Page 24 of The Daughter of the Devil

“So, like, you’re getting used to living here now and its weird?”

“That’s not it.” I admit, not knowing where I was going with it.

“My-” Alistair goes to interject but stops before clearing his throat. “Morgana, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t want my powers back if it means you becoming a slave again.” Alistair’s mouth agapes when the words leave me.

“This seems way more serious than what you guys suggested.” Sierra comments.

“As a slave demon, your soul belongs to your owner and you are helpless to resist their commands, even if they told you till kill yourself you would do it, and frequently, angels do this for amusement.”

“Well, that sounds shitty but Alistair is still here it’s not like you made him commit suicide.” I look up at him and the pain of my heart hits like the dagger.

“No, but I had him fight in the games and the merciful thing would have been to make him kill himself.”

“The games?” My hands start to shake and tears are threatening to fall.

Alistair answers, “They are like games to the death for demons, for the amusement of angels. It a harsh round of games where demons are made to kill each other. Even if they are family amongst themselves. We don’t have a choice.”

“Sounds rough.”

I scoff and add, “Yeah, except I sent him in there, because I didn’t want a slave and I thought my father would stop giving them to me if I kept sending them into the games. I sent Alistair in several times.”

“But because of you, I got the scythe.” He smirks.

“I’m glad you can see the positive.”

“That’s the scythe you had the other day?” Sierra questions.

“Yes,” Alistair responds, “, the scythe is a two-thousand-year-old relic. It’s capable of killing demons with a swift swipe, and those wounds don’t heal.”

“That’s wicked. So how exactly did you lose your powers?” I sigh heavily and let myself fall back onto the bed. Reliving the memory is starting to affect me, but perhaps talking about it openly can change that.

“I was stabbed,” I begin, “, with a magical dagger that we usually use to turn human souls into demons. Father didn't even tell me it existed until this happened. However, someone stabbed me with it, and I lost my powers instead.”

“Holy shit. Who stabbed you?”

“I don’t know. Fact is I sensed a presence, but I couldn’t identify it, which should have been impossible.”

“I don’t understand.”

Alistair comes to my aid, “Basically, because of her status, Morgana is significantly stronger and more powerful than any existing angel. Unless anoter angel stabbed her, or the highest-ranking demon hell has to offer, we’re practically out of ideas.”

“How does she sense them?”

“Their powers, the strength in them.”

“So you don’t even have suspects?”

I scoff and respond, “An angel wouldn’t be stupid enough to try something like that, and the highest-ranking demon in hell is Alistair’s father, Alastor. And he would never do such a stupid thing like that.”

“This is probably a stupid question then, but what makes you think that since you couldn’t sense any powers that it wasn’t a human that hurt you?” Because of the impact that knocked Alistair and I on our asses that night, I hadn’t considered anything but a being with magic attacked us. However, there are humans with supernatural capabilities that possess no internal magic. They could have been easily possessed by a demon in order to hide their true selves. I lean up and look at Alistair, who appears to be having the same thoughts as I. Now that someone has cut off access to hell, we’re on our own till this can be worked out.

23

Love

Alistair

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