Chapter 14

Once Nova left,I tottered to my feet and staggered to the door. The bathroom thankfully sat right across the short hall. I handled my business and showered, luxuriating in the hot water and marveling that I'd been healed of all my wounds. Not a single scab or scar marred my skin. However, the trauma to my spirit remained raw.

It stung to realize my entire life had been a lie. The mental and verbal abuse were intentional. That I'd been wanted by my real parents and that the life I could have had was stolen. A part of me wished for a Netflix marathon and a pint of ice cream so I could eat my feelings into submission. But oddly, another part of me wanted answers. Retribution. That anger burned bright and kept me from wanting to crawl back into bed.

By the time I emerged from the bathroom, my resolve had me feeling stronger—until I spotted the daunting number of stairs heading down into a great room.

"Let me help you."

The offer startled, and I almost took a header down the steps. Thankfully Vance grabbed me and yanked me against his body, preventing an ugly mishap. Once steadied, though, he didn't release me.

"You're looking better," he commented.

Considering he'd last seen me bleeding out, no shit. "Thanks for shooting Moloch."

"Don't thank me. My aim was shit. I meant to put a bullet between his eyes," he grumbled.

"Considering the heart shot didn't kill him, I'm not sure that would have been enough. After all, not sure how much brains he has." My poor attempt at a joke.

"At least we know bullets can hurt him. Next time I'll have a bigger gun."

Next time because this remained far from over. "Nova says he's been lying low."

"For the moment but I doubt he'll stay that way for long." An ominous declaration.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue."

"Sorry I didn't get there sooner."

"My own fault for being dumb."

"You couldn't have known your parents would betray you."

"They're not my parents." My vehement retort. I quickly explained. "I found out they killed my real mom and dad minutes after I was born and kidnapped me."

His left brow rose. "Fuck."

"Yeah, fuck. Apparently, Moloch told them where to find me, and it became their life mission to fuck me up as best they could." I grimaced. "And they succeeded. I'm the pussy Moloch wanted."

"You're braver than you think," he replied.

At that, I snorted. "So brave I ran away."

"And?"

Did I really need to spell it out? "Only cowards refuse to face difficult things."

"Give yourself a break. Your whole world got tilted on its head. If it makes you feel better, I quit the reaper guild after my first fight with demons."

"You did?" I couldn't help a surprised lilt.

"Me and another recruit went with a seasoned reaper to handle what should have been a single demon in some woods outside Charlevoix, Quebec. Our intel proved erroneous. There were three demons. They caught Sloan, the other recruit, by surprise. He had his face torn off before we realized what we faced."

"You obviously prevailed."

"We did. We killed the demons, but there was nothing to be done for Sloane. He died in agony and brought home the fact this wasn't a game. That I could just as easily have been the one who'd been mauled. I didn't return to the castle that day but went to a bar and got drunk. So very, very drunk. Decided I couldn't be a reaper."

"What changed your mind?"

"Cain." Vance sighed. "He found me the next morning, passed out in a park. I told him to fuck off, I was done. He then proceeded to show me media snippets that listed all the people that had gone missing the last few months. Men, women, even children. Then he said if I'd not been there the previous night to take the monsters out, how many more would have died?"

"He was right. The demons would have kept slaughtering."

"They would have, but that didn't ease my guilty conscience."

"So what convinced you to go back?"

"Cain showed me other missing persons reports and said, ‘If you don't stop the demons, who will?' That speech managed to slap me out of my funk and led to me getting my police officer training. I decided that fighting demons wasn't enough. I wanted to stop all the monsters preying on the innocent."

"Because you're a hero."

"That's just it. I wasn't. Still don't think I am. I'm just a guy who's trying to do what's right, who wants to help. Some days are better than others."

His frankness had me asking the most burning question I had. "How do you get past the fear?"

"You don't," he replied flatly. "To this day, my stomach clenches into a nasty knot when I confront monsters. Fear is normal."

"Has anyone told Cain that?"

He laughed. "Cain's a different breed than the rest of us. Monsters don't scare him, but seeing you vulnerable at Moloch's feet? I'm pretty sure you shaved a decade off his life."

It pleased me to hear, and yet I found myself poking. "And what about you?"

He brushed the back of his hand against my cheek as he murmured, "Never felt braver in my life. In that moment, your wellbeing trumped my fear."

A beautiful moment ruined by the rumbling of my stomach. My face heated. "Sorry. Guess I'm a little hungry."

"Then let's get you fed."

Before I could grab a rail and navigate the steps, he'd swung me into his arms and carried me down. Cain walked in just as we hit the main level.

He glared. I could practically see green mist steaming from his skin.

The jealousy made me bratty. As Vance swung me down, I clung to his shoulders and uttered a husky, "Thank you for the ride."

Then I sashayed in the direction of a massive kitchen counter with six stools lined in front of it. I perched on one and watched as Mizuki expertly flipped some pancakes on a griddle, her expression intent on her job before she peeked at me and grinned. "Look who's back in the land of the living."

"Glad to be alive." Such a surprise, given my thoughts about dying when it all went down. "Where's Rani?" Our usual chef.

"The higher-ups decided they needed her powers for more than kitchen duty. Mine too, except I insisted on staying here and helping my friend. Hungry?" Mizuki asked, holding up a pancake on her flipper.

"Starved." Then, because I felt bad about how I'd run off, mumbled, "Sorry I ditched you without a word."

"Sorry I didn't know that twatwaffle was messing with your head and magic. Nova told me what Emilia was doing to you. From now on, you only eat what I give you!" She spun a plate of pancakes in front of me, but before I could take a bite, I found myself flanked by two men.

Cain lifted the plate out of my reach and growled, "You first." He held it out to Mizuki.

I tried protesting. "Mizuki wouldn't try and poison me."

Mizuki waved a hand. "No, I wouldn't, and I don't mind proving it." She tore off a huge chunk of pancake and stuffed it into her mouth.

Only then did Cain grunt and set my plate back down. He took the stool to my left. Vance, the one on the right. They watched Mizuki with eagle eyes as she pulled a plate of bacon from the microwave where she'd been keeping it warm. Without being asked, she chewed on a piece before setting it in front of us. They remained ridiculous in their overprotectiveness, not allowing me to smear butter or drown my pancake in syrup until Mizuki prepared her pancake and took the first bite.

I rolled my eyes, but my friend smirked. "Looks like your bodyguards are stepping up their game."

"Which will get annoying really fast," I grumbled.

"We were caught unawares once. It won't happen again," Vance promised.

"I can't believe Emilia went over to the dark side," Mizuki stated, spearing a piece of pancake.

"I can't believe she actually believed Moloch would reward her. That fucker is evil," I commented.

"And he has the hots for you." Mizuki snickered. "Can't believe the Demon King wanted you to have his demon babies."

I grimaced. "Don't remind me."

"Won't happen," Cain stiffly replied. "He won't get close enough to even smell your soap. That I can promise."

"No, you won't promise that because, the fact of the matter is, once I figure out the magic thing, I'm going to have to face him." I said it with more bravery than I felt. I'd fake it until I made it.

"Assuming we don't kill him first," Vance retorted. "Next time, I won't miss."

"And if that doesn't work, then what?" I countered. "Nova says she's not sure he can be killed. It would explain why they exiled him back in the day."

"Everything can die. It's just a matter of figuring out what their weakness is," Cain said in between bites of his food.

"He's right," Mizuki agreed. "Even so-called gods have a vulnerability."

"I doubt Moloch is going to volunteer what he's scared of, though." The demon king wouldn't exactly have the information freely available.

"We already know what he fears," Vance stated. "Sadie."

"Me?" I laughed a bit too hard. "The fucker isn't fearful of me. You should have heard the threats he made."

"Did you ever think he did that on purpose so you'd think you couldn't fight?" Vance countered. "What better way to psyche out your opponent than to have them believe they can't win."

The piece of bacon headed for my mouth hung in midair as I digested that idea. "Why would he be scared of a reaper witch who can't do magic?"

"You couldn't do magic because you were being drugged." Mizuki wagged her fork at me. "Once that potion flushes from your system, watch out. We'll be cooking with magic."

"But will I learn quick enough for it to make a difference? I doubt Moloch's going to sit back and wait for me to master my power."

"He won't," Vance agreed. "Which is why the guilds around the world are on high alert."

"The moment he shows his ugly mug, bam, we'll hit him with everything we've got," Cain announced.

"And if he remains hidden, then what?" I countered.

"Then we'll root him out. I'm working on a scrying spell that will hopefully help us figure out where he's hiding," Mizuki announced.

"How is that supposed to work if he's using his power to block you?"

"Because I'm going to look for mundane things that I know exist. Like Toronto's network of sewer and subway tunnels under the city with its huge colony of rats. If my scry shows dead areas with supposedly nothing—"

"Then most likely there's something hidden," I exclaimed, interrupting her. "That's actually brilliant."

"I know." Mizuki grinned.

"What about something to make sure the fucker can't take over bodies or invade dreams?" Cain interjected.

Mizuki pursed her lips. "That's going to be a bit more complicated because of the whole guarding-the-spirit aspect. That's a task better suited to Devika."

"I'm more worried about him finding us," I admitted softly.

"We relocated you here for a reason. For one, under that soil—which is only a few feet deep—is solid rock. A thick layer of it, making another gigacerta attack unlikely. Second, Moloch isn't the only one who can cast a hiding spell. We've got sigils inscribed all around the place to prevent him from peeking in or detecting us."

"That's all well and good, but there are more mundane ways of noticing. A large group of dudes walking around in trench coats and whatnot are bound to draw attention," I pointed out, eating another strip of bacon.

"The reapers aren't here. Most of them, at any rate. Other than Vance and Cain, there's only a half-dozen working in shifts to patrol. Nova worried about the whole being-noticed thing," Mizuki informed before taking a sip of her orange juice.

I didn't point out that eight reapers wouldn't be enough if Moloch showed up with a legion or two.

Vance must have caught on, because he leaned in close to murmur, "After you're done eating, I'll take you for your first shooting lesson. From now on, you go everywhere armed."

"And I'll teach you to properly use that scythe rather than that fancy-looking useless drill you've been doing with it. Twirling it like a fucking baton." Cain harrumphed.

"Mind leaving some time in there for me to start poking around for her magic?" Mizuki complained. "Now that we know your magic was being suppressed, I've got some ideas."

So did I, but my resolutions were about forcing myself to be brave. Since I didn't have any demons to confront, I did the next best thing.

Later that morning when Vance placed his hand over mine to position me for my shooting lesson, it proved easy to turn my head just enough I could press my lips to his.