Mate to the Demon Kings by Lacey Carter Andersen

18

Sharen wipedher sweaty palms onto her pants and stared out at the busy park. She needed to get to headquarters. Today was the day she had to use the portal to rescue the demons. So what was she doing here?

She hated that when she found the note tucked under her door that she’d come without thinking. No matter how stupid it was. Because she hoped against all odds that today might not only be the day she helped the demons, it might also be the day she found out the truth about what she was and why she had such strange powers.

Alderon came around the path, walking at a leisurely pace. He stopped to pet a dog and flirt with the dog’s owner, shifted out of the way of kids chasing a ball, and then approached her. His smile was easy, non-threatening, which immediately put her on high-alert.

“You left me a note.” She held it up, watching him closely.

He nodded and sat down beside her. “Have you ever heard the name Surrena?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t sound familiar.”

He spun to face her on the bench, an element of excitement in his expression. “She’s Caine’s daughter. A powerful, nearly-immortal being with the ability to change her identity.”

She frowned. “What does that have to do with me?”

“That’s where it gets interesting.” He lowered his voice. “I think you might be her.”

Her back went rigid. “What?”

No chance in hell!

He nodded enthusiastically. “I found her name in your file and started doing some digging. It all makes sense. I think all the women’s names are actually…" He paused for a heartbeat before he continued. "I think they’re all you."

No!Her memories instantly went back to her childhood home. She pictured the tire swing under the tree in the backyard, and the way she’d tell her dad to spin her faster and faster. She remembered her kitchen, the one her mom always exclaimed was falling apart. But Sharen never noticed, because she was too busy eating her mom’s delicious cooking.

Is it possible they aren’t my parents?

Her fists clenched. It wasn’t! She had her mother’s green eyes! And her father’s dark hair! She might not have pictures of them after stupidly leaving the couple she had at her house before going on the run, but she’d never forget her parents’ faces.

I’m their child. Nothing this man says will ever change that.

He doesn’t need to know I’m not entirely human.She paused at the thought. Being a half-breed meant that either one of her parents weren’t human, or… She shook her head, unwilling as always to even consider that possibility.

“Are you sure you’re human?” he pressed, as if reading her thoughts.

“Wouldn’t I know if I wasn’t?” she shot back, trying to keep her voice steady and calm and failing miserably.

“Maybe, maybe not.” His brows drew together. “I think they’ve somehow come up with a way to alter your memories.”

The tire swing. The kitchen. Was it real?

She felt sick. “That’s not possible. I have pictures of myself as a child. Not many. But I have them.”

Somewhere.

“Are you sure they’re you?” he asked, watching her closely. “You grew up with adopted parents paid for by the Organization.”

Albert and Brandy, the two worst human beings alive. With hard fists and even harder words. They might have adopted me, but they weren’t my parents.

She swallowed, trying to push away her nausea. “I had parents before them. Parents I remember. So none of this is possible. I can’t be that evil being’s child.”

“That’s not even the most interesting part,” he continued without pausing. “Do you ever feel like your enemies are one step ahead of you? Like they know things they shouldn’t?”

Do I?

Her heart raced. Something strange was going on. Things she couldn’t explain. The hunters in the demon realm. The stranger in the refuge. The car accident.

But is it that they’re one step ahead of us? Or something else entirely?

Even though she didn’t respond, Alderon continued, “I think you might be sharing important information with Caine and his followers without even realizing it. I think you might actually be working for the other side.”

She stood. “No.”

He looked surprised, his excitement fading. “It’s just a theory…but everything adds up. Caine has commanded that you not be killed, which only makes sense if you’re important to him. You’ve been watched closely your whole life. And if I were to make a bet, I think you’re not human.”

“You don’t know that!” she spit out.

He raised a brow. “Didn’t you take a dagger and send it through the ground, creating some kind of wave of power that destroyed roads and cars, and even sent our hunters and angels flying? Don’t bother denying it, because it’s all well-documented.”

Her head spun. “I could feel the angels’ magic. I didn’t do that. Their magic allowed me to.”

He leaned back against the bench. “So, you aren’t Caine’s daughter? But you’re able to harness the angels’ magic? I’m sorry, but doesn’t that seem like exactly the kind of thing the daughter of such a powerful being could do?”

“No!” She shook her head, inched backwards, and then spun, hurrying away from him. Panic clawed at her throat.

What he said couldn’t be true. Could it?

“I’m not finished researching,” he said, suddenly walking at her side. “But if I were you, I’d be careful. It seems to me right now the greatest danger to your little cause could be…well, you.”

She whirled on him. “I don’t know what you think you read, but I am not some twisted creature’s child! And I’d burn in hell before I betrayed the people I’m fighting so hard to save!” Before I hurt my demons. “You’ve got me wrong.”

His pale eyes gentled. “Sharen, I don’t know what it is about you, but from the first time I saw you, I felt…different. The facts are telling me that you are his daughter, but for some insane reason I believe you. And I’m not the kind of man who believes anything but what I see right in front of me.”

She took a step away from him, pulling her gaze from his. “I need to go.”

He didn’t follow her as she hurried away. Like before, she took a roundabout way back to headquarters, just in case. But her thoughts spun with each step she took.

What Alderon said couldn’t be possible. Yes, there were some things that didn’t make sense, but she’d never betray her demons. Never.

Still, her entire body shook and her teeth chattered. There was something about what he said. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

When she reached headquarters, her assistant was smoking outside the door. The young brunette stood taller as she approached.

Time to focus.“Is everything ready?”

Riverly nodded. “Yes, ma’am. The refuge has been set up with a number of temporary housing structures to hopefully accommodate the demons. We have buses parked close by to transport everyone. And the witches strengthened the magical barrier around headquarters. If anyone accidentally uses their magic, the angels shouldn’t detect it.”

Sharen let out a shaky breath. “Good.”

At least everything is going right here.

“Ma’am?”

Sharen looked at the young girl, who nervously adjusted her glasses. “Yes.”

“I just want to thank you.”

She frowned. “Thank me?”

The girl nodded. “Before you found me, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t understand why I was stronger and faster than my friends. I didn’t understand why I was being followed. If you hadn’t have saved me that day, the angels might have discovered I was a half-breed before you did, and I don’t think I would’ve lived.”

Sharen smiled and reached out to squeeze her shoulder gently. “No, thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you through all of this. You’ve truly become part of the family here. A valued part of the family.”

She saw tears in Riverly’s dark eyes.

I need to erase all the doubts Alderon raised inside of me. I’m not something evil. I’m doing something good here. No matter who I end up being, it doesn’t change who I am deep down.

“Let’s go inside and save some demons.”

The girl smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

Sharen typed in the code with a smile. Today is going to be a good day. I can feel it.