Page 95 of Living Legend

His father nodded, slapping his hands together, rubbing his palms against one another and getting up from the table. “Big news around The Skies threads through the villages pretty fast, so either whatever is happening there isn’t over, or they have sustained what they can and are laying low themselves.” We both looked up at him, curious as to where this was leading. He nodded towards the kitchen. “While the calm before the storm is upon us, you can stay here for the night. I have a roast in the oven, so how about we eat, and you can tell me all about this shit show of yours?” He pointed his index finger at his son. “Everything.”

Nicholas caught my attention with his pretty brown eyes and rolled them.

“You threatened to kill him?” Nicholas’ father said, taking his glass of water in his hand. Nicholas had recounted the whole meeting to his father, not leaving any details out. Mr. Cassial listened so intently, I knew he was absorbing every piece of information his son gave him. He never stopped eating, but never once looked uninterested or even threatened to interrupt.

Nicholas finished chewing his food and swallowed. “Sort of. It wasn’t as dramatic as she’s making it seem.”

I lifted my fork and pointed at him. “So humble, this one. I didn’t know your son could get so angry.” I remembered being slightly turned on by his rage and determination.

Mr. Cassial shook his head as he drank from his glass, using his free hand to wipe his bottom lip. “You should have seen him and Reese as teenagers. The rage of hormonal teenage boys is astonishing.”

I raised one of my eyebrows suspiciously at Nicholas, who looked at me from over his own glass of water. I knew a lot about hishormones. Something told me he knew exactly what I was thinking. I blinked away from him and focused on his father. “How do you stand him?”

“Who?”

“Reese.”

He let out a hearty laugh at this. “He is a good kid. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve wanted to smack him across the head more times than I can count, but he’s a good soul, just a bit rough around the edges. Can’t see the big picture unless it’s convenient for him.”

“That about sums it up,” I said.

“But when it has really counted, he’s stood by Nick’s side, so I can’t fault him on everything,” he said. “I can only assume he wasn’t the biggest fan of yours at the start, but he’s still here, standing with you, so that says a lot.”

I shrugged, his words ringing true.

“Did you know we were coming?” Nicholas said when his father had brought over his plate earlier.

His father had chuckled and shook his head. “No, some days I like to cook a big meal I can keep for a few days, that's all.”

Nicholas had swatted his hand away when his father tried to ruffle his hair and I let out a small giggle at their exchange. No matter how any of this ended, whatever lay waiting for us at The Skies, this moment would be lodged in my memory and probably ingrained in whatever was left of my heart, if I even had one. Lilith always told me the thing I heard thumping in my chest, that rhythmic beat that I felt, was merely something that told me I could keep going, keep torturing, keep killing, killing, killing. It wasn’t meant for things like emotions to make you weak and feelings to keep you from what you were meant to do.

But right now, right here, I wanted to feel…something. The pull at my chest was proof that it wasn’t just meant for the darkness I’d grown so accustomed to.

“You alright?” Nicholas said, pulling me from my thoughts. I saw they were both looking at me with concerned faces. I looked down, noticing my hands were still in the position to cut my piece of roast. I continued as if nothing had happened. I had something on my mind that I wanted to ask that would change the subject immediately, leading me away from my thoughts.

“Did your son tell you he practically forced me to torture a prisoner?” I stuffed a piece of meat into my mouth casually.

Mr. Cassial raised an eyebrow. “He did?”

“I had to; it was what the executives wanted,” Nicholas explained.

“We both know that they can always rely on their good little soldier to do their bidding,” I said, rolling my eyes.

Mr. Cassial tapped his index finger on his water glass. “Alright, stop that. Was this the demon that got into The Skies originally?” He looked over at me.

“Yes. We used to know each other, so it made the torturing much more personal and demeaning.” Just like Lilith would have wanted.

“From what Nick has said, this demon said Lilith had them bring you here as a means to an end or something of the sort?”

I brushed a curl out of my eye, but it swayed right back into my line of sight. “Something like that. I don’t know if Ariel is in on it, or Markus, or hell, even Jonah. There is way too much finger pointing going on and Lilith is just laughing at the way her plan is worming its way through.”

“Lilith always had a way of sealing her plan's fate right under everyone’s noses,” his father said.

“I mean, a whole other demon ended up at The Skies and no one seems to give a fuck about how it wound up dead. It’s ridiculous. How could they not assume a damn ambush would be the next step?”

“Another demon?” Mr. Cassial put down his fork and looked over at his son, who pressed a finger to his temple.

“Dad, they said they handled it. They found it; Markus took care to make sure the trainees were dealt with and that’s when I got the task of convincing her to come to the Ethereal Bastille.”

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