"You want me to do it now?" 

Vee, Zavi, and Amona nodded rapidly, clasping their hands together in a begging motion. "How did ya'll even find my room, to begin with?" I stared at the persistent little shits as they stood in front of my body, unsure if I should even put on a shirt since they saw my bare chest. "Sir Alistair told us," Zavi admitted shyly and I glared at the wall, knowing that the piece of shit lord was behind it.

"Oh yeah?" I grumbled, knowing that I was going to have some words with that man. Lord or not, he was gonna listen to whatever I had to say. Amona nodded, running over with her little halo jiggling around her head to come to grab my hand. "Please?" She looked up at me with those eyes and it made me wonder just what type of things they had to be hearing since I was taboo around here. Well, at least someone wanted to have a conversation with me.

"If you like," I heard a voice and I turned to see Availa standing there, clutching the necklace tightly. "I can lead you to the training compound," She said as if that solved all our problems but in all actuality, it didn't even solve nothing close to the issue. "That's not what I mean. I know where it is, thanks," I put a hand up, the free hand of mine running a hand through my hair. It was starting to grow excessively long, and I needed to cut it. "The problem is that none of these people outside of you," I pointed to the kids and Availa. "Like me. What the hell do I look like trying to talk to people who want to physically murder me with their eyes?" I raised a brow and they looked away from me.

What they didn't know was that I still wanted to die.

"D-do you not understand the severity of this situation, children?" I bent over my waist, folding my arms as I looked them all in the eye. "I'm sorry, but even I wanted to, these people don't want to see me," I smiled softly, making sure they understood. The words tasted like shit on my tongue as I said them, but I had to be all nice for these children. They didn't need to see asshole Troy™ just yet. 

"But Sir Alistair said that it was okay for you to teach the code enforcement." Availa piped up and I lifted my body up to make sure I heard her correctly. "Maddox said what now?" I blinked several times, clearing my throat to open my ears because I just knew she didn't say what I thought she said. Yes, it was all in my head. 

"Sir Alistair and his men are ready for you to teach them," She said, a dagger ripping through my entire being once I registered her words. "Maddox said what now—" I sputtered, narrowing my eyes. There was just no way that Maddox would do something like that because there was no just absolutely no god damn reason for him to. He gained nothing out of it. "Why?" I raised a brow and Availa shrugged, smoothing her apron. "I don't know, but he'd like for you to report to the training compound off-site so that you could show the men the correct style of defense." She stepped aside and the door opened on her command.

"Come on!" Amona cheered, dragging me along in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants, some black shoes, and a hair tie to pull my hair up in a bun. "I never said I would," I mumbled, watching the kids lead me to the entrance of the castle, the light of the candles guiding us. "Mr. Troy," I pulled the large door open by the hook, the warm wind greeting me along with the sight of red everywhere. "Do you think that you can carry us across the bridge?" Vee timidly pointed to the large black building on a mass of land that was connected by a truss bridge, a river of lava swirling beneath.

I guess they seemed scared of the red and gold liquid, so I decided to be nice and hoist one onto my back, which just so happened to be Zavi. "Do not choke me," I warned, looking over my shoulder at him as I picked up Vee and Amona within my arms. "Okay!" I rolled my eyes, making sure everyone was holding onto me tightly as I descended from the castle, the red sky above watching me as I dashed through the black path.

As I approached the bridge, a demon guard nodding to me upon arrival as I entered, I thought of some things. It was odd, completely odd that I hadn't seen Natanya since I arrived here in Hell. She was the one who had gotten me into this trouble without any reason at all, and I had not seen her at all. Maybe she would show her face when it was time to and when she did, I had a few words to say like what the fuck were you thinking, sending your old man up to get me—

It could've been worse, I reminded myself. I could've been eaten and devoured by that demon man when he first arrived. "There's no need to be scared. Ya'll are better than this lava," I grumbled, feeling the children tighten their grip on me as the fog from the lava started to swirl around us. The bridge buckled beneath us, the sound of creaking filling our ears as I hustled along, seeing the big building in sight. I almost started running, feeling a bit hot with no shirt on. Aw crap, I didn't put a shirt on.

Oh well. They could be blessed by the sight that was my fabulous bod.

I sighed in relief as we got off of the bridge, stepping onto black gravel. The building was much larger up close, guarded heavily with demon cops. "Hello," I raised a brow as the clear door to the entrance slid down, a sign that I could cross with a nod from the stiff guard. Why were things protected down here when no human could get in? "Here," I stepped inside the spacious building, seeing nothing but a long corridor and a series of rooms. This place was creepy. "Hi, I'll take you to where Sir needs you," I heard a voice and I turned to see the short and chubby girl with black hair to the side of me.

"I know you," I put the kids down, pointing to the girl who was banging on the store I was working in that one late night, begging to be let in. "Damn, I knew you were a fucking demon," I rolled my eyes, watching her smile bashfully. "I'm Xani," She waved and I snorted, more people coming out to meet me. Damn, I felt like I was at my own talk show and they were the audience. "That is my partner, Mahad," The demon pointed to a tall and slim caramel-skinned man walking up to greet us, his hand on a gun.

I wish he would shoot me.

"Follow me," Mahad grunted, touching along the wall and all of sudden, the wall diminished, fading away to reveal a large white room on the right, filled with a number of demon cops in their training gear. I stared in confusion, wondering if I missed a class of science for this shit to happen as I followed him, stepping over to enter the room, garnering heated stares. Did these people really want me here because I just couldn't tell? "Oh, you guys are here too?" I turned to see Jexan, Lexica, and Nya perched against the wall, watching me intensely. 

It seemed that they thought that Maddox's plan for me teaching them was a joke. I did too because I wasn't the right person to teach these useless sacks of shit who relied on guns for attacks. But if Maddox wanted it, then these hundreds or thousands of people would have to get used to it or bounce. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, "Attention, please!" 

All of the talking in the room ceased as the large crowd shuffled towards me at the front of the room, my voice hitting them right in their ears. "Thank you. Now, I'm sure you all don't want to be here. I don't want to be here, but for the sake of your lord, keep your mouths shut and follow along as I teach you the ways of the human." I could see some of the demons recoil in shock and in appall like they couldn't understand that someone like me could tell them what to do. 

I clapped my hands together, figuring out where to start as I looked at everyone, studying their body, their stiffness. "You aren't always going to have those weird ass guns," I pointed to the weapon in their holster and they all looked at each other awkwardly. "And even if you did," I put a hand on my hips, raising a brow. "They didn't work, considering I kicked most of y'all's asses," I pointed to Jexan, getting into position. "Jexan, I want you to run towards me as fast as you can, pretending that you have a knife in your hand," I raised a brow as he peered at me, unsure if he should do that. "But I'm too fast for you." Demons and their lack of respect for humans was really starting to irk my nerves.

"Just do as I fucking said, please," I waved for him to start, closing my eyes. If I knew it well, demons ran at 34 mph, generating wind with their legs so that you could not tell. Now, if I just waited until he was five feet away from me, I could do it. With a dash and a swirl of air around him, Jexan came charging towards and I leaned to my left, hand reaching out to grab the arm holding the knife as my other came around to the back of his head.

I heard a collective gasp and using all of my strength, I pulled him down towards the ground, letting his body crash as I twisted his hand, acting as if I was removing the gun. I kept my foot on his body as I opened my eyes, breathing heavily. Every single demon in the room stared at me with open mouths and big eyes as if they couldn't believe that I had taken him down with simple movements. "So, that's how you do it," I stepped off of his body, ready to leave and go eat more Lucky Charms. 

"Kee lok," I heard a series of native murmurs as they looked at me with surprise and just a hint of pride. I could tell that they wanted me to continue, so I dispersed them for a few minutes in order to take a breath so that I could fully explain what I wanted them to know. From the corner of the room, it felt like someone was staring a hole through my body. I turned to see the demon lord blending in among the people, his gold eyes gleaming at me as a smirk played at his lips, his arms folded. He looked oddly pleased with himself and seeing that made my mind boggle.

Why was he looking at me like that?

I turned around and headed to the balcony of the room, overseeing the lava pool. The soft wind kissed my cheeks as it soothed my naked torso, giving me the calming ailments that I needed in order to not think about home. I heard the sound of footsteps and they stopped to me, a familiar and stifling aura of dominance consuming me as we stood in silence, admiring the beauty that was this land. Nothing was said but it was oddly comforting that we were soaking in each other's presence.

"If there was one thing that you could change about the world, what would it be?"

I jolted at the sudden question, thinking about it for a bit and giving him nothing but honesty. "I would have some rules set in place because no one wants chaos," It was the truth and nothing but. "But I would also allow people to have their freedom. There's nothing worse to know that there's so much out there and you can't do anything but hope that one day, you'll be free enough to see it." I shrugged, watching the lava crackle and burn. "We didn't ask to be born," I chuckled, feeling all eyes on me. "The least, we should be able to have our freedom. We shouldn't be confined by mere laws alone," I motioned to him, knowing that I was full-on right. 

"I'd want people to actually smile and look forward instead of looking back."

I spoke from experience. Ever since I was fourteen and I got on that large bus that came through the wiped out city of Wichita, ever since I cried the whole entire ten hours to No Man's Land, seeing everyone so fearful and scared of what was behind them, I'd realized that this wasn't it for me. 

"I know you humans talk about it so much," I leaned on the bracket of the balcony, the smell of the flowers silencing the smell of magma. "But do you yourself want to love?" He questioned and I snorted at the ludicrous abstract noun. Something so beautiful yet something so tainted. That was the question that everyone seemed to focus on because if nothing else, what they craved most from the world and its offerings was love.

"Nah," I shook my head, feeling no type of emotion. "I don't believe in love," I had mentioned this once but I knew it was a sure answer. "Why not?" Maddox asked, taking a step closer so that he was towering over me and I could feel his warmth. "How can I when this world has ruined all perceptions of love for me?" The lord of hell looked extremely crestfallen like he was reminded of something drastic. He rubbed his stubble, unable to control the dark colors that were morphing his eyes as he listened to me.

"You can say that you love your people, us humans, Maddox," I turned to him, clicking my teeth with evident scorn written in my expression and he allowed himself to frown in my presence. I thought that he was too good to show his true face in front of me. "But it didn't seem that way if you constantly try to be the puppet master of our lives. Though, I'm sure you have your reasons," I shook my head, biting my lip as a painful reality painted its very own picture in front of us. 

"That kind of thing sticks with us for the rest of our lives."

It didn't matter that I forgave him or I didn't. It didn't matter that I was coming to enjoy talking with him on the small nights. It didn't matter about anything because no matter what he did, what he said, I would never forget.

"Especially when it has cost us everything," I was coming to see that I didn't hate Maddox. He wasn't as cruel as I thought he was and he kept my parents alive. He kept them stable and working in good health, making sure that our city was provided for. They were happy, which made me happy, but if he didn't tell me why, I couldn't see beyond that point. No one could because of the number of tears that we shed, the amount of fear we held, the little trust that we had, the contempt that we felt for this man. 

I hated that I could feel my eyes watering as I strolled down memory lane. I gritted my teeth, turning my head away. I didn't want him to see me cry again. It made me look weak and powerless like he had the upper hand and I wanted him to know that he never would. I lifted my hand to wipe the tear that got away, but another one grabbed it. 

"Please," There was a soft yet deep whisper as I turned slightly, looking into gold eyes as his finger wiped the tear away gently, lingering on my skin for just a while. He just smiled sadly as if he could feel my pain and he nodded. "Don't cry." I took in a sharp breath, his words hitting me right in the chest and all of a sudden, the hold on those tears just disappeared. 

"God damn you, Maddox Kane."

I was Troy motherfucking Morelli. I didn't cry over feelings and I damn sure didn't cry in front of anyone else that I didn't trust. I looked so pathetic and I was sure that he thought so too. "Hey..." Maddox lamented, his frown deepening and before either of us knew it, his hand reached out to grasp my elbow, gently pulling me into his chest as his arms locked around me. I blinked, the scent of a spicy earth and citrus cologne making its way into my nose as I settled into the heat of his body without question. 

I closed my eyes and all of the movement, the time, the sound of the room seemed to stop, blending as my body unconsciously melted into his grasp. Such intensity was prevalent because neither of us paid too much attention to it. I felt safe and I felt calm, and something about that feeling made me dislike it just a bit.

Because I had no idea where this was leading. I don't think any of us knew where this was leading because it was a moment of impulse. This was nothing that was previously planned and that was the start part.

"You smell like Cheetos."

He chuckled and it felt like a true one, where he was genuinely happy and amused. He didn't seem tense beneath me, but relaxed and calm like everything was going to be okay. "I have someone who wants to see you," He spoke quietly, reluctantly pulling away so that I could look at the entrance. I had no understanding of this here moment and everyone could tell by the utter awe and uncertainty that was plastered all over my every being as my mouth fell open, hearing the person's words.

"I missed you, Troy," I blinked in utter confusion, my arms falling to the sides of me as I stared in disbelief, looking from the person to Maddox, wondering what mind games he was playing with me. I hoped that he knew I would slap him for his dumb ass actions. He knew better than to play with my emotions like this, giving me back what I thought I lost. "I never said that he was dead, Troy," He muttered solemnly, and another tear left my eye, one of the many cracks in my heart repairing itself as I took a step closer, voice cracking immediately.

"Avery?"