Katrina

"Okay, Princess." Aphelion replies standing up, causing my attention to be directed toward him. It's then that I notice the lightning crackling in his eyes. "We will tell you why we kept the information about Braham from you, but then you get to tell us why you thought it was a smart idea to keep your meeting with my father a secret."

Wait, how did he know about my meeting with Zeus? From what I could tell, he didn't talk to his father all that often, and he couldn't stand talking to Hermes. Maybe this had been Zeus' plan all along. He wanted to intimidate me, and he'd guessed that I wouldn't talk to the guys about it due to not wanting them to worry. It was a presumptuous guess on his part, but it ended up paying off. I hadn't told the guys, and now my secret was out. Not that it mattered. The guys were also keeping things from me.

"Wait? What!" Miles bellows, glaring at me. "You met with Zeus and didn't think it was something we should be aware of."

"I didn't want to wo...." I begin only to be stopped by a bellowing Beckett.

"Don't say you didn't want to WORRY us. We are your mates, Katrina. It is our job to worry about you."

Wow, what happened to darling? And how dare he get upset with me. I wasn't the only one evading giving out pertinent information. They were keeping things from me too.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me, Beckett!" I lash out, glaring at my handsome Sea Prince, before turning my venomous stare onto Miles. "And don't act like you're innocent in all of this. You withheld information too."

"Alright, let's not play the blame game," Luka states, hands up, trying to control the impending explosion.

"No... You don't get to control this situation, Professor Nazi," I sneer, my anger growing. It felt like my blood was boiling as the rage ignited in me.

The rational part told me I was angrier than I should be at the situation, but the cynical, more emotional side encouraged the anger. It fed upon it, burying all rational thought.

"Babe," Samael whispers, stepping slightly closer to me. "You need to calm down a little. I know you're upset, but I can see the fire burning inside you. You look like you're going to combust, and I don't know what that level of Hellfire will do."

I could hear him trying to soothe me, but it was like a small breath of wind in a raging storm. Not enough to blow out the flame, but just enough to spread the fire further. It went from the fire burning in me internally to the fire spreading all over my outer body. Its scorching flames licked my skin, making it crawl on my body, squeezing tight against my bones as it shrank in the heat.

"Shit." I hear Luka curse, but I can't see anything; everything around me has gone pitch black. Even the sounds in the room are beginning to sound muffled. "Samael, contain the room with your fire. Beckett, submerge her with your water. " Luka shouts before everything cuts off.

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"Woah, Kitten, take it easy," Miles murmurs affectionately, his warm hand pressed against my chest to keep me lying.

"What happened?" I ask, wincing as my eyes open, taking in the destruction surrounding us.

The room feels too bright. And my head is aching something fierce. It feels like I've been stabbed on the top of my head. And the rest of my body feels like I've taken a severe beating, or at least like I've been thrown down multiple flights of stairs.

"What do you remember, Kit-Kat?" Luka asks, his voice coming from the other side of me.

I move my head slowly in his direction, trying to stifle my pain as I do so.

"Gentle darling," Beckett whispers, smiling at me. He's sitting beside Luka, who looks like he's been through the wringer.

"I...I don't remember much." I state, having to pause a few words in to clear my throat. "I just remember being incredibly hot. It felt like I was going to burst into flames. Then there was a lot of yelling, but I couldn't tell who was yelling. Then there was nothing but darkness, and here we are now."

"Anything else?" Luka inquires, staring intently at me.

"No..." I pause, testing my neck muscles before I turn to look around the entirety of the room.

We are in our living room, or at least what used to be our living room. The couches and coffee table look like they've been left to the elements, and the mantel is covered in black soot. The curtains that cover the door leading to the balcony have been singed too. I also noticed that Aphelion and Samael weren't present.

"Where are Samael and Aphelion?" I ask, my worry only growing when I see my mates' expressions. "No more keeping things from me. I'm a big girl. I can handle it." Forcing myself to sit up, much to Miles's disgruntlement.

"They're recovering," Beckett states cautiously, gauging my reaction.



"From what? "I ask, concerned.

"You said earlier that you felt like you were going to burst in flames," Luka starts, caressing the top of my hand with his as he gently sits down on the makeshift bed beside me. "It wasn't just something you felt, Katrina. It's what happened. Your skin started to smoke, and your eyes turned pitch black. When we tried to calm you, it's like we lit the match to the fuse and your entire body ignited. Hellfire covered every inch of your body. The flames continued to grow rapidly, so I had Beckett use the power of the sea to drown them, but it only seemed to cause you to burn brighter. Then Miles used earth magic to smother them, but your fire only burned hotter once again. Samael called upon the fires of the underworld and used them as a protective shield to contain your demon magic in this room. It was only when we realized that your fire wouldn't remain contained that Aphelion and I devised a strategy. He was going to distract you while I stole your magic. Instead of trying to squash the flames, Aphelion used his lightning to attack you. When Aphelion finally managed to strike you, I was able to get close enough to start siphoning your magic, but I wasn't quick enough. Your tail sliced into Aphelion, cutting him across the chest. When Aphelion cried out in pain from your attack, it was like something snapped inside you, and you crumbled to the ground."

By the time Luka is finished going over everything that happened, I'm a mess of tears and snot. I'm shaking uncontrollably, my entire body shivering, probably from the shock of it all. Did he say I had a tail? I could have killed everyone. I put my mates in danger. I...I hurt them."

"Is Aphelion okay? And What happened to Samael that caused him to need recovery? Did I hurt him too?" I manage to get out between shaky breath and a panic attack creeping up.

"Aphelion's fine. He's almost completely healed. Miles had a potion on hand to dispel the poison from Aphelion's body. And Samael's okay. He just overexerted himself. He'll feel just fine for a couple of hours of sleep."

"Poison?" I cry out.

"Darling, do you not pay attention at all in your Angelic and Demonic studies?" Beckett jokes, trying to lighten the mood, but I don't think anything at this point will make me feel better, "Demons' hooves, horns, and tails are poisonous to any divine being."

"You keep saying tail," I whisper, reaching my hand behind my back and touching my ass to see if there's anything abnormal back there.

"Yes, once your power broke through, you took on your demonic form," Luka states calmly, like everything they just told me is an everyday occurrence.

"Demonic form? How? I...I'm only half demon. Lilith is a succubus. I thought succubi just looked like overly sexy humans." I whisper, my throat tightening and my heart accelerating as the panic attack I felt earlier starts to show its ugly face.

"Lilith was born divine; it wasn't until she fell that she became a demon. Once she reached Hell, she was bathed in its fires. It never truly ran through her blood. Once coated in Hell's flames, it burned into her, embedding itself like a second skin. You were born after Lilith fell, making the Hellfire run freely through your veins. Demons born can shift; demons who have fallen cannot." Luka replies, sounding every bit like the professor he is.

"So I truly am a monster," I state.

I can feel the self pitty start to form, but I shove it away. A monster. Something dark and sinful, which will hurt everyone around me. I deserve to be imprisoned by the council; better yet, the council should dispose of me. I am a walking apocalypse. A ticking time bomb.

"Don't," Miles states, grabbing my chin in his hand and forcing me to look into his eyes. "You are not evil. You are not going to bring our destruction. You are not a monster. And even if you are all of those things, it doesn't matter. It won't matter because you are our mate. You were given to us by the stars themselves. If anyone is going to defeat me, I'd want it to be you." He smiles, his eyes filled with affection as he looks into mine.

"And what if I bring the apocalypse? What if I burn down the world?" I ask, trying to look away from his intense gaze.

His grip on my chin tightens, causing me to wince in pain, but he doesn't seem to care. His only focus is on getting me to see what he sees. "Then let it burn." He growls before crashing his lips down onto mine.