Chapter 31: Sebastian POV

"Oh he is in better shape than I thought," the Undertaker said, leaning over Danny and poking her. "Fully Demon I think, hehe!"

"But he is… he is going to wake?" I asked, standing at the foot of her bed, staring at her.

"Oh, dear, a lover too? Well, he is lovely," the Undertaker muttered. I shot him a warning look. "Yes. Soon. It took a lot out of him it looks like. Of course, with the amount of Demon blood on him, I would say he got his licks in. A fighter you have. I would not want to come near here without an invitation."

I looked at Danny with pride. "You have no idea how strong he is."

"Well, if that is all?" I nodded and he gathered up his bag and his strange objects he held over Danny. He paused as he moved out of the room. "This is the ex-Reaper I have heard about?"

"It took you long enough," I scoffed.

He frowned. "Not many want to associate with those who left the Society in rather unconventional means."

"So no one will be too concerned with Mr. Hyde?"

He looked at Danny for a moment longer and then at me. "Mr. Hyde is a special case. Reapers don't get Birthed into Demons. It's believed it is a Human's depravity that will allow for that. But if he was allowed to be a Reaper," he shrugged. "I wouldn't think he was very depraved."

"Thank you, Undertaker."

"Pay me when you are in town," he said and left.

I turned and sat beside the still unconscious Danny. I brushed her hair back and wished I could see her eyes, talk to her. I once more undressed her, slowly taking the stained shirt off, and looking at it, weighing if it would hurt her to see the evidence, or if it would help her deal with it. It was now part of her. She was a Demon, a fully-fledged, Birthed Demon. I hung it up in the bathroom and proceeded to take her pants off, feeling myself blush as I brushed her skin, now comfortably warm, her now normal temperature. As I folded the black slacks, I sighed. At least she would not have the fevers anymore. Her emotions? Would they be stable? I hung the pants up beside the shirt and got lost in that thought.

The dripping hit my ears even as the plunk of a droplet hit. Looking at the floor, below the pants, there was forming a puddle of blood. Dark and thick, Demon blood. I raced back to the bed and yanked the sheets back. Under her legs was the same blackness, and I carefully lifted her legs, looking for any marks, any sign it was hers. A hand slid over mine and I looked up, slowly, daring not to move more, not wanting to move slowly.

"Sebastian?"

"Are you -" I stopped. Of course she was hurt, that would be a stupid question. I wanted to know specifics - "injured?"

She looked down at me and didn't protest that only her undergarments were on. She lifted her leg, so delicate and strong, and ran her hands over them. I was mesmerized. I had seen woman beckon me to their beds, with the sensual trailing of their fingers along their legs, directing my eyes, my lust, but this was something I watched with knowledge I was the first - only - one to ever witness her do such a move.

"No, I seem to be unhurt." Her eyes narrowed and looked at me. "Why? What is wrong?" She sat up and leaned over, closer to me. "Is everyone else uninjured? Oh! I pushed Mey-Rin! Is she -"

"Uninjured but shaken. No, I ask because… there is blood in the bed. And on your pants." I looked over her and then met her eyes. "How many Demons were there?"

I could see she was recalling the previous night, and then she looked at me. "Five. One in the Earl's study, one on the stairs, two in the front gardens, and one at the gate."

I watched as she listed her first kills as if they were the list to the market. There was no flinching as she finished and she sounded as if there was an expectation that all she had done was normal.

I brushed my fingers over her cheek and looked at her bright red eyes, now not fluctuating between shades. "My you have become a Demon," I breathed and laughed. "And I was worried your first kills would make you tremble."

She balked and pushed me away, sliding her legs off the bed. "I was protecting my family," she said simply. "But," she said in a whisper and looked back at the door then slowly at me. "The only thing I can't really figure out is… after I killed the first Demon - the one who was chasing Mey-Rin - I looked at the young Master and…."

"You saw his Soul?" I ventured. "His eyes, brighter?"

She nodded and hung her head. "I felt a different kind of hunger in that moment."

Ah, so that would be our first conversation. The hunger for Souls. I smiled a little. "You fought in a war, when you were Human?"

She looked at me for a moment and nodded. "I fought in my brother's stead. I was trained in weapons - that's why I am rather good at fencing." We shared a smile and then she sighed. "I saw men who gave into killings on the field, long after the enemy was dead. They were vicious and savage and - oh gods…."

I pulled her into me and held her as her deeds hit her suddenly. "You protected your family. I should have been called. I should have done that," I whispered into her hair. I rubbed her back, bare and clammy in it's warmth, and lifted my gloved hand. I did the only thing I could, and worked my glove off by holding it by the index finger in my mouth and wiggling it off. I turned my head and spat the glove out, placing my bare hand on her back. "You were amazing, Finnian said. He told me you were an Angel - so beautiful in your movements and sure in the placement of your feet. He wanted to know how you became so graceful in your strength."

"I was savage!"

I lifted her chin and looked at her, holding her gaze firmly. "You are powerful, Daniella. And that power made you do the things that you had to. You did them out of love. I can tell you countless tales of my own savagery, of my own depravity and how I did it because it simply felt good to do. You love deep and feel deep, and perhaps that is why your Birthing was so difficult at times. But it is the same depth that will bring perfect protection to any you Claim. Any you choose to protect. Any you choose to love."

There was an electric buzz in the air and I found it pleasant. I looked at Danny and smiled. It was her, it was her own scent, her own field, her own power, bursting out, seeking to be understood, to be answered. I held her close and her fingers clawed at my jacket, slowly ripping the fabric, slowly reaching to my skin.

"I wanted him," she whispered into my neck as she pushed me on the bed and stared down at me. "I saw it and I wanted it. How do I take something so delicious looking from something so innocent?"

"They are not all pure and innocent," I replied. "Humans are balance. Humans are weak and strong, joy and sorrow. Emotion. Acute and subtle. We can sip on those emotions that they send, like their power, and their Soul is the source of those emotions. You saw the young Master's Soul because he called out to you."

I pushed my fingers into her hair and pulled her down, her lips lingering over mine until I moved and placed them together. I felt my world again move and stay solid. The power of this Demoness was rolling over me and I drank it in even as I had drunk her before. She moved and tore at my clothes again, bringing the night we had danced so vividly back, so deliciously wanted back into my mind. She divested me of my top and growled as I pushed and laid her down, kissing her once more.

With a surprise shove she was on top and pinned my arms down out beside me. She sat across my waist and looked down at me with a slow smile. "Am I me?"

I studied her eyes, I studied her power, and I saw her unflinching, in control. I shuttered. Oh yes, this was Daniella, and there was an undeniable passion as she slowly slid down, her hands staying on my arms and she molded her near naked body on my half clad one. She looked down at my pants and then back at me.

"Sebastian?"

"Yes?" I breathed. I waited, the moments stretching. I was waiting for her question, her statement, her - anything. I wanted to hear her voice simply say my name once more.

"I love you. I will protect you. I will stand by you for eternity," she finally said. She sat up and smiled. "I also discovered I could manipulate things." There was a gleam in her eyes as she slid down again and licked her lips. "I'm in control."

And I was suddenly without pants. I was naked. She smiled wiggled her hands as she slowly giggled. "Parlor tricks," I muttered as I waved her remaining garments off as well. "Fair is fair," I said as she laughed and pretended to be embarrassed.

She rolled off me and laid beside me, her head resting on my shoulder. I curled my left arm around her and brought my right hand up. "Mmm… missed one," I coyly said. I brought the glove to my mouth and once more tugged, lifting my hand out of the glove. Danny plucked it out of my mouth and set it flying over her shoulder and replaced the item with an even better one - her mouth.

"That was amazing," she whispered in my ear. I rolled to my side and pulled her body to mine.

"You know what else is amazing?" I replied, kissing her temple. "A Reaper was bold enough to come into a Demon's territory and not be detected. A Tutor who wasn't found out to be a woman. A Reaper who defied orders to do something extremely dangerous, only to be rewarded with perhaps the worst reward known to all kind."

She pulled back and placed a finger on my lips. "It wasn't the worst reward they could have given me. I could be Retired and Ascended - that sounds worse right now." I lifted a brow and trailed a finger over her side. "It's worse because this would not be happening. I would be gone. Not able to have found this moment I was ready to fall in love and ask simply for a man to love me."

"I am not simply a man," I muttered kissing her lightly.

"And I am not simply a woman," she replied. "But at this moment, I don't see anything else. I don't want anything else. Sebastian, please, love me. In every way you can."

I pulled her close, the feel of her breasts and her naked body on mine, brought me already pleasure, but I wanted, desired, longed.… I loved the power and the sureness in the words I spoke back, all the meanings of the words, for the first time having no hidden agendas or meanings.

"Yes, my Lady."