24.

  Cole knocked on the girl’s dorms and was greeted by Angelica. “Oh, Cole Longdren, here this time of night, I surely hope you’re not trying to do something improper,” she blushed and giggled. “I was just having some tea, I guess you could join me, we could talk about finals, I’m sure you have plenty of strategies for how to approach them. I could help you too, I’m obviously going to Ace Demonology, Exorcism, and Alchemy, but maybe we go somewhere private and…spar, to get ready for the Combat Assessment,” she grinned.

  “Knock it off, I’m looking for Tav,” he said.

  “Oh, Tavalia, she’s holed up in our room, as usual, you know she doesn’t know how to have fun,” Angelica put her hand on Cole’s chest, and he pushed it away.

  “Can I come in?” he asked, “I know that I need permission to come in,” he said as Angelica turned to the side.

  “Why is a man of your stature wasting time on that girl, her Father was the Betrayer, you know everyone thinks she probably has some Demon blood in her or some other such manner of vile,” she said.

  “No one knows that,” Cole said as he pushed his way inside, coming to Tav’s room. Tav was looking over the supplies she had acquired on their hunts, Claw and heart and fang, “Tav, you weren’t at the market again, the price of claws has spiked, you could sell it there for double what you could have gotten the last time we were at market, why weren’t you there?” he asked.

  “I can’t sell it, I need it,” she said, “You swore you wouldn’t tell anyone,” she said, clinging to the golden necklace around her neck.

  “I haven’t told anyone, I wouldn’t,” he said.

  “The reason I’ve been hunting demons, gathering these supplies,” Tav went to the door of her bedroom and closed it, “The reason I’ve been doing this is that there is a ritual that requires them,” she said.

  “A ritual?” Cole asked, “Rituals are dark magic, I thought the whole point of you being here was so you could prove you weren’t the demon everyone thinks you are,” he said.

  “Have you heard about the demon locked in the basement of the academy?” Tav asked, taking a deep breath. Cole had gone this long without betraying her trust, so she figured she could trust him with this as well.

  “Yes, a demon meant for study by the professors and advanced students, what about it?” he asked, not wanting to have any reason to expose the pretty girl he liked dancing with’s trust.

  “I talked to it, I was sent here to talk to it, I was told it could give me what I wanted,” Tav said, “I know this demon, and this is a powerful creature,” she said.

  “You know it? Tav, you can’t risk talking to a demon, I’m doing my part, I’m not telling anyone of your heritage, but if you get caught talking to a demon that won’t matter at all,” Cole said, “I thought you wanted to keep your secret,” Cole looked over his shoulder and made sure that Angelica or any other waiting ears couldn’t hear the two of them.

  “The Demon is my uncle, and I’ve been speaking to it, it promised me something, if I could get the ingredients necessary it promised me something I’ve wanted my entire life,” Tav said.

  “Your uncle? You mean, that your uncle is the Demon at the bottom of the academy?” Cole shook his head, “What in the hell is your uncle doing at the bottom of the academy?” he asked.

  “He’s trying to get out, but I won’t let him,” Tav said, “He thinks I’m working with him. He thinks I’m going to free him. Because of that, he’s willing to give me what I want, what I want more than anything,” she said.

  “Are you going to free him?” Cole asked.

  “Of course not, I’m going to use him, he will give me what I want. There’s a ritual that a full-blooded demon can perform, I’ve tricked him you see, he’ll give me what he’s promised, and he thinks that in return I’ll help free him but I won’t,” she said, “He’s trapped and helpless, once I renege on the deal, they’ll be nothing he can do. My Mother told me when I found out I got accepted at the academy, she said that full demons have this power,” she said.

  “What power is that?” Cole asked, “What do you want from this demon?”

  Tav closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Don’t judge me, but apparently, a full demon can make a half-demon a human, a full human, he can siphon the demonic power from me, use it for himself, and he can make me a human,” she said, “Don’t you see? I can finally be a human, I won’t need to pretend anymore, I won’t need my glamor or need you to lie for me, I can be a full-blooded human, I just need to bring him three things, fang and claw and heart, all earned by my own hand, that’s all the ritual needs, three common items any Demon hunter could find, that’s why I came here,” she looked up to Cole, “Three simple ingredients and I can be a human,” Tav smiled, “When I’m human everything is going to be so much easier, I won’t have to wear this anymore,” she wrung her hands on her golden necklace, “I can be human, just like you, just like anyone else in this academy,” she smiled.

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  “What did you promise him, in return for doing this?” Cole asked.

  “I promised I would free him, but I won’t. I take after my mother I guess, I can give empty promises, I’ll get what I want from him, and then leave him wanting. Cole,” she reached up and put her hand on his cheek, “Please, I can become human, then no one would judge us for being together, I wouldn’t need to hide anymore, I wouldn’t need this stupid necklace anymore, we can be together, please, help me become human, help me be what I’ve wanted to be my entire life. I don’t want to be a half-breed anymore, I don’t want to be a demon anymore,” she pleaded.

  “You’re making a deal with a demon,” Cole put his hand to hers, “Deals with demons always come at a cost, what is the cost of this deal?” he asked.

  Tav looked down, “I won’t be able to use magic anymore, I’ll lose everything I’ve learned here at the academy, I won’t be fit to be a Demon Hunter, I’ll just be a normal person, I’ll just be a human,” she said, “Sure showing up Angelica in class is fun, but that’s nothing compared to how amazing it would be to be normal, I just want to be normal. I don’t want to be a Demon anymore. I hate being a demon-”

  “You’re not a demon,” Cole said, “You’re not a demon,” he repeated, “You’re human, as much as the rest of us,” he said “I don’t care what Angelica or anyone else accuses you of being,” he said, resting his hands on her hips, wanting to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay, he wanted to look into her eyes and tell her how she was perfect just the way she is.

  “Angelica is an angel, just let me do what I have to do, let me leave this game of Demons and hunters, and just be with her, you’re the prophesied champion, you should work with Angels not Demons, just leave me to do what I must so I can live a normal life, you're destined for greatness, don’t let me weigh you down,“ she said.

  “I don’t give a damn about greatness, what kind of hero would I be if I abandoned those I cared about, I care about you, I won’t let you make this pact with a demon, Tav, this isn’t what you want,” Cole said, “Tav, you’re amazing, horns or not, you’re amazing, you can’t let anyone tell you you’re not. You’re an even greater hunter than me or my bloodline, who cares if you have even a spec of demon blood in you, you’re strong enough to show that doesn’t matter. I’ve seen you fight and slay demons like a hero. I’ve seen you destroy evil. You are not evil. Your blood doesn’t make you evil,” Cole said, Tav turned her back to him and he grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at him, “Listen to me, you can’t give up your power, you could be the strongest Demon Hunter of all time, who gives a damn if you’re a half-demon, you can wear it like a badge of honor, be a demon that defeats demons, Tav, Tavalia,” Cole looked down, unsure of what to say.

  “Don’t call me by that name, that name has been nothing but pain for me,” she said, “You swore an oath that you wouldn’t reveal me, and I hold you to that, she ripped her shoulder away from him, “Don’t stop me from what I have to do. When we meet again, I’ll be a human, and maybe we can start over,” she said.

  “I don’t want to start over,” Cole said, skulking back to Tav’s door, “I would never want to start over with you, everything we’ve done together, everything that’s happened between us, if I could start it over, I wouldn’t change a thing. Tav, you’re amazing, I don’t, I would never, want you to be any different than who you are, I-”

  “Who I am has been a weight around my neck my entire life, you may not want me to be any different, but everyone else does, I don’t want to be who I am, I want to be who I can be, as far as I know, this is my only chance to change my life, don’t get in my way,” she looked over her shoulder, looked at maybe the only person who cared about her while still knowing her true self, “If you try and stop me, I’ll kill you,” she said, a cold stare in her eye.

  “Tav, you need to-”

  “Need to what?” she shouted, “I need to accept who I am, make peace with it?” she scowled, “I tried making peace with it, and all it led to was pain, I grew up bouncing between both sides of this world, even when I was with the Demons, they didn’t accept me. they called me a half-breed and tortured me for it, and this world, your world, would be no different if they knew who I really was,” She turned back away from Cole, “There are rituals that could make me a full demon, ones much easier than this one, I could easily become a demon and work to destroy this world, but I don’t want that. I want to be a human, and if anyone tries to stop me, then I’ll be the demon that people fear so much. If I can’t become a human, then maybe I will embrace my mother’s side and be a creature of evil that so many people would accuse me of being. I don’t care, being a human would be so much easier than this, then all of this, you have no idea what it’s like being trapped between two worlds, two destinies, you just have the one, seventh son of a seventh son,” she said.

  “There’s no destiny! It’s all made up!” Cole yelled, “Nothing matters, birth, blood, none of it matters, just be who you are and don’t be ashamed. Do you have any idea what it’s like for me to underperform in class and have these professors look at me with ill as if they expected something better from me? You’re not the only one with blood weighing you down,” Cole said.

  “You don’t know what life is like for demons, do you know why they’re so blood thirsty, why they’re so vicious?” Tav asked.

  “Who cares?” Cole asked back, “It’s just the way of the world, demons kill, you probably could have killed all of us, but you didn’t that’s proof enough you’re not a demon, damn what your blood says you are, you’re a good person, I know it,” Cole said.

  “Just leave, leave like everyone does when they see me with my horns, my father left me, his family left me, I was just left with my mother who wouldn’t care if I wanted to burn this entire earth, let me make my deal with my own kind, then talk to me again when I become human. When I become something that can be loved,” she said.

  Cole took a deep breath, and left Tav’s room, he put his hand on the door frame, and before leaving he turned to her and said, “You know, when I first saw them, I thought your horns were kind of cute,” he left the girl’s dorm and Tav threw herself to the bed, burying her face in her pillow as she started to weep.