Could I be serious? Sure. Was I going to take is seriously? Absolutely not. To show him what I thought about this new roommate, I turned the volume up to max and ignored him. Andul grabbed the stereo and threw it out of my open window.
I was rather shocked. "I really liked that system! Why would you do that?"
Now he was the one to ignore me. "Abigail, this is Rebecca."
"It's Becca," I snapped. "You better replace my stereo. That wasn't cheap."
He turned to me with a clenched jaw. "Then maybe you should have had some more respect."
I growled to myself and eyed Abigail. She nodded to me with a friendly and slightly shy smile. Already she didn't seem as uptight as the others. Her clothes were modest, nothing too flashy or eye-catching. I circled around her with suspicion.
"Favorite music?"
She didn't even pause to think. "Dubstep is probably my favorite, but I like everything."
"Opinion on mushrooms?" I detested the nasty little things.
"Fungus really shouldn't be considered food."
I nodded thoughtfully. Good response.
"Clothes?"
She frowned. "I'm not sure I understand the question. Should I say none?"
That got a real laugh out of me. "Fair enough." Her humor was enough for me to be satisfied. "Now the real question is what do we think of Andy's blatant disrespect of other people's stereo systems?"
Abigail stayed quiet. I didn't blame her. Most of them had valid reason to fear their Crown Prince.
I draped an arm over her shoulder, solely focused on Andul. "That's okay. I think that Andy dearest here is a snob."
I heard the sharp intake of her breath as his eyes flashed into golden globes.
I leaned towards her ear to fake whisper, "He also likes my ass, but he won't admit it."
His fists clenched and turned white. "I am leaving before I decide to end your miserable existence right here and now."
"Aw, I love you too!" I called to his back before the door slammed shut.
I let go of Abigail and chuckled to myself. Her eyes were wide with what almost resembled awe.
"I can't believe you said that to him," she said.
My shoulders lifted into a shrug. "So far, he's mostly all hot air."
She shook her head. "No, I've seen him kill a demon before. He was at the shops in Elton and the demon said he should marry a horse to keep their line pure."
What kind of an insult was that? "He killed someone over that?"
"His father's so much worse."
I already knew that, but what took me by surprise was that she just admitted it aloud.
She continued, "He hates demons and thinks we should abolish them back to hell and seal them inside."
"Yeah," I agreed. "I know all about that."
The angel king didn't just hate demons, he hated the angels who struck friendships with them, too. Those who kept their demon relations didn't go back to Eden very often. They watched an angel with any demon acquaintance like a hawk back in Eden. The smallest mistake could have them labeled as a traitor.
"What about you?" I asked her.
She sat down on the edge of Melissa's bed. Well, her bed now. To be fair, Melissa was probably going to burn everything once she got it back.
"I don't really have an opinion on it. Demons have done nothing wrong towards me. Saying all demons are bad is like saying all dogs bite, and it's just not true."
"You do realize I'm half demon, right?"
Her laugh was melodious. "I'm pretty sure everyone in this school knows who you are."
Le sigh. "How tragic. There are going to be guards around me most of the time. Meaning in this space and invading my privacy and therefore yours by association. I understand if you want to switch rooms."
"Nah, that's okay. I volunteered to come here."
Again, this girl surprised me. "You volunteered?"
Her blond curls bobbed with her nod. Such an expressive and unconcealed face. This girl wore her emotions for everyone to see, and damn if it didn't make me want to protect her a little bit.
"The Crown Prince started making some inquiries about a week ago."
Right around when they cruelly cut my freedom short. "I knew he planned this!"
"Well, with Missy, she can be a bit…extreme. It was destined to end badly. I don't know what you did to her, but she came into the main common area screeching something I couldn't understand."
I smirked with a chuckle. "I made her want me with my succubus powers. May have been cruel, but to be fair, she deserved it."
"Unfortunately, there are a lot like her in this school. Most of them blame you for all the new, stricter curfews. Once you left, they had us on total lock-down for a month to strengthen wards and barriers."
Oof, that was rough. "They can blame me all they want. It doesn't bother me any. If they wanna get technical, they can blame the angels for why I left. No offense."
"None taken." Abigail glanced down at her hands when she spoke the next words, "I don't know if it'll mean much, but I'm sorry about your dad."
I sucked in a breath, unable to release it or feel anything other than the pounding in my chest. I'd heard many phrases. "Such a pity." "What a shame he strayed." "It must be difficult." But not once had anyone ever told me they were sorry he died.
"Thank you." My voice sounded quiet, even to me. "I might be what they all say, but he never was. He wasn't a traitor."
I knew he was innocent of the crime. Their accusation was impossible. My father couldn't have been where they said he was, because he was with me when the full strength of my powers flooded my body. He didn't leave my side once. He died to keep my secrets.
When it happened, I tried to get them to listen. I was ready to let them know anything they wanted if it meant saving him. But I was too late. They didn't care, and they killed him.