Daemon & Family

**Slater**

“We got grounded again, of course,” Kassius says with a grin.

Kassius Lucifer Jamison and his counterpart Alister Cain Nyx are known as the murder twins amongst the Death Kings family for a reason. At thirteen they made their first kills, decimating a group who were filming torture porn, using young women they cohered into off the streets without telling them what they were getting into. The men made the mistake of drugging one of the older foster kids. She was six months from aging out of the system. She was one of the few that was kind to others. AC saw her being drugged and followed where the men were taking her. Kassius followed his friend. The boys could abide by what they were witnessing in that dingy warehouse. The two boys brutally returned the favor to those doing the filming after they freed the women. But instead of being paid and dumped while on the verge of death, as they did to the women, the men never made it out of the warehouse.

“No. You three will train with us during the summer. The rest of the time, you will be with the Serpentientes when not at school. On breaks, you will spend a minimum of three days with us, depending on the length of the break from now on.”

I sigh in frustration. “The entire team is here. Come in and we’ll work it out over dinner. ¿Bien?”

“Siéntete,” I command them all to sit.

“Baby daemons!” Camden says enthusiastically, sweeping Kassius into his arms for a bear hug. When he deposits him on his feet, he gives the kid a peck on the lips, which causes Artemis to frown.

Camden likes the teenage cretans. He thinks of them as his baby brothers, so he is affectionate with them, which is shocking for Artemis and those around us.

¡Aye Dios Mio! I better explain this quickly. “Since we spent a lot of our teenage years training with the Death Kings, we became close with the family. We would help watch these two like older brothers. ¿No es así?”

“Yes, that’s right. He and Camden are overprotective big brothers to AC and me. We love them like family,” Kassius confirms for me.

The collective sigh in the air is palpable the moment those words leave her lips. Walk over to Sawyer, giving a brief peck on the top of her head before I sit down at the head of the table. “If you want drinks, they are in the fridge. Make yourself at home. Tu eres mi familia.”

“You just met some of us. How are we, your family?” Ronan asks. You would think being adopted into the Jamison Family he would understand how the Death Kings operate by now.

“We are all Death Kings. That makes us family,” Preston explains.

“Since we have some unfamiliar faces, why don’t we go around the table and introduce ourselves? State full names, callsign if you have one, and one piece of personal information. I’ll start.

“I’m Preston Daisuke Chancler, callsign Whisper, and I was raised by C.H.A.O.S. and I am the Fox King’s replacement.” He looks to Artemis beside him.

“I’m Artemis Agrotera Vance and my twin boys are Atlas Ronan and Atticus Xavier Vance. I’m going to school for a master’s degree in forensic psychology.”

“I’m Slater Amidio Zen, callsign Slayer. I’m the leader of the Ravagers crew for now,” I say and then gesture to Camden.

“I’m Camden Harlan McCoy, callsign Kill-Shot. I’m Slater’s second. Slay, the babies, and Arti are mine,” he growls that last sentence, and I signal to AC to divert him.

He doesn’t disappoint, grabbing Camden's ear and pulling his head to the table, brandishing a throwing knife inches from Camden’s eye. I love that kid. “Enough of the cave dweller routine. Nobody is going to take them from you.” His eyes narrow on Ronin, Preston, and Razz.

“I’m Alister Cain Nyx. Just call me AC. I enjoy maiming people,” he states, punctuated by an insane rictus.

I groan, swiping my hand down my face. I forgot how much they are like Camden. Only these boys don’t mirror people, and they don’t want to. They cause me to have headaches. Pinches pendejos.

I lean into Artemis. “Give me your chancla.” She slips off her slip-on sandal and places it in my hand. I smack AC upside the head with it. “Deja tu mierda,” I snap at him to stop his shit. I brandish the shoe at him. “No me hagas golpearte. (Don’t make me beat you.)”

He releases Camden to rub the back of his head with a pout. He shouldn't act like that around Artemis and the boys.

Ronan laughs. “Beat with a chancla! I can’t remember the last time one was used on me, except the one time Cole threw his boot at me for spooking a horse he was doctoring. He had to take me to Caleb to reset my nose.”

“I remember that! Cole felt so bad. He took you to get froyo after going to Caleb’s clinic. I was a little jealous, but you brought some back for me with all my favorite toppings, so I wasn’t angry for long,” Razz says.

“I’m Xavier Rasmus Jamison. AC and Kass are my cousins. My callsign is Firewall. Call me Razz,” he continues.

“Ronan Daniel Silvus. Call me Roan. I was adopted by Razz’s family. My callsign is Silver.”

“My turn!” Kassius shouts. “Kassius Lucifer Malkin-Jamison. You can call me Kass. I’ve been dubbed Caturix and AC is Thanatos. My parents were killed when I was eight, so I was adopted by my aunt Ali and her polycule. Razz and Roan are my older cousins,” he says with so much sass that I roll my eyes.

Kass puts his arm on the shoulder of the boy, none of know just yet. “This is our friend. He is new to the family.” He gestures for his friend to speak, who shakes his head. Kass sighs heavily before continuing. “This is Asher Dean Ciardha. Hier to the O’Dwyer Mob. He goes by Ash. He's been given the name Maahes.”

I gaze closely at the red-headed kid who was adopted by the boyfriend of the Viper King, my friend Sawyer. Camden and I trained alongside Sawyer and Carmen. We became close, which is why she sent the sixteen-year-old teenage boys for us to help her train. Sawyer told me the kid went through something similar to me. He speaks with a stutter, so he rarely talks. But even though Kass acts like the leader of their rag-tag little group, this kid has the potential to become the leader. From what I’ve seen so far, the others wait for his silent commands. Their eyes constantly briefly dart to him.

Now that introduction is out of the way we eat. You know the food is delicious when everyone is silent. I look around. Finding both Indiana and Clementine sitting around the babies, cleaning their scrapes from the floor. It’s comical how Clem behaves like the dog.

When it looks like everyone is becoming full, Preston finally speaks. “We are the new Death Kings, except for the teenagers. You boys are in training to form the Daemon Team. Others may be added at your discretion, or you might split up. No one knows what the future holds.” A sense of manifested actuality proceeds with Preston's words.

Preston continues with his speech. “From now on, we are going to be the team that trains others. We will be the ones in charge. We will assign jobs to the other teams. So, think of us as Death King's 2.0. We are new and improved. The original Death Kings are now retired.”

“What does that mean for me?” Artemis asks.

“It means that you are part of la familia. Mostly, you are protected by the family. It doesn't mean you're a Death King. You need training for that. However, are part of the Death Kings, whether you like it or not. Lo siento, Diosa.” I explain with remorse. I never wanted her involved with our world, but now I’m left with no choice. We are the Death Kings.

“Where do we go from here? How do we get Slay and me out of the revengers?” Camden queries.

“We start a war, of course,” Preston says happily.

My eyes narrow on Preston. “¿Qué quieres decir con empezar una guerra? Start a war with whom?”

“How will that help us?” Camden questions, just as confused as I am.

“It means we can easily fake your deaths. The ravagers will think you both are six feet deep and buried. A new leader will be elected, with most of the crew, if not all, decimated. It will make it easier for you to disappear. The Death Kings can function from anywhere, even in a new state. We don't have to stay in Texas, which might be a better option. I've got some things in the works, but nothing solid yet,” Preston expounds.

“Are you going to tell us what those plans are, or are we going to wait to find out?” Razz questions. Preston gives him a wink and an air kiss.

“I'm not your bestie,” Razz grumbles.

“Awe. Don't be that way, Razzie,” Preston whinges with a pout. Razz scoffs and then shakes his head.

“Does this mean I'll be seeing a lot of Razz and Roan from now on?” Artemis asks.

“Oh yeah, Goddess. We're about to see them a ton, Preston included,” Camden proclaims. “Looks like our polycule just got bigger!” Camden grins with eagerness.

It almost has me wondering if he might have a sexual attraction to one of them. He is like his friend Ransom. He doesn’t care what gender he is with, so long as the attraction is there.

Artemis shakes her head. “No one ever said that I was adding them to our polycule, Camden McCoy.”

“Oh, but you know you want to, Goddess,” Camden declares, giving her a wink.

“¡Ya basta, Camden! It's her decision if she wants to allow them to be part of nuestra familia. No la presiones,” I growl at him to knock it off and not pressure her into allowing Razz and Ronan to be part of our family so quickly.

“Can we be part of your family?” Ronan questions softly.

“We are still in love with you,” Razz assures her. “We never stopped.”

My goddess has tears running down her face. I’ve known for a long time that this was a possibility. If they ever found her, I was going to have to share my family. I've had my suspicions since we've met Artemis that she is still in love with them. She never forgot them. With them here, she shines even more brilliantly.

“I want to know my son,” Ronan rumbles. “I want to be part of your life again. Please, let us back in. We won't leave.”

“If you leave again, we will find you immediately. I can promise you that,” Razz says beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I can see the moment written across her face when my lilac-haired goddess decides for these two men to become part of our family. But there is an attraction there with Preston, so I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up as part of our family as well. It looks like we may be one big happy Death Kings family.

“This just got uncomfortable. We’ve got the boys,” Kassius chirps. He stands, picking up Atticus while Ash is the one who picks up Atlas. They carried the toddler out of the kitchen with AC trailing closely behind them.

The air is pregnant with baited breaths of hopefulness, and uncertainty tinged with fear.