Page 35 of Hunted By Fear

“Yeah, I just have to try harder. Make sure she can’t possibly resist.” He turns his attention back to me as if only just remembering I’m here with him.

“I’d rip your wings from your back and send you to Hell myself if that wouldn’t put you right where you want to be. It seems I’m not the only one they stole her from.” He laughs as his eyes jump around the room frantically before he’s gone, popping out of existence before my very eyes.

Damn it, I need to find a way to talk to Kai.

Right now.

They shouldn’t be gone long, but already the castle is quieter and colder, the way it’s been for as long as I can remember. I’d sent Kai to the border to deal with the angel. Asta and Bast went to visit Asmodeus in hopes of getting him to answer some questions. It seems unlikely to me that they will get anything from him, but they were adamant that they need to try everything, and who knows, maybe Asmodeus has stopped attempting to remove the intestines of anyone who so much as mentions his mortal in the last few centuries.

If not, I guess they will learn.

Talian, though, I have no idea where he went, and when I search for him, I don’t come back with anything right away. I have no doubt I could find him, but I don’t care to right now. I’m sure he’s out looking for a way to help the mortal.

She’s all they talk about, all they think about, and while I don’t get the infatuation, I can understand the need to free her from Rome.

Nobody deserves to be tied to his asshole self.

The castle isn’t empty; the imps and hellhounds are still here, but they aren’t exactly good company, the way other demons are. One should only speak with animals so often if they want to remain sane, though I’m unsure I can actually go insane; it’s not something I feel the need to test, and the mortal…

Well, I suppose I probably should check on her.

I’ve tried to stay away. I have no experience with mortals, but I know that most have a healthy fear of Hell and, by extension, me.

They should; it’s a healthy fear considering mortals only ever meet me when their soul is damned to eternal suffering.

With the exception of this one.

A soft rhythmic sound echoes down the hallway as I head deeper into the castle toward the wing I gave Asta for all of them while they are here.

The sound gets louder the closer I get, and with it, I hear the sniffles I’ve come to expect around her.

Not that I can blame her. From what I’ve heard, she has no idea where she is, who they are, or really who she is. In her mind, these guys stole her from her home, from the man she believes she loves. But even that can’t be trusted because sometimes she does remember them.

The door is already cracked. I push it open but remain in the hall as I glance around the room, and though I still hear her, I don’t see her. Usually, she’s on the bed, only leaving when one of them makes her, either to shower or come down and eat. I move into the room, following the sniffles and sobs until I stand at the end of her bed, only to find her tucked into the far corner, her knees up to her chin, and her head pressed into the wall of the corner.

She’s here, and she’s alive, which means I should leave. The last thing this poor mortal needs is to be more afraid.

I move across the room quietly, though I’m uncertain she would hear me even if I were as loud as the moaning of souls in the fields of punishment.

“Don’t close the door!” her plea echoes around the room, making me stop short. “Please.” Her voice is hardly more than a whisper, but it’s impossible to miss the pain, the fear in that one word.

The door is only barely open, but it’s enough. That's all I need to be able to see her, on her hands and knees at the end of the bed, fresh tears running down her cheeks and…

Is that blood?

“Who hurt you?” My voice echoes around the room as I move back into the room with purpose this time.

She scrambles back into her corner, away from me, and it doesn’t take a genius to know I came on a bit too strong.

It’s easy to lose control when my emotions get involved. So much power is at my fingertips, though I hardly need more than just the barest amount.

I’ve been mostly alone for so long, I’d forgotten what it felt like to be truly angry, to care even if just enough to not want harm to come to someone. Because that’s all this is, me caring what happens because it’s my job to take care of her, because she clearly means something to the others.

“N–no one.” Her lip trembles as more tears track down her face. “I just want it to stop.”

The anger bleeds out of me as her words sink in, the urge for blood shifting from someone in the castle to Rome.

I’ve never liked him, not that anyone could blame me, considering he’s the reason I was cast from Heaven. But believe it or not, it had nothing to do with that. I might actually go so far as to thank him for that, but I couldn’t stand him before.