Word Count: 1794

~Aspen

Panic sets into the deepest parts of me, as I take in the Demon who has suddenly appeared.

Kastriv freezes, taking in the new arrival as well. Boldly, Keo continues to hold out his hand, only looking at me.

I nod for Kastriv to go sit down. This isn't exactly and offer I'm allowed to refuse, unless I want to risk him making a scene, which in itself, would expose me.

"I'll kill you," Kastriv mutters as he brushes him.

Keo merely waves his hand dismissively. "Yeah, I'm sure you will."

My throat tightens as he takes my hand in his, cold skin brushing against mine. Resting his palm on the small of my back, he presses me against him, my entire body going stiff as a result.

"What are you doing here?" I hiss lowly as we sway gently to the beat.

Keo smiles at me, a single dimple appearing on his left cheek. In another universe I may have found him attractive, since objectively he is.

But I know better than anyone here that what darkness festers in his soul makes him vile beyond comprehension.

"I couldn't miss such an incredible party," he muses, looking around at the people around us who start to slowly back away at the sight of him, trying not to make it obvious.

"I get the feeling things like this don't impress you," I mumble.

His smile is pure venom. "Nothing impresses me."

I scrunch my nose up, wondering if I should stomp on his toes. It would be worth it, unless he tires of me and finally decides to end my life.

"There are Angel-bloods everywhere," I note. "Aren't you scared?"

"You really think anyone is capable of hurting me?" He sounds serious, as if questioning the extent of his power is demonstrably offensive.

"I can't tell if you're arrogant or correct."

I know he is correct. His bare skin touches mine, and through that feeling, is a connection. It's bare, primal. We are cut from the same stone, originating from a race of people that are almost extinct.

Whether I like it or not, him and I are connected. And through that, I can feel the hum of his hidden power, how is yawns against his skin, begging to be let out to wipe us all off this dance floor.

"Both, actually." He doesn't smile now, looking through the crowd toward where Oliver may still dwell. "They all assume I'm in hiding, that they can't track me down."

I shiver, wondering if Kastriv has gone to alert anyone, or if he is watching from nearby.

"Trick is, I'm brazen enough to mingle amongst their closest circles that they don't expect it," he tells me.

I sigh tiredly. "What do you want, Keo?"

"I like the way people are staring, wondering who you are, why I'm with you," he exclaims lowly in my ear, nodding at those who have yet to retreat, that blatantly stare.

I quickly look away, ashamed.

Keo leans closer, until his lips close to my ear. "They are wondering if you're a Demon, like me."

The way he says that word. Demon. He makes it sound as if we are Gods, above everyone else.

"People are terrified of you. Half the room is gone," I note. There's an obvious gap between Keo and I dancing and the rest of the crowd. Most are too curious to leave now, wanting to see what the Demon will do to the hosts wife.

"They hate Demon's. Everyone hates Demon's."

"Kastriv doesn't." I scan the room for my mate, but I cannot see him. I know he hasn't abandoned me, and that he will be close, ensuring Keo doesn't do anything, but for moral support, I wish I could see him.

"Would he still love you if you connected to your true power?" Keo asks, sounding genuinely curious about my perspective on this.

"Yes. He would," I tell him firmly. I believe that too. Kastriv would be pleased about my powers, proud who I could become.

Keo tilts his head to the side. "Because he's your mate?"

"Do you have a point?" I snap irritably. Why he insists of getting on my nerves before getting to his point will always elude me.

Part of me believes he does it just to make everyone around him suffer.

"I want to teach you to connect with yourself. The part of yourself that makes you who you are." He says it lowly, seriously. I'm aware of his motivations, and yet I just can't believe he is doing this for altruistic reasons.

"Why?"

"I've never given up on a Demon. Even if I don't trust their mate." Something dark passes over his already obsidian coloured eyes, matching the deep shadows beneath them.

"I can't trust you," I grit out. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't even know where to start in finding anything redeemable about him.

I want to be sure that his motivations are to protect the few of us Demon's left. I want to believe his entire existence has been devoted to such an endeavour, but Kastriv's warnings have dug themselves into my mind.

Keo has every reason to lie to me, and almost nothing proven to show he won't.

"No. You can't." He dips his head down, trying to be at eye level with me, although his towering is making it difficult. "But what choice do you have?"

What choice do I have?

"Are you threatening me?" I question.

"Do you truly want to live a life always wondering who you are, who you are meant to be?" He taps my chest, right above my breasts as if to indicate that beyond, power may lay, curled up and dormant.

"No, but-"

His grip on me tightens. "You are a Demon. You may not want to admit it, but you and I are the same, and when a world wants your kind eradicated, you have to stick together."

"I'm nothing like you," I remind him coldly.

"Are you sure?" His brows draw together. "No dark thoughts, no resentment of Angel-bloods?"

My breath pauses at my lips. How could I not have dark thoughts sometimes, considering everything I have been through? But none directed at Angel-bloods specifically.

"You know who I do resent?" I ask in my sweetest, most sickly tone before it drops unceremoniously. "Arrogant men who think they are entitled to my time."

My desire to rip away from him is strong, but it's not as compelling as the need to lean in closer, as I whisper in his ear, "I. Owe. You. Nothing."

When I pull back, he's grinning.

"I like that you're not afraid of me. It's refreshing."

He really is impossible to deal with.

However, the seed of an idea plants itself securely in the front of my mind. There is no way I'm going to be able to push it away, as I consider how useful he may be.

Keo frowns at my silence, at the way my attention drifts. "What are you thinking about?"

"I will let you train me, but on one condition," I decide. It's dangerous to make a deal with a man like him, I know that...

But it's so tempting.

Keo quirks a brow, painting on a sensuous smirk. "No, I will not have sex with you."

"Keo!" My attempts to wrestle from his grip is thwarted by the strength of his fingers wrapped around my wrists.

"Sorry, I get asked so often it's reflex at this point," he mutters, shrugging loosely. I feel the need to physically gag, hoping to wound his ego, although I can't risk Kastriv asking about my reaction later.

"I am happily mated and you're...I don't even know, probably making some woman's life miserable," I mutter, shaking my head.

My heart aches for such a person. It would be an impossible task to slowly peel back the irritating layers of Keo's centuries built façade that protects a probably stone cold soul from being penetrated.

"The women I love always seem to hate me." He pouts, the expression so at odds with his usual arrogance.

"Shut up." I'm tired of his poor attempts at joking. "I will allow you to teach me if you help me track someone down."

"Easy." He shrugs. "All I ever do is hunt people down."

"No...This person, well they aren't even really a person." I look away, not wanting to see his face before he ridicules me for my ridiculous idea.

"Go on," he says warily.

"It's a spirit. I need you to help me find a way to communicate with it," I mumble, wincing. I probably should have gone to Kastriv first, but he will say no. And right now, we are no closer to contacting this spirit.

Intrigue sparks in his eyes. "It wouldn't be one of Kastriv's spirits, would it?"

"Yes. They look exactly like me."

"I have a theory that Kastriv is just hallucinating and everyone has led him to believe he's special," Keo smiles deviously.

He hardly winces as I knock him in the chest. I know that isn't true, considering I just witnessed him bring one into reality to strangle another person.

Keo doesn't need to know that detail, though.

"I'm being serious."

He rolls his eyes, as if I've just inflicted an unreasonable onus on him. "Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Don't roll your eyes. You're the annoying one," I growl. We are hardly even dancing anymore, if that is what you can call this. We just sway ever-so-slightly to the softening music.

"You are so cruel to me." He shakes his head as if he is admonishing me, tempting me to punch him square in the stomach.

"Now go away. You've proven your point and scared almost everyone in this room away," I mutter, going to pull away, but as usual, he doesn't let me go.

Instead, he pulls me flush against him.

"I know darkness when I see it, Aspen," he breathes so lowly I almost don't catch it. "I must warn you that your mate is dripping with it."

My heart skips a beat. "What would you know?"

"My soul is blackened, cold and bitter. That's what you would say anyway," he muses. "To love me is to live a curse-"

I roll my eyes. "Your monologues are tiring."

Finally, he lets me go, casting me one final look.

"I've experienced the purest of evil. Your mate may not be that, but...I would lift the veil and have a look underneath. Just in case."

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