Changeling (Black Petals Book 2) Read online

  My ears ring with buzzes, voices, and other sounds. It is far, far louder here than in hell. Humans are louder in general and with all of the electricity and signals and vehicles it’s aggravating. Aiden wasn’t kidding when he once told me this. It all gives me a headache. How did he live here? I guess it’s probably why he lived outside of the city.

  The wrought iron gates of the property are closed but they open promptly upon our arrival. I begin to shake. I’m not sure if it’s post-traumatic stress or what.

  “You alright?” he asks me as we pull the sleek black sports car through the gates.

  I nod. “Memories is all.”

  He smiles. “I’m honestly so glad that you’re you that I’m not so worried about how you’re feeling right now to be honest.” I know he’s partially joking, but I don’t laugh.

  “What are we doing here?” I ask concerned. Is he here to speak to Landon about the alchemy potion he gave me? Potion…is that even the right word? It sounds too…surreal. Then again, demons are real. I am a demon. So… Oh my god. I am a demon. You’d think I’d be starting to get used to this fact by now, but I’m not. Not even close. I tell myself that it’s only been a few days so I should just take things slow.

  “Long story. Landon has some explaining to do. I have questions for him and I’m sure you do as well,” Aiden explains with uncertainty. He almost sounds nervous but why would Aiden be nervous? He’s the king of hell for heaven’s sake.

  “No guards today?” I ask him, looking around us. Shouldn’t he always have guards on him?

  He shakes his head promptly. “No. Not today. This is…secret…confidential. You mustn’t tell anyone of anything that you learn today.”

  I nod in understanding. What is going on? I have a feeling that we are not only here to speak to Landon about the strange liquid he gave me.

  We pull up to one of the many ‘front doors’ and Aiden gets out. I follow his lead. Landon is seated on a bench a few feet from the door we’re parked in front of. He wears a pair of dark sunglasses.

  “Thought you might show up here,” he mutters and offers a slight smile to us.

  “Blayk still gone?” Aiden asks quickly.

  Landon nods once. “Until Saturday. Forrest and Maxwell are inside probably burning shit down. I picked them up from the address you gave me earlier. They were blowing shit up in the microwave when I found them.”

  Aiden looks a little worried. “No one can know that they’re out of hell. It would cause an uproar. I need the people’s trust right now. I also need your help and them to be babysat by someone I can trust. You helped Megan more than once so you’re as good as I’m going to get.”

  Landon seems to know where this is going. His smile falters. “Are you kidding?” he asks sounding irritated. “I’m going to be responsible for two grown men?”

  “I have a house in Belize right near a passage to hell,” Aiden continues. “I am going to send you, Maxwell, and Forrest there along with ten guards to make sure Forrest keeps in line. Keep an eye on him. He’s a sneaky little shit. They need to be introduced to society and integrated. I will be coming to visit regularly and hopefully you won’t have to be there long. I don’t trust your brother. He won’t be able to track or find you where I’m sending you.”

  Landon looks about to argue but seems to think better of it. “Yes, all mighty king,” Landon jokes with a small smile. Then his smile fades a little. “I’m sure Megan doesn’t want to go back to hell. She’s welcome to stay with us, too. If I’m babysitting, I may as well go all the way with it.”

  Aiden seems to think about this. He eyes me and I eye him back about to shake my head in protest. “She’s fine with me for now. She needs to learn more control before she’s here around so many humans. You know how she is. Like your father, like Blayk.”

  I grimace. I don’t like being compared to either of those two men even if it’s true. Landon nods. “Very well then, sir.”

  The front door swings open and Forrest slips out holding a cellphone in his hand and scowling at it. “Why is this thing so annoying?” he asks, scowling at the device.

  “That’s my phone. Give me that,” Landon says harshly and snatches it from him. “Was it ringing?” he snarls with annoyance.

  Forrest looks confused. “Ringing? I wouldn’t classify that as ringing. It was more like screaming.”

  Landon presses something on his phone and then shoves it into his pocket. “It’s just Blayk. I’ll call him back.”

  “There are too many sounds,” Forrest whines, before noticing Aiden and I. “It’s like torture. Everything here makes a sound.” He scowls at his surroundings. “Literally everything.”

  I nod in agreement. “You’re not kidding. I have a huge headache.”

  Landon removes his sunglasses and shakes his head slowly, his eyes studying me. “You are a bunch of babies. You’ll get used to it. Before you know it, you’ll be able to tune them all out and focus on what matters. Aiden’s hearing is far stronger than all of ours, and look, he’s fine.”

  Aiden nods. “Mind over matter. The cellphones bother me the most. Electricity has been around a while longer so I’ve grown used to its buzz for the most part. Cellular phones, though…” Aiden shakes his head in disgust.

  “How do you get used to it?” Forrest groans. Looking around like a paranoid cat. “I can’t focus on anything, guys. It’s overwhelming.”

  “You haven’t heard anything loud and annoying until you’ve heard a refrigerator hum,” Landon promises him. “That’s why I don’t have one here.”

  Aiden nods in agreement. “Yeah, I acquired one when Megan moved in with me. Definitely annoying.”

  “I’m not sure what a refrigerator is, but I don’t want to know,” Forrest replies and slips back into the house.

  I huff out a sigh. Thinking about all the noises around me only makes it worse. I hear Landon and Aiden continue to speak, but I can’t hear what they’re saying exactly because I’m focused in on all of the other noises. I can hear conversations from down the road. The demons talk far quieter I notice. Aiden and Landon’s conversation is quieter to me than the one I can hear down the street. Has Aiden always spoken up for my mortal ears? He must’ve. He must’ve felt like he was screaming all the time.

  “Megan? …Megan?” I hear lightly. Then someone is shaking my shoulder.

  I snap back into it to find Landon and Aiden staring at me. “Sorry, distracted.”

  Aiden chuckles. “Yeah, it’s a little distracting. Landon was asking you how things have been since your transformation.”

  “Oh!” I cry. “I’m…” I trail off unsure. “I’m fine.” Then I realize that I should be thanking him for whatever it was he gave me. “Uh, thanks for the…whatever it was.”

  Landon grins. “Any time. You need anything, sister, and I’m your guy.”

  Aiden grins, seeming pleased by this. I don’t really know what to make out of it myself. “Speaking of family, Landon. I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your father. He was a loyal council member who will be missed greatly back home,” Aiden forces. I know Aiden wasn’t really a huge fan of Blayne, nor was I.

  Landon shrugs. “He tormented me long enough, honestly. I probably owe those siblings of yours a thank you more than anything. We never got along. He took me from my mother and killed her. I’ve never forgiven him.”

  Aiden freezes, his eyes darting to Landon. I don’t understand why until I remember that it isn’t common knowledge that Mason, Crispen, and Aria or the original hunters are Aiden’s siblings.

  “I took Mason to hell, remember? He spilled the beans.” Landon’s brows rise and fall quickly.

  “You could’ve killed him,” Aiden states. He appears to curious as to why Landon hadn’t.

  Landon seems to debate this. He tosses the idea around in his head. “Could’ve . I’m not too fond of murder, honestly, even knowing how many demons the guy has taken out in his life. To be honest, I thought about killing him, but then, I decided that
a guy like Mason would suffer far more having to be loyal to the very thing he once hunted and live life as the very thing he once tortured and killed. It’s actually colder than it would have been just to kill him.”

  Aiden scrutinizes Landon.

  It occurs to me then that Crispen could be anywhere. He could be watching us from afar. He can sense demons. Will he somehow know if we’re back in town? I find myself glancing around in paranoia.

  Aiden snaps out of his daze and observes my anxiety. “Gates are ruby encrusted and closed. They can’t get in, not easily anyway.”

  I swear he reads my mind sometimes. At times it’s infuriating and others it’s comforting.

  “Keep Megan here an hour, will you? I should go speak to my sister about the latest predicament,” Aiden growls, he huffs out a sigh. Dread is apparent in the small creases on the outsides of his eyes. Have they always been there? I can’t tell if it’s something I’m only now noticing as a demon or if they’re a new facial feature.

  I argue and tell him that there’s no way he’s leaving me here while he goes to speak to her. He tells me it’s not safe for me to come. He’s right of course. As a new demon, I don’t stand a chance against any of the hunters. I mean I have a better chance to do something than when I was basically mortal, but I still have next to nothing on a hunter, especially an original hunter.

  Anyways, it’s not like I should worry about Aiden. Clearly he can handle himself. The hunters can’t kill him. There’s nothing to worry about.

  I stop arguing and look to Landon. I have to admit that although the guy has helped me quite a bit, I still don’t trust the guy. I still find myself frightened of him. And Forrest and Maxwell, well, I feel deep down that they’re not terrible men, but what they did to me was… Well, what they did to me was terrible. They’re the reason I’m a demon for heaven sakes. Forrest lied to me and betrayed my trust.

  “You don’t have to leave here to speak to your sister or your brother. They’re locked up in the basement. After I took off with Mason, Blayk brought them back here.”

  “He caught them” I ask, shocked.

  Landon nods. “Apparently. Finally. He’s been after them for months. I got back here and found them starving down there. I think they were so shocked by what happened to Mason, that they faltered. Come, I’ll lead you there.”

  Landon stands and tucks his sunglasses into his jeans pocket. An even stronger sense of déjà vu hits me as we enter the house and I find myself gritting my teeth. I am more than glad that Blayk isn’t here. Heat flushes my cheeks.

  Landon leads us down a set of stairs to a big metal door. “They’re in here.”

  Aiden hastily swings the door open and strides in. I follow him and Landon follows me. It’s Crispen who I see first. He sees me too. He looks at me and complete and utter fury fills his expression. He looks about to explode. His cheeks flush and his eyes widen. He purses his lips together tightly. A sneer becomes apparent on his face and he screams something unintelligible. It’s my eyes. I know he’s reacted this way because he’s looking at my black irises.

  “Holy shit, Crispen,” I retort, annoyed. I’m just so done with him that I can’t take it anymore. Maybe it’s something to do with the shorter temper that I clearly have as a demon, but I can’t bite my tongue. I find myself in front of the metal bars encaging him. “I want to reach in there and slap you,” I mutter through clenched teeth.

  Landon pulls me back. “Easy.”

  I take a deep breath, closing my eyes and shaking my head. “Sorry. I just can’t. He’s so…ignorant.”

  Aria chuckles from a few cells down. There isn’t much humor in her laugh but it’s something. She obviously has yet to see my eyes. “Always knew she was a keeper, Crispen. You need someone to put you in line.”

  I turn to see Aria. Her face drops as she takes in my eyes. “Oh,” she squeaks. “Megan? Oh god.”

  I force a smile. “I’m okay, Aria,” I promise. She doesn’t seem so sure. “I’m still me.”

  She cringes back a bit like she’s frightened or maybe just repulsed. There’s no reason someone like her would fear someone as weak as me.

  “Aria,” Aiden says through a sigh, shaking his head at Crispen like he’s a misbehaving child. “I’m here to inform you that Mason is fine.”

  Aria glances to Crispen quickly and then back to Aiden.

  “You have Mason?!” Crispen cries. “Alive?”

  He doesn’t know? Crispen doesn’t know about what Mason is or where he is?

  Understanding fills Aiden’s face and he nods. “Let Aria out, Landon. We have matters to speak about.”

  Landon nods and fumbles in his pocket for his keys. He hesitates before handing the keys to Aiden. No one in their right mind would release an original hunter once they had them captured. Crispen begins throwing all kinds of a fit but I tune him out as if he’s a bratty child and follow Landon, Aiden, and Aria out of the room and out of Crispen’s earshot.

  As soon as the sound proof door is closed behind us, Aria squeals, “How is he?” She breaks down into tears, something I wasn’t expecting. She keeps a fair distance from us three but she also doesn’t seem exactly scared of us either. It’s clear she has other things on her mind.

  “He’s well. I have my most loyal man training him and helping him adapt. Once he’s well enough, I will make it possible for you to see him,” Aiden promises. “He’s not safe yet.”

  “But she is?” Aria asks. “She can’t be much older than he is.” She doesn’t say this rudely, just curiously.

  “Megan is…well, she’s learning quickly. She had more time to prepare for this life than Mason did. Megan is doing well and I am watching her every move. We’re not going to be here long. We just came to speak to you and to Landon.”

  Aria takes this in and nods. “If she’s in hell, Crispen won’t be such a worry. If she’s here, he won’t stop until he has her blood on his hands. He…he’s lost himself again I’m afraid. Mason is usually the one to snap him out of something like this, but Mason is, well, he’s not here. Crispen’s humanity seems to be gone. All that’s left is fury, rage, hatred. He’s a monster. He’s not even himself. He can’t be trusted.”

  Aiden face scrunches as if he’s been punched in the gut. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Aria tilts her head, her index finger touching her lip for a moment. She shakes her head. “I don’t think so, Aiden.” A moment of silence. Her gaze shifts to me. She gives me a onceover. “How are you, Megan?”

  “I’m fine, Aria, thanks,” I answer with a reassuring nod. Maybe if she thinks I’m okay, then she’ll be able to believe that Mason is okay too.

  She passes on a weak smile. “Promise me that you and Mason will help each other through this. Promise me you’ll take care of each other,” she pleads. “I can’t hate Mason for what he is now and I can’t hate you either. Aiden, I…I owe you more than you know for helping Mason out with this after all he’s done to you and all. Well, after all we’ve done I guess. I owe you for everything the three of us have done to you for centuries. We’ve been cruel and…sick. We’ve been trying to kill you for too long and you’ve just been restraining us like children. That’s what we’ve been acting like…children. None of us could see through our hatred for the demons even if that meant killing our own brother. I can see it now. I…I’m not happy about any of this, but I can accept it now. I can accept you now.”

  I see a small smile form on Aiden’s face if it’s only there for a moment. His face morphs back into its usual flat expression soon after. “Thank you,” Aiden accepts. “All I’ve ever wanted is my family.”

  Aria smiles lightly reaches for Aiden’s hand. He lets her take it. She squeezes it. “To be honest, I knew I’d never be able to kill you. Every time I imagined it or got a chance at you, I’d falter because I would remember things like you brushing my hair for me when I was young or helping me into my winter boots. Deep down, I’ve always known you weren’t some evil creature.”<
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  My heart warms as I hear the truth in Aria’s voice.

  “It’s why I’ve spent the last few years away from Crispen and Mason. I just don’t have the…the pull to kill demons as strongly as I once did. I don’t know why. I think it might be because I’ve fallen in love,” Aria continues. Her eyes widen slightly. “I don’t know why I just told you that.”

  “With a human?” Aiden asks, curiosity in his tone.

  Aria blushes and looks down towards the ground in embarrassment. “It doesn’t matter what he is. He finds beauty in all things living and dead. He’s…well, he’s a dream. He’s what I’ve been looking for for far too long.”

  “Then go back to him. Don’t hang around here,” I blurt out. “Get back to Australia.”

  She glances to the room we just came out of. Crispen. She doesn’t want to leave Crispen. “He wouldn’t approve and he needs me right now. He’s all screwed in the head.”

  Aiden’s gaze relaxes upon hearing his sister’s words and again I see him smile. “I can see to it that Crispen is well taken care of, near Mason even, in hell. Maybe the two of them being around each other will be a good thing.”

  Aria debates this. “The only thing that will help Crispen is Mason and the only thing that will help Mason is Crispen, Aiden. They’re a world apart and they lean on each other so much. If you can somehow bring them together, even though Crispen is bound to want to kill Mason, then that’s both of their best chance here, in all honesty.”

  Aiden nods. “I can do that, and I have ways of reaching you to give you updates. I will find you.”

  Aria looks to him suspiciously. “You have ways?”

  “I have people all over this world, Aria. All over it.”