Running Out Of Time

**Aileen POV**

"Devon, this really isn't a good idea." I did not want to leave him to fight Demon Lord Darren. Even with what I had managed to seal off, the power difference was transparent.
Father clapped a hand to my shoulder, "now you sound like Kalum. Did his ghost possess you for a second?"
Devon flashed me a smile. His teeth were all red. "My sister may have been a bitch, but he doesn't even care that Jacob is killing her. Please, let me make this bastard regret treating his children like pawns."
Confidence is all well and good, but I had my doubts that Devon would win against Darren. The winner in combat isn't chosen by who is in the right. In fact, the victor is oftentimes the one willing to use underhanded tactics. My own Father was a professional at this during his younger years. From time to time, he still relied on dirty tricks.
Tom went over to Devon. He had a sour pinched look on his face. Whatever he was about to do, he did not like. To my side, Lena seemed uneasy as well. Trevor was starting to get back to his feet. Darren did nothing. He observed us as if we were circus performers here for his entertainment. I was getting really annoyed with obscenely powered demons acting like we were so inferior.
Like with Lena, he grabbed Devon's shoulders. Both of their eyes widened as energy poured from Tom to Devon.
"How pathetic. I was right to sell you Devon. Having to rely on a human elemental to boost you?"
Lena interjected, "don't you think having 1000 years on our Devon is a little unfair. Besides, both demons and humans with elemental abilities boost each other often. Don't get bent out of shape, because your son has a real family now."
"Not that it matters, I'm going to crush you like the insignificant worm you are. Little whore, I'll be coming for you shortly." No wonder Shiuku and him were friends/allies.
All my friends started heading away from Devon and Darren's battleground. The entire castle was still in the process of collapsing; yet my legs wouldn't turn away from my true love. I wanted to stay by his side. This could easily be the last time I ever see him. I lightly punched my forehead with my fist. As much as I hated to leave him here; there were so many people who needed help. We were in an even more pressing time crunch now.
Devon and I locked gazes; pain reflected on both our faces. In unison we shouted, "don't die!"
Father pulled me away from the room, after the rest of our strange little family.
.
.
.
Two halls and several staircases brought us near the once secluded doctor's office. Now a mix of humans and demons were huddled in a circle. That woman who shared so many physical similarities to Shiuku stood treating wounds. Guilt washed over me. She really was a kind hearted woman.
Upon seeing me, she waved enthusiastically. Trevor and Lena went over to the innocents scared out their minds. All of them were relieved to see us. Well, all but one. A petite brown haired girl with shiny blue eyes was peeking up from between her fingers at Trevor. If I had to guess, I would put her at eighteen; although, if she's a demon there's no telling her real age. When Trevor got close, she started shaking violently. The girl was petrified of my brother.
The kind doctor urged my brother away from the silent girl. Lena went up to the doctor full of suspicion. I was certain the squad leader could see the similarities between her and Shiuku. Had I not read his journal of past lovers, I may have assumed the woman was his daughter. Lena and her were talking for a few minutes. Both of them were treating the wounded. Somewhere in their conversation I heard the doctor say her name was Shauka. She admitted to Shiuku ordering her to use the name Shana to anyone who may see her. Shana did not get to see many, so she almost never used the nickname. There was no doubt, they had to have some relation to each other.
I hated myself for what would be coming soon. I reminded myself that this was war many times. War had no guarantees much like the rest of life. Not until a person wound up in a pine box would they be safe especially during war. I said this many times in my mind, but the words rang hollow.
"Not to rebring this up, but are you sure that you don't want to remove Shiuku's mark? The DSS will grow uneasy if they know you still bare it." Squad Leader Tom asked almost compassionately.
Lena glared at her husband from the other side of the room; the one that predicted no sex in their near future. Poor Tom.
I shook my head, "not yet."
"Dear God, you didn't actually fall for that evil bastard right? This isn't some scheme you and Devon cooked up to destroy the DSS is it?" Tom was only half joking. He paced in a small circle waiting for an answer that never came.
The tension was most likely gnawing at him. The last thing he needed was for me to betray them. He must have been paranoid that I was going to join Shiuku in the end. Father crossed his arm in front of me, protecting me just in case. I was happy to have my Father's support, especially with him knowing what my plans were.
Giant craters of floor caved in around us. Where was Shiuku? He didn't really put all his faith in Darren did he? There was very little more time I could buy waiting for him. He just had to send a demon lord to demolish his castle!
Climbing up from one of the holes in the ground was none other than Jacob. He was covered in sweat and blood. That demon girl must have put up more of a fight after we had left. Seeing our old comrade was still alive, Lena greeted him with a heavy slug. The force took him back several steps. Father had to grab the back of his shirt to stop him from falling into a different hole in the ground. At first I was shocked that Father would help Kalum's murderer, until his fist dug deep into Jacob's stomach. None of the hits were enough to keep Jacob down long. Lena and Father just needed to let off some steam. The man who betrayed both of them recently made for the perfect outlet.
A sudden pressure had me falling to my knees. I was getting really sick of this immense aura pulling down on me. And I don't just mean figuratively. I had to swallow twice to keep from vomiting.
Shana immediately ran to my side. Trevor and my Father joined her while the squad leaders started to round up the now healed innocents. The headache had my ears ringing, so I couldn't hear any orders that were given. I did see Lena point, and Jacob ran off leading the innocents out of the room. I smiled knowing that I had been right in not killing Jacob. He was actually being useful.
Shana sighed telling me she wished that she could give me a pill to help with my pain. Damn Shiuku for banning them!
The good doctor grabbed her bag and told us we had to leave; as if we hadn't realized the building was coming down. *NO, I need to distract her. Just a little more time...*
I chuckled through my headache, "Can't you please get me some Tylenol or something. None of those little pills could be worse than Flower Happiness found in our dimension. Don't you remember Father? Sir Kalum always had some in case a pain was too great after battle."
Father frowned, "yes and I recall having rumors spread between countries because of a curious princess."
The doctor was dumbfounded. I continued my story, "I took Flower Happiness once as a child. Kalum hadn't known I stole it. I hadn't known it was a drug and my Father was pissed. He threatened to take away Kalum's title and make him clean up horse dung for the rest of his life. The next day, Kalum had several bruises and a black eye."
Everyone's foreheads had lines on them. None of them understood where I was going with this. Not even my Father caught on that I was stalling. "The drug had the princess of Lutz running around naked while maids chased her. A rather public embarrassment seeing as we had guests from the country of Ganner. The Queen of Ganner had spread the little rumor so more than just nobility in the Lutz castle knew. After that Father had lost his temper. Flower Happiness was made illegal in the Kingdom of Lutz. Sir Kalum had to rid himself of any stash leftover. Well anyway my point is, a pain pill here isn't nearly as bad. So please can I have one?"
Tom now had a path of fire trailing behind him. His eyes were like coal as he made his way up to me. Lena was not far behind him, trying to sooth her dragon.
"I've had enough of this! She's just waiting for her fucking Demon Lord. She even sacrificed Devon, whether he knew it or not!" Tom's hatred was plain to see. Was the man bipolar? He'd just declared me a member of the DSS thirty minutes ago!
Lena reached for his hand. "Tom, that's enough. Aileen isn't the enemy. She helped seal at least some of Darren's power."
"Darren could be in on it! For fuck's sake, Devon is his son! I still can't believe it." He was furious and outraged that his wife was taking my side. "Okay, let's say for a moment that she isn't stalling for Shiuku. Why don't we stop sugar coating everything and keeping up the pretense that everything is going to be 100% perfect if we escape."
"Tom!" Lena shouted. "That is enough."
"I know this is a question all of us are avoiding asking. What is the DSS going to do about the half demon growing in Aileen's stomach?"
Trevor, Shana, and my Father shielded me from Tom. None of us were sure what he was going to do.
"You want to stall for time Aileen? Okay so let's discuss once and for all what our stance on that thing is. We all know how dangerous that baby is going to be." Tom pointed at my belly as if anyone would question what he was talking about. "Should we kill Aileen before that child is born?"