Knights of Hell

Chapter 14

Kai was silent for a moment before he turned to glare at Azure, a deep scowl perching on his face, his eyebrows furrowed, his eyes narrowed, and the corner of his lip turned upward. It was the first bit of emotion he had shown on his face since Azure had gotten into the car. “Don’t blame this on me,” he hissed. “You knew I could exorcise them. You knew this even before I knew of you being a demon. I did nothing wrong.”

“I knew you could exorcist them. Not kill them,” Azure hissed back, swivelling in his seat to glare at the man. “Don’t play dumb with me and pretend you don’t know the difference between exorcisting them and killing them. We both know you’re too smart for that.”

Kai scowled. “It’s exorcising.”

“It’s murder,” Azure shot back.

Kai looked taken back and sighed, running his hands through his hair as he leaned on the steering wheel. He said nothing for a few minutes before finally looking at him again. “Fine. You’re right. I have an angel's blessing.”

Azure stared at him for a long time, and his eyes landed on the choker Kai had come home with one day and had never taken off. That stupid black choker that looked like a collar, and the one time he had tried to remove it, it had been burned Azure. He had thought that the human must have blessed it, but no. He had always hated Kai wearing it, but now, his mind was working in overdrive, putting the pieces together. “The choker,” he whispered, eyes glued to the simple black material clinging to his pale neck.

Kai nodded. “Angel’s blessing.”

Kai started the car, and he began driving. Azure was quiet for a few minutes, staring out the window, unsure how to process what he had just been told, but at least now he knew how their relationship would end. It would end with it never being the same again. No matter how many scenarios he tried running through his mind, with everything now up in the air, they would never be able to return to how their relationship had been last month. Everything had been altered, and it had been for the worse.

In the end, Azure cleared his throat and turned to look at the human while waiting at a pair of red lights. “You’re lying.”

“Am I?”

Azure continued to stare at him as Kai focused on the road. After all, the lights had turned green, and they had to continue driving before the driver behind them got impatient and started slamming on their horn. “We said no more lies,” Azure repeated.

Kai sighed and looked at Azure briefly before looking at the road. “I’m not lying.”

“But that means.” Azure began, trailing off. He knew what it meant. Did he want to believe what it meant, though? That was the question. He didn’t want to. He didn’t like the version of Kai he had in his mind to be tainted, but wasn’t it too late? After this conversation, no matter how much he loved him, Azure could never look at him the same.

Kai sighed, his hands slacking a little on the wheel. He quickly glanced over at Azure and nodded. “I don’t send demons back to hell. I kill them. And you’re a demon.”

When the car parked, Azure thought this was his end, that this was how he, a knight of hell, would die. By trusting a human, by falling in love with one. His name would go down in history as the first Knight to be killed by the human priest he loved. But when he looked outside, they were in the parking lot of the church Kai attended. Was he letting him go? Or was he not stupid enough to try and kill him? He thought it was most likely the latter. The former was just wishful thinking on his behalf.

“I’m here. Go away, Azure.”

Azure stared at the church, this was one of the few buildings that had remained after the split had been born and was now declared a special building or something similar. Azure peeled his gaze away from the old gothic architecture of the church to let his gaze fall on Kai. He summoned a portal in his seat, and just like that, he was in his bedroom, spitting on the bed, staring into nothingness. They couldn’t go back.

No matter what happened now, Azure was sure that the relationship the two of them had before would never reappear. He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there. His apartment was awfully quiet. Did the demons finally leave, or were his thoughts so overwhelming that he was sure he was panicking?

How long had Kai known? How? Why? Did he know the full extent of Angel Wards? He had to, right? He seemed to know more about them than he initially thought. Kai wasn’t his. Maybe he never had been? But then maybe that was it. Maybe Kai had always known who Azure was. He could have faked not knowing. Sometimes, he thought they might have kissed. Maybe they could have kissed if something or someone hadn't interrupted them. But that couldn’t be it. Because if Kai knew, as much as he must have wanted to continue the act, Azure knew him too well to let that happen. Or maybe Azure didn’t know him at all?

Kai was going to become an angel when he died, and while what you did as a human influenced some aspects, your relationships weren’t included unless it was something considered to be a sin. Kai had played him, Azure realised. Maybe he hadn’t, perhaps he didn’t know, but that was a lie he was trying to tell himself to feel better.

Because the chances were, he fell in love with the man who had always hated him, and Azure didn’t know how to handle all these emotions. Azure ran a hand through his hair as he exhaled and stared at the flooring in his bedroom.

What was he supposed to do with all of this information?

~*~