𝐒𝐲𝐧 ┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

104. 𝑈𝑛𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑

Aiden

I headed to the door, head held high. As I twisted the doorknob, a sinking feeling reached the pit of my stomach but I reminded myself that I was the one in control now. He couldn't lay a finger on me. With that, I plastered a smile on my face and stepped out of the house.

I walked onto the porch, my steps halting as I saw not only Syn, but Lucifer, Xavier, and the only person who had managed to catch me— more easily than anyone had in years. The sight was intimidating, the three of them rallied behind Syn as he looked forward at me arms crossed.

I whistled, grinning as I hopped down the wooden steps. I peeked up at the room where Queen was staying, seeing her light off, and relaxed as I turned my attention back to the group.

"Wow. The whole gang is here." I laughed, my hands in fists inside my pockets. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Aiden— are you still going by that or..." Syn eyed me, clearly peeved by our resemblance and I laughed. He nodded after a moment, his eyes moving back to mine for an answer. "Is it my name that you want?"

"I couldn't give a damn about your name," I said. "Truthfully, this was never a part of my plans...but when I saw you with her—" My jaw clenched. "This was the only option."

"I'm sure," he mused, dropping his hands into the pocket of his dark sweats before looking up and blowing out a breath. "You seem confident."

"I have no reason not to be."

"You also seem afraid." He looked back at me.

"Again, I have no reason to be—" He took a sudden step forward and I stumbled backward a bit, making him let out a roar of laughter.

"I can't even pass this barrier and you're scared," he said with a dark smile, placing his hand out and touching the force field I had trapped myself and Queen into. It glew slightly at his touch— I felt the movement in my mind, teasing the active spell I was using to keep it up.

I remained still, not giving a reaction as he eyed it. After a few moments, he took a step back and nodded his head thoughtfully. "I know a thing or two about this spell," he spoke.

"That doesn't make a difference—"

"Oh, I think it makes all the difference," he teased, his eyes twinkling with something scarier than I had ever seen from him. Before, in the basement...I saw anger- slight notes of boredom and irritation at different moments, but this was none of those. "See," he began. "This spell originated in Heaven...to keep evil beings such as myself and you out. You may have used it to your advantage right now but the same loopholes apply."

My jaw clenched at his words and I tried my best to keep my composure. There was no way he should've known about a spell like this— he was from the Underworld. I relied on that fact. "Don't act surprised," Lucifer spoke up. "My teachings weren't limited to spells in the Underworld. There is no magic you can conjure up that he doesn't know about."

"Oh, that's cute," I hissed at him. "Maybe I'd have known these things too if you hadn't decided that he was your first and only child."

Syn scoffed. "Is that what this is about?" He asked. "You wanted him to give you attention?"

"Don't patronize me," I snapped at him. "You don't know what it's like growing up with no one. Knowing that the one person who brought you into this world wants you gone." My eyes moved to Lucifer. "You killed the only people in this world who could've understood me."

He clasped his hands together, his eyes trying to reason with me. "Because your kind was sick."

"Sick?" I asked, anger beginning to build up inside me. "What makes us different than him?" I pointed at Syn. "Or them?" I gestured toward Xavier and Paris. "You made all of us in your image and then tossed aside the few of us that didn't fit your aesthetic- like we were some damn projects!"