Sebastian's Family (Book 2)

Act 29: Guilt and Understanding

Grell remained motionless. Raven held his hand, willing him to wake. Strange emotions surged through him as he watched the pale reaper. Raven's father had told him of the reaper's infatuation with him, of the time he had been forced to spend with the reaper, and the amusement it had given Ciel. Raven and Lilith has been raised to be wary of all reapers, but especially the red reaper. And, yet, in the library, at the moment that Grell had looked at him as they fought side by side, he had felt something new. Raven would have dismissed it as pure curiosity on his part had the draw to the reaper not been so strong. Then Grell had taken the blow from the scythe that had been meant for him. Had Grell not been so quick to move as the blade came forward it would have sunk deep in his chest, proving fatal immediately.

Raven could not understand why Grell had risked his life for him. Even Grell's obsessive behaviour with Sebastian did not explain it, not when coupled with everything the reaper had said since. The more he watched the reaper, the more the strange feelings in Raven grew.

Raven was pulled from his thoughts by the door opening. He looked up; his sister's face was wet with tears, and her eyes were red. She had been crying for some time and guilt now added to the turmoil that swirled around Raven's mind. He had been so immersed in his own thoughts and pain that he had been unable to distinguish or acknowledge hers.

"Lilith, what is it?"

"Margaret, she's......." Lilith's voice tailed off; she could not bring herself to say the words.

"I know. Margaret chose, she left mother with little choice but to release her."

"I don't understand. Why will Margaret not become one of us? What is so wrong with being a demon?"

As she spoke, Raven sensed something much deeper was dragging at her heart. He did not afford Lilith the same tact or space as their mother had, and asked outright, "what did William say to you?"

"I heard him tell father that he understood Margaret's decision."

"And, you think that means that he rejects your demon self?" Raven paused before continuing, "and now you are considering rejecting it yourself, for him?"

"Why not, mother rejected her humanity for father."

"Now you even sound like one of them," Raven spat before thinking. He cringed as he saw the shocked look on Lilith's face and took a breath before continuing. "I'm sorry, Lilith, but mother never rejected any part of herself, she simply embraced what had been kept from her. We will never know whether father would have loved her as a human because she never was fully human, and neither are you."

Tears fell from Lilith's eyes once more as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "What if he rejected your demon self, would it be so simple then?" She said motioning to Grell.

Raven smirked, "I'm not the one in a relationship with a reaper. But yes, it would be that simple. If William loves you, wants to truly be with you, then he must accept all of you, not just the part that conforms to his view of the world. Now let's start again, tell me exactly what you heard William tell father."

Lilith recounted the conversation that she had heard as she left the room. Raven's smile grew as he pieced it together with what had passed between his mother and Margaret before they broke the contract. Lilith's brow furrowed at her brother's sudden amusement.

"Dear sister, I think you have the wrong end of that conversation completely. It is Margaret's personal reasons, which have much more to do with our grandfather, than his general distaste for demons that are behind his words. I suggest you speak to William before you make a decision you will definitely regret."