My heart pounds in my chest like a jackhammer. A demon? Me?
Ordinarily I would have called it bullshit and left it at that. But the fires around me were no lie, I didn't feel an ounce of pain, in fact, I barely even noticed them at all. Not a scratch or a scar or a burn sullys the pale complexion of my skin, but the air is fresh with the blazing heat of a fire, and the smell of smoky flames. That was no illusion. That was real.
"Holy shit," I whisper, gazing down at my hands. What else lies beneath my skin, what other powers am I not yet privy to? So many questions buzz through my mind, stacking up in towering blocks of confusion, leaving me with only more queries and no answers.
I can't believe my mother kept this from me.
No wait, I correct myself mentally, that is totally believable, especially from a scumbag like her.
Swiftly, I raise my head.
"You aren't messing with me?" I ask the Devil, peering at him curiously. "Because, no offense by the way, you aren't exactly the first person I'd trust with something like this."
The Devil wiggles his eyebrows, violet eyes gleaming with a dastardly joy.
"Oh, no offense taken. You assessment is almost as fair as you. But I promise you, I am not lying to you. Why else would I be here otherwise?" he chuckles, splaying his hands out in a theatrical manner, smug grin still abiding on his face. I purse my lips.
Well, he isn't exactly wrong. The Devil doesn't really do random visits.
Just as I am about to take a step towards him,
one last screech from the Queen rises above the crowd.
"He's lying, Elowyn! Lying! Don't listen to him, you aren't a demon!" she screams, but there is desperation in her voice, so thick it's hard to keep her voice flat. In that moment, the Devil looks like he would like nothing more than to strangle her. His head whips round towards her, fingers clenching into rock-like fists.
"Oh use your eyes, Akari! I don't care how deep in denial you are, she is a demon, whether you like it or not. Keeping her here when she is of age and now there are demon hunters on the loose would be suicide. You are going to get her killed. Her father knew what she was, and that's why he begged me to make a deal with him," he hisses, and almost, laughs, running a hand back through his hair. My mother points a finger at him, but no words come out, her mouth silent and open like the gape of a fish.
But my eyes arent on her.
My heart pounds rapidly, my head spinning in and out of focus. After all this time? They knew? I barely even have time to think over the matter until my mothers hand finds itself firmly on my shoulder again, her grip like an icy claw upon my fragile skin. Her breaths are laboured, her golden hair a mess, and a slight blackness staining the tips of her fingers, a permanent wound. But other than that she looks the cold hearted, merciless, ice Queen of a bitch she has always been. I suppose some things never change.
"She is not-"
The devil cuts her off with a sharp wave of his hand.
"Give it a rest you old hag, your daughter deserves to know the truth about her existence. I was supposed to take her down to hell from the very day she was born. She was supposed to have a good life, a good home with my people in the Downside. Only I could help her fulfil her destiny, but you mortals toyed with fate that day. Instead her father bargained with me- I would take him instead for nineteen years in order to let her spend her time up here for that same amount of time. Nineteen years in the Upper Realm. Nineteen years for you to prepare her for what she is meant to be, nineteen years to say your goodbyes, and when the time came for me to take her back, she would join me in the Downside. And then, and only then, her father would return to his own Realm. I even mercifully agreed when you asked me for three more weeks, when you claimed she wasn't yet ready to leave, I gave you that time for her sake. And now I discover you have been treating her like shit, blaming her for the loss of your husband, and now trying to marry her off to get her out of your sight and away from me. Akari, you have made me mad. One might say livid even. I thought you mortals might be worth something, might honour your bargains, might honour your daughter. But you are no better than lowly vermin. You disgust me."
Akari says nothing, her mouth flapping wordlessly, rendered speechless by the devils vicious remark.
I only the other hand, feel on the brink of collapse. Realisation and understanding weigh on me like a tombstone. Some say some things are better left unsaid- this might have just been one of them. But it's too late for that frivolous wishful thinking now.
A heavy stone drops in my stomach as suddenly each little piece weaves its threads together. The reason for my mothers wrath, her disdain for me, was because of this? And my father... I look down at my hands, ash white and as pale as a ghost. Perhaps that is why she locked me in my room, kept me from the outside after she discovered I was searching for entrances to hell. Why she never did quite look at me as a daughter, but more as a failed piece of art. Why I never did grow my wings.
I was never meant for this world to begin with.
The devil's smooth voice catches my attention.
"However," he adds, causing my head to shoot up, hope swimming on the horizon. "As easy as it would be to take her now and be done with it, that would be rather cruel of me, given the circumstances. So I shall make one final arrangement. She wanted to make a deal with me, so here I am to offer one. Whatever deal she likes, whatever wish, I shall concede."
He holds out his hand once more, shaking it gently out before him.
"Come here Princess," he beckons softly, shaking his hand again, offering me to take it. I strain to move forward, but my mother holds me firm.
"She is not making a deal with you, you foul creature," she insists, grip ever tightening on my shoulder. Ragefully, my mind flares up in protest. This is my chance- my chance to escape. An option, a plan b, to stay or leave, to finally, after all these years, wish for something I could never hope to have. Right now, hell sounds like a lot nicer place than this shit hole.
"You ask to stay," the Queen whispers in my ear, her voice dripping with a snake like venom. But underneath that, underneath that cold, icy exterior, there is something else, something harder: fear. Her hands are shaking, skin deathly pale, as if suddenly, in this moment, her whole world, what she has built for for nineteen years, is about to come crashing down around her.
If that is the case, so be it.
"With all due respect, Queen Akari," the Devil says, his voice lowering to a dangerous hum. "That decision isn't yours to make, so if you don't mind," he says, pointing a finger at my mother. "I would kindly ask you to let go of her."
Instantly she falls back, writhing in pain, clutching her already burnt fingers that flare up with blackness. Her scream rings around the throne room as she tumbles back into Alastor, who catches her under the arms and holds her steady. The blackness spreads, up, up, up her arm, laying to rest at her shoulder, an infection, or disease, that no mortal can be rid of. The curse of the Devil.
For a second, my eyes meet Alastor's, and he gives a slight nod. He knows what I am about to do. There is a fear on his eyes, but a determination too, a strange look of awe that I have been granted the very thing the two of us had strived to achieve. Not just any old person can make a deal with the devil- he must first deem you worthy of his services, and even then you aren't guaranteed an answer. His dealings take two sides, verging between fantastic and notoriously evil, full of loopholes and decisively his own. Whatever he chooses as his side of the bargain will be final. But he is my only hope of getting out of here, and I can ask him anything, with just one catch. Whatever the price of the deal is the price you must pay. There is no going back.
Slowly, I descend down the stairs like a star falling from heaven, an angel flung down to the depths hell. If destiny truly does exist, then this would be it. The devil smiles softly as I walk towards him, his eyes glowing fantastically with the light of a thousand stars twinkling under the bright fluorescence of the pale moon. He looks beautiful.
Hesitantly, I place my hand in his, gripping it tightly.
This is it.