Page 4 of Promised to the Demon King (The Demon Brides #1)

“Roz?”

Seven year old Nova whimpered as she huddled in her bed under the oversized plush comforter.

‘Yes, my little star.’ The raven-haired Demoness appeared in the dark corner of Nova’s bedroom.

“I want to go home.”

Nova pouted as she hid in her bed while her mother and stepfather, Timothy, argued downstairs.

They were constantly arguing over something.

Timothy Carter was the Deacon at his church. He was a highly respected man of the church and community. Timothy met Carol right after Carol and her ex-husband, Jonathon, managed to conceive Nova.

In the beginning, their relationship was strictly professional, but over the months, they began to get closer and started their scandalous affair.

Carol went to church initially to one-up Jonathon when he turned to church and was seen as a good person, so Carol felt she needed to stand higher. When she went to church for the first time, she drew a lot of attention. She started to confess to the pastor and the Deacon that Jonathon wasn’t the father's baby. It was an angel who appeared to her from Heaven.

God knew that Jonathon was sterile, and Nova, was God’s next son—a son for the new generation to find faith.

That was when she still believed she was having a boy.

She told them the Angel was gentle and promised her the next saviour—a miracle.

She even went in with Jonathon’s medical charts. Pastor Terrence reminded her that those were confidential papers and that perhaps she shouldn’t be waving his private medical information around without consent.

Deacon Timothy Carter, however, saw divinity in Carols confession and words.

After that day, Timothy tutored her daily on accepting the word of God. The pair became more flirtatious and openly expressive of their interests with each Bible study session.

Timothy rationalized that their saviour had touched Carol, and it was his honour to keep the next holy mother happy.

Thus, their sexual affair began. It was a hidden affair, but many church members speculated about it, but nothing further than that—pure speculation.

When Jonathon filed for divorce, Carol fought relentlessly for his wealth. She fought tirelessly in court to gain half of his worth, but with the Private Investigators' evidence of her scandalous affair with her church’s Deacon, the courts approved the divorce. Next came full custody of Nova.

She never tried to see Nova after birth; she wanted nothing to do with the evil omen, as she often referred to as the baby girl. She told her pastor and Deacon that the Devil must have intercepted and changed the Savior's Son into the Devil's daughter. Pastor Terrence quickly dismissed her and reminded her that only when invited can the Devil approach a soul.

She was eager to wipe her hands clean of her daughter as she struggled to repair her image around town with the affair evidence being leaked into the community.

That was not until after the custody paperwork reminded her that she would receive no child support. She would have to pay it, instead.

She refused to pay Jonathon a dime, so she devised a plan and quickly worked to manipulate the narrative and use the church as support to fight the custody battle. Her hard work was successful.

Pastor Terrence believed that if the affair between his Deacon and a member of his flock continued to spread, the community would view the church itself, negatively, and it could affect their future.

Pastor Terrence issued a warning to Carol and Timothy. He needed to put the future of the church above all of us, so to rectify this smudge on the reputation of his Church, they were to marry to present an of true love, or Timothy was to resign as Deacon, and Carol was to find a new Church. Pastor Terrence wouldn’t allow sin in the house of the Lord to fester, poisoning the hearts and souls of those who attended.

Despite his families warnings, Timothy readily agreed to save his reputation and proposed to Carol soon after. To solidify his image, Timothy helped Carol fight for shared custody. He reminded her not to focus on the child support aspect of the court case and more on rectifying a mistake. He coached her to appear distraught over abandoning her baby. They turned it around, stating that she felt she wasn’t allowed to be near Nova because of Jonathon and his anger. She was a new mother and fell into a bit of depression.

She pleaded for another chance to interact with her daughter and, hopefully, make up for the many months since she was born.

The judge ruled in favour of visitation rights until it was deemed that Carol could be a nurturing mother. She believed that Carol should be given a chance to repair her relationship with Nova. Despite the overwhelming evidence of neglect and testimonies in regards to Carol's open expression that she did not want a daughter, the judge ruled against full custody to Jonathon.

After all, Carol found her path. She was supported by the church and engaged with her church's Deacon, which stood as a testament to her efforts to improve.

Jonathon would be Nova's primary guardian. Carol was given every other weekend with Nova.

Thinking she had won more money, Carol jumped excitedly—until she found out that she would still be giving regular child support. She would receive none in this ruling. She would only qualify for financial support if she were the sole custody parent over their daughter.

This left Carol upset. She caused a scene while leaving the courtroom, and the judge had to remind her that this was a trial visitation ruling. If it is proven that Carol is a negative influence on Nova's upbringing and safety, sole custody will be given to Jonathon.

That was seven years ago, and Nova hated spending weekends with her mother and stepfather. They were fighting all the time.

It didn’t take long for the spark of their love to burn out, and it was quickly realized that they weren’t a compatible match. The passion and excitement of their forbidden affair was gone. By the second year, there was no respect behind closed doors.

This latest argument occurred because Timothy was coming home late and spending too much time alone with a new member of the church. Carol was once that member getting the special attention of the Deacon; she knew what was happening. Timothy was having an affair.

Nova didn’t tell her father all the truth about her mother and stepfather neglecting her to focus on themselves, but she did express that she didn’t like visiting.

Timothy never struck or disciplined Nova. She was almost invisible in his eyes, always quiet and to herself, but he openly slapped Carol if the fights became too intense.

They would push and antagonize each other until it escalated to violence or someone walked out. Even at the young age of seven, Nova learned quickly to fend for herself while at her mother's house. She had snacks and juice boxes hidden in her toy trunk, buried under the toys.

There have been days when no one checked on her throughout the entire day. If she didn’t have those hidden snacks and drinks, she would starve or risk becoming the focus of their anger.

After all, she was the Devil's daughter—at least, that is what she is referred to as in their arguments.

If it weren’t for Nova’s imaginary friend, Roz, then she would be alone and sad when she was at her mother's. Roz always took care of her. She helped her store food and drinks. They read and played together. Other then her dad and the guys at the shop, Roz was her only friend. Only Roz knew what she suffered in silence while at her mothers.

‘I knew, my little star. This is just temporary.’ Roz cooed as she laid next Nova, humming a tune to help the trembling toddler to sleep.

“What do you expect from me, Carol?”

Timothy’s voice reached Nova’s room.

“I expect you to be present. You know this is the weekend we get her. I can’t do this alone.”

Carol shouted back. Nova curled deeper into Roz’s side. Although they couldn’t touch, the presence of her friend was enough to comfort Nova.

“You’re so pathetic.”

Timothy spat. “She is your fucking daughter. Grow up. What more do you want from me? I allow her to stay in my home two weekends a month. I allow her to have her own room. I allow her to eat my food. Watch my television. I even pay your child support fees. I don’t need to be here and hold your fucking hand on how to spend time with your fucking daughter. Take responsibility for something.”

“It’s hard. I didn’t even want custody. You made me take her.”

“Wrong. You wanted his money, so you manipulated the narrative and tried to claim custody to get it. I guess God saw through your deceit faster than I did and saw what you were doing. This is his way of punishing you. You’re a sinful whore. That’s all. You’re taking me down to the pits of hell with you, but I won’t let you anymore.”

There was a pause. Silence filled the house.

“What does that mean? If you divorce me, Tim, I will ruin your squeaky-clean reputation. I learned from my last marriage. I have all the proof to ruin you and your whole fucking family. Don't mess with me, Timothy. I won’t be cast aside.”

Carol hisses her warning, and a door is heard slamming.

Carol stomped as she stormed up the steps to the second floor. Nova shook, worried her mother was coming after her next. She held her breath in fear of being heard. Roz wished she could hold the tiny girl, instead, she curled around as best as she could without corporeal form.

She could see the shadow of Carol’s paused figure in front of Nova’s bedroom door from a small gap underneath.

Nova buried her face into her pillow, fighting back her tears.

The next thing they knew, a bedroom door further down the hall slammed, followed by glass and items smashing and breaking from within it. Carol was throwing a tantrum again.

“Roz?”

Nova turned her face up and whimpered softly. Roz gently smiled down at her. “Am I a burden?”

There were big, threatening tears in Nova’s glowing green doe eyes. Roz’s heart clenched at the sight.

She didn’t care about many things or people, but Nova was one of the few in this world and the others that Roz would die for. It wasn’t merely because Nova was her future Queen and the daughter to the beastly demon that she was secretly in love with; no, Nova had something about her. You wanted to be near her always. You wanted to protect her.

Roz took her assigned role very seriously. She hated that Nova had to suffer these vile humans, who were worse than the demons in her King’s ring.

‘No, Little Star. You will never be a burden. You are so much more special than you realize. Go to sleep, little Queen. I’ll stay guard and watch over you, always.’

Nova fell fast asleep, safely in Roz’s protective watch.

‘You’re my King’s future smile, Little Star. You’re definitely no burden.’ Roz hummed as she watched over the sleeping mini-Queen. She couldn’t wait to play with Carol’s and Timothy’s souls in hell. That was the only payment she requested from the Demon King. She wanted nothing more than to hear the screams of those who have wronged this tiny hybrid Queen.