Chasing the Daemon - Book 2

Chapter 2 - Jaed

As soon as Michael leaves, I feel deflated. His light leaves with him. When I was in the dark, alone and wandering, dreaming of my Angel that brought me a sliver of hope, I never thought that it was a daemon. Ironic really, humans have mistaken them for angels since the dawning of Man. I know that we are supposed to be enemies, but he saved me. And he seems to be helping me for some reason. I have felt no animosity coming from him so far.

Quite opposite really….

I know the signs of attraction. And I have no doubt that Michael is at least somewhat interested in me. As I think about his eyes roaming over me as I lay in the sun, I smile like a schoolboy who caught his crush staring at him. My smile widens as I remember his subsequent blush when he realized he had been caught.

His stoic expression dropped and he looked so adorable as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. It was just for a moment, but I knew at that point that I had a chance to win him. Maybe not in the forever sense, but I wouldn’t mind dipping my toes in that pool for a while.

After I caught him watching, I took a risk and pushed at him with my aura. Just a little. I could feel him struggle against it and I wish I could have given him a stronger dose, but his friend was watching us. He looked like he was laughing at us, but his eyes bore into me. I’m not sure what he is, which is a little unnerving. He’s not a daemon or demon. Fae maybe? Maybe I can get Michael to tell. Once we are alone, I can turn my aura higher. No one can resist it for long

Someone did once.

Jane. The human that Kadis was chasing. She resisted it, AND threw it back at me. She used my own ability against me. Her name sends a tickle to the back of my head. A growing sense of doom comes over me and I have a feeling she is the cause of my situation. I told Kadis to forget about her and now something bad has happened. I rub the bridge of my nose in frustration at my loss of memory.

A pain starts in the back of my head and in seconds it envelops me, turning everything white. 

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

What happened?

My head hurts like someone had hit me with a hammer. I’m tucked into bed and I can hear voices coming from the next room. Michael and his friend by the sounds of it. My arm and legs feel like lead. I don’t even try to get up, I’m too exhausted. Plus the little bit of light in the room is starting to make my head hurt worse. I clamp my eyes shut. I definitely don’t want to experience that again. Never before in all the millennia that I have lived, have I ever experienced that depth of pain. I heal too fast. Well, I used to heal fast.

What in the Helis happened to me in the dark-place?

The sound of crashing utensils hits my head like a ton of bricks. I squeeze my eyes shut tighter. The pain washes over me in waves. Each one hitting me harder and harder, until I think that my head is going to split open. 

“Shhhhhh….. Shhhhhh….”

Arms roll me over and hold me gently. Michael’s voice comes through faintly over the rush of blood in my ears. My lifeline, I cling to him until the pain ebbs. It seems like hours before it finally eases and I’m just about asleep when I feel him shift. I hold him tighter. I can feel the quaver in my voice, but I don’t care. I just don’t want him to leave.

“No. Don’t go. Not yet. Don’t leave me alone.”

He stops moving and lays still. I take the chance and wrap myself around him. He stiffens a bit, but does not push me away. I bury my head into his chest. I listen to his heart beating and feel his chest rise and fall beneath my hand. Before long, I feel him relax and his breathing change, as he falls asleep. I’m exhausted from the pain and I can still feel a little bit of it sitting at the back of my head, but I struggle to fall asleep. I just want to enjoy this for a bit. I don’t know why, but this feels right. Michael feels right.

Is this what Kadis feels with Jane? Is that why he didn’t want to mark her? To preserve this?

I’m beginning to wonder if I should even use my aura on Michael at all. Would it be more satisfying to win him over the old fashioned way? It’s hard to say. I’ve never tried to court a daemon before. There was never a chance to try, we always just tried to kill each other first. It is always good versus evil between our realms. Never any room for anything else.

Maybe we can change that, at least for the moment. Or until I can satisfy this need to be with him.

I once told Kadis that he was obsessed with Jane and that the best thing to do was to drop her or mark her. He didn’t want to do that. I kinda understand now. I also realize my obsession with Michael is stemmed from my time in the dark-place, but I don’t really care at this point. A yawn escapes me, and I snuggle in closer to Michael and decide that right now, I’m just going to enjoy what is happening right now.

And right now, falling asleep in Michael’s arms is damn near perfect.

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

I wake up alone and disappointed. Michael has already gotten up, but at least my head feels normal. I tentatively sit up and when I feel no pain, I make my way to the bathroom. I really need to clean up. I feel sweaty and grungy from sleeping in my clothes. I find everything I need to have a shower, so I turn the water on and step inside. I let the hot water wash over me and I scrub the gritty feeling off. I feel a hundred times better by the time I get out.

I dry off, give my teeth a quick brush with the new toothbrush I found and the head back to the room. Michael said that there were clothes here. I dig around and find a couple pairs of jeans and t-shirts in the dresser. Not really my style, but they fit perfectly. They are comfortable though. A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts.

“Jaed?”

My heart starts to beat heavily in my chest and my face feels hot at the sound of my name. I straighten my shoulders and try to calm my nerves. I try to speak, but my mouth has gone dry.

What is happening? You, the king of cool, the prince of seduction. You’re nervous!

I clear my throat and go let Michael in. He’s looking over his shoulder at his friend when I open the door. 

Damn it. I wish he would just go away already.

“You’re lucky I don’t demon. Your brain would be a puddle of mush right now if it wasn’t for me”

“How…”

A mind-reader.

He laughs at me and a smirk settles on his face. He taps his temple.

“Now you get it.”

I glance over at Michael. He’s casually leaning against the wall, watching us. 

“Jaed… This is Zean. He’s been helping me try to figure out how to best proceed with your memory loss and healing. He’s also a mind-reader as you probably just figured out.”

He pushes away from the wall and waves at me to follow him into the kitchen. The smell of food hits me and my stomach rumbles in response. Michael dishes up a plate and drops it on the table in front of me.

“Eat up. You need to heal and food will help with that.”

I don’t argue and shovel eggs and sausages in my mouth. When my stomach stops running my brain, I push the plate away.

“What happened?”

It’s Zean that answers me.

“Michael left and seconds later you were on the floor holding your head, screaming in pain.”

I glance at Michael and I think I see his face darken before settling back into his normal stoic expression.

A trick of the light maybe?

“I called Michael back, and we got you to the room. You were unconscious and unresponsive. We left you to rest.”

Zean pauses and his eyes flicker over to Michael whose face is now set in stone. Not a twitch or indication of his thoughts.

“You must have woken up, because you started screaming again when I dropped a bunch of utensils into the sink.” He takes another sideways glance at Michael. “You wouldn’t stop until Michael… helped you. Tell me, what were you doing when this started happening.”

I think about what happened to me and pain starts to form behind my eyes. I grab the bridge of my nose.

“Stop! Focus on my voice now! Do not think about anything else, just the sound of my voice.... Focus completely on the sound of my voice..... That’s it..... Focus on me..... Focus.”

I focus on the cadence of his voice. He softens it and slows it down until I feel the pain start to fade. He turns to Michael.

“He was remembering something and it caused his mind to overload. This caused a great amount of pain as his neural pathways are not healed yet. His brain literally shut down with the effort.”

Looking at me again he chastises me, “You need to take it easy. You cannot force your memories to come back, it can do you more damage if you do.”

“What about….”

“No, Michael. Nothing. I know you want answers, but unless you want Jaed to become a vegetable, you cannot stress him with any more questions.”

“But you said he may never get his memories back!”

“Yes, but overloading his brain right now is the best way to ensure that he never does!”

I look back and forth between the two of them.

“I’m right here, don’t talk about me like I’m not.”

Zean stands up, his eyes flashing in hate. I read him wrong. I was so focused on Michael, I didn’t realize that his friend didn't want to help me.

He wants me dead.

“Yes demon. I would gladly kill you if Michael would let me. Especially after what Kadis has done. Realize this… I am only helping you because Michael said it would help Jane. That is it.”

“Zean! That’s enough!”

Zean turns to Michael who has now stood up.

“And you… Don’t think you have fooled me about some of your intentions. You say that keeping him alive will help Jane, but are you entirely truthful to yourself about that.”

Michael’s voice comes out low and gravelly as he locks stares with Zean. Blue eyes filled with lightning against blue eyes filled with ice.

“I suggest you watch what you are implying Zean.”

They stare each other down for eternity, before Zean breaks away. He glares daggers at me, before turning back to Michael.

“And I suggest you dispose of this demon before something bad happens.”

“Not happening Zean.”

With a disgusted grunt he opens a portal and Zean goes to step through, but Michael grabs him before he can.

“Remember your promise Zean.”

Zean pulls his arm out of his grasp and looks back and forth between me and Michael. I can’t see Michael’s face from here, but I set my own expression into what I’m sure is a copy of his. Zean’s gaze bounces between us a few times before he settles it back on Michael.

“And you remember yours.”

He steps through, leaving us alone. As soon as the portal closes I let the questions that are on the tip of my tongue loose.

“What the hell did he mean by ‘what Kadis has done’? What happened? What did I miss? What happened to me? Tell me!”

Michael keeps his back to me, seemingly staring at the spot where the portal was. He finally moves and runs a hand through his hair, before facing me. He looks at the floor as he sits back down. He looks tired and worn.

“What…”

I start to ask again, but the words stick in my throat as he pins me with his eyes.

“I will tell you everything, but first we need some rules. Rules about what is appropriate behaviour and what is not. Specifically your attempts of seduction.”

This is not good. How am I going to win him if he restricts me. I activate my aura. If I can get him to agree on what he thinks are 'restrictions', then maybe I have a chance.

“Well that won’t do at all Michael. Why would you want that? Tell me what do you want?”

I see his jaw clench and his eyes narrow, and I realize that something is wrong.

“Are you quite done yet?” A frown forms on his face. “That won't work on me Jaed, so you can just stop it. Now, you are going to agree to my restrictions and bind yourself to them….. or I will hand you over to Zean until you do remember. And I can guarantee that he will not be a nice as I am. Do you understand?”

My aura isn’t affecting him! All I can do is nod mutely as he starts to list off the rules.

I think I f****d up big time.