Word Count: 1554

~Aspen

We return to the same area first thing in the morning.

The same internal tugging feeling has me leading Kastriv through the forest. The difficult terrain has it taking a while, but Kastriv insists it's part of the test for me to lead him there.

"Can you sense it?" he asks after a while of walking.

I wipe sweat from my brow, squinting to look through the trees. "It's around here."

It feels like I'm being drawn to something, that there is a tether between it and myself, that is pulling taut with each step I take in the right direction.

"I go where you go, Aspen," Kastriv says from behind me.

"Do you really not know where it is? Or are you testing me?" I question, looking over my shoulder, giving him my best accusatory stare. He's told me he's testing me, but how much of this is really necessary?

"Genuinely, I don't know exactly where the site is. I just have a general idea," he tells me.

He hasn't made any comments that I've been heading in the wrong direction, so I continue.

"Great. I feel needed," I mutter, pushing a stray branch from my face.

"You are."

I sigh, as the pull within me grows stronger, as we weave through a few more trees. It's impossible to tell if this pull is a positive thing, or whether there is a darkness that's luring me.

"It's through here...This is it," I exclaim excitedly, pushing into a small clearing.

It's entirely vacant, the forest floor covered in limp, dying leaves, a small stream running through the centre. From first glance, there is no evidence anyone has been here, but it's like I can feel their lingering presence.

Kastriv strolls around the clearing, looking up. "Are you certain?"

"It feels right." I can't explain it. I just know.

The Demon's have been here. I led Kastriv here, right to the correct spot, all by myself. It may not seem like much, but I really am capable of doing this.

"They left no trace. Just like I suspected they wouldn't," Kastriv muses, kicking at the wet forest floor.

"So what now then?"

He sighs, resting his hands on his hips. "I'm not sure. We should search the area, just in case they weren't thorough."

I nod. "I'll check over here."

Both Kastriv and I turn, searching on either side of the clearing. They did such a good job ensuring they couldn't be hunted down. How long have they been running, and what, exactly, are they running from?

They must have a skilled leader who has been doing this for quite some time.

All of a sudden, it's as if I've been shot in the head, a strike of pain knocking me off my feet, onto my knees. A blast of white flares in my vision, an echoing sound stinging in my ears.

"Aspen? Are you okay?" I hear Kastriv distantly call out.

I crawl on my hands and knees, damp leaves sticking to my palms as I sway uneasily, the pounding pain increasing in tempo as incoherent flashes of colour dance across my vision.

"My head..it hurts so bad." I lean up, clutching either side of my skull.

"Here, lie down," Kastriv soothes, sitting on the ground next to me, encouraging me to lie my head down on his lap. I do so, curling my legs up against my stomach, trying to breathe through the pain.

Groaning, I squeeze my eyes shut. The incoherent colourful flashes are slowly morphing into an image.

A person...A man, looking at me with cold, emerald green eyes.

"I can see someone," I whisper, trying to blink away the sight of them, but it's impossible.

"Who?"

"I don't know...A man," I grit out, digging the tips of my fingers into my skull, as if I can physically pull the thoughts from my mind. "This hurts so bad."

Kastriv holds either side of my head, trying to pull my hands away before I can hurt myself. "What does he look like?"

Concentrating on the face staring back at me is horrifying, like I'm being him to life. His face is like a masterpiece, so beautiful he hurts to look at. But his eyes are cruel, dark and cold.

"He...He has black hair, and a tattoo on his neck," I say, shaking my head. The pain is slowly starting to diminish, leaving me feeling, gasping for air.

I see fear ghost across Kastriv's face. "Is the tattoo words, or a picture?"

"A picture. I don't know what it is though." It appeared to be depicting something very particular, but it's impossible to decipher.

"Keo..." Kastriv murmurs.

I frown, sitting up. The pain quickly falls away, leaving me feeling empty and vacant.

"Huh?" I rub the back of my neck.

"That's Keo, he's a Demon. He was likely here, and you connected to him." Kastriv gets to his feet, beginning to pave incessantly. I follow him with my gaze.

Keo. I know that name.

Oliver used the mention Keo's name to frighten to me. It's what made me doubt the goodness of other Demon's, and made more willing to submit to Oliver's demands that I supress that aspect of myself.

Keo is evil. He kills mercilessly, he manipulates and seduces.

He's everything a person should not be...He's the epitome of all Demon's.

"Can he see me?" I ask, looking around the clearing as if he may emerge from the shadows and drain me of all my blood. Oliver told me once that he does that, then paints himself in it, extracting any ounce of power.

He nods grimly. "I imagine so. Which is not good."

"Is he the Demon Dax mentioned he hated?" I ask. I want to believe that this man, Keo, who Oliver told me about, was some fictitious over-exaggeration of what a Demon is believed to be.

"He is. He's not like most Demon's, killing without mercy, and on an impossibly large scale," Kastriv explains, confirming my worst fears.

He is real. Kastriv himself has seen him in person. How horrifying.

"He's a murderer?"

Kastriv rubs his gloved hands together, looking up through the canopy. "More than that. He's destroyed villages full of people just because we pushed him too far. And none of us have been able to catch him, he's elusive."

"What if he comes to kill me?" I circle my arms over my stomach, trying not to succumb to my rising nasuea succumb

"He won't kill another Demon. But his blood is the closest to pure on this planet. Not entirely, but enough to be incredibly dangerous," Kastriv tells me.

How sure is he that Keo won't kill another Demon? I can't take that risk...

"I don't want to do this. Not if he's involved," I insist, taking a few unsure steps back, as if there is any escaping this place without Kastriv's magic.

Kastriv doesn't appear afraid any longer, appearing thoughtful. "Usually he does his work alone, so I'm unsure of why he is with a group. We need to find out."

"Do we?"

Kastriv strides closer, grabbing my face in his hands. The cold leather does little to soothe me, although once captured by his gaze, I forget why I'm scared.

"I won't let harm come to you...I promise," he murmurs softly.

For a moment, there is just silence, accented by thick droplet's of water tapping against leaves, of the gentle wind rustling through branches. All I can manage are slow, cautious breaths.

I swallow tightly. "What now?"

"We go home."

Kastriv grabs my arm, and I don't protest, and he transports us back into his home, in Territory One. I'm so relieved to see the red desert sand outside the window I don't bother holding my choked gasp, elated.

The Noble, however, doesn't appear as glad to be home, a frown deepening between his brows, as he slowly turns towards the front door.

I watch him stalk toward it, throwing it open with such haste it nearly slams against the wall.

Standing at the door, is a shivering Kaia, arms wrapped around herself. My eyes immediately fall upon the swelling bruise over her eye, another long her jaw, joined by a myriad of seeping cuts...

I'm in front of her in an instant. "Kaia? What happened?"

"Oliver...He hit me," she exclaims, choking back a sob as she falls into my arms. "A staff member told me they suspected you came here. I didn't know what else to do."

"He could have killed you." I clutch her tightly, feeling her in all her trembling state. I can almost feel her pain, the ghost of previous beatings Oliver has inflicted upon me settling in place.

Oliver knew of Kaia, but he didn't know we were friends...Or did he?

"He told me to bring a message," she says, wiping a tear from her good eye with the back of her hand as she steps back.

"What message?"

Her brow creases, as she struggles to hold back her tears. "You must return to him and resume your position as his wife, or he will kill you."

❤️••❤️

A Demon's Kiss is available 10 chapters ahead on RADISH! (:

HIS DESIRE - on Radish now!

Instagram: Sophie_Midika

~Midika 💜🐼