“Can I ask questions now?”
Trying and failing to hold back my smile, I said, “You can ask me anything.”
“Can you tell me more about the demon clans? I’m sooo curious.”
“There are five clans, as King mentioned. Every clan has different powers. But first, I need to mention what life in Hell is like.”
“I’m scared to ask.”
I shrugged and chuckled, “It’s probably not what you imagine. Starborns and Nightborns don’t live in the circles of Hell where torture and stuff happen. The place where I used to live was pretty much the same as the surface.”
“Surface?” Di was transfixed by everything I was saying.
Part of me exhaled with relief that, instead of freaking out, he wanted to know more.
"That's how we call the human world. Anyway, it was much the same. Though it was always dark, and there were flames. Lots of demons who wanted trouble."
I shrugged, not knowing how to describe it. It was normal shit for me, or at least it used to be.
“And Starborns and Nightborns live together in that place?”
“Yes and no. Everyone has their own territory, and there are some mixed parts.”
“But don’t you hate each other?”
“Demons hate everyone for the most part.” I sighed, knowing I was nearing the not-so-good parts, “You have to understand that Hell was very different from here.”
“Didn’t you just say it was the same?”
I could see his confusion. I wasn’t doing the best job of explaining.
“I meant the same in terms of buildings,” it was the closest explanation I could think of, “But our lives were different. Demons don’t have families like humans. Family means little to nothing for demons.”
We still had two hours until we arrived in the town. We had plenty of time for me to explain some things. If there were Starborns there, I needed Di to understand how demons functioned and to listen when I told him to stay back.
“Starborns and Nightborns are born. They have parents like humans. Fireborns are born from Hell’s flames. Soulborns are created from parts of souls that end up in Hell. Nightwalkers are corrupted entities, demonic, mindless creatures that listen to orders. Though, in rare cases, I’ve heard there are cognizant Nightwalkers."
"For Starborns, when a demon is born, the parents’ purpose is to train them and teach them what it’s like to be a demon. That’s it. There’s no parental love or connection of any kind.”
Di tightened his hand around mine. It was probably hard for him to imagine this. It was natural for me. It was all I knew.
King was the first person to ever show me what a family and a father meant.
Actually, that wasn’t true. I had my brother.He was my family.We were one of the strangest pairs of demons back then. Demons didn’t look at their siblings as a family but as competition. What King showed me was what a human family and father looked like.
Darius and I were seen as an abomination.
Did we care? Hell no. It was us against the underworld, against our so-called parents, and I hoped it would always be that way.
Di squeezed my arm, sensing my feelings, and said, “You don’t need to speak about it.”
“No, I want to. Anyway, Starborns are the strongest. Only the most powerful of us have familiars.”
“Blue. Blue is your familiar. Wait, aren’t familiars a witch thing?”
“There are no witches, though maybe there are some humans with magic. Anyway, familiars are magical creatures we’re born with.”
“So, there’s magic?”
