Chapter Fifteen
I didn’t think Daemon could be easily manipulated; he was no child, and I knew that, yet I did feel guilty about Jade; she was in all these because of me, and we had easily moved on, not even bothering to look deeper into things; maybe it had been because we’ve been through too much and we wanted to believe it was all over. It wasn’t over, not yet.
“Daemon, Jade was only trying to help me; told her to capture you, and I’m sorry.” He turned to me. “You thought I would be a monster, right?”
“But you aren’t, and we were all wrong, I was wrong.”
“What if they aren’t? What if I am a monster?”
“No, I see you now, and I know you could be a better person; my only mistake was giving up soon.”
“Riley, I haven’t harmed anybody from this pack because I don’t want you to hate me, but when I’m away, I kill people, many who had done no wrong, but I do it anyway because that is my nature; this is who I am, and so they are right, but even then, they wouldn’t separate us.”
His words registered in my mind, and I wondered for a slight second if Thane was right, if being in the same room with Daemon was dangerous, but I chose to swallow down my fear.
“I don’t think you are a monster; I believe together we can fight it; it might be your nature, but you can change it; you are strong, Daemon.”
“You think that?” he asked, and in that moment I could see an emotion in his once blank eyes. I nodded.
“I believe that. But Jade, she has helped me a lot, and she doesn’t deserve to be locked away; if there’s anyone to be punished, it’s me.”
“Riley, I am not doing this simply because she locked me away; she did more than that.”
“What do you mean by ‘she did more than that?”
“There was this ritual she performs; I don’t know what was to gain from it, but it always fails, every single time, but she never stopped trying, and according to her, the tears of a demon were the major requirement.”
1/2
Chapter Fifteen
#25 BONUS
“Demons, don’t cry, do they?” I asked.
“She tortures me, and I do not mean physical torment–that I could bear; I can’t put it into words, but many times, I wish I could stop existing, just so the torment would be over, and she does it every single day to get the tears, I don’t feel pain like you do and so it takes more…. Persuasion.
I could see the pain in his eyes; I couldn’t believe I had subjected him to that. I knew what torture felt like; I had experienced that one too many times, and yet I let this happen.
I didn’t know I was crying till Daemon wiped the tear off with a thumb; he lifted his thumb to his lips and took a taste of my tears. “You cry for me, but you aren’t at fault.”
“I am. I let her take you.”
“You couldn’t have known her intentions.”
“You were my son and I…”
“I don’t hold a grudge against you.‘
I took his hands. “I will be better; I promise you I will be a better mother to you.”
He seemed about to say something, but he paused before starting over. “You are the only one who cares about me; that would always be more than enough for me. I have to leave now.”
“But it’s not yet late.” I said to him,
“I will be back tomorrow.” Was all he said, and he was gone.
Maybe Jade did deserve to be locked away for a few more decades–I decided.
Today’s Bonus Offer
