Chapter 5 #2
“You are here to bear witness to the crimes of one of our brethren,” he announced, and I immediately recognized his voice as one of the high-ranking Ministers.
“Our laws are in place to protect our kind from running rampant, and the subsequent annihilation of the demon species that would result. Therefore, when a law is broken, the full extent of its consequences must be performed.”
What is going on?
I’d been forced to memorize all of our laws from a very young age, but I had no idea what he was talking about. I wanted to ask my father what all of this meant, but I knew better than to disobey his warning, so I remained silent.
“As you all know,” the Minister continued, “the secrecy of demons is paramount to our survival. Tonight, one of our own failed in his duty to protect his identity.”
Oh, shit…
Another demon stepped forward and yanked the bag off of the whimpering figure. The accused demon was Thorsten Rochter. I’d seen him a couple of times with his son at the Ministry when I went with my father.
My heart raced. The punishment for a demon revealing themselves was death. Were they really going to kill him? Right here, in front of everyone? Was this seriously part of the duties of demons, to witness the execution of one of our own? But who was the other kneeling figure?
“Thorsten,” the Minister addressed. “You have revealed yourself to a human due to your lack of restraint. Do you have anything to say?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never did such a thing! The human lies!” he cried, nodding to the still hooded figure next to him.
So they were going to kill the human, too.
“The man has said nothing. He didn’t have to,” the Minister said. “The lies come from your own mouth. Reiner has seen the truth.”
Reiner, one of the demons in the Umbra Ministry, had a unique ability.
He could determine a change in humans once they learned the truth of a demon’s identity.
I remember my father telling me about him years ago, and that I would see him in the town from time to time as he searched for those who had learned such a secret.
His sole purpose was to find people for the Ministry to kill.
The demon behind Thorsten stepped over and ripped the bag off of the human’s head.
My racing heart came to a screeching halt.
No. It can’t be!
Magus Scoren. Vosten and Vhaena’s father.
The moment he was revealed, a hand wrapped around my arm.
I whipped my head to the side. My father was staring at me with wide eyes, pleading for me not to move, not to speak.
What did he expect me to do? To just stand here?
My best friend’s father was about to be murdered, and he wanted me to obey—follow suit—because it was our duty.
He leaned in to whisper in my ear, so quiet I could hardly hear it, “They’ll kill you, too,” he begged, knowing exactly what I was thinking. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” Then he returned his gaze back to the center of the circle, his eyes beginning to glisten.
I had never seen my father get upset like this before.
My throat tightened as I looked back at Magus. Even on his knees, wrists bound and death surrounding him, he held his chin high. Stoic. Unwavering. He held himself with unfathomable courage—a strength more powerful than any demon.
The demon next to Thorsten and Magus pulled Thorsten forward toward the Minister. Seven demons with torches broke from the circle, surrounding him.
“Thorsten Rochter,” the Minister began. “You have failed to contain your demon, failed to conceal your identity, and thus have put the entirety of the demon society in danger. You have been found too great of a risk to continue life here in this world. May the Hells raise you from your damnation.”
I would never forget the sounds of Thorsten’s screams as all seven demons lowered their torches and set him on fire, the most horrific screech I had ever heard. My own demon trembled in terror, thrusting himself back into the confinement he normally fought against.
Once the screams finally stopped and Thorsten was nothing but ash, the Minister stepped forward to tower over Magus.
I couldn’t breathe through the tightness in my throat, couldn’t see through the tears welling in my eyes. Couldn’t move past the terror of my demon holding me back and willing me to remain still.
“Magus Scoren,” the Minister said, his voice somber. “On behalf of the Umbra Ministry, I apologize that you must also bear the weight of his sins. For the sake of peace between our species, you will now be sent to your next life.”
Magus turned his head and looked right at me, directly into my eyes.
Though I was masked and he had no way of knowing who I was, I chose to believe he did—that he looked to a friend so he knew he wasn’t dying alone.
To see that I promised to be there for the family he was being forced to leave behind.
I hoped he could see that in my eyes. And as much as I wanted to look away, I refused to tear my gaze from his until the sharp blade cut through the skin, muscle, and bone of his neck and his head rolled to the ground.
Years of memories flashed through my mind in an instant. Playing on his living room floor with his son, Vosten and me being scolded for getting into trouble, watching him teach his daughter to cook. I hadn’t truly realized until now how long and how much he had impacted my life.
And now his was gone.
I couldn’t even tell his family. Against my will, this was forever a secret I was forced to keep.
If this was what it meant to be a demon, I never wanted it.
I didn’t stick around after telling Asher to join the Ministers and our parents after my rejection.
At least I could make one person happy, and I could already imagine the smirk my brother would have once he came out with his invitation.
He could have it every year for all I cared.
With him going on the Hunt in my place, he and the other hunting demons would be hunting for seven days while the rest of us holed up in our homes.
For one week, our kind tracked down, captured, and killed the women brought there. Anything demon minds could conjure was allowed, encouraged even. They could do whatever they wanted without any repercussions—living out their darkest temptations to satisfy their inner monster.
We were demons because of what was inside of us—the being that was part of who we were.
It was like someone else we could talk to, push away and bring forth.
It was there from the moment we were born, and wasn’t something we could get rid of.
Most of us allowed the demon to rise and take control, while a few of us didn’t—holding it back so we didn’t lose the humanity we’d earned.
Our internal demons were bloodthirsty, savage predators.
It was in a demon’s nature to kill and torment.
To bring destruction and lay waste to everything around us.
And it would fight to do so. I had been fighting mine for twenty-six years.
I knew all too well the consequences of what happened if I couldn’t control it, who I could hurt as a result. I refused to let the beast free.
“I’m not your enemy. I am you,” the demon within said.
“I know…”
And that was the scariest part. He was me—the darkest parts of me.
I left my parents’ estate and made my way to the job site in town.
Vosten was already there along with the rest of the crew, giving them instructions and tasks for the day.
It was his first day as head builder. I expected him to be a bit nervous about it, but if he was, he was doing an exceptional job of hiding it.
He looked natural in this position, like it was what he was born to do.
“Ah! Nice of you to finally show up, Daemon,” he said over the group as I approached.
“Lost track of time.”
“Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Vosten said.
I tried not to chuckle at the authority he portrayed. It wasn’t that he didn’t do it well; I just wasn’t used to it, and it seemed odd with our friendship dynamic.
He returned his attention to the construction group, and I joined the gathering.
“As I said, today is about site preparation. Official permission has been granted, and we have the go-ahead to begin clearing the land for foundation development. Everyone has their job duties. I will be overseeing to make sure everything stays on schedule and coordinating the trades. Oh, and Daemon you missed your assignment.” He glanced down at his papers, flipping to another page.
“You will be responsible for ensuring each stage is up to code before inspections. Does anyone have any questions?”
We all shook our heads.
“You’re dismissed.”
Everyone dispersed, going to their relative locations on the lot. I made my way to Vosten.
“How does it feel being head builder?” I asked.
“Kind of awkward, honestly.” He blew out a breath, acting like my best friend again now that no one else was around. “I just have to make sure this project goes well, or I won’t get this opportunity again. This is my chance to prove myself.”
I gave him a reassuring smile and patted him on the back. “You’ll do great.”
“Thanks.” He huffed. “Hey, where were you anyway? I didn’t think you’d be late for my first day.”
“I had to meet with my father to discuss something.” Giving him such a vague answer tasted rancid.
“Everything alright?” His brows creased with concern.
“Yeah. Just family stuff.” Technically not a lie. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have stages to monitor,” I said with a grin, and went to work.
There were many times over the years I wanted to tell Vosten about who I was—what I was.
But for his own safety, I didn’t. It was also why the demons in the Hunt were masked in the rare event a woman survived.
At times it felt wrong to keep something like that from him, and I wondered if he would have ended our friendship over it.
Most humans hated demons just because of what we were and the power we held—the fear we incited in their kind. I didn’t blame them.
There wasn’t a word for it, or even a way to truly describe it, but demons could tell other demons apart from humans—and humans couldn’t.
We looked just like them, and aside from the unique capabilities we each had, we behaved just like them.
It was imperative we kept our identity concealed.
That included what we were each capable of.
Each demon could do something special, whether it was being able to shift their form, distort reality within an area, phase through walls, force someone to have nightmares, or consume souls.
There was even one I heard of who could speak to the dead.
No matter what it was, we had to hide our power from the humans, or it would give us away.
I wished more than anything I could tell my best friend what mine was; the ability to possess living creatures.
It remained my secret. I hadn’t even told my parents. Not that I couldn’t, but I didn’t want to talk about it with them. I wanted to stay as far away as I could from anything that made me a demon.
The only human we could tell was the one we took as a wife.
She would have to swear her fealty to the Umbra Ministry, promising to uphold our secrets, and essentially remove herself from human society.
Not that they really had a choice, but that was another matter.
And it was why I hadn’t taken one for myself.
We couldn’t tell them until they became our wives, and my stomach churned at the thought of marrying someone who didn’t know what I truly was until it was too late.
Then they would be locked into only birthing sons—only demons.
I worked for the remainder of the day alongside Vosten, but with his new position, he had to work later than I did. It meant he couldn’t watch Vhaena. So it was left up to me.
And thank the hells I did, because in a flash through round, unblinking eyes, panic and ire burned in my veins.
What do those fuckers think they’re doing?