Chasing the Daemon - Book 2

Chapter 3 - Michael

A sullen Jaed sulks off to the room after I impose the rules on him. There was no room for debate and I think he agreed to the conditions out of shock more than anything. I steel myself against his pouting, as he looks back once more before he heads to the bedroom. I cannot let my feelings get in the way anymore. 

‘Maybe if you were thinking with your head and not with what is in your pants, then maybe you would already have found Jane!’

Zean’s accusation rings in my head. After Jaed begged me to stay with him, I had fallen asleep with his arms around me. As much as I try to deny it or blame it on his aura, I can’t lie to myself. I wish it could be different between us and my dreams reflect it. They take me to a fictional world where it doesn’t matter that Jaed is my enemy. A place where I could appease my cravings. I was woken up to Zean shaking me roughly, a glower upon his face.

My dreams betrayed my subconscious wants and he saw them. Now he thinks I am just keeping Jaed around for selfish reasons. I wish I could say that he is completely wrong, but after much self-reflection, as well as a tongue lashing from Zean, I do see that I have ‘allowed’ myself to be maneuvered into this arrangement. I sure in Hell didn’t struggle very hard against it at any rate.

The only thing to do now is move forward and forget about my personal wants. This is about Jane and finding her. She is the key. The Kreion. The one who possesses all powers. The All-Powerful.

She is literally a prophecy coming to fruition. The other realms would consider her an abomination, even the other Albadash. Every one of her kind had been killed as soon as they were born. Usually born of r**e, the mother almost always let the child be ‘dealt with’. Oh, there were some that tried to save their children, but they were always found quickly.

Demon hybrids were never tolerated. Especially demon and human hybrid children. As the centuries went by, less and less hybrids were born and then with the imposition of the curse on the demons, the birth of demon hybrids stopped. The council of Daemons and Fae had believed they had stopped the prophecy from coming. I began to believe that it would never be filled. I had almost given up hope.

But somehow Jane was not only born, but she survived detection. How did it happen?

And only Zean and I know about her. I made him promise that he would tell no one. Only a few beings know the truth of the prophecy. The Albadash book I gave Jane has been hidden for centuries. It would have been destroyed otherwise. Most beings think that the Kreion will bring about the end of the realms. Some think that the Kreion will create a world where humans rule over everything. But I know the truth. She will bring about healing and balance. That is why she must be found!

I push myself out of my chair. 

Zean was right. I had spent too much time comforting Jaed after his episode. I could have left him, he was out of danger by that time and Zean could have monitored him. But I chose to stay and in doing so let Jane’s trail get even colder. I need to focus and get back to the job.

Where is my pack?

After a quick search, I groan to myself and determine that it must be in the bedroom. As much as I can tell myself to ignore my attraction to Jaed, I am reluctant to face him. What if I fail? There is too much on the line for me to let him distract me. I thought that the protection charm against his aura would make it better, but it has only shown me that I am weak. That his aura was an excuse.

You wanted it to be an excuse.

I need to put some distance between us. But first I have to face him. I can tell myself all I want that he means nothing to me, but my body doesn’t listen to reason. Best he stays here…. far away from me. 

You’re only delaying the inevitable.

Angry with myself, I pull myself up to full height and enter the bedroom. I can feel the tension leave my body as I see he isn’t here. He must still be in the apartment though, Zean is still watching his movements and he hasn’t alerted me. A clunking noise comes from the bathroom behind me.

Good! Maybe I can get my pack and leave with little direct interaction.

I spy my bag by the foot of the bed. As I grab it, I notice another bag on the bed. Clothes are falling out of it.

“I’m ready.”

I turn to find Jaed with an armload of stuff from the bathroom. He walks by me without a glance and dumps them into the bag. He haphazardly crams the clothes into it, zips it up, and throws it over his shoulder.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m ready.”

My mind is frozen. I’m not understanding what he is doing.

“Ummm. Okay….. Where are you going? I made it clear that you are to follow the rules. You bound yourself to them.”

He finally looks at me, a smirk plastered on his face.

“With you.”

I’m immediate with my answer.

“No.”

“Yes, I am.”

I can feel my frustration boil over as my voice comes dangerously close to becoming a yell.

“That is not what we agreed too!”

The smirk hasn’t moved.

“Are you sure?”

I try to think and my brows furrow. I wrote the conditions down and I am positive that there is no wriggle room. I look up to see his green eyes glowing in laughter.

“You daemons think that you know demons so well. But in reality, most conditions that you think to place on us can be interpreted in numerous ways.” He makes the pretense like he is thinking about something, but I can tell he is just playing it up. “While, yes, I have to abide by the basics of your conditions. The ‘extras’ can be twisted in certain ways. One, you forget your words in the gardens. You promised to stay with me in exchange for me ‘being good’. First mistake.”

He tsks at me. 

“I can interpret that condition as I have to be with you for all other conditions to be in effect. And since we entered into that verbal agreement before all other agreements were set…. You get the picture, right?”

I clench my hands into fists and glare daggers at him as he continues.

“Two, you also said that you would tell me what has happened. You have failed to do that yet. By that rationale, no other condition has been bonded until you satisfy your side of the bargain. So to show you my good faith," He opens his arms with a flourish, "I will be coming with you.”

He walks up and stands just inches away, his smile still plastered to his face, and stares me in the eye. His closeness makes me uncomfortable, but I hold my ground. I refuse to step back.

“You know…. just to be sure I’m following the terms of our agreement.”

My mind races.

Dammit!

‘ZEAN!’

Within seconds Zean portals to the room. I glare at him before he can say anything.

‘Don’t say a word! You’re coming with us.'

I open a portal to Rome and without looking back step through. Moments later Jaed and the Zean step through. I start to walk away, and then stop. Turning to face them, my anger seething.

“Both of you stay out of my way. And you,” I stare at Jaed. “Stay only near enough to me to satisfy the conditions we agreed upon. Zean is now your keeper.”

With that, I turn on my heel and stalk away. I need to find Jane fast. This is getting too complicated. All because of a few moments of weakness.

-------------------

“Look at it this way, Michael.” Zean says as he grabs the last pastry. I had finally calmed down and realized that Zean would be better at getting information about Jane than me. We are sitting in the bistro trying to decide what we are going to do. Zean thinks that we should split up, but I don't want to. 

“If we split up, we can check out the places the cashier says Jane was asking about faster. The faster we find Jane, the faster we can be rid of him.”

I see Zean’s eyes flicker to the table behind me.

After making a few inquiries one of the cashiers says he remembers Jane. A couple of minutes with Zean and the cashier gives up his memories. She was asking about 3 different countries that would be quiet to move to. It’s still a large chunk of area to cover, but it narrows it down from the entire earth. It could take months to find her still. Especially since we are trying to do it without giving any information to other scouts about her nature. The less people know about her, the better. At least until I can talk to her. If anyone finds out what she is, she will be in extreme danger. She’s powerful, but inexperienced. Someone can take advantage of that. I can only hope that her innate abilities will keep her safe.

“Michael?”

I fold my arms across my chest.

“I think it’s a bad idea to split up. Besides, what about earlier. You practically accused me of being a horndog. That I would put my desires over and above Jane’s safety.”

He flinches at my words.

“Yeah. Ummm. Sorry about that. I saw your dream and lost my temper. I know you didn’t mean it like that. I understand that it was a dream and you can’t control dreams. Who you want to 'dance' with is your decision. I just want Jane to be safe, and I shouldn't have gotten mad at you about a stupid dream. I know you want her back as much as I do. Besides, I’ve been scanning his mind constantly and while he does have ‘intentions’ about you, he does not have any to betray us or Jane.”

My breath hitches in my chest at the bluntness of Zean’s observations about Jaed's thoughts. I clear my throat to hide my reaction. 

“And he wouldn’t be bluffing?”

He sits back and looks over at Jaed again. I refuse to turn around and look. I will not show any weakness.

“Not one slip up. With his mind so badly damaged, he doesn’t have the capacity to try and block me or fool me.”

I find a little solace in that fact. At least my instincts on that front have been right. I do think that he can help us, especially when it comes to understanding Kadis. As for the other stuff, I’ll have to be vigilant about not falling for any of his tricks. My body may want him, but my mind is the one that drives the car. And I definitely know that succumbing to any desires on that part, is a very bad idea.

“Fine. With him in tow, I’ll be slower than you. Plus your abilities will make you much faster than us, anyways. You take these two areas,” I point to two of the cities that the cashier mentioned, “and we’ll take this one.” 

I stand up and Zean follows suit. We clasp hands and I finally turn to Jaed. The earnest look on his face would have made me suspicious, but with Zean’s reassurance about him not wanting to betray us, I let the thought fall away.

Yeah, you just have to worry about his ‘other’ intentions.

I fidget with the charm on my ear. Those I can handle. It’s a just mind over matter. 

Hopefully he’ll remember soon.

Zean’s voice cuts through my thoughts. Stating something that I probably only touched the edge of in my mind.

“Just don’t ask Jane to heal him if you find her first. We don’t need a repeat of what happened to Kadis. One 'healed' demon is more than enough.”