Chapter 31: Zain

I've been in solitary for days now, and since all I can really do to pass the time is sleep, I've spent a lot of time in Vincent's room.

Without Vincent.

The first few times, I thought maybe he was out collecting souls, but now I'm not so sure.

Something feels wrong.

Usually, I'd be able to at least tell that he had been home. A shirt thrown in the corner, the smell of a candle recently being burned out, but lately, there's been nothing. Add in that Amri hasn't been here either…it makes me paranoid.

Damion was here last night. He tried to fight me until, in between dodging punches, I was able to tell him what happened with Amri. He asked me about Callyx, too. I heard the yelling in my head again, but I still can't tell what's being said.

The more as time goes on, though, the more it feels like something is missing. Something more than my mates. It feels like a part of me is missing .

Damion then explained what happened between Amri and Royce, and that voice inside my head once again began to scream. I've never been more thankful that Amri isn't normal. Between the yelling and my conversation with Damion, we were both able to determine she's not…normal. Not human.

I've heard Vincent whisper to himself about witches late in the night, and I can't help but to wonder if he knew this whole time what Amri was.

I sigh, getting up from my position on Vincent's bed and I look around the room. If he's gone, there has to be something here that can help me find him. I refuse to sit here while my mates could be in trouble.

I go through everything; his desks, under his bed, his closet, not finding anything special besides a few weapons that I didn't even know existed.

Turning around in a circle, searching the room for anywhere I hadn't searched yet, my eyes land on Vincent's bookshelf. It's a small bookshelf, barely even noticeable in the corner of his room, but it's filled with books.

I've never seen Vincent read a book, so the fact that there's even any in his room immediately catches my attention.

Walking over to the shelf, I grab the first one from the top shelf and flip through it. They all look like old books, with no pictures or anything on the cover, only a bunch of runes that make no sense to me. You'd think that dating the Grim Reaper, who literally has runes tattooed on his hands, would make me more interested in the runic alphabet; but honestly, my plate's been a little full with training Amri lately.

I smile thinking back on what Damion said. She killed him. My bunny killed the fucker who put his hand on her. I couldn't be prouder.

Flipping through the book, nothing catches my eye. Lines of line of runes cover the pages, going all the way out to the margin and looking handwritten. I pick up another book to find the same kind of set up, a cover filled with runes, and more pages filled with the same.

Ugh. None of this makes sense.

Finally, after going through about twenty of the books, I find something. As I flip through the book, a piece of black paper catches my eye. I stop on the page, seeing a few lines of Latin written down in what looks like Vincent's handwriting.

This has to be it. I mean, I guess it could be some notes about the book, but none of the other ones have notes. I have to believe this is something important. It's the only lead I have on where my mates are.

I throw the book to the side, standing up and looking down at the paper.

I took a few Latin classes in high school, but none of these words are familiar. I shrug. I guess I'll have to do as best as I can.

I read the words in my head a few times before speaking them out loud, but even with the practice, saying them aloud feels wrong.

As soon as I finish the last word, a burst of black jets through the room, swirling around me before shooting up into the air and exploding. I shield my eyes from the falling black dust, and when I uncover them, a man stands in front of me.

"What the fuck!"

I jump back, holding up my fists to prepare for a fight, but the man just smirks at me. He's dressed head to toe in a black suit, his blue hair slicked back into a bun at the top of his head. He's tall, and thin, and even though I'm bigger than him in width, I find him intimidating.

"You aren't Grim."

I don't comprehend that he even spoke at first, his voice so low and deep that I don't even think I heard it until moments later.

I shake my head, "No, I'm not. I'm his mate."

The man chuckles, looking me over before raising his eyebrows. "Of course you are." He looks around the room, probably looking for Vincent, but his eyes find me a few seconds later. "Why did you summon me?"

"I…I summoned you?"

"Of course you did, how else do you call on a demon?"

My eyes widen. A demon?

"I thought you needed a whole…" I motion at the ground, "Pentagram thing to summon a demon."

He rolls his eyes, "Usually, yes, but Vincent has what you humans call a…speed dial."

He says the last part with a question in his voice, and it makes me laugh, which seems to make him angry.

"If you are going to stand there laughing at me, then I am going to take my leave."

He holds up his hands, but I rush over to him. "Stop, wait. Please."

He sighs. "What is it, human?"

"Vincent is missing."

He stills, looking at me with a questioning look in his eye. "What?"

"Vincent is missing. It's been days and he hasn't been home. Some…bad things have been happening to me and ou r other mates and he wouldn't just disappear."

The demon begins muttering to himself, his eyes shooting back and forth. "Fuck."

"What?"

"I've heard…rumors about a chained prince. I didn't think anything of it until you said he was missing."

"Chained? Why would he be chained?" This doesn't make any sense.

"I don't know, but if he's really the one locked up, there is only one set of chains that can hold him – the Holy Chains in Hades castle."

My head drops. "Fuck."

Both of us are quiet, processing this new information. How the hell am I supposed to save Amri, Damion and Vincent? And somehow deal with this voice inside my head?

"How do I save him?"

The demon shakes his head. "I don't think you can, human."

"I can and I will. I won't be alone, either. My other mates will come, I'm sure of it."

He lets out a wicked laugh. "Yes, three humans raiding Hades' castle to save a Reaper. That's a story for the books."

I open my mouth, wondering if I should tell him the conclusion Damion and I came to last night. I finally decide that if he's helped so far, maybe he'll help some more.

"What if one of us aren't human?"

"Do you have a demon in your bond?"

I shake my head. "No…but I think we have a witch."

The demon's eyes go wide as he shakes his head. "Witches are not to be trifled with. Their power is too great. If she's found out as a witch in the Underworld, they'll lock her up forever."

I walk over to him, my eyes blazing with fury as he even mentions Amri being hurt again. "Listen. Vincent had the spell to contact you hidden for us, I know he did, and there mut have been some reason why. He trusted you to help us, so help us dammit."

We lock eyes, and then he snaps, and disappears in a cloud of black.

"Fuck!"

I scream, walking over to Vincent's coffee table and kicking it, tears forming in my eyes as I watch it sail across the room. I fucked it up. I shouldn't have told him about my suspicions about Amri's powers. I scared him off.

I hear something behind me and turn around to see the same black dust as before falling to the ground, with the same blue-haired demon standing under it.

He finds the table across the room and his eyes fill with amusement. "I was coming right back."

"Well, you didn't fucking tell me that!"

He shrugs, holding out his hand with a piece of paper in it. "Here's the ritual that needs to be done for you to complete the mating bond. Once it's finished, you'll be sent directly back to this room."

I take the paper, eyeing the drawing. "Why this room?"

He shrugs again, a movement on him that's quickly becoming annoying. "I don't know, that's what the runes say."

I look over the drawing. There's a large circle with one in the middle, runes on the inside of both with a pentagram in the very center. "And I just draw this out?"

He sucks air in through his teeth, and I realize that his teeth are all sharp as a needle. "Well, you have to draw the circle, and then get into it, and die."

I take a step back. I always knew this day was coming but having to take my own life myself…that's something I didn't plan for.

"The more precise the drawing, the more precise the spell, so be sure you're drawing it out exactly as I have."

I nod, unable to speak as I process what I have to do.

He lays a hand on my shoulder. "This is the final sign of commitment to the bond, so be sure this is what you want before you do it. There's no going back after."

He holds up his hands, fingers ready to snap again, but I grab his wrist. He growls, causing me to growl right back, and I smile whenever his eyes widen with surprise.

"Thank you…" I wait, realizing I don't know this demon's name.

His eyes soften, just barely, as he stares at me. "Alistair."

I nod. "Thank you, Alistair."

"Vincent and I go back nearly a hundred years. I would never forgive myself if something happened to him and I didn't do everything I could." He laughs. "Besides, I'm curious to meet this witch of yours."

With that, he snaps his fingers and disappears in yet another cloud of black.

I run over to Vincent's desk, grabbing a dagger from the surface and racing toward the mirror. I jump through, choking on the silver that nearly suffocates me as I run. Finally, I see my room.

Jumping through the last mirror, I gasp, sitting up in my bed and looking around. I don't know if it's day or night, but I know this can't wait a moment longer.

Today, I have to die.