Page 50 of Infernal Hearts

He chuckles and looks me up and down. “I’m over five thousand years old. I’ve seen plenty in my time. Not much escapes me.”

Jason pipes up from behind me. “We’re sorry to bother you, but we need your help with something. First off, have you seen my dad?”

Aranda’s eyebrows squish together. “I haven’t. I’ve been dealing with Michael for my food instead of your dad.”

Jason bites his lip. “I’m sorry to get you involved, but do you think you could help us?”

He thinks for a moment but eventually nods. “Tracking people? Not my forte. But tracking energies and memories? That I can help with.”

I can’t let my search for Dane go unmentioned, either. “Can you sense demonic energy, too? My brother also went missing, and we’re kind of at a dead end of finding either of them.”

He nods definitively. “I’ll be on the lookout for both.”

Jason sighs with relief. “Thank you so much, Mr. Aranda. How can we ever thank—”

He holds up a hand and stops Jason. “There’s an easy way to thank me. With the rare opportunity of meeting an incubus… Forgive me, but I’d be foolish not to ask for something larger in return.”

I purse my lips as he looks at me. “What exactly do you want?”

“I want a deal.” He smiles warmly, in a way that a grandfather would look at one of his children. “And only one you can provide.” He takes a deep breath before speaking his next words. “I want to be human.”

A sudden cold feeling forms in my chest. “Human? With five thousand years’ worth of power? But…why?”

“You said it.” His polite grin remains. “I’ve lived a long life. I’ve done my best to live it without shedding blood. And as kind as Jason and his father were to give me an alternative, it still doesn’t feel natural. I want to be mortal and go out of this life on my own terms.”

I shoot an uncertain look at Jason, but he just gives me a small nod. “If you’re willing.”

I turn and face Mr. Aranda again, pulling the necklace out of my pocket. “You have a deal. Long story short, I have a missing brother, and this crystal is tied to both of us. Point us in the right direction and I’ll make you human.”

He thinks for a moment but finally answers. “Your terms are agreeable.” Mr. Aranda holds out his hand, and I drop the necklace into his palm. “Be right back.”

Suddenly, his form goes hazy. His body and head dissipate into white smoke, the last thing visible being his blood-red irises. The cloud of mist swirls through the air and pushes through the cracks of the door, whisking by the window and out into the night sky.

I look back at Jason, pressing my mouth into a firm line and clearing my throat. “How good do you think this guy is?”

“He just turned into a cloud and flew off into the night. I’d say pretty fucking good.”

There’s an emptiness in my chest, and my muscles feel weak. “I guess we’ll see. I just don’t understand why he would give up his powers.”

Jason crosses his arms, leaning against the wall. “He wants a life without magic. It wasn’t too long ago that I made the same decision.”

He doesn’t grasp the gravity of Aranda’s decision. “Yeah, but you’re twenty-eight. He’s five thousand. He’s giving up a lot more than you did.”

Jason’s face twists. “And how exactly do you know what I gave up? I lost the only family I had left.”

I wince. “You’re right. Never mind.” It wasn’t worth fighting with him over this. But me, on the other hand? I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my powers. I chose this, and they make me who I am.

Twenty minutes later, the mist seeps in through the doorframe and forms again in front of us, eyes appearing first. The smiling face of Mr. Aranda greets us, and he returns the necklace. “I think I found what you’re looking for.”

I raise my eyebrows with a tightness in my face. “And what might that be?”

Aranda returns another polite smile. “A small treehouse on the east side of town in the woods, a few miles off the road. It has traces of the same magical energy that was linked to the necklace.”

Jason’s eyes light up. “I know just the place. Thank you, Mr. Aranda. But did you sense my dad or something demonic?”

Aranda pulls at his shirt, voice shaky. “Both actually, but just traces—nothing recent. I’m sorry.”

Both? As if it weren’t certain before, that definitely connects Jason’s dad to my brother.

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