I wake again and this time when I open my eyes, it seems dimmer. I can see right away and I instantly realize the surface I saw before was a ceiling. Huh, but what were the weird conglomerations of colors? Was I dreaming? Colors can't talk. And they certainly can't move on their own.

I turn my head again, very, very slowly this time. My world doesn't explode in pain. I take this as a good sign and turn it all the way to the side. Oh. That's what the colors were. People.

Jalkyn and the shiny guy to be exact. I try to remember the shiny guy's name but can't. I decided he might be a dragon right? I don't know. Someone said something about him being the family guardian? That brings it back. Meara or Cayden or someone said that, and they forced me to leave Border Town and come to the stupid faerie hills and I got in fights and then a big fight and then water and- Man, Cayden tried to drown me. Ouch. but why the fuck am I not dead? And how am I not hurting? Shouldn't I be hurting like a lot? I was drowned! I remember being crushed too! Crushed hard enough that ribs broke. I slowly and carefully raise a hand, but it doesn't hurt so I poke at my ribs. It doesn't hurt.

It should hurt, right? I remember, at least, cracking ribs. I've cracked ribs before. It hurt. It continued to hurt. Why am I not hurt?

It takes me a few moments to realize I've been healed. How odd. I thought everyone here wanted me dead. I glance at the two sleeping on the chairs, flushing a little. Man, I must have been really out of it last time. And, um... Iain! That was the shiny man's name!

Anyway, Iain sounded pissed. I remember that much. I didn't listen to him because of it.

He's probably here to make sure I don't hurt anyone else. He's easily explainable. Jalkyn makes no sense. None. He doesn't like me. I very nearly ripped out his throat I was chewing on it so hard yesterd- but was it yesterday? How long have I been out? I remember it being bright last time... And it’s dark now, I realize. The lights are out. Oh. That's actually probably why I can see better. Bright lights and me do not agree when I've been badly hurt. I dunno why, they just don't. I've always just assumed some weird half-breed thing.

So it's night. But is it the same night?

It could be.

But for some reason, I don't believe it. I was hurt too badly and I'm too completely healed now. I raise my left arm and look at it. Whoever took care of me also took care of the burn from Meara. That was nice of them, I guess. But it means I'm completely healed for my next fight. How many have I been in? It's only been- Well, I've only been here for one full day and night conscious and that day was split up by that night. Not very long. And I've gotten in... two with Meara, one with Jalkyn, and one with Cayden. Is that all? It feels like more. I've come out the victor... two-ish times. That thing with Jalkyn ended up with me vomiting and I didn’t really beat Meara. If he had thought to attack me instead of the wyvern, he would have won.

I hope that I've been unconscious for seven months. There's no way I can survive here for long. A near death experience on my second day. That can't be a good sign. I try to sit up and make a tiny little grunt, but suddenly both faeries are awake.

Iain shoots up out of his chair, but Jalkyn stays sitting, eyeing me warily. Now that he's awake and sitting up so I can see his face... He's not looking too hot. His skin is pale and has a translucent quality to it. He looks almost ghostly with his weird hair color in the dim light. It's down, the first time I've seen it loose. Long hair actually looks really good on him, although the color certainly doesn't it. The color just makes him look sick. But he’s pretty bad looking anyways. There are dark circles under his eyes and… hickies dotting his neck. Hickies and teeth marks. Only some of them are mine.

Ouch. And there are bruises on his arms. He sees me looking and glares, not bothering to pull his sleeves down.

I stare back, face as empty as I can get it. He looks away first and then all my attention is taken up by Iain. He glares at me and he's actually really scary. He's as tall as I am almost, and wider. He is fucking huge.

I nearly shrink back into the bed, before remembering I have some pride. And besides, I'm healed completely as far as I can tell. A little stiff, but nothing too bad. No injuries at all right now. It's kind of cool. As long as I get healed completely between every fight, I could probably survive seven months.

But he doesn't do anything but glare at me. I sneak a glance at Jalkyn, hoping for an answer, but he isn't looking at me, he's staring at the ground and his eyelids are fluttering madly and his head is nodding down to his chest and then jerking back up. He's going to be out completely in a couple seconds. I can't help but feel that's a good thing. Even if I don't like him, he looks really really weak right now. It's hard to hate anyone who looks that pathetic. Maybe he'll be back to his usual self after some sleep. It's probably better for my health and peace of mind  if I don't start feeling bad for faerie fucks.

But that leaves me to try and figure out Iain on my own. I can't think of any reason why he'd just be glaring at me. "What?" I finally snap.

That wakes up Jalkyn. The ainmhain faerie yawns, flashing perfectly white teeth. "He's the family guardian." He says it like that's an answer.

Well do you know what, Jalkyn? It's not! Hell, I don't even know what that means. "So?" I finally venture as the silence ventures on. I'm still looking straight at Iain. At the moment, he seems to be the more dangerous one. He looks perfectly healthy. Jalkyn looks like he's going to pass out.

He gets up suddenly and I'm forced to rip my gaze from Iain. Jalkyn actually sways on his feet. Damn, I don't know what's wrong with him, but it seems pretty bad. Is he sick or something?

"He doesn't like you, so he's not going to talk to you," Jalkyn said flatly. "But he's honor-bound to protect your family."

That your thing again. Jalkyn's part of the family too, right? That means Iain should be honor-bound to protect him too. But Jalkyn is making it sound like he's not.

"Cayden admitted the fight was his fault so Iain was obligated to protect you as the victim."

Jalkyn chuckles lowly and it holds none of the sex his laughs usually do. "You did quite a bit of damage to Cayden and the house though. Damn good job."

What the hell is he talking about? I voice the question and Jalkyn smirks at me. It's a shadow of his usual laugh.

"You blasted the room you were in. Damn well destroyed the entire wing. All of your stuff is gone by the way. Completely destroyed. No one's dead and Cayden was the only other one hurt. Still not as badly as you though. His water protected him." Jalkyn chuckles again. "Need to learn control, love."

What? I destroyed a whole wing of this place? Wait, how big is a wing here? Hell, I don't even know how big the mansion is. It could actually be pretty small, just built confusingly. I haven't seen that much. But still... I couldn't possibly have destroyed a whole wing, could I have? It sounds impossible. Completely and totally impossible. So I push the thought aside for later.

Iain's glare is freaking me out more.

"What's this got to do with Iain?”

Jaklyn smirks and once again, it's a pathetic shadow of the ones I've seen before.

"You have to say you're okay to take care for yourself before he can leave. Because you got so hurt, he has to watch over you until you give the okay." He started heading towards the door and nearly fell on his face at the first step.

Ouch. I frown a little as Iain makes no move to help him. The dragon's kind of a jackass, isn't he? I don't like Jalkyn, but I still wouldn't let him go anywhere without assistance. He's almost staggering to the door, although the stagger is far too graceful to be normal. Man, I've never seen ANYONE move like him. I've seen ballet and that doesn't even compare. It's like... like.... almost like watching some great predatorily cat, but he doesn't bring to mind  anything predatory. He's just really graceful, even when staggering.

I frown as he gets to the door and holds onto the handle a moment too long. God, he can barely stand on his own.

Just as I open my mouth to tell Iain I'm fine and that he should help Jalkyn, the ainmhain faerie calls, "You might not want to release him from the geas. You could use a bodyguard and keeper. He'll keep you out of fights."

And then Jalkyn's out the door. I don't hear the thump of a body hitting the floor, so I don't send Iain after him. One glance at him convinces me it would be fruitless anyways. And that Jalkyn's idea would not work, not that I was considering it before.

"I'm fine," I say.

Iain just continues to glare at me.

I think back to what Jalkyn said. "I'm okay to take care of myself?" I venture.

He takes no time in leaving. He's out the door before I can blink. Damn, he's pretty graceful too. Not near Jalkyn though. And he brings to mind big cats with sharp claws and teeth. Defiantly a dangerous guy. but it looks like he can't hurt me, so that's a plus! I don't need to be hurt more.

I take a few moments to compose and prepare myself when the door shuts and I'm left alone and then I swing my legs to the side of the bed. I didn't get a change to ask how long I'd been out for. Or who had healed me.

I pushed my feet against the floor and it was okay. I grabbed the post of the overdone bedpost and heaved myself upright. I didn't fall flat on my face, so I suppose that's a plus. I take one staggering step and then sit. I really need to stretch.

When I'm working on my arms, there's a soft tapping on my door.

I just stare at it, hoping the other person will go away.

Instead it opens and Cayden walks though.

We stare at each other for a moment. I'm all tense again, just like that. Fuck. Is there going to be another fight?

He doesn't look like he got hurt and he's all nice looking and put together too. I wonder how long I was out again.

But he doesn't look angry. In fact, he doesn't look as stern as he usually does even.

He looks at me and he looks almost... apologetic.

He bows and this one is lower than any I've seen from him. He straightens back up and says stiffly, "Sinjin, I apologize for the other day. Things got out of hand."

Way out of hand. You tried to kill me jerk-off. I say nothing in return though. Nothing I can say that will make this better.

"Perhaps," he begins before pausing. He starts again. "Perhaps we should have a conversation about what angers you."

What angers me?! You fuck face! You're the one who started the violence. His next words silence any protests I may have made.

"Faerie are taught to fear demons."

That's all he says and that's enough. Oh. He was scared. That... Well, actually, it doesn't hurt. I don't like him enough for that.

Instead I say. "Okay." And that's it. I'm not apologizing.

He sits down cross legged on the floor across from me, closer to the door than me, but it's a start. "What angered you the other day?"

"How long was I out?" I ask instead of answering.

He answers instead of pushing. "Three days."

I digest that for a moment. Not too bad. "Who healed me?"

"Jalkyn." There's disgust in how he says the name, but I don't really register it. Jalkyn healed me? Completely?

"Only him?"

Cayden nods. "Yes. He is the best healer in this house."

This time I do notice the distaste. He doesn't like Jalkyn despite that. Or is it because of that? I disregard that as soon as I think it. Cayden is clearly not a healer so it's not jealousy and healers are well respected and liked everywhere. Not even faeries are crazy enough to be different on that count. So it's just Jalkyn then.

That makes sense. Jalkyn’s a jerk. And if today- three days ago- and my oh my, it seems like longer- was any indication, he wants something when he heals someone. I wonder what was promised to him?

I don’t ask though. I answer Cayden’s earlier question instead. “Zord.” I wrinkle my nose at the word. It doesn’t hurt this time. I really hate that word.

He gapes at me. Like full on eyes wide, mouth open gape. “That’s it?” he finally snaps. “A word?! You should be used to it by now! You’re a half-breed! Do you go ballistic anytime throws a slur at you?!”

I bristle. “That word, yeah!”

He glares at me. Things are going downhill again. “Why is that word so special?”

That stops me. “You don’t know the meaning?”

He glares at me. “It’s a derogative word for half-breed, same as halfie, mutt, mongrel, crossbreed, taint, idirphró, crosphró, ilchiníoch-”

“Enough!” God, one would have done. I don’t even know those last few. They sound like crazy fae words. “I get it.” My voice is softer. I’m not too mad anymore. “You should learn meanings before you say words. Zord is the abbreviation for zombie half-breed.”

He snorts. “That’s not that bad.”

“Because we’re all going to die. Soon. So we‘re the walking dead.”

He looks shocked for a moment and then horrified. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

I shrug. “Never say it in Border Town. You’ll get killed, your body will be disposed of, and the cops will turn a blind eye.”

He doesn’t look more horrified after that. Ha, he thinks I’m joking.

We go over other things that piss me off, but it’s pretty general. I don’t like being insulted. That’s pretty much all I say. But it was never really an issue back home. Punch the guy and it’s over and done with. Here it’s all frowned upon and shit. Plus, this whole situation just pisses me off. I mean, what the hell? I don’t want to be here in the first place and then I get treated like shit! My temper really isn’t usually this bad.

Cayden sighs and nods. “Very well. Do you wish to learn to meditate?”

I blink at him. “Sit cross-legged on the floor with my eyes closed and say ‘ohm’? No thanks.”

He snorts. “No. Sit cross-legged on the floor and be at peace. Learn to be at peace and think of nothing.”

Well that sounds exciting. Nice! Be nice, Sinjin! “No thank you.”

He looks at me considering. “Some end up walking the spirit realm when they fall deep enough into a trance state.”

I stare at him. “Like the land of the dead?” I squeak.

He nods.

Oh God, oh God, oh God. So cool! “I’m in.”

He smiles and begins to teach me to meditate. It’s as expected, boring. And I’m really bad at it. I fidget far too much and my mind refuses blank. While Cayden sits perfectly still, face peaceful, presumably actually meditating, I finally give up and just start thinking. I end up falling asleep like that and wake up only when Cayden gently shakes my shoulder.

He seems amused.

I quickly mumble an apology but he shakes his head. “No, most fall asleep many times before they learn. At least it means you were at peace.”

Huh, nice way of looking at it. Maybe he’s really making an effort? What an odd thought.

He stands and stretches a little. His back cracks and I have to stifle a grin. I had a teacher, an older human mage with sphinx blood a few generations back, who sat on his desk. His back always cracked when he stood as well.

“We’ll meditate every morning. I will take over your magic lessons for a while.”

He doesn’t tell me the reason and I don’t ask. We both know it’s because Meara hates me.

“Your room is… not where it was so until that area is rebuilt, you will be staying here.”

I wince. “Did I really destroy the room?”

Cayden shrugs. “Un-checked faerie magic is a dangerous thing. Especially, it seems, when backed by demonic blood.”

I say nothing.

“Until tomorrow,” Cayden says with a brief nod and then he leaves and I’m left alone.

I think about going back to sleep but it’s been three days already. I don’t even know how I managed to fall asleep before. I think about meditating again to go back to sleep and even try, but I can't concentrate anymore. My mind's racing and I quickly end up wandering around the room, looking at everything. There's the usual curtains covering the wall, and the bed is four postered and bigger than the one in my old room. I peek out the door, but it's a hallway, not a little entrance room so I go back inside.

I have no idea where I am, it'd probably be a bad idea to go wandering around.

I go through the drawers and wardrobe. There are clothes but none of them are mine. None of my stuff is here. I must have destroyed it all. I sigh and blow my bangs upwards. It's really boring in here.

I decide to look through the clothes after I finish poking around the bathroom. There is literally nothing to do. I quickly realize the clothes are meant for me; they're all big enough to fit me and none of the faeries are my size, that's for sure.

None of the clothes look comfortable. They're all normal faerie clothes which mean WAY over the top. I sigh and decide it's time to wander. I can't just sit here and stare at the wall and I can't find a knife to call Janie with. I can always teleport back. Testing my magical reserves, I decide that's a bad idea. Just as I'm about ready to go running through this mansion screaming, there's a knock on the door.

I blink and open the door, but no one's there. I shrug and start to close the door when I look down. Oh. Food. Suddenly I'm ravenous and wondering when the last time I ate was and how I didn't notice before and why the hell Cayden didn't feed me immediately.

 

It takes moments for me to almost literally inhale the food and then I’m bored again.

 

I sigh and decide I’m leaving, but rather than leaving my return back to this room up to luck or to my own crappy horrible sense of direction, I take the fork and stab my finger, looking away as blood wells up. This would be easier if they had given me a knife, but the unidentifiable meat that tasted like fish came sliced up. They apparently don’t trust me.

 

I swallow my bile down and force myself to look down long enough to draw a rune on the floor. This way, I don’t need to have the look of the room memorized exactly to be able to teleport back. I wish I could just leave something of mine in here and have the general layout like I did for my first room, but this’ll have to do.

 

As I’m straightening, the door slams open and a very angry, very mussed, and very exhausted Jalkyn stomps in. He’s not staggering anymore, but he still looks like a walking corpse.

 

I open my mouth to ask him what the fuck he’s doing in my room, but he grabs my hand and I’m hit with lust.

 

Overwhelming, all-consuming lust. My God, is all I can think as he shoves me down on the couch and straddles my hips. I can’t object. I can’t make myself object.

 

He leans down, closing the distance between our faces without any preamble and kisses me, kisses me like he wants to crawl into my mouth.

 

I kiss him back, just as greedily, tangling one of my hands in his hair, yanking it out of its messy ponytail completely. My other hand clutches his thigh. My heart is beating too fast and I feel like I can’t breathe. I want him so bad.

I flip him over and we tumble off the couch. He gasps and lets out a whimper as we hit the floor, but that just feeds my lust. I move from his lips and completely bypass his neck, going straight to his chest. I yank at the tunic and it rips under my hand, revealing a slender, pale chest.

 

 

"Mm, you want me, baby?" he asks breathily.

 

The question makes me buck my hips and he chuckles and he flips us over this time. I allow it as he straddles my hips again. I buck my hips and he laughs and begins to move down my body, unbuttoning my pants as he moves lower.

 

"What would you do to have me, baby?"

 

I gasp and moan, but I don’t answer, trying to draw back into myself. God, I need to remember, something’s wrong here…

 

And then he rubs his cheek against me and I can’t think.

 

"A-Anything!"

 

He pulls back suddenly away from me and the lust is gone, or at least down to normal levels.

 

"Good," he snaps.

 

I blink. I suddenly feel ridiculous, lying on the ground with my pants open while Jalkyn looks at me like I’m a bug.

 I scramble up, yanking my pants closed. "What the fuck?!" I shout.

 

He glares at me. "I need a favor."

 

"Fuck no!" I shout. "Get the hell out!"

 

He smirks at me. "You promised."

 

I growl and anger surges through me. I can’t help myself; I draw my fist back and slam it into Jalkyn’s face, catching him on the jaw.

 

He’s flung backwards and ends up sprawled on the ground. It doesn’t deter him though. He sits up, not even bothering to raise a hand to wipe away the blood trailing from his mouth.

 

I suddenly feel sick and it only gets worse with his next words. "Iain made me promise to heal you when you got hurt. The wording makes it so I have to heal you anytime you get hurt."

 

I glance down at my finger. It’s healed.

 

"He made me bind myself to you too."

 

Oh shit. No healer binds himself to anyone. That is a recipe for disaster. He knows every time the other is hurt- which explains how Jalkyn knew to come here now- and if the person gets hurt, the healer has to drain his life energy to heal the other if they get badly enough hurt. Which explains why Jalkyn looks so bad. I was really badly hurt and he was obligated to heal me completely. It’s a deal made for absolute monarchs and heroes- only for people whose death will cause tons of damage or for people healers deem worth it. I’m neither.

 

"Make him release me from the deal."

 

I stare at him. "Why did you agree in the first place?"

 

He glares at me. "He had me by the throat, dangling about a foot off the ground," he growls.

 

Ouch. "Er, yeah," I mumble. "Of course. Not a problem."

 

He nods and picks himself up off the floor, running a hand through his hair and tying it back. I wince as I notice a ring of bruises on his neck. Scratches and bite marks and hickies cover his throat and trail down his chest and shoulders. As he turns to pick up the remnants of his shirt, I see eight long, angry scratches running from his shoulder blades to below his trousers.

 

I wince, but he doesn’t notice. He’s busy shaking out the shredded piece of cloth. He seems to realize it’s pointless to even attempt to wear and sighs. He crumples it into a ball in his hands and suddenly he’s clothed in a shirt and all the marks on his skin are gone. His hair is perfect and he’s completely put together looking, back to the person he was the first time I saw him. Was it illusion then too?

 

"As soon as possible," he says as he heads towards the door. "And then you can fuck me."

 

He leaves before I can think of anything to say. Fuck him? Well, I guess that was the deal…

 

I hurriedly push the thought away. Worry about that later. For now, I have to find Iain. It’s a stupid deal anyway. I don’t want anyone that connected to me. God. I could get Jalkyn killed on accident. If my ability to sustain damage and live is higher than his ability to heal, he could die just to make me recover faster. And if I die, even if I’m miles away from him- even if I die of old age- he dies too.

 

I frown. It’s completely disgusting Iain made him promise to do that. I glance at the rune on the ground, but it’s still in one piece. I’ll be able to find the point of power and use it to teleport back to. I stalk out of the room and go on a quest to find Iain.

 

I run into Midir when I’m walking down some random hall. He’s the first person I see.

 

He smiles at me. "Hey, did Jalkyn find you?" he asks brightly.

 

I tense and nod. He found me alright. And then he seduced me into helping him. I feel a sudden chill of fear. He could have made me do anything. Shit. I need to contact Jamie and find out if there is a better way to ward against ainmhain faeries. My shields were up. He just… He just swept over them completely.

 

Midir snaps in my face and I realize I haven’t been paying attention. I smile at him guiltily. "Sorry, what?"

 

He smiles. "I said Iain is in the courtyard. It’s just down this hall and to the left. Second door on your right."

 

I nod and head down there. Sure enough, the door opens up into the open air. I pause and just stare for a moment. Wow. The faerie hills are different than Border Town.

 

There are two mother fucking suns. Two. And a moon. It’s just a sliver right now, but it’s there. That is so fucking cool. They’re both dim though, obscured by heavy fog and they look pretty far away. There’s fog and mist everywhere.

And everything is really, really green. Like there's plants and shit everywhere. And I mean everywhere. There's even moss and ivy and some other unidentifiable plants.

I take a reluctant step forward. I can't really see where I'm going through all the fog. And then I hear a heavy wump and a "Ouch! Iain, that hurt!"

Found him. But that was Cayden who just yelled. Iain's deep rumble answers back. I vaguely recognize it from when I was barely conscious and I thought him and Jalkyn were only pretty swirls of colors. I think I may have liked them better that way. And then I remember what might happen with Jalkyn and am not so sure. It was a manipulative as fuck way to get me to do it but... he could have literally asked me to do anything and I would have had to. Anything. So maybe he's really a decent guy and is just far too used to dealing with bloods. Maybe. But then again, maybe Iain's really a sweet gooey marshmallow on the inside.

"Then you should have blocked instead of dodged."

Cayden laughs. "Perhaps. Again."

There's a clang of metal against metal. They're sparring? That's kind of cool. I sort of wish I could see that.

I take a couple steps forward, heading towards the clanging noise. Iain's next question stops me.

"How did it go with the demonic one?"

He's talking about me. Only possibility. I know I shouldn't, but since when did that stop me? I pause and listen.

"Fine."

Iain snorts. "I find that hard to believe."

Jerk. I'm nice! Er, sort of.

"Really."

Thank you Cayden.

 

"He’s spoiled beyond all belief, of course, but I don’t believe he’s evil."

 

Spoiled? I am not fucking spoiled! I grew up in a tiny little apartment, with admittedly the most amazing, wonderful woman ever, but she didn’t spoil me either! I had my first job at fifteen and have worked my ass off. What the hell have these faeries done? I doubt not one of them has done anything but bow, look pretty, and fence their entire life. I broke my jaw at twelve because an insane purist faerie attacked me! I have been shot at before and knifed twice! I am not fucking spoiled!

 

"He seems out of control."

 

"He’s dangerous," Cayden agrees. "Very dangerous."

 

I tense. I’m not out of control or dangerous either. But I’m not as angry this time. I scuff the toe of my faerie mocasin thing against the moss on the ground, leaving a nearly neon scrape mark. I don't notice, shame rising in me sharply. Shit. I have been controlling myself really badly here. Really badly. I mean, I've gone ape shit on Cayden, Jalkyn, and Meara twice. And I don't even think I've been conscous for even twenty-four hours in all. And it's not like anyone's done anything too terrible. Yeah, they reminded me I could drop dead shortly and insulted me, but.... Well, they're bloods. They suck. I should have prepared myself better for constant insults.

And the zord thing... I just don't like being reminded of that. It's true, there is no challenging that a lot of half-breeds die every year just because a freak genetic mutation gets the better of them. And some of them literally just drop dead.

I stare at the ground, ignoring their continuing conversation completely. Why the hell do I care so much? I've been insulted and unable to fight back before. I mean, I've never been allowed to deck a teacher and one straight up called me stupid. I never went all demonic on her ass. Why is it so different here.

Man. I kick at a boulder and sit down, ignoring the fact that I'm crushing a plethora of plant life. I had high expectations. I have no idea why- I'm a bastard child, a half-breed, part demon, and completely uneducated in their ways- but I did. I shouldn't have. They might be family, but they don’t count.

I think fondly of Myda. She's family. She's the one who I should be saving my high expectations for. I smile softly, thinking of her. Yeah. She's definitely family. My only family.

I should just think of these guys as like strangers or something. Teachers, maybe? That might help. Because they certainly aren't thinking of me as family. And I think its fucking me over when I expect them to treat me like they are. Treat me like I'm family and act like they aren't bloods. I snort.

All bloods are asses. No exceptions.

I push all the depressing thoughts out of my head on my idiocy and start to listen in on their conversation again.

Cayden's laughing at something.

Iain goes on. He's been the one talking. I wasn't listening to the words, but his low rumble is hard to ignore.

"I'm telling you," he says, words punctuated by an occasional clang of metal on metal. "It is definitely the way to go."

Cayden laughs again, and there's a long pause before he answers, punctuated by clangs and shuffling and grunts. He finally replies. "As tempting as just locking him into a tower is, I'm afraid I don't think it'd help. He'd just destroy it like he did the West Wing."

Asses. It lacks my recent venom though. They're not family. They're just people I have to live with. Like the police. Or rather, prison guards.

I sigh and do the thing I should have done my first day here. I transport to the demonic realm with no intention of coming back soon.