(Darius' POV)
Swirling the glass of whiskey in my hand, I sat at my desk trying to figure out what was going on. I pulled old files that were on the previous Satan, Michael. Nowhere was there any information about him having a daughter or any child for that matter. So why were there two demons now, calling Sam "princess" and claiming that she is his daughter? Feeling a headache forming, I knocked back the drink in my hand, sat back in my chair and rubbed my red eyes, tired. I had been reading for hours.
Glancing at the clock, I noticed how late it actually was and decided to check on the girls. It had been at least a good five hours since I put them to bed. Getting up, I made sure to put the scrolls and paperwork neatly on the desk, and walked down the corridor to their room. It was just down the hall and only took a few minutes. Pausing at the door, I saw someone walk towards me. It was one of my council members, Selene. She said nothing, just looked sideways, bowed her head slightly, and kept on walking with a small smile on her face, almost flirtatious. After waiting a few seconds when she rounded the corner, I then opened the door and walked in, making sure to shut and lock said door.
Scanning the room for the girls, I see that Sam is still knocked out, sleeping peacefully. Claire on the other hand, had woken up and was now working on her homework. Hearing the lock click, she looked up and quietly told me hi, waving me over to show me what she was working on. I knew she had graphics work that needed to be done, but she never told me what the actual project was. Said it was a surprise. Walking over, I sat on the side of the bed next to Claire, and looked. She had done a drawing of everyone. She had her and Sam in the gowns we had gotten from the store sitting on a bench with me and Rose standing behind them. Looking at my human, I wondered "why did she do this picture?" Hearing what I was thinking, she gave her answer back the way she heard it so as not to wake up Sam.
"I did this picture because this is what we are. At least in my mind. Sam is my best friend, just as Rose is yours. We all are family in a way. So…..I figured I'd put it to paper, so to say." She had an odd but thoughtful expression on her face as she looked down to Sam still asleep, now clutching not only her own blanket, but the corner of Claire's purple one as well. My human always had a different way of thinking. She wore her heart on her sleeve, much like Sam. One of these days, I'm afraid that's what's gonna get one of them killed.
Not wanting my thoughts to get darker, I simply smiled and hugged Claire close. Soon she finished her project and got up to set her things to the side. She then came back to the side of the bed, causing me to scoot over and snuggled up to me, and slowly fell back asleep. Looking down, I grabbed her blanket out of Sam's hand and tucked her back in. When I try to get up, I find that I can't. One girl is snuggled into my side hugging one arm while the other is curled around my thigh like a cat. In other words, I was stuck. Taking a deep breath I decided to just settle myself down and try to drift away to sleep.
However, the fates seemed to have it in for me. Within a few hours, Rose came back and into the room, managing to wake me up. Opening my eyes somewhat slowly, I glared at her, ready to chew her ass out. Until I saw the dreamy look in her eyes. She was happy. Happier than I have seen her in a very long time. Her hair and dress were a bit ruffled and upon looking closer, I spotted a mating mark on her neck.
"Don't even think about it, Darius," she whispered softly, seeing my smirk. Then looking over at me and the girls. "How in the Hells did you manage to get in that situation?" She asked, pointing to the two girls.
"That is not a conversation to have with them in the room, Rose. We need to talk." Shifting slightly to try and get out of the girls' grasp, I finally managed to move from underneath them and walk with Rose to the door. However, Claire woke up.
"Dad ….. where are you going?" Stunned, I sharply turned back around, thinking I heard wrong.
"What did you call me?" I asked, begging in my mind that I heard what I thought I heard.
"I called you 'dad'. You are not just my protector demon, Darius. You're my dad too. At least that's how I see you. Just like Sam sees Rose as her mother." Realizing what she said, Claire slapped a hand over her own mouth. "I am so sorry. I wasn't supposed to say that…." Walking over, I pulled her into a hug, reassuring her that everything was ok.
"You can call me dad. It's fine. It surprised me is all. I have never had anyone call me that before." Hearing this sent a small smile to her tired face. "Now lay down and go back to sleep." Nodding her head, she lays back down after another hug. "I love you, Darius." OooooK, that did it. Hearing such an innocent child say that to ME, someone who was seen by humanity as a horrible evil person, warmed my heart. How or what did I do to get so lucky?
Walking out of the room, Rose followed, her heels clicking slightly on the stone floor. After we made it back to the office, I poured myself another glass of whiskey and offered her one too. Shaking her head, she declined. "Now what is going on, Darius? I feel like I missed something."
Sitting down, I took a deep breath and started to explain. "Well, I found out why Sam is so wanted and targeted. And I would have never thought in a thousand years that it would be this particular reason. I don't know why I never realized it before.."
"Well, tell me. What has gotten you so worked up?"
Taking a deep swig from my glass, I continued. "Sam is, undoubtedly, Michael's daughter. THAT is why she has his mark on her shoulder where mine would usually be. But, that's not all. Someone was able to take over her body and lock her into her own mind. His mark acted up, causing dark demonic energy to flow through her and caused her to attack us. She was in pain. I couldn't even read her until we got here."
Hearing that information caused multiple expressions to pass over Rose's face. "But, if that was the case…..why did she not call out and ask for help? Why didn't I feel or notice that she was in danger?"
"I don't have an answer for that one. Rose. I wish I did, though." Then I remembered something else. "Did you know that she even has magic? Is that why she is able to sense and see everyone before?"
"Wait…what?" Rose looked startled. "There's no way. Unless…."
"Unless the demonic energy is that one that fuels her powers and not her human soul." A solemn look crossed both our faces and Rose looked as if she wanted to cry. Deciding to change the subject, I switched it to her.
"So…how was the date? I see you have a mated mark now." I had to tease her. Smirking, I kept going. "Must have been a fun time. I have never seen your hair all ruffled the way it is, much less you in a dress that short."
"Darius….." she started with a playful glare. "Shut the fuck up," she ended up laughing. "I found her. I found my mate. One of these days, I want to introduce her to Sam."
"You already know how I am about demons meeting the girls. Some of them know Claire, but I don't want information about Sam to get out either. We still haven't caught the mole from a few months back. If the information about her being the princess, Michael's daughter gets out, there is no telling who will come after her."
"What do we do then? I don't want to keep her locked away, Darius!" She was getting frustrated and angry now. "Maybe the girls would be safer if we could find a way to keep them with us, even when we're down here at home."
"Actually, I might have just the thing." Opening a drawer, I pulled out a pair of necklaces that I had been waiting to give the girls. "These are what I had been planning to give the girls as their Christmas gift. Each of these have a layer of protection in them to keep them safer than what they would normally be if we weren't there." Holding them up, I showed them to Rose. "This one is for Claire, and this one is for Sam."
The necklace for Claire was a pentagram that had roses and vines twisting all throughout it. There were five red roses in total, one between each point of the star. In the center, was an emerald like jewel that shone in the lighting as it swayed back and forth. The one for Sam, however, was a bit more simple. It was also a pentagram made out of silver. In the center was a red gem that seemed to glow on its own accord. Both of these were exactly to each girl's taste and style. Sam preferred simple things, while Claire liked flowers, to a point.
"Did you put roses on Claire's to match your clothes, Darius?" I nodded my head to her in an answer. As she snorted at my answer, we got up to go back to Claire's room as the red sun was starting to come up. Walking down the hall, we didn't realize that someone was watching us. Especially when Rose decided to try and screw with my ponytail. Getting her to be playful was not that hard, getting her to stop was a whole nother situation entirely. She seemed to calm down as we got to the door though.
Going quietly into the room, I see that the girls are still asleep. 'Damn, yesterday must have taken a toll on them. And here I thought it was just me.' Then I remembered that Sam would be drained after the ordeal when I drained the demonic energy from her. "Rose, Sam might be out for a while. I had to drain a lot of energy from her yesterday."
Nodding her head in understanding, we quietly closed the door and entered the room fully. I went and put the necklace on Claire while Rose put the one for Sam on her. Both stones seemed to light up briefly as the clasps were clicked closed. When I looked over at Rose, she was softly petting Sam's forehead and her nose, talking softly probably as to not really wake her up, but to put her back to sleep.
(Rose's POV)
After hearing Darius tell me everything that had happened while I was away with Lyric, I felt my heart clench. My human, my child, had been in danger, and I didn't even realize it. Dark thoughts clouded my mind, effectively wiping away the euphoria I was still feeling after spending time with my love, my mate.
Then I find out that Sam is the daughter of that bastard Michael! How can one so evil, so cruel, help create a daughter that is the complete opposite? Someone that is so pure hearted and kind, that wears her heart on her sleeve? I was trying to wrap my head around it, but I couldn't. After discussing what options we possibly had, Darius pulls out two necklaces from his desk. The same place where he keeps our girls' files.
"These were going to be their Christmas gift. There is a layer of protection in them that should, in theory, help keep them safe when we're not there. They can use these down here in Hell." As I looked at said necklaces, I noticed the details of them. Each one was suited to the particular girl that they were meant for. Claire's had roses to match Darius, obviously, and Sam's was much more simplistic.
Walking back to the girls' room I decided to play around with Darius to get him to lighten up some, so what do I do but yank on his ponytail. Batting my hand away, he playfully shoves me off to the side causing small laughs to escape from both of us. Neither of us realized there was someone watching the interaction between us as we went into the room.
When we got inside, Darius somewhat froze and had a sad look on his face. Mentally he told me why, as to not wake the girls up. "Rose, Sam might be out for a while. I had to drain a lot of energy from her yesterday." I put my hand on his shoulder and nodded in understanding. We each took a necklace and went to our respective child.
As I clasped the one around Sam, she started to come to slightly. Not wanting her to fully wake up, I softly petted her forehead, telling her I was there and everything was going to be alright. "It's ok, Sam. I'm here. You're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you again or take you away." As I was doing so, she shifted slightly so her head rested on my hand completely. I froze to the spot. I didn't want to move. She looked so peaceful and innocent. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, my throat closing getting harder to breathe. Covering my mouth, I fell to the floor on my knees. I sobbed as quietly and as hard as I have never before. I couldn't take it. She didn't deserve this!
Darius, seeing me fall to my knees, ran to where I was on the other side of the bed and grabbed me, pulling me to him tight as I just cried. "Rose….. what's wrong? You've never gotten this upset before….. it's ok….. look. She's safe."
All I could do was quietly cry into his chest, possibly ruining his shirt. At the moment though, I didn't care. Finally I stopped crying and pulled away. I felt so off and ashamed. I've never done that in the centuries I've known him, at least in front of him. "I'm sorry, Darius. Now your shirt is ruined."
"Don't worry about it. It's just a shirt. I can get another." Wiping the makeup that ran down my face, "Now if you're better, let's let the girls get some more sleep and we go train hm?" Lifting me back up to my feet, we head out to the training field to let out some serious frustrations.