Prologue
Scarlett’s POV-
Everyone in their life has that one moment where they meet their fated mate or mates, and everybody remembers that moment. I know I do. Though my mother always told me that I would never have a fated mate, because I am a half-breed. I know I am no half-breed; I am a hybrid. My mother is an extremely powerful pureblood witch, but my father was one of the most powerful demons to ever exist. My mother once told me he was royalty, but I never knew how high of a royal he was until I turned eighteen. I have not seen him since I was six years old, so my mother raised me. My mother has always been so cruel, always putting me down. It only got worse when she married the werewolf king. But the one thing I never told her was about the two male demons I have seen almost everywhere since I was ten years old. I didn’t know then who they were, but now I know they are the most important people in the world to me.
Almost eight years ago, I was at this café with school friends and their parents, for a party. We were all having fun, laughing, joking, singing. It was a good time. But then everyone froze. Everything around me had frozen. I could move. I didn’t understand what was going on, but I wasn’t afraid. It was strange, I felt so thrilled, even excited. I knew it was because of my demon side. Black eerie smoke poured in through the open café door. Two shadowy figures entered, walking through the smoke. I ducked under the table, and hid quietly. I didn’t know what to do. But as the two figures stepped into view, I felt my breathing catch in my throat. They were handsome. I was ten, just starting to notice what I thought handsome men looked like. These two were so handsome, but I could tell that they were demons, and they shared a connection with each other. A connection I didn’t understand at the time.
A man had been flirting with the woman behind the counter, when everything froze around me. The two demons circled him. That man unfroze, when one of the demons tapped him on the shoulder. I was confused about what they were doing. I didn’t understand much about demons back then, because I was never told much. So, I couldn’t help but watch. I wanted to learn more. But I also couldn’t take my eyes off the two demons. The man that unfroze was shocked and afraid of the two demons.
“It can’t be time already. Please, I need more time. I will give you more,” the man begged.
“You have nothing else of interest to us. You made a deal to give us your soul, in exchange for the looks that allowed you to get all those women, but now time is up, and we are here to collect your soul,” the lean and shorter one of the demons smirked.
“So, it’s time to enjoy your cozy accommodation in hell,” the boarder and taller one said, while smirking.
The man began begging over and over again. He screamed as flames erupted around him, dragging him down into hell. He vanished from view. I let out a gasp. I had never seen something like that happen before, so I was very surprised. Both of the demons’ heads turned slowly in my direction. They looked menacing, and most would scream, but I didn’t flinch. They disappeared, and reappeared even closer to me, kneeling down, looking under the table at me. I wasn’t scared, so it didn’t make me jump when they moved that fast and closer to me. My eyes dashed between them, as their eyes glanced from me to each other. Their eyes were mesmerizing. The shorter and leaner one had black eyes, while the other had ice-blue eyes.
“She is, isn’t she,” the black-eyed one said to the other.
He nodded, “She is. How old are you?”
Their eyes were fixed on me. I whispered, “I am ten.”
“What is your name,” the black-eyed one asked.
“Scarlett Maleficarum,” I whispered.
“Stay safe, Scarlett, we will be watching,” the blue-eyed one winked at me.
They disappeared before my eyes. The moment I got back up from under the table, the surrounding room unfroze, everyone continued where they left off. No one knew what just happened. They wouldn’t understand it either, so I never told anyone. I always wondered what they meant by “she is.” Was I their mate? Was that why they were going to be watching me?
But since that day, I have seen them over and over again. They never missed a birthday or holiday celebration. They always left me presents for my birthday, for Christmas, for Easter, even little Valentine's Day cards. They never forgot about me, and I never forgot them. After a while, I put out little gifts for them. I didn’t know their birthdays, so every year on my birthday, I would leave a gift out for them. The same with the holidays, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day. It became our little thing. It always excited me to see what they got me. It was the one thing I was always excited about when my birthday came around, and when the holidays came around.
It was like they were there every free moment they had. They were like guardian angels to me. My guardian demons. They protected me when I needed it. There was an incident where I nearly got run over by a car at fourteen years old. The shorter and leaner one was there. He saved me. The other time, the taller, blue-eyed one, saved me from a man who started following me late one night. After the party, I snuck out too. I am sure that man would have done something to hurt me, if my guardian demon hadn’t been there. Over the years, every single time a guy hit on me, they would be there, but they never got involved. I guess they were watching to see my decision. I always turned guys down, mostly because it never felt right to be with anyone else, but my fated mate or mates. I wanted to wait till I was eighteen and could tell who my mates were.
Thanks to them, I never felt alone. I actually felt loved, felt cared for. I never would have felt like that if it wasn’t for them, because of how cruel my mother and step-family were to me every single day. I was abused by them, but I had exceptional healing powers, so they never left a scar. It is why I moved out when I was sixteen, into the house my father left me, before he disappeared. It was in my name, so my mother could do nothing about it. I still went to school and then college. Here in England, you can start college at sixteen and finish at eighteen, before starting university. When I started college, I met my best friend, Amelia. She is a vampire, forever stuck at eighteen years old, even though she is 180 years old. She is the only one I talked to about the two demons that always follow me. She became the only person I could confide in about anything, and I became her confidant. I guess I told her, because she herself found her second mate last year. She has two mates, one vampire and one were-bear. Something as years went by, I was beginning to wonder if these two demons were my fated mates. I just wouldn’t know until I was eighteen. She helped me understand that there could be signs, but I still had to wait to know for sure. So, I waited.