Demi-Sin of Deceit: Part Two

Seth

Jason and Karla stared incredulously at me, the former scribbling notes into his notebook, the latter contemplating if I was a ghost coming back to haunt her, and I hugged the ninth cup of tea I’d received this week at Jason’s house, as they asked me to retell my tale multiple times.

I’d been forced to tell it over and over, at least a dozen times by now, Jason writing and rewriting notes, while Karla learnt that her husband, my father, had some sort of connection to the Maladur family. Joseph was still in Ordeallan, only a week into his monthlong break, and I’d noticed Karla had begun taking small jobs here and there in the city- cleaning a hotel, serving food at the Rusty Tin, working as a servant at a Lord’s dinner party, all of them earning more than enough to keep the house afloat while Joseph was off work.

Now, since I knew for a fact that the Rusty Tin didn’t have salaries of ten gold a day, it meant Karla’s jobs were nothing more than fronts, likely for the Night-Hunter assignments she was taking. She left during the day, preventing me from following her, although Joseph wouldn’t have allowed it, anyway.

Joseph and Karla had, ironically, offered their house as a place to stay while they helped me set up in Ordeallan, since I was going to be here for a while. Seven years, to be exact.

After telling Jason my tale the first time, he’d sat in silence for close to an hour, leaving me nervously shifting in my chair, until he’d leaned forward, asking, “If you’re really Seth Smith, then what’s his middle name?”

“My middle name is Kadmiel.”

It was then that he’d sent Dell to fetch Karla, my mother bringing with her a bag of clothes, and they’d begun questioning me.

For the first three days, it was clear that they were just trying to filter out any lies in my story, because it was the same questions over and over, with the same answers each time.

What’s your middle name? Kadmiel. It was supposedly an Angelic name, and one that my mother had picked out.

Who did you kill? Cain Maladur, the first-born son of Lilith.

How do you know Karla and Joseph? They’re my parents.

When it became clear that I could answer their questions unfalteringly, they begun moving onto what they thought were more difficult questions.

What was my brother’s middle name? Alaric. My father had chosen the middle name, because he didn’t like Karla’s suggestion of Allen.

What’s the colour of his eyes? Green, but not the colour of grass- more an emerald green. That’s what he always insisted, anyway.

Where does Joseph work? The Karmona Port, as a merchant delivering shipments from one island to the next. He’s gone most of the time, but sends money back to us whenever he can.

By now, they were asking me questions where I had to debate if it was safe to tell them the truth, or to risk lying, and hope I could remember whatever story I’d spun the previous day.

How did I Time-Jump?

What was I hoping to gain?

What could I tell them about the future?

I kept these answers short and sweet, only telling them information I deemed necessary- I’d Time-Jumped after meeting a woman who had told me the only way I could find information that might save people’s lives was by coming back, and saving my father.

I hadn’t been hoping to gain anything other than save my father’s life, because he’d been about to be murdered by Cain. The only thing I could tell them about the future was that Karla and Joseph’s next child would be a girl. I didn’t give them the name, despite Jason’s begging to know. Karla said she would hold me to my word- if the next child wasn’t a girl, she would deem me to be lying.

When Karla was certain that I was her child, since she’d kept Merry and I’s middle names secret from anyone who wasn’t immediate family, she started asking me why Cain had been after Joseph.

In fact, it was this question that she was now asking me once again, our last meeting cut short when a patient had arrived for Jason, and Karla and I had been forced to go home.

Looking over at my mother, I murmured, “He has a connection to the Maladur family. Not a Connected, but he knows them somehow.”

Karla leaned forward, picking up her cup of tea while Jason wrote down every word I said, my mother asking, “Do you know how he knows them?”

I wasn’t certain, but if I told them about the fact that Cain had killed my father because he would have recognised Destiny, I would have to tell them everything. If it got to that point, I might as well tell them about the war.

Could I trust them with that information? Time-Jumpers were considered dangerous, and telling them about the war might change too much.

But if changing it meant preventing it…

I’d seen so many deaths recently, more than I’d ever hoped to see, and if telling Jason and Karla might stand to change that, then what was the harm? It was saving people- that meant it was the right thing.

I placed down my cup of tea, saying, “If I tell you something, you both have to swear not to repeat it.”

The two of them looked to each other, perplexed, and concerned at the same time, before Jason held up his hand solemnly.

“I won’t say a word. Karla?” He lifted his own cup of tea again, taking a long sip, while Karla silently debated it.

She shook her head, breathing, “It depends on what you tell me, Seth.” Despite being mostly convinced that I really was her second son, my name sounded odd coming from her, like she was speaking about someone who had died. It was the whispered tone of someone who thought they were speaking ill of the dead, or making a difficult decision, and as much as it stuck out to me about how odd her tone was, I could understand. Reni and I had the same situation. Destiny hadn’t seemed to acknowledge it beyond a shrug and a ‘who cares?’ when I’d asked what she thought about Reni being my child. Karla, on the other hand, seemed intent to prove I was lying somehow. Time-Jumping was rare, and she had no idea if I was actually Seth, or if I was someone trying to dupe her into letting her guard down. As a Night-Hunter, especially a Maiden of Midnight, it was her job to ascertain if I was a threat.

Telling them about my Connected, the things I’d chosen to do for her even when she was my enemy… It might change the way Karla viewed me, not to mention the younger version of myself.

“What I tell you now can’t have any effect on how you bring up me… Uh… Younger Seth? I need you to promise me that, at the very least.”

“As far as everything goes,” Karla promised, “I see the two of you as separate people.”

Nodding, my fears vanquished for the time being, I began, “Everything that’s happening in my time can be traced back to a single event- the moment I met Destiny Rosalia Maladur. At the time, I knew her as Destiny Rosalia Delance-”

Jason held up his hand, coughing politely as he interjected, “Delance? As in, Leena’s last name? The last name of the Royal family of Ordeallan?”

His quill paused above the parchment, Karla’s eyebrow raising, and I nodded. So many things were going to be unbelievable, especially once I explained just who Destiny was to me, not to mention why she’d come.

“Um… Yeah. I’ll get to that moment in a bit. I met her in the Academy, where Darcie works.” Karla’s eyes, which had been squinted in suspicion, widened with surprise for a moment, before she added another fact that added up to me being her child.

“I met her when I was trying to sneak into the senior building, because while I was crossing the bridge, she ran into me, nearly knocking the both of us over. I saved both of us, and we parted ways at the door.”

Thus began my monologue of how I’d met Destiny; the first few moments of our, to this day, rough relationship. I explained how she’d unashamedly admitted to eavesdropping, had given me a book on the Septem Peccatis, before threatening my life and introducing herself. She’d been unnerving, beautiful, and silent.

“She walked like a shadow,” I explained, “No sound.”

“That to me says she’s trained to walk like that,” Karla mumbled, partly to herself, partly to Jason and I, and I nodded, “She’s an Assassin, but that comes later.”

I gave them details on how, three days after I’d originally met her, she’d shown up at Darcie’s house, where Merry and I lived with a few other teenagers, injured by a Streaker Demon. She was Reece’s Maiden of Midnight, sent to Darcie to recover so Jason could keep a close eye on her injuries. Both Karla and Jason had paled at that, as their minds began to form an image of just who I’d met. An Assassin, Maiden of Midnight to the Night-Hunters, who was unafraid to threaten people, showing up at the house of a boy she’d met just a few days prior. I could see the wheels in Karla’s head turning, her mind figuring out much quicker than I had that Destiny was up to something.

“Not long after she’d woken, Darcie, Jason and I got into an argument after she tried to escape, her powers shattering the iron bindings with ease, and it came out that she was possessed by the Septem Peccatis.”

Jason cocked his eyebrow at this, too, before stuttering, “Wait. She’s Demonic?”

“A Demonic-being. When it was revealed that she was possessed by the Septem Peccatis, Darcie tried to kill her, but I intervened, and you revealed that we were Connected.”

“She’s Demonic, possessed by the most powerful Demon Lord to ever exist, could sneak into a senior building below the age of ten, and she’s your Connected?”

“She was- is- my age. Her Demon Lord didn’t kill her.”

“I’m more surprised that she’s a Demonic-being who can break iron, then I am by the fact that she’s your Connected.”

Thankfully, throughout all of this, Jason never revealed that I was Demonic myself, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before he did, especially as my story took a different turn. I told them of Nym, how my Connected had cried after hearing her die, how she’d left a message to her attacker. I explained that she’d corrected Jason on his knowledge of the Maladur family, and Jason interceded once again.

“She’s a Maladur. I understood that when you gave me her last name, but why is she in Ordeallan?”

“At the time, she told me that her family had abandoned her- her mother had given her to Reece as a young child because her father had been trying to kill her, and you brought up the fact to me that in order for her to have the power of Hell, she had to have either killed a Lord of Hell, or been a direct relative.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask which one it is,” Karla said, Jason nodding in agreement.

“She’s a direct descendant of Zeella Maladur, the Sin of Lust. She’s his eldest daughter, although she had a twin at the time. Reanna.”

They didn’t know Reanna yet, a thought that struck me just as I began to become confused as to why they weren’t showing any signs of shock at the name.

Reanna wasn’t real. Leena had never had an heir. It had been part of the mirage that Destiny had set up, just another of her lies in an elaborate plan to gain my trust and kill me.

“My Connected is the Demi-Sin of Deceit, and the cousin to Cain Maladur. In fact, the two of them are close- really close. I came to you for help, Jason, because if she finds out I killed Cain, she’ll kill me.”

“But you’re her Connected?” Karla murmured, Jason scribbling down what I’d said too quickly for me to keep track.

“She’s also known as Caliem’s Greatest Assassin,” I explained, “We get along fairly well now, but when we first met, the only reason we became friends was because every aspect of her personality, her mask, if you will, was designed to entice me. She was sweet, if not a bit dangerous, and even when she killed in front of me, she still didn’t seem to be a professional killer. I knew she was a Night-Hunter, knew she worked as an Assassin, and yet she still seemed perfectly harmless to me.”

“All Night-Hunters are trained to do that with targets,” my mother explained, “We create a personality that we use as a weapon in itself. We lure our target in, make them trust us, and then we kill them. Why was she after you, though?” I could see the fear in her eyes, the wondering if it was, somehow, her job that had made me a target. Explaining that it had nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the Paradoxin Rift, was going to be near impossible. Jason knew, presumably, about the Paradoxin Rift. He’d told us about it in my time, but almost all the facts we’d known had been wrong.

“I can’t explain that without telling you everything that happened.”

So I did. I told them about the party we’d almost attended, how she’d murdered Raymondo Junior, about Aron the Dark Angel, the discovery of Reece’s body… She’d told us about Zeella and Lilith trying to ‘kidnap’ her, and how she became temporarily Nephilim thanks to BloodIron. I told them about Alcalie, how I’d begun falling more and more for Destiny, about Karmona, the kiss we’d shared, how I’d introduced her to Merry and Lucy.

And then I told them about our trip to the Palace, Alysia’s murder and our brief ‘battle’ with Zeella, along with how we’d been framed, nearly executed on the Execution Post, before escaping thanks to Tarvenia’s Royal family- which I still had no idea about her methods of getting them to show up- I’d never thought to ask.

I explained the miniature war we’d waged against Zeella in Tarvenia, one of the Royals being killed, and Destiny kidnapped by her father, almost being forced to shift the Divider to Hell, and how I thought she’d died. Then came the incident with the houses exploding, and what I thought would be our final moments. The near-legendary tale of how my Connected saved a group of children, fought off Demons, and crowned me the new leader of the Night-Hunters before sacrificing herself to save the Dimension.

And then came the mirage. Oh boy, that was a story and a half.

By the time I had explained my trip to Tarvenia, how Destiny quickly went from deceased sister to deceitful enemy, the raising of Nihila Paradoxin, how we feared for our lives most of the time, and my meeting the Princess of Tarvenia, Selphien Maw’tryx, it was nearing morning, Karla yawning, Jason frantically drinking more tea in order to hide his shaking hands.

By now, they must have had an idea about how dangerous Destiny had been, the risks I had taken by choosing to kill her best friend. It certainly looked that way when Karla questioned, “When will she come looking for you?” I knew what she was really asking. ‘When do I kick you out of my house so we aren’t all killed along with you?’

“She’s currently dead. She was cursed by Seraphina as a child that, whenever she died, she was sent to the Void for one hundred years, before being resurrected. It’s another seven years before she’s resurrected again, and all of this starts.”

“Except you’re concerned it won’t, because you killed Cain. Thus, Joseph will somehow know about Destiny, thwarting her plan before it could really begin,” Jason finished for me, and I nodded sheepishly. I had to tell them about my own abilities, omitting the fact that I was a Demonic-being and had the power of Hell, and Jason finally began to piece together the puzzle that was my life.

“You can’t Time-Jump back, can you? For whatever reason, saving your father caused you to lose those abilities, and you’re stuck here.”

There was still so much to explain, and in an effort to give them as much information as I could without taking weeks, I told them about my remembering everything again, Selphien and I’s capture, meeting The Commander, meeting Destiny again, the Immortal War that had been declared.

Destiny’s capture, how Nym had been caught, Destiny injected with Henara. Her escape, and then recapture by Dylon, who hadn’t been the best example of an Ordeallan soldier.

There was MY capture, when I became an official Heir of Hell, our time with the Willa-Webbers, Abel and Satalari, how we became apprehensive allies, the bringing down of the Sun Palace, wherein I was certain that I made it clear we were helping, not hindering.

I told them about our connection sealing afterwards, the method of doing so, although I spared them the details. There was the final capture of Destiny, and how Tatiana offered her the chance of redemption by becoming our diplomat with Revala.

The meeting of Fendrel and Destiny’s alliance marriage, how she became the Queen of Ordeallan and our ally, fighting alongside us in battles to destroy Zeella.

I got through the destruction of Ordeallan, the death of Fendrel, and Selphien breaking up with me before Karla spoke up again, her eyes shadowed with thought.

“I think we should stop here. You’ve given us a lot to process, especially regarding the… what was it called? Paradoxin Rift?”

Jason had a stack of paper at his side now, his supply running thin. Karla stood, gathering her satchel, as well as a bag with a few loose coins, while the Vampire stared blankly, still processing everything I’d said.

“Will you accompany me to the market, Seth? I need to purchase some things.”

Nodding, I rose, promising the Vampire that I would return tomorrow, the sun setting outside. Either Merry and younger me were accustomed to my mother vanishing for hours on end, or they were with Joseph. Jason didn’t respond until we were nearly at the door, Karla’s satchel hung over her shoulder, my mother yawning.

“Oh! I’ll- Yes, tomorrow! I need to get some things done… Goodbye.” He stood, taking the stack of papers with him before vanishing into a back room.

We entered the alleyway that lead into Jason’s home, Karla locking the door behind her, the two of us striding for the Town Square, my mother uncharacteristically silent, mulling over everything I’d told her.

Jason hadn’t been able to offer a solution for my problems, and as much as spilling my life story was therapeutic, it wasn’t exactly helping. Had I had anyone else to turn to, I might have, but as it was, I was stuck here.

Karla pulled out a small, grubby shopping list, smoothing out the crinkled paper as she studied the items on it, huffing, “I won’t find most of this now…”

Staying at my childhood home as a teenager was… strange. Having everyone share the one room for everything, including sleeping, felt like sharing a tent in the war camp again. Karla and Joseph shared a small bundle of blankets on the floor, while Merry and I had separate ones. I slept in the corner, far enough away that I wasn’t intruding on the others, but close enough that, should a Demon find their way in, I could safely intervene.

Karla had insisted on buying a new sheet for me to use, until I’d made it clear that there was no way she was spending money on me, not when I could use my cloak.

So I did. Every day, when we weren’t at Jason’s listening to my tale, I slept on the cloak I’d brought with me, my shirt acting as a blanket while I slept, only to be put back on once the sun had set. My clothes, which I’d worn for quite a while now, were in desperate need of a wash- covered in dirt, mud, salt from the Karmona ocean, and whatever Hellish things I’d come into contact with on Earth while Coppyrdeen coated my shirt and pants. I needed to get a job somewhere, so I could start earning some gold, pay Karla and Joseph back for hosting me, and then find a place to stay. There were a few inns around Ordeallan that might take me, provided I could pay, but none of them were the safest.

Then again, neither was the eastern side of Ordeallan.

When we reached the Town Square, which, despite the sunlight above, still had a few stalls serving customers, Karla reached into the coin bag she had, pulling out two silver coins and handing them to me.

“Get whatever you like,” she said quietly, “I’ll meet you back at the house.”

If she wanted me to leave her alone, it was because she was meeting someone from the Night-Hunters, and while I had the Night-Hunter symbol on my back, it might not have been enough to assure her that I was an ally. Not wishing to piss her off, I gratefully took the two silver coins, which wouldn’t get me much even in Ordeallan, and wandered away.

Out of the six stalls still open, only two were even in the realm of affordability for people like Karla and I, the other four being devoted to expensive, luxury fabrics, Alchemist and Necromancy ingredients, baked goods, and a jewellery stall.

The other two sold food. Old, stale food, but food nonetheless.

After examining the food stalls, which contained a few moulding pieces of bread, cheese, and some wilting vegetables, I moved on to the more exciting stalls, browsing them.

The fabrics reminded me of Tarlien, with his weaving, and I found myself studying the fabrics, noting which ones were finer-made, compared to those that were cheaper. After a glare from the woman selling the fabrics, who had taken one look at my messy clothes and decided that there was no way I could afford her fabrics, I moved on to the Alchemist stall. I recognised a few of the ingredients thanks to my time with Jason, but not enough to remain for long.

Eventually, the jewellery stall caught my attention, and kept it, because amid the silver bracelets and diamond earrings was a ring that caught my eye.

It was the sort of ring that Destiny would buy, my Connected springing to mind as I bent to study the gems.

The onyx was set into a delicate band of gold, flanked by two dark blue gems and a halo of tiny diamonds that glittered like stars, the gold band twisting and twining around each gem like vines, forming intricate curls and loops, before merging together at the back. The ring itself was nestled into velvet, which lined the inside of a mahogany box, and I hummed in appreciation just as the stall owner, a young man in his forties, questioned with a wink, “Looking for a special lady?”

“Oh! Um… I guess? I was just looking. I can’t actually buy anything,” I admitted sheepishly, holding out the only two silver coins I owned, and the man shrugged, “A shame, really. A ring like that is quite the steal. Onyx on its own is five-hundred gold.” He tapped a pair of unset onyx stones on a silk cloth, before pointing to the diamonds beside them, “And diamonds are one-thousand gold. These blue gems are made by Alchemists, and are worth seven-hundred. Gold bands are worth two-thousand. In total, this ring is eight-thousand-nine-hundred pieces of gold. But guess what?”

Seeing that I was going to have to listen to his spiel about what a great deal the ring was, I sighed, “What?”

“Everything is seventy percent off for the next week, so this ring is only six-thousand-two-hundred-and-thirty gold pieces. Employees of mine also get a thirty percent discount on top of whatever sales I’m running, and since you look like you’re in need of a job, I could cut you a deal?” He eyed the dirty clothes I was wearing, along with the silver coins in my hand, and I felt my heart begin to race. Was he offering me a job?

Was getting a job really going to be this easy?

Maybe the Archangels were cutting me some slack…

“What kind of deal?” I questioned, the salesman saying, “Since you seem to like this ring, and I’m in dire need of an employee, I’ll give you the thirty-percent discount, and you can work to pay off the ring. How’s that? I have accommodation on offer for all my employees, not to mention meals at the Rusty Tin at the end of every week.”

“What’s the pay?” I questioned desperately, and he said, “I give six pieces of silver a week.”

On six pieces of silver a week, provided I bought nothing else, it would take me close to twelve years to save enough to purchase that ring!

Even if I haggled it up to ten silver a week, it would be seven years before I could purchase it!

Hell below, how much money had Merry saved to buy Mira her engagement ring?!

“I can’t do that. Thank you, it really is a lovely ring, but I don’t know enough about jewellery to work at a stall.”

I took a step back, seeing the disappointed look in the stall owner’s eyes, before someone clapped me on the shoulder, a voice sighing, “I’ll take that diamond necklace, please.”

I stiffened, recognising the voice, before swinging around to demand, “Reece?”

His eyes met mine, a vivid image of the night we found his body floating to the front of my mind, and I shuddered. As the stall owner packaged up a necklace full of diamonds, Reece leaned closer, as if inspecting the gemstones, to whisper in my ear, “My Maiden of Midnight told me that you’re a Night-Hunter. I haven’t seen you around before, and certainly not in my home?”

“I’ve got the tattoo on my back,” I answered back casually, trying to slip under his hand. He held fast, though, and I quickly felt something sharp press into my lower back, near my kidney. Freezing in place, I watched Reece take the wrapped diamond necklace, handing over a bag full of gold, before requesting a matching set of earrings for it.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Seth.” He nodded to himself, confirming whatever it was he thought he already knew, and I began wishing I’d brought Inferos with me, rather than returning the blade to Destiny.

“Have a last name?”

What could I say? ‘Sevenna’ was too obvious, as was ‘Maw’tryx’, although I hadn’t heard much mention of them when I’d first met Genevieve and Tatiana, ‘Smith’ seemed to be making a mockery of Karla’s family now, even though I was her family, and ‘O’Connor’ was Reece’s last name.

The only other last names I knew belonged to Royals, family, friends, or my Connected. I doubted either ‘Maladur’ or ‘Delance’ would go down well with Reece.

“Um…” My hesitation cost me, Reece becoming impatient, and I stuttered, “Levesque.”

Levesque was Adriel and Emmett’s family name, but they weren’t in The Borderlands, yet. They wouldn’t be here for five more years. By then, I could have a whole new identity for myself, or just keep away from Adriel and Emmett.

Funnily enough, I had a feeling Adriel would be pleased I’d chosen her last name.

“Levesque? I haven’t heard that family name. That’s a bit dangerous- easy to track, too.”

“So is O’Connor,” I dared reply, staring up at Reece, and he pressed his lips together.

A second later, his entire demeanour changed when the stall owner handed him a second box with diamond earrings in it, the Night-Hunter leader smiling kindly, tucking the two boxes into his satchel.

Still holding my shoulder, he nudged me toward an alleyway, the houses curving to the left to form a small side-alley that was hidden from view. As children, all of us living with Darcie were forbidden from going down there, and I knew it only because Emmett had been down there, once, and come back to report that there wasn’t anything good, and we were right to listen to Darcie. No matter how much questions we asked, he wouldn’t tell us.

Ever since then, I’d avoided it.

Reece didn’t seem to have any apprehension as he strode confidently towards it, and it was the lack of fear Reece showed that made me begin to fight back, digging my feet into the cobblestones. Where was Karla? I couldn’t see her anywhere in the Town Square, the number of people dwindling as the day went on, and I shuddered. The less people there were, the less likely it was I would be noticed.

“Wait!” I cried out, half-hoping to draw the attention of someone in the square, “Why are we going down there?”

“I have to speak to you. Privately.”

I could hear the edge in his voice as he spoke, as sharp as the blade of the dagger he kept in his pocket, and I pleaded, “Reece, I haven’t lied to you! My name is Seth Levesque, I’m sixteen, and from Ordeallan!”

“Who are your parents?”

“I don’t like them enough to talk about them. I’ve been on my own since I was thirteen!”

“Any other family?”

“A brother and sister, but again, I don’t talk about them.”

He continued to drag me toward the alleyway, where I could now hear someone’s muffled screaming from around the corner, and I hissed, “Karla won’t be pleased if you kill me!”

“Karla isn’t here, is she?” He sneered, “If you die tonight, she either won’t come looking, or if she does, she’ll put it down to a freak accident- Murder occurs all the time in Ordeallan.”

Already, I knew I wouldn’t be receiving a grave here, and if I did, I would be known as ‘Seth Levesque’, some unknown, sixteen-year-old boy who had been tragically murdered in an alleyway. No one would be coming to visit my grave, because the people who knew me were in a different timeline. Even Destiny, my own Connected, wouldn’t know me here.

If I died, Destiny would never be able to come to my tent again when she had nightmares, or have comfort in the fact that she could always have someone to talk to, wherever we were.

Well, except for now, because I’d decided to Time-Jump back, severing our connection.

I was definitely naïve, but I could still fight back against Reece. This wouldn’t be the first certain-death situation I’d emerged from unscathed.

We were almost at the alleyway by now, the muffled screaming now gone, and the sharp tang of fresh blood now washing over me. Reece didn’t seem to smell it, but I certainly could, and it only made me fight harder.

Cain and Destiny had began teaching me how to escape from someone dragging me away, since my usual method of ‘kick and scream’ wasn’t always going to be effective, but we hadn’t gotten far. Destiny had tied me up once, completely binding my hands and feet, before blindfolding me, and it had taken me an hour and twenty minutes to free myself, half of it being pure luck. Out of all the advice she’d given me, there was one that I could remember vividly. Do what your attackers would never expect.

Cain’s methods were… Frightening. Contrary to Destiny, who never actually hurt me during our training sessions, Cain didn’t hold back. He threw punches without hesitation. He fought dirty.

So I did the same.

Reece shouted in surprise when I threw my elbow into his temple, his grip loosening enough that I could break away, sprinting for the alleyway he’d been prepared to drag me down. This was the one part of Ordeallan I didn’t know, had never been down, so I would have to rely on instinct to get out. Being a Demonic-being, I could move quicker than Reece, and by the time he recovered himself, I was halfway to that corner, fighting to keep control of my panic.

He began running, his dagger drawn, shouting that I was a thief, and I dodged the grappling hands of two people who seemingly appeared out of the shadows, grabbing a support beam to swing myself around the corner, ducking under the clothesline that was on the other side, trying not to stare at the dead body that was slumped against the wall there, their throat violently slit. Beside them, there were three more bodies, two women, and another man, all of them just as violently killed.

At the end of the alleyway, there was a brick wall that separated this alleyway from the next one, where Reece would expect me to go, and to my left, there were townhouses and stores, their doors firmly locked, since nobody wanted the back of their shop left open for anyone to stroll in. On my right, another, taller wall that led to more streets.

With Reece’s Assassins behind me, I threw myself at that wall, gripping the stones and wrenching myself up, grappling blindly until I scrambled onto the top of the wall.

With a quick glance to make sure I wasn’t going to toss myself into a thorn bush, I leapt onto the cobblestones, running again. I could see another main street up ahead, people strolling tiredly along it, and I ran into the crowd, using the brief hiding spot to look around.

It would take Reece and his Assassins a few minutes to find a way around, presuming they didn’t try to scale the wall, too, and by then, I could be several streets away.

Walking behind a group of Academy students making their way home after a long night of studying, I waited until there was another alleyway with clotheslines, ducking down it and casually plucking a blue shirt from the line. I couldn’t change my appearance like Destiny could, but I could certainly change my clothes.

Peeling off my shirt, I hung it up in the blue shirts place, before changing into my improvised disguise and striding into the next street. Running now would look suspicious, and only stand to make me more obvious to any watching eyes.

Whistling, I grinned broadly when I realised where I was, knowing if I didn’t fake the smile, my teeth would begin chattering in fear.

This was three streets over from Darcie’s house, and only two from the Night-Hunter house.

I would have to make a choice now. I could continue walking, and hope I didn’t run into Reece again, or I could turn around, and try to find my way back to Karla. Would she help me? She was Reece’s Maiden of Midnight…

It would be my word against his, and since I was not only a stranger, but claiming to be her son from the future, Reece would win out.

As I walked by an alleyway, a hand reached out, yanking me into it just as an arrow whizzed by where I had been standing, embedding itself into the street, and I watched, my mouth gaping as a copy of myself fell atop it, blood coating the cobblestones.

“There are times, dad, when I contemplate if I truly get my smarts from you, or if they come from mum.” Reni’s voice, as disappointed as it sounded, was a relief, and she lowered her hand, the copy of my body disappearing.

“You can mimic things,” I said in surprise, and she nodded, “A gift from mum’s Demi-Sin. I can’t do it for long, only a few seconds, but that was long enough for Reece’s Assassin to confirm your death and leave. You know, you have an astounding ability to piss off all the wrong people, don’t you?”

From the shadows behind her, two people strolled out, one wearing a long blue gown, the sort worn to balls or coronation parties, a crown atop her head, while the male beside her wore a light grey suit and a sour look on his face.

Glancing back to Reni, I took note of the black dress, the gold bracelets hanging from her wrists, and the diamond crown on her head, remarking, “You’re going somewhere?”

“A party,” she glanced to her silent companions, the male glaring to remind her that they, in fact, had to go, while the blonde female only smiled warmly, “But I couldn’t let you be killed before I could make my debut.”

“Are you- You’re wearing a crown, and so is she.”

“Tallila and I are Princesses of Hell. Another gift from Destiny.”

“You’re sisters?” Tallila turned away, covering her mouth as she giggled, shaking her head, and Reni said, “No. Cousins, but she’s still a Princess of Hell. Which reminds me, if we’re late, we’re going to be facing Hell from our sponsors, so I’ll have to go. Do you want me to Time-Jump you back?”

Glancing back to where, just a few seconds ago, my dead body had laid, I nodded. If I showed up now, after Reece had confirmed my death, Karla would probably stab me herself.

Motioning for her companions to step closer, Reni smirked mischievously at me, lifting her hand, and snapping her fingers.

The alleyway melted away, and I screamed as I began a freefall plummet toward the forest beneath me, the wards of Tarvenia crackling a bright red in front of me. Reni was already gone, leaving me to fall to my death alone, the trees fast approaching. Wrapping my powers around me the same way I’d seen Destiny do it, I braced myself for the first hit as I slammed into the treetops, branches and leaves whipping by, bouncing off the shield I’d made, before I hit the ground. My shield dissolved, the animals of the forest letting out one startled screech before going silent, and I laid there, gasping, the wind knocked from my lungs.

I was definitely in Tarvenia, and I definitely broke something. I laid there, taking a mental note of my injuries, feeling for any further breaks, until I could breathe again. Aside from a scrape on my hand, I only had one break.

Whenever I took a deep breath, I could feel the dull ache of a broken rib. By now, it was a familiar feeling, since this had to be the… fifth time I’d broken a rib. At least, I thought it was the fifth.

Some Scara and bedrest would fix it easy enough, but first, I had to find a way back to the Sun Palace.

Standing, I glanced around, trying to place where I was. The wards were behind me, so the Sun Palace wasn’t too far away… How had I even gotten out here?

Tracing back over my steps, I scowled. Nihila had brought me out here, trying to force me to Time-Jump. Well, she’d gotten what she’d wanted, so why wasn’t she out here, waiting for me?

Just how much time had I been missing?! It could have been years!

‘Destiny, where are you? I’m-’ Before I could tell my Connected where I was in the hope she would come find me, I heard fallen branches cracking beneath the marching footsteps of soldiers, the march not the light-footed marching of Faeries, but the heavy-footed stomping of Demonic-beings. How were they in Tarvenia? Looking around me, I limped over to a tree, pulling myself up it while wincing, trying to stop myself from panting in pain by biting down on my lip.

If Demonic-beings were patrolling around Tarvenia, it meant we’d lost the city. I wasn’t even certain of when our last battle had been! Had there been one while I was gone? Was Destiny okay?

When I made it high enough up the tree that I no longer felt in danger, I relaxed, lifting my head to study the sky, which was barely visible through the net of leaves. I was back in familiar territory, with people who recognised me. All I had to do now was wait for the Demonic-being patrol to leave, and then I could begin hightailing it for the wards, and Karmona.

I hadn’t gotten any information out of my Time-Jumping other than the fact that Reece was surprisingly formidable, and that my daughter was cunning, not to mention just as sassy as her mother, Heaven help the both of us.

But if Reni and Tallila were cousins, did that mean Tallila was Cain’s daughter? She didn’t seem anything like the proud fighter I saw almost every day, even if she looked like him. She seemed quiet, reserved, dignified- The sort of child the Manor would have eaten up and spat out as bones.

Reni was her mother’s daughter, that much was certain, even if I was beginning to notice that she had my eye colour.

Beneath me, the Demonic-beings paused, choosing my tree, out of the millions of trees they could have chosen, to have their break, unpacking their bags, opening bottles of blood, and sitting down. They didn’t talk to one another other than the occasional hiss or barked order, and they kept a wary eye on one another, as if they were expecting a betrayal.

This was why we continued to win battles despite our opponents being stronger, faster and more cunning than us. They couldn’t work together, didn’t have each other’s backs the way my allies did, and thus, they were easily torn apart and set on one another.

So why, if the Manor ensured each and every one of their soldiers trusted nobody, did Cain and Destiny trust each other? The Heirs had a trust, although it was uneasy at times, that I hadn’t seen anywhere else in the Manor. Even Lyna had helped Destiny at times, despite the two of them being sworn enemies. Sophie, Destiny’s twin-that-wasn’t-a-twin, helped out, although Destiny didn’t know who she was.

The Demonic-beings didn’t seem to know how to work together. At all. A problem that became clear when one of them reached over and stole another’s blood.

In a matter of seconds, it became an all-out brawl between the two, their snarls and yelps of pain echoing across the forest, the others continuing their meal and watching on in interested eyes. Trying to imagine my Connected sitting with them, with cold, calculating eyes, was nearly impossible. She was obviously cunning, but she didn’t strike me as heartless.

In a few minutes, the would-be thief was dead, their killer now calmly sitting down to finish their meal while the others scavenged what they could from the dead Demonic-being’s bag. When they found nothing they wanted to steal, they simply chucked it into the undergrowth behind them.

They didn’t sit for much longer, thankfully seeming eager to move on, and eventually, they stood, tossing empty bottles into the grass, rising, and returning back the way they’d come, proclaiming the area to be cleared of enemies. They didn’t bother taking the dead Demonic-being with them.

I waited for a few minutes, ensuring they didn’t come back, before climbing down, beelining straight for the bag they’d discarded. It was a nondescript leather satchel, a frayed cord tying it shut, and I gingerly plucked it from the thorned bush it had fallen into, placing it on the ground and opening it.

Inside, there was a small, rusted dagger, the hilt beginning to separate from the blade itself, a small, metal cannister full of blood, a wrapped lump of bread, a jar of what looked like blueberry jam, and a clean bandage. Not exactly extensive provisions, but hopefully enough for me to get outside of Tarvenia or, if the need arose, to remain here for a while.

Picking my way through the remains that the Demonic-beings had so carelessly left behind, I managed to find another cannister of blood that I tucked into the satchel, and a second dagger, which I slid into my belt. Aside from the satchel of supplies, all I had now was the clothes on my back, and my fraying shoes.

It was going to be a long walk back.

Sighing, I turned toward the wards, which I could see glittering over the treetops, and began trudging my way towards them. Beyond the wards, I would have Limbo, and then, the Forest of the Lost.

It was definitely going to be a long walk back…