could focus on something else. Our communicators were red, and we all consumed some type of energy from people. Things like emotions and life force, but mostly pain and fear.
For some reason, the demons that ate the latter bred like rabbits. The few witches that used life force to fuel their magic nodded to Trigger as we passed. He was the strongest half witch in the school, so he was like their leader in a way. Witches didn’t form large covens here because they got targeted, but they all gave Trigger the respect of a coven leader.
Once we were out of that room, I could breathe easier. The brick hallway that retracted at night was just as crowded. Why couldn’t we just teleport to our classes? I hated people.
“Let’s take the long way,” I said as Dex prepared to tackle the hallway.
I’d have to let him know about my brother’s and my own traumas and weaknesses soon, but showing vulnerability wasn’t my strong suit. I always had to be the strongest, the most composed, the leader. Letting go of those roles was nearly impossible, which was why I gave Ivy such a hard time. I didn’t mean to, but I didn’t know how to be or do anything else. I needed to protect her.
We were almost out of the building. One more heavily filled room, and I could breathe outside air. The common room for the House of Sin was always packed. People came here to be hurt or fucked basically. The line at the BDSM vending machine proved that much.
I had to focus on something to keep from having a panic attack or some shit, so I focused on people’s wrists. There were four student houses at the academy and each of them had a lounge for residents only. There was a common room where everyone could mingle, and everyone always came here. Orange and blue communicators filled the room. There were several reds, here to feed, but the greens were nowhere to be seen. Interesting.
Did the shifter’s absence have to do with Ivy beating their house alpha to claim Alaric as her mate? I’d reach out to an informant to find out. The magical full moon was days away, and if the alphas were being tested it might be chaos when they shifted.
Green communicators represented the House of Howlers, comprised of half-shifters. Orange communicators signified the House of Black Auras, consisting of half-vampires, as they were the only beings naturally endowed with a black aura. Everyone else had to earn their darkness through malevolent acts.
Finally, there was the House of Power, with blue communicators, encompassing a diverse range of half-beings, from Fae to trolls. Dimidium Demons not belonging to any of the other three houses ended up in the House of Power. If Bones didn’t need to feed his demon side with anger or battle lust energy, he would have been placed there.
The only other color communicator were the black staff ones. Thankfully, there were none in here. And even more to be grateful for, my feet hit the outside grounds. The heat and humidity didn’t bother me. The sight of the outside of the gothic, castle-like buildings was even comforting. The blurred and zig zagged buildings even helped eased my tension.
I lifted my red communicator. The time flashed at me. It was way too early in the morning to be around people. I welcomed this small distraction, though. The hologram screen popped up, but only I could see it. Others would know from the red shine on my wrist, but they wouldn’t see anything else.
Me: I don’t see any of you hairy bastards in the lounge. Problem in howler land?
He responded almost instantly which was different for him. The asshat liked to read my messages and respond hours later. Today, I was glad for his speedy fingers.
Hairball: You could say that. I’m bored off my ass because of your new mate. The pecking order and all that shit.
Me: Not sorry. But since I have you on here, have you spoke to any of the slaves? They have gone quiet.
The communicators weren’t infallible, but they were secure. Private conversations would stay that way.
Hairball: No shit. They’re scared about Lucifer’s attack, but my contact that still works in his house said, it’s a bluff. Or better yet, a distraction. Besides, it’s getting the slaves to behave.
Well, fuck. I’d have to tell Ivy, so she didn’t stress about it or do something to bring attention to her.
Me: Thanks for the update. After your hairy mess, we should get a beer.
Hairball: Yeah, right. You just want to know my identity. Get over it. I want to help the right side, but I’m a demon, I’ll always side with the winner. I’m not showing my ass until you are king. Not sorry. Talk to you later, I’m going to turn into my animal and lick my balls.
Me: Suck a dick.
Hairball: Jealous.
I rolled my eyes and delete the message. Most of our contacts were anonymous, so I expected his answer. If Lucifer won, everyone on the losing side would wish they were dead, but I refused to let that sperm donor be the victor in this fight.
“Come on, I need to get food before classes,” Dex said, quickening his pace toward the large building situated in the center of the four houses.
My hands itched to strangle him. We had just stepped outside. I knew I had to go back inside; I just didn’t want to. Yet.
“Me and Alaric will run to get a bite to eat. You guys said you weren’t hungry so want to meet at your lockers?” I nodded. My mind was too wound up to go into the cafeteria.
I took the opportunity once we were at the lockers, waiting for Dex and Alaric to message Ivy. I really hoped she wrote back this time. How were we supposed to move on if she wasn’t around?
Me: Good news. The huge attack on the slaves is a scare tactic and possibly a distraction. Since he’s being paranoid, I don’t have anyone close to him to know why he needed a distraction. We need to stick together just in case.
My eyes widened when the little icon switched to read. My smile widened, on the inside, I didn't want to actually smile and draw attention to myself. Bones had already shooed away ten people who tried to get close to us.
The bubbly feeling of excitement it caused wasn’t unpleasant just weird.
My Poison: Good to know.
Seriously?
I scoffed at her fucking answer. When she didn’t say anything else for a few seconds, I put down my wrist. Why was she so frustrating? Women literally throw themselves at me every day like the redheaded chick slowly making her way to me. But the only woman I wanted, ignored me because I wanted her safe.
Her eyes constantly scanned the area, looking for my mate. Bones growled at the woman, and like a coward, she ran away. When he met my gaze, I gave him a nod to thank him. No one had time for stupid people who thought they’re important.
“Do you think Ivy will be in classes today?” Bones asked as the other two finally appeared down the hall.
I shrugged, hoping she would be. I needed to see her stubborn ass even if it was from a far. If she’d stop using magic, I’d follow her in the shadows. I wasn’t too proud to stalk my mate.