Much to Ana’s discontent, Deacon followed her out of the trailer.

“There’s something I’ve always wondered,” He called out to her. “Why has your father not killed me yet? I’ve been to your house a thousand times and yet…he seems to never be there. I wonder why that is?”

“My father’s dead.” Ana replied, whipping around to look at him.

“Not that one,” A small smile crept up on his face. “The one with the same eyes as yours.”

He knows I’m a cambion, of course he also knows I don’t have a human father. It was true that Marchosias never mentioned Deacon, or even asked about him. He didn’t seem to care about her love life, and Ana was always okay with that. She almost wished he had asked now, or maybe even feigned interest.

She set her gaze on Deacon. “What do you want from me? Why am I so important?”

He crossed his arms. “What everyone wants. A greater purpose to their life. You can be that greater purpose, you know, if only you listen to me…”

“What purpose is that?” She splayed her hands. “Being an incubator for your ugly spawn?”

He laughed, putting his hands on his hips. “I don’t think you understand. Think about it. I take you to my family’s facility, and your father can’t hurt you. All demons are secretly afraid of the Creed of Solomon, did you know that? We’re the only things they won’t go near.”

Ana’s lips pressed into a thin line. “And, what? I go with you and I give up my body for the sake of humanity?”

“Well, yes. You’re not seeing the bigger picture here. If we have a child, they would be so powerful that they could rival against the demons and possibly even do the things that only they can do. Isn’t that exciting? For hundreds of years, the demons have killed our kind just for the fact that we were similar to them. Now, we have a chance, Ana. That’s something you’ll never have with your father, to be better than him.”

“No,” She slowly shook her head and backed away. “Don’t ever come near me again. Don’t text me, don’t call me, don’t even come to my house. I don’t want to see your disgusting face ever again.”

He laughed as she turned and walked down the dirt road, away from him and all his dark secrets.

—_—

Ana walked home. This wasn’t her first time making a trek across town back to her own house. On some nights when her phone was dead but she still wanted to leave Deacon’s place before he awoke, she made the one-and-a-half hour journey back to her own home. The current journey wasn’t too bad, anyway. It gave her time to think, and to cry.

The streets were quiet, and nobody bothered her as she made her way home. Street lights marked her way, but as she started walking on the lone, desolate road that led to her house, she was left with only her phone’s flashlight to guide her way. She had taken off her wedge heels about halfway and now was bare foot, cursing at every stone and stick she stepped on. Despite that, she didn’t give in and call a ride. She didn’t feel like waiting for one now that she was so close to home.

The woods at night were nothing to mess with, and Ana knew that now more than ever. On both sides she could here animals she couldn’t see stalk through the woods. A fox’s scream to her left, a owl’s call as it flies above her. No cars traveled this road at night, as it only let to her home and a few abandoned properties.

When she saw the solar lights of her driveway she sighed in relief, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed a figure standing just at the beginning of the driveway, next to her mailbox. Her first thought was Deacon, but no. The person was too broad and big to be Deacon, who was more on the scrawny side.

Beau. Why was he waiting for her, in the middle of the night? She must look terrible to him. Her makeup was most likely smeared from all the crying, and her hair—she couldn’t even think of what her hair looked like.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

She approached him wearily, turning off her phone’s flashlight so that he couldn’t see her face as well. She didn’t really care what she looked like to him, but it was less questions that way.

“You know how creepy you look, standing there?” She croaked out, her voice feeling weary from crying.

By the dim glow of the solar lights, he looked hurt. “I’m sorry. I thought it was better to approach you from the front than the back, or the dark.”

She sighed. He was right. Him standing menacingly in the dim light of her driveway was better than appearing suddenly from the trees. She didn’t tell him that, though. She didn’t have the energy.

She started walking down her driveway, wincing as the small gravel stones dug into her feet. She didn’t give up however, and kept on walking as if there wasn’t small pebbles stabbing into the soft flesh of her feet.

“I only came because I…I was concerned. Judas mentioned he pushed you to…speak to your friend?” Beau said, following behind her.

“I’m fine.” Ana gritted her teeth.

“I’m not dull. I can see that something happened. Can’t you at least tell me?”

She whipped around. “Nothing—” She bit back a yelp when a particularly sharp rock dug into the soft flesh of her feet. She let out a breath before turning around and continued up the drive.

“Ana…”

His voice made her stop. It reminded her of something else, of a time long ago. Had they been in the same situation before? No, they couldn’t have.

She felt tears well up in her eyes and she squeezed them shut. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What?” Beau approached her side.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Deacon was a cambion?” She repeated.

He hesitates, his mouth opening and closing. “I thought—I thought you already knew. Judas didn’t tell me about your affliction to not sensing cambions until a few hours ago. If—if I knew when I first saw Deacon, I would’ve warned you.”

Ana bit her tongue, fighting back a cruel comment. I was supposed to tell this whole fucking time? She looked away and continued her way to the porch. Which could only mean Deacon could tell the first time he laid eyes on me. “He’s apart of the Creed of Solomon. His whole fucking family is. He’s been sending them information about me for the past two years, so yeah. They know that I’m here.”

“You can’t stay here then. Large cambion families work like wolf packs; you provoke one, you provoke the rest.” Beau said, his voice becoming rushed and anxious. “With your…affliction, you won’t be able to tell who is hunting.”

Ana sighed in relief when she stepped up onto her wooden porch. She was free from the gravel driveway, but now faced a different problem; There were pebbles embedded in her feet. She sat down on the steps, throwing her shoes and purse to the side.

Jazzy appeared from under the porch, meowing her discontent at her owner’s lateness. She first went over to Ana and sniffed her dirty and bloody feet before turning her nose up and sauntering over to Beau. She nudged his legs with her nose, and he bent over to scratch behind her ears. Ana looked away, only a little jealous at the cat’s sudden preference.

“I learned something else, something I feel you should’ve told me from the start.” Ana said, wincing as she pulled a sharp rock from her foot. I am starting to regret not just calling for a ride. She threw it to the side and looked up to Beau’s pale face. “What’s this about me having a double-core? Purple and orange, or something?”

Beau bit his lip and looked away. He stood up, Jazzy forgotten near his feet. “I’m—I’m sorry, I…” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I don’t know how to say this…”

“Just say it. Explain it to me.” Ana pushed, crossing her arms.

Beau sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Your core…did something when we first met. It—it basically reached out and absorbed parts of mine—when—six years ago, when you moved into your mom’s. None of us knew it would happen—not even my father.”

He looked nervous, his eyes down on the ground and his hands holding the back of his neck.

“Why wasn’t I told any of this? I don’t understand…” Ana whispered. She didn’t know what to think. She didn’t know what to say. Her and Beau were connected, and she couldn’t do anything about it. Is that why my father acted so cold to me? Does he know, too?

“I don’t know, and I’m sorry. I really am sorry. I didn’t want any of this to happen, especially not to you.” His scratchy voice cut through her voice, and she slowly looked up at him. His face looked sorrowful and genuine, and Ana hated that. She wished he was still the murderous monster she had painted in her mind for the past six years, not the soft man who stood before her.

“Your family tried to kill me just because of something I couldn’t control, didn’t you?” Ana murmured, just for the sake of feeling some kind of control of her own mind. You’re still a monster, Beau Motloe. You have to be. That’s what is still in my mind, and it’s what makes sense.

Beau slowly shook his head, wringing his hands together. “No. There’s more to it then that. I promise you.”

Ana glared at him. “You won’t tell me what happened, remember? Judas says you’re cowardly, and for once I agree with him.” She grabbed hold of the railing and pulled herself up. “So for now you’re a bunch of sadists in my mind, and it’ll stay that way until I know what happened.”

She picked up her purse and shoes and fished for her keys while she walked to the door. She unlocked the door and opened it, Jazzy chirping as she ran inside and down the hall.

“Ana. Wait.”

She stopped. She didn’t turn around, but she didn’t go inside either. She heard the crinkle of paper and Beau taking a single step forward.

“Take this. If you’re in danger, just use this spell. I can be there—I’ll be there.”

Ana slowly turned around and looked at the folded piece of paper he held out to her. He was anxious, the fingers of his free hand rubbing together as he licked his lips. When she didn’t respond or reach for the paper, he waved it in the air.

“It’s—it’s faster than your father’s summoning ritual, and you don’t need all the things for it. It’s just chalk and an incantation. I won’t—I’m not as fast as your father, but it might be better than taking a gamble on whether or not your father will show up.”

She didn’t move for a few more seconds, but after some careful consideration, she stepped towards him and took the paper, his gloved fingers briefly touching hers. He stepped away from the porch, appearing relieved that she took the paper.

“I—I’ll leave you alone now.”

He disappeared into the night, and Ana walked into her home. She closed the door and locked it, sighing in relief at the familiar and comforting feeling of her house. She turned on the hallway light and unfolding the paper, reading it’s contents. Beau was right, it was a very simple spell, requiring the reader to only draw a demon’s sigil on the ground and say the summoning incantation with the demon’s name—Phenex. A familiar name, and yet Ana couldn’t recall where she heard it from. She shrugged, folded the paper, stuffed it into her pocket and walked to her bathroom, ready to take a shower and scrub off the dirt and grime of the night.