By My Side - Sam/Aomaris Fanfiction

49) The Final Siege

Everyone except Sam, Erik and (unsurprisingly) Damien gaped at me before swivelling to Emily, who waved back at them shyly.
"B-But how?!" Matthew cried.
"My mother fled to the human world. She had me and I grew up there. She told me about the demon world and you guys when I was seven. I wanted to meet all of you but I died before I got the chance."
"Your mother told you about us?" James asked. "How much?"
"Not a lot," Emily replied. "She told me your names and that you were the Demon Lord's sons." James looked sceptical.
"What's my name?"
"Raestrao." She answered immediately. "And your brothers are Uzaeris, Aomaris, Zecaeru and Izroul." James stared at her.

Ten minutes later, Emily had them all convinced and another two hours later, Emily became transparent. I stared at her and she chuckled sheepishly.
"Oh, yeah. Um, I can't constantly be here. I need to recover my energy. Almost like sleeping but I just... won't be here."
"Oh. Okay, that's fine. We'll see you maybe tomorrow then?" I said hopefully. Emily nodded before fading away. The incubi all waved to her. Their partners separated for bed an hour ago, not having any kind of connection to Emily, so it was just the brothers and me in the room. Who were awake, at least. Iridessa was snoring softly in the bed, which was making James blush every time he noticed. James turned to his wife and sure enough, he blushed once again.
"Alright, I think it's time for everyone to head to bed. We have to be rested for the siege tomorrow." I froze. Shit, I forgot about that. Emily sent the thoughts flying out of a metaphorical window and into some void at the back of my mind. Damien frowned, obviously hearing my thoughts. Despite said thoughts, I nodded and yawned, turning to head for the door.

"Sam? Can you wait a minute, please?" James called. Sam looked confused but nodded. He planted a kiss on my forehead and I hugged him before setting off, too tired to eavesdrop and not sure it was worth it. I made it back to the room in record time, despite feeling exceedingly lethargic. Before I'd entered the room, however, a faint roar of unmistakable anger came from the direction of James' room and I tensed immediately. I hastened into the room and shut the door quickly. Almost as soon as I did, I felt the handle turn and heard Sam sigh from behind it.
"Phoenix, open the door." Tears began to slip down my cheeks but I didn't answer. Guilt was already eating at me and I couldn't bear to see his face. "Nix." I held in a sob. "Phoenix, open the goddamn door." He growled, and the door shook as he hit it in frustration. My heart ached as I listened to the pain in his voice. It was only made worse by the fact I knew he could open the door whenever he wished; he had the strength for it. But he didn't, because he didn't want to hurt me. "Nix, please..." I squeezed my eyes shut and it was all I could do to prevent myself from letting him in. Sam was just as stubborn as I was, if not more, and I knew if I showed any sign of weakness then he wouldn't leave my side until the siege was over. The incubus growled again, but soon after that, silence reigned in the corridor. I exhaled shakily and stood. It absolutely broke my heart to hurt him like that, but if he died because of me then I would never be able to forgive myself.

I sat myself on the bed and curled up, creating as much of a hidey-hole as I possibly could. I'd barely buried myself in the blanket when the door swung open suddenly, and with a very loud bang as it hit the wall. I shrank backwards immediately, cursing the fact I hadn't made sure Sam was gone and that he knew me well enough to know if he went quiet, I'd think he was gone. Sam stayed by the door and I didn't even need to look at him to sense the betrayal mixing with his anger.
"Phoenix Jonah Starglass, do you honestly think I'm gonna leave you trapped in the fucking demon world?"

"Fucking Damien..." I muttered. I looked up at Sam and a ghost of a sad smile flashed across my face, but I couldn't look him in the eye. "I can't have you here, Sam. You or your brothers or their partners. I can't have you all die because of me." Sam growled.
"I would rather die with you than live a life without you." I blushed but didn't relent.
"Sam, if the roles were reversed and you were trapped here, you would be saying the exact same thing to me."
"So? I could say it all I want, but that doesn't mean you're gonna do what I tell you. Just like this situation that is happening. I'm not gonna leave."
"Sam-"
"NO!" His voice blasted across the room and I fell silent. "I DO NOT CARE HOW MUCH YOU THINK ALL THIS IS YOUR FAULT! I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU HERE!" I flinched away from the shouting like I always did and he stopped but didn't look any less pissed off. "Look. You can't make me leave. You asked me to but I refused. Now if I die, it's my fault. Okay?"
"That's not how it works..." I mumbled. "The only reason you're here is 'cause I wasn't able to control my stupid heart and I let myself proclaim my love for you." Sam took a step back and I looked up to see immeasurable hurt in his eyes. Fuck. That wasn't what I meant to do.
"Y-You regret that?" He asked. I could hear the pain in his voice and the heartbroken look on his face was making it hard for me to form a coherent sentence.
"I... I don't regret it, Sam. I just know that if I hadn't done that, none of this would be happening..." Sam's face softened and I looked away, not wanting to see it.