Darker Days (The Darker Agency #1)(32)
“After a few decades, it wasn’t as bad. They bore easily.”
“So the rest of them are, what, awake in there?”
“Not in the same sense that you are out here, but yes. There’s a certain consciousness while inside.”
I swallowed back a lump. “Well, I guess that answers my question.”
Lukas nodded. He took another sip of his cocoa. “Your father’s a demon.”
“That’s not a question.”
He considered it for a moment. “I suppose my question is, what kind of demon is he? You said he wasn’t evil—so what does he do?”
“Demons aren’t all bad. And they definitely aren’t the tools of Satan.” I remembered his comment and did my best not to snicker. “Demons are actually just Otherworlders. From the Shadow Realm.”
“So demons aren’t from hell?”
I waggled a finger at him. “It’s my turn.”
“Oh. Yes, of course.”
The expression on his face reminded me of Mom. That look she got when digging into something ancient. Something legendary. This stuff fascinated Lukas almost as much as it did her. He watched me with those warm brown eyes and my stomach gave a little squeeze. God. I was going soft. One look from a pretty face and I caved. “The Shadow Realm is hell—just not the hell you’re thinking. There’s no fire and brimstone.”
His eyes widened. “So there’s no devil?”
“Lucifer is real. He’s the high king of the Shadow Realm.”
“And heaven?”
“No clue. I’m sure if there’s a Shadow Realm, its opposite is out there—though I doubt there are winged cherubs skimming the sky on cloudmobiles.”
“So your mother is human, and your father is a demon…” He looked a little sheepish. “As you pointed out earlier, you’re half demon—” Shoulders squared, he leaned forward just a bit. “Something I do not find disgusting, by the way. Do you—I mean, can you—”
I rolled my eyes. It was the first thing Kendra had asked when she found out what I was. She’d wanted me to go all demon on Farah Kinkaid for stealing her sixth grade crush. “Can I do anything cool, you mean? Other than being just a little tougher, I got zilch. No cool abilities.”
“So you’re saying you’re normal.”
Such an evil word, normal. One of the worst in the English language, in my opinion.
“Suckily so. Human-demon hybrids—not that we’re common—don’t inherit any special tricks. Something to do with the genetics not mixing well, I dunno.”
“Is that why you don’t see your father often? Because he’s a demon?”
“Most can’t leave the Shadow Realm without special permission. Like a temporary hall pass… It requires rank. Dad’s a lower ranking demon. Unless he’s on official business, he needs his boss Valefar’s permission to be here. Plus, Mom doesn’t like his element.”
“His element? What does that mean?” Lukas set down the mug and scrunched up his nose. God. I loved when he did that.
“She doesn’t like the work he does for Valefar. Dad’s like the demon equivalent of a mafia hit man. She didn’t want me exposed to that kind of world—which is funny considering what we deal with for the agency on a daily basis. Dad agrees, so he keeps his distance for the most part. He sends letters and gifts, and we talk on the phone now and then, but that’s about it. He spent a lot of time here when I was younger, but when I got old enough to start asking questions, he came less and less.”
He looked confused. “I thought you said he was a good guy.”
And here’s where the different shades of gray came in. “He’s not what you’d consider good in, like, the biblical sense. But he loves us—me and Mom—and he doesn’t harm anyone who hasn’t earned it.”
“Hasn’t earned it?” Lukas looked horrified. “Who’s to say who earns it and who doesn’t?”
Gah! How could you want to strangle someone and kiss him at the same time? “There’s that stone age thinking again. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Lukas, but the world’s changed since your time. People suck. They steal, they lie, and they kill each other in horrible ways for no good reason. Some are just bad. Badder than the demons.”
He frowned. “I can’t believe that.”
I shrugged. “That doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
The look on his face made me feel guilty again. Was it really so wrong to let him cling to his version of a peaceful world? The fact that he was still able to see goodness after all the hell he’d been through was pretty amazing. Rare. The guy was rare. Deadly and tainted by Wrath, but at his core, innocent and good. Who was I to try and jade him?
Craps.
Hanging out with Lukas was killing my conscience. Not that I’d admit it—especially to him—but it was kind of nice to talk to someone who didn’t see the dirty sides of the coin. In our line of business, you kind of had to look for the bad. Had to always be suspicious. Lukas was a refreshing difference. A little like Mom. He wanted to see the light instead of the dark. The good over the bad.
I sighed and went for something in the middle. “Look, not all people are bad. That’s why we do what we do. Because there are innocent people out there. Ones worth saving. I’m just saying, your view of demons? It’s all wrong. They’re just like people. Good and bad.”