Knights of Hell

Chapter 8 <3

Azure looked at Kai, who was still a little out of it, looking around the living room blankly. The corpses still lay where they had fallen, the red blood splattered against the white walls, and furniture seemed to shine under the bright white lightbulb. When Azure leaned over to wipe the blood off Kai’s face, the man took a step back and stared at him.

Why was he not reacting? Why was he so emotionless? Why wasn’t he screaming or throwing things or maybe even crying? He had been lied to for as long as they had known one another. Ah. Azure was so screwed.

Azure dropped his hand and tried not to overthink the gesture too much. Kai had just watched his best friend kill three demons and said demons had referred to him as a knight, and it wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Things would be fine. Kai would take a few hours, maybe a couple of days, to adjust, but then things would return to how they had always been. Right?

“Why didn’t you exorcist her?” Azure asked gently as he stared at the man, who was frowning slightly.

Kai looked up at him, and scowled. “It’s exorcise.”

“I don’t care.”

Kai shrugged, rather nonchalant about the whole situation. “She taped my mouth shut the second she stormed in. I couldn’t say anything, let alone react. The other stormed past the entry way and grabbed the boys and stuffed them into the corner, and after bounding and gagging them, they had one demon stay with them, and then they asked me a bunch of questions, while threatening to kill me, and the boys.”

Sweat crept down Azure’s back as he stared at his best friend, and when he saw the look in the man’s eyes, he realised that no. No matter how much he wanted it to happen, they would never return to how things used to be. Kai looked at him like a stranger, like they hadn’t platonically shared a bed for years and weren’t best friends, as if they didn’t have memories of the past decade and a half together.

“They asked if I knew you were a demon,” Kai said, looking at him blankly. “A Knight at that.”

“Kai,” he whispered, taking a step forward, but Kai took another back. “I can explain.”

Kai took a few steps back again, glaring at the man. “Explain what. You’re a knight. There’s no other explanation.”

What Azure hadn’t expected was for Kai to begin speaking Latin. Mint’s eyes teared up as he bit his lip, and Church stared at the priest in horror as he realised what he was chanting. Church tried to help Mint cover his ears discreetly, but it would have brought too much attention, so Mint dug his nails into his palms to help keep him grounded. It didn’t take long for the rest of the knights to intervene. They had been quiet for so long that Azure had almost forgotten they had jumped into the portal with him, which was another thing he would have to yell at them about.

Yua was behind Kai in seconds. The priest hadn’t had time to react, so Yua placed his hands around his neck. Azure froze as he stared at the two in front of him. Kai tried to fight him back, but when Yua tightened his grip, Kai relaxed, taking slow, deep breaths through his nose and out of his mouth. He stared at Azure blankly, though something akin to hatred was in his pretty brown eyes.

“Yua,” Azure said gently. “No. Move away from him.”

“He’s trying to exorcist us,” Feather hissed, waving his hand around. “Or are you so smittened, that you can’t see what is right in front of you?”

Azure stared at Feather. He scowled at the man before returning his eyes to Kai and Yua. “He’s scared,” Azure responded. Of course, he was scared. He had the knights of hell in his f*****g living room, and he was a priest. Paired with the fact that he didn’t have any good memories of demons, he was terrified.

“Oh, in what universe is that an expression of fear?” Nether hissed, pointing at Kai. “He’s ready to kill us, Azure. That’s not fear, that’s bloodlust.”

“I want to,” Kai snapped. “You’re all here, all I have to say one thing, and you’re all back in hell.”

“Oh, jeez, Mint whispered. Though the chant had stopped, Mint felt some of the effects, as he was only half-demon and would have felt it much more than the rest. So, he was clammy and a little unsteady on his feet, leaning on the white wall so as not to be so suspicious.

“He won’t,” Azure replied, at least hoping Kai wouldn’t, but he would not be saying that.

“I don’t trust him,” Feather replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “He speaks Latin again, and Yua snaps his neck.”

Azure looked over at Cedar. Indeed, out of everyone, Cedar would be the most reasonable; he would understand where he was coming from and help ease the tension a little, but the man sighed and shrugged. “I’m sorry, Azure. But I agree with them; he speaks Latin again, and Yua snaps his neck. We didn’t come this far by letting our emotions and feelings dictate how we live.”

Kai licked his lips and finally looked up at Kai before his eyes landed on the boys in the corner with Nether. He had watched everything go down without saying a word. “The boys know?!” Kai snapped. “Why would you risk them by letting them in on all this?”

Azure ran a hand through his hair. “The boys have always known, and I never put them at risk. They only met the rest of the knights last week.”

“And as annoying as they are, we would never hurt them,” Cedar responded, smiling gently.

“I mean-”

“This is why I didn’t let you meet them,” Azure snapped, glaring at Feather before he looked back over at Kai. “He’s joking. He would not hurt them.”

“99%.”

~*~