Why You Should Never Rescue Stray Demons Chapter 164

**KACIA**

I’m in an absolute panic. My mum isn’t the kind of person who calls anyone urgently. She’s the calm, easygoing type. She knows I have a cursed relationship with technology. That phones hate me, text messages vanish into the void, and Wi-Fi gives up the second I touch it. If she wants something, she usually just drives down to my place, lets herself in with my spare key and waits until I appear. But this? Calling Mikey to find me? She’s NEVER done that before. She didn’t say what was wrong, either. And that’s the part that’s making my stomach twist. Surely, if she were hurt or in danger, she would’ve said so. Right? But… What in the world could be so urgent? Since it is apparently urgent, we don’t even bother with normal travel, we take a portal. Because clearly this night wasn’t chaotic enough already. And, somehow, it ends up being a full group expedition. Not just me and Oz (which would’ve made sense), but also his sister Alyssa, Tarish, Raylah, and Mikey. Tracey, Clarence, and Vidar decide that too many people might freak my mother out, which, honestly, is valid. If a random group of supernatural weirdos materialised in my front yard, I’d panic too. Still, it’s not exactly a small crowd. Oz insists on coming with me, like there was ever a chance I’d leave him behind after everything, and Alyssa immediately declares that she’s coming because someone has to keep him out of trouble and also because she is nosy as hell. I appreciate her honesty. Mikey’s tagging along, obviously. He’s half cop, half protective big brother at this point, and the words ‘urgent call from your mum’ might as well have been ‘mission accepted.’ Tarish announces he wants to come because he’s ‘been curious about my mother ever since my father first spoke of her.’ Which… Okay, sure. Because that isn’t weird or ominous at all. And Raylah? I honestly have no idea why she wants to come. Maybe because Tarish is going? They’ve been circling each other in this strange half talking, half avoiding each other kind of way, and I think she’s decided that sticking close and being ‘helpful’ is her best strategy. Which is funny, because Tarish doesn’t really strike me as someone who appreciates being hovered over. Then again, maybe that’s exactly what’ll win him over. Honestly, I think Raylah’s probably a lot nicer than she pretends to be. She’s got the whole mysterious, powerful fae woman thing down to an art, but when she’s around Tarish, the edges soften. She acts confident, but I get the sense a lot of it’s for show. Fae can’t lie with words, but they sure can lie with actions. And Raylah? She’s an expert. Either way, when Tarish opens the portal, she steps through right behind him without hesitation. Mikey hesitates at the edge, staring into the swirling light like it might bite him. Can’t blame him. Portals are weird. But as soon as I step through, like any best friend, he follows. On the other side, I’m relieved to find I don’t feel even the slightest bit dizzy. No vertigo, no nausea, no face planting into the dirt. For once, my body seems to be cooperating with the whole magic thing. Yay for small victories. Poor Mikey, though… Not so much. He’s standing hunched over on my mum’s front lawn, hands on his knees, looking like he’s rethinking every life choice that led him here. But hey, he hasn’t thrown up yet, which is better than my first portal experience. I pat his shoulder sympathetically, then leave him to it. He’ll survive. Probably. Right now, I’ve got bigger problems. My pulse is hammering in my ears as I march up to my mother’s front door, Oz’s hand clutched tightly in mine. I can’t seem to make myself let go. Some part of me is still irrationally afraid he’ll vanish again if I stop touching him. I raise my hand and knock.

Mum answers the door almost immediately. She looks pale, paler than I’ve ever seen her. Her expression is dazed, unfocused, like someone just pulled the ground out from under her. She’s not hurt exactly, but she’s definitely shaken.

“Mum? Are you okay?” I ask, my voice thin and nervous. I step closer before I can stop myself. She doesn’t answer right away. Instead, she just grabs me and pulls me into a hug so tight I can barely breathe. I sink into it automatically, startled by the sheer force of it. Her hands tremble against my back. She doesn’t even notice that I’m a complete disaster, covered in ash, flour, glitter, and probably at least three different kinds of questionable residue. She just holds on, like she’s afraid that if she lets go, I’ll disappear. Oz hovers close behind me, scanning the doorway with that instinctive protectiveness of his. I feel him tense.

“Kacia…” His voice drops low, serious. 

“There’s someone else here. Fae.” He says softly. My entire body goes rigid.

“Mum…” I tighten my arms around her and try to glance over her shoulder without actually pushing her away. 

“Mum, who’s here?” I ask. She swallows hard, eyes darting toward the living room. 

“It’s… Okay, Sweetpea. I think.” She says nervously. She thinks? That’s not comforting.

“Who’s in there, then?” I press, pulling back a little to look at her properly. I try to go inside. Instead of answering, she steps sideways and physically blocks the doorway with her arm. Her movements are jerky, uncertain, like she doesn’t quite know what she’s protecting me from yet.

“Wait, I, uh… I just need to explain…” She trails off. Before she can finish, a voice calls from deeper inside the house. 

“Allie? Is she here?” He asks. The sound freezes me mid-breath. A figure appears in the hallway, and for a second, my brain refuses to make sense of what I’m seeing. He’s fae, that much I can tell from his pointed ears and the sharp precision of his movements. But he looks wrong somehow. Older? He has faint lines around his eyes and maybe even a streak of silver through his hair. Fae don’t look like that. They don’t age. Most of them stay locked in that perfect, mid-twenties kind of timelessness. He looks older than my grandfather ever did. And the strangest part, the part that makes my stomach drop, is that he looks like me. Same hair. Same eyes. Same colouring. It’s like staring into a mirror that’s been aged a few decades and carved into someone else’s face. And turned into a guy I guess… Do I have an uncle? A cousin? Someone my mother never mentioned? Because my grandfather told me he killed my father. And he couldn’t lie about that. The man stops short as soon as he sees me. For a long, silent moment, he doesn’t breathe. His entire body locks up, every muscle tense, like moving might make me vanish. His eyes are wide and fixed on me with a kind of desperate stillness that makes my chest ache. He looks like he’s seeing something impossible and has no idea what to do about it. His hands twitch at his sides, like he wants to reach for me but doesn’t dare. The emotion in his face is too much to read, there is just too much flashing across it in quick succession. And I can’t move either. I just stare back. Then footsteps sound behind me. Tarish, apparently done making sure Mikey isn’t dying, comes up the path. He looks up and nearly trips over his own feet. He collides with Oz, mutters something under his breath, and then looks up again. His gaze lands on the fae man standing in my mother’s hallway. He freezes. For a long, stunned second, he doesn’t move or speak. Then a strangled sound escapes him, half gasp, half choked whisper.

“Kasian?” He blurts out. The name hangs in the air and I feel the world tilt beneath me.