Word Count: 1967

~Aspen

I shiver, pressing deeper into the couch, clasping the hot cup of tea between my hands.

Kastriv sits on the coffee table in front of me, our legs basically intertwining. He has had the same grim look on his face since I came in.

"I'm sorry, Aspen, but I'm not letting you return to him," he murmurs lowly, brows furrowed.

I swallow thickly.

The thought of going back to Oliver now has my heart racing to the point of pain, leaving my limbs trembling and head spinning. It feels different this time.

This time, I have a way out.

"I'm not going back. I'm done," I say over the rim of my cup, sipping the hot tea. I'm still shivering, my clothes and hair soaked through from my trek in the rain, but the blanket Kastriv draped over my shoulders earlier has helped.

Kastriv leans forward, reaching out to brush his thumb along my cheek. When he pulls away, there's dried blood on the surface of his glove from the small cuts along my face.

"How could anyone do this to you?" He says it less like a question and more like an uttering to himself.

"He hates who I am. He likes owning me, punishing me whenever he sees fit." I finish my tea, setting it down. I should be tired, at this late hour, but remnants of adrenaline still course through me.

"Do you want me to kill him?"

I shake my head. "Kastriv..."

Killing Oliver would have endless consequences, both politically, and morally. Turning violence back on Oliver after this would make me no better than him.

Even if I've fantasied about it for so long...

"I will." He raises a brow, trying to tempt me. I doubt he would face any repercussions either, considering his standing as a Noble in this Territory.

"Don't. He's not worth it," I mutter, wrapping the blanket around myself more. All I want right now is a long, hot bath and an idea of where my future is headed.

"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you please. I hope you will work for me now." Kastriv's tone is tentative, wary about scaring me off.

"I'll take that offer...To work for you, I mean," I decide. I knew I wanted it the moment he offered it to me, and now, there is no reason to deny it.

He smiles. "And to stay?"

"For a little while," I murmur.

Staying with a Noble? It's the safest place I could be, especially since Oliver will be wanting me dead as soon as he realises I'm gone.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

His gaze softens. "Because you haven't deserved what happened to you."

I look down at my hands, working for Kastriv is a way I can alleviate some guilt for suddenly requiring his aid. I just hope I can find other's like me.

"Are you like this with every sad person you come across?" I ask, trying to make a joke, although my amusement doesn't translate in my town. Perhaps because I'm so genuinely curious.

He tilts his head, soft hair brushing along his forehead. "You have something special."

"Because I look like that spirit?"

"Because I see a fire in you that he tried to tame, and failed. You just need some freedom, and the real you will come out," he assures me.

I can sense that he is alluding to my true nature as a Demon, and how I've been so forcefully trained to fight against it, to appear entirely human. I'm too tired to press him on it, at least for tonight.

"What's my first job?"

"There's a site where I believe the Demon's were last at. I want to take you there and see if you feel anything." He moves to sit beside me on the couch.

I shift. "Because I'm a Demon?"

"I believe you may have the ability to sense them, to help me find them," he explains.

It's clear Kastriv knows more about Demon's than he is letting on. Nobody just trusts Demon's, considering the Religion of the Angel's is dominant throughout most Territories. Whatever he knows, he is feeding it to me slowly, trying not to overwhelm me.

Which means he is likely right about my ability to sense other's like me. I've never felt it before, however my chance of naturally crossing passes with a Demon has always been slim.

"What will you do once you find them...I need to know, Kastriv," I insist.

I doubt he would, but what if his plan was to destroy them all?

Kastriv looks down at his hands, where he adjusts the cuff of his shirt. "Just trust me, Aspen."

Trust. I don't think I have any other choice but to do as he wishes right now, but from Oliver, I've learnt to rarely trust people.

"What are you going to do about this spirit?" I ask, hiking my legs up to my chest. I'm finally drying off, wisps of my dark brunette floating around my face.

Kastriv sighs, running his hands down his face hopelessly. "I need to find a way to communicate with her. I believe she is trying to tell me something urgent, and now more than ever, I need to find out what it is."

Now more than ever. Because I'm here...And I'm alive, and this spirit is not, or at least not in the same way.

Whatever the spirits purpose is, they hold a secret that I'm anxious to reveal.

"What if it's bad?" I ask quietly.

Kastriv grimaces as he turns his head. "I get the feeling it is."

I look away, staring out through the large windows, rain pattering steadily against the glass. Rain is rare in Territory One, but when it falls, it has no mercy. Tonight, with this storm, is no exception.

"Why don't you bathe and get some sleep. Do your cuts need tending?" Kastriv asks gently.

I shake my head. "I feel fine. But I could do with a bath."

"Tomorrow, we shall leave for this site, if that is alright with you," Kastriv offers. I startle. It's sooner than I would have expected, but if I delve into work, I won't have to think about Oliver.

I get to my feet. "What if I don't feel anything?"

Kastriv holds my gaze. "You will."

I sleep soundly through the night, surprisingly not plagued with thoughts of Oliver. A weight feels as though it has been lifted from my chest, and I can breathe again. I'm finally free, although this new objective with the Noble will give me some structure in this strange time.

Sure enough, Kastriv is waiting in the foyer for me first thing in the morning. He offers me his hand, explaining how his magic allows him to travel certain distances across the land.

Warily, I take it, horrified as the ground falls out from under me, and I'm falling into an endless dark void. That is, until the world materialises around me, and my feet touch the ground.

The world is made up of multiple Territories, each governed by their own politics and cultures.

Oliver has never taken me travelling, but I haven't minded staying in Territory One. That is, until now, as I stand amidst a looming rainforest, the foliage thick and lush as it surrounded me, overwhelming my senses with it's fresh scent.

"Woah, where are we?" I marvel, turning in a circle.

"Territory Ten."

I blink, a faint mist in the air that brushes against my cheeks. "We are out of the Territory?"

"Yes. Demon's don't often find themselves in Territory One, as it's too densely populated. I imagine they came here as a means of keeping themselves hidden," Kastriv muses, pulling a branch away from him distastefully.

From what I remember about Territory Ten from what I was told in school, it's a dense forest area that is sparsely populated, due to it's rough conditions. It's rains most of the year, so most don't bother venturing here.

The perfect place to remain hidden.

"I didn't think anyone could navigate this forest?" I murmur, trying to look past the thick trunks, but it's almost impossible to see through the thick undergrowth, dripping with moisture.

Kastriv folds his arms over his chest. "They can't. Point us in the right direction."

I stare blankly at him. "I...I have no idea where they could have went."

"Lead us to the site. where they would have been before," he instructs, motioning around us. Each direction I look doesn't appear to reveal any path, and yet Kastriv is looking at me like I'm the greatest explorer to walk this earth.

My eyes narrow. "I thought you knew."

"I do. This is a test."

"What is it meant to feel like?" I sigh frustratingly.

"The Demon's I've known have been incredibly intuitive. It takes no thought, just feeling," he tells me.

I didn't know he knew many, so this is a revelation. Nevertheless, I turn, facing off into the forest. I don't think my intuition has ever served me right, but I summon a deep breath, and try to concentrate.

At first, there's nothing.

But as time ticks by, the trees around me rustling gently in the wind that is beginning to pick up, I feel something. Under my ribs, there's the slightest pull into one direction, like someone is calling out to me from a distance, and my body can hear, but not my ears.

"I'm probably wrong, but this way," I say uneasily, pointing through two trees.

Kastriv nods, and starts walking confidently in the direction I pointed. I must be right, although I don't feel very good, something strange swirling in my stomach as I follow suit.

I'm glad I'm behind the Noble, because he expertly picks through the forest, avoiding the worse spots, although I wish we brought a machete. I suppose Kastriv doesn't want us to be followed, careful not to destroy anything we pass.

"I was thinking your payment for doing this could be your own home," Kastriv says, after we have walked for a while.

I stare at his back, mouth hanging open. "Sorry, what?"

"I would only come over whenever you want me to," he adds, as if that would be what I'm most concerned about right now.

"Just for this job?"

He nods.

"No way, that's too much," I argue.

He barely glances over his shoulder at me. "It's time for you to start living your life. And I imagine you'll tire of living with me soon enough."

"I wouldn't..." I break off, unsure of why I even said it. Kastriv is gracious and kind...how could I tire of living with someone like him? Not to mention he's not hard to look at. Like really not hard to look at.

"And sometimes I have unfavourable people pass through. And by unfavourable people, I mean the Nobles," he says, sounding amused, although I shiver. I like the Noble's...Most of them, at least.

"Oh. Right."

"It's completely up to you-"

Suddenly he breaks off, pausing abruptly. Skidding to a stop, I nearly slam into his back.

"Kastriv, what's wrong?" I ask, pulling on his shoulder to face me.

He turns suddenly, looking down at me, causing me to stumble back, gasping.

His eyes are bright red, the Kastriv I know having vanished entirely, replaced by...a monster.

My gaze lowers, tracking a rivet of blood falling from the corner of his mouth and down his chin.

I barely have a chance to grab a hold of him before he collapses to the ground, unconscious.

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