The Demon's Half

Chapter 19

How could someone as strong-willed as Logan fall in love with a demon? A demon.

He was a shaman. Fighting them wasn't just his job—it was his purpose. How could he let this happen? And how did Alexander even know about it?

The questions spun like a storm in my head until everything suddenly clicked. My jaw nearly hit the floor as realization dawned. This was why Logan was so protective. Why he wouldn't let me so much as breathe in Alexander's direction. He was terrified it could happen to me too.

Logan knew better than anyone the power demons wield—their ability to charm, manipulate, and destroy. Even without knowing the details, I could sense it. Lou had left scars on him, ones he still carried like invisible chains. She had done something to him, something that broke him in ways I couldn't begin to comprehend.

And yet, I couldn't bring myself to ask. The questions burned at the back of my throat, but I swallowed them down. This wasn't about me. Who was I to pry into something so deeply personal? Logan didn't owe me answers, not even with the way my feelings for him were starting to drift into dangerous territory—territory I wasn't ready to acknowledge.

If anything, I realized, he'd shared this piece of his past because he saw something in me. A reflection of his own mistake. He was warning me. Protecting me.

But he didn't have to.
I would never—could never—look at a demon with anything other than hatred. Alexander had held me in his grasp, and all I'd felt was rage, disgust, and a desperate need to break free. Nothing—nothing—could ever change that.

"That love was rotten. Wrong," Logan said suddenly, his voice rough and unsteady.

Startled, I looked up. He wasn't looking at me but at his hands, his fingers flexing like he wanted to crush the memories trapped beneath his skin.

"She took everything from me."

For the first time, I could truly feel the weight of Logan's pain. It wasn't just grief—it was something deeper, something raw and jagged, cutting into everything it touched. It wasn't just sadness; it was torment, hollow and unrelenting.

I wanted to reach out, to close the distance between us, to pull him from the depths of whatever hell he was reliving. I wanted to destroy Lou all over again, just to erase the agony she had left behind.

But my fury wasn't just for Lou. It was for Alexander too. He hadn't just reopened old wounds for Logan; he'd twisted the knife, using Lou's face like a weapon. It wasn't cruelty for cruelty's sake—it was deliberate, calculated.

Alexander never did anything without a purpose.

He wasn't just toying with me. He was playing with the people I cared about, with their pasts and their wounds. He was unraveling them piece by piece.

And I wasn't going to let it slide.

"She... was the first half of a soul I captured," Logan said suddenly, his voice distant, like the memory had pulled him under. "And the only demon."

I froze, watching as he lifted his gaze to mine, the haunted look in his eyes making my stomach twist. Slowly, he tapped the rosary hanging from his neck, resting just above his heart.

"She's right here," he whispered.

"Why did Alexander—" I began, my voice faltering under the strain of forming the question.

"Alexander?" Logan cut me off, his tone slicing through the air like a whip. "Don't call him that. That thing's name is Oz. A demon. Don't humanize him with anything less. He doesn't deserve a name that doesn't drip in sin."