CHAPTER 8

DIANA'S POV

There's a knock on the door.

I wipe away any trace of sorrow left on my face, walk to the door, and open it.

Red-haired Daemon is leaning against the doorframe, his lips curved into a smug smile. He's holding Xiana, whose face is twisted into a scowl.

When she sees me, her eyes brighten and she snatches her hand away from Daemon’s.

“You need to learn some respect, young female!” Daemon shouts as Xiana is about to charge toward me.

Xiana stops and throws him a dirty side-eye that nearly makes me laugh.

“Don't you think it's your bedtime already, Beta Daemon?” she says disdainfully, and my eyes widen.

I grab her by the shoulder and bend to look her straight in the eye. “That's not how to speak to people older than you, Xiana.”

Her scowl doesn’t waver. “I know, but Beta Daemon is what Daddy calls the Omegas when they annoy him.”

I frown in confusion, but Daemon just bursts into a laugh that somehow gets on Xiana's nerves.

“Good night, bundle of joy. Just don’t come crying to me when I tell your Daddy what you just said.”

I see Xiana tense, but she tries to hide it. She turns around and looks at Daemon.

“Sleep tight, Beta Daemon,” she says through gritted teeth.

Daemon places a hand on his chest. “You know what? I won’t tell.” He chuckles and looks at me.

As if noticing me for the first time, his eyes widen as he scans me from head to toe. I look away, flustered by his gaze.

“Well damn, you look hot, Diana. Vivian did a very good job on you,” he whistles.

“Thank you,” I murmur, standing properly.

“I guess I’ll leave now.” He smiles and throws a mischievous glance at Xiana, who’s still seething. “See you at breakfast tomorrow.”

Xiana mutters a response I don’t hear. When Daemon is gone, she sticks her head out the door and silently screams something. To my surprise, Daemon trips on nothing and falls flat on his face. When he spins his head toward us, Xiana slams the door shut.

I stare at her in awe. She looks at me with a sweet smile, like she didn’t just commit anything.

“Promise you won’t tell Daddy?” she says, and I blink at her.

“Well, do I look like a snitch?” I say still in a daze. “But how…? How did you make him fall?”

“I control my powers more when I’m upset,” she says. “Don’t worry, I only use it on Beta Daemon most of the time.”

She has powers too? And she has it all figured out. I stare at her and—God—she looks so much like Eric. She has a share of my blue eyes and his grey ones. She has highlights of his blonde hair. She looks just human.

She’s just so pretty. Flawlessly and effortlessly beautiful. Her face screams Eric. It feels like I’m looking right at him, and it scars me. I can’t even look at her for five seconds before turning away.

None of us says anything. I can't. I can't muster the courage to talk to my own child.

“Daddy kept talking about a certain star that’s always in the sky and never goes away,” Xiana says, staring at me, her eyes glowing. “Every time we were together, he kept on talking about the star and praised it so much that I told him I wanted to see it. He said it was bright, beautiful, and he couldn’t take his eyes or mind off it. So when it was my third birthday, he took me to a room and showed me the star.”

She smiles. “She was pale, lying with her eyes closed in a capsule, and I had always dreamt of the day she’d wake up.”

I wipe a tear from the corner of my eye that I didn’t know was there.

Xiana sniffs, tears spilling from her eyes. “No, Mummy. Aunt Vivian used to tell me it’s okay to cry.”

I grab her and pull her onto my body in a hug. She wraps her arms around my neck and bursts into tears.

I hadn’t expected anybody would care if I was existing or not. I feel so grateful to Kael for saving her life. I haven’t spent much time with her yet, and I can’t help but feel like she’s been a part of me forever.

She pulls back and I cup her cheek, smiling. “My pretty girl. Where did you get so much knowledge from? I barely knew anything when I was your age.”

She cleans her tears with her sleeve and sniffs. “The pups here are way smarter than me.”

“Well, I’d love to see them sometime.”

Xiana’s eyes glow with hope. “Yes! I’ll show you to them tomorrow. They all keep blabbing about their mummies all the time, and when I tell them I’ve got one too, they tell me to keep quiet because you aren’t moving. I’ll show them!”

“Tomorrow it is! When they see me, they will hide their faces in shame.”

“Yes, yes! They’ll see you’re more beautiful than all their nosy mummies!”

_______________

Vivian had come to take Xiana away when morning arrived.

I must say, I hadn’t had any rest because Xiana was too agitated to sleep. She talked nonstop about Kael, her friends, the pack, and someone named Omega Carden.

Carden had been the one who helped her understand her powers, which apparently allowed her to shift the air with her mouth or hands.

“If you think that’s cool, you should see Omega Carden’s powers! He’s a bit reckless, but he can steal elements and make them into weapons.” She had said.

I wonder what Kael’s powers are since everyone here seems to have one.

I put on the dress Vivian had left for me after much consideration. It’s cozier than the green dress—at least it makes everywhere feel less frosty.

“Are you ready now, Diana?” Daemon asks. He’s been standing outside waiting for me.

I decide the earrings aren’t necessary, so I leave them behind. Vivian said Kael would love them on me, but they seem too much for my liking. The clothes and bangles are enough gifts from him.

“Yes, I’m coming,” I say and open the door.

Daemon stands straight and winks at me. “Stealing you from Kael may seem like a very good plan sometimes.”

He bends and slips his hand under mine, bringing me close to him.

“Where are we going?” I ask as he starts walking.

“To the hall for breakfast. Kael said I should bring you down.”

Oh.

“So, you’re his messenger or servant?”

Daemon frowns and throws me a hurt look. “You have succeeded in breaking my fragile heart, Diana. I’m Kael’s Beta—just as powerful as he is—but I’m under his command. You can take it as, if he isn’t there for you, I’m the next viable option.”

I smile, shaking my head. Not everyone likes a joker like Daemon, so I guess that’s why Xiana doesn’t like him. He seems to enjoy getting on her nerves with his jokes.

Daemon leads me down a staircase made of ice. I nearly slip, but he wraps his arm around my waist, saving me from another coma.

“Careful,” he smirks but doesn’t pull his arm away.

We walk down the staircase and into a hallway. There’s a large metal wall that seems to stretch into infinity. There are numbers on the wall and I see people walking about—they’re all dressed differently.

Daemon leads me to the wall with the number 6 on it.

“Morning, Daemon,” a female dressed in a white shirt with a blue and white striped skirt greets while standing further down the line. “Nice to see you awake, Diana.”

Daemon looks at her and smiles. “Morning, Doctor Bernice.”

Bernice? She’s the doctor Kael mentioned. But before I can even say hello to her, she passes through the wall.

I don’t think I’ve been here long enough not to be shocked.

“Not everyone can do that, though. Just Bernice. For you and me, we need a code to get in, and luckily, I have that.” Daemon says and taps the number six on the wall.

The number disappears and a keypad appears. He types in a code and a door forms in the wall.

Daemon leads me into what seems like the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.