The Daemon's Disguise (Sequel to He Was A Dog + previously Out There)

Out There (Sequel to He Was A Dog) - Chapter 3

Isaac:

India Hart had a rather startling array of facial expressions for a human. From the people I had seen on the streets, they all seemed to have one, very glum looking face that they wore while they moved. Blue’s eyebrows jiggled and furrowed and bounced up and down as though they had a life of their own. And yet she still held the knife between herself and us, as if she was creating a protective barrier.

It was stupid really; a simple knife couldn’t kill a daemon or a Dragon Lord. But she wasn’t to know that, which was exactly why we needed to take her into our care. Her and Elijah.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she demanded. “You could be Mage.” Ronan snorted indignantly, as though the very thought of being a Mage insulted him. It probably did; Ronan’s temper and patience left a lot to be desired. With a wicked grin, he let out a deep sigh, flames ripping from his open mouth and engulfing the blade in Blue’s hand. She hissed in pain, dropping the melted knife and letting it clatter against the ground.

“Idiot,” I muttered, moving forward to heal her blistered hand. But Blue backed away, pressing herself against the wall behind her.

“What are you?” she asked, a noticeable tremor to her voice. I blinked. I had not expected her to be scared of us. Inquisitive, curious and eager, yes. Scared, no. She was the one who had freed us from exile, prevented the Mage from taking over the Realm. And yet here she was in front of us, nothing more than a cowardly woman.

Strange.

“Dragon,” Ronan boasted proudly, pointing to the twisted mess of plastic and metal on the ground. “A Mage couldn’t do that, sweetcheeks.” A flicker of something – anger, perhaps – passed over Blue’s face, before it returned to its former frightened state, eyes wide and glassy.

“Daemon,” I muttered, glancing around. The state of her habitat had been a surprise also; I had at least been expecting her to take some pride in where she was living. Had she not realised her importance in the magical world? Had she forgotten all she had fought for?

The woman in question swallowed nervously.

“I think you should leave,” she said quietly, glancing at the door. “And don’t come here again.” An exasperated noise escaped my lips. Did she really think it was that easy? I certainly wasn’t here for the good of my health; if I had my way, I’d be back in the Realm, in the underworld continuing my happy – if a little lonely – existence. Instead I was in a place where magic was frowned upon, to save a nephew my brother had so carelessly conceived.

Ronan growled quietly, taking a step towards Blue, who flinched, her eyes fixed now on the melted knife on the floor.

“Look, lady,” he started, waving a long, singed-looking finger at her. “I’ve got a missus and an egg on the way, so either you start co-operating, or I start burning things; got it?” I suppose, what with his rather manic hair and slightly psychotic way of phrasing things, people had good reason for being scared of Ronan. 

That and the fact that he could set fire to things. That was always a dealbreaker.

“I’m going nowhere with you,” she growled back at him. “Stay away from me and my son.”

I was about to open my mouth, make it clear just how much danger she and Elijah were in, when a small voice piped up in the doorway. It was almost like being transported back to when Phillip and I were children; the young boy who stood looking askance was the double of my brother.

“Mummy, the door!” he exclaimed, rushing forwards with his arms out wide. Blue scooped him up, hugging him close to her chest and glowering over the top of his dark hair at Ronan and I, as though we were somehow intruding on a very important moment.

“It’s broken, Lijah!” she told him, sounding just as excited as her son. “We’ll have to get Uncle Marshall to fix it for us!”

“Or the monsters get us!”

Ronan and I shot sidewards glances at each other; the monsters. The monsters that lived under Elijah’s bed? Or, as seemed to becoming clearer and clearer, the monsters that lived in India’s head, plaguing the past enough for her to fear the future.

“That’s right!”

Blue pressed her lips to the top of Elijah’s head before ushering him into the kitchen, shutting the door firmly behind him.

“My brother will be here soon,” she told us, tone cold and unwelcoming. “I suggest you leave before that happens.”

“Like some human could take us,” Ronan snorted.

“Fine.”

If my sudden compliance had shocked Ronan and Blue, it was nothing compared to how it had shocked myself. I wasn’t exactly known for backing down, neither was I known for empathy. But here I was, understanding why Blue wouldn’t want us anywhere near her and my nephew. Sooner or later, she would have to trust us, but we weren’t going to gain that by forcing her to come with us. If anything, all it would do was alienate her further, causing her to become more at risk.

I wasn’t prepared to risk her safety.

Blue nodded stiffly, watching me.

“I saw your brother today,” she muttered darkly, rubbing the dark circles beneath her eyes. “He took my coffee.”

That was…interesting. As well as watching Blue and Elijah, I’d been keeping an eye on what had used to be my brother. Although it had taken a while to find him, I’d done it. If anything, I knew more about the new Phillip than I had the old. We hadn’t been close in the Realm, and then he had disappeared to Earth and that was that.

At least this Phillip didn’t harbour an underlying hatred for what I had become.

“He’ll remember soon, I suppose,” I replied curtly. “Don’t push him.”

“I wasn’t going to,” she snapped back quickly. Humans were so over-emotional; they wanted to go out into the field, get thousands of spells and incantations thrown at them. That would give them something to cry about.

Ronan shuffled towards what remained of the door, chewing his lip.

“I could fix tha-”

“Just leave now,” Blue sighed. “I don’t want you two anywhere near us.”

Message received. Loud and clear.

***

“You can’t really blame the broad,” Ronan said, letting us both back into the house. “The Realm screws with my head, let alone the head of a human.” I said nothing, moving towards the kitchen. Alcohol had become a vice that I had grown accustomed to in the human world. Whiskey, vodka, wine…anything to create a warmness in the pit of my stomach was much welcome. As a Daemon, I wasn’t expected to feel things – an eternal life of feeling numb as a punishment.

Alcohol was as close to feeling as I could get.

“Isaac, don’t put that shit in your body,” Essie muttered, moving the bottles from my reach. “It’s not even your body; it’s a shell. It’s not meant to be poisoned.”

“Nothing is meant to be poisoned,” I pointed out wryly, sitting down at the scrubbed table. “That’s why it’s frowned upon.” Essie merely rolled her eyes, shutting the cupboards and moving into Ronan’s close embrace.

I knew that as soon as Ronan came into the equation, Essie would stop caring about whether or not my actions would harm my body – whenever they were together it was as though no-one else in the world existed. Nice, in a way, but irritating when you were a perpetually lonely and sexually frustrated Daemon.

“I half expected a house guest,” Essie said, looking between us. “What happened?”

I glanced wearily at Ronan.

“You can tell her; I’m going out on watch,” I told them both, not in the mood to be subjected to love. As I pushed myself through the front door, I heard Ronan call something after me. But I didn’t turn around.

I just kept going.