Bren chuckled, shaking his head like he’d just made the best joke of his life. But his eyes? They were cold and calculating.
I felt like I’d fallen into an alternative universe where no one was who I thought they were.
“None of these are real,” King said calmly. “Only demons and angels.”
“Explain, please,” Bren said, still smiling.
“Demons were born when Lucifer fell. Hell was created with his fall. As for me, my realm isn’t a place I can return to. I won’t get into the reasons now, but I am still an angel. And it’s my duty to protect. When the five of us came to Earth, we brought the objects with us. Our task was to guard them, from demons, and from humans.”
“Angels and demons? Sounds like a great book,” I muttered.
Everyone gave me awhat the fucklook. I sank into my seat, wishing I could disappear.
“In the wrong hands,” King continued, “these objects could be catastrophic. Some time ago, the objects’ protection began to weaken. We weren’t enough anymore. I had to act. And now, I suspect the stolen object is in the worst possible hands.”
“Who?” Dagon asked, no longer shouting. Just deathly quietly.
“The Starborns.”
“The what?” I blurted.
“They’re a demon clan,” he said. “There are five clans. The Starborns are the most violent, brutal, inhuman, unfeeling, deranged chaos-bringers and destroyers.”
"Going to throw in a few more adjectives?" Dagon said.
“You need to be careful with them. Never engage, no matter what.”
“How will we know if we meet one?”
King hesitated before he said, “You… won’t. No human can feel the presence of a demon.”
Before I could ask if he was joking, Bren beat me to it. “What about the other four clans? Any cool ones from them, Dad?”
Clans. Demons. This was the first I was hearing any of it. Then again, up until today, I didn’t even know demons were real.
“There are five.” King said. “Starborns, Nightborns, Fireborns, Soulborns, and Nightwalkers.”
“Original names.” I muttered. Everyone shot me another look. I just raised my hands. “What? It’s like I’m listening to an audiobook. I can’t help myself.”
There were a few groans around the room, but no one said anything. Our father looked briefly amused, but then slipped back into his angel composure.
“As I said, the most dangerous are the Starborns. No one goes against them, not even other demons. Nightborn and Fireborn are next in power. They despise each other. Each clan hasdifferent abilities. Soulborns and Nightwalkers rank lowest in strength.”
"This is too much information for a world you just revealed to us," Andras said.
“And what happens if these objects fall into the wrong hands?” Luc asked.
I already had a feeling about the answer. End of the world, Lucifer controlling everything, humans dying – the standard catastrophe. I'd read too many books not to see this plot twist coming.
“That’s the thing,” King said, “I’m not sure.”
“You’re not sure?” I asked.
"No. I won't lie. That's what frightens me the most. Every object is unique, with powers that are unpredictable. If they serve a demon's purpose… these things could destroy more than any of us can fathom."
I scanned his face and studied every flicker of movement – his eyes, every twitch, every flash of emotion. I needed to read between the lines and beyond his words. But no matter how I looked at it, I didn’t have a choice. So I asked the only question that mattered now. “What do I need to do?”
It hit me again, like it had earlier, the man at the head of the table was no longer acting like our father. He was an angel on a mission. And somewhere during all of this, I’d accepted that. Not because it was easy. But because I had lived that moment before, where survival demands acceptance, and there’s no turning back.
