Kyree remained silent as he carried the woman to his and Ambrose's shared bedroom, his fiance following at his heel talking with Farell. Ambrose had confirmed that what the woman had said was true, Kyree was her father, his initials were clear across her chest.
"I didn't turn her," Kyree clarified as he stared down at the slumbering woman, he could feel Ambrose's stare burning into the back of his neck, "I wouldn't, not without talking to you. Not after what happened last time," Kyree leant back into Ambrose when his fiance's hands began kneading the flesh of his shoulders gently.
"I know, baby, I know. But someone did, and with your blood too."
"The assassin?"
"Could be. He could have collected your blood from the coronation party, when you broke the wine glass. It only takes a drop to turn a human if they are strong enough," Kyree sighed, his brows knotting into a deep frown.
"Why would someone want to make me another daughter? What do they have to gain from that?"
"I'm not sure, baby. I'm going to take Farell up to the human world and see if we can find anything about the girl," Ambrose held up a small laminated ID card, "her name is Avis, she was born in Los Angeles. We should be able to find something out about her, if only a family to notify of her death," Kyree made a small, frustrated noise, hanging his head in his hands.
"This isn't how you are supposed to turn someone. They are supposed to want it, not have this forced on them. Who would do this? It's sick, it's sadistic," Ambrose knelt in front of his fiance, trailing his fingers up and down Kyree's tense arms.
"Hey, this isn't your fault, Ky," Kyree chuckled bitterly.
"Of course it's my fault, someone is doing this to fuck with me. Some girl just lost her life because someone wants to make me feel worse," Ambrose tilted Kyree's head up with his forefinger and thumb, forcing his fiance to make eye contact with him.
"Stop it. Stop blaming yourself. You didn't turn her. She may have been turned with your blood but she's lucky in that sense. She has a wonderful father now, and she will live in luxury here with us if she so pleases. If not, she may leave any time, either way, you are not at fault. OK?" Kyree contemplated Ambrose's comment for a moment before pressing a chaste kiss to his fiance's lips.
"I love you, be careful," Kyree said, in a much brighter mood.
"I love you too, baby," Ambrose uttered his farewell as he exited the room, leaving Kyree alone to await his new daughter's awakening.
Just over an hour passed before Kyree noticed movement in the girl. Her eyes fluttered open and Kyree immediately noted the crippling fear in her blue iris'. Kyree instantly leant forward, resting his hand over the girl's wrist, feeling the calm aura flow through him and into her.
He wasn't sure what that new found power was, or where it had come from, but it sure as hell came in handy. He had been working on controlling it since it had appeared when consoling Saige and was grasping slowly how to call upon it.
"Hey, you're safe, Avis, you're OK," Kyree ensured his tone was soft, soothing, as he spoke to the girl. She looked young, late teens if he had to guess. Her hair was a beautiful light shade of brown, hanging in straight locks that framed her gaunt face. Her skin was much more tanned than that of Saige's, yet still was a pale shade, matching her sharp and well-defined features.
"H-How do you know my name? A-Are you Kyree?" her voice was trembling and broken, much alike her body in a sense.
"Yes, Avis, I am Kyree. You happened to have an ID card on you that my fiance took, that's how I know your name. Do you know what happened to you?" Kyree attempted to increase the degree of calm he was projecting onto her but was unsure if it even made a difference.
"Not really," her voice sounded a little more even, no longer shaking, maybe Kyree had more control over his power than he thought, "I was dancing with some guy in a club and he took me out the back and then..." she paused, obviously collecting her fragmented thoughts, "then nothing. It's just blurry until I woke up in some hallway knowing I had to find Kyree Landon. Why did I need to find you again? Where are we?" now, that was a difficult question Kyree had never thought he would have to answer. They were demons, in hell. It was not an easy concept for someone to grasp. Yet, as Kyree set out explaining what had likely happened to Avis, she didn't seem all that phased by the idea. Kyree even removed his hand from her wrist, wondering if it was his calming aura that was affecting her. No, she just simply understood.
"So, you're my dad now?" she asked when Kyree had finally finished his long-winded explanation.
"Yes. Although, I didn't intend to take another daughter. I'm deeply sorry you were forced into this world when you didn't ask for this."
"Don't be sorry, my life wasn't all that much better before," Avis turned over her arm, revealing a myriad of track marks on her inner elbow both old and new, "heroin addict. I was probably one needle away from OD'ing. I guess whoever turned me saved my life," Kyree grimaced, running his fingers gingerly over the scars, acknowledging each one in turn.
"I hope I can give you a better life then, Avis. I would love for you to remain here with me and my family. We would welcome you, care for you, even love you. You may stay, or, should it truly be your wish, you may leave and live on your own. Either way, I will allow you to decide."
"Tell me about your family," Avis' voice had become soft, a little glimmer of something in her eye that Kyree couldn't quite pinpoint.
"Well, I am engaged to Ambrose Ross, the king of hell. My parents are Yennifer and Orion Landon and my brother is Idella. I also have another daughter, of whom I turned by my own hand at her request, called Saige," Avis seemed to beam at the prospect of joining Kyree's family, but still looked rather sheepish, "you do not have to make your decision imminently. Please, take your time to think about it," Kyree rose to his feet, about to speak again when there was a soft knock on the door, "enter," a small, frail-looking woman peeked her head around the door, avoiding eye contact with Kyree.
"Sir," she seemed terrified, her entire body shaking along with her words, "Sir, I'm sorry to burden you with such news but His Majesty has been gravely injured," Kyree felt the blood drain from his face, a cold numbness spreading throughout his body in its place.
"What?" he choked out, his throat closing up and his chest tightening at the prospect of Ambrose being hurt, "What. Happened?" he managed to utter through gritted teeth, his eyes darkening as he glowered at the female staff member.
"I-I don't know, Sir, I-I'm sorry. All I know is Farell is with him in the human world."
"Get out," Kyree seethed, sending the woman scurrying from the room. Dragging his hand through his hair, Kyree remembered Ambrose still had his engagement ring. Emptiness suddenly swelled within him, merely from the ring not adorning his finger.
"What are you waiting around for?" Avis queried, rising to her feet, "go to him, I'm fine here, honestly," Kyree would have smiled at his new daughter's resilience, were it not for the gut-wrenching fear consuming him.
"Oh my God, dad, I just heard about Amb," Saige bustled into the room, flinging her arms around her father and tugging him into a hug, "we have to go see him."
"I can't leave Avis alone here, you have to stay with her," Kyree peeled Saige off him tenderly, turning his attention back to Avis, "Avis, this is Saige, your... sister, should you choose to stay."
"Introductions and pleasantries later, dad," Saige said restlessly, "bring her with us, I'll keep an eye on her, I promise," it took pleading from Saige and even a little input from Avis to finally convince Kyree to bring them both. They appeared outside a hospital under the blazing sun in Los Angeles. None had the time to even comment on the beautiful weather as Kyree breezed into the building in search of his fiance. The receptionist said room 375, which Kyree did not understand but Saige and Avis seemed to know where to go.
"Kyree, you have to understand-" Kyree cut off Farell with a single punch, breaking his nose.
"I will deal with you later," Kyree growled, ignoring the smouldering pain in his hand as he entered Ambrose's room. He bit down on his lip as his eyes landed on his fiance, his body broken and bruised. He was covered in gauze and bandages, with wires attached to him as he breathed very slowly.
"Oh, babe," Kyree whispered, perching on the chair nearby the bed, grasping Ambrose's hand and peppering it with tender kisses, "open those eyes for me, Amb, please," he mumbled, tears stinging his eyes as they flittered over Ambrose. Allowing his calm aura to flow into Ambrose, Kyree hoped he would drown out some of the pain his fiance was experiencing. He stayed there, deadly still next to Ambrose, for hours, just simply watching him. Once his anger had finally died down enough, he managed to step out of the room, granting Saige and Avis time alone with their father.
"What happened?" Kyree asked Farell, only just noticing that he too looked in pretty bad shape.
"We were just leaving, decided to walk down an alleyway so humans didn't see us. Bad idea," Farell chuckled bitterly, staring at the floor, avoiding Kyree's eye, "we were jumped by some human men. They were filming us, sick fucks, so we couldn't just disappear. There were so many, and they were screaming at him, screaming awful things. They held me down, didn't do much to me, it was Ambrose they wanted."
"Why?" was the only word Kyree managed, tears in his eyes at the images of Ambrose being hurt haunting his thoughts.
"I don't know, they were just shouting really homophobic stuff. I assumed they knew he was gay, or thought it because we were walking together. Either way, it was awful. Some other humans got them to stop, called an ambulance. I managed to slip him some devil's snare before they noticed, I'm so sorry, Kyree. I failed, I failed on my first fucking day," Farell hung his head in his hands, sighing deeply. Kyree rested his hand on Farell's shoulder, trying to brush away the images of snapping his neck from his mind.
"You didn't fail. You thought quickly, with the devil's snare. Am I mad? Livid is a more accurate word, but he's alive. And he will heal, so you did your job, don't spend your life dwelling on one mistake. Trust me, it doesn't fulfil anything."