I Am The Demon Prince

CHAPTER 6: The Little One

The air brakes hissed as the regional bus pulled up to the curb. Its doors swung open and Lila Brooks jumped onto the concrete pavement with a half-eaten bag of chips in one hand and a bulging canvas backpack slung over her shoulder.

Her dark curls bounced around her face as she scanned the busy street. The moment she spotted Tyler standing near a lamppost, she sprinted across the sidewalk to him.

“You look terrible,” Lila said, dropping her chips into his hand before wrapping her arms around his ribs.

“I am a college student,” Tyler replied, hugging her back. “We are supposed to look terrible. Hand me your bag before you knock someone over.”

“I want to see the science building first,” Lila announced. “You told Mom they have a real dinosaur skeleton in the main lobby.”

“The science building is closed for renovations,” Tyler lied without missing a beat. “We're going to the art gallery, the main library, then the dining hall. I have the entire weekend planned out hour by hour.”

Lila frowned, crossing her arms. “That sounds boring.”

“It's highly educational,” Tyler argued, steering her toward the campus paths.

Alex stood near the front desk of the freshman dorm building, watching the glass doors. A few minutes later, Tyler marched his shorter, curly-haired sister through the entrance. She had the same stubborn chin as her brother, though her restless movements gave her the look of someone always preparing to bolt.

“Alex, this is my sister, Lila,” Tyler said, dropping the heavy backpack onto the floor tiles. “Lila, this is my roommate.”

“You're the guy who sleeps on the floor,” Lila stated.

She walked straight up to Alex and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Alex took it and gave her a quick shake.

Lila gasped, immediately yanking her fingers away. She rubbed her palms together, staring at his hands as though he'd given her a block of ice.

“Your skin feels like a winter morning. Are you sick?”

“The heater in my room is broken,” Alex lied, shoving his hands deep into his jacket pockets. “It keeps the place cold.”

“Tyler told me the heater works fine,” Lila pointed out, narrowing her dark eyes. “He actually complains that you keep the window open at night.”

“I prefer the fresh air,” Alex replied, shooting his roommate a warning look.

“We need to get to the dining hall before the good pizza runs out,” Tyler announced, clapping his hands loudly to kill the conversation.

The dining hall smelled of burnt cheese and industrial floor cleaner. Alex, Tyler and Lila claimed an empty booth near the back windows, settling in while she talked nonstop between bites of pizza. She fired off questions about professors, dorm food and the local boxing gym, barely pausing long enough to chew.

Watching her chatter, Alex finally understood why Tyler fought so hard to keep the supernatural world hidden from her. Lila was just a kid visiting her older brother, completely unaware of the monsters living beneath the floorboards.

Across from her, Tyler tore his paper napkin into tiny strips, clearly struggling with the simple task of keeping his sister safe in a public place.

A shadow fell across their plastic table.

Korrath pulled out the empty chair beside Lila and sat down without asking. Wearing a dark sweater, he greeted the table with a warm, charming smile that looked entirely genuine.

“Mind if I join you?” Korrath asked.

“Yes,” Tyler answered immediately. “We mind.”

Korrath ignored the boxer, turning his full attention to Lila instead.

“I don't think we've met. I'm Korrath.”

“I'm Lila,” she replied, wiping tomato sauce from her chin.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Lila,” Korrath said, resting his arms on the table. “Are you getting the grand tour of Crestwood today?”

“Tyler is making me look at boring paintings and old books,” Lila complained. “I want to see the cool stuff.”

“I know all the really old parts of campus,” Korrath offered, leaning slightly toward her. “The original architecture is fascinating. There are stone pathways behind the science building that date back a century. I could show you.”

“She isn't going anywhere with you,” Tyler warned.

He half-rose from his plastic chair, his hands curling into fists.

A plastic lunch tray clattered onto the table beside Lila's plate.

Jenna Morales slid into the booth next to the younger girl, playfully bumping her shoulder against Lila's arm as though they had been best friends for years.

“Sorry I'm late,” Jenna said. “I got held up in a study group. Are you ready for our tour, Lila?”

Confused, Lila nodded slowly. “I guess so.”

“We're sticking to the main quad,” Jenna stated, staring directly into Korrath's eyes. “We don't need a tour guide.”

Korrath maintained his pleasant smile as he stood, brushing an invisible crumb from his dark sweater before looking at Alex.

“Enjoy the family visit,” he said.

He stepped closer to Alex, lowering his voice so only the demon prince could hear him.

“She hears things, you know. Most children do.”

Korrath walked away, disappearing into the noisy crowd near the beverage station.

A cold knot formed in Alex's stomach. He rubbed the center of his chest as the seal hummed with a low, vibrating warning. Across the table, Tyler was busy convincing Lila that the art gallery actually had a secret, haunted basement.

Alex watched them, unable to shake Korrath's words.

The sun went down early, casting long shadows across the campus lawns. Outside the dorm building, Tyler paced near the entrance while arguing with his mother over the phone about his scholarship money. Lila sat on a concrete bench nearby, swinging her legs as she chewed a piece of pink bubblegum.

Alex stood by the glass double doors, watching her every move. A few feet away, Jenna leaned against the brick wall with her arms crossed, constantly scanning the dark tree line.

Suddenly, Lila stopped swinging her legs. She tilted her head toward the brick wall of the adjacent science building, frowning as though she'd heard something.

She stood and stepped onto the grass, following a sound nobody else seemed to notice.

“Lila, stay near the bench!” Tyler called, covering his phone's microphone with one hand.

“I hear a tapping noise,” she replied, walking farther into the shadows beyond the streetlights. “It sounds like someone knocking on a metal pipe.”

“There are no pipes out there,” Tyler argued, turning his attention back to his phone call.

Alex felt a sudden, sharp tug inside his chest.

The brand flared against his ribs, sending a spike of pure adrenaline through his veins. The magic recognized a direct, lethal threat. He pushed away from the glass doors and sprinted across the lawn before he even realized he was moving.

Jenna noticed his reaction, drew the silver blade from her jacket, then raced across the cold grass after him.

Meanwhile, Lila followed the rhythmic tapping around the corner of the dorm building. The dirt path led straight to a dark, rusted metal grate covering an old steam tunnel exit near the edge of the science department. The tapping grew louder, more frantic, as she approached the bars.

She knelt on the damp ground and peered into the darkness beyond the iron grate.

“Hello?” Lila called into the hole.

A pale hand with unnaturally long fingers shot through the rusted bars. Gray claws reached for her throat, moving faster than any human eye could follow.

Alex slammed into Lila's side, wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her backward onto the cold dirt. He rolled with her, shielding her small body with his back as the creature shrieked and lunged against the grate.

Jenna arrived a second later, stepping over Alex before swinging her silver blade in a brutal downward arc.

The weapon sliced clean through the creature's gray wrist. Black ash sprayed across the grass as the severed claw dissolved into nothing. The thing inside the tunnel released a hollow, rattling hiss before retreating into the underground pipes, leaving the rusted grate shaking in its frame.

Alex pulled Lila to her feet and immediately checked her arms for scratches.

Tyler sprinted around the corner, dropped his phone onto the grass, then stumbled to a stop with his chest heaving.

“What happened? What is going on?”

“She wandered too close to the grate,” Jenna explained, wiping her blade against the leg of her jeans before sliding it back into her pocket.

Lila trembled in Alex's arms. Her face had gone chalk-white, her eyes wide with genuine shock as she clutched the fabric of his jacket in both hands.

“Are you hurt?” Alex asked, keeping his voice steady despite the burning rage threatening to crack the seal on his chest.

Lila shook her head slowly, staring at the dark tunnel entrance.

“Did it scratch you?” Tyler demanded, gripping her shoulders as he searched her face for injuries.

“No,” Lila whispered.

She looked up at Alex, speaking so softly that her words barely carried above the wind rustling the dead leaves.

“It didn't hurt me.”

“Then why are you shaking?” Tyler asked.

Lila kept her dark eyes fixed on Alex.

“Because it spoke to me.”

Jenna stepped closer to the terrified girl. “Did it ask for help? Did it tell you to run?”

“No,” Lila replied, her voice trembling as the next words caught in her throat.

“It said, ‘Greetings, Prince Thraxul.’”