"I made a mistake. With both of you. The day I sat Dagon down in that hospital corridor and called your love something it wasn't. That was my mistake. Not yours. Not yours, Di. Not yours, Dagon. I told myself I was protecting you. I see now what I was actually doing."
He drew a breath against my hair.
"I won't ask you to forgive me. Not today. Not for a long time, maybe. I just… I needed you to know I see it now. I see what it cost you. Both of you."
A tear slipped down my cheek. I buried my head in King's neck, feeling Di do the same from the other side. King's acceptance seemed like a cruelly beautiful dream.
"I'm sorry about your brother, little dragon."
My heart twisted painfully. Nodding silently, I struggled to hold back my emotions.
"Thank you," I whispered.
When we finally collected ourselves, Di asked, "How are you okay with this?"
King chuckled. "Did you expect me to hurt you? To try and kill my own sons"
We exchanged glances, and King's jaw dropped. He sighed deeply and said, "My beliefs haven't changed overnight. But I know my sons. You're not like other demons."
‘I could be’was left unsaid. I was a demon, after all. Admittedly, a strange one, but still a demon. King chose to see his son, the son he knows, instead of the demon who I was. Sooner or later, it was bound to backfire. I didn’t think he was comprehending everything yet. However, for now, it was enough.
Our brothers approached cautiously. Andras hugged me tightly, expressing sorrow over my brother, then scolding me for keeping secrets. Luc silently hugged me for a long time. What surprised me was Wild's hug. It was awkward, but I knew hemeant it. Bren hugged me too, and then eagerly asked for more details about me being a demon. He pointedly ignored King.
We sat down and explained the entire journey, King's rage over his friend's friend betrayal radiated powerfully. "I'll kill him," King growled, his angelic veneer slipping momentarily.
It took us a long time to answer many questions, mainly from our brothers, but we told them everything.
King broke the silence eventually. "Fireborns, Soulborns, and some Starborns working together? Why?"
“Power,” Bren said with a somber expression.
“How would an object created by Lucifer give them power? Maybe they can find a way to control it, but I suspect they wouldn’t be as strong as Lucifer.” Wild interjected.
Di arched a brow, and I felt his hesitation throughout the bond. Still, he answered, “The object is powerful. It carries the flames of Lucifer. One hit, and you’re burning in them and a goner. Permanently. I still don’t know everything about it, but can sense the power. It’s far greater than anything I could have ever imagined.”
What a clusterfuck of unanswered questions. If someone had told me all of this would happen when Di and I left on this journey, I would have laughed in their face and probably punched them.
Di stiffened beside me, and I asked him,“How are you?”
“I’m not sure. I wanted to speak with King alone if you don’t mind?”
“Go. I’ll be waiting for you here.”
“King?”
“Yes?”
“Can we speak alone for a second?”
King nodded, following Di out. Left alone with my brothers, their reactions surprised me. Bren and Andras playfullydemanded to see my demon form, almost overwhelming me with curiosity.
When I did, I barely got away from them. They wanted to touch everything, and that was a big no-no.
We laughed, and I told them more about me and my life before becoming part of the Hughes. I finally felt like I could breathe with ease. I had my family, my brothers, dad and Di. That was everything I would ever need. I loved my family, and I would do anything to protect them. For once, they could also love and see all of me, and I realized how precious this acceptance was.
But underneath the laughter, underneath the brotherly chaos and the demands to see the wings again, I kept one part of myself trained on the bond. On Di. On the thread between us. On what was being said in another room of this house I had called home for fifteen years.
If anything in his voice changed.
