Author's Note: Switching things up a little this week. Instead of fanart I wanted to share the official HvV playlist! These were all songs I listened to while writing the book that reminded me of the characters and story. I'd love to hear if any of you guys have any songs you'd like on a HvV playlist because I'm always looking to add more!

Playlist Link:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4UdHxp7fVrECsNGL0PbFq4?si=hiKs3HvgQXS1LxnDn7tUkg

Ridley

"Ridley, it's time to come back."

The second I heard the words, I felt myself being pulled into reality.

It was as if both my vision and mind were slowly coming back into focus, like waking up from a dream despite never actually being asleep.

Standing there was Vandel, looking over me with his pitch black eyes.

I jerked forward only to find myself restrained by the sharp nip of rope biting into my skin. Frantically, I looked around my surroundings, realizing I'd been tied firmly to a chair in the middle of a small room.

"I'm sorry about all of this. I didn't really have any other option but to tie you up knowing your track record of escaping from places you seriously have no business escaping from." Vandel sighed heavily, crossing his arms.

"How could you do it," I asked softly. "Why would you use the power you gained during what we...what we did...against me? After all the trust I put in you that you wouldn't..."

"I had to save your life." Vandel's expression was unreadable as he spoke. His lower lip quivered slightly but his voice remained firm. "Nothing else matters to me except that. I don't care if you resent me for the rest of your life, I don't care if it means I never get to be happy again because I've lost you forever. All I want...all I care about...is that you get to survive." He swallowed hard. "You still have so much to offer. How could I live with myself if I did nothing while such a light to the world was so pointlessly snuffed out?"

"So why me?" I choked out, trying to keep myself from crying in front of him yet again. "Why protect a human like me and not my father? My father was the kindest man in Alteria. He made the world a better place and you mercilessly slaughtered him in his own home. Why try so hard to save my life when you yourself cut his short?"

Vandel hesitated a moment, his gaze flickering to the floor before taking a deep breath.

"I didn't want to tell you," he said softly, hanging his head. "I thought it would be better for you to never find out. But...but now I see you're putting your life at stake and...fuck, I don't know what to do..."

"What's there to tell me?" I asked, trying my best to keep my voice from trembling. "Vandel, what aren't you telling me?"

"I...fuck...what if telling you makes everything even worse?" Vandel looked at me and his expression was so miserable that it made my heart feel like it was shattering in two.

I let out a low, shaky breath.

"You don't need to protect me," I said slowly. "Whatever you're trying to keep from me...I...I should know."

Vandel finally lifted his head.

"You sure?" he asked, his voice so quiet I could hardly hear it.

I nodded stiffly. "Yes. I'm sure."

Despite my words, my entire body was wrought with fear for whatever was about to come next.

Vandel took a deep breath and I saw his eyes had become slightly wet.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered softly, quickly wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "I'm so fucking sorry, Ridley."

With those words, Vandel gently pressed his forehead against mine.

And then suddenly I was seeing fire.

Panicked, I tried to move my head only to find I couldn't. Seconds later the screaming started—high pitched and terrified. I felt my vision jerked in the direction of it.

At last, I realized what was happening. I was seeing into someone's memories.

Were they Vandel's?

I saw a group of demons running through the flames, a mother and four children. She was carrying a baby and a toddler in her arms, the two others running beside her couldn't have been older than eight.

"What happened?" came Vandel's voice, hoarse and panicked.

Ah, so these were the Demon Prince's memories after all.

The woman was in tears, shaking violently.

"He attacked the outer hive," she choked between sobs. "Almost everyone has been wiped out. They're all ...they're all dead. He's coming...you need to run, Your Highness. He's going to kill us all--"

And that's when an all too familiar sword emerged from the flames, piercing through her chest.

My stomach dropped, horror overtaking me as my father stepped out of the fire, Crystalbreaker dripping with ink black demon blood.

This wasn't the man I remembered.

The kind, smiling expression on the father who used to balance me on his knee and tell me stories was gone. Instead there was only a cruel smile on his blood splattered face.

The baby had begun to shriek as it hit the ground and my father quickly snatched it from its mother's dead arms.

I could feel Vandel's horror mixed with my own.

"Leave them alone!" I heard him shriek. "They're children!"

"They're monsters," my father replied coldly. "You all are. Every last one of you deserves to die."

Vandel's body jerked forward to try and get between my father and the demon children but my father was faster. Before Vandel could even lift his hands to cast a spell, my father sprung forward, his movements so fast they didn't seem humanly possible. I heard Vandel scream in horror as he murdered the children one by on in a matter of seconds. He sliced through them, cutting each sobbing child down like an animal before they even had time to cry out.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

I only got one last glimpse of my father. The length of his arm had gone completely white as if it had melded itself into Crystalbreaker. I was met with the horrifying realization of how similar my fingers looked when I had killed Percival.

That's when Vandel started to run for his life. If he didn't, we both knew he'd be murdered as quickly as those children. I could feel Vandel's heart thundering in his chest as if it were my own.

I let out a small yelp of pain as I felt the crack of bones...Vandel's as he transformed...and then we were in the air, soaring above the fire and thick smoke that filled the night.

Suddenly I was standing in the courtyard again on the snowy night that had been seared into my memory like a scar on my skin. My blood ran cold, terror seizing my gut.

I approached the crowd of demons surrounding my family through Vandel's eyes. We stepped up beside a cloaked demon who turned to face us.

I could hear my mother and sister crying and the sound made another horrible wave of nausea hit me.

"Well?" Vandel asked.

The demon nodded his head.

"It's exactly as you predicted. Away from the battlefield and his weapons he's nothing more than any other human. We have him completely cornered. But that just leads to even more questions. Where was he getting his power from? Does it come from blood? A weapon? Hell, is he somehow getting it from someone else?"

I felt Vandel shake his head. "It doesn't matter. Let's just kill the bastard while we have the chance. We can't risk having him escape while we try to interrogate him. This might be our only chance." Vandel's gaze at last drifted to my sister and mother. "Why are they here?" he asked dryly.

The other demon swallowed hard.

"Uh...I had been meaning to get to that." He let out a low, shaky breath. "They were already with him when we raided his home. When we captured him he admitted he had seen us approaching and had..." he grimaced, "...injected them with nightroot while they slept before waking them up and bringing them here."

A jolt of nauseating dread shot through me.

"What," Vandel gasped, sounding as horrified as I felt. "He poisoned them? But everyone knows those poisoned by nightroot suffer an extremely painful and elongated death. Why the fuck would he do that to his own family?"

"He claimed it was so they wouldn't suffer a death at the hands of the demons but I think he has a different purpose in mind." He sighed softly. "I think he wants us to kill them to put them out of their misery so he and his family will appear as martyrs."

If I was in my own body I would have probably keeled over and vomited my brains out at this discovery.

Vandel was still for a moment before finally bowing his head. "Then I fear we have no choice but to give him what he wants."

The demon jerked forward in shock.

"W-What?"

"Even if that's his goal, we have to kill them. What kind of monsters would we be if we let his innocent wife and child suffer horribly for his misdeeds. Let's at least grant them a painless death." Vandel shut his eyes. "Give the order to kill them."

To my relief, Vandel kept his eyes shut as I heard my mother and sister die. I don't think I would've been able to stomach watching it again.

When the horrible deed had been done, Vandel's eyes fluttered open once more and he stalked forward, finally moving to stand in front of my father. The crowd parted to let him through and I saw the familiar sight of my father staring back at him, held on either side by a demon.

"You're a monster," Vandel said coldly. "And you're going to die like one."

And with that he...we...ripped his throat out.

With a jolt, I was back in the small room with Vandel.

Slowly the Demon Prince drew his head back from mine. His breathing was heavy and ragged, most likely from the power used to share his memories with me.

I was too horrified to move and far too tired to cry. Hell, I wasn't sure if I even had any tears left in me.

Gently, Vandel released the ropes from around my wrists. I felt them slip to the floor but I made little effort to move, still letting the disgusting truth of what I had just learned sink in.

Vandel let out a low breath.

"I'm sorry I had to show you that," he said softly. "And I'm sorry for what I did. I hope you can understand why...but still...they were your family and I...I..." Vandel's shoulders were trembling. "I never even knew the Demon Eater had a second child."

"He wanted a witness," I said slowly, feeling like I might just collapse right then and there. "That's the only reason he kept me alive and told me to stay hidden...he wanted me to see him die. He wanted me to tell the story and avenge him by sparking more hatred and killing even more demons and I...I fell right into it." I buried my face in my hands, a horrible, overwhelming rush of guilt crashing over me. "I based my entire life off a lie. An illusion. I wanted to be perfect, just like him...but...but he was a monster. I'm just like him...I'm disgusting..."

"No," Vandel said, quickly moving to my side. He reached out a hand to touch me but quickly stopped himself, as if unsure if he was still allowed to. "You're not a monster, Ridley," he continued gently. "You're nothing like that man. You're kind, and good, and noble, and you would never hurt an innocent person. Besides," he cast me a soft smile, "you've already done something your father would never have been able to."

I slowly lifted my head to look at him, trying my best to keep my voice from trembling.

"Which is?"

"You saw a demon as more than a monster. You saw one as a friend, as an equal. As..." he hesitated a moment, "...as someone you could even love once." His gaze flickered to the ground, awkwardly looking away.

My heart began to pound and suddenly all I could recall was the horrible pain I had felt from not being with him. I had felt so empty...so alone...like a piece of me was missing.

The words tumbled from my mouth before I even realized I had spoken.

"I still do."

"W-What?" Vandel stammered.

"I still love you...I never stopped."

I wasn't sure which one of us was moving towards the other first but suddenly I was in his arms and he was pulling me close and for the first time in a long time I felt safe and held and warm.

I didn't know what the future held.

I didn't know what or who I was supposed to be anymore.

All I knew was that the Demon Prince loved me and right now that was enough.