Heart of Darkness

Skender went back to the castle to clean himself up and change into something new. His clothes were soaked in blood so he just burned them. Now one problem was out of the way and his plan was to solve the other one using Constantine. As much as he wanted to kill him, he thought he could benefit from having him alive.

A shade leader that he knew and could control would be better than one who would go back to chasing demon mates again. There was also something about Constantine that he couldn't shake off. For some reason, he didn't hate the man as much as he wanted to. Why?

Skender could understand why he didn't care much about Constantine's father. He wasn't interested in avenging Ramona. His priority was to keep Roxana safe.

Before going to meet Constantine he had made sure to calm down and set a good plan. Constantine's father knew he had many enemies, including the demons so he stayed in a hidden place that was hard to find.

Skender thought of using his son to lure him out and then he would only have that one chance to kill him. Having a place to hide and being able to teleport, Skender knew Constantine's father wouldn't be a fool to fight him head-on. He would use his chance to escape and then he would find ways to hurt him through his mate. That was why he needed to finish him off at once.

When it came to Roxana, he didn't want to take any risks. Her safety was the most important to him.

It was also for her safety and other demon mates' safety he decided to keep Constantine alive. He didn't trust the man but it was better to have an enemy he knew than one he didn't. He also had plans for this animosity to end and perhaps at least stop the war between the shades and the demons.

If he was going to live in the human world with his mate and children he needed to create a safe environment for them.

Once he changed his clothes, he looked at the golden button that he took back from the bounty hunter. It was also from the bounty hunter that he confirmed his suspicion. The hunter was being followed by one of Constantine's men. He let both of them continue their search, in case any of them found Roxana's family they would be doing the job for him, but he went to search as well. It would be a good surprise now that Roxana was both sad and confused.

Skender went to find Lucrezia who knew better how to use the archdemon abilities.

"What is the easiest way to find someone if I only know their face?" he asked once he found her.

"That is difficult. You must have some kind of idea of location or find people that might know them and search their minds. Maybe if you can get hold of their scent somewhere, otherwise you need to find people who are experts in this."

This wasn't what he wanted to hear but there was nothing else he could do. Leaving her behind he went to look for her mother. At least he had an accurate picture of her and so he looked thoroughly in the locations the bounty hunter chose to look for her. Since he found her father, the man probably knew what he was doing.

Skender was so busy searching that he lost track of time and the only thing that reminded him of being late was the sky darkening. He had not meant to be gone this long. He needed to get back now before he made them worried.

As he arrived at the gate he found William sitting on the bench outside and Roxana pacing back and forth with her usual amusing thoughts. She didn't notice his presence even as he neared. This time she was shocked about his age.

"How long have you paced?

"Alexander." To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around him.

So his age wasn't a problem?

He chuckled as he hugged her back. This woman and her surprising actions. He could not trust that she would act on her thoughts.

He took her face between his hands. If she only knew how relieved he was that she wasn't running away from him.

"Uncle Ben. Fanny."

"They are fine." He assured her. He would tell her the details later but now he felt like he needed to see how Angelica and her child were doing.

"Let's go inside."

Skender found Angelica resting in her bed with her child in her arms. Her face glowed with happiness. He noticed that all of them had cried, even Rayven, but they all looked happy. Rayven was a bit worried as well.

Skender congratulated them and then got the chance to hold the child. A son. He was so little in his arms. Alright. Now he understood why Rayven was worried. He got worried too. Scared of holding him too tight or dropping him. But it was more than just that. He could resonate with Rayven's fears and worries. Now he had one more person to protect.

Yes. He needed to make things work Constantine, for the sake of everyone's safety. For their children to grow up safely. Freely.

"Have you named him yet?" Skender asked.

"We thought of Aiden. What do you think?" Angelica asked.

"It is beautiful," Skender said.

Aiden was sleeping so peacefully. Skender watched him in silence for a moment. He had always wanted a child. Now he wanted one more than ever.

In the distance, he heard Roxana's thoughts, thinking that the look of holding a child suited him. Thinking of their future, of possibly holding their child one day.

The image of her fantasies made him glance her way. She met his gaze and smiled. Everything seemed alright at the moment. How? Was everything really alright? He wasn't used to this much calmness and happiness.

More laughter and happy moments followed when Acheron, Lazarus, Vitale, and Blaze came to visit. Angelica was quick on her feet, the demon blood contributing to healing faster as well. She joined them for dinner where they all celebrated this happy moment.

All of the lords took turns to see Aiden. While Aiden only looked strange to Lazarus and Blaze, Acheron and Vitale spent more time watching him and remembering their past. Skender felt like he was prying but he couldn't help it. Vitale recalled his son and Acheron his little brother and sister. There were some painful memories and Skender blocked them to go back to the happy moments.

While all the chattering and laughter went on, Roxana was putting more pieces together of who was a demon and who was not. He wasn't the only one sitting there and being amused, but he was probably the only one feeling bad for her as well. It was too much to take in and she only knew half of it all.

"Is the family continuing to grow? Maybe we will see another couple soon and their child?" Blayze said looking between him and Roxana.

"Skender, you should probably introduce us correctly now," Acheron said.

"I should," Skender said knowing that they would keep teasing him otherwise and Roxana would remain confused. "Roxana, all these men here are demons and we have known each other for a long time."

She nodded understanding that the "long time" he spoke about was longer than a few decades.

"And this is Roxana. The woman I love."