EVABELLE

'Carry on my wayward son! There'll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more.' The Kansas song blasted through the shiny maroon convertible. Beside Evabelle, Shaundee was wailing along with the music. Just like in Evabelle's dream, Shaundee's voice was amazing, even singing the more rock-and-rollish kind of song.

With the roof down, the wind blew through both Evabelle's and Shaundee's hair, whipping it back as this car too was able to magically leap over traffic just like the van that had taken them to Kalas Hem, initially. Although, unlike their chauffeur of that particular trip, it was clear that Shaundee knew how to drive quite well in the enchanted speeding automobile.

Behind the convertible a magical truck followed that was driven by Calandra and held most of the passengers on this journey. It had Aza and all the Anahalian boys in there. Apparently no one wanted to be left behind on this.

Del was functioning, thank goodness. He was still pale, and Evabelle noticed him leaning more heavily and less casually against walls and tables with a tight pale face that spoke of the pain that still wrought him, but no one could convince him not to come. He'd been extremely stubborn and determined to be involved.

Technically, most of the people going were not necessary. The only ones that were required were Calandra and Shaundee, but Evabelle wanted to go so that when they found CJ, she could be there to get any of the information for him and her brother. The others wanted to be on a moving track too, Evabelle supposed. Calandra hadn't been thrilled about leaving her Sanctuary in the hands of Amy Osric and the rest of Shaundee's crew, but she had surprisingly conceded in allowing the rest of them to come.

Evabelle sat in the passenger seat in the fancy car with Shaundee after she'd had bit of an argument with Aza over it. Aza claimed she wanted to go in the shiny sports car for the feel and power of the machine, but Evabelle wondered if her friend had similar reasons for desiring to ride in the two seat vehicle, so that it would only be Shaundee and her. There would be no one else you would be forced to be jammed into a small space with to get to Kansas.

Evabelle had never gotten to ask why Aza had been crying when she'd ran out of Del's bedroom. It had terrified Evabelle to no end, but then to find him safe and awake, it had confused her as to why Aza had been upset.

However, Evabelle could not bear to be in the same car as either of the brothers at the moment. It was obvious for the reasons with Lucis, and now Del because of the cringingly awkward peck on the cheek she'd given him. It had been a spontaneous thing she'd done for an utterly stupid reason. At the sight of Lucis there in the room, staring directly at Del, refusing to acknowledge her, Evabelle's brain decided to try to get his attention. It had been a way to make him jealous, but looking back on it, all Evabelle wanted to do was bang her head against a brick wall at her own moronisism.

Lucis had already told her that he wasn't in love with her, so something like that would not affect him, even though there was still a piece of Evabelle's mind that couldn't quite accept that. Second, it had to have been ridiculously uncomfortable for Del who was only being used by her, which made Evabelle feel worse.

"Alright, Navigator!" Shaundee grinned at Evabelle. "Where to from here?"

Evabelle stared at her distractedly. "Oh, right!" She reached down by her feed and pulled out a folded, thickly woven cloth, coarse against her finger-pads. Rich painted marks crossed over the entwined pattern. It reminded Evabelle of old treasure maps from movies. However, the paths and symbols shifted ever so slightly, which anyone could play off to one's eyes playing tricks on them. But it kept happening, so it made it rather disorienting.

Evabelle wasn't sure if Shaundee had the thing because it was what magic people legitimately used to find places, or if Shaundee had it more for the eccentric flair of the item.

"There should be a turn off coming up in about three-hundred feet." Evabelle prayed she was reading it right. She glanced over to the mage. "Why is it purple? I mean the path. It's not red like the road we're on."

"Because it's not on human maps, not even that fancy Google maps," Shaundee replied, cheerily. "Most humans don't catch the purple roads. They're not invisible per se, just not noticeable unless you're looking for it."

Evabelle looked ahead again and saw the turn, rushing toward them far too quickly. "It's right there!" She gestured frantically so Shaundee could slow down for it.

"Excellent!" Calandra's mother exclaimed, taking the sharp turn in stride.

Evabelle braced herself, but she didn't even feel the jerk she would have in any other vehicle. She let out a breath and checked behind them to see Calandra's truck make the turn easier than it physically should have as well.

After a while on this hidden road, the wind picked up to the point, where Evabelle had to squint, or dare risk drying out her eyeballs. The sky too had darkened considerably in the past ten minutes. Shaundee was forced to put up the top of the car and roll up the windows.

It was about that time that Evabelle realized that Shaundee hadn't been singing along to the radio for that long stretch. She looked over to the older woman right as the mage turned down the music.

Shaundee released a heavy breath of air and gave Evabelle a side glance, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Truth," She nodded. "You need truth."

Evabelle tilted her head. "Pardo--"

"You don't actually need it from me, specifically," Shaundee continued as if Evabelle hadn't spoken. "But it's something I want to tell you."

From the tense line of the woman's jaw and her darting eyes as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, Evabelle got the impression that she really didn't want to share this truth.

"I want you to understand my daughter and know her story before..." Shaundee paused, and Evabelle took the moment to try to interpret what she was saying. What about Calandra was there to hide? Evabelle knew the beautiful woman could be cold, but she was well aware she wasn't heartless. Evabelle was also very aware of the animosity between Calandra and her mother. And she knew the reason too. Shaundee had cheated on Velrose, when Calandra was young, destroying the wonderful happy life Evabelle had glimpsed her dream. She knew of the pain and the struggle she suffered through that of her sister--

That's when it struck Evabelle. Shaundee had two daughters. The flippant way Shaundee acted all the time and the fact that she hadn't brought it up until this point had made it feel as though Etheldreda was somehow only related Calandra. But the tightness in Shaundee's voice as she murmured the confirming words; "You condemn her," told Evabelle just how serious the situation was to the older mage.

"Children are not their parents," Shaundee whispered. "Children are the choices they make after learning from the world, from their friends, but most importantly, from the people that raised them. Patrick says it's not my fault, but it is. It all started with me. I've screwed up a lot in my life, but there were two decisions that I made that still haunt me and always will." She cleared her throat and Evabelle tensed.

"I love Velrose," Shaundee stated plainly. "I have never stopped loving that driven, talented, passionate, honorable," her lip quirked. "Secretly funny, man. But the differences between us did cause arguments. Every marriage had rough patches. It's not just one fight. You'll feel angry and annoyed with your partner almost constantly. But given time and sometimes help from outside sources, you can make your way through it, but I didn't." Her knuckles turned white on the wheel and Evabelle wanted to reach out and put a hand on her arm, but she refrained and let her continue.

"After another row, I left and went to a bar. I drank and found myself chatting with a nice mage from Texas. He was alone and didn't know what he was doing with his life, but he listened. He said nice things. He made me laugh. And after what felt like months since I'd laughed, it felt good. We drank and drank." Shaundee's lip trembled.

Evabelle knew where this part went.

"I don't even remember the rest of that night," Her voice didn't shake, but Evabelle could sense the strain of what it took to keep it that way. "All I remember is waking up the next morning to a note from him, thanking me for the night. And I obviously knew what I'd done at that point." She shook her head. "I've never drank anything stronger than elf chula since then. I never want to be so completely oblivious to my own actions like that ever again."

Shaundee straightened up. "I knew I had to tell Velrose. I was absolutely terrified, but I couldn't keep it from him. He didn't react. Or at least most people would think that. His face had no emotion, but I could see the hurt in his soul, his heart." She blinked hard, her focus returning from a far, far away place. "Anyway, we found out a few months later that I was pregnant. The two of us agreed not to tell Calandra for the time-being.

"Then she was born. I gave her the name Etheldreda because that was the name Velrose liked. We saw councilors to try to repair the brokenness between us, but, the moment I strayed, we both knew it was never going to be the same. And even though, it was in no way her fault, that little girl was a constant reminder of that." Shaundee breathed out. "Both of us tried not to let that show in the way we cared for her. Velrose tried to give her the same love he gave to Calandra, but knowing the truth of her, it never came out as truly genuine, and I knew he feels bad about that. Then there was me, I was her true mother, and all I could think is how she was supposed to be ours. I did what I could, but children are more perceptive than you think. I know she was aware that she was treated differently."

The endless flatlands stretched on in front of them, the horizon an eternity away. "There was one person who completely and utterly, unconditionally loved little Ethel." Tears that she could no longer hide, shimmered in Shaundee's eyes.

"Calandra," Evabelle murmured.

Shaundee chuckled, a wet, heart-clenching sound. "Those two. Calandra was seven years older than her, so she would dress her up like a little doll. They would set up tea parties outside, dance with the fairies. They even had a secret place in the woods, where they set up a simple swing. They thought it was their special spot than no one knew about, but I found Calandra pushing Etheldreda there. Her little squeal of fear when she got too high. Calandra would quickly ease up, and pull her back.

"Calandra was devoted, caring, sweet on her like no one else. She loved having a little sister, and Etheldreda knew there was nothing holding back on the love than her older sister gave her...unlike her parents." Shaundee flinched, though Evabelle had made a move to strike her, but the brunette knew it was a hit she was taking from herself.

"Meanwhile, Velrose and I were doing our best to work through everything, but it just-- Calandra was your age fifteen or sixteen. Etheldreda was around nine. That was when they overheard one of our worse fights. We did our best to keep private with them, but we thought the girls were in bed. However, our voice got louder and louder to the point we woke them, and they crept onto the stairs and witnessed us lashing out at one another. Velrose broke and said how he could not take it. He couldn't take pretending that Etheldreda came from him. That she was his direct daughter. She was mine and a stranger's. He couldn't forget it, no matter how hard he tried."

The entire story was devastating, but imagining herself as the two girls finding out the truth like that. Calandra believing her parents were loving and dedicated to the other. That her sister was only half. But then there was Etheldreda, who had just found out that her father wasn't her father. That he couldn't love her in the way that she needed.

Evabelle was ready for the story to be over, but she knew it wasn't.

"As you can imagine, everything fell apart at that point. We found out the girls heard and tried our best repair the damage, but it was the same damage that had been eating away at my marriage. It wasn't easily fixed, if it was possible at all. Calandra couldn't accept what was happening and unfortunately took out her anger and frustration at me, on Etheldreda. She shouted at her that she wasn't her true sister and stormed off. Etheldreda was so young, she didn't know what to do." Shaundee took a hand off the steering wheel and wiped a stray tear that had made it out. "I found her at that swing in the woods, by herself, just sitting there. That was the moment I should have gone and talked to her, told her that I loved her, but you know what I did?" She paused, but Evabelle knew she wasn't supposed to answer. "I just stood there, because I didn't know what to say. I didn't know to tell her I loved her because I didn't have that relationship. I didn't know my own daughter, because for so long she was the mistake that was tearing me and Velrose apart." There was no hiding the shaking now. "I walked away, and that was the last time anyone saw her for three years.

Evabelle's eyes widened. "She--"

"Averno found her and took her under his wing. He removed her mages mark and had her help him in all of this." Shaundee banged her fist down. "All because I couldn't be the mother that she deserved."

"That's the other decision," Evabelle did put a hand on her arm this time. "The first was when you cheated on Velrose. The other is when you let her slip away."

Shaundee took in a deep shuddering breath. "Yes," She blinked away more tears and murmured something under her breath.

Evabelle almost asked what she said, but then a little off to her right, the earth lifted, splitting upward, arching around like a large open mouth.

Shaundee veered toward it. Driving onto the grassland, but still the car drove smoothly along until they were tucked away inside the dark cave. The mage turned off the car and sat back, her skin gray, her wrinkles, that most easily missed from her perky and lively personality, quite evident now.

Evabelle didn't say anything at first. There really wasn't anything to say. But she did have one last question. "Etheldreda's biological father..?"

"He's dead," Shaundee said bluntly. "I made to tell him about the baby, but I found out his sanctuary had been breached. It was burned down while he was inside. It was sad, but there wasn't anything I could have done." She paused before murmuring to herself. "I should have told the truth from the beginning."

Evabelle's squeezed Shaundee's arm. "I've learned that you can't improve if you keep on holding onto your past mistakes. You can't become better unless you forgive yourself, Shaundee."

Shaundee looked over at her. "Calandra blames herself too. She lashes out at me because she blames me too, but the moment she turned away from her sister when she needed her most, it did something to Calandra. She may seem firm and steady, but she's a lot like her father in that she feels powerful guilt for her actions, but acts otherwise. Maybe all of us do that."

"Shaundee," Evabelle tried again.

She shook her head. "She was nine-years-old. She's fourteen now. She's in the place that she is now because her mother wasn't there."

There was a sharp rap on the driver's window, startling both women and they both stared out at the impatient Calandra. Shaundee pulled away from Evabelle and opened her door. "You two are taking forever. What fascinating conversation is possibly more important right now?"

Shaundee didn't say anything. But Evabelle replied bluntly. "We were talking about Etheldreda."

Calandra straightened up, her lips pressing together into a thin line. Shaundee's voice came out softly. "I think we sometimes forget that she's only a child."

Calandra's eyes narrowed. "She's not only a child. And I haven't forgotten anything." Then she spun on her heel and made it for the exit of the underground parking where the outlines of the rest of their crew stood, waiting.

The wind was a force to be reckoned with. Apparently the Wizard of Oz wasn't giving Evabelle the wrong impression of the Kansas. She didn't see any tornadoes, but it was hard to see much of anything through her hair the was determined to stay blown in her face.

Shaundee had taken a moment to recover from their conversation, but now back out in the open, in front of everyone, she was storming ahead into the field, calling back to the group, merrily. "The place is quite the vacation spot!"

From what little Evabelle could make out, there were enormous gray wall clouds beneath the rolling cumulonimbus, ever increasing the possibility for a twister.

Evabelle normally would have been worried, but she figured whatever magical place they were going to had set up the proper precautions, considering its location. Though, she wasn't sure what exactly they were looking for. She did her best to keep her eye out for it, though, and keep all her attention on it as to not let it slip into the more depressing thoughts from her car ride, or the fact that she was near Lucis again bringing a painful static that was jittering off her skin.

Thom. Think of Thom. Ignoring on what could potentially be happening to Thom right now, she only thought of what would keep her going. Saving Thom.

The group dipped down into a wide, rounded ditch. It was one that Evabelle might have rolled down when she was young. But the harsh weather would have stopped the girl. She almost fell flat on her nose descending, and then nearly topped back on the way out of it. She'd never been in wind this intense before.

Stepping over the top, it appeared out of nowhere. She couldn't see it from the other side. There was just more flat grassland, but now on the other side of the hole, there was a lone door right in front of them.

"And here we are!" Shaundee exclaimed, unnecessarily.

Evabelle was reminded of Monsters Inc. considering the door was by itself, without a building attached to it. And who knew? Maybe they're was a monster behind it.

Shaundee raised her hand and pressed it against the door, murmured soft, incomprehensible words, and swung it open, to reveal...nothing. Well, not nothing, just black. A black hole maybe, leading to another place and so the entrance was just in Kansas. Evabelle figured that made sense.

"Well, come on!" Shaundee ushered them forward. "Let's got out of this before things get too crazy!"

Aza shrugged and ducked in first, vanishing into the dark instantly. Evabelle realized she hadn't even said a word to her friend, since they arrived. She wondered if Aza was mad at her for making her ride in the truck.

Calandra and Del went next. Faux stepped forward with Evabelle about to follow, but then she did the stupid thing and glanced back at Lucis. It was a strange reflex. A fading comfort because she knew he wouldn't be giving her an encouraging smile anymore, but still that small broken part of her still hoped she'd see something to hold into in those amazing eyes.

He'd been following a ways back from everyone, and now he stood stock still, the wind buffeting against him. He swayed a little against its tirade, but that blank expression didn't waver. His hair washed over his eyes and his wings ruffled out. An empty shell that made Evabelle's throat close up.

No comfort. No warmth. No anything.

Evabelle wrenched her gaze away and almost ran smack into Faux, who had not gone in like she had thought. His face was vacant too, his eyes slowly shifting down from Lucis to Evabelle. Something flickered in the hazel as they scanned over her face, making Evabelle swallow roughly and look past him too.

She couldn't stand to be out there another minute. Maybe there was no electricity mixed in the whirring wind, but she could feel the prickling along her skin like hundreds of tiny spiders, skittering along and nipping at her flesh.

Evabelle passed Shaundee, still holding the door open, her eyes downcast, but the quick flash up at the younger girl, revealed something that made a pit of nausea take hold in the base of Evabelle's stomach.

Pity.

The horrendous thoughts flared to life. Faux had told Shaundee about the shouting match in the kitchen. The two of them were so chummy. It made sense. The sudden confession session in the car. Shaundee felt bad about all the secrets swarming around her, so she opened up her closet to share some of her skeletons.

Truth. Truth is what you need.

Evabelle didn't really know what she needed anymore, but it wasn't this. She straightened up and passed through the dark veil. The sensation of thick cobwebs, to go with the spiders, stretched over her body before she stumbled onto a well lit metal staircase. Her hand caught around the rail before she went careening down it.

Calandra's voice floated up from down below. "Get off of there. This is very powerful magic."

"But it's so shiny. And it makes me feel all buzzy."

Evabelle glanced down and saw the mage standing at the head of what, at first glance, looked like long black table they'd had in big companies to hold professional board meetings, complete with the hard silver chairs all the way around. However, looking more closely, revealed the faint specks, like distant stars inching across under the dark glassy surface. And much like Shaundee's map, they were just slow enough to make Evabelle wonder if it was just her eyes playing tricks on her.

The rest of the room was relatively bare. On one wall, there was a row of rectangle windows with the white opaque glass that prevented one from seeing the outside, but still let in light, giving the illusion that this fortress was not below ground...well maybe it was above if that door really was some kind of portal thing.

On the other long wall were three evenly spaced doors. The wall behind Calandra was bare as Evabelle stood on the steps on the fourth side of the room.

Aza had spread herself flat on her back across the universe table, bringing her arms up and down as though she were making a snow angel. A weak silvery cloud had formed underneath her, creating an eerie outline around Evabelle's best friend, that drifted lazily after the tiny girl's moving limbs. "Do you think I could use magic through this?" Aza asked, eyes round. "I think I'm absorbing the power."

Del snorted, his head leaned over the back of one of the chairs, his eyes closed and arms folded. "You're too small to absorb magic. And that buzz is just your tiny brain trying to process something more than its usual limited capacity."

Aza sat up and stood to march on top of the table, sending soft tremors along the surface, until she was in front of the man in black. She pressed one of her feet against his chest as she towered over him, grinning like a lynx. "Alright big guy, tell this stupid little girl how the magic table works since your fat brain is far tubbier than mine."

Del's head was up now, his eyes gleaming into the blonde maniac's. His arm flashed up, around and down on her leg, knocking Aza forward, about to face-plant into him, but Del snatched her wrists and pinned them against her chest, holding her up, with her one foot still on the counter. He leaned his head close to her face, the corner of his lips twitching at the angry expression glaring down at him. "Don't put your foot on me, rat."

Aza's cheeks reddened and she looked as though she were about to spit in his eye, but then Del pushed her up and she tumbled back onto her rear with a thump on the smooth black surface.

"Now, get off," Calandra repeated, her eyes rolling at the pair, but then the mages attention returned to the table as well, her fingers hovering above the top of it. With her eyes half-closed, her lines smoothed away as she took a deep breath, the tinges of green under where her hand drifted, brightening for a moment. Obviously, it was giving her a pleasant buzzing feeling too, but one that she could clearly channel, unlike the wild human.

Begrudgingly, that wild human slid off to the opposite side of the table away from Del and plopped down in a chair.

Evabelle would take the inside group over the outside gang. She already felt less strained. But she did glance behind her, finding it a little unnerving that no one had followed her in. She'd been standing near the top of the stairs for several minutes. There was no Faux, no Shaundee, and no Lucis.

A black rectangular hole marked where the door was, and she could still feel the wind, though it was far weaker, but she couldn't see or hear anything beyond.

What were they doing out there? The tension tightened again. What were they talking about?

Evabelle shook herself and forced herself away and traversed down to the rest of her friends that had made the trek.

Aza looked over and Evabelle was glad to see that she didn't look angry. "Where the heck is everyone else? You guys having a secret party out there?"

Evabelle gave an unconvincing chuckle. "Oh, yeah, dancing in a tornado really brings out a whole bunch of other moves." She braced herself and sat next to Del, determined to get rid of, at least some of her awkwardness towards her friends. But he wasn't even looking at her.

Once again he had leaned himself back in his chair, his eyes shut. Dark wings pulled close to his body, the one still hooked around his waist like a sling. The stark paleness and the shadows under his eyes, made Evabelle squirm. He really shouldn't have come. He still needed more rest and time to recover.

"And I have no idea what the others are doing." Evabelle turned back to Aza.

"Well, they should hurry it up," Calandra said. "We need to get started." She began to move around the table, about to head up and yank them in herself, when Faux and Shaundee plunked down the steps. "Where's Lucis?" Calandra asked.

Shaundee's complexion was ashen and that made the blood in Evabelle's veins burn cold. "He said he wants to keep watch outside." She answered quickly, but her wide, cagey eyes that flashed to Faux and back to her daughter, caused sweat to form in Evabelle's palms.

Something was very wrong.

"He just doesn't want us to be discovered." Faux shrugged. His face was calmer than Shaundee's. Too calm. There was zero spark of humor. Just relaxed impassiveness. "What we're doing is technically illegal, so he just wants to be sure no one gets too close."

Calandra didn't seem convinced with this, but surprised Evabelle when she said. "Alright then. Come on you two let's get this going." Then she sat down.

Everyone's attention shifted to Calandra, except Evabelle, who caught Faux moving forward to sit, but being seized at the elbow by Shaundee. The older mage made to pull his hand from his pocket, a worried expression on her face, but Faux, gave her a cold stare and twitched his head as if saying "no". Then he tugged himself away and came over to sit directly across from Evabelle.

The Anahalian princess looked down, her heart thrumming.

"Alright," Calandra began. "Quick run through of this place," She pointed to the door closest to her. "This leads to a small food storage room. The middle door has blankets and pillows. That will be where you're sleeping, and yes, it shall all be together. Any funny business you go outside." She gave Faux a pointed look, but he wasn't looking at her at all. Calandra titled her head, but made no comment on his lack of attention to her. "The third door is the bathroom and now this table is made of many artifacts. The power actually might be sufficient to pull this off. And the block around this place really will help to cover our tracks."

Shaundee slid into her seat, next to Calandra. "I'd never steer you wrong. But since you will be reaching out with that power, I'll still be using the distracting spells to lure any potential attention away from you."

From Evabelle's peripheral vision, she saw Calandra nod toward her mother. There was one set of eyes that was trained on Evabelle, steadfast, that prevented her from looking up. She couldn't take this. Why was he doing this?

"I know you all decided to come, which was certainly not necessary." Calandra went on. "Most of this will be myself in meditation doing a mind sweep, while Shaundee will be doing her own spells. So you'll all just have to be quiet and wait. If you--"

"Evabelle,"

Evabelle flinched, but she did finally look up into Faux's face. "Yes?"

He didn't say anything for a moment. Evabelle thought that Calandra was going to get after him for the sudden interruption, but she didn't say anything either. The whole room's focus was now so pinpointed on the Faux and Evabelle, but strangely Evabelle didn't seem that aware of the others.

Faux's voice snapped the tension like slap. "Have you ever heard the term 'demon heart'?"

Evabelle's mouth opened and closed a few times. She had not been sure what to expect, but that wasn't it. "Demon heart?" Slowly, she shook her head. "I know of angel heart,"

Faux nodded. "And what do you know of that?"

Evabelle squirmed in her chair. What was this random pop quiz? "Well, angel heart is what I have. It is a physical and emotional distinction that was given to the Anahalian that was to rule. It's passed down to the firstborn child from the one who had it. My father had it and he passed it down to me." She tried to read the man's face, but he was merely nodding as she answered, not giving anything away. "It allows me more power and I can draw it out of any feather, unlike most, who have to use their munera. I should eventually be able to use magic without any feathers...just myself." She swallowed. "I also have the capability to reach others in a deeper way." This was entering into the territory of which her father had told her. "An emotional connection, through souls. I'm not one-hundred percent clear on what that all entails yet."

Faux didn't seem surprised or confused by this small tidbit, and he didn't iterate or expand on it. However, he did hold up a hand for her to stop. "Yes, well angel heart isn't the only thing that exists. There is something known as demon heart as well." He paused and Evabelle noticed his eyes twitching, like he was having a hard time looking at her too. After a long breath with his eyes falling shut, he let them open and they were still.

"On earth humans have what they call psychopaths or sociopaths. It's where the brain doesn't have the same capacity for empathy like others do. It can be something your born with or can come about through environmental situations. Some can function just fine with their position, however, as you know, there are others that truly suffer. And in that they make others suffer."

Evabelle wasn't entirely sure why she was getting a psychology lesson, but the seriousness and even the context stirred something in her mind. She clung to every word.

"Anahalians don't have psychopaths." Faux said. "We're not built that way. The angel borns aren't traditionally born with any kind of physical or mental disorder. There have been a few very rare cases that are far between, but otherwise, we don't have that issue because of the angel blood and grace." He leaned in over the table, and subconsciously, Evabelle did the same.

"However, there is demon heart. It's the closest thing we have to psychopath."

"So is that Averno's problem?"

Aza's voice made Evabelle jump, having practically forgotten who was all there with them.

Faux straightened up. "Yeah, you got it."

"So the guy just sucks at feelings?" Aza folded her arms.

"No," Faux shook his head. "It's not like a psychopath exactly. It's just the closest we have. Demon heart makes you stronger, like angel heart. You can use power that other Anahalians can't."

Evabelle remembered Averno using power without munera, but she had assumed that had come from summoning demons, not because there was a part of him that was demon.

"This wasn't just some random flaw though. As we were taught in school. The devil, himself. Lucifer, the fallen angel, was angered by the creation of the Anahalian. He saw the power that the angels gave to one of the Anahalians to be the ruler, and he took advantage of a jealous Anahalian, drawing him to the pit and promising him power. He gave the Anahalian a part of his fallen grace, infecting his heart, physically, mentally, emotionally twisting him and corrupting him, not into a demon, but enough of it in him to have the same demented cravings and desires."

Evabelle's stomach began to contort. She swallowed back the bit of bile that had started to rise in the back of her throat.

"Demons desire nothing but pain of others. They feed off the suffering and love to inflict damage and corruption themselves." Faux hands that rested in front of him on the table, curled into fists. "Those with demon heart, it's as though they have a hole inside them that can never be filled. The only true satisfaction they find is in hurting, torturing, and killing. It's an instinct that's ingrained in them."

"Wait, what happened to the original guy?" Aza asked. "The first one that was turned. What did the other Anahalians do?"

Faux closed his eyes again. "They killed him."

Evabelle didn't know why she was taken aback by this. "They didn't even try to--"
"They did," Hazel eyes flashed open. "They tried to bring him out, to fix him, but they couldn't. There was nothing that could be done. There was no cure. He was put down."

Those words were so dehumanizing. Put down--like a dog, a sick animal.

"After that, everyone assumed it was over. Obviously, it wasn't. You see there's a mechanism with the angel heart, that if all the bloodline is killed off. It will find a new bloodline of its own accord. Demon heart is a little different. It doesn't immediately find another Anahalian. It takes time. There's been decades between another with demon heart, but it does always manage to come back."

"So, basically you're telling us that Averno it like a rabid dog that you guys didn't manage to catch before he got loose?" Aza shook her head. "Are you telling us this so that we'll feel bad for the guy?"

Faux bowed his head. "No,"

"Then what?" Evabelle asked, her voice, barely over a whisper.

Faux put his face in his hands. "It's because, as you said, he 'got loose', or more accurately got away with everything without anyone realizing what he was. In the past, the others who have suffered from this, they couldn't control themselves. Their thirst for blood was so savage, they let it reign them. Averno is different than any other with demon heart because he controlled it. Or at least, he hid it well. He was smarter, cleverer than anyone else. The ones in the past were discovered all around the time of their adolescence when they say the curse reaches its pitch. They were arrested. There was always an attempt to try cure them, but in the end, they all had to be killed." Faux sighed and lifted his head. "After the murders of your parents and you were sent away, the commission looked back on old records on some Anahalians that had gone missing and realized that it started happening when he was fifteen. Others slipped away and people had searched for them, but they were never found. He covered his tracks. He was good, but now people knew. Before people thought he was so brave to travel to Earth so often, to be with the humans personally, hide among them, help them individually with his own two hands. Now we know he was visiting others for a very different reason. That's where he was able to secretly bring Rommel into Jovis," Faux said the name of the human, that was his own father, with not a bit of emotion, but there was dry sound to it. "To help him with his work, perhaps the first of his corrupted men who killed dozens of Anahalians in the fire he set to homes, burning wings before they had the chance to get away." With each word his eyes grew darker and darker. "He silently gathered other Anahalians to his cause. Some of the disappearances were no doubt his own murders, but others were those that blindly decided to follow him to eventually become the first test subjects of his Annihilator virus."

"No one put together it was Averno doing all this?" Aza sounded as sick as Evabelle felt.

"Averno was like a hero to many Anahalians. He was kind and considerate. I told you, he traveled to earth in person, and hid as a human to be there with them. The king himself admired that. And everyone else more than just admired. They adored him. He was a legend. This hero of kindness, goodness, strength. He was everything others wished to be. So when the King and Queen, and Lucis's and Del's mother was found dead, and Averno had vanished, people put it together...Or well technically, there was a witness."

Faux entwined his fingers in front of him and stared down at them. "Look the point that I have to make it this. Angel heart and demon heart are hold similarities and differences, but they hold one distinct similarity, one that had only been suspected until Averno confirmed it."

There was a screech and a bang as the chair next to Evabelle was shoved back and toppled over. A black streak shot up and over the table, snatched the front of Faux's shirt, and hauled him over to the wall, slamming him hard against it.

"Del!" Aza leapt to her feet.

Evabelle sat frozen, realizing that she'd missed the dark Anahalian getting tenser and tenser as they talked.

Del pressed his arm against Faux's throat. "Watch yourself, Seren," he hissed through clenched teeth.

Aza marched forward and grabbed Del's free arm and tugged. "Oi!" She hollered with no response.

Faux blinked resolutely back at the killer violets. "You can't do this anymore," he murmured, his voice slightly strained under the pressure on his neck. "It's not fair to them. It's never been fair to them."

Del snarled. "Everyone has a right to their own secrets. How would you feel if I start sharing some of yours?"

Faux delivered a bitter laugh that ended in a bout of wheezed coughing. "They already know my secrets. I'm half human." He lifted his hands and pulled at his constraint to allow himself more air, and that's when Evabelle saw the bruised knuckles and scrapes of blood. His eye flickered out to Evabelle and down to Aza. "My father is Rommel, the angry, arsonist himself." He focused back on Del. "Are you satisfied. I've said my bit that makes no difference to what's happening right now. It's your turn."

Del didn't move an inch. He still bore down on Faux, his glare never wavering.

"You've seen what's been happening. Either that, or you're just denying it. You two thought you could handle it. That it wasn't going to be an issue. But it is, Del. You know it is." Faux pushed again.

Evabelle watched a bead of sweat roll down the side of the dark Anahalian's face right as Faux's brow smoothed, his eyes widened, and his voice went soft. "Sira vel mih,"

Aza blinked in confusion, her yanking on Del becoming more hesitant.

Del's raised hackles fell, and his arm against Faux slackened. His dark hair hung limply as his bowed his head. "I know," he said thickly.

"What's going on?" Aza asked, head bouncing back and forth between the two boys. "What did you say?" She looked at Faux and then to Del. "What did he say?"

Evabelle knew.

Evabelle knew what Faux had said and it now swam on repeat around in her head.

"Someone answer me!" Aza raised her voice, and her grip tightened again. "What the heck does the curse with demon heart have to do with what's going on right now?!"

"It's genetic."

A pin could have dropped and it would have echoed like a cannon ball. Del's words had stolen all the air from the room. But it wasn't new information for everyone. Evabelle's eyes finally strayed over to Shaundee and Calandra. Both women stared back, Shaundee practically chewing her nails off, Calandra with a blank, yet penetrating expression. They were all waiting for her reaction.

The volume of any thought in Evabelle's mind had been muted; not because it came as a shock, because from the moment that Faux had started to explain demon heart, she knew that this was where it was going. She'd known this was the truth she'd been waiting for. This was answer she'd been almost certain of. Now it was verified and it had a name.

A strange chilling wave spread over her body, one that she had never experienced before. It wasn't cold, exactly, just numbing.

Del's arm fell to his side, and Aza's fingers curled so tight into the fabric of his jacket. Her features twisted as she processed what was said. She tilted her head. "Del," Her voice was soft and reaching. "You--?"

"No," Evabelle pushed her chair back and stood. "Del doesn't have it."

Everything made sense. It all finally fit.

Aza stared at her, wide eyed.

The way Tru loathed him. The way that everyone treated him over Del. The glimpses of darkness, flashing in his sky eyes. The distancing. The ever growing cold in his voice. The dark light crackling through when he'd cut off the elf's hand. The fear as he almost told her, himself.

"Sira vel mih," - "She loves him,"

"The angel heart is past down to the first born child," Evabelle repeated. "If any others are born, it's not given to them. Del is younger. It's L--"

From above them a gust of wind suddenly surged through the opened door as a man vanished into the dark fissure, with only a single, white feather fluttering down to rest on the black obsidian, in the center of the room.