Chapter 51
fifty-one
The Demon
*GWENDOLYN*
Felix and I spent a slow evening together, just cuddling on the sofa, watching a silly romance movie. We go to bed earlier than usual, both of us exhausted. With Felix next to me, I just sleep so much better. It doesn’t take me even a minute to fall asleep.
Only to startle awake, confused as to what woke me in such a manner. It’s still dark outside, and Felix is sleeping right next to me; he looks so peaceful in his sleep.
There are no noises aside from the slight scratching and squeaking from our pets.
We don’t let them into our bedroom, so in case they make any noise, it’s nothing that would startle me awake.
I let my eyes wander through the room until they land on the window, and I look right into a pair of yellow eyes.
The shock makes me almost fall out of my bed. One thing is for sure: I am definitely awake now! Is it an intruder? My hand moves towards Felix to shake him and force him to wake up when the being behind the window blinks and moves slightly.
That’s not a person.
It’s a cat.
Trying not to make any noise, I get up and walk out of the bedroom, towards the terrace. The cat must have sensed my plans, as it’s already expecting me there. It’s not just any cat, though. “Titan?” I whisper.
Titan lies down and licks his paws, while something behind him suddenly pads through the grass.
I am expecting something small, but my eyes widen when I see a pony.
It looks a bit roughed up, and I can tell its coat and hooves definitely need some work done.
It’s limping, so at least one of its legs might be lame.
As if on cue, Tiger flies past me and lands on the pony’s head.
This finally fully pushes me out of my thoughts.
I carefully walk towards the pony, trying not to make any rapid movements, until I have reached it.
The little thing is not afraid of me and immediately presses its nose against my palm. Just like Tulip always did.
My eyes burn at the memory of him and of being eye to eye with another horse for the first time since my loss. I can’t help but bury my face in its mane.
“Gwen?”
I tense up until I realize it’s Felix. “Sorry, did I wake you up?”
“No, don’t worry.” Felix sits down on top of the stairs, watching me and the pony interact. He always lets me handle the animals upon their first arrival, which is good, because horses have a flight instinct. “A new addition to our zoo?”
“Seems like it.” I smile. “Aurelia asked me if I’d be up to keeping a couple of horses and maybe giving riding lessons.”
“And are you?” His eyes look at me thoughtfully, worried almost.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I know that this little guy sought me out. I will care for him and see that he returns to a healthy state. Anything else I can decide later.”
Felix’s gaze turns gentle and warm when he looks at me. “Just take your time, babe.”
I am relieved he doesn’t push me, as usual, he lets me proceed at my pace.
For now, he helps me with settling our pony in the makeshift stable, and it’s almost 5 a.m. when we are done.
“I will go inside and prepare some breakfast,” Felix offers.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel it’s any point returning to bed. ”
“I am with you on that.”
He leans over to kiss me softly. “What do you want? Pancakes, eggs, porridge?”
“Porridge, please.”
Felix nods before heading inside. I close the doors of the stable, turning around to almost stumble over Titan. He is sitting right in front of me now, his gaze pinned on me. “You are still here,” I mutter.
Obviously.
For the nth time this night, I startle in shock. I look around frantically to see if anyone is around, but it’s silent; not one sound can be heard. My eyes return to Titan. No way. How is that possible?
You can hear me, can’t you?
Still somewhat floored, I simply answer. “Yes.”
I had a feeling you could. Titan stretches slightly before starting to walk away. He stops to look at me. Come.
Either I am losing my mind, or I am talking to a cat and hearing its answers. And if Titan is really talking to me, is it smart to follow him? I am not sure.
If you don’t trust me, Titan concludes. Come to the fence and look who is there.
Now my interest is piqued, and I guess it’s no harm to do as he said. Once at the gate in our fence, I let my eyes search the gloom, until I spot a familiar figure sitting on one of the benches that are scattered around the pack grounds in case the pack members want to sit and take a rest.
“Flora?”
Now, if this weren’t all so weird, I’d feel like I was in a horror movie. Talk about creepy.
Flora stands up and comes closer. “I had a feeling Titan was up to something.”
“He wants me to follow him.”
“Well, let’s go.”
I don’t know how to feel about Titan, but I definitely trust Flora.
I link Felix briefly, telling him I am heading out with his mom, with a promise to explain everything later, before I follow Titan and Flora away from home and towards the forest. I am still in my pajamas, but fortunately, Felix brought boots and a jacket for me while we were tending the pony.
Titan lets out a groan. This was not planned. But I guess the Child of Light can accompany us.
The child of light?
Flora doesn’t react to his words, and I am way too confused to ask further. Instead, I trot behind both of them until we are deep into the forest. Titan eventually stops in front of a small waterfall, which ends in a beautiful pool.
“I had suspected something wasn’t right with this place,” Flora mutters. “It always felt particularly magical, even when I was still a child, but recently, something felt off.”
I swear I see some small dots of light dance around Flora, before the waterfall stops suddenly, and behind it in the shadows, there is a…
a man? I can’t see him fully, but from my position, he looks just like a human, maybe a bit taller and broader.
Well, shifters are taller and broader than many humans.
“But he isn’t a shifter,” I mutter, thinking out loud.
“He isn’t,” Flora says. “You can’t leave this place and step further into our realm,” she concludes. “Or am I wrong?”
“Unexpectedly,” he mutters, “my cat brings me a deity.”
“What are you talking about?” Flora laughs. “I am just a shifter.”
The man doesn’t say anything.
“If Titan is your cat, then you must be a demon, a human one. Interesting,” she says. “I knew you existed, but I never thought I’d meet one of you.”
“On a normal occasion, you wouldn’t, Child of Light. And I am not here looking for a fight. I will not harm the balance that way.”
Flora furrows her brows. “I guess I have no reason not to believe you. However, you don’t give off a meek kind of aura. What do you think, Gwen? Does he seem like a normal demon to you?”
“I have nothing to compare it to,” I admit, my head spinning with what I am experiencing now. Am I still dreaming? This is insane! “But if I had to guess, I’d say someone with rank. If demons have ranks.”
“Of course we do,” he says simply.
Something shuffles behind him, and I swear I see a small boy. Toddler age or a little older. The demon’s dark expression softens as he turns around. He whispers something to the boy before turning towards us again.
“It’s like a gate,” Flora muses.
“Exactly. I don’t know how it opened, but it did,” the demon explains. “And some of our animals came to your world.”
“We guessed,” Flora says. “We know of one dog, one cat and one bird. Please tell me there aren't any more.”
“No, that’s the three we are missing.” His gaze wanders towards Titan. “Are you going to return?”
I left my tasks in capable hands, Titan says. You are not without support. But I have served the kingdom for a long time. I’d like to take this extended vacation.
“I thought you’d say that,” the man replies before looking at us. “I will leave these three in your hands then. Are you up to it?”
“Yes,” Flora and I both say in unison. I have no doubts that we are. Tiger is my friend; she would never harm me, and she went out of her way to warn us that Felix was in danger. As did Titan.
“Well, then it’s set. I can’t fully make the gate disappear,” he says to Flora. “But I will try to keep it shut for as long as I can.”
“Thank you.” Flora gazes around. “Now I know about this place, it‘ll make it easier for me to keep an eye on it. There are no other gates?”
“No. There is nothing to worry about.”
“You know who I am,” Flora says. “But you haven’t told us your name.”
“Neither did you,” he says. “I just know the obvious.”
“You must be of high rank or a leader,” she muses.
“I will leave that to your imagination,” he says before his frame becomes more and more blurred. “Maybe our kind will meet again, one day.”
“Before you leave,“ Flora says. “Tell her who she is.”
The demon stares at me. “She barely has any demon blood in her.”
“She still wants to know,” Flora says, before turning towards me. “Don’t you?”
“I do!”
“One of your parents must have been a descendant of our kind,” he explains. “But your demon blood is mostly washed out.”
I can still sense it, Titan tells me.
I let his words sink in, my heart rate picking up speed. “My mom. Do I have family left?”
“Not in my realm,” the demon explains. “Your mother’s family must have lived with the humans for a few generations. I am sorry.”
“Finally, I know something about her,” I mutter. It’s better than nothing. “Thank you.”
With that, he disappears fully, and I can’t help but drop down onto my knees. “Please tell me I am not losing my mind.”
Flora hurries to my side. “Don’t worry, Sweetie,” she says.
“I know it’s a lot, but what you just saw actually happened.
I will need to ask you, though, to keep it to yourself.
Only share it with Felix if you must, like I will share it with Elden, but no one else should know about it. ” She sighs. “It’s safer that way.”
I get her. Certain secrets need to remain as such.
“But really,” Flora turns to look at Titan. “What were you thinking, taking Gwen to this place? If I hadn’t felt something was off, she would have been here alone.”
Titan tilts his head. If it were me, I would have taken the beautiful princess along.
“Aurelia?” I ask.
But I don’t want to endanger her.
“Endangering Gwen and me is better,” Flora concludes.
No offense.
She sighs. “Don’t pull Gwen into something like this again, please. Next time, wake me, and I will help you however I can.”
Then we have a deal.
With that, Titan turns around and disappears in the direction of the pack. Flora helps me up again and puts an arm around my middle. I feel warm and calm immediately, a bit like with Felix. Maybe it’s something he inherited from her.
“I can’t believe it,” Felix mutters under his breath as we walk to Beta Vincent’s jeep. I spent the whole morning telling my mate over and over about what happened. He was understandably stunned, and it took a while for him to accept the whole tale.
“Are you ready?” Vincent asks. “Because the little princess here has been waiting long enough.” The little princess is Faye, and she wasn’t waiting so long because we ran late, but rather because she was so excited about the trip that she was ready half an hour earlier than everyone else.
Vincent himself is a fun man of middle age.
He looks scary with his many tattoos and his shaved head, but he has that spark in his eyes, a kindness.
His eyes always look like he is smiling.
Meanwhile, Beta Edward is calm and composed – a funny contrast to Flora.
He and her gamma have to be amazing if she chose them to be by her side.
Felix once told me that it was a long process for her to find someone she trusted enough to become her protectors.
“We are really taking your jeep?” Felix asks. “Isn’t that overkill?”
“Not really.” Vincent grins. “If someone is after us, we can just roll over them. Besides, Marius and Celine will return with us later today, for – surprise – yet another meeting.”
They are probably hoping that Arden will have found something by then.
“Then we certainly need the big car,” Felix agrees.
Everyone forces me to take the passenger seat, while the others find their places in the back rows.
Once done, we set off for Celine and Marius’ pack – Moon Blood.
It’s said to be a very lush pack, with lots of nature around it.
Smaller than Silverlake and Red Claw, and a normal wolf shifter pack, but they have a strong reputation.
It’s not a long drive. “That didn’t take us half as long as I expected,” I admit.
“Moon Blood is closer than you imagine,” Beta Edward explains. “They are one of our allies who are close by, like Red Claw and the twins’ pack. You met Henry and Tony, didn’t you?”
“I did. So, they are all pretty close in distance,” I muse.
“Makes it even sadder that Finn is pretty far away,” Felix says.
“It’s not just the distance. He is also swamped with work,” Vincent explains. “Rebuilding his pack was a huge task.”
Edward nods. “Now that things there have progressed, I am sure he will visit more often.”
Finn is the only sibling I haven’t met yet. I have heard stories. Everyone seems to like him and his mate. Hopefully, they will be able to visit soon.
Soon enough, we pass the pack borders of Moon Blood, and like I was promised, I am greeted with a beautiful, idyllic forest and broad fields. However, I also notice a surprising number of pack members running around.
“Something is going on,” Vincent mutters while he parks the car. “Be careful, everyone.”