Page 4 of Demons In My Head: Exposing the Exiled

Chuckling, Balor shook his head. “Aye. She’s got a lot more mates, but that’s a discussion for another time. We’ve figured out where Asrael’s holding the dragons, too.”

I tossed my head back and laughed deeply, imagining Asrael’s reaction to dragons flying around Besmet. “That’s fucking fantastic! Everything is coming together.”

“Fantastic, indeed.” Balor clapped me on the back. Misha grinned darkly and spun a blade between his fingers. “We brought the gas.”

It seemed like we had our first mission.Free those dragons.

"Question though, and sorry, Ashy boy... but something isn't lining up here quite right," Talon began slowly. Like he was warning me of what he was about to ask. "Why is—" He covered his mouth and whispered, "Khol—"He lowered his hands again and continued normally, "being executed?"

Balor frowned.

"Oh, lovely, this ought to be fantastic," I mused, running my hand through my hair as well as I could with my horns out.

"Well, basically because Khol betrayed Asrael all those years ago and began working against him. Then, he started a competitive business in the human realm, continuing to thwart Asrael and his plans." Balor stood and fluttered his wings. "But I think the main reason is to hurt Saige."

My head tilted as I tried to work that out. "And why on earth would a pregnant witch give a flying fuck about that wretched fool?"

Balor pinned me with a serious stare, and a prickle of unease ran down my spine. I wasn't going to like whatever he was about to say; I already knew it.

"Because Khol is her father, and Saige is half demon, half witch."

If time could stop, it would have happened at that moment. My head pounded, and my heart thundered like the hooves of a thousand horses.He had a daughter? With a witch?I was so dumbfounded, I couldn't speak. None of us could.

"I know, it's shocking..." Balor trailed off, assessing me. He was likely preparing for me to attack him. “To make a long story as short as possible, Khol sent a team of his best spies to this little human town called Emerald Lakes to look for the woman he’d loved decades ago. Then, he discovered he had a daughter."

Talon chuckled. "Damn, that is one fucked up story, right there."

Balor nodded. "You have no idea."

I was still stuck on the fact that Khol had a biological daughter.

He had an adopted son once upon a time.

Rhodes cleared his throat. “And would this best team of spies happen to include Cam, Kaito, Sloane, and Fischer?”

Balor’s jaw dropped in surprise. “You know them?”

“I wouldn’t say we know them, but they know us. They were snooping around Port Black a while back. We didn’t take the time to introduce ourselves.”

"So what is the plan here?" Felix asked as his tail thumped impatiently against the tree trunk he was sitting on.

"First things first. When I left the castle, mutiny was afoot. It's time to get you lads back inside the castle walls," Balor said with a grin. "I'll head back first and see what's going on."

"Of all the things I expected, this was not even close to being on the list," Rhodes mumbled, reaching into his pocket in search of a cigar and lighter.

"No shit," Felix agreed. "Ash? You okay, man?"

I scoffed. "I won't let some unexpected news derail me from the mission.Ourfucking mission! We've waited years for this, and the time is here. All that matters is that Asrael dies for what he put us through, for what he did to—"

"He. Will. Pay." Talon snarled the words, a threat and a gods damned promise.

"We've lost enough, and he is the reason for all of it. I will see him dead before I return to Port Black," Rhodes proclaimed, looking around at each of us.

Misha pounded his fist against his chest in solidarity, his eyes shimmering with hints of orange, and I was reminded of the last time I saw him with such a look on his face. The night we hunted Palmer in Haunt.

More betrayal. More lies. I wouldn't be blinded again.

"We kill Asrael, get Bram’s ass on the throne, and then we go home." I held my fist over my heart as I looked at my brothers. The demons I'd fight to the death with, the demons I would willingly die for—the demons I loved. With a dark smirk, I rubbed my hands together. "Because when we do, we have unfinished business with a certain traitorous bunny."