ACE SWORE, STAGGERING as he tripped on the overturned side table for the third time. He had thrown it across the room in a fit of anger towards those two Demons, and had been continuously falling over it throughout the last hour.

The door opened, and a smug looking Rem stepped in, his smile disappearing quickly as he took in Ace's expression.

"Where the hell have you been?" he hissed between clenched teeth.

Rem sighed, closing the door. "Chill. I'm sorry if that girl ditched you but-"

"That girl was a Sight Demon and she was accompanied by a Shifting Demon. They ambushed me. And where were you? Of with some non-existent bitch."

Rem's eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry, okay? Now, where's the beer?"

"We're leaving, now," Ace snapped, hands clenching at his sides. "I am not having half the Council after me."

The Demon Council were the highest of the Demons. They made the laws, enforced them and decided the punishment for those who disobeyed. Those like him.

He clenched his teeth, anger coursing through him.

"If you touch that bottle, I'll break your arm," Ace snarled as Rem reached for a bottle of XXXX.

Rem shot his a look of annoyance, before recoiling his arm.

"What's your problem with these two anyway?" he muttered.

"They're from the Council, and if they're from the Council, I don't want to be within one hundred miles of them," Ace growled, walking to the door. "Come on."

"Aw, but-"

"One bottle," Ace allowed, turning the knob.

He froze in the doorway, barely having time to take in the three men waiting patiently outside before they moved.

One was tall and slim, with chestnut brown hair and startlingly gold eyes. He stood to Ace's right.

Another was also tall and slim, with blonde hair and sea-blue eyes. He stood attentively to the left.

The last was bald, with irises a few shades lighter than black. He was shorter than the others, with a stocky build. But what captured Ace's attention the most was that his mouth had been stitched closed.

Without warning, the two men had gone, reappearing behind Ace and Rem.

Ace drew in a sharp breath, extending his neck in a effort to put distance between it and the blade resting there. A firm hand securing his left upper arm.

Rem would have been restrained, too.

Ace was pulled gently but firmly back as the bald man stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

Ace, Ace, Ace, a voice tutted from within his head. What would we do without you?

Ace narrowed his eyes. "You're a Thought Demon."

Indeed, the bald man said, his eyes gleaming. He gestured to his sewn lips. Compliments to the Council.

Ace smiled grimly. "They caught you, didn't they?"

Yes, they did. I was spilling secrets to criminals. But now, you're going to spill to me.

"Why me?" Ace demanded.

Because you saw the girl, he said simply.

"The blonde-"

Ace shook his head, clearing it.

"The Sight Demon?"

The bald man nodded.

"Why do you want information on her?"

We had a...tussle in the past. I intend to repay her for that.

"What do you want to know?"

What does she look like? When you first saw her. What colour hair? What colour eyes? What age?

His eyes gleamed in the apartment lights.

"Brown hair. In a ponytail," Ace said coldly. "Blue eyes. She was fifteen."

Thank you, the man said.

"How old is she really?" Ace asked before he could stop himself.

The man's eyes sparkled with interest. Sixteen and a half, by my count.

"Are you done holding us hostage?"

The man inclined his head in gratitude. Yes, we are.

The men restraining them - Speed Demons, Ace realised - returned to his side in the blink of an eye.

Thank you, I pray we will not have to meet again soon.

Without another word, they all turned and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Ace rubbed his neck, the feeling of the knife at his neck still lingering there.

He didn't like how that had gone. He knew nothing about them, except that the two tall men were Speed Demons working for a Thought Demon who, for reasons unknown to Ace, wanted to hunt down and murder the Sight Demon. They knew too much about him for Ace's liking.

He felt a strange urge to protect the Sight Demon.

He shook himself.

Protect her? After she had tried to kill him? No way.

But he could at least warn her. Give her a chance to get away before the bald man tried to kill her. He only had a short amount of time to get there.

"Come on," Ace murmured, turning to Rem. "We're leaving. Now."