Page 46 of Witch's Exile
19
DEJA
"Lucifer and I decided Beelzebub must face consequences for his actions," Ash said solemnly. "Our kind is strictly forbidden from imposing our own agendas on other beings without their consent. That includes meddling in their genetic development before birth."
He looked at Seth and held out his hand. "I understand now you're a victim and did what was necessary to survive. You're welcome to stay as a guest here, not a prisoner. I promise your ancestor will be punished accordingly."
Seth regarded him coolly for a moment before accepting his hand and shaking it. Meanwhile, I felt like I was watching my life through another dimension.
"Wait." I tugged at Ash's sleeve. "Shouldn't we discuss this first?"
"No."
I flinched. The tone in that one word was the harshest way Ash had ever spoken to me.
"Ash," I tried again. "I really feel like-"
"It's not up for discussion, Lilith." His eyes flashed with white-hot fire. "I'm still the one in charge here. Seth has gone a bit rogue but we've concluded he acted in your best interest. He's staying. That's the end of it."
It took everything in me not to shrink back from his gaze, not to mention the dark, shadowy power exuding off of him like plumes of smoke. He always kept so calm and in control and still I knew this was only a fraction of his power.
Weakly, I gave a tiny nod and he finally looked away. Ash was not one to throw his power or authority around to show off, so seeing it now made me realize how serious he was.
"Bathroom's down there," Ash pointed down the hall to Seth. "We can loan you some of our clothes for the time being and there's a spare bedroom upstairs. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, although Sal's the best cook out of all of us."
My angel's shoulders sagged as he rubbed his eyes, suddenly appearing weary.
"I'll be in my study," he said softly, all the heavy-handed authority gone from his voice. We all moved out of his way as he abruptly exited the kitchen. Part of me wanted to follow him, but we could all see he didn't want to be disturbed then. Least of all by me.
Discomfort clenched in my gut. Why did I have the awful feeling that he was somehow blaming me for all this?
Sal muttered something about finding clothes for Seth and bounded up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Seth made his way to the bathroom and shut the door, clicking the lock into place. That left only me and Raum in the kitchen. I stared at him blankly, wondering if he was going to awkwardly leave me too.
But my raven-haired demon seemed unfazed by these recent revelations and held his arm out to me with a smirk.
"Shall we go for a stroll, luv?" he said in a mocking British accent.
I huffed out a humorless laugh but took his elbow anyway and followed his lead out to the back porch.
"So what do you make of all this?" I asked as we descended the steps and strolled across the forest floor.
"Doesn't matter," he answered, dropping his arm to lace his fingers with mine. "It already is and our opinions and feelings won't do a damn thing to change that."
"It does matter, though," I argued. "First he's our enemy and now he's our new house guest? And he has to stay here while our chemistry or whatever makes us want to hate-fuck each other? Like, I'm just supposed to be okay with that?"
"He needs protection now that the hunters are after him too," Raum pointed out. "This is the safest place for him. And Ash is right. At the center of it all, he's a victim. He had no choice in becoming what he is."
"He didn't have to pretend to be a hunter. He didn't have to let Diana into my mind to fuck with me," I shot back. "Those were choices he made."
"Baby, you might not be fully understanding his circumstances," Raum said gently. "You are special but you have no problem passing as pure witch. He has too much demon in him to get by among witches. The kid had to greatly downplay his demon heritage and yes, probably felt forced to join the hunter's guild and do other things to avoid suspicion."
We walked silently through the moonlit forest for a few moments. A distant wolf howled and I wondered if it was Orion.
"Did you know this about him the whole time?" I asked.
"No. That's why Ash left to make sure but," he paused hesitantly. "I think the three of us felt inclined to trust him right before we left San Francisco when he outed himself to us." He squeezed my hand protectively. "Of course, you weren't inclined to trust anyone after that so it was no surprise that you wouldn't."
"Why are the other two acting so weird?" I blurted out. "They're being all shifty like I actually want to sleep with him and I sure as fuck don't."
