The day passed with little to no drama. Once they were done shopping, they stopped by Clara’s place and helped her pack before driving back ho. Damian ordered takeout and ate with the girls, the atmosphere calm on the surface.
They watched a horror movie while eating, the flickering light from the screen dancing across their faces. By the end of the night, Clara was already in a hurry to get to bed, her energy spent from the day’s excitent. Damian accompanied her to her room and stayed until she fell asleep before quietly returning to his own.
Lying on his bed, he stared up at the chandelier hanging above him, its intricate design casting faint shadows across the ceiling. His gaze remained fixed on it as his thoughts drifted.
All his life, he had wanted a child of his own. Soone he could love and care for in ways his parents never did for him. A family had always been part of his dream, and at the center of that dream stood a child.
He never minded the danger that ca with his current path. Fighting gods and demons, stepping into a world far beyond human limits, none of it mattered as long as he could carve out monts to return ho, to sothing that belonged to him.
To soone that belonged to him.
Knock! Knock!
The sound ca hesitantly, almost reluctant. Before he could respond, the door creaked open, and Racheal was pushed inside. The door shut behind her just as quickly.
She turned to glare at it for a brief mont, but whatever courage she had gathered quickly faded. Slowly, she turned back toward Damian.
He was already looking at her.
Or rather, through her.
His gaze felt distant, unfocused, as if she were not truly there.
They remained like that for a while, locked in silence. Damian had nothing to say, and Racheal waited, hoping he would speak first.
He didn’t.
Swallowing lightly, she took a step forward.
"Did I say sothing wrong last night?" she asked.
Damian blinked, and his gaze sharpened, finally settling on her. For the first ti since she entered, it felt like he was actually looking at her.
He still did not respond.
His eyes shifted to the door, lingering there for nearly a minute before he finally spoke.
"Hazel, Ruby... co in."
Brr!
They appeared almost instantly, crimson and erald flas folding into their forms as they stepped forward. Their heads were slightly lowered, nervousness clear on their faces.
Damian looked at them for a mont before speaking.
"Is my role in all of this so insignificant that it’s alright to withhold information from ?"
Buzz!
Their expressions stiffened as they exchanged shocked glances. The weight of his words hit harder than anything they expected.
"What do you an? You are our husband!" Hazel replied, her voice edged with emotion.
She felt the sting of his accusation deeply.
"Don’t give that bullshit," Damian cut her off, his voice turning cold.
He sat up abruptly, his eyes blazing with restrained anger. The shift in his deanor stunned them. This was the first ti he had ever looked at them like this.
"The abyssal mating was forced on . Information has been withheld from several tis. Even after our last family eting where I begged you all to be open, I still received half truths. Then last night, I just happened to learn that I cannot have a child of my own because of this power..."
His voice remained low and controlled, but the anger beneath it burned fiercely. He had wanted this to be calm, to be asured, but Hazel’s earlier response had already stirred sothing within him.
He stopped speaking, shutting his eyes tightly as he struggled to steady his breathing.
"So tell ... how can I be called your husband if I am kept in the dark about sothing this important?" he asked.
Ruby stepped forward, shaking her head.
"No... you don’t get to sit there and accuse us of withholding information, especially when it wasn’t intentional. It just wasn’t important, so it slipped our minds."
Her words hung in the air.
Damian laughed.
It was quiet, hollow, and deeply unsettling.
"And that’s exactly why it hurts so much," he said, his eyes filled with sothing far heavier than anger. "If you had deliberately kept it from , it would have made so sense. But instead, all three of you forgot to tell that I will never have a child of my own because it wasn’t important enough and it slipped your minds..."
He let out a long breath, a bitter smile forming on his lips.
Only then did Ruby’s expression change. Her hand rose to cover her mouth as realization struck. Hearing it repeated stripped her excuse of any defense it once had.
Damian’s soft, empty chuckle only made it worse.
The massive room suddenly felt suffocating. Despite the distance between them, the weight of his pain pressed down on all three of them.
"You know," Damian continued, his voice quieter now, "I don’t think the importance of the ssage is the problem. Because last night, I also learned the truth about what the life of a god looks like. Even sothing that important was left out, so don’t use that excuse."
He looked at them directly, his gaze empty, his voice devoid of warmth.
"The truth is, the person who isn’t important here is . I may be your husband. I may be the sin of lust. But before all of that, I am still that weak human with less than thirty years of experience, soone who apparently shouldn’t have a say in what happens in his own life. That’s why Hazel thought it was acceptable to let her husband suffer before telling him why."
His eyes shifted to Ruby.
"That’s why Ruby thinks my ability to procreate being stripped from is not important."
Silence fell.
Not a single one of them spoke.
Their faces twisted with pain, not because his words wounded their pride, but because they could not deny them.
Watching their silence, Damian felt sothing inside him sink further.
He had hoped they would argue. That they would tell him he was wrong.
They didn’t.
His gaze moved slowly to Racheal, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Now I know what it feels like to be looked down on by demons."
None of them could respond.
They simply watched as he lay back down and pulled the duvet over himself, shutting them out completely.
"I want to sleep," he said quietly. "I’m allowed so privacy at least, right?"
Each word struck like a blade.
Yet none of them knew how to respond, how to fix what had already been broken without making it worse.
In the end, they said nothing.
They turned and walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind them, leaving Damian alone in the silence he had chosen.
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