Lesson 138- Be careful what you agree to. You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.

Sharing a room with my older brother is about as much fun as you would expect, which is none at all. HE is a morning person and wakes up bright and early, right about the time I want to start getting ready to go to bed. That wouldn’t be an issue, except he doesn’t have the ‘stay inside the building’ protocol down the same way I do. This is still new and exciting to him. So HE wants to hang out, explore the bar and be generally nosy. I humour him for a while. We have breakfast together and I give him a more thorough tour of the place. But I’m TIRED. Eventually, I give Damien two choices.
“You can sit SILENTLY in my room on the recliner and watch a movie or something while I sleep, OR you can go hang out with Jane.” I say firmly.
“Jane.” He repeats with a raised eyebrow.
“Yep.” I agree.
“The creature that lives in the basement.” He says flatly. I nod.
“Yeah, she’s actually very friendly.” I remind him. Damien nods but he doesn’t seem so keen on the idea.
“As much as I appreciate your friend, and I am okay with… Her. I’m not sure I’m ready to hang out with her one-on-one just yet.” He says awkwardly. I hand him my tablet and gesture to the recliner.
“Knock yourself out. I’m going to sleep for a while. Don’t try going into Tori's office, don’t touch the back door or the door leading out to the bar. You can use the kitchen but remember that if you ruin anything, Kyle might come after you.” I tell him tiredly. Damien rolls his eyes.
“Just go to bed. I’ll be fine. I don’t need a babysitter.” He complains. I sort of want to argue that yes, he does need a babysitter. Because he is nosy as hell, but I’m tired and he’s an adult so I just go to bed. He will be fine. I’m pretty sure Tori locked his office before leaving anyway.

I wake up several hours later to the sound of Damien tapping his foot on the edge of the recliner while he watches a movie. The movie itself is louder than his tapping, but it was definitely the tapping that woke me.
“Ugh, stop that.” I complain groggily. Damien perks up.
“Oh you’re awake. Great.” He says cheerfully. I roll over and glare at him, except my glare quickly fades into sympathy when I see his face. Now that a few hours have passed, the bruising on his face has darkened and his eye has sort of swollen shut.
“Dami!” I sit up, alarmed.
“It’s no big deal little sis. It’s just a few bruises.” He reassures me. But I’m already getting to my feet to go hunt down some more painkillers for him. The ones he was given earlier must have worn off by now.
“Relax Rina. I’m really okay.” He assures me, but I keep rushing around. I feel horribly guilty. I don’t know why Solem wants me so much, but I never meant for Damien to get dragged into it all.

I spend the next hour or so fussing over Damien and watching some random vampire movie that I’m now realising is incredibly inaccurate. Then Torin arrives. I’m a little nervous to see him after basically throwing myself at him like that then sending him on his merry way, but if it’s possible, he looks even more anxious than I feel. He hovers awkwardly in the doorway of my room.
“Hey.” he says softly.
“Hi Tori.” I greet him with a smile. Damien just kind of glances between the two of us, gives an awkward wave, then goes back to watching his movie. Apparently uninterested in dealing with our emotional drama. Torin shuffles uncomfortably.
“Uh, Rina… Can I maybe talk to you… In private?” He asks. I nod and hop to my feet, to follow him to his office.
“What’s up?” I ask curiously. Does he actually want to talk about that kiss? Because he’s avoided that kind of conversation in the past. Torin gestures for me to sit, but he continues to pace the office. He takes a deep breath before blurting out;
“I spoke to Solem.” He says it all in a rush. My eyes go wide.
“What? When?” I demand. Torin sighs.
“This morning, after I left. I got the number for one of his men from Richard, then I called and I… Asked to speak to him.” He says. I raise an eyebrow.
“And he just… Agreed?” I ask, kind of incredulously. Torin shrugs.
“All he knows about me is my reputation. He thought it would be best to humour me. I asked why he wants you.” He says slowly. I perk up, am I finally getting some answers?
“And?” I ask eagerly. Torin sighs.
“Well, we had it mostly right to begin with. Your father owed him a lot of money and couldn’t pay. Solem apparently said that he had no use for some middle aged man, so he insisted on payment. Eventually your dad told him about you and Solem agreed to take you instead. That first night… You were supposed to be brought to him. I don’t know his exact plan for you back then… But they aren’t the same now. He said…” Torin trails off, looking guilty.
“What did he say?” I ask, standing up and stepping into Torin’s path to stop his pacing. He sighs.
“He said that a human who knows about magic is far more valuable to him than a normal human.” His voice is reluctant and very, very guilty.
“Tori… You can’t be thinking that this is your fault.” I object. He shrugs.
“Before, he probably just wanted money. You could have worked off your dad’s debt. He probably would have let you go when the bargain was over, like he did with Richard. Now… He wants to keep you. It’s my fault you learned about all of this. The first monster you might have been able to write off as an accident, some nightmare or trick of the shadows. I’m the one who brought you in here and showed you everything.” Torin says sadly. I wrap my arms around Torin’s waist and lean my head on his chest.
“Tori, you are not responsible for some psycho wanting to kidnap me. You didn’t know this would happen. If anyone is responsible it’s Solem, or my dad. Not you.” I say firmly.
“But…” He starts but I stop him.
“No Torin. You aren’t responsible, at all. You’ve made plenty of mistakes but that wasn’t one of them.” I say with finality. Torin wraps his arms around me tightly and sighs in what I can only assume is relief. He thought I was going to be upset with him again. That’s why he wanted to talk to me alone, not because he was stressing out about that kiss. I should have known.

Once Torin was reassured that I wasn’t about to get angry with him again, we went out to the front of the bar and brought Damien along with us to update him. There was no reason to have this discussion too many times, so we give him a quick recap, minus Torin freaking out that somehow this mess is his fault.
“But surely this Solem guy will eventually realise that he can’t get to Rina. He’s a demon, you’re a demon. Doesn’t that mean you’re fairly evenly matched?” Damien comments. Torin shakes his head.
“No. There’s a contracted bargain involved. He will never stop, it’s a matter of pride, if he gives in, he knows that his word won’t mean anything.” Torin says seriously.
“But there have to be people who have broken bargains with demons in the past, Rina didn’t even MAKE the bargain!” Damien objects.
“None that lived.” Torin answers flatly.
“Surely there’s a loophole or something.” Damien argues. Torin sighs.
“Unless the bargain is phrased in such a way, there usually isn’t. We don’t tend to overcomplicate them. Basically unless the agreement was phrased vaguely or Rina already had some other contract that she made herself, it’s considered binding.” Torin explains. Damien raises an eyebrow.
“Why would making another contract herself negate the first one? Wouldn’t the earlier contract negate the first one?” Damien asks. Torin shakes his head.
“No, it would be her first bargain. Solem’s bargain is with your father. If she can’t fulfil it due to some other contract, that would mean your father didn’t deliver, not Rina.” He explains. Damien smiles.
“Well the solution is simple then, why doesn’t she just make some other contract with you?” Damien suggests.