CHAPTER 38

Kid's POV

Three months. I went three months without her sarcastic comments, without her rough hands, without her. After I visited her that first day of her imprisonment I wasn't allowed to see her again, and it killed me.

She wasn't dangerous! She was kind and intelligent and an all-around incredible person, not this monster everyone made her out to be. I told my father that every day until he got so annoyed he physically removed me from the Death Room.

Then one day after school I was called to her holding cell.

I ran the whole way there, anxious to see her. When I got there she was lying down and sobbing into her pillow. I turned to Stein.

"What's going on?" I asked frantically. Riley looked up at my voice.

"Kid?" she sniffed.

"I'm here," I said. "Professor, could I go in?"

"I've been instructed not to let you in," he told me.

"Professor-"

"Go in."

He stepped aside and I raced through the door, coming to kneel by Riley's bedside. I grabbed her hand and interlaced our fingers before leaning over to plant a kiss on her mouth.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly, my thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand. She broke into sobs again, barely getting words out.

"Father… execution…" And then the word I was dreading most. "Tomorrow."

"No, he can't!" I exclaimed, almost crying myself. "If he kills you he'll kill the baby, too!"

"That's his plan," she laughed sardonically through her tears. "He doesn't want a dangerous demon to be affected by pregnancy hormones, and he doesn't want a half-demon around because it might be more dangerous than me-"

"Then why the hell did he keep you alive for this long?" I growled, wanting to rip my father limb for limb.

"It won't even get a chance to live," she sniffed. "I don't care about myself, but I will not let him hurt our baby."

Our baby…

"I'll be back," I said, abruptly standing. "I'm going to go have a talk with my father."

She nodded into her pillow before pulling me back down for another kiss. After that I left for the Death Room.

Once I made it to the Death Room I stormed in without knocking. My father was sitting on his throne with his head in his hands, a position I had never seen him take. He turned when he heard the doors slam open, his body rising and falling with a sigh.

"I thought I might be seeing you soon," he sighed.

I walked up to stand in front of him, then did something I rarely did.

I hugged him.

"Please," I almost sobbed. "Please don't do it."

"I have to, Kiddo," he said.

"Why? Why can't she be a weapon for the DWMA?"

He pushed me back by my shoulders and looked me in the eye.

"I thought about that, but she's just too unpredictable. She said herself that she's lost control on several occasions. I'd rather have us combat kishins the old-fashioned way, one at a time, than have an unpredictable weapon."

"Then why can't we wait for the baby to be born and-"

"Kid-"

"Then-"

"Kid."

I ducked my head.

"I know," I said. "I'm not going to change your mind."

"No, you're not."

"Just… keep this in mind," I said. "When it comes time for me to step down from the position you now hold, I'm not going to have an heir. I don't know what I'll do."

"You'll find someone else to have a child with, Kiddo. There are lots of girls in Death City, in the world."

I shook my head.

"You don't get it, Dad. I know I sound every bit a lovesick teenager but…" I felt desperate. What could I say to tell him just how gone I was for this girl?

"But what, son?"

"Remember that day when I was little and I saw that pretty girl on television?" I asked. "The one from the children's television show that I can't remember the name of? I know I watched it all the time, but this was the first time this particular character was introduced."

"I think I remember. You were convinced that you were in love with her." My father chuckled at the memory.

"That's the day. I was crying because you told me she was too old for me then. You told me that she wasn't the one for me, and that I would know when I found the one for me? That there would be something deep in my soul that would tell me that this particular person, be it male, female, or somewhere in between, was it?"

He was silent.

"She's it," I said.

"You really think so?"

I nodded.

"I do. There's, statistically, always the possibility that she's not, but… I really think she's the one."

"You're nineteen, Kid. Are you sure? You're so young-"

"Dad," I interrupted him. "Please don't kill her. Or at least not until the baby's born."

"Baby," he said. "It's hard to believe that my little boy might have a little boy of his own. And so soon."

"Why are you so sure it would be a boy?" I asked.

"Shinigamis have always been male. I suppose it's not impossible that the child would be female."

I smiled at my feet, knowing that I had at least gotten him to think about it.

"Thank you, Father," I said, turning to go. "I'll take my leave now."

"One more thing, Kiddo," he stopped me. I turned back around. "Stein let you go into Riley's holding cell, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did."

My father chuckled.

"He's such a softy."

3rd Person POV

Somewhere outside of Death City, in the middle of the Nevada Desert, a man leaned against the hood of his car as he gazed at the Death City skyline. He spoke into his phone.

"Yeah, she has to be there," he said. He looked around at the other forty or so cars that flanked him. "None of the guys I sent have reported back. I've called every single one of them and every one of their phones has been 'turned off.'"

"Just making sure, boss," said the man on the other end of the line. "I wouldn't want to raid a town just to find that she's not there."

"No, I'm sure. Plus, the guy I sent last month that never showed back up? He didn't sound terribly sane when he called me to tell me she wasn't in town. There was something in his voice. I think she had him cornered."

"But didn't the police say they found one of her hairs on Jabberwocky's shirt? That was in Dallas. She could still be there."

"Knowing what I know about Death City, I don't think so. I think she was on a mission from that school there, the DWMA."

A sigh came from the other end of the line.

"I'll trust your judgment, boss," he said. "Give the signal and I'll tell the squad to drive."

"Go ahead and do it," the man said, flicking his cigarette to the ground and stomping out the butt. "I'm getting into my car right now."

The man hung up and watched as his squadron of automobiles began zooming off in the direction of Death City, in the direction of her.

"I'm coming for you, little Leah," the man said to no one in particular. He wore a wicked smile as he turned on the ignition and shifted the car into drive. "Or my name isn't Byron Roland."