Chapter Forty-Six
Daemon
RULER OF RUIN
After the two-day-long journey across the Nalzure Sea, Vhaena and I arrived back at Teufel Cove.
Amalia never once spoke to me or any of the other demons on the ship.
She let Vhaena tend to her injuries and bring her food as she rested.
They stayed on the other end of the room for most of the trip and talked nearly the entire time.
I kept to myself, watching Vhaena develop a friendship she had been deprived of for so long.
When we finally docked, Amalia embraced Vhaena and promised to find her again.
And dare I say she looked happier for it, the edges of her mouth curving into something that almost resembled a smile.
She didn’t spare me a glance, and I was just fine with that.
Vhaena had gained something from this Hunt no one ever would have anticipated—a friend—and I had no doubts that Amalia would be true to her.
Vhaena and I stepped onto the streets of Azmar, where I removed my mask and let my demon emerge any time another demon crossed our path.
I let him slip free, sinking into them and wearing their body for nothing more than a breath—just long enough to turn their gaze aside.
Each time was more exhausting than the last, and it was taking its toll, but I continued to do it until we had crossed the city while hiding in plain sight, invisible from those who could see our treachery.
It was the only way I could ensure her safety until later.
I needed to speak with the Umbra Ministry here, but it would have to wait. It wouldn’t be much longer, though.
I secured a horse, placed Vhaena in my lap, and rode straight to Nillah. Vhaena was eager to get back to her mother, so I rode as fast as I could.
When we arrived, Vhaena leapt off the horse and burst through the door to her parents’ home.
I gave Vhaena and her mother space to hold each other and talk, staying outside for some time while I processed my own thoughts and emotions. After a couple of hours, Vhaena brought me in, and I gave her permission to tell her mother who and what I was.
Fuck the rules of the Umbra. It wouldn’t matter soon anyway. Not for them.
Allayna didn’t even react. She embraced me and thanked me for keeping my promise by bringing her daughter home. Though, she did slap my arm with her cane when she saw Vhaena’s ‘V’ scar and learned I was the one who put it there.
I sure had missed her. And Vosten…
I took Vhaena’s hand as I led her outside to the back of the house to where I had buried her brother, Allayna limping with the help of her cane alongside us. I stopped short when the hole I had placed my best friend in was empty.
“Wha—”
“Your father came by,” Allayna offered in explanation. “He and your mother.”
I blinked back in surprise. “Why? When?”
“The morning after,” she said with a solemn expression.
“They had heard Vhaena was taken and came looking for you, actually. I told them everything that happened and that you were going after her after you buried my son. They expressed their condolences, and your father was kind enough to give Vosten a place next to Magus.” She gestured toward the large tree on the far end of the field behind the house.
I swallowed, squeezing Vhaena’s hand, then helped Allayna as we walked toward the graves.
I would have buried him by his father myself, but I did what I could manage at the time.
Vhaena sucked in a breath once she saw the fresh mound of dirt next to where her father was buried…
and where a much smaller mound rested just beside him.
“Your father was very thoughtful, Daemon,” Allayna’s voice broke. “He treated Vosten’s body with the utmost respect. He even buried the raven.”
Vhaena broke into a sob, and the back of my eyes stung before tears fell down my cheeks as I looked upon my best friend’s final resting place.
I had no idea why my father had done that.
He had always been kind and courteous to the Scoren family, especially after Magus had died, and I wondered if he felt guilty about it like I did.
I still hadn’t told Vhaena that I was there the night he died.
I knew I would have to eventually, but now wasn’t the right time.
All three of us stood there at the foot of the graves until it was nearly dark, and after some discussion, I convinced them to come stay with me in my home for a little while until I could figure things out.
And after cleaning ourselves up, tending to our injuries, and changing out of our blood stained clothes, Vhaena and I slept.
That was, until there was a knock at the door.
Carefully slipping out of bed so as not to wake Vhaena, I quietly made my way down the hall, past Allayna’s room where she slept, and answered the door to find none other than my mother.
With Draven standing behind her.
“Mother,” I greeted warily, looking back and forth between her and Draven.
She released a shaky breath, relieved at the sight of me. “Oh, Daemon. I’m so glad you’re okay. Can we come in?”
I stiffened, thinking about the woman sleeping in my bed and the demon standing before me being in the same house. I subtly glanced back behind me—
“It’s okay,” my mother said with a soft smile. “We know.”
“Guess you weren’t that subtle after all.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, staring at Draven.
He pulled out a black blade, forged from stone, and held it out for me to see. “I’m here to help.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why?”
I hardly knew the guy. What was his motivation to help me and Vhaena?
“Your father did the same for me with my wife, Saski. I want to offer the same respect to you.”
“And why isn’t my father here to do it himself?” I asked, looking at my mother.
She blinked rapidly, fighting back tears glistening in her eyes. “He went to the island with some of the other Ministers. He’s looking for several missing demons. Including Asher…”
I held my breath.
My mother lowered her eyes. “They’re not going to find him, are they?”
I hesitated for a moment before slowly shaking my head.
The tears spilled over her eyes, and my heart broke when her lip quivered.
“Let’s go inside, Alva,” Draven said, and I stepped aside as she passed.
Draven leaned in close and whispered in my ear as he passed by me, “His tongue was too wicked for this world.”
While Draven and my mother waited, I went back to my bedroom.
“Wake up, Vhaena.”
“What is it?” she mumbled as I brushed her hair from her face.
She nuzzled against my hand, and I couldn’t help but smile as I looked down upon her. She wasn’t going to be happy when I told her what was about to happen, and her eyes flew open at my next words.
“We’re about to get married.”
“Are you alright?” I asked my wife while I tended to the wound on her throat.
She winced as I dabbed a wet cloth to the shallow cut across her neck, wiping away the ash I had smeared there.
“I think so. But I don’t really feel any different.”
“What do you mean?” My palm bled onto the cloth, spreading the ash I had on my hand as well.
“I don’t know. I expected to feel more demonic.”
My lips widened into a smile. “You aren’t a demon, just a demon’s wife.”
“I just thought I’d feel a difference,” she said against my lips as I kissed her.
I could. I could sense something different about her like I could with all the demon’s wives that had taken the Blood Oath. Similar to how I could sense the difference between a human and a demon; it was something I couldn’t explain.
The Blood Oath was a ritual without mercy or tenderness. It was meant as a covenant of silence and loyalty, to prove that a human woman was willing to give up her blood and breath for the demon she had willingly chosen.
She had slid the blade across my palm and lifted her chin as I had made a cut across her throat.
It was shallow and superficial, but representative nonetheless.
While Draven had chanted and guided us through the ritual, Vhaena and I had spread each other’s blood on a ceremonial cloth that was then burned, and we had smeared the ashes along each other’s wounds.
To complete the Blood Oath ritual, I had placed my ash-covered palm over her throat, leaving her safe and protected.
“If only that were true,” my demon said. “You know she’s not truly safe. Not yet. Not so long as the Hunt remains.”
“Not for long.”
“Draven,” I said quietly while Vhaena talked with my mother for a moment. “This has to stop.”
He took in a deep breath, crossing his arms over his chest with a grin. “I know. I’ve thought about it for years, but I’m not strong enough to do it on my own.”
I looked toward my mother and my new wife. They were talking about the scar that would be left from the ritual and my mother reassured her that it would fade after some time.
“There will be obstacles. And a fuckton of people who won’t agree.
Namely, my father.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want to disappoint him—I honestly didn’t care about that.
But if he fought against me, I didn’t want to have to add his blood to my brother’s.
And I wasn’t sure I could do that to my mother either.
“Don’t worry about your father. Alva has already assured me she’ll deal with him. She wants this just as much as we do.”
I gave him a questioning look, wondering how in the hells he already knew what I had planned.
“I paid a visit to your mother after you left for the Hunt,” he offered in explanation.
“I saw the same look in your eyes that I had in mine when I went and rescued Saski. I knew you hated this tradition just as much as I do. And maybe there are more out there who agree but don’t have the strength to do anything about it. But you do.”
Vhaena looked at me then, and I knew I had to do it. She was the one who had planted the seed of thought in the first place after all.
“Then it’s time to go.”
After the ritual, I left Vhaena and our mothers while Draven and I traveled to Azmar to pay a visit to the Umbra Ministry.
“Mr. Corse!” Cahir greeted—much more welcoming than I had expected.
I supposed holding a mask with seven slashes when I walked in the door had that power.
“Congratulations on your first successful Hunt, and being part of the seventh circle. Please, come in. As you know, you have a place in the Ministry as a seven. In fact, you’re the highest ranking demon we have, having lost Eli Kachel during the Hunt. A terrible loss.”
I raised a brow. “No hard feelings about poor little Agnar?”
He shrugged. “We might need to change the “no rules” to include some stipulations, but it’s all water under the bridge.”
Draven and I followed him to a grand sitting room and sat across from him on cushioned chairs, a table of delicacies and spiced rum on the table between us.
“Welcome to the Umbra Ministry.” Cahir smiled and waved his hand around the room, as if this place was now my home.
Not fucking likely.
“I’m sure you’ve recovered from your Hunt by now, so I’ll get right to it,” he continued.
“I’m not sure if Draven here has told you yet, but being a Minister means you’ll be enforcing our laws across the land, as well as other matters of the Umbra Ministry.
Your ability can be particularly useful.
And I know it’s a year away, but after a short break, we’ll begin preparing for next year’s Hunt. ”
I stood with a calmness I didn’t feel and placed my hands in my pockets to steady them. I didn’t even want to think about the Hunt, let alone sanction it, and it made me want to vomit just thinking about doing it again.
“That won’t be necessary, Cahir.” I walked around the room as if admiring the decor but using it to mask the fury building inside me.
I hadn’t reined in my demon. There were no more walls. We lived side by side, but he remained quiet. For now.
“What do you mean?” His bright smile fell.
“I’m the highest-level demon here, right?”
“Yes,” he said warily.
“I belong to the circle of Ruin within the Hells?”
“Of course,” he confirmed after a moment of hesitation. “A true Ruler of Ruin.”
My voice lowered, and I met his stare with a dark gaze. “Then it’s time for me to ruin the Hunt.”