Page 116 of Demons & Damnation

Chapter 46

Kyla stood, dumbfounded, looking at the family of three slain by Lucius’s hand, their blood staining the floor around them. She watched fascinated, as Lucius’s blood spread over the stones, slowly inching towards Octavio’s body. Was that coincidence or perhaps something more that even in death the brothers had a link?

Turning to Azazel, she took both of his hands in hers and squeezed them both. “I am so sorry you lived through that. That was horrific. I don’t see what you did that warrants you being a demon.”

“I killed a child, then committed suicide.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter why I did what I did, it only matters that I did it. In Lucifer’s eyes anyway.”

Kyla’s head was whirling at a million miles an hour. “I don’t know what to think...I’m shocked. I can’t believe he did that...he seems so different.” She let out a sigh. “But then I guess everyone has a side we don’t know about, right?”

Azazel shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.”

“And he’s Sam’s demi-soul.” She shook her head. “I can’t let her be with him. I just can’t. She’d be horrified to see this.”

“That’s not a decision for you to make. That’s her decision to make.”

Panic started crawling through Kyla like poisonous ivy vines. “I can’t not tell her, Azazel. Jesus, look at what he did!”

“I am perfectly aware of what he did, Kyla. You can’t make your friend live a life she doesn’t want to. If she wants him, that’s it. You can’t do anything about it.” He lifted his left hand, palm flat, the dreaded red rose sitting on top of it. “Now you need to make your choice. You’ve seen the worst of me as a human. I’m a murderer and a coward. Is that really what you want from your demi-soul? As much as I hate to say this, that werewolf of yours would be much better suited to you than me. He slit your throat without a second thought, anything to save your life. That’s the kind of man you need.”

Kyla dropped his hands and took a step back. “I don’t call murdering your son cowardly. That took an immense amount of strength not many people would have. You didn’t want him to grow up without his parents, I get it. Yes, you murdered people, but it was also kind of your job.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see the issue. I think you’ve vilified yourself in your own head more than you should have.” She took a breath and then said, “Dylan did what?”

“He had to,” Azazel replied. “For the ritual to get Mildred out.”

Kyla fell silent, thinking back over what she’d just witnessed Lucius do to Cassia. Had Dylan tortured himself over doing it to her? What if the ritual hadn’t worked and she’d died at his hand? How would he have handled that? Would he have killed himself?

“Time is ticking, Kyla,” Azazel said. “Make your choice.”

Pulling herself back to reality, Kyla looked up at him. “There is no choice. I knew before I even took the rose back in Gran’s kitchen that I would accept.”

Azazel gasped, his eyes filling with tears.

“I accept you for you, Azazel. And everything else,” she said, motioning at the scene behind her. “Is just trivial. There’s a reason we’ve been bound together. I’ve no idea what that reason is but I’m certain I want to find out.”

Azazel’s heart thudded against his rib cage. Was this the closure he needed on his old life? Had Balthazar unwittingly done them both a favour by casting those words and bringing them their demi-souls?

“And your werewolf?” Azazel asked, his eyes scanning across hers.

Kyla shrugged her shoulders. “We’ll figure it out.” She reached up and took the rose. “If you thought this was going to be impossible to get past then surely anything else will be a breeze.”

He nodded and smiled at her, his mind racing with thoughts, anxiety pricking at him for his life as a human. Would this really be the countdown to his last eighty years alive?

The rose shrivelled up in Kyla’s hand before burning up and turning into ash, blowing away on the wind and scattering over Pompeii.

As their world started to shift again, returning them to Gran’s kitchen, Kyla reached out and grabbed Azazel’s hand. No, Dylan wouldn’t like it, but after what her and Azazel had just been through, the demon needed her more right now than Dylan.

Shimmering back into reality in Lily’s kitchen, a collective sigh of relief sounded from the table as the pair reappeared side by side, in front of the Aga.

“Thank goodness,” Lily said, rushing forwards to her granddaughter. “Are you ok?”

Kyla nodded. “I’m fine.”

Malcolm eyed Kyla for a few seconds before saying, “You accepted.”

“How do you know that?” Kyla asked.

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