Among Demons : Succubus Divine

Ch. 36 : Urgent Message

“I… I’ve taken care of it.” The woman said slowly, making me glare at her as my mind raced with all sorts of dark conclusions.

“What?”

“I promised them… to hand over that thing to the Hunters as a bonus… if they did everything I asked… they’d gain a Griffin baby…”

Those words echoed between us for a very long moment. So I was startled when Manda suddenly jumped forward at her mother. Her fist was clenched and the older woman had but a second to register what was happening before Manda landed a blow to her mothers nose. A faint c***k could be heard beneath the thump of the impact and I scrambled forward to stop her when I saw the same arm rear back for another blow.

“Manda!” I tried to gently peel her away from her mother who was now on the ground groaning and cupping her bloody face, but Manda fought me and screamed as she struggled to strike her mother again.

“HOW COULD YOU?!” She slipped out of my grasp as she dropped to the ground, taking hold of her mothers jacket and sweater before my arms wrapped around her chest. “THAT’S YOUR GRANDCHILD!”

I finally managed to carefully tug her away enough so her grip on her mother slipped. She continued to glare and curse as she pushed against me, but I held her as tightly as I thought I should, avoiding her stomach as much as possible while she fought me.

I understood her anger and pain and the need to act on it, but I also knew that she would regret it all once she calmed down. She was such a sweet and kind person, so open-minded and endlessly friendly that seeing her behave this violently was a bit shocking. But I also knew that her love for her mother, her last remaining parent, was quite strong, even through all this madness with the baby and her missing boyfriend. She cared deeply for her lonely mother and had tried to smooth things over multiple times after that big fight in the precinct. Manda still held out hope that her mom would turn things around once she met her grandchild and she even confessed to me that if her mom still rejected the baby, that she would still try to keep in touch with the angry woman. Mainly because of how alone her mother was. Manda didn’t want to completely abandon her so coldly.

So I did what I could to stop her from feeling the crushing regret later on when she calmed down.

Then, as I turned away to dodge a flying elbow to the face, I caught sight of my brother and Kane as well as a few Demons that worked for me racing towards the truck. Kane looked to be supporting someone that was partially covered by the others in their group and Nick pulled out his phone while he looked around.

“NICK!” I screamed, watching as he lowered the small device before finding me.

“Manda, Manda, look!” I tried to turn her to face the group that was now headed our way, hoping to distract her from her rage and hurt. “They found him! Look!” Her body jerked a bit and her motions slowed down before her head turned. “Kane is helping him, look.”

Her body went limp and I followed her to the cold asphalt as she sank to her knees, her breathing heavy as her eyes continued to spill tears.

The group broke apart a bit as they came closer, giving us a clear view of Kane and the younger looking man he was supporting against him. They all looked a little banged up with smears of blood and torn bits of clothing here and there. But the man Kane was holding was far worse than the others.

He had the same soft brown hair as Kane that was caked in dry blood and what looked like dirt or soil. Some locks were sticking to his face and neck, showing that his hair was slightly longer than his brothers. He was a bit shorter too, with the same broad shoulders and tanned skin as Kane. But through the holes in his torn and bloody sweater I could see many tattoos that covered him, showing that he had a lot more art on him than Kane. Some painful looking cuts criss crossed his arms and torso and looked to be slowly healing already, though a few were still dripping blood as he walked. Bruising could be seen all over his face, as well as traces of a healing black eye and busted, swollen lip. Those eyes held the same ring of icy blue color as his brother, but the other ring wasn’t hazel like Kane’s, it was an almost neon orange color that was strangely hypnotizing.

Manda gasped when they locked eyes and he smiled painfully as he limped closer, raising his free bloody arm to her.

“Mat!” She cried, jumping to her feet and crashing into him.

I smiled as I stood up and watched them, seeing the young Demon wince and bite back a groan as she squeezed him tightly.

“I’m ok, my little mouse.” He muttered, pressing his face into her hair while she sobbed. “I’m alright.”

We all let them have their moment while my brother and I took care of business.

Calls were made and soon a whole team of Demons and humans that worked for me were filling the parking lot, gathering to receive their orders from me and Nick. Hunters that had been left unconscious and bound were arrested along with Manda’s mother and all sorts of weapons, harmful Demon paraphernalia and intel were gathered from the storage building they had been using. Kane herded his brother and Manda into my brother's truck, promising to return it to him at a later date while we continued to work. And I smiled a little when I caught the sight of Manda showing Mathis the ultrasound picture of their baby, giggling when the still wounded man pulled her in for a tight hug before his wounds knocked him to his knees.

The rest of that weekend was spent collecting every facet of information through evidence and interrogation, building a timeline of events that would help keep all the Humans responsible behind bars for a very long time. It was exhausting to have to gather every little scrap of evidence from each Hunter's home as well as Mandas mother, but Nick and I were content with all the pieces we managed to gather together.

It had turned out that the main reason why Kane hadn’t been able to track his brother at all was because of a potion that had been sold to the Hunters…and made by Desmond. We had also confiscated all sorts of other potions made by him in that storage building as well which only made my heart ache even more. And that ache only grew bit by bit as I escorted Manda in for a short visitation with her mother the following day. It could’ve happened at a later time but Manda needed to speak to her mother before the case itself became more chaotic. Yet, for all the tears and apologizes that the young Human threw at her mother for the lucky punch… the woman reacted coldly.

She shouted all sorts of things at Manda, swinging between cursing her for having her own mother arrested to pleading to have me or some other Demon connections drop all charges so she could be free. Manda, of course, ignored her mothers words and managed to get everything she wanted to say off of her chest in between her mothers outbursts. She had told me that she just needed to know that she tried to do everything she could to fix things between them, and that after saying all the things she had wanted to say, it was no longer in her hands anymore.

Nick and I sent large gift baskets to Kane's home for both Manda and the baby as well as a few rare healing potions for Mathis to heal faster. It was our way of providing just a little more support to them since we had many other responsibilities to focus on.

And when Monday came around again I was more than happy to return to my old routine at the precinct. My day was made even better when all three Detectives as well as a few other teams and regular beat cops gathered in the lounge area for a mini Demon crash course. It was nice to see more Humans that were truly interested in learning about us and I was smiling throughout it all as I answered questions and shared my knowledge.

Danny had been one of the ones that had answered the most questions and helped out the other cops that were too nervous or lost to speak up when they didn’t understand. Izaak was dutifully taking notes on every new race I would talk about and I would even catch him staring off into space with a strangely worried and stressed out look on his face. Detective Marcus was the most interesting to watch during the three hours I stood there talking. He looked extremely unhappy about something and would occasionally turn away to angrily type on his phone while muttering curses to himself. His fuming anger calmed whenever we locked eyes and I ended up stammering like a moron a few times when his smile made my stomach erupt in flutters. But all in all, my day had passed by peacefully, leaving a little smile on my face.

Of course, I should have known that such a blissful day would end on a sour note.

I was in my car getting ready to start it up and head home after clocking out when my phone rang.

I had been expecting a call from Manda or Nick about Mathis’ recovery so I felt confused when an unknown, blocked number appeared on my screen. Cautiously, I swiped my thumb across to answer it and pressed the cool device against my ear.

“Hello?”

“Daughter of the Aether.” A raspy deep voice said, making my spine straighten as I recognized the phrase.

“Servant to the Crown.” I replied, looking around to make sure no one saw me in my car.

“Matron and Mother, your presence is required by all of the Council.” The voice said, sounding as serious as every other call I’d get from them. “Gather your trusted and prepare to gather before the Crown.”

They hung up less than a second later and I flopped back against my seat, sighing heavily before raising my phone up to my face again. I scrolled through my recent calls and tapped on Nick's name to call him, waiting for him to pick up as the ringing echoed against my ear.

“Speak of the devil!” He answered cheerfully, helping me relax a bit. “Hey Dev, you off already?”

“Yeah.” I answered as I started up my car. “Sadly we’ve got more crap to deal with.” I pulled out of my parking space and made my way onto the road, feeling Nick's confusion through the phone. “I just got a call from the Council Elders…” A sharp inhale let me know he heard me before I continued. “Another gathering is happening soon… and it doesn’t sound good at all.”

“I’ll start making calls.” He sighed, making me smile a little as I pictured his slightly annoyed yet serious face. “Let me know how much time we have once you read the invitation and I’ll see what else we need to prepare if the meeting’s out of State.”

We hung up afterwards and I made my way towards my Secondary office, hoping Nyla was still there so I could inform her of this.

I parked and climbed out, greeting a few late working Demons before entering the building. A smile spread across my face when I caught sight of Nyla near the reception desk and I groaned when I noticed the large fancy envelope she was holding. She frowned at me as she waved the bright white, gold and silver decorated envelope, silently asking me about it.

“I just got a call right after clocking out.” I told her, taking it from her and making my way towards the private meeting rooms in the back.

“Did they say why?” She pressed, glaring at the thing as I placed it on a nearby desk and slowly tore it open. “You just attended a meeting less than four months ago! Isn’t it only meant to happen every six months?”

I shook my head as I pulled out the few neatly folded pages inside, unfolding them as I answered.

“They can call a meeting whenever they want, Ny. The only reason I’ve been called once every six months is because my territory isn’t suffering through too many problems.” I dropped onto a chair closest to me and prepared to read the pages, feeling my brows scrunch up more with each sentence.

“What?” Nyla leaned closer, trying to read along with me only to flinch back and rub her eyes. “Ugh! Damned blinding potion!”

The invitation and other important information sent by the Council Elders was always written with a special ink that would blind anyone that tried to read it without permission. It was a genetically sensitive potion that made it so only the Matrons and Patrons recognized by the Royal family could be the ones to safely read the information written.

“It says that there are several things that need to be addressed for the safety of all Matrons and Patrons.” I told her, my eyes rereading those lines carefully to make sure I was understanding it right.

“You mean the people right?” She asked, looking for the same clarity as me. “The citizens under your protection and not you, yourself… right?”

Slowly, I shook my head, muttering, “No… it’s pointedly saying that its US… the Matrons and Patrons ourselves that need to be cautious of our own safety…” I looked up at her shocked and panicked face, seeing my own shocked expression mirrored in her eyes. “They’re hosting this gathering as an urgent warning to us, saying that we need to be careful… something about Portals… and the rise in danger to our people…”

Nyla collapsed back onto the seat to my right, staring blankly at the room while my words spun wildly in her head. I continued to stare at the page and scanned the words over and over again, trying to find out more that I knew wasn’t there.

Why was the Royal family issuing such a warning when now one, not even most other Demons in my position know what the rest look like?

What kind of danger could be threatening me and those holding my same rank when we all lived in completely different States?

Why were Portals even mentioned in this letter at all? It’s been over three HUNDRED years since the last one collapsed, and vanished into nothing…

And again, just what could possibly be the danger that was making the Royal Demon family so worried… anxious enough, in fact, to gather nearly every Matron and Patron that I was currently reading through on the final page of attendees…