“Who was she talking about?” I asked him.

“I’m not sure,” He didn’t even look at me. 

“Bull shit,” This time, he did look at me and raised an eyebrow. 

“Don’t lie to me, Zac. I may not have my memories, but I can tell when I’m being lied to,” my voice was firm and unyielding. 

I took a defensive stance, crossing my arms over my chest. 

“What if I don’t  know?” He questioned. 

“Right. I’m supposed to believe that? Of course you know. That’s what all this is about, right? You know a lot more than what you’re telling me.” 

“If I do? What then, princess?” He mocked me, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You obviously need me for something, though I don’t know what yet. I can make this entire ride a living hell. I will. You know more about my memories than I do, and quite frankly, it irritates the shit out of me. Spill it.” I commanded, attempting to take on the aire of a haughty princess. 

My voice sounded braver than I felt. I refused to back down though. So what if I was behaving like a child? It wasn’t right to keep me hanging on to scraps of information about MY past. About my current situation. 

“We don’t have to be friends and we don’t have to agree on anything,” I broke the silence. “However, vital information will not be withheld anymore.” 

I lifted my chin and held my ground. He continued to stare at me, seemingly impassive. His stance may have shielded any emotion, but I could read his eyes. I knew in the way the colors shifted around his irises that what happened had unnerved him. His instincts must have been clawing at him to change and stand guard, to rip apart any threat. His eyes continued fluctuating and he ground his teeth together. I don’t know why or how I knew that, actually. 

He wasn’t responding, so I pushed my thoughts into his mind. 

“Tell me.”

“No.”

 “Zac, this is important. I need to know. How can I get stronger if I don’t know what I’m facing? How can I overcome this if I’m being coddled like a child?”

“Stay out of my head,” He growled at me, turned on his heel and continued to mess with Nightmare’s saddle.

Now that I had my little temper tantrum, I felt a bit better. Not much, as I still had no idea what was going on, but a little. I let it go for now. I wasn’t trying to anger him yet. I still didn’t know what kind of person he was, or how much a shifter was controlled by instinct. Honestly, I kind of kept thinking about him as some kind of were-wolf, since I didn’t have anything else to compare to. 

He slid into the saddle and reached for me. I took a step back and crossed my arms again. 

“No.”

“Nova. This isn’t a game. We need to leave now. The magic in the blood spot is waning. We need to be on Nightmare and heading to the next safe spot before we can talk,” He frowned at me. 

I stared him down, judging his words.

“Promise me.”

“Promise you what?” His growl made the words more threatening. 

“Tell me the whole truth. Leave nothing out.”

“At our next destination, I will. But you can’t throw a little fit and demand your way. We aren’t five anymore.” 

I wanted to smirk a little, but held it in. 

“Come on, Princess. We need to get going.” This time, when he held out his hand, I accepted. 

Seating myself behind him, I made sure to get comfortable for the long ride. My arms draped loosely around his waist and I leaned into his back. He was a jerk, for sure, but he was blocking the wind from my face. I could accept that. 

The landscape stayed the dreary, black shadow it seemed to be since I arrived. With little to no sun, no discernible features, the land blurred into a black and gray blotch. Between the pounding of Nightmare’s hooves, and the steady movement of Isaac’s breathing, I fell asleep. 

I woke up when he pulled Nightmare’s reins back. 

“Well, well. Looks like the sleeping princess has awoken,” He drawled. 

I kind of felt like pushing him off the horse. I don’t know what kind of sadistic god had it out for me, but dealing with his primadonna attitude when waking up was too much. I wanted to snip back at him and say something witty, but I was mentally worn out. 

“How close are we, anyway?” I asked him, voice thick with sleep. 

“We’ll be there shortly,” He said nonchalantly. 

“Where is there?” My eyes were still heavy and hard to force open. 

“It’s a trusted friend’s house.”

“Right,” I yawned. “A trusted friend in the middle of a creepy forest that has trees that look like they would eat people.”  

I’m pretty sure he was glaring at me. 

“A trusted friend, who won’t give away your presence.”

“Which is a secret, why?” My voice sounded clearer than my brain felt. 

“Because everything has been compromised,” Isaac snapped.

“Like what? Vagueness isn’t an answer. Use your words clearly,” I condescended to him. 

He pulled Nightmare to a complete stop. Without waiting for him to assist me, I slid off her back and stretched my stiff limbs. 

“Now isn’t the time to have this conversation.”

“I think it’s the perfect time to do this. I want answers.”

I took up a defensive stance again. He nodded, giving in a lot easier than I expected. 

“There’s an old creation story about our world. It’s said that our world was once a great place of beauty and light and humans lived here undisturbed like dumb animals. An angel fell in love with a human female and wanted to claim her as his own, though he hated her lack of intelligence. It was forbidden of course, but he shifted into a serpent and begged her to take a bite from the forbidden fruit. I did and” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know the story of Genesis. It’s taught everywhere in the world. Though, it was never said Lucifer loved Eve, only that he was jealous of God’s creations.” 

“I don’t know what ‘Genesis’ is, but that isn’t the telling. Shut up and listen,” he huffed and I rolled my eyes. 

“Let’s get back on Nightmare. I will continue telling you the story as we travel, but we can’t stay in one spot long until we can get to a sanctuary.”

I agreed and let him help me into the saddle. This time, he sat behind me. His breath was hot on my ear when he continued.

“The angel convinced her to share in the fruit of knowledge, and she in turn, shared it with her human mate. This angered the angel, but it angered the creator even more. It led to a war between the immortals. Those who followed their brother, the Ame Damnee, and those who followed their father.”

His voice never wavered as he told the story.

“The angel was bound to the land in chains to atone for his sins and the humans were sent to the world you call home. Eventually, the angel broke free from the chains and used his magic to find the woman you called Eve. He and his brethren broke into the world and stole humans and animals, whatever they wanted. Eventually, he found her, brought her here and bound her to him. They had four children who fathered our races. It is said that my race was fathered by Hadeon, the first son.” 

I couldn’t help the shiver as his breath tickled my neck and ear. 

“Your race, the magic wielders, were mothered by Deianira, the favored. Yours has remained a matriarchal race.”

I nodded in understanding. 

“There were three sons and one daughter. Each child held a shred of humanity from the human mother and each child took on an aspect of the father.  The eldest was a shifter. The second became an elemental demon, the third, he remained human taking in the truly holy side of his father and the fourth child was a girl, favored for her father’s ability to perform magic.”

I found myself leaning back into him a bit. Though he held onto the reins in front of me, I felt like I was being cradled and for the first time since coming to this strange, hellish place, I felt somewhat safe. He continued to voice the story aloud as I made myself comfortable.

“Eventually, the other children married the Ame Damnee, and beget the races of our civilized world. All except the human son.” 

“Why?” 

“Be quiet and listen.” He warned me.

I rolled my eyes, though he couldn't see it. 

“The mother begged her husband to find a wife from her world. One who their son would be happy with. And denying his wife nothing, he did. His creator cursed him though and it almost killed him coming into the other world. He found a wife for the youngest son and came back to this place. The curse had fractured him and it killed him and the woman he married. Before she died, the woman was said to have blessed the earth with a selfless, motherly act, and healed a portion of the land for her favored son. As they died, the land split into four parts, creating the natural barriers we have.’’

He must have felt my inhale to interrupt again.

“Ask later. I’m not done,” I frowned, but he continued. “During his imprisonment, his emotions gave rise to demons that lurk here. The most powerful one, born from his obsession with the human woman, formed into a humanoid demon. For some unknown reason, when the angel left the world to find the great mother, the demon lost his corporeal form and fell into a slumber. Eventually, he was forgotten.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked. He poked me in the side, causing me to jump. “HEY!” 

“I know, because I read. I read every book I could find on the subject. There’s more, so listen.”

I shifted in the saddle, unintentionally brushing against him. 

“Settle down,” He told me harshly. I squirmed a little more and stopped. After a moment of silence, he continued. 

“According to Vena, you awoke the demon when you were born. Something about you revived him and he’s been causing war and chaos and death ever since.”

I was dumbfounded. Utterly and completely dumbfounded. I’m sure my jaw dropped open and I looked ridiculous. I started to sputter at him.

“Get over it, Princess. It’s been warned for centuries that he would come back looking for the Mother. You’re her direct descendant, supposedly. The daughter of her blood. Your spirit awakened the sleeping leviathan. We need to figure out a way to dispatch him before it’s too late.” 

I felt the blood drain from my face. What the hell did I get myself into? 

“That’s why it's important for you to stay unseen and safe. We haven’t gone to your family’s home because there are some there who have been corrupted and we don’t know who can be trusted. It was always my duty to be your personal bodyguard. I was the one who would be responsible for you. It’s still up to me to protect you.Trust me a little.” He sounded exasperated. 

I didn’t know what to say to that. Eventually, the pounding in my ears gave way to the pounding of hooves. I stayed lost in thought, however. It wasn’t until he moved from behind me that I realized we were stopped. I didn’t say anything as we dismounted or as I followed him to the creepy cottage in the woods. I couldn’t help the thought that passed onto him though.

‘This is how every scary movie starts and someone ends up being chased or killed.’

I could feel the rumble of his laugh inside my head, though he only smirked. It was the same stupid smirk that made his eyes sparkle with mischief.  I scowled. 

I swear, if you do end up getting us chased by something, I will haunt you forever.’

‘You’ve haunted me for years, princess. I’m used to it.’

I rolled my eyes and motioned for him to lead the way. 

“It’s your creepy friend’s place. I’ll let you take the lead.”