After confirming with Syn, I headed down the hall. I'm a horrible person. If I had come into the palace with that single goal in mind and all my knowledge of Syn coming from the tabloids, then maybe it would have been easier. But right now, with everything I learned about him in these past few weeks in my mind, it sucked.

I tried to remind myself of all the research I had done on him-all his victims and crimes against angels with his father, but none of it helped.

A door opened in front of me, and Xavier exited the room, making my steps come slow. "Hey," he said.

"Hi."

"Umm." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." I nodded. He opened his door wider for me to walk in, and I accepted the invitation. His room was just as different from Syn's as he was. Where Syn have the necessities for his room, Xavier had way too much. Posters hung on almost every wall along with photo frames on his dresser and his bed was a mess. Clothes were scattered on top of it, and a random bag of popcorn sat on his pillow.

"Sorry for the mess." He laughed. "I had a movie night with Jess and Genesis and they're messy. They were trying on my clothes and shit like weirdos."

I smiled and nodded, and he cleared his throat, pulling out a chair for me to sit at his table. I sat down, and he took a seat across from me, taking a deep breath as he looked at me. "I'm really sorry for what happened," he said. I nodded, allowing him to continue and he spoke, "I'd let Syn tell you this story himself, but I believe I have some rights over it since it's my fault."

"What is it?"

"My parents used to serve Lucifer, as his right-hand demons. They would torture souls, collect debts, and a bunch of other shit that left them no time to take care of any children, but it left them with a lot of anger. A lot of which they directed towards me."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "It's in the past. But anyway, they were rarely home and Hell isn't really a place where a lot of children are since demons prefer to party than have them. So I was alone for the most part. I lived in Lucifer's palace where my parents would leave me for months at a time to be taken care of by servants."

I listened intently, paying attention to his every word as he continued. "One day, this weird ass little kid moved in. He was super small, but he was scary as fuck. I don't even know how to explain, but he was terrifying. He'd sit by himself outside, and he didn't talk to anyone. My parents even told me to stay away from him because he was dangerous. My mom and dad were never really concerned about my safety before, so their warning kind of caught me off guard.

"Even though everyone said to leave the kid alone, I've always been the type to do things I wasn't supposed to. I made the kid a gift basket with candy one day with a note asking him if he wanted to be friends and I left it at his door. And guess what?"

"What?"

"He didn't fucking respond! Little asshole." He laughed, making me smile along with him. "He was rude as shit."

"Hmm, I don't like him already."

"Oh, really?" He raised a brow and I nodded. "I cannot wait to tell him that." I scrunched my features in confusion and he shook his head, waving off the questions I had. "So yes, I did the candy and note and he didn't reply. I knew he received it because I went back and it was gone, but he still didn't talk to me. I'd try to say hi but he never paid me any mind.

Luckily for him and me, I don't give up that easily. I continued on with the notes and candy for an entire year, with no word from him. I'd put a box with candy and a note every morning at his door, and when I checked an hour later, it was gone. He stayed with us for months and didn't talk to me once or even thank me for the candies. As a kid, that's so disrespectful, you know?!"

"I can only imagine." I smiled.

"A year passed and he never once did it! I still hold a grudge to this day, but he's more than made up for it. Anyways, after the year, I lost hope so one day, I stopped. I didn't give him a basket OR a note. That day, I just stayed in my room and watched TV all day until I heard a knock at my door. I opened it and saw a huge-like big ass box in front of my door and I had to drag it into my room.

"When I opened it-shit I'll never forget the feeling I got. Queen, when I'm telling you every single candy I had ever given this kid was in the box, I mean it. Not a single candy was unwrapped. It was all there. At the bottom of the box, there was a note and it said: 'I don't like sweets, but we can be friends. I guess.'"

I burst into laughter and Xavier laughed along with me. "After a year?!"

"A fucking year!"

"What an asshole."

"Right?! He doesn't think it was rude to this fucking day." He grinned. "After that, we became best friends. We'd hang out every day and I promise you, we were like brothers. Wherever I was he would be, and wherever he was you'd find me right there. I finally found someone that I could be myself around and he was the best thing that had ever happened to me. We spent all our time together meaning holidays, birthdays, making pointless traditions with one another-it was the best. We protected each other."

"That sounds amazing."

"It was." A dark look passed over his face and I frowned. "It went on that way until we turned eighteen or so...well I was nineteen and he had just turned eighteen. I met this woman named Eve and everything happened so fast. It was one of those whirlwind summer romances that fuck with your head so much that you can't see anything past it. You fall fast and crash even faster, you know? I was head over heels in love with her.

"It got to the point where I really started seeing a future with her, and I wanted her to meet my best friend. So I took them both out to dinner, and everything was fine. My friend was quiet as always, and Eve and I were just wrapped up in each other the whole night."

"What happened next?" I was so absorbed in the story that I didn't even think about the reason why I was here in the first place.

"Well, I drove Eve home. When I got back to the palace, my friend was waiting up for me and he told me that he didn't want me seeing her anymore."

"What? Why?"

"He said that he didn't trust her and that I should break up with her." He sighed, running a hand through his hair and sitting back. "I was young and stubborn and didn't like that he wasn't supportive of my relationship so we got into a fight that night. He never screamed at me before, but that night he did. We both said horrible things to one another, and the night ended with me telling him that I hated him. I didn't mean it of course...but I was angry."

I remained quiet, the playful story seeming to get a bit darker and he sighed. "I left the palace that night to get some space and I drove to my girlfriend's house. I-I remember spending the night with her and falling asleep with her in my arms, but when I woke up she was gone."

"Eek! Did your friend kill her?!" I gasped, covering my mouth. He gave me a look and I took a breath. "Sorry, stories like this give me anxiety."

"I'm almost done," he assured me. "As I said, she wasn't in bed. In fact, her entire house was empty. Her clothes were gone, family pictures-everything. I tried calling her, but her number was no longer in service and I was completely heartbroken. I went back to the palace, not knowing what else to do and I passed my friend's room so many times and didn't even knock. He didn't come out of his bedroom usually and I was still upset, so I didn't bother him."

"Okay..." I said lowly, prompting him to continue with slow nods.

"His father was the one to find his body."

I hated having to tell this story after so long, but I felt like it was the only thing to truly show Queen where my mind was yesterday. Her mouth dropped at what I told her, and my chest ached as I relived those memories from all those years ago.

"He died?" Her voice was soft, making me snap out of my thoughts and look back up at her with a slow nod.

"It turned out that he was right...about Eve. She and her family sent her to get close to me and get information to kill him."

"Why did they want him dead?"

"Her family was from Heaven, and he was a threat. They believed that when he grew older, he'd destroy the universe...so they killed him before he could kill them."

"That's horrible," she said sadly, running her hands down her face. "And that's so sad. They couldn't just give him a chance. He sounded shitty at first but if he was your friend and he was as you described, he couldn't be that bad."

"He'd appreciate you saying that." I gave her a small smile.

"There you go again," she pointed out.

"What?"

"You say he's dead but this entire time you've been making little comments in the present tense." Smart girl.

"I'm not done," I said, getting comfortable in my seat. "After he died, I blamed nobody but myself. I was alone and miserable with no one to mourn with besides his father who didn't even cry at the loss. He was distraught, but he wasn't exactly the crying type.

"After a few months of everyone telling me to move on and I'd be okay, I had enough. I didn't want to replace him and I didn't want to move on, I needed my brother back. So I spent months researching. I thought if Jesus could do it all those years ago...I could find a way somehow.

"Turns out, it wasn't exactly going to be so cut and dry. I had to dabble in some really dark magic. I talked to all the bad people and made deals with people you'd shiver at the mention of. After all of that, I was given one spell. The spell would bring back whoever I wanted, but my soul would be the price. I could never walk into Heaven and I would forever be tied to the dark forces I toyed with."

"So what did you do?"

"Well..." I sighed. "Syn's alive, isn't he?"

"Wait-hold on...Syn was the kid?!" She questioned in shock. "Oh my gosh."

"He was." I nodded.

"Woah, what happened to Eve? Did you ever find her?"

"Nope, she's probably somewhere in Eden with Adam."

"Wait, that Eve?!"

"Mhmm."

"Like the first woman? That one?"

"Can you at least try not to sound so excited about the woman who destroyed my life?" I groaned.

"I'm sorry, that's just so...wow. She always seemed too nice on the news in Heaven, but damn. What a bitch."

"A bitch, indeed."

"I'm sorry that you and Syn had to go through that," she said, making me feel a bit guilty that she was the one saying sorry.

"I didn't tell you this story to guilt you into forgiving me though, Queen. I just wanted you to have some sort of idea why at the first sign you may have been shady, I didn't trust you. It was my mistake, truly. And I'm so sorry that because of me you got hurt."

"I understand, Xavier. It's forgiven. Just don't let it happen again?"

"It won't," I promised her. I wouldn't make the same mistake of being wrong about her twice.

"Hug?" She held her arms out and wiggled her fingers. I smiled at her, standing up and accepting the gesture, thankful that we were able to move past this. She pulled away with a sigh before looking around and yawning. "I need to go, I'm supposed to be going somewhere with Syn tonight."

"A date?" I raised a brow.

I watched as she tried to hold back a smile and shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not."

"Mhmm. You kids have fun." She rolled her eyes, her smile finally coming to life as she headed towards the door. "Tell me the details when you get home, Syn isn't a good storyteller!"

"Will do!" She yelled from the door, tossing up peace signs before leaving the room. I waited a few seconds, estimating how far she could've gone in the hall. And when I was sure she was far enough, I bolted out of my chair, knocking it to the floor, and ran to Syn's room.

He opened the door as I prepared to enter, and stepped aside for me to come in. I frowned, slowly stepping in and closing the door behind me. "How'd you know I was coming?"

"You have distinct footsteps. They're fast and annoying," he muttered, walking to the small bar in the corner of his room. "What's going on?"

"Queen and I are on good terms," I shared. "We had a little heart to heart and I told her about Eve." Syn sighed, turning around and taking a sip of his drink, but not responding to my words. "Are you okay?"

He walked to the table and took a seat, still not answering me and I sat across him, staring at him. I didn't blink once as I looked at him, and as the seconds passed, his face morphed into creeped-out one. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Answer my question," I ordered as a rebuttal. "What's happening?"

"I like her."

"Queen?"

"Noo, one of the hundreds of other girls I happen to spend time with," he mumbled. I rolled my eyes at the sarcasm in his voice and took the drink from his hand. "Hey-"

"Liking someone is a good thing, Syn." I downed the alcohol, wincing as it burned my throat.

"And if they don't like you back?"

"Not as good." I winced. "You don't think Queen is interested?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "One moment, I have no doubts that she is and then a few minutes later she's pushing me away or trying to avoid me."

"Sounds about right." I shrugged. "Just try to get more of a solid feel of that tonight." He nodded. "Have you found out anything about this stalker?"

"No, but I'm thinking about asking her to stay in here," he said.

What? "You don't like-"

"I know, but just until she's safe. It makes more sense than letting her get hurt and having to go out and find her again."

"Sure, but will she agree to that?" I asked in a cautious tone. Not that Queen seemed stubborn, but she didn't seem like the submissive type. I could tell that frustrated Syn since he couldn't control everything when it came to her, but I found it amusing in a way. She challenged him.

"She doesn't need to agree to it," he said. "It's for her safety."

"So you're going to keep her against her will?"

"Fuck," he groaned, and I held back a laugh.

"Just follow your gut, Syn. You did yesterday and you did well. Just continue doing that, and if you need me for advice or anything, I'm here."

"You give shit advice," he grumbled.

"Okay then, motherfucker. You have my support."

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"We need to talk about James," I said. "The kid asks about you all the time." Syn sighed. "Are we going to keep him? Find him a new home or what? He's been getting along with one of the servant's kids but we don't want him to get attached if he's leaving."

"I'm not sure yet," he said, rubbing his temples. "I'm giving it thirty days, and then I'll make a decision."

"I'll support you either way, man," I reminded him. "If you want to find him a home, I'll vet out adoptive parents, and if you want to adopt him. I'll be here. Two dads are better than one."

He raised his brow, giving me a strange look and I recounted my words, rolling my eyes. "Not in a gay way, Syn. I just meant that-"

"Uh-huh..."

"Syn!" I yelled in annoyance. "You need to stop doing that. I'm not gay."

"I never said you were," he said in a slow tone as if he were handpicking the words he wanted to use. "But if you were...

...that would be okay."