Okay, so this is a looong chapter but that's only because it has some very important events in it.
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Salazar approached the blanket covered table that was sitting a few feet away from Kade. He snatched off the covering dramatically, revealing a pile of tools and weapons, all covered in blood from previous use. My stomach twisted with fear and clenched so tightly, I thought I'd throw up.
Oh. My. God.
"Let's start with why you were wandering around town the other night. My gargoyles came back and informed me of this, so please don't deny," Salazar said and picked up a small knife. His eyes were set on Kade as he talked.
"That's none of your business," Kade remarked.
Salazar laughed softly and glanced in my direction. "Don't tell me you're trying to get this girl home, Kayden. She's stuck here. There's no way you can return her to the future. Even a great wizard like Galendale can't do something that extreme," he said plainly and twirled the knife with his fingers. I was amazed at how he guessed that so easily, but Kade provided no proof that he was correct. "Well? Is that not it?" Salazar asked amused.
"I told you I wasn't going to say anything, and neither will she," Kade answered and nodded his head towards me. Afterwards, he locked his gaze with mine to ensure he was right. I nodded quickly.
"Is that so? Well since I don't want to damage her beautiful skin...,"Â Salazar said and suddenly stabbed the small knife into Kade's shoulder. And oh, did he yell. His whole body clenched as he squeezed his eyes shut and panted to calm himself. I jumped and watched his eyes open and grow orange with fury. While he groaned continuously and glared at the demon, Salazar picked up a bigger knife (without taking out the other one inside of Kade) and began pacing back and forth.
"Let's move on for a minute, okay? First of all, Kayden, have you told this girl who you are? More importantly, what you are?" he asked. Confused and worried, I looked over at Kade and his bleeding shoulder.
"I'm Kayden Bradshaw, son of Erik Bradshaw and Miley Quinton. I'm the eighth descendant of the Great Warlock and inherent of the Great Power. A full bled warlock, that is all, nothing else," Kade blurted very quickly, sounding as if the sentences were burned into his memory, practiced over and over until he got it right. In his voice, I heard pain and remembrance, and especially trauma. My heart filled with sympathy, even though I wasn't sure exactly why.
"Full bled?" Salazar repeated quizzically, although he sounded amused by the words. "Are you sure about that? Everything else sounded correct, except... I don't remember your mother being a warlock. If fact, her real name wasn't even Miley Quinton. Can you believe that?" He suddenly sliced the larger knife across Kade's chest which caused him to cry out again. I watched painfully as blood oozed from the deep gash afterwards.
"You know, it's rare when a baby inherits a large amount of both supernatural DNAs. But when I heard you did... I just couldn't believe it," Salazar added as Kade continued to pant. "So go ahead Kayden, tell dear Bella here what your second inherited DNA is. Tell her who and want your mother was... 'cause she definitely wasn't a warlock."
Kade looked over at me, weak and with dead eyes. I swallowed hard as numerous confused thoughts swirled inside my head. Something was being kept secret here, and it obviously wasn't good.
"Full bled...," Kade weakly whispered and shook his head. Salazar punched him twice, once in the right jaw and once in the left, leaving two big bruises on his cheeks.
"Stop lying, Kayden! Go on! Tell her!" The demon yelled anxiously, picking up a small knife and shoving it into Kade's other shoulder. His scream pierced the air and my heart. I felt tears form in my eyes.
"Full bled!" Kade repeated louder and spit blood onto the floor as he glared hard at Salazar. Salazar, seeming very frustrated, didn't go for another knife. Instead, he walked over to me and glanced over at his victim.
"Fine. If pain won't get you to speak, then maybe this will," he said and suddenly licked my cheek. I flinched away and tried to kick him, but he grabbed my legs and pinned them to his side. After the second lick, Kade yelled for him to stop.
"Not until you spill it Kade. Not until I see that other side of yours again," Salazar answered and combed a hand through his silvery hair. The word 'again' rang in my head like a bell. What the heck was he talking about... the other side?
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kade replied and allowed his head to drop. Salazar nodded with a plain look and turned his attention back to me.
"Then I guess we should continue," he said. With my legs still held against his side, he moved his face to the crook of my neck and bit me! It wasn't for pain, but a bite that was supposed to bring pleasure. But no pleasure came. I felt so violated that I started jerking around to escape his hold. It worked for a second; he dropped my legs and back off a few inches until I cooled myself. But afterwards, he was on me again, running his restless and cold hands up and down my sides and over my stomach as he switched to kissing me. It was just like before with Trent except more in order, like Salazar had done it many times before or had plenty of practice. That thought didn't make me feel better and I tried to bite his tongue inside my mouth, but he was a sly bastard and pulled back. Immediately, my emotions released and I began to cry.
"Please stop!" I begged and tried to shake the feeling of his cold hands. The whole time, Kade was yelling for him to do the same but his voice had become distant and he wasn't sounding like himself. Something was off.
Salazar placed a gentle kiss on my jawline and brushed a strand of hair out of my face. "My dear... I am only doing this because Kayden is allowing me to. If he'd just show you who he truly is, then I'd stop. But until then," he placed his hands on my cheeks, "you're mine." The kiss on my lips was gentle but contradicted his true desire. I turned my head away, wondering why Kade had fallen so quiet. Apparently Salazar noticed the same thing and finally walked away from me.
"What's wrong Kayden?" he asked and bent over to meet his eyes. But Kade's were closed as he breathed heavily and angrily. Something was wrong with him... like... seriously wrong. Maybe I was just hallucinating but I felt an odd aura radiating from him, something that made my skin tingle with fear.
"Keep your hands off of her," Kade said deeply with a literal growl. I jumped at the sudden drop in octaves and the animalistic sound, feeling my blood grow cold.
"Tell her who you are Kayden! What you are!" Salazar yelled even louder and slammed a fist into Kade's stomach.
"No," Kade defiantly said, seeming barely affected by the blow.
Another punch. "Tell her!"
"No."
Punch. Punch. Punch. "Now!"
"No!"
Salazar furiously picked up another knife and deeply sunk it into Kade's flesh at his chest. From there, he dragged it down, down, down, until it reached his lower abdomen. Kade yelled over and over and over again until finally... something snapped.
His eyes popped open, no longer orange and swallowed by a terrifying black. "I'm Kayden Bradshaw! A half warlock and half demon, born from another descendant of the Great Warlock and the daughter of Satan, Clarabell. Tortured and beaten to keep my mouth shut, I swore to my father I'd keep the demonic side hidden and locked away."
My heart nose dived into the pit of my stomach as Salazar yelled and punched the air with joy. "Yes! Yes! There it is! I knew you still had it in you, my dear nephew! Oh... my sister was lovely, wasn't she? Until she decided to fall for your father, I cared for her deeply. But after she tried to defy Hell and our father, I had no choice but to kill her and your precious daddy."
I stared shocked and horrified at Kade... or whoever that was across from me. I was frozen, unable to breathe, speak, or do anything but break inside. A demon? So he knew this whole time that Salazar was Satan's son! That's why he never reacted much at the bar. More importantly, he'd lied to me.
"Tortured and beaten... tortured and beaten... tortured and beaten," Kade repeated psychotically to himself and continually shook his head back and forth to rid himself of his trance.
"Yes, yes, I'm aware of that too, Kayden. That was a terrible thing to do on your father's part... to lock away something so valuable. But here it is again! After all these years!" Salazar happily exclaimed as he turned his attention back to me. "You see, my darling? Look what you've been allying with this whole time. Kayden here, if you didn't hear, is a half warlock and half demon, born from my dearest sister Clarabell. My sister turned against her family for his father so I figured, why not end the conflict the easy way? And I did. Kade, as he informed us, was tortured by his own father to keep his mouth shut about the demon thing. His father didn't want anybody knowing about the disgrace he brought into the family. So just for safe measures, he somehow managed to lock away Kade's dark side. Quite impressive, I must say. But here he is, broken and lost once again."
I could barely look over at Kade, bleeding with his eyes still pitched into blackness. Blood began to ooze from his eye sockets and his nose, then out his ears as he continually panted and gasped for air that he couldn't seem to get. Salazar was still laughing as I watched with horror.
"He's kept that demonic side locked away for so long. Now that it's back, his body can't handle it," he said smiling.
"Tortured and beaten...," Kade whispered again. His voice had changed completely, now dropping in more octaves as it sounded more demonic. It was like his voice was echoing, overlapping as he spoke. Like many souls talking over the other and battling for dominance.
All I could do was cry softly since I was still in trauma from this all.
"Keep your mouth shut, boy! Or it will get far worse!" Kade shouted to himself and bared his teeth at an invisible force. "I'm sorry, father. I didn't mean to." He was losing his mind and I was losing my patience. What the hell had just happen? What did Salazar unleash?
Kade's yells suddenly dissolved into silence as his head dropped against his chest and his eyes closed. "Driven to insanity. And then unable to control it," Salazar said and approached me again. "Looks like your lover boy's gone for good," he added quietly. "Xur, throw his body out back!"
Xur, who I'd forgotten was still in the room, obediently unchained Kade and threw him onto his back. Even after what I just witnessed, I still cried out for him.
Dead? He can't be!
"Kade! Kade, please!" I yelled and wriggled against my restraints. Salazar happily watched me and eventually brushed his knuckle against my cheek again.
"Isabella, my dear, he's gone! Give it up! You can be mine now. I'd treat you better than that wretch ever did," he said, cuffing my face in his hands.
"Back off. I've told you numerous times to keep your hands off her. And if it isn't clear, she's mine," a familiar voice chipped in. Behind him stood Kade, still bloodied with his eyes pitched into blackness. He had his flames. But they weren't like normal; not their usual orangey yellow, but a pure crimson red that was beautiful and yet terrifying at the same time.
Salazar wasn't quick enough to react because Kade clamped his hands around the demon's throat and tackled him to the ground. Xur was gone (I didn't want to guess what happened to him) so Salazar was on his own and he didn't look at all confident.
Kade's hands became engulfed in red flames as he mercilessly pounded him in the face, splashing blood all over the place. His groans and cries of revenge were too much to bare. He seemed to be enjoying Salazar's pain as he smashed the guy's face into bloody bits.
"Go to Hell, boy," Salazar weakly said, his face bruised badly. Suddenly, he faded into black smoke like before, chickening out of a fight he was sure to lose. Kade remained sitting though, heavily breathing as if he wasn't ready to stop his massacre. He all of a sudden shot his black eyes to me and quickly scrambled to his feet.
All I could do was stare back.
"I'm sorry," he whispered gently and approached me closely, his flames slowly disappearing. His voice was still demonic. His whole body still partially mangled. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He placed his hands on my cheeks and touched his forehead to mine. Tears began to roll down his cheeks. "I didn't want you to see-"
"You lied to me," I whispered shakily. He pulled back, his eyes widened with guilt.
"If I told you... I couldn't... Bella, you wouldn't have agreed to work with me. I only wanted to help. I'm so sorry," he continued to whisper in a voice that didn't go with his words.
"Did the others know?" I asked.
"Yes, but they never wanted to bring it up. They knew how bad it was... I'm sorry Bella, I'm so sorry." Kade was definitely not himself. His manly demeanor seemed to have dissolved as he pressed his forehead to mine. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around my waist and fell to his knees. This time, he touched his forehead to my stomach and wept for forgiveness. I would've flushed if this were any other situation.
"Unchain me," I ordered angrily as the tears tried to continue to flow. But I held them back the best I could and stifled my cries. It was awhile before Kade stood back up and slowly managed to break my chains. I fell into him once he did, and for some reason stayed in his hold.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear and brushed my hair down softly. "I should've told you." His arms tightened around me as he slowly dropped himself to my height and locked his black eyes with my purple ones. "Please... you have to help me. I can help you find Galendale but please... don't let me get too far gone. I don't want that life again. Help me get rid of this... or at least suppress it once more." His plea was almost too much. I wanted to agree but something held me back.
"Why should I?" I whispered with a tear strolling down my cheek. He let his tears flow (which were slightly bloodied) and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. When he opened them, the blackness was gone and his gentle blue had returned.
"Because I need you. Please," he whispered, touching his forehead to mine once again. At that, I couldn't turn him down.