31. Ashe

“Ashe, I was not expecting so many guests.” Nadia levels her gaze with mine, the clear lenses of her enchanted glasses masking the fiery white orbs behind the illusion of unassuming brown irises.

“I'm sure you made plenty of food.” She always did cook enough to feed an army; between Catalina's voracious appetite and her own, Nadia never did grasp an understanding of exactly how much food was sufficient to satiate a human. My own half-human nature probably did not help with that, though I'm grateful that she at least tried to give me a somewhat normal life. I flash the demon a grin. “I see you're letting the gray grow in this time. It looks good.”

If I were meeting her for the first time I would certainly not know based on her appearance alone that she was anything but human. Then again, I suppose that was the point of the skins that demons wore—the ones who could afford to pay the price of such magic, anyway. Only an elemental could disguise themselves among nature, and there were not many witches who would risk their own lives to aid in hiding a demon. The fees they charged to do so were often great.

Even without using a soul ring to bind them, over the centuries witches had invented new ways to siphon a demon's power. Extortion, some would call it, as they dangled the protection a skin offered as leverage in exchange for the types of favors only a demon could grant. Still, it was a far better alternative to prosecution and death should the Tribunal ever discover their existence.

“Well it has been some twenty years since I last saw you. Some things have changed.”

“And some things never do.” Catalina clucks her tongue against her teeth as she slips past Nadia and enters the foyer. “Honestly, Nadia, after five thousand years I'd like to think that your taste in home decor would've improved by now.”

“You will not wear those heels in my home, Catalina. Please take them off.”

In true Catalina fashion, the vampire waves a dismissive hand. “You don't really expect me to walk around barefoot like some commoner, do you?”

“It is custom—”

“It is a human custom, or have you been wearing that skin for so long that you've forgotten what you really are underneath that façade?”

“Skin?” I feel Dani press against me as she tries to keep her voice low and I try my best to ignore the tingle that crawls up my spine as the warmth from her breath tickles my neck.

“Remember how I said that elementals disguise themselves in nature? Well not all demons can blend in so easily. They need a skin if they wish to hide what they are.” I lean in so close that I can smell her perfume and for a moment I feel the sudden urge to wrap an arm around her waist and let her scent fill my lungs. Instead, I pull away. These close encounters were becoming a dangerous habit between us.

“How does a skin do that?”

“It's a suit made by witches using clay and blood magic, designed to be worn like a sort of human costume and sold to demons in exchange for favors. They're also highly illegal since demons are hunted by the Tribunal and, because of that, skincrafting is considered one of the dark arts. Anyone caught practicing it is immediately executed.”

Dani raises an eyebrow, though whether she was trying to decipher my words or the small distance I've created between us I could not tell. But what I would not give to be able to read her mind right now.

“What kind of favors can a demon give?”

I'm unable to hide the smirk that creeps across my lips as I lift my sunglasses up over my head and affix my gaze on the barista. “Wishes.”

A heat flushes Dani's cheeks and it takes considerably more effort than I thought for me to bite back the laughter bubbling in my throat. Despite myself, I enjoyed seeing her blush and would definitely not be letting her live that one down anytime soon.

Nadia beckons us inside, interrupting our conversation as she closes the door behind us. “You must forgive Catalina,” she says as we slip off our shoes at her request and place them in the entryway. “She sometimes forgets that she is no longer royalty.”

“Don't stroke her ego,” I mutter, dropping my duffel bag to the floor as I walk by, but I know my warning falls on deaf ears. This was not the first time they shared in this dance and after centuries of listening to the same song I knew it would not be the last. “You know how she gets.”

The demon's lips twitch knowingly as she leads the rest of the group into the living room. “The past can be hard to let go of sometimes. Especially for an immortal with such high opinions of herself.”

Catalina tuts as she sweeps her gaze over us. “Oh Nadia, dear, even you must admit that I was an amazing queen in my time. But I made for an even better goddess after my rebirth.”

Dani steps forward, the pitter-patter of her bare feet on the tiled floor echoing in the brief silence, and inwardly I groan. Her curiosity was insatiable. “You were a goddess?”

“Well I couldn't exactly reign over Egypt forever, sweetling. Mortals fear an immortal queen but they revere a living goddess. As Neithhotep I was flesh and blood, but after I was reborn I became the goddess known as Sekhmet and was idolized for centuries.” A devilish smile curls her lips. “We were wilder things then. Weren't we, Lamashtu?”

“That has not been my name for many years, Catalina,” Nadia muses. “And how humbling it must be that after so long your glorified sense of self is as big now as it ever was.”

“It's hard to be humble when you're the first of your kind. Besides, I don't remember you ever complaining when we let you feed with us. I'd even go so far as to say that you thoroughly enjoyed yourself, as much as a demon can feel joy.”

“Wait, hold on.” Dani looks between the two women before focusing her attention on Nadia. “You helped create vampires?”

The corners of my mouth twitch as Catalina's lips curve into a scowl. “In part.”

“The mother of all vampires was once a powerful witch,” Nadia continues, adjusting her glasses. “But she gave up her soul and traded her magic for immortality. Such a thirst for power was not without consequence, however. She lost her entire coven to that spell and her children are now cursed to feed on life for all eternity.”

Marco snorts. “Leave it to a witch to skip reading the fine print.”

“Oh, darling, it's not so bad,” Catalina purrs. “What would you have done when faced with certain death, I wonder? Would you just accept your fate? Or would you jump at the chance to live again if such an opportunity was presented to you?”

“Your kind nearly wiped out entire civilizations!”

“Yes, well, Mother was always insatiable.” Catalina waves her hand dismissively. “But she sleeps now and Caine and I have things handled, even if our views are . . . divided, somewhat, over how we feed.”

“The Mother of Demons and her Son of Blood and Daughter of Breath. Yeah, I've heard the tales.” Marco shakes his head. “The only thing that's changed about you and your twisted little family tree is the fact that you can't just murder people out in the open anymore.”

Rose groans behind me. “Are they always like this?”

“More or less.”

Bitter remarks and forced civility were in abundance when these three got together. I was a little surprised that they were talking so openly about any of this while in the company of humans, though. That does not bode well for Dani's longevity and if Catalina had any intention of carrying out her numerous threats to the girl's life, this would be the place to do so. The moment my ring is removed, if that was even possible, I would no longer be compelled to protect her by its magic alone.

But one problem at a time.

Catalina hums absently as she sets her purse down on an antique chair and surveys our surroundings. “But at least my tastes are more in line with this century.”

I roll my eyes. Catalina always did enjoy the finer things in life; Nadia, on the other hand, had a penchant for clinging to the past. Artifacts of history, she often called them. Catalina just called it junk.

The vampire drags a finger delicately over a familiar suit of armor standing at attention next to a winding staircase and lifts an eyebrow. “Ever the sentimental.”

Enthralled by the sight of it, I walk over to where Catalina is standing. It has been so long since I've seen it, and longer still since I've thought about that day. In all honesty, a small part of me was hoping that I would have forgotten all about it.

I glance briefly at Nadia. “You still have this old thing?”

“The trinkets I keep hold memories within them. Reminders of a past, our past, now lost to time. You know this.”

My lips twitch into a frown as I flick my gaze over the dull armor, scrutinizing every dent and scratch in the steel finish. “Not all memories are good.”

“Sometimes, chhotee juganoo, they are reminders of the choices we make and of the consequences we suffer because of them.”

I remain standing before the suit of armor even after Nadia had walked away, my mind drifting back through the centuries as memories I had long buried scratch at the surface. Memories I have not revisited since meeting Emelie.

I had been young, on the cusp of immortal maturity at only twenty-five, and was smitten with a neighboring farm girl in the isolated outskirts of eastern France at the time. After living with a demon for so long the emotions that I had felt, feelings that stemmed from my human half, intrigued me. And when she began to have visions of battle and sought to render aid to a losing kingdom, I did the only thing I could think of to do. Ignorant in my youth and blinded for the first time by love, I disobeyed Nadia's edicts to remain hidden and followed my farm girl into the very fires of war.

I believed that I could keep her safe, that the magic Nadia had told me was in my ring would let no harm befall her, but I had been wrong. I was not as strong then as I am now. I could not stop the arrow that pierced her heart and the price I would pay for knowing love would be knowing the pain that followed in the wake of her loss.

It was a mistake I was doomed to repeat with Emelie three centuries later.

I feel someone stir next to me. “Was this yours?” Dani asks as she traces the metal plating with the tips of her fingers.

“It once belonged to Jeanne d'Arc,” I reply with a grimace. My skin begins to itch with the phantom scars of the past and I find myself craving whiskey to numb the sting. “I carried it for her in what became her final battle.”

I watch her curiously as the wheels in her mind whir in concentration, and after a moment she turns her puzzling green eyes to me and lifts an eyebrow. So much like Jeanne. So much like Emelie, and yet still so different. Why do my mistakes keep haunting me?

“You knew Joan of Arc?”

My frown deepens. “I knew Jeanne. History turned her into the martyr you know her as now.”

“What happened?”

“She was struck down by an arrow at the beginning of a siege.” I was content with letting the conversation die there, but at Dani's insistent gaze I relent. “She believed me to be an angel sent to her by God, and I was naive enough to believe that it was true. I knew that I was different, but we lived mostly in isolation when I was younger and so Nadia never bothered to tell me what I was. I knew nothing of demons back then. I thought Jeanne and I would grow old together, live out our lives in peace, but fate had other plans for us.”

I close my eyes, fending off the images of that night as a sigh escapes my lips. “Before she took her last breath, I vowed to carry on with her vision, to uphold her beliefs, but in truth I just wanted to join her. I donned her armor hoping that the English would cut me down and end my suffering, but it wasn't as quick as I had hoped. The day I parted with that suit of armor and took her place on that pyre was the day I tasted the edge of death for the first time, but the fire died long before I ever would. I learned then what I truly am, and it's no angel.”

“You were burned alive?”

“I should've died that day. Not even immortals are immune to fire and yet somehow I survived. Nadia found me tied to the stake that night and got me out before they could return to burn me again, but it took days for my body to heal. By then word had already reached the Tribunal of the demon who wouldn't die, so with Cat's help we fled to England and assumed new identities.”

“Did you love her?”

I dip my head in a slow nod. “She was the one who taught me what that meant. I hadn't known it before her.” A small chuckle escapes my lips as I open my eyes and glance at the barista. “Sometimes I wonder if I've been chasing after it ever since.”

“And you found it again? With Emelie?”

My chest tightens. “Yes.” And I lost it all the same.

Dani stays quiet for a moment and the only sound between us is Catalina's shrill laughter emanating from the dining room. “I really don't know anything about you at all,” she finally whispers as she lifts her chin. “So let's start with the basics. Exactly how old are you?”

“You should never ask that of a lady,” I tease, a smirk curling my mouth. Even amidst my pain she still manages to bring out the light. How does she do that? “But if you must know, I just turned twenty-five.”

She seems skeptical. “I guess that's not too bad—”

“Five hundred and ninety years ago.”

A flash of blonde in my peripheral is enough to wipe the smirk from my face. “Jesus Christ, Dani, you've been eye-banging a crone!”

And there it is. Maybe Catalina could just kill her and leave Dani alone. That would solve at least two of my problems.

Not missing a beat, Rose quirks a brow and leans forward, a mischievous glint in her eye that tasted all too eager on my tongue. “Or have you two actually boned already?”

Dani's face flushes as she snaps her glare to the blonde. “Shut up, Rose!”

I was at a loss for words. Is that really what her friend thought? Is that what Dani wants? No, impossible. She wants out and I could not blame her for that. I was not going to be the one to hold her back, either.

But if that were true, then what was that moment between us last night? And all the little moments over the last few weeks, the stolen glances and lingering touches, did they mean nothing? If she truly wanted out then why did it feel like she was fighting for a reason to stay?

My chest tightens at the implications of such a thought.

“Ladies!” Nadia calls from the kitchen, drawing our collective attention. “Lunch is ready.”

Shit. Get a hold of yourself, Ashe!

Catalina may not be able to read my thoughts but Nadia is not blind to my emotions. She would read me like a book if I did not mask it now and there is no telling how that revelation would go this time around. It was bad enough that she knows I've been feeding again, the last thing I needed was for her to know that I was feeling again.

“Come on.” I allow my gaze to linger on the suit of armor for a moment longer before shoving the memories of the past, and the conflict of the present, back down and making my way to the dining room. “Let's eat.”

No matter what happens, I will not let history repeat itself. Dani will not become another mistake.

***

“What's this?” Marco asks, cautiously eyeing the circular platter spread out in front of him. “It smells spicy.”

“It is thali,” Nadia explains as she points out the small bowls of rice, spices and vegetable curries with no small hint of pride. Or, at least, what could be mistaken for pride. She would not know what that felt like, though, but as the savory aroma saturates the air around us and my gut rumbles in anticipation, I would not blame her for feeling it if a demon could feel such emotions. No matter which skin she wore or what culture she embraced over the centuries, Nadia had always been a damned good cook.

At his perplexed stare I shrug. “Relax, Marco. It's vegan-friendly, though your ass might hate you for it later.”

The bear grunts as he tears off a chunk of chapati and dips the bread in one of the curries. “I'll take my chances. I'm starving.”

To his right, Catalina threads her fingers together as she props her elbows up on the table. “Though I do appreciate the sentiment, Nadia, I'm afraid your efforts are wasted.” She flashes Dani a smirk, her lips twisting into a sly grin as she adds, “I had a little snack on the ride over here.”

I sense the barista tense beside me and I inwardly groan. Catalina has never openly gloated in Nadia's presence like this after she has fed on me. She knows how the demon feels about it, so why does she insist on doing it now? Is she trying to get under Dani's skin? Is she trying to stir up some kind of reaction?

“You know my rules, Catalina.” Nadia casts the vampire a sidelong glance. “I cannot stop you outside my home but you will not feed on her while under my roof. If you will not eat my cooking then you will find sustenance elsewhere.”

“Well, I do have some business to attend to later. I suppose I can pick up something a little more fulfilling while I'm out.”

Without giving it a second thought, Marco places a finger on Catalina's thali and slides the metal platter toward him. “More for me, then.”

As we continue to eat in silence, I notice that Dani has not touched her food. Her gaze is focused across the table, on Nadia, and I gently nudge her with my elbow. “You okay?” She does not immediately respond and I wonder if the weight of everything was finally catching up with her. “Look, if this is all too much then we can—”

“You're a demon, too, aren't you?”

I nearly drop my chapati. I was not expecting her to confront Nadia so soon about what she is—or at all, for that matter. She already knew too much!

Nadia flicks her gaze to the barista at my side. “Is that what Ashe told you?”

“No, I knew even before she told me.” She motions to her face with a finger. “I saw it in your eyes.”

“You are a curiously perceptive one,” she muses as she removes her glasses and sets them down on the table. Bright white orbs flicker like a lightning storm in the hollow sockets as she studies Dani. I see Rose and Marco visibly flinch at her revelation, as any mortal should in the face of such power, but Dani seems remarkably undeterred and I find myself in awe at her bravery. “You see through the illusion magic as easily as you close off your mind to me. Curious, indeed.”

“It seems that our little cambion has an affinity for such curiosities,” Catalina hums, her lips curving as she leers at Dani. “This one smells just as sweet as the last.”

My fist clenches around the edge of the table with such intensity that my fingers dig into the wood, but before I can retort Dani places her hand over mine. It still surprised me that such a small gesture from her could quell the anger that boiled within.

She also seemed intent on avoiding Catalina altogether, her mouth set in a fine line as she kept her eyes trained on the demon who raised me. “You're different than the harpies that attacked us last night. You seem more . . . human.”

“That is because I choose to hide my nature behind the magic of this skin.” Nadia quirks a brow. “But how unusual. Air elementals, though as wild and unpredictable as the wind, usually do not attack unprovoked.”

Rose scoffs as the shock of seeing a demon wears off. “Does murdering my date count as provoking?”

Jesus Christ, is she still hung up on that? “How about a chimera stomping around the woods?” I cut my gaze to Catalina. “Or the apostate that attacked me?”

Catalina purses her lips. “Yes, I almost forgot about those zealots. But regardless of why you were attacked, that's a mystery we can solve after our business here is handled.”

“It's more than that, Cat, and you know it.” I flick my eyes back to Nadia. “These zealots are calling themselves the Enlightened and they're after me. Why would that be?”

Nadia leans back, white lightning crackling in her orbital sockets as she regards me curiously. “Why else would a witch go after a demon? For power, chhotee juganoo.”

“I'm only half, aantee. I'd be useless to a witch.”

“You are a cambion with a soul ring. You are different.”

“I'm a half-breed—”

“You are more than that. I would not waste my time otherwise.”

Waste her time? Is that what she thinks she has been doing for the last six hundred years? Wasting her time with me? I bristle. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Take care what you say, Nadia,” Catalina growls, a warning in her tone. “We cannot protect her if—”

“We have protected her long enough, Catalina, but if what she says is true then they have found her again. I think it time we told her the truth.”

Again? I stiffen in my chair. “The truth about what?”

With a tone as nonchalant as if she were discussing the afternoon weather, Nadia pulls apart her chapati. “About why you were born.”