Human (19 page)

"You don't know how glad I am that you'll be leaving this place soon," Devin said when we were back in his room. He even managed a small smile.

"Do you know anything I could do to get you out of here?" I sat down on the bed, running my hand through my hair.

"No. But it doesn't matter. You're going out, and you're never coming back here." He sat down next to me, placing his hand on mine. I looked up into his obsidian eyes, not liking a little bit what I saw in them. Resignation.

"I'm not leaving you here! Especially not if he's going to torture you!" I said, anger pouring out of me. He couldn't be thinking I was so cruel.

"Yes, you are, Ariel," he said, giving my hand a little squeeze. "You are not coming back for anything. And definitely not for me."

"And what are you going to do? Risk your sister's life? I know you won't do that, so I don't know how you can help me."

"Wait, do I have some powers? Can I do something?" It didn't even matter if I had the angel or demon magic in me. Any of it might come in handy.

"I don't know, but we can test you." He got to his feet and went to the table, which was still covered with candies and colorful wrappers. Picking up a pink lollipop, he came over to me.

"Try to melt this," he said, giving me the lollipop. I arched my eyebrow at him. Yeah, I knew how to melt that, but without using any magic.

"Just concentrate on it and picture it getting warmer and melting," Devin said. "It shouldn't be difficult."

I stared hard at the lollipop, clearing my head of any other thought. But no matter what I did, the lollipop didn't change in any way.

"It's not working," I said, disappointed.

"Let's try another thing." He took the lollipop from me and stepped away. "Now picture it appearing in your hand."

My head started to hurt from trying so hard, but still nothing happened. It was completely pointless.

"I can't do this." I sighed in frustration. "I guess I just can't do anything except have those stupid visions."

Devin closed his eyes for a moment, his face even paler than usual. I looked at him in confusion, but then it occurred to me what he was thinking. My visions. There was a huge chance I was going to see exactly what Maliadades decided to do to him. That was why Maliadades thought I would break and do what he wanted me to.

"You'll have to learn how to block them," he finally said. "There's still time. Maybe Leonard can teach you."

"I am not leaving you here. End of discussion."

Devin came over to me, placing his hand gently on my cheek, his black eyes boring into mine. "Fine. Try whatever you want, but don't come back for nothing. You don't want to get stuck here with Maliadades. It will only make it worse. You see how he is. But don't you ever feel guilty if there's nothing you can do for me. Remember that Maliadades can do whatever he wants to me. It's not your fault."

I nodded, unsure what to say. I knew well why he was telling me this. He was sure there was nothing I could do, so he stopped arguing about my wish to help him. But how could I ever just leave him here and forget about it all?

"I'm going to talk to Leonard," I said, trying to keep any emotion off my face. I didn't want him to see that I wasn't giving up so easily.

"You do that." He smiled at me, probably thinking I was going to see Leonard to talk about my visions. Well, I was going to talk about that too, but I had some other questions in mind that were far more important.

It didn't take long for Leonard to come to that huge room with books. I'd been waiting for him there because I just didn't want to interrupt anything or get in Maliadades' sight. Leonard smiled at me, a knowing look in his dark eyes. He knew why I was here; there was no doubt about that. Sitting down in a chair opposite to me, he leaned his elbows on the table and gave me a pointed look.

"I need your help," I said, giving him my best pleading look.

"I can't help you, Ariel."

"But Maliadades loves you! Can't you convince him to leave Devin alone?" I was getting desperate. If Leonard was a good demon, why wouldn't he do something?

"You don't know how much I've already done for that boy." Leonard sighed wearily. "But if I try anything else, Maliadades will become jealous. He's already threatened to kill Devin despite the fact that he needs him."

"How can you be in love with such a monster?" I frowned.

"You're too young to know much about love." The corners of Leonard's lips went up, and he leaned back in his chair. "Maliadades can be nice and gentle. He might not be like this with others, but he is with me. He saved my life, Ariel. And he's never done anything to hurt me."

"So it's perfectly fine with you that he tortures others?" I said coldly, crossing my arms.

"No, it's not. I do what I can. But you haven't seen other kings of Hell. Some are far worse than Maliadades will ever be. It's how things are here. Don't think everyone will change just because one demon wants it. Life is unfair no matter where you live. You should know that."

"Is there anything I can do to help Devin?" If he was going to just sit there and do nothing, maybe he could at least give me a hint so I could know what to look for.

"Do what Maliadades says."

I glared at him. "That's not helping."

"Find out who your parents are. Maybe they can do something," he said, tracing the edge of the table with his fingers. Yeah, like finding my biological parents was going to be easy. Who could actually tell me anything about them in the human world? My human parents didn't even know they'd been tricked.

"Visions, Ariel. Use them." Leonard winked at me. Huh.

"And how do I do that? They seem to come when they want, not when I want."

"You have to concentrate on what you want to see. If you think really hard on it, sometimes it works," he said, leaning forward, his voice barely audible.

"Sometimes?" I said skeptically.

"Visions are a tricky thing. They don't like to be forced." Leonard smiled again. "You can practice. But you really need to have a clear picture of what you want to see in your mind."

Ugh, that didn't sound helpful at all. Actually, it sounded impossible. If I didn't have any magic in me, then I certainly couldn't have a vision when I wanted one.

"Can I block them too?" I said, a lump forming in my throat. No, I refused to think Devin was right. There had to be a way for me to do something.

"Yes. But it takes a lot of concentration. You just need to focus on your own body and empty your mind of any thought, especially of anything happening in front of your eyes."

"Is that even possible?" I pushed myself to my feet, unable to sit calmly for even a second more.

"It is hard, but it is possible," he said, the look in his eyes telling me he'd done it before. Great.

"Thanks for your help," I said, disappointment showing in my voice, and went for the door. I didn't care that no one wanted to help me. I could do this. I was going to save Devin no matter what.

"I'll miss you," Devin said, running his fingers gently through my hair. I was resting my head on his chest, listening to the strong beating of his heart.

"I'll miss you too," I whispered, reaching out for his other hand and entwining my fingers with his. He was making it so hard for me to even think about leaving him for a day or two. It was just my luck that I had a pair of angel wings, violet eyes, but none of the angel magic. Talking about wings...

"Do you have wings?" I looked up at Devin's black eyes. His whole body tensed, and he turned his head away from me. It was a clear sign I shouldn't have asked.

"No," he said bitterly. "I don't have them anymore."

"Cut the stupid wings off," Maliadades yells, his face contorted with anger. "I'm sick of him running around and knocking things down."

"I'll tell him not to do it again. He's young. He'll learn how to control the wings. I promise, my love." Leonard looks at Maliadades pleadingly. I'm huddled in the corner of the room, my eyes wide and full of tears. I must have done something wrong, but I don't know what.

"Cut his wings off or I'm going to rip them out of his back myself!" With a growl, Maliadades leaves the room. Leonard turns towards me, trying to smile
, but he can't hide the pain evident on his beautiful face. I glance back at my red wings almost desperately, but I know there's nothing I can do to keep them.

I sat up so abruptly that I nearly fell on the floor. My head was spinning, but that didn't erase the horrible images out of my mind. Devin's arms were suddenly around me, and I buried my head in his shirt. He wasn't that boy anymore. I knew he wasn't.

"Tell me you didn't see what I think you did," he said, his voice strained. To lie or not to lie? I sighed. Nope, I couldn't lie to him.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I can't really stop myself."

"I know." He kissed the top of my head. I wondered what would have happened if we had met as normal human beings. Would we be one of those annoying couples who kiss in front of everyone in the school halls? I doubted we'd even come together. But were we a happy couple right now? No, not even close. I hadn't even noticed when he'd come under my skin. Were we in love? Was that why I didn't want to leave him, why I felt good and safe in his arms, why I couldn't stop thinking about him? Maybe, maybe not. Did it really matter in this situation?

"There are still some candies left." I looked up at him, a mischievous smile on my lips. There was no way I was going to ruin these awesome little moments we shared because of my retarded visions.

"I haven't made up my mind yet on which ones are my favorite." He smiled, his face lighting up. Oh, yeah, I liked him more when his obsidian eyes were sparkling with delight.

I was waiting in the hall for Devin to finish his shower, lost in my thoughts, when someone nearly bumped into me. Since there practically hadn't been any demons other than Leonard in this hall for the last few days, I'd thought it was safe to be outside. It looked like I'd been wrong.

"Who are you?" a male voice said, sending shivers down my spine. I knew that black hair, dark eyes, face so much like Devin's... It was Devin's father who was glaring at me like I was an annoying bug he wanted to smash. His frown deepened as he took in my appearance.

"An angel here? How... inappropriate." He laughed.

"You'll be just like me, Devin."

My smile broadens as he approaches me.

"No, father, I won't." I glare at him, my face serious again in a second.

I blinked, fighting to get back to the reality. Valdas, if that was his name, cocked his head and flashed me a smile.

"Not all angel, right?" he said. Exactly in that moment Devin emerged out of the bathroom, his hair still damp from the shower. Valdas glanced at his son, but his attention immediately returned to me. Devin's eyes narrowed dangerously as he came to stand in front of me, his hand searching for mine.

"Where did you find this interesting creature?" Valdas asked, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Stay away from her." Devin didn't back down when Valdas took a step forward. My mind was getting foggy again, and no matter how much I concentrated, I slipped into the world of Devin's past.

I watch as Valdas slits a demon's throat only inches away from my face. The blood sprays from the wound, getting all over my clothes and hands.
I want to close my eyes, but I can't move because the magic on me is too strong. Valdas smiles, entertained by my reaction, and this time I really think I'm going to throw up. I don't even know why he's doing this, even though I'm sure he thinks we're having fun. He thinks I enjoy killing like he does, so since I'm forbidden to do it myself, he does it for me.

"Ah, and what are you going to do?" Valdas' voice cut through the haze of my mind. I had no idea what had happened while I was out of it, but the pure rage on Devin's face made me flinch. Valdas was taunting him.

"I'll kill you!" Devin said, baring his teeth. He'd let go of my hand at some point. I wasn't sure was he still forbidden to kill someone, but I didn't want them to engage in a fight either. Valdas would undoubtedly use it as an excuse to hurt Devin.

"No," I said, grabbing Devin by the arm. "He's trying to provoke you."

"And why would you think that, princess?" Valdas smirked. I could feel Devin relax under my touch; he must have realized what his father was trying to do.

"You're just jealous you can't get out of Hell," I said, taking a step forward, so I ended up standing right next to Devin.

"You might want to shut that pretty mouth of yours or..." Valdas growled at me, all of his insane cheerfulness gone in a heartbeat.

"Or what? You want to owe Maliadades another life? If he even wants to make a deal with you this time." I didn't know was it the demon or the angel in me talking, but it felt good saying it and watch his face go red. It seemed like he was about to say something, but he just scoffed, turned on his heel and went down the hall. I was right. He was too terrified of Maliadades to actually do something.

"That was awesome." Devin smiled, and I threw myself in his arms. He lifted me up almost effortlessly, and I bent my head down, brushing my lips against his.

"
You
are awesome," he breathed, deepening our kiss, his tongue intertwining with mine. A moan escaped my lips as we crashed against the rugged wall. I grinned at Devin, running my hand through his soft hair. He kissed my neck, not even looking where he was going as he carried me to his room. If anyone else had tried to carry me, I'd have kicked and screamed. I wasn't a girl who liked to be carried around like she couldn't walk, but this was so much different.