My Daughter Or You

9) Unusual Threat

Zen-

"Zen, do you want melted butter on your waffles?"

"Sure," Zen smiled.

He watched Isla in the kitchen making them breakfast. Isla is a beautiful woman with luscious curves and wide hips for birthing healthy babies—demon babies. Or tiger. He could only imagine a demon-tiger baby.

This girl has him thinking about having a family with her.

"Here," she smiled.

Zen looks down at the waffles. Heart-shaped waffles, how romantic. "Trying to seduce me?"

"Maybe," Isla isn't a shy girl; she's tremendous like her brother. "Here, coffee and freshly cut fruits."

She sat with her plate and cut through the heart-shaped waffles. "So Zen, how do you know my brother? It's weird, calling Taylor my brother."

"Well," Zen bit into the waffle. "I met Taylor during his rebellious days when he started working for Luther. I was a lousy demon hunting the criminals. I killed a lot of them; one day, I bumped into Taylor, getting his ass kicked by two humans. I don't know why he didn't fight back, but he was getting his ass whoop, and I stepped in. I'm older than him, by the way." Zen took a sip of his coffee. Sweet, just the way he likes it. "I killed those humans; they weren't good men. Taylor tried to send me away after I helped him, but he had no gratitude. He was a spoiled brat. I don't know how Luther put up with him. I'm glad he settled."

Isla licked her lips. "And?"

"I follow Taylor around, knowing he would get into trouble. Bad idea, we got into a lot of trouble together. Luther gave us new jobs to take down rogues and demons. Ever since then, we've been friends."

"Oh," Isla wiped her mouth. "But tell me about you."

"Not much to tell."

"How did you arrive here?" Isla asked.

"The same way most demons got here," Zen smiled. "During the rift that opened up on Earth centuries ago, I was one of the lucky ones. I was a toddler, crawling around the ceilings of an old church; believe it or not, it was a nun who cared for me. She wasn't afraid; she fed me and gave me clothes and a place to stay. I managed to shift into a human toddler. At the age of five, I left; I didn't want her to get into trouble if the priest came looking around. Back then, religion was a big thing, not like it is now; back then, any unknown thing was considered witchcraft or the work of a demon or the devil. I couldn't let the nun get killed for harboring a demon."

"What happened? I can tell something happened with the painful expression on your handsome face."

Zena smiled. "The nun went after me, and we traveled together. She cared for me, and I cared for her until we encountered a group of religious men and women. They heard rumors of a nun and a demon. I didn't do an excellent job of hiding my form. That religious group found us and tried to kill me; now, I didn't care, but when they went after the nun, I lost control. I fought them, but they had holy water, the real thing." Zen sighed. "I passed out when I woke up, and those people had me tied to the ground, and the nun—those bastards had stripped her and whipped her until her body had nothing but welts. And they branded her as a deserted of God."

Isla frowned. "What happened?"

"I tore them up," he said. "I gave them the same experience they gave the nun. I left them naked and whipped and nailed to wooden poles in front of the church they served. I did it after I helped the nun."

He laughed.

"I learned something about the nun," Zen said. "There is a reason she never left me—she's my mother."