Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters

Sebastian burst through his bedroom door, practically breaking it down in the process, and dropped to his knees to set Corinna on the floor. He gripped her face in his hands and willed her to look at him despite how violently she was thrashing.

"Corinna, look at me, you have to control yourself."

"I- I'm trying…" Corinna gritted out, her head hitting the footboard as she arched painfully and her muscled strained visibly.

Sebastian pressed their foreheads together in order to give Corinna something to anchor herself to.

"Sebastian… you're too close…" Corinna gasped, "Not… helping…"

Sebastian pulled away swiftly and moved to stand across the room. Helplessly, he watched Corinna breath heavily, gasping every few minutes as pain clawed its way through her. "Is there anyway I can help?"

Corinna shook her head violently and gripped at her head with trembling hands. "Sex… won't help…" she croaked as another spasm tore through her, sending her onto her side with painful convulsions.

Unable to watch helplessly any longer, he turned to the mirror behind him to try and busy himself with straightening out his suit. But as he gazed at his reflection in the mirror, he suddenly found himself looking at his father instead of himself. His temper flared suddenly and turned around again; he was nothing like his father. His father had done this to Corinna.

Sebastian froze suddenly as a thought struck him… he was his father's son. That meant that his father's blood ran in his veins. Sebastian stared at his wrist as his father's words from so many years ago rang in his head.

"The only way to keep her madness at bay is to regularly feed her the blood of the one who granted her eternal life."

Sebastian hadn't been the one to give her eternal life, but he was directly related to the demon that had. Was it possible that his blood could cure her as well? He wasn't sure why the idea had never occurred to him before, possibly because the risk of her becoming worse was very high, but he had no other ideas how to help her. Sex had worked to help her remember, but now he had no idea how to completely cure her. He was afraid of her being lost to her madness forever, but he was also afraid that his blood could send her into that endless madness. There was still a chance his blood could cure her… was that slight chance worth the overwhelming risk?

Without thinking, Sebastian lunged forward, simultaneously biting his wrist and the moment the scent of his blood hit the air Corinna sprang up and lurched forwards. Sebastian grasped her chin and stopped her in her tracks, tilting her head backwards and trying to ignore her struggling as he carefully let the blood drip from his wrist and into her mouth. Corinna stiffened suddenly, her eyes widening as she slowed the sweet tasting blood and stared at Sebastian in shock.

Sebastian let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding in, "Corinna?"

Corinna remained silent as her breathing slowly returned to normal and Sebastian began to release her incrementally. Watching her carefully, he pulled out his handkerchief to wipe at his bloodied wrist and Corinna simply stood there in silence, looking utterly shocked. She took a deep breath and swayed dangerously before her eyes closed and her knees gave out beneath her.

"Corinna!" Sebastian cried in alarm, quickly reaching out to grab the unconscious woman.

It had been four long days since Nicco had come home that night, covered in blood, and Nevaeh hadn't seen even a trace of him around the house. At her feet, Nina Hopkins was chattering away about something or other as she made the last few adjustments to Nevaeh's ball gown but Nevaeh wasn't really listening to the pretty young woman at all. Her mind was riveted on Nicco, wondering if he was off getting into some trouble of some sort or something even worse according to the fleeting, dark thoughts that kept revolving around inside her head.

Behind her, the door swung open without even a knock or the question for permission to enter. Nevaeh glanced over her shoulder to find Nicco standing in the doorway; his head bent as his fingers nimbly tied the ascot around his neck.

"You could have knocked. Even if I am your sister it's still quite improper to enter a lady's room without permission," Nevaeh chided carefully.

Nicco glanced up at his sister with a slightly bored expression before giving a casual shrug of his shoulders and stepping into the room further. "I was told Nina was here."

Nevaeh stared at him but he refused to look at her as his eyes were riveted on the woman kneeling on the floor. "Miss Hopkins," Nevaeh corrected.

Nicco glanced up at his sister and smiled, "A little too formal for someone I'm so well acquainted with, but if you insist, darling sister." Nicco gave a laugh as he patted his sister's cheek gently.

Nevaeh's eyes widened in surprise and she glanced sharply down at Nina but her head was bent over the hem of Nevaeh's dress studiously. The woman seemed normal but Nevaeh didn't fail to notice that she had grown unusually quiet the moment Nicco walked into the room. Her gaze flicked over to her brother again, who had decided to sit himself on the end of her bed. "Nicco. A word," she gritted out.

Nicco raised a questioning eyebrow at her but nonetheless rose from his comfortable seat on the bed to follow his decidedly stormy sister out into the hall. The moment the door closed behind him, Nevaeh spun around to face him, her ruby eyes glowing crimson with fury.

"You slept with Miss Hopkins." It was more of a statement than a question, as she already suspected the answer, and her suspicions were confirmed when he smiled at her. "Nicco! How could you? You ruined a perfectly respectable woman's chances of-"

"Respectable?" Nicco scoffed. "Sister, she wasn't even a maiden. Even you should know that considering the rumors milling about concerning her private life. But, there's no loss for her. She's respected due to her talents and society would never dare to cast her out. You're worrying for nothing."

"Nicco, rumors are rumors, you can't just go around believing everything you hear. And-"

"Are you implying that I shouldn't believe the rumors about you being whispered about London?" Nicco calmly interjected.

Nevaeh froze and the color drained from her face. "Rumors? What rumors?" She asked weakly.

"Word has it that you've become the King's newest mistress," Nicco answered.

"That's absolutely absurd!" Nevaeh sputtered. "The king prefers women of more mature ages."

"Exactly, which is why there's talk that you're plotting to unseat the queen and take her place. You may not be a woman of mature nature but you are his ideal type and you can't deny that it is awfully suspicious that you'd be suddenly accepted into his inner circle so quickly," Nicco pointed out nonchalantly.

"The Phantomhive family has always worked closely with the royal family it's only natural," Nevaeh protested. "And you know perfectly well I'd never do anything to jeopardize my reputation or ruin my marriage prospects!"

Nicco bent his head to straighten his coat out and when he lifted his head to look at his sister again there was a pleasant smile across his features. "You're absolutely right. How silly of me to even think of believing such nonsense. Forgive me?"

Nevaeh clenched her fist at her side to prevent herself from slapping that smile right off Nicco's face. Carefully she gathered her composure again and let out a sigh as she crossed her arms and regarded Nicco. "I won't forgive you Nicco. Not until you decide to be a little nicer to me," she stated and moved passed him into her room, shutting the door firmly behind her.

"How are you feeling?" Sebastian asked quietly into Corinna's ear.

Corinna turned slightly and gazed up at her husband, her dark gaze looking slightly weary. "I feel fine. Would you quit worrying? The fit has passed and hopefully it will be a while before the next one occurs."

Sebastian inclined his head with a slight smile. "Of course, I'm being ridiculous."

At this, Corinna laughed gently, a warm smile spreading across her face and the weariness in her eyes being replaced with a pleasant shine. "You could never be ridiculous, Sebastian."

"I believe you're incorrect. I distinctly remember an occasion where you actually fell down the staircase at the sight of me in a dress."

Corinna lifted her hand to her mouth and laughed hysterically behind it. Gently, Sebastian pulled a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped at the happy tears trailing down her cheeks. Pleased to have made her laugh, Sebastian was content to have persuaded her to come out this evening, despite the admiring looks she was receiving from every corner of the room. But one look from Sebastian and the perpetrators would hastily look away and move elsewhere in the room.

What mattered the most was that Corinna was enjoying herself, something she hadn't done in quite some time, due to her fear that she could break into an episode at any moment.

She didn't seem to remember what had occurred the other day other than becoming crazed and then waking up the next morning, perfectly healthy. And Sebastian still hadn't decided if it was best to tell her what he'd done. He wasn't sure if his blood was a permanent cure or a temporary cure, but he had to decide quickly if he was going to feed her more blood, and if so how he was going to do it without her knowledge.

"That was quite a long time ago, wasn't it?" Corinna asked, startling Sebastian from his thoughts. "I don't even believe the twins were born yet," she added thoughtfully.

"No, that was the day I first kissed you," Sebastian answered.

Corinna grinned. "How do you remember things so well?"

"I'm a demon, remember?" Sebastian answered.

"Ah, of course! How silly of me to forget," Corinna laughed softly and then sighed. "My, how the years have flown passed. Nicco is a man now, and Nevaeh is a young woman. Soon, they'll be married and have children of their own." Or at least, Corinna hoped so. The two of them were half human and half demon, meaning that they couldn't fit into either world. The demons would never accept the human side, and how could any human accept the demon side or even the fact that the both of them would live long lives, if not eternal ones? There was so little known about how their lives would progress, it was hard to hold onto that hope that Nicco and Nevaeh would find someone worthy of them and their love.

Corinna had most likely been one in a million that would accept a demon for who he was, but then again she had seen and been through a lot, so falling in love with a demon, hadn't been the hard part. The hard part had been trying to stay with him when everything had been trying to rip them apart. And Nicco and Nevaeh weren't full demon like Sebastian, they were only half, which probably condemned them in every way possible.

At times Corinna wondered what her life would have been like if it had taken a normal course, but she knew in her heart that she would've never been truly happy without the man she had at her side at that moment. Of course, she still wished her children would never have to face the hardships her brain liked to come up with, but at least for now they seemed to be welcomed and accepted, even worshiped by the members of society.

"You're worrying about something," Sebastian said, staring down at her with his penetrating red eyes.

Corinna glanced up at Sebastian. "Have I ever told you how much I hate it that you can read me like a book?"

"No, I believe you told me the exact opposite."

"Well," Corinna shrugged and linked her arm through Sebastian's. "I love it at times too."

"And have I told you that you look lovely tonight?" Sebastian asked, staring down at the dark blue gown that seemed to hug every curve of Corinna's body and even displayed an intriguing amount of her breasts, which partly thrilled Sebastian and partly angered him. It angered him because not a single person in the room could deny that she looked ravishing, and that meant that probably every man in the room who so much as caught a glimpse of her was most likely having the same thoughts about ripping that dress off of her and making her writhe in delight as he was.

Corinna blushed and smiled up at him. "Well, if you think I'm so lovely, why not offer me a dance?"

Sebastian smiled slightly and pulled away to bow to her elaborately. "Would you care to dance, my lady?" he asked, offering his gloved hand to her, which she gleefully took.

"I'd love to," she answered, curtsying to him gracefully before he swept her off onto the dance floor.

Nevaeh slowly fanned herself as her gaze shifted about the room. Nicco was supposed to be there at her side, he always was, but now she was finding that spot chillingly empty.

It was quite normal for Nicco to hide away in the library later on in the evening, but for the first two sets, she could always count that he'd be right there, ready to dance with her despite how much he loathed it. And even afterwards, he'd be there for a while, offering his arm as they strolled around the perimeter of the ballroom to cool down and socialize a bit before he'd leave her to her many admirers.

But not tonight, tonight he was nowhere to be seen and as a matter of fact, she hadn't seen him all day. He hadn't even ridden with them to the ball so she couldn't say whether he was even there.

She couldn't say much about her brother anymore, she hardly knew him now… Nevaeh let out a sigh, happy that no one was paying much attention to her tonight, and moved over towards the French doors, hoping to catch a bit of fresh air.

"Miss Phantomhive!"

Nevaeh shifted her gaze to the speaker and lowered her fan, giving a gracious smile to the woman who could be considered nothing but lovely, even in her mid fifties. "Mrs. Carter, how lovely to see you."

Mrs. Carter smiled, her face flushed as she tried unsuccessfully to mask her surprise. "Yes, you look quite lovely tonight. I must say that your dress is quite beautiful," she replied, shifting uncomfortably.

"Do you? It's the latest fashion," Nevaeh grinned smoothing out her dress and touching her hair lightly to check that none of her hair had fallen out of the artfully arranged curls on her head. "I had some trouble deciding which color to choose."

"You made an excellent choice. Gold certainly does suit you," Mrs. Carter stated with a small laugh and fanned herself vigorously, her eyes darting back and forth around the room.

Nevaeh's smile faded. "Is everything alright Mrs. Carter, you look quite unwell. I shall go fetch your husband." Nevaeh was already turning to leave and find Mr. Carter when Mrs. Carter frantically grabbed her elbow and stopped her.

"No! You mustn't!" Mrs. Carter hissed.

Nevaeh's eyes widened in surprise as she watched Mrs. Carter and realized that her hair and clothes were slightly askew. She wasn't an expert in matters that concerned sexual acts, but she was fairly certain that Mrs. Carter had just had a fairly good tryst in the gardens. It wasn't uncommon for married men or women to take lovers, but to have a tryst in a public place such as this was utterly scandalous, and even more so if your husband and children are in the vicinity. "Mrs. Carter…"

"Miss Phantomhive, I realize you are quite a smart girl and that you've most likely come to a conclusion about the situation at hand. You understand my hopes that you'd use great discretion in this matter. I know there are rumors about you floating about but I never listen to such gossip and I never spread it," Mrs. Carter said seriously in a low voice, her eyes never meeting Nevaeh's as she straightened herself out.

"No, of course I will never utter this to a soul," she assured the older woman hastily. "The matters you choose to engage in are your personal matters and I have no right to speak of them."

Mrs. Carter smiled gratefully at Nevaeh. "That is exactly my opinion. You truly are a smart girl Miss Phantomhive and I can only hope you'll find a man more than worthy of you soon." Mrs. Carter inclined her head and moved away, suddenly the composed lady she normally was.

Nevaeh glanced out the open glass doors and narrowed her eyes, scanning the darkness for her brother. She had the nagging suspicion that he was behind this and she moved out into the chilly night air to seat herself on the cool, stone bench situated just at the beginning of a small stone path.

Silently she clasped her hands and placed them in her lap to wait patiently for Nicco, but she didn't have to wait long for him to step nonchalantly from behind a maze of hedges as if he had just been out for a casual stroll.

She had hoped it wasn't him… but unfortunately fate was having a grand time with this perverse joke she'd replaced Nicco with and it looked as if it wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"Nevaeh!" Nicco smiled at her and sauntered over but Nevaeh silently raised a hand, causing him to pause in his tracks.

"Nicco. This time you have gone way to far," Nevaeh said, her voice cold with barely contained fury and her eyes flashing. "But I will not say a word since you don't seem to listen to what I say anymore and you certainly don't give a damn about any advice I can offer."

"I have spent my entire life listening to you and doing everything you ask. I'm tired of listening, Nevaeh, I'm a grown man," Nicco spat, his eyes burning furiously as he stepped closer.

Nevaeh was on her feet in a flash, refusing to let Nicco tower over her. "Is that what all this is about? Some stupid childhood inferiority complex?" Nevaeh's hands clenched at her sides. "It's not like I forced you to do anything."

"Yes you did, Nevaeh. You're a manipulative bitch trying to pose as a lady so you can hide the fact that you're not like anyone in that fucking room!" Nicco snapped, pointing furiously at the ballroom behind Nevaeh's back.

"Oh that's rich coming from you considering we're twins. We're exactly the same, you idiot! So if I'm a bitch posing as something I'm not, just think about what you are. At least I'm consistent with who I am! You've become some psychotic bastard, swaggering around London like you own everything!" Nevaeh spat, the air around her growing cold as she stepped closer to Nicco and glared at him.

Nicco glared at her in return for a few moments before pushing passed her and stalking into the ballroom, leaving his sister out in the cold. Furiously he made his way through the crowded room, ignoring the people that greeted him and not even sparing any of the pretty women a glance.

"Nicco! Nicco!" A voice called after him, which he studiously ignored. But it seemed that the owner of the voice would not be ignored and continued to call after him. Nicco cursed violently under his breath and made the quick decision to step into a particularly thick crowd of people. Stealthily, he maneuvered among the bodies, making his way to the wall across from him and the moment he reached it, he sidled along it until he reached a door he was able to duck into.

Carefully he closed the door and a small gasp sounded behind him. Looking to his left and then his right, he could gather that he had just stepped into the women's powder room, but he honestly didn't care, so long as he was away from whoever had been calling him. Nicco turned around to face whoever else was in the powder room and to his shock, he found himself face to face with a beautiful woman.

Her golden hair hung loosely around her face, presumably having fallen out during her dancing and now she was in the process of fixing it when Nicco had intruded. A pair of clear blue eyes, round with shock, stared at him and Nicco couldn't help but wonder why she looked so damned familiar.

"Nicco?" She asked carefully, stepping closer and raising a tentative hand to his face.

The sudden reality of whom she was slammed into him with unbelievable force and he stared down at her, presumably looking like an idiot as he took in her appearance. She was so different and yet the same. Gone where the plain dresses she used to wear and in its place was pale green gown that reminded him of spring and flattered her slender build immensely, giving her breasts the illusion of being much larger than they were. Her face had also changed, as it no longer retained the plumpness of youth, but rather it was slightly narrower now and more womanly.

She laughed in surprise and smiled at him. "Dear lord, it is you! My gosh look how handsome you are!" She cried happily.

Nicco caught her hand and held it before she could touch his face. "Anne."

"So you do remember me," she said softly, her eyes reflecting her bliss of seeing him again. "I was afraid you had forgotten me."

Nicco abruptly let go of her hand and she calmly let it drop to her side.

"If no one else marries you, I will when I'm grown up; But only if I'm taller than you, because it'd be awfully terrible to be shorter than your wife. I'd get made fun of all the time."

How silly he must have seemed. He'd only been a young child at the time, but even so, he'd meant every word. And even as he grew older, his feelings for Anne had only grown deeper until one day she was suddenly engaged and leaving for the Americas. It was all so long ago…

"How is your husband?" Nicco found himself asking, though he didn't really care. He hated the bastard, if he was going to be honest, for taking away Anne.

"He's quite well, actually," Anne replied, but Nicco couldn't tell if her face had really fallen at the mention of her husband or if it was just his wishful imagination. "Unfortunately his business has him quite occupied and he wasn't able to attend the ball tonight."

"How long have you been in town?" Nicco asked, wincing inwardly as an abrupt, sharp pain stabbed at his temples.

"Only a few days now. Your mother and sister came to visit me just two days ago, and said you've been quite busy lately," Anne paused and a frown creased her features as she leaned forward and placed a hand on Nicco's arm. "Nicco, are you alright?"

Nicco gripped his head as it throbbed painfully and the room around him buzzed frantically, causing his vision to swim dizzily. "I- I have to go." Nicco gritted out and spun around, hitting the door as he blindly fumbled for the handle. Throwing open the door, he staggered out of the room, swaying violently and colliding painfully with several people as the room tilted dangerously. He could hear Anne's voice calling after him as a painful light blinded him and caused his knees to give out beneath him, sending him to the marble floor with an agonizing thud that jarred every bone in his body. Nicco's entire body burned with horrifying, piercing pain as he lay crumpled on the hard ground and had he the energy to, he would have most likely screamed like a man being chased down by some blood thirsty creature. Anne called out his name and he made every effort to respond to her but so much dark pain was consuming his body that it rendered his lips and every other part of him, completely useless. Nicco's head spun excruciatingly and he made one last feeble attempt to speak to Anne, who he could now sense kneeling beside him, before darkness consumed him.

"Somebody help me!" Anne cried frantically, dropping to her knees beside Nicco and propping his unconscious head in her lap.

Not far from the sudden commotion, Corinna and Sebastian stopped mid-twirl and their eyes met for brief second of horror as they recognized Anne's voice, and then the two of them were running towards the crowd and elbowing their way through the people to get to the center.

Corinna's heart stopped for several terrifying seconds as she realized it was Nicco who was crumpled on the floor, his head being cradled by a hysterical Anne. "What happened?" Corinna cried, rushing to her son's side and shakily knealing down next to him. This was the second time in less than a month that Nicco had collapsed and she couldn't stop the unwelcome flow of tears that trailed down her cheeks as she gripped his limo hand. "Nicco!" she sobbed hysterically, her heart seeming to drop into the pit of her stomach painfully.

Hastily, Sebastian removed his jacket and placed it over Nicco. "Somebody fetch our carriage, immediately."

"What happened?" Nevaeh demanded as the crowd of people reluctantly parted to let her through.

"Your brother just had too much to drink," Sebastian replied, mostly for the sake of the people around them, who, content with the explanation, departed and went elsewhere in the large room.

Across the room, a pair of silver eyes watched in the shadows, shining with slight disappointment as they watched the seen playing out in front of them. The man shook his head and then shifted his gaze to the young woman standing amid the crowd, watching him. Her read eyes narrowed but she made no move towards him and he made no move to step further into the shadows.

So this is the granddaughter of Asmodeus... she's quite the pretty little thing. He was slightly surprised that she could see through the shadows he'd woven around him to hide his presence from prying eyes, but clearly Nevaeh was powerful enough to penetrate even his powers.

Pulling the brim of his hat lower over his face, he broke through his concealment and swiftly headed for the door before the party occupants would notice.

Nevaeh wasted no time in picking up her skirts and running after the dark stranger, but by the time she stepped out of the house, the man was gone and only darkness greeted her. Her gaze scanned the night around her, searching for any sign of the man and finally she was granted by a brief glimpse of movement off to her left. She hasted after it, moving as quietly as she could, and was led into a maze of dank alleyways that reeked of mold and dead rats.

Nevaeh crinkled her nose in disgust but continued forward nonetheless, her senses probing the darkness around her, searching for any unseen threat that may come at her.

The smallest sound echoed behind her- the sound of hair brushing against a cheek- that would have been undetectable to any human, but she was only half, and for that she was grateful. She showed no signs of having heard the noise and didn't slow her pace until her hand bumped into a wall ahead of her, signaling a dead end.

The man watched her as she raised a hand to the back of her neck, tilting her head back to stare up at the building in front of her. He silently approached her and was almost within arm's reach as she stepped closer to the wall and ran her hand over the bricks as if searching for some hidden passageway.

He paused, gathering himself together and in one swift movement, launched himself at her. But of course, Nevaeh had been anticipating this move and stepped to the side before flashing behind him and kicking him into the wall, where she wrapped the ribbon that had been tied around her neck, around his. Shock coursed through the man and he struggled, fighting for dominance against Nevaeh but she hooked her leg around the back of his and swept the legs right out from under him. He fell to the floor hard, Nevaeh with him, but the ribbon around his neck gave the desired effect and left him absolutely breathless.

Nevaeh seated herself on his chest and stared down at him. "Who are you?" She snapped. "And what have you done to my brother?"

"I haven't done anything," he breathed. "It was the reapers, they altered him."

"Your name." Nevaeh pulled on the ribbon in two different directions, chocking him slightly.

"My name is Damian," he coughed out. "May you please remove this infernal ribbon? It isn't very pleasant and I don't believe that it matches very well with my complexion."

Nevaeh stared down at him with suspicion wavering in her eyes. "You're not going to escape are you?"

"If I truly wanted to escape, I would. A silly ribbon isn't enough to hold be, though it is quite unpleasant," Damian responded with a slight grimace.

Nodding her understanding, Nevaeh unraveled the ribbon from his neck none too gently and then stood. "What do reapers what with my brother?"

Damian pushed himself to his feet and dusted off his suit to the best of his ability before facing Nevaeh, who was a good head shorter than him. "They erased that woman from his records. He grew up the way he did because she had encouraged it, as well as you and your mother but they couldn't easily erase you two so they opted for the servant girl."

"Anne," Nevaeh breathed. "But why? We never encouraged him to grow a certain way."

"You did it without realizing it. Anne encouraged him to read, your mother gave into his whims and coddled him," Damian's silver eyes met with Nevaeh's wavering ones. "And you always took control over every situation, which clearly, over time can result in a mild-mannered young man. An angel, as some liked to call him."

"And the reapers changed that by erasing Anne?" Nevaeh shook her head. "It doesn't make sense."

"Your brother grew into a man he believed Anne would be proud of, erase her from his past, and that never would have occurred."

"And when he saw Anne…"

"He obviously remembered her. Clearly reapers can't be trusted to do anything right," Damian sighed. "Despite what those brainless shinigami may think, you can't simply erase someone of such great importance from a person's life. She was his first love, something not easily forgotten."

"But why?" Nevaeh demanded. "Why would they want to change Nicco?"

Damian's expression darkened but his eyes didn't leave Nevaeh's. "Without a leader, demons are running rampant and taking souls at will, which means fewer souls for reapers to collect. They want to place Nicco in your grandfather's place as soon as possible, but they know as well as we do that your brother is not fit for leadership."

"I'll take his place," Nevaeh blurted out unthinkingly, her breathing uneven. She didn't want anything to happen to Nicco anymore. The reapers had messed with her brother enough, and if it was a leader that was needed to put a stop to their meddling, she'd be that leader.

Damian raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Do you realize what it takes to be the leader of hell?"

Nevaeh's eyes hardened as she stared up at Damian. "No, but I'm willing to do anything to save my brother."

Damian shook his head with a small laugh and then raised his head to stare at Nevaeh again. "You certainly are perfect, but unfortunately it is an ancient tradition for male heirs to lead."

"Then it's time to change that," Nevaeh snapped irritably.

"Ancient traditions can't be changed at will, Nevaeh. Do you realize how many demons would disagree to a female ruling over them?"

Nevaeh felt a sudden sense of helplessness overwhelm her, causing tears to pool in her furious eyes. "Then what can I do? There has to be something!"

An odd feeling suddenly blossomed in Damian's chest, causing him to feel the need to comfort her and he raised a gentle hand to wipe the stray tear sliding down Nevaeh's cheek. "The only other person who can take your grandfather's place is your father and he refuses to do so. It seems as if there is nothing to do unless your mother has another son. I'm sorry Nevaeh. We had hoped your brother was the one."

Damian's hand slipped from Nevaeh's face and he stepped away from her, backing into the shadows.

"Wait!" Nevaeh cried frantically, raising a hand and stumbling forward as if she could grab onto him before he disappeared. "Will…" Neveah gulped silently and then continued, "Will I ever see you again? That is… will you try to keep me updated?"

Damian paused and a brief smile traced his lips before he turned again and took up Nevaeh's hand, kissing her cold fingers gently. "I will be around often, to give you news," he whispered and turned away, the darkness enveloping him like a mother welcoming home one of her children.

Nevaeh stood there silently, running her fingertips along the silky ribbon she still held onto. There was something different about him… and not only because he was a demon. Unlike any other man she'd happened to come across, he seemed to actually see her as his equal. Staring into the darkness where he had just been, Nevaeh realized that equality was something she'd always wanted from a man but had never even recognized it as something she deeply desired. Women were supposed to be slightly inferior to men, according to society, and they were to be just pretty little things on men's arms to bestow gifts upon and bear their husbands children.

But Nevaeh wanted more than just gifts and children, she wanted her husband to be her closest friend and she wanted to be able to have intelligent conversations with him rather than the mindless chatter most women seemed to prefer.

"Nevaeh, what are you doing here?"

She spun around hastily and came face to face with her father, who was looking slightly upset, but it was hard to tell in the harsh darkness. "Father… you startled me."

"You were just speaking to someone weren't you?" Sebastian asked in response.

Nevaeh didn't meet her father's gaze and instead busied herself with tying her ribbon around her neck again.

"Don't suffer any delusions Nevaeh, he's dangerous."

Nevaeh's gaze snapped up to meet Sebastian's. "Why? Because he's a demon?" She scoffed angrily.

"Yes, I know I'm a demon too. But that's exactly why I know what he wants," Sebastian replied tersely. "He only wants to use you to get to me or Nicco."

"I doubt that, father," Nevaeh snapped.

"I specifically told him to stay away and now that your brother has obviously failed to become the leader hell needs, he's going to use you and cast you into the dirt as soon as he has me right where he wants me. I know how demons work."

"Don't think everything is about you, father," Nevaeh hissed and pushed past him. Suddenly she froze where she was and turned to face Sebastian. "And you're different than the others, why can't he be too?"

A silence formed between them with the distant sound of music, laughter and clobbering of hooves reminding them of the party they had left. Nevaeh shook her head when Sebastian didn't respond and turned around to head back the way she came.