"We aren't so different, you know?” Delaney said. 

The wind ruffled the ends of my dress, leaves flying across the ground in gentle caresses. The town was surprisingly quiet as we walked down unkempt dirt roads. We passed a small home that served as a bakery for the town, and the nostalgic scent of bread and pastries hit my nose in waves.

When I was younger and my brother was still around, he used to sneak me out of the house all the time to take me there. The old man that lived there was sweet, his voice so raspy and pleasant and his movement slow but never lacking in purpose. I'd truly cared for the man, but I loved getting to see his son a little more.

Looking back, he might have naively been my first-ever crush of sorts.

Not that my younger self had any true idea of what love was, anyway.

I still didn’t.

"Are you listening to me?"

My brother used to read me stories on their back porch, simultaneously teaching me to both recognize and write the words upon those crinkled, brown pages. The stories, given to my brother by our uncle, Harris, told of fairy tales, distant worlds with beautiful princesses, handsome princes, wicked witches, and evil queens. The stories calmed me, transported me to magical worlds where, for a reason I didn't understand at the time, I was always in the shoes of the villains.  

Truly, the stories had been my favorite part.

"Firebird!" Delaney hissed, turning on me and tugging me by the front of my dress violently. "Answer me!"

"Or what?" I challenged. "You've already punished me; starved me and locked me away in my room. What are you going to do next? Hit me? Kill me? You don't have the balls. That's more mercy than you'll ever be capable of in a lifetime."

"Let me ask you a very fair question," Delaney said, letting go of me and smoothing out the fabric of my dress. I glared at that offensive hand as if the daggers in my eyes were enough to sever its touch from my body. "If I'm not in control, who is?"

I didn't know what to say to that, any potential response that came to my mind feeling like a one-way street into a landmine.

"What's your point?" I asked.

"This world is full of evil," Delaney said quietly, just loud enough that the words wouldn't be lost to the wind. "Hell, evil is practically the world's foundation. If it weren't me doing the things I do, someone else would surely take my place. If not, what's one more evil person in a world full of millions?"

I looked off to the side, not allowing a peep to leave my mouth. There were so many thoughts battering every corner of my brain. I wished they would all slow down. 

"It's a cycle," Delaney kept going, gesturing to the town around him with both hands. "Your father was an evil bastard. You were just a little girl so you probably didn't know any better, did you?"

"I did."

"You didn't." Delaney shook his head at me. "You're just too arrogant to admit it. You can't truly believe your mother was the only woman he ever had eyes for. He had all kinds of women, and when he wasn't fucking them, he was reaping the benefits of letting other men have the privilege. And when they didn't pay or, god forbid, didn't pay enough, he would visit them in the middle of the night and make sure they never awoke, again."

My eyes widened and I brought a hand to my mouth as my stomach turned. That couldn't be true. Delaney had to be lying; that was all he ever did. I couldn't help but to think this might be the cruelest thing Delaney had ever done to me when he kept going with those horrid, horrid lies.

"Now I've never been one to have friends, but I had one. His name was Ronan. He was one of the best people I'd ever known. I'm sure you would've liked him, too. He was kind with a heart far too big for this tiny town. Unfortunately, he fell victim to your father's business.

"He didn't know any better; he thought the girl was just anyone. Ronan... He wasn't all that bright upstairs. To make a long story short, he couldn't pay for the pleasure and he died for it."

Delaney shook his head again, a sneer twisting his face. "My one friend lost his life and all because your father was a greedy, evil bastard. I couldn't let someone as vile as him continue walking these streets with the arrogance of God Himself. I figured death wasn't enough, that I'd make him watch as I treated his daughter the same way he'd treated all those girls from the pits of hell. At the time, I didn't know how profitable this could be. It got addicting. I'm sure you understand."

I didn't, struggling to remain as composed as possible even when it felt as if I was being violated by a million men and a billion fingers all at once.

"So then you decided to become exactly the same as him," I said dully, face blank. "That doesn't make sense."

"Not to you," Delaney shrugged. "It wasn't just Ronan's or Atlas's death that led me here. I've got a history suffering at the hands of devils that walk the Earth. Eventually, you just learn that, if you can't beat them, you join them. You can't beat evil, Firebird. I've tried."

"Your effort doesn't mean much. You're weak, and that's clear every time you open your mouth. Angelica has a better chance at that than you ever will."

"Angelica's a beauty, ain't she?"

I didn't entertain the question with an answer.

"You and I have good taste."

"There is no 'you and I'!" I seethed. "I am not you and you are not me."

Delaney hummed.

"And she'll never love you as much as she loves me..."

I'd only said the words in an attempt to get beneath his skin, but it didn't work. It was like the clean air and serene atmosphere had worked to calm Delaney's spirit because he didn't react at all. He simply turned his gaze to the clouds and grinned.

"We'll see."