Halfling (Black Petals Book 1) (14 page)

He smiles and swallows down a gulp of what I assume is alcohol.

“Father,” a gruff voice says from the door I just entered through. “I-Oh, I’m sorry for interrupting, I didn’t know you had a guest.” I turn and see Landon standing in the doorway.

“It’s fine, what do you need, Landon?” Blayne asks, sounding bored.

“I came to fetch Blayk’s phone. He left it here and sent me to get it,” Landon answers and grabs something off of a small grey table. “I’ll get out of your way. Nice to see you again, Megan,” he says pleasantly with a kind, maybe even apologetic smile. I thought Crispen, Aria, and Mason had Blayk. Did he escape or was he broke out by Darius or someone?

“Don’t you have servants for these things? I’m sure I’ve given you at least six this year, Landon, what have you done, gotten them killed?” Blayne asks, his temper clearly rising.

“No, father, I was just in the area.” Before Blayne can say anything further to Landon, he slips out the door again. “
Kids
. That one is old enough you’d think he would have his head on straight by now. Anyways, where were we?”

I don’t answer.

“Well, whatever, I do not live here permanently. I move around a lot for business reasons. Your brother’s have a permanent residence here, but I wish you wouldn’t stay with them, they’re both…
unstable.
I also don’t wish they know they have another sibling yet. I need them focused on other things.”
Ha!
You think? “So you’ll be staying here in Toronto with a…
family friend
Mr. Castile. I trust that he will take good care of you for the coming months while I am busy with business.” He sets his drink down. “I will supply you with two of my best guards. Aiden will have many of his own as well. You will be safe. Especially from those vile hunters.”

As he finishes speaking, the two guards outside of the door enter the room.

“We will take you to Mr. Castile, ma’am,” the guard on the left promises.

“I’m fine to stay at my own house,” I try, knowing that it won’t work.

“Megan, you are basically royalty, you belong with others of your kind,” my father says. “You are better than the humans. Don’t you see that? You mustn’t continue to live as if you are one of them.”

My father waves his hand and the guards lurch for me, tugging me out of the room as if they’re in some sort of rush. I’m led back through the maze I came in through with Darius. This time I’m not
thrown
into a vehicle, the door is opened for me. I’m thankful for this as my head is still pounding in pain. I think about running, but I assume that demons are pretty darn fast, and I have no chance in making a run for it once I can get out of this vehicle.

We drive a few miles down a gravel road, then onto a highway and down another gravel road. Nearly an hour passes before we stop. My eyes spring open now that the sun is up. Keeping my eyes open too long hurts badly, so I’ve managed to keep them closed the majority of the way here. At first, I tried to keep track of where we were going so that if I manage to escape, I might be able to find my way back to the city, but then I lost track of the turns and bends and signs and gave up.

I look through the windshield to see that we are parked in front of a big cast iron gate like on a movie. I squint, wondering if I’m seeing things. A man dressed in all navy blue comes up to the driver side of the car and says something to the driver. I can’t hear what he says because of the thick plastic between me and the front seats. Apparently I’m not trusted not to attack my driver, even though I have nothing on him.

A moment later, we are waved through the front gates. A tall, white house, or should I say mansion, appears in front of the car, causing me to gape. I’ve never seen a house so huge before. I imagine it’s bigger than the Whitehouse. It could nearly be called a modern day castle it’s so large.

A man dressed in black opens my door and offers me his gloved hand. I take it hesitantly, and he helps me from the vehicle.

“Ms. Resch,” the man smiles and bows.
Bows
. He fricken bows before me as if I’m Queen Elizabeth. Good lord. One second I’m being taken in the middle of the night and the next second people are bowing before me.

“I’m Megan,” I correct. “Megan Caplan.”

“Ah, you took your mother’s last name,” the man says and smiles kindly. “I am Terry.” This man is not dressed in the navy blue colour that all the other servants I’ve seen between my father’s place and here have worn, yet I can’t help but assume he’s a servant.

Another man, this one in a black button-up dress shirt and jeans, descends the front stairs of the house and grins at me welcomingly. He is
clearly
not a servant. His hair is jet black, spiked in the front, short in the back, his skin is tanned. He is clearly very fit like all demons and hunters seem to be. I catch myself staring too long and look away before he catches me if he hasn’t already.

“Your father didn’t even allow you to change out of your pajamas?” the man asks, grinning. His teeth are so incredibly white that I can’t help but stare at him once again. “I’m Aiden, Megan, it’s nice to meet you.”

I look down, remembering that yes, I am still in my pajamas, and my hair is also tousled. I can’t help but feel embarrassed. All fright in me disappears in the moment he makes eye contact with me. Although he stares back at me with black irises, they seem
warm
. I can’t explain what it is that I feel, it’s not relaxation because that would be crazy in this situation, but it’s some sort of acceptance. I cannot run. I am stuck here. The only chance I have is if Crispen and his siblings come for me.

My father has come for me, a little late in the game, but he’s taken me and decided that he doesn’t want me to live a normal, human life. I recall what I was told about halflings. We have to choose between becoming a pure demon and death if our demon parent chooses this life for us. Those are my only choices now, losing my soul and death, and I can’t change a thing about it unless Crispen comes for me, but if he does, how in the hell will he get passed all of the demons running around here? Just by looking around now, I see at least a dozen demons, and there are only three hunters, four if you count Jayden.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Castile,” I greet him, not sure if I should offer him my hand to shake.

“I’ll get these, Hermus, thanks though,” Aiden says eagerly to the man grabbing for two duffle bags in the back of the vehicle, my duffle bags. A part of me is relieved that I at least have some of my things here. Darius must’ve taken them at the same time he took me. “Please, Megan, call me Aiden.”

“Aiden,” I say through a forced smile. Aiden is by far the cutest demon I’ve met, not that this is something I should be worrying about right now. I search myself for a blip of emotion. Is it bad that I
want
to feel immense fright, but I can’t? What is wrong with me lately? Is it possible that I’m still in shock? Well,
yeah
, Megan, you were just abducted by demons
again
. You just met your father. You just found out about demons a couple days ago! Of course you’re in shock.

“Hermus, can you look around the property for Jane? I can’t seem to find her,” Aiden mutters sadly and slings one of my bags over his shoulder.

“Yes, sir,” Hermus smiles, closes the vehicle doors, then disappears.

“What a stupid dog, she’s always getting herself into trouble,” Aiden mutters. He motions to house, and I follow him to the front door robotically.

“Jane is your dog?” I ask him surprised, not that I should be surprised that he has a dog, there’s not really any reason demons wouldn’t have dogs.

“Yeah, she’s just a puppy, and she seems to want to explore often. She gets lost sometimes,” he explains while opening the door.

I close it behind us.

“Let me get that for you,” a man in the foyer says and approaches Aiden to help with what he’s carrying.

“No, no, I can get it, thanks,” Aiden insists.

The man, who I assume is a servant backs off, looking confused.

Aiden leads me to bedroom down the hall. “Sorry, I’ve just received new servants, and they’re always wanting to help, even when help isn’t needed. I know I can’t blame them for doing their jobs, but it gets rather annoying. This will be your room, you should get cleaned up and relax. I’ll be at the end of the hall when you’re ready.”

I gawk at my surroundings. The inside of the house is just as extravagant as the outside.

I’m thankful for the privacy and the chance to shower and change out of my pajamas. I rush into the bathroom and turn on the hot water. At least it could be worse. Most people who get kidnapped get beaten or raped. Here I am in the fanciest shower I’ve ever stepped foot in, and I have my own huge room even bigger and fancier than the one Crispen gave me at his place. God, I have so many questions. If demons are so evil, then why am I in this beautiful rain shower right now?

When I’m done cleaning up and taking a look at my sore forehead, I head down the hall, desperate for answers.

“Ma’am, would you like me to get you anything?” a red-headed man in the hall asks.

“No thank you, sir,” I answer him flippantly, my eye on the room at the end of the hall. I gaze through the glass door of the room to see Aiden beating on a punching bag violently. I was right in assuming that demons are incredibly fast like the hunters. He moves so quickly that I barely see him. I swallow hard. I watch for a moment longer, before he realizes that I’m standing here staring at him wide-eyed. The corners of his lips shoot up, and he leaves the room.

“Hey, is everything to your liking?” he asks me not huffing and puffing like I thought he’d be.

I nod. “Your home is beautiful.”

“Yeah, a little too big for just me, but I have to keep appearances up,” he agrees.

I look at him questioningly.

“You were raised human, right? Do you think all of this is necessary?” he asks me, motioning to our surroundings.

I obviously shake my head.

“I was born here amongst the humans too, not as a halfling but as a pure blood. I wasn’t raised in hell like many pure bloods are, in fact, I’ve only been there
a few
times, though I don’t tell people that. Again, I have to keep appearances up. You could say that I’m not your average demon, Megan. I’m probably about as
human
as a demon gets, but I put on a pretty damn good show,” he explains, wiping sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “I would guess that Blayne didn’t tell you much, and you probably have a million questions, so let’s go sit down for a moment,” he suggests.

We make our way into an elegant living room, and he hands me a beer from a mini fridge. I don’t refuse it. I take three quick gulps. I know alcohol doesn’t at all help with dehydration, but it’ll have to do for now.

“You live alone?” I ask after a moment of silence.

He smiles. “Technically I live with you now. I also have ten servants and twenty-four guards.”

My jaw drops. “
Why
?”

“I’m kind of an important person. The higher our ranking, the more servants and guards are assigned to us by the head office. Even if you don’t want them, you get them.” He says the last part as if he tried to get rid of them or something.

“Head office?”

“Hell. They make all the decisions there. I call it the head office. Calling it hell is too
weird.”

I fake a smile. I can’t argue with that.

“Yeah, I know this is probably super weird for you, and I don’t want to make this really terrible for you, okay? There are a few things I am required to teach you and a few rules you
have
to follow, other than that, you can do whatever. You can leave here whenever you want as long as you take guards with you. I’m not going to control you. You’re an adult,” Aiden promises seriously. “I put together a book of
fun demon facts and pointers
for you,” he says with fake enthusiasm and hands me a huge, leather bound book. “Please read it as fast and thoroughly as possible. It’s important.”

I want to groan, but truthfully it might be nice to read up on demons. Learning all that I can is probably my best bet at getting out of here.

“I’ll give you a quick rundown. You have two guards. Hermus and Vandike. I’ve sent them outside to give us some privacy. You have to have these guards, but no one will know the difference if they’re not on you at all times while you’re on the property. If you want them out of your face, tell them to go find something to do, they have to listen to you. As far as that goes, they legally
belong
to you as wrong as that is. Now that you know about this world, you are basically registered into the census of demons, and you now must adhere by demon rules not human rules. It’s not common for halflings to be born, but it does happen, and they must be raised in the human world until the age of eighteen. At that time, the demon parent chooses whether or not to bring them into this world. If they choose to bring them into this world, then they are to mentor their child unless they cannot. Your father, because of his work, cannot do this. So, you were assigned to me by the head office. Your father recommended me to them, and I accepted the offer to mentor you, mainly because I’m bored and need something to keep me busy. I could use the company honestly. I’ve been bored as a rock since my daughter died and have been dedicating my life to working and training the odd guard and halfling.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say automatically. “What happened to her?”

“Hunters killed her a decade or so ago in the city at the town fair,” he tells me sadly, nibbling his bottom lip a little. “Anyways, that’s life I guess. When you live as long as I have and am what I am, you see death very often.” He’s quiet for a moment, and I know he’s thinking about his daughter. His eyes are deep in thought.

I don’t say anything, because I don’t know what to say. From what I can tell the past few hours being around demons, they’re not quite the heartless assholes that Crispen, Mason, and Aria made them out to be. Could they have been wrong about demons? I’m completely at a loss for how to feel about them. Sure my dad wasn’t what I’d call a cup of joy, but Aiden doesn’t seem so bad, and if I’m being honest, Darius wasn’t so bad either, and Darius’s daughter…I really can’t such a sweet, young girl being evil.

“Anyways, feel free to take a look around the house and read that book. Every morning you’ll go for a run on the treadmill or out in the yard, afterwards, you’ll do strength training in the training room. Then I’ll be teaching you some sparring after that. The rest of the day you’ll have to yourself. We start tomorrow.”

I don’t say anything as he leaves me alone in the room with the giant book. I was hoping to get back into shape, but this doesn’t exactly sound like the most fun way to do it. I dread tomorrow morning. I know it’s going to hurt.

I flip open the giant book in my lap and begin to read. If this guy has twenty-four guards, it could be a while before Crispen comes for me,
if
he comes for me at all, so I decide that reading this book is probably a good idea. It’s probably in my best interest. At first, I just skim through the many pages of the book, then I turn to page one.

The first ten pages delve into demon hierarchy and order, the next few pages focus on governmental systems, and then the twenty pages following this take a look at history. I can tell that Aiden wrote this out all in his own handwriting and took a lot of time making this. I wonder why he spent so much time on this for me, when he could have just handed me a bunch of books or relayed the information to me personally. By the end of the day, I’ve read just over half of the book and decide to put it down. My knowledge of everything demon has expanded so much in the last twelve hours that my head feels like it might explode. The hardest thing to get through my head though is still the fact that demons exist, and I am half demon.