Forty-eight Selene POV

The demon and I walked through the building in complete silence. There was so much to say, but neither of us knew where to start. Exiting the prison, a crowd of nervous guards awaited us.

Completely ignoring their weapons pointed at me, I turned to the demon and said, "Take your wings out and follow me. Let's go to the top of the walls where we can talk in peace."

She paused for a moment, then replied, "I haven't flown in years. I'm not sure if I can. I was never allowed."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I stated, "Try."

Before she could respond, I spread my wings. Ignoring the gasps from the worthless guards, I took off into the sky.

It felt good to get away from everything. No stares, no worries, just the wind running through my feathers. I felt free. Leo had no idea how much it meant to me when he let me fly.

Letting out a sigh, I began my descent back down to the castle walls. I had work to do.

Landing gracefully on my feet, I waited as the other demon struggled to join me. Eventually, she made it up to me and panted heavily, clearly not used to flying.

Sitting on the edge of the castle's wall, I let my feet hang over the edge. I expected the other demon to join me, but she just stood still as if waiting for permission. It was an interesting thing to watch. She was clearly more powerful than I was, that was evident from her fight with Leo. She was also too scared to make a decision for herself. No doubt the result of how her previous master had treated her.

Letting out a sigh, I patted the ground next to me.

Sitting next to me, she took a deep breath and asked, "What should I expect from our master?"

Her words almost made me fall off of the wall. Leo killed her master, which meant she now belonged to him also.

How could I have forgotten this? Everything was going perfectly. I had the one master who didn't care about what I did. The one master who actually put me ahead of himself. The one master who said we could find my friend before trying to piece together his broken past. What if Leo realized that she was more powerful than I was? Would he give her all of his attention? I hoped that wouldn't be the case, but I couldn't be sure. I needed to make sure I was the only one he needed.

Turning back to the demon, I stated, "He is like no other human. Whether it is in strength or his values, you will not find another like him."

Nodding her head, she replied, "I could see that while we were fighting. I should have killed him multiple times, but he refused to give up. The things he did to keep you safe, that was unexpected to see from a human."

Hearing this, a slight smile crept across my face, but I quickly hid it.

"What I don't understand, though, was why he was able to turn into a demon. And were his wings really black? That shouldn't even exist. Is he really the Archdemon?"

How was I supposed to answer that? She clearly saw that Leo was 'special,' but she had no business knowing his history. He shared that with me and me only. I needed to get rid of her and have Leo for myself. He made me happy, and I wasn't going to share him with anyone else.

"Look, he is different. There is no denying that. I can't tell you what you want to know. That's not for me to say. What I can do, though, is get you your freedom."

Hearing this, her head snapped towards me. With a look of disbelief, she asked, "You have that much power over him?" Narrowing her eyebrows suspiciously, she continued, "And why would you do that. Better yet, why would I want that deal? I just had a master who punished me every chance he could for years. I now have a master who accepts demons. Why would I leave him, take my freedom, and risk being summoned by another evil man?"

Okay, this was not going nearly as well as I thought it would. I needed to try something else.

"We have an interesting relationship. He is clearly my master, but I make the decisions." I decided to leave out the part where I was only in charge for this one trip. Technically I wasn't lying, but she didn't need to know the rest.

Letting out a sigh, I decided to tell her how it would be.

"Look, he is mine, and that is the end. You have two choices. You can either accept your freedom, or I can have you transferred to another human. Let's say Beyla. She seems like she would treat you well. What will it be?"

Slowly getting to her feet, she stared at me as if she was appraising me, then replied, "I would like to talk to my master myself."

Letting out a growl, I got to my feet and snarled, "That was not one of the choices. Enjoy your freedom. I hope your new master will be better than your last."

Turning around, I lept off the walls, spreading my wings to fly away.

"Wait!"

While I kept a straight face, I let out a massive internal sigh. If she hadn't stopped me, I don't know what I would have done. Luckily though, I did not have to worry about that.

Circling back to the wall, I landed silently and demanded, "What do you want?"

"I will take your deal. Beyla has been very nice to me the whole time I was here. I could think of much worse masters to have."

Hiding my smile, I replied, "Understood. I will talk with Beyla and my master. I will make sure that-."

Suddenly I stopped. I had this strong feeling of worry and confusion. It took me a moment to realize what was going on, but then it hit me. Leo was awake and was trying to figure out what was going on.

Without saying anything else to the demon, I lept off the wall and flew towards Leo as fast as possible.