Chapter 21 - Owen - Purge With My Demons

The smell of burnt paper woke me from a dreamless sleep. In a lifetime, I had never slept so good. Eleanor was peaceful, breathing steadily beside me. We had worn each other out in more ways than one, multiple times between the shower and the bed, before we finally crashed out together.

My hand reached for Amon’s message on the nightstand.

Come see me.

Messages that short from Amon were rarely a good sign.

Rolling out of bed, I slip on some joggers, a hoodie, and some sneakers. Behind me there’s rustling in the bed. When I turned to look, Eleanor was leaning up on her elbow.

“Where are you going?” Her voice was groggy, sleep filled, sexy as shit.

My steps were quick taking me to her. Kneeling by the bed, she looked at me with hooded dark eyes. Lifting her hand, she stroked the side of my face. “Get back in bed.” She hooked her hand around my neck and began pulling me toward her.

“I’ll be back soon. Get some sleep.” Being with Eleanor was like nothing I had ever experienced. Now, every time I touched her, I felt a shift in the madness within me. It pulled me closer to her on another plane of existence. I softly pressed my lips to hers and watched as she settled back into a comfortable sleep.

The clock on my phone read 1:50am, at this hour whatever Amon needed better be good.

Soaring through the crisp October air, the wind was refreshing. I needed to consider how I was going to tell Eleanor about everything when I returned; she was sure to have questions. A faint glint caught my eye, and I noticed that my feathers were shinier than usual. They appeared more like an oil slick rather than a dull black, the color shift very apparent.

I pushed the new realization about my feathers from my mind and shifted in the alley in front of The Void. Doing my best to focus and get whatever Amon needed me for over with, so I could think about everything else afterward.

The Void looked at me cautiously as I approached. Only when I spoke did he begin wagging his tail as he usually did. “Hey, buddy.” Scratching his back, I walked past and into the Gates.

As soon as I walked through, something felt different. Looking down, the smoke around me was thicker than it ever had been. My hands were wrapped in smoke that faded to my elbows. The smoke looked like Noxen, but I had never seen it in that form, the iridescence was unmistakable.

That would be impossible to hide from Amon.

Conceding to the fact that he would question my changes, I began the walk down the Hallways to Amon’s office.

“Come in.” Amon’s booming voice was unmistakable when I knocked on the door.

Entering Amon’s office, he wasn’t alone. Another beast of a demon sits behind his desk. Mannox. Amon had mentioned his father in passing over the hundreds of years I’ve served him, but I had never met him. Mannox stood; he was just as tall as Amon, if not taller, and rounded the desk.

“Owen Alastor, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Amon sent you out to do the job that I tasked him with, and you never delivered.”

Leaning to look around Mannox was impossible; he was too big. I stood my ground in front of him, casting Amon and his antics from my thoughts. “I would say the pleasure was all mine, but it’s not. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A phantom grip, much like my own, constricted my airway, and I was lifted into the air. “Attitudes don’t serve you well in my presence, Death.”

“That’s a new nickname,” I sputtered through coughs as he dropped me to my knees, smoke lifting around me in plumes.

“Is that not what you are, Alastor, death? You kill demons without a second thought, and you bring it upon them without blinking twice.”

His tone was so casual, and while he was right, I did it because I had no other way to let out the madness within me. It would kill me otherwise.

“What do you call all this you surround yourself with, then?” Walking closer he gestured to the smoke surrounding me. The plumes reacted to his presence as he got closer, pulling away from him with each step.

My hand lifted from my side, scooping up a bit of the blackness allowing it to weave through my fingers. “It’s smoke.”

“It’s Noxen, Alastor. It’s a physical manifestation of the chaos that kills a demon. When my idiot son” —he tossed a sidelong glance at Amon— “made you who you are today, he made the best and most dangerous weapon we have against our own kind. And he had no clue he even did it. No one did.”

Oh. Fuck.

“Little did Amon know that when he made his deal with you, he bound you to me as well when we made you my weapon. I have a job for you now, Alastor.”

Every cell in my body was vibrating. This new information changed so much, and I didn’t know if I would ever be free. If my demons ever would. “What’s the job?” My voice was clear.

“Find Eleanor Loch and bring her to me.” Those words shattered my insides, but I maintained my composure. I nodded and left without asking a single question. If I spoke right now, worlds would implode.

They knew.

* * *

Eleanor was still asleep when I returned. I stood in the shower processing all of the information I got this morning, taking into consideration how it would play into everything that was happening would be a lot to figure out. Poor Eleanor just learned about all of this last night and truly hasn’t even had her questions answered.

With my head resting on the cool shower wall, the door creaked open. “Can I join you?” Eleanor’s voice was quiet but confident.

“Of course, gorgeous. You never have to ask.” As soon as she stepped in, the steam filled the shower, and the water was hotter. Turning to face her, she was breathtaking. Water dripped off of her, and I began to envy the water droplets, as they got to touch every part of her. I tilted her face to mine and kissed her slowly, savoring the taste of her. In my mind, nothing else existed at that moment.

“Do you see anything when we kiss?”

Her question caught me off guard, and I couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “What do you mean?”

“When we kiss, and I close my eyes, I see blue flames. I’ve seen us engulfed in the same flames too.” Her hand runs down my chest, over my stomach. “I just wondered if you see anything like that?”

“No, my soul. I don’t.”

“Can we talk about all that? The soul thing and the stuff G said. I feel bad for yelling at her, I didn’t even give her a chance to talk.”

“Absolutely. Let’s go sit out on the couch and talk.”

We dried off and got dressed. Eleanor didn’t have comfortable clothes to put on so opted for a pair of my boxer briefs and a band tee, adding ridiculous bird socks Finn got me for my birthday last year. This was a mental image I never wanted out of my head.

“You probably have questions that I don’t have the answers to, but I know someone who will. I’ll answer everything I can for you, and we will get through this together.”

“So first of all” —she readjusted on the couch, sitting to face me— “who the fuck are you?”

“That was not the question I expected you to ask first.” Eleanor’s brain never ceased to amaze me. “My name is Owen Alastor.” She nodded in understanding. The way she was staring me down was intimidating. I was applying for a job, and I wanted it really, really bad. “I am the lead singer of a band, Death’s Nevermind.” Her eyes never left mine; that scrutinizing gaze was a lie detector. It had to be. “I currently live in this house, in Brooklyn with my bandmates and best friends—Finn, Cora, Ashton, and Tristan.”

“Tell me who you actually are, what I don’t know already.”

“All of that is true. Nothing you know about me is a lie, Eleanor. There’s just a lot more to me.” She gave me a cautious look, sinking further into the couch. “I am a demon. Finn, Cora, Ashton, and Tristan, they’re my demons. We aren’t like others; we were made.” I stopped talking because I thought she may have stopped breathing. Reaching my hand out, I gently stroked her cheek. My movements were slow, but she took my hand in hers and held it in her lap.

“What do you mean, you were made?”

I launched into a watered-down version of how my deal with Amon came to be. “I did find some more information out this morning that I want to share with everyone downstairs too.”

“Okay, let’s wait and you can tell them at the same time.” She squeezed my hand as she said this. “They’re made too? How did that happen?”

As much as I didn’t want to talk about it, I needed to tell her at least how they all came to be demons. “I made them demons. I didn’t know I could do something like that. Finn has been my best friend since we were kids. Then Tristan and Ashton came around. Cora was last. I can tell you all about it if you want one day.” The corners of her lips lifted into a small smile. “Making demons is one of my powers.”

“What are your other powers?” My soul was so curious. I was pleased she was curious and not freaking out. I hoped it stayed that way.

“I can shapeshift.” I smirked at her. My hand reached to the coffee table, picking up a little charm from a bowl. “Shapeshift specifically into a crow, actually.” I dropped the charm into her hand. “I’m overdue for a trinket or two, I think.” I winked when she looked back up at me.

“You’re joking.” Eleanor examined the charm, her smile stretching wider as her admiring gaze dropped to me. “I’m so glad I saved all those little things.”

“Me too.” Gripping her face, I kissed her forehead. “What other questions do you have, gorgeous?”

“I’m your soulmate. What does that mean in this universe I’m apparently now part of?” She just looked at me, dumbfounded.

I let out a heavy sigh and put my hands on her warm thighs. “You were made for me. Apparently. There’s more we have to find out from someone on that. But your soul is actually mine, I don’t have a soul.”

“Don’t say that about yourself, Owen. Come on.” She rolled her eyes.

“No, I’m serious.” I nodded my head to emphasize my point. “After I made my deal with Amon, I met a female demon named Lilith who took my soul.” The anger that passed across Eleanor’s face in that moment was so brief I almost missed it. “She took it to fix me. She told me that one day my soulmate would have it, and the parts of me that had been broken would be put back together again. That I was made for more than to be torn apart by Amon and his games.”

“Okay, so what does that mean, though? That we are made for each other or some Hallmark movie shit?”

Gripping her waist, I lifted her up so she was straddling my lap. We were both laughing by the time we settled into the new position. “Yeah, gorgeous, or some Hallmark movie shit.” I kissed her hard, passionately. Putting every bit of love in my body into this kiss, hoping she felt it. But just to make sure she knew, I whisper, “I love you, Eleanor. I’ve got you.”

“Promise?” she asked, biting her bottom lip. She did that when she was anxious. It was an adorable habit of hers I had picked up on.

“Promise.” I pulled her lip from her teeth and whispered, “My turn.” I nipped her bottom lip, eliciting a yelp from her.

We laid on the couch, making out like we had never touched one another before. We were exploring each other for the first time. My hand slid up my t-shirt she was wearing, softly grazing the smooth skin of her stomach. When I reached the underside of her chest, she let out a soft moan. I hitched my leg up to her center so that she had something to rub her pussy on.

Eleanor took both hands and ran her fingers through my hair, tugging lightly. I felt her start grinding her pussy on my leg. I began rolling her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, and she tossed her head back. Leaning down, my tongue licked up her throat, and I felt the moan she let out. Pulling the shirt up, I took her nipple into my mouth, biting and sucking as she continued grinding out her orgasm on my leg.

“Yes, Owen.”

My cock strained in my pants, but I was not going to allow myself the pleasure of coming. It was all for her. She deserved that after everything she went through only less than 24 hours before.

“Come for me, my soul.”

As if on command, she came undone for me, and I kissed her through it.