Ignite

Chapter 9

Rohan's POV

Getting the keys to Pyrus' car was easy after I told him why I needed them. I planned on taking Shyrah to get our rings since we were here. Most businesses have closed up due to preparing to move, but I made a special phone call to a woman I've known for many years, and she said she would be more than happy to open long enough for Shryah and I to pick what we want. 

"So where are we going," Shryah asked curiously as I began to drive. "It's a surprise," I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me, "Is that so?" I chuckled softly with a nod, "It's very so." 

We fell into silence after that, simply enjoying the music that played. We got to shop and Libby, the owner, opened it with a bright smile. "It's been over a century Rohan." 

I chuckled softly as I wrapped an arm around Shyrah, "I've been busy. This is my mate Shyrah." Shryah looked the woman over, "It's nice to meet you." Shryah wasn't the biggest people person, usually coming off as cold and stand offish with people she's meeting for the first time. Given how people tend to treat her and each other as of late, I didn't blame her. 

Libby smiled brightly, "I'm so happy Rohan finally found someone." 

Shryah then nodded then looked up at me, "So why are we here?" 

"For our rings," I told her. Her eyes widened slightly but she didn't say anything. 

Libby lead us over to her counter, "These are some of the many I haven't packed up yet. I know Rohan prefers the darker metals so I made sure to pull some of those out as well." 

"It's whatever Shyrah chooses," I told Libby. "Even if it's something obnoxious," Shyrah asked with a smirk. 

I chuckled softly with a nod, "It could be pink and sparkly and I would still wear it." "Don't tempt me," she said as she began to look over the various ring styles. She tried on a couple but she settled on a simple black diamond ring that was cut in a tear drop style with two small regular diamonds on either side of it. For me she chose a simple silver wide band that had a black diamond in the center. 

I paid before taking her hand, leading her back out to the car. As I drove, we saw many were either protesting or packing. "It's ridiculous how humans treat those who are different," Shyrah said to me. 

I nodded, "We do the same to our own kind." She nodded, "I'm aware. Mom didn't have the easiest life. I get shit just because I'm a demon, but after the shit that happened, I don't blame them." 

"But you should," I told her. "It's not like you had a part to play in the shit that had happened." 

She seemed to tense slightly, and didn't make any comments. "Right," I asked her. 

She sighed softly, "It's complicated." "What the fuck is complicated," I asked her. 

"The whole demon apocalypse situation is complicated," she shared with me. "Yes, realm demons didn't really play a part in what happened. Except, my sisters and I did." 

I pulled into an abandoned parking lot, "I'm gonna need the story." 

She sighed, "Do you remember the war between witches and warlocks?" 

"Yeah some jealous witch cursed the warlocks and they went into hiding," I said to her. 

"Not exactly," she told me. "The warlocks, dad included, had been turned into the cursed demons that got sealed away into the books. Most of the warlocks lost their memories and succumbed to the curse entirely, but dad managed to hang on to his memories and his drive to free himself and the others from their curse. While they were in the books, when my sisters and I were kids, Mania was just learning how to use her magic and she dimension traveled us into the books, and we couldn't figure out how to get out. Dad adopted us and taught us everything we knew. At the time, we didn't what he really was or is actual motives. He was losing hope that the curse would ever be broken, and that was why he never told us what he really was until after the apocalypse was over and he was turned back. The Goddess changed everyone's memories except my parents', my sisters' and my memories. She let my parents keep their memories because that was when she bound Qin to them as their mate. She felt the warlocks shouldn't have been punished because of a curse a witch put on them. Qin just wanted to break the curse. She didn't affect ours because she felt if she did, we wouldn't be able to properly forgive him for hiding his identity from us." She ran a hand through her hair. "During the apocalypse though, I lead an army of the cursed demons. I went to kill my mom during the apocalypse." 

She looked down at her lap, her thumb picking at the chipped polish on one of her fingers. "I regret every choice and decision I made back then, and I'm constantly trying to make up for it. I'm telling you this because my feelings for you are beginning to change and I didn't know how you feel about me, but I felt it wrong that your feelings change without knowing all of me. I told my mom that I didn't want my siblings knowing about my past, but because you're my mate, I wanted to tell you." 

To say I was shocked was an understatement. As she spoke it felt like a fog was lifted in my mind as my memories shifted slightly. I could easily tell that she was struggling with this. 

"Did your mom forgive you," I asked her. 

She nodded, "Yeah." 

"Then I don't see why you still shoulder this guilt," I told her. She looked up at me then. "You don't hate me?" 

"It's in the past Shyrah," I told her. "I see your efforts, and I feel that you have more than made up for your mistakes." 

I cupped her cheek, my thumb running along her cheek bone, "Your past does not define you, it's how you move forward that does. You are breaking your back trying to help get our land ready for the people to move too, pushing yourself so hard you're dragging your feet back to our tent at night. Your mother has forgiven you, I don't blame you for what happened, now you just need to forgive yourself." 

"How do I do that," she asked me. 

"That I don't know," I confessed to her. "However, you're intelligent, I know you'll figure it out."  

She smiled while rolling her eyes. I then leaned over the console and gave her a kiss. We all had pasts. I wasn't going to hold it against her, her sisters, or against Qin. They've more than made up for the shit that happened, and I will die protecting their secrets.