The Demon's Daughter

Snow Angels

Pain. That’s all Madison could remember. She didn’t remember losing consciousness or waking up. She just remembered the pain. Through the pain she could see the light from outside the room and feel the blood under her. She needed to escape. Her brothers were going to kill her, and while death would be a blessing now, she had promised Rob that she’d get out of this place, not die in it. How could she leave though? Nymphs, she thought. They have magic and could travel through the trees.

                Pain. It drives you to do stupid things, but it also keeps you going when all you have left is death waiting at the end of the corridor. Madison knew she needed to find Lily. Lily would help her. They were both victims right now, and surely Lily would see that if Madison didn’t get out of this house she’d die. Where could she go though? She couldn’t go back to the human world with these wounds. Cillian, she thought. She knew roughly where the Crescent Moon Pack lived. She could get to that territory. Cian and the others wouldn’t risk a fight against a free pack of werewolves.

                Pain. It was blinding and numbing, but it kept her awake now. She was so tired from the constant torture. What time was it even? She could have sworn she had heard the midnight chimes. Maybe she had been dreaming though. Why did everything hurt so bad?

                “Lily,” Madison tried to call out as she reached the kitchen. Her voice cracked though, and she fell against the doorframe. “Lily, please.”

                Lily came to the door and gasped in horror at Madison’s appearance.

                “Please, help me get to the Blue Mountains,” Madison said.

                “Why there?” Lily asked, helping Madison into a chair.

                “I have a friend there. I can get help,” Madison replied. “Please, I know nymphs can travel using trees.”

                “Trees we know,” Lily corrected. She looked around the kitchen and sighed. Madison needed to get away from this place. That much was certain. “Let’s go.”

                Lily helped Madison to the nearest tree, a large oak in the garden. Madison slumped against it, barely able to stand any longer. Meanwhile, Lily put her hand on the tree and closed her eyes. A cold breeze blew through the garden and Madison pulled what was left of her shirt tighter around her. Everything she was wearing was soaked in blood. She wanted to change, but there was no time. Her brothers would find her missing soon.

                “He can get you to the Blue Mountains,” Lily finally said.

                “Thank you,” Madison replied gratefully. “Thank you for everything.”

                Lily nodded. “You helped Rob, didn’t you?” she asked after a pause.

                “I did the right thing,” Madison answered. “I did what my conscience would allow me to live with.”

                Lily smiled sadly. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

                In that moment Madison understood why Lily had been so concerned about Rob. She had loved him. Madison had never paid close enough attention to see the way the two looked at each other but looking back they were always interacting even when they didn’t need to be. Lily would have wanted Rob to be free even more than Madison, but she hadn’t been able to do it because she wasn’t a Beck.

                Madison simply nodded in response. She didn’t have the strength to reply, and she didn’t trust her voice not to betray her emotions at the moment.

                “Good luck, Maddy,” Lily said.

                With a flash of light, Lily and the mansion disappeared. Madison felt as if her body would be torn into a million different pieces, but right before she could let out a scream, she landed on the ground. She could tell immediately that she was nowhere near the mansion. The stars were brighter here, and it was colder. Snow, Madison thought as she felt under her. She moved her arms and legs a bit, relishing the way the cold snow soothed her wounds. Snow angels, she thought with a pained smile.

                Madison knew she should try to move, but she could do little more than crawl. She could see lights in the distance. She had to be close. She groaned in pain and tried to pull herself up so she could look at her surroundings. It was near sunset, so the woods were casting shadows over everything and the dim lighting made it hard for her to see much.

                Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Madison’s neck stood on end. She felt the presence of something large behind her, but she didn’t want to turn around. Fear and pain kept her frozen in place. She chanced a look at the sky again. If she were to die in the open like this at least she’d see the night sky. Whatever was behind her started making a circle around her. Madison became aware of two animals and saw them both at the same time out of the sides of her eyes. Werewolves. If she was in the right area, which she thought she was, then they should be park of Cillian’s pack.

                “Are…are you Crescent Moon wolves?” she asked hesitantly.

                Both wolves paused in their circling.

                “I…I know your alpha,” she said, feeling her strength dwindling. The cold was setting in. “I need his help.” She laid back down on the snow-covered ground and prayed the wolves understood and could rely the message.

                After a moment, one of them came over and laid on the ground next to Madison. His body radiated heat and without meaning to, Madison gravitated toward it. She was so cold. His fur was soft like his brothers, and dark grey. His eyes were a mesmerizing blue. Blue eyes, Madison thought. There was something about blue eyes that she couldn’t remember at the moment. Werewolves weren’t supposed to have blue eyes though. No, yellow eyes for everyone except alphas. The eyes were blue if they…she couldn’t remember. Everything was going dark again.

   *******             

                She said she knew you, Alpha, Tiernan said via the mind-link as Cillian came bounding into the clearing.

                We didn’t touch her, Owen added. Well, I tried to keep her warm. She’s small. He stood up, revealing Madison’s small, damaged body lying on the blood-soaked ground.

                f**k, Cillian growled. This is how you found her?

                Yes, Tiernan and Owen answered in unison.

                She was lying on the ground, Owen said.

                Cillian approached Madison. She was still breathing, although it was shallow. She was badly injured, that much was clear. He couldn’t tell the extent of the wounds though. He took a step back and shifted into his human form, ignoring the cold wind on his naked body. “We’re taking her home with us,” he said, picking up Madison’s lifeless form.

                If anyone at the manor home was shocked to see Cillian in his human form, naked, carrying a bloody girl they didn’t say anything. They looked worriedly at the scene and threw questioning glances at Tiernan and Owen, but the younger two only shrugged as they got dressed.

                “Da, I need some help here,” Cillian called out as he placed Madison on the bed in a spare room.

                His father came into the room and his eyes widened in shock. “What did those boys do?” he asked. 

                “It wasn’t us!” Tiernan protested. “We found her like that.”

                “Yeah,” Owen agreed. “It’s like she dropped out of the sky or something.”

                “Who is she?” Liv asked.

                “Madison Beck,” Cillian answered as he tore off what remained of her shirt. “And these aren’t werewolf marks, these are demons. I’ve seen them before.”

                “She was attacked by a demon?” Liv said, taking a step closer and looking at the wounds. “It looks like one bit her,” she added, pointed to the wound that was still bleeding heavily on the side of her lower back.

                “Maddy, wake up,” Cillian said, trying to revive Madison. “Madison, come on.” He gently shook her.

                Madison groaned. She felt warmer now. Was she dead? No, there was still pain. s**t, I’m in hell. She opened her eyes a bit and saw Cillian. “Cillian,” she muttered.

                “Who did this to you?” Cillian asked quickly.

                “They’re free,” Madison said. “Black Moon.” Then she passed out again.

                “That made no sense,” Owen remarked.

                Cillian sighed. No, it made sense, he thought. Madison freed Rob and his pack. All of the sudden her injuries made sense. Her brothers must have found out and tortured her for it. This wasn’t a random demon attack. Her family did this to her. That very thought made Cillian’s blood boil.

                “Cillian, should I clean and bandage her wounds?” Ash asked, coming into the room with first aid supplies. She had been working at a hospital in the city lately and was quite good at it. Cillian nodded stiffly and left the room.

                “Cillian,” his father followed him out, “something’s upsetting you.”

                “There’s a seventeen-year-old bleeding to death in our spare room. Of course I’m upset,” Cillian retorted.

                “What do you know?” his father asked him.

                “I know that her family is a bunch of f*****g assholes,” Cillian snapped. “I need to go for a run.” He left the house without speaking to anyone else.

                “She’s so small,” Ash said as she worked on bandaging Madison’s savagely beaten body. “Whoever did this to her should be ashamed. She had no way to defend herself against a demon attack.”

                Owen and her father were in the doorway watching her and listening.

                “Cillian thinks it was her family,” her father remarked.

                Ash paused for a moment. “No wonder he’s angry,” she said before going back to work. “Why are they so cruel to her?”

                “She’s human?” Owen suggested.

                “We wouldn’t do that if we had a human sister, would we?” Ash asked.

                “We’re not demons,” Owen pointed out.

                Ash silently agreed. She finished securing the bandaging and tried cleaning Madison up as much as possible. The girl was young, that much was obvious, but she was pretty. Her skin was pale with only a hint of a tan remaining from the summer and fall months. Her dark hair seemed to highlight her paleness even more though. Right now it was matted with blood and sweat, and there were sticks and leaves stuck in it, but Ash imagined the girl was very attractive when she was put together. She pulled some debris from Madison’s hair and took a brush from the side table.

                “She’s not a doll, Ash,” Owen teased.

                “Shut up,” Ash snapped. “She’s all alone and could use some compassion.”

                Owen rolled his eyes. “I doubt she wants it from us,” he remarked.

                “She came here, didn’t she?” Ash replied.

                “She came for Cillian,” Owen pointed out. “Which is odd on its own.”

                “She doesn’t have anyone else,” Ash said. “She trusts our brother.”

                Owen scoffed. “Cillian’s her bodyguard. She wants protection. She’s a Beck and they just take what they want and use people.”

                Ash glared at him. “She’s a human. Does this look like someone who is trying to use our alpha?”

                “Human or not, she’s the daughter of a demon,” Owen replied before walking off.

                Ash looked at her father. “What do you think?” she asked.

                “I think Cillian is alpha and we should listen to him,” her father answered.

                Ash had to agree. Not that she had any choice in the matter. Of course she would listen to Cillian. Not only was he alpha, but he was also her older brother, and he seemed to know more about this girl than anyone else. He had to have a good reason to bring her here instead of sending her to a hospital.