Rose of Passion

Chapter 5; You'd Leave

"What does Aesc do as King of Hell?" Kate asked, looking up from her magazine and over at Lycaon. They were in a small library, and he was across the room (on purpose), absorbed in a book.

"Right now he's primarily preoccupied by the Divine War," Lycaon stated.

"How long has that been going on? Is that like the apocalypse?" Her voice rose.

"Yeah, and it's been going on since he brought you back from Purgatory."

Kate got to her feet. "Wait, I started the apocalypse?"

"Indirectly, yes." The demon still didn't look up from his book.

"Oh, my God." Now he did, and he realized his mistake.

"It's not your fault, though," he assured.

"Stop lying," Kate snapped. "I have to tell my family, my friends." She felt guilty for not having begged to visit them earlier, but that was the least of her worries now. "I have to talk to Aesc."

"No, you don't want to do that," Lycaon advised. "Especially not-"

Kate ran out of the library. "Either you bring me to him or I'm going to look for him on my own!"

"Shit," the demon muttered and ran after her. "Okay! Okay! Okay! Turn around. Come on." He led her to one of the many studies, where Aesc, his military leaders, and his advisors were discussing the war.

Lycaon stepped to the side as Kate marched into the room, leading the way.

"Aesc," she called, and his eyes widened as she gazed around the room at the other demons. "Can I talk to you?"

The king shot sideways glances at his subjects, then got up and left the study. He shut the door behind them. "Kate, what are you doing? Lycaon, why didn't you-"

"Don't look at him," Kate snapped. "I gave him an order, which he listened to. Why exactly are you at war, Aesc?"

He glared at Lycaon. "What do you know-"

"Stop, Aesc," she snapped. "You can't hide everything from me. I would have found out eventually. You're at war because of me, aren't you?"

"Not entirely," he claimed. "It's complicated. Can we talk about this later?"

"God, everything's conveniently complicated here, isn't it? No! I want to know now!" she demanded. "Especially if it is all my fault-"

"It's not!" he snarled, grabbing her arm and pulling her down the hall and into another room, a small living room. Aesc slammed the door in Lycaon's face. "You were a plus. Besides, it was more along the lines that they sort of just handed you over."

"What?"

"We went over there prepared for a raid," he explained. "But they just...let me in. I searched, and eventually I was told I would find you back here. I found you in the throne room."

"And that started a war?"

"No, but they certainly weren't pleased that we didn't just cross territory lines, but also continued to attack them." Aesc's voice softened. "Getting you was the first attack-which wasn't even an attack, really-that's all. If it hadn't been, I wouldn't have been able to get to you. The angels wouldn't have let me."

"What is this doing to Earth? My family?" Kate's voice rose.

"They're fine," he promised.

"I want to talk to them, to see them-"

"No!" His sudden flash of anger surprised Kate, and they both fell silent for a moment. "No. You can't...You'd leave."

"No, I wouldn't. Please, Aesc," she pleaded. "Let me see my family!"