Chapter 206: CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SIX

The gasp of betrayal that escaped me was shortlived because the second I lifted my eyes from the blood on my shoulder to his face, my eyes caught the dark blood spilling from his own shoulder.

On the same spot he'd cut me.

He cupped my cheeks with both hands, his eyes sincere and misty.

“I love you Aria, so fucking much. I've never known an emotion as strong as what I feel for you and I'll never do anything to hurt you but since my words are not enough anymore, here's proof that I literally cannot hurt you except I'm suicidal. Before you, I didn't have any permanent threats to my existence, whatever happens to me could be cured but you are the sword by which I'll live and die and my father simply wants to use you to control me, the only wild card in his arsenal. So please,” he knelt down and placed his hands on my waist, “come back with me, I'm begging you. I'm not only scared for my own life but yours too. This power in you is unexpected and if I knew it was there all along, I would have trained you harder before all of this happened so blame it all on me. Something turned off my sensitivity and I can't figure out how to turn it back on yet but we need to head back now and start training immediately before ur consumes you beyond redemption. Please,” he begged, his hands grabbing me tightly.

I nodded, overwhelmed by the surge of information I'd been exposed to.

My acceptance gave him so much joy he jumped up and hugged me tightly.

“I was so scared you'd say no,” he murmured in the crook of my neck.

“I was scared too,” I breathed, realizing that somehow, I'd come to fear the one person who has always saved me.

“Of me? I don't even know how I managed to terrify you so much. You should have trusted me.”

“Yes but before your journey to the bridge, you literally controlled everything I learned in school so when I got the chance to do my own research without feeling like you were editing these things, I took it. I saw a book in the library that specifically explained how the marking works and the fact that you didn't listen to all my pleas about not wanting it made it seem like you've been lying to me all along.”

He took me to the part of the bed that wasn't broken and that gave my feelings a tiny chance to settle.

“I understand you and I'll definitely have a word with my father for planting that crap where he knew you'd pick it up. But all of this stemmed from lack of proper communication. There definitely is a species of demons that are like this, they're not under my father's dominance although they are forced to obey him since he brought them down to hell and he's superior to them even when they were up there. They also can't create demons or have children, hence their intense wickedness towards whoever is unlucky to be theirs. They're chronically bored and would play with the only being they're allowed to play with without consequences. Some even kill their partner so they can actually stop existing. But I am nothing like that and you're going to be my queen down at the den whenever you're ready. My duty is to make you happy, and if these are not enough reassurances, you literally are going to be ruling the Fallen now that you have powers. Their survival is dependent on you so if I piss you off, you have an entire species at your disposal so you have nothing to be scared about, okay?”

“Okay,” I replied with a sniffle, breathing heavily in relief.

I felt so much better now that I wasn't angry, upset or scared of him; I didn't realize how much it hurt me to look at him every day and stop myself from running into his arms like I belonged there.

It hurt so bad that I had to kill Lucas before coming to this realization.

I wanted to hurt myself so much for making him lose his life in such a terrible way.

“We're going to bury him before we leave right?” I asked Alaric who had been silent all the while, holding me tightly in his arms.

“Yes, let's get to that so we can leave. I'll prefer fighting my father on my own turf. He owns this place completely,” he replied and got up from the bed, helping me up gently.

“I'm sorry for leaving,” I said to him, realizing that action must have hurt him considering I was acting on wrong information.

“It's fine, you didn't know you had the wrong information but please always communicate with me about these things. We're a team okay?”

“Yes baby,” I replied, smiling for the first time in a while.

“Good, let's get your things and get out of here.”

I nodded and grabbed my bags which where still packed anyways and he took them from me, heading downstairs while I followed him.

“Did he make you sign anything?” He asked me as we got into the car he'd come here with.

I noticed mine was no longer in the parking lot.

“Yes,” I replied and pulled it out of my handbag and handed it over to him.

“Oh thank goodness, it's with a pen!” He exclaimed, producing one out of the blues. “Here, cancel it. We'll burn it at the edge of the town before we leave,” he instructed me.

I nodded and did as he asked, watching the new ink mix with the old one.

It was weird how I was now used to magical things happening to and around me. I no longer questioned it anymore, it was my new reality.

He drove us to where Jim and Octavio had already prepared Lucas for a quick burial with a priest and some old people.

The second I got down, the woman who was with a walking stick looked at me with such hostility I was genuinely scared.

“You monster! You finally killed him! You took my grandson away from me,” she shouted, sobbing in between and giving me the guilt of a lifetime.

I watched as her husband grabbed and held her, whispering into her ear and trying to get her to calm down.

I looked at my hands and I wished I didn't have this power.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him,” I told them but even I knew it was worthless. No one deserved to die for me, and worse, it was at my own hand.

“He should have left you alone when I told him to!”

“But you know our Lucas, Beth. He's passionate about everything and won't stop until he is sure he has done his best. It's not his fault he loves too hard,” her husband spoke loudly this time.

“I know nothing I say will make any of this better,” I sniffled, overcome with tears and guilt, “but I'll never forget him and how genuine he was. He is the best human I've ever met and I… killed him,” I croaked, crumbling to the ground.

“Baby,” Alaric whispered, holding me to himself but I shifted away.

“Please stop, I don't deserve any succor. I took him away from these lovely people and a full life!”

“I know you feel guilty for this but we have to get through this together, okay?” He said and I realized he didn't know how to express himself.

One moment he was a demon, oblivious to emotions and now he was having to listen to his human side.

Somehow, I got through the whole burial, crying all through and apologizing to the old couple over and over again even though I knew it was of no use. I even wished she'd been allowed to hit me, but at the end of it, we were all quiet, accepting the fate we were handed.

Alaric told Jim to look after them and it comforted me knowing at least, someone would ensure their flowers got watered and there's always food on their table, something their grandson always did for them.

We then headed towards the edge of Brooklyn, a sad atmosphere in the air and a mission at hand.

I was going to break all my connections with Lucifer.

My home belonged with his son instead.