TWELVE

I failed, someone in my family again. This time it was my sister-in-law whom I never meant. Ban forced his way into my brother's home. My home, it was the same house that I had lived in. The same house that I died in. At least Yael and his daughter got away safely.

Now I was in this house alone with Ban. My dead sister-in-law hardly counted as company. The scent of fresh blood made my stomach growl. Ban was having his way with me again. We were supposed to be fighting. I was supposed to be protecting my family from him. So where were my pants?

How had he gotten my hands bound behind my back? He was sitting in a chair. If I was morbid, I might even think it was the same chairs my family had once been tied to. I highly doubted Yael would have kept the things his family was murdered in.

I kneeled before Ban as he sat in all of his naked glory. I could smell the blood that hung to him. It made me so hungry. It was my sister-in-law who's blood coated him. I didn't know her or maybe she was around when I was human. She had screamed out my name when we first walked into the house.

My tongue traveled up Ban's length. He was already hard. I could taste the blood that was on his flesh. His fingers had been covered in the red nectar as his stroked himself.

Now as I ran my tongue over every inch of his shaft I could taste her blood. It only made the hunger inside of me grow. Ban's fingers were shoved into my hair as he brought my head down to him. I felt his member sliding down my throat. My eyes fluttered shut as I took pleasure from having Ban between my lips. His member pinned my tongue to the bottom of my mouth as his hips rocked.

He thrusted into my mouth ignoring the sounds of my gags as he did so. I didn't mind as much as I should have. I should have cared that once again he was touching me with the blood of my family on his hands. So why didn't I fight harder? Because he was Ban and I was Zero.

I could feel him holding my head down in place. His prick pulse as the hot, sour liquid shot into my mouth. He pulled away and spit what was released out. My fingers flexed as Ban rose from his chair. What was he going to do now? I already knew what he was going to do.

"I give you a gift and you wasted it, Natsu." His voice held amusement in it. He found all of this . . . amusing. Of course, he did. Ban was a demon. He took some sick pleasure in knowing he was back in this house with me. That he had killed someone else in my family. That once again he would take me as their body rotted only feet away.

Glaring at him he pushed me down onto my back. It hurt slightly since my arms were already behind my back. The way I landed made it uncomfortable. Ban didn't give two shits about my comfortable. He grabbed my legs pushing them up towards my chest. There was a moaned that parted my lips as he rubbed his tip against my hole.

I cried out when he thrusted inside of me sharply. There was a pain that accompany the pleasure of him entering me dry. Ban was a lot of things. He wasn't a gentle lover. His thrusts were powerful as his body slide in and out of my own.

After a few minutes, the motion became smoother as my body accepted the pleasure. His fingers moved up my chest and I moaned again when he plucked my nipple. Shaking my head I was always conflicted about how good it felt to be taken by Ban.

He grunted out his pleasure our bodies collided in perfect rhythm. I could feel myself clenching around him. His hips moved and with each rock I cried out more. Ban yanked me up sitting back against the wall so that I was on top of him. He reached behind me freeing my hand.

When I brought them around my body, I grabbed onto his shoulders. He bounced me on top of him. The sound of our bodies slamming into each other filled the room. My pants for breath made my lungs burn. I didn't know if demons needed to breathe. When I came together with Ban in this manner, it felt impossible.

In the years, I was lost in the fog the feel of him inside of me has been one of my only memories. The night he killed my family was also the night he gave me immeasurable pleasure. How can you hate someone so much and still want them inside of you? I didn't understand this desire. I didn't understand myself.

Still I rocked and grinded my body against his. Seeking the pleasure that I knew came from being on top of him. The pleasure that only he seemed to bring when he was inside of me. My hips rocked faster. My nails coming down to their demon size as I dug them into Ban's shoulders. I started to bounce harder, faster.

Ban reached out, one of his hands wrapped around my throat as the other gripped my hips. He was still thrusting upward inside of me. This . . . Blood just seemed to be a part of what we were. It was the only way I knew how to be with him. I hated him, but I wanted him. It made me hate all the more.

"You're so greedy today, Natsu." I shook my head I wasn't greedy. I just wanted everything that he was going to offer me. I knew that I didn't have to ask Ban for this. Even if I didn't want it, he would take it from me anyway.

I could feel the ring I took from him heating around my neck. Maybe it was crying for its old master back. I ignored the ring. Ban couldn't have it. It was mine now. I took it from him fair and square. He didn't seem interested in the thing. At the moment, Ban was only interested in his own pleasure.

His fingers wrapped around my neck tighten. I could feel my body clenching around him harder. There was a darkness on the edge of my vision, but Ban didn't squeeze hard enough for me to black out. The lack of oxygen made me feel his thrust even more.

It was as if all my focus went to the part where our bodies connected. My fingers pulled from his shoulders as I wrapped my hands around his wrist. I already knew that Ban was stronger than me. If he didn't want to let me go, I couldn't make him. I wasn't sure I wanted to. This felt just as intense as when he was . . . Killing me. His finger loosen and I gasped for air.

"Ban," His name was a moan on my lips as he thrusted hard. I felt his fingers in my hair as I wrapped my arms around him. Our chests pressed together as we both were coated in sweat. Ban yanked my head back and I could feel his smooth tongue traveling over my throat. He licked away the sweat that rolled down my flesh as our bodies continued to seek the pleasure the other brought.

I could feel my own prick rubbing against his flesh and it was driving me mad. I shook my head as best I could. Ban just seemed to laugh as I was trying to hold back. He drove his body into mine harder. He was making it impossible to think.

"Ban!" His name was a scream as my back arched I could feel myself tightening around him as I reached my climax. That didn't stop Ban from thrusting into my body. It was a few minutes later before he held himself inside of me. I could feel the pulse of his prick before he pumped his load into my body.

"Don't waste that gift, Natsu." Ban whispered in my ear. He pushed me from his lap grabbing my hands and tying them behind my back again. "Now for round two." I could see the crooked grin on his lips. It made my prick pulse and my heart race. This man was evil and perfection. Ban was the perfect evil.

Five weeks and eight towns Amy finally found a house she deemed livable. Buying the house had put a dent in our funds but it was worth it. Now that we had a home we could stop roaming around like lost puppies and get back to our business. Demon Hunters that weren't hunting demons could hardly call themselves anything.

We had something of a team again. Soji was a white mage, Emiko was a skilled gunslinger, and Rai. She was still training with her green magic, but I doubt that we would actually need her for missions. She would come because telling Rai no was getting harder to do now that Shu was gone. With my black magic and demon powers, we weren't a half bad team.

Still how could I asked these people to hunt with me. Maybe being Bounty Hunters was the better choice. Humans were less dangerous than demons. It was demons that broke our family. It was demons that I had a bone to pick with. It was demons that Rai hated and wanted to hunt.

Amy was her daughter's age when she started to hunt. Shu was much younger when Kaleb started to let him go on missions with us. Soji and Emiko could decide if they wanted to hunt or not. I guess Rai decision was up to Amy.

Would she let her daughter hunt when she just lost her husband? I wanted to promise that Rai would always be safe with me. That I would bring her home time and time again. After Shu, I found that I choked on those promises.

Sitting at the table I poked at the food on my plate. Moving it around but not eating. I didn't have to pretend to eat anymore. Everyone at this table knew what I was. Maybe when we built up a new team, I would tell everyone what I was. That way none of them would turn on me the way Dante had.

"So demon," Emiko started and I rolled my eyes at her. "What's the next move?" My eyes shifted from my plate to the big breasted woman across the table from me. She sitting next to Soji. Over the weeks, Soji and I shared a few more kisses. He was someone important. Someone that I was supposed to stay close to.

Mother Fate said Ban and Kenji wanted to kill him. I was supposed to protect this boy. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to do that. I couldn't even protect Shu against the two of them. Soji was supposed to help me become stronger. It all sounded like a load of bullshit. It was all I had to go on. The Night of Demons. I didn't know what that was. It was coming though, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

"We need to hunt. We'll need credits and this house put a dent in what we had." Even after collecting on Maya we were still going to need more money. We had to pick a demon and hunt them. That would keep food on our table and a roof over our head.

"I'm going with you." I already knew that Rai was going to say that. I knew that she wanted to hunt with us. Over the weeks, all she had been talking about was hunting down Ban and Kenji. Paying them back for killing her father. I didn't want Rai to become like Shu. I loved Shu, but his obsession with Kenji was part of the reason he wasn't with us now.

"Rai," I sighed, what was I suppose to say to her.

"I'm a green mage. My mother taught me how to use my magic. My father taught me how to use guns. I've been training since birth to be a Demon Hunter. I will finish what my father started. I'll kill The Blood Demon Kenji." She glared over at me a small smile on her face. "Then I'll kill the Great Demon Ban."

My fist slammed down on the table. She didn't jump. She just looked over at me. Amy looked between the two of us. What did she have to say about this? Did she really want Rai to go on missions? Did Rai really think she had the power to take on two demons?

"You can't go after them." I spoke softly. Didn't she understand how dangerous it was. Her father just died. This wasn't some game that we were playing. Not just Ban and Kenji. Anytime we went after any demon we put our lives on the line.

"Why? Scared I will do what you're too weak to do." I was weak. I knew that already. As weak as I was I was still a demon. I was still something that she should fear. Or maybe being around me all her life has desensitized her to the threat of demons. Maybe because I was her friend, her uncle, her brother she thought all demons were . . . toothless.

I leaped across the table. It only took me a half of second to shift into my demon form and crash into Rai. Her chair banged against the floor loudly as I had her pinned under me. My fangs were only an inch from her face. If I were any other demon, she would be dead.

"Look at me." My fingers grabbed her chin when she tried to turn her head from me. My red eyes peered down into her green ones. "This is what a real demon looks like." I could see her eyes swelling with tears. "Cry Rai. We like it." I sniffed at the air as I bared my fangs. "I smell your fear." It smelled like citrus. I opened the third eye and she gasped. I felt vines wrapped around my arms. They yanked me off of her.

Using my nails, I cut them away. I could hear the way Rai's heart racing. She was glaring over at me, but she was scared. If this was how she was going to fight, then she was going to be useless on our team.

"Fear will get you killed. Act or die." I went to her again and I could feel her blood boiling. Good, anger would make her move. The vines came at me again and I flipped out of the way. Backing up to the wall I touched the wall making three more versions of myself.

"Demons don't fight fair." The four of us surrounded her. She spun around in a circle trying to keep her eyes on the real me. I gave my body over to the shadow becoming a shadow version as well. Now it would be nearly impossible to tell us apart.

I was an S-classed demon. I used high-level black magic to do this. Lower class demons wouldn't know this trick. Ban and Kenji would. They would know much more than I knew. They wouldn't hold back and go easy on her either.

"Don't waste your time on the shadows. Find the real me or you're just wasting energy." I told her. For a mage, it was all about keeping their energy level high. If you went crazy with your magic at the start of the fight, you would run out of energy and be demon food.

She closed her eyes trying to sense the real me. I sent one of my shadows to her and watched as he kicked her in the stomach. It brought her to her knees. "You better be faster. A demon isn't going to wait for you to pick him out." This was the big leagues she wanted to play in. She needed to know what came with that.

Turning around her vines grabbed my wrist pulling me through the shadow. I grabbed the vine cutting it away before it stabbed me in the shoulder. Coming towards her I started to attack. I didn't use all of my strength as we went hand to hand. I knew that she could fight. Shu had trained her. Still I wanted her to remember to stay on her guard at all times.

I smiled as she was keeping her own. There was a lot of openings that I didn't take but for a newbie she wasn't half bad. She would need more practice, but we could do that while we were on the road. She would still need protection, but everyone needed protection when going against a demon. That was why you had a team. So that there was always someone out there watching your back.

I kneed her in the gut. She started to go down, but I caught her before she could. Grabbing her I yanked her back onto her feet and Soji and Emiko started to clap for her. I watched Rai glare over at the pretty boy but then her expression softened as she took a bow. Reverting back into my human form I spun around her my nails at her throat.

I could feel her gulp. I could smell the light sheen of sweat that coated her forehead. Her heart was racing again as I lowered my head allowing my fangs to brush against her neck. Amy was still in her seat watching all of this. The whole time she had a small smile on her face as she rubbed her belly. She wasn't worried about Rai. She knew I would never actually hurt her daughter. She knew that Rai needed this wake-up call if she wanted to be a true Hunter.

"Never trust a demon." I hissed in Rai's ear and she nodded her head slowly. If she remembered that, she might just become a Demon Hunter after all.