Why You Should Never Rescue Stray Demons Chapter 85

**KACIA**

Elias’ eyes land on Oz and go wide. His face drains of colour like someone just drained HIS blood.

“You!” He says, voice cracking with something between horror and recognition. He stumbles back a step, like Oz might leap forward and eat him on the spot. I step out from behind the bush, no point hiding now. Elias spots me next and somehow manages to look even more alarmed.

“Shit…” He mutters, nervously glancing between us.

“Are… Are you here to kill me?” He asks weakly. I blink. 

“Huh?” I respond dumbly. He looks genuinely terrified. His whole body’s tense, shoulders hunched like he’s expecting a blow. His voice is thin, like he’s forcing it through a throat gone tight with panic.

“Kill you? Uh… No?” I say, because what? 

“We’re not the ones going around kidnapping and killing people.” I add pointedly. Oz nods beside me, his expression unreadable but carved from stone. I catch the way his jaw is clenched, his shoulders just a little too square. He’s holding himself still, but there’s tension crackling just under the surface. Understandably. Elias, his brothers, and their little gang did kidnap him and bleed him out. That tends to foster resentment. So, yeah. I get it. Still… Elias flinches at Oz’s silence, eyes darting back to me. 

“Well… No. But… Aren’t you here for, like… Revenge or something?” He asks tentatively. I step forward, trying to slide between them, to soften the moment, but Oz’s hand catches my shoulder. Not rough, not restraining. Just there. I’m still injured. His instinct is to shield me. I can feel it in the way his body shifts slightly. But he also knows better. Knows I won’t appreciate being shoved behind him like a damsel. So instead, he shifts me to his side. Equal footing. Okay. I can live with that.

“Not exactly…” I say slowly, eyes narrowing on Elias. 

“We came to talk.” I inform him. Elias frowns. He’s still jumpy, still half ready to bolt. 

“Then what do you want?” He asks, voice high and frayed. 

“Other than an apology?” Oz mutters under his breath, so quiet it’s almost a thought. But Elias hears it and promptly goes even paler. Which I would have said was impossible two seconds ago.

“I’m sorry!” He blurts, voice way too loud. He winces and glances at the back door, then drops his voice into a desperate whisper. 

“I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I just… I didn’t have a choice.” He says miserably. Oz’s eyebrows lift slowly. Dangerous. Controlled. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asks, tone deceptively calm. He’s not shouting. He doesn’t need to. The threat is in the stillness. I reach for his hand, quiet, steady. Our fingers brush, then link. I just want to give him a bit of reassurance. It works. He’s still angry. But more focused. He squeezes my hand once. I squeeze back. 

“I-” Elias starts, but he’s cut off by the back door flying open with a loud bang. We all freeze.

“Elias!” Someone shouts from inside. 

“What the hell is taking you so long? Did you get lost out there?” The voice demands. Elias startles like he’s been slapped. 

“Uh… No! I was just… I’m gonna go on a beer run! I’ll be back in a bit!” He calls back. There’s a pause. Then a grunt of approval. 

“Get the good brand this time, cheapskate!” The voice yells. The door slams shut again. Oz and I share a glance. That was… Interesting. Whoever that was didn’t bother to come outside. Didn’t notice us. Didn’t care. More importantly, Elias didn’t tell them about us. He could’ve. Easily. But he didn’t. He WANTS to talk to us. That’s… Unexpected.

“So?” Oz prompts, more sharply this time. Elias flinches again. 

“N-not here. They could come out again…” He trails off. I nod, stepping in before Oz can scare him into a panic spiral.

“We’re parked out front. We can talk in the car.”  I offer. Elias hesitates, just for a second, then nods. 

“Okay.” He agrees. He glances back at the house one more time, then follows us into the dark.

We pile into the car. I slide into the driver’s seat while Oz opens the back door and settles in next to Elias. I start the engine and slowly pull away from the curb. Not far, just enough to put some distance between us and the house. Far enough that if someone happens to glance outside, they won’t see Elias sitting in a car with two strangers who definitely aren’t here to deliver pizza. Once we’re parked halfway down the block in the shadow of a crooked tree, Oz doesn’t waste time.

“Explain.” He says, his voice like ice. Elias flinches. He draws in a deep breath, like he’s trying to pull his spine together from scraps of fear and guilt. 

“It all started about six months ago…” He begins. 

“I started having trouble with my vision. Just little things at first, blurred spots, coloured flickers. But it wasn’t constant. It only happened when I looked at certain people.” He pauses and looks at me, hesitant.

“People like us.” I finish, already putting it together. He nods. 

“Yeah. I could tell something was different about them, but I didn’t understand it. I thought I was hallucinating. Going crazy. I looked into it later, I think my great-grandfather might have been a witch. I’ve just inherited a little bit of his blood. But I didn’t know that at the time. I thought I was going mad. So I went to my brother, Nathan, just to talk. To see if he had any idea what was happening.” He pauses, bitter.

“Big mistake.” He says flatly. I glance in the rearview mirror. Elias is staring at his hands, knuckles tight, twisting his fingers. 

“Nathan already knew…” He continues quietly. 

“Not about me, but about magic. He and Colt had already gotten involved with this… Group. Shady guys. They promised easy money. Just had to be ‘the muscle’ sometimes. And Colt, he works at a medical supply place, only as a janitor, but he has access to everything. Syringes. Needles. Blood bags. You name it.” He explains. I feel my stomach twist.

“They said they’d help me…” Elias says, voice cracking. 

“Said these guys could explain what I was. Help me figure things out. But they didn’t care. They just wanted to use me. Apparently, magical blood’s worth something, if you know how to get it. Problem is, most people who have it don’t exactly advertise it unless you catch them doing something… Weird." He points out. 

“Which is why they needed you.” I say. My voice is flat, because I know exactly where this is going. Elias nods. 

“I could pick out who had magic. Who might be worth targeting. They didn’t tell me what they were planning at first, not exactly. But once I knew… I didn’t want anything to do with it. I said no.” He says, his tone is flat and I can tell that didn’t work out. Oz’s voice sharpens.

“Then why did you go along with it? You could’ve walked away.” He says darkly. Elias ducks his head. 

“I couldn’t.” He insists. His voice drops to almost nothing.

“I had this girlfriend. Mandy. She’s… Incredible. And she has this little girl, Mia. Only three. Sweetest kid you’ll ever meet. I told my brother, stupidly, that I wanted to propose. I was excited. Thought maybe I could have a real future.” He pauses and swallows hard. 

“They told Jared. He’s the one in charge. He’s the reason none of us can get out. He told me if I didn’t help, he’d hurt Mandy. Or Mia. Or both.” Elias looks like he might be sick. Oz exhales slowly, the sound more growl than breath.

“I tried to back out.” Elias says, his voice cracking. 

“I broke things off with Mandy. Thought maybe if I disappeared from her life, they’d stop caring. But they didn’t. They just used it as another threat. Said if I really loved her, I’d do whatever they said to keep her safe.” He sinks lower into the seat, like the shame weighs more than his body can carry.

“Now I’m stuck. Hurting people. Letting them bleed people. Because if I don’t, that little girl could die. I don’t know what to do. I just… Don’t know.” He finishes. The car goes quiet. Oz and I exchange a look, just a second of eye contact. It’s enough. His anger hasn’t gone anywhere. But he can see that Elias isn’t the one he should be placing all the blame on. And he knows that he isn’t in a position to make a rational decision. So right now, he’s prioritising my opinion. What I decide. And what I see is a scared guy in a corner he never should’ve been pushed into. I nod.

“Okay, Elias. We’re going to help you.” I say firmly. 

“I’ve got a cop friend. His name’s Mikey. You’re going to tell him everything.” I start. Elias immediately panics. 

“But-” 

“No.” I cut in. 

“Listen. Tell me where Mandy and Mia are, and we’ll make sure they’re safe. Once they’re protected, you’ll be free to talk. No more leverage. No more fear.” I say clearly. He looks at me terrified. Torn. But under that? There’s hope. Real, cautious hope. I can see the moment he realises he doesn’t really have another option.

“…Okay. He whispers.