Chapter 9: The Devil's Carol

"But I saw her first," Mr. Gorgeous blue eyes shot.

"She belongs to me," Utasha declared with a threatening expression, as if daring the other guy to repeat himself.

Warona wasn't sure whether it was her sexual frustrations getting ahead of her or Utasha looked really hot in that suit.

She decided to settle with the latter.

The other guy glared at Utasha before leaving for another lady.

With that, Utasha grinned and pulled Warona with him. To her own surprise, she complied.

They joined the other couples on the dance floor and her eyes met Calvin who was holding the purple-haired girl at a distance. His glance reminded Warona of their secret quest.

Utasha put his arm around her waist, the action diverted Warona's attention from her cousin to the man holding her. She could swear she was going to burst. The simple proximity of their bodies made her breathing hit a halt.

"It's alright. Relax," Utasha whispered in her ear, like he had read her thoughts. "I'm not a bad person."

Warona couldn't trust that, considering what people said about him. She kept her hands on his shoulders nervously but the reaction only made Utasha grin.

Devil's son indeed.

"You know . . . It has been years and years since I attended one of these."

His voice was beautiful. It reminded Warona of dawn and horses running on a seashore.

"My father was rather thrilled when he heard that I was coming to the grand ball tonight," he continued, "Said I got an eye for some girl. And I boldly told him he was being pathetic. I thought he was wrong until . . . "

Warona heard the music slow and so did their moves. It was getting too romantic for her to bear. Love was hanging all over the air, much to her expectations.

"Until I saw you walk into those doors tonight." He finished.

Then her heart hit a halt.

Her eyes looked up at the creature she was holding on to, and he looked back down at her before letting go.

"I'm not really sure what's happening right now," her voice trembled.

"Me neither."

Utasha held Warona's hand and before she could fathom where they were going, she noticed other pairs going up the stairs.

She followed suit, hand tight in his.

* * *

Warona's heart raced as they trudged down the candle lit corridor.

Couples were disappearing behind the numerous locked doors.

And then the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

Of course. She couldn't believe she had failed to add it up. I mean–what else could a couple be doing behind a locked bedroom door?

She almost slapped herself for being so stupid.

Worse, she couldn't believe she was a part of this. Worst, she couldn't believe she was with no one other than the devil's son.

Was she really going to let this happen?

She could give up. This was all too much. She couldn't do this.

But again, as she thought of turning back, Calvin's previous glance and his words hit her.

She didn't want to give up now. She promised to save her sister. And that's what she was going to do. No matter the cost, right?

It didn't matter if it took a night with Utasha.

She could do it.

The room Utasha picked was in the farthest corner.

Walking in, Warona had never seen a bedroom so mesmerizing. It was beautifully extravagant, greater than that magnificent ball room.

A queen size bed on the most immaculate floor she had ever seen, a mini sitting room, and a humongous bathroom. But what caught her attention most was the enormous glass window that led to a balcony.

"You like it?" Utasha asked, a secret excitement coated his words.

Was he reading her mind again? She wondered.

With a wide smile, she nodded. She loved it, in exactitude. She cat-walked around, and Utasha let out a little chuckle when she twirled around in the middle of the room like a princess.

The sound of his voice stuck in her ears. As much as she wished to hear it again, she pushed those feelings away and sauntered towards the dressing table at the corner.

She explored the contents on top of it and marveled at the mirror like she had never seen one before. Everything in this place looked exotic to her.

The sound of Utasha locking the door behind them made her suddenly gulp in uneasiness. Her body went frigid, like a mouse caught in its trap.

Then she felt him take her hand. The contact sent her fears away. She could never understand how he did it. Without a word, he guided her towards the window.

She tried to make sense of the countless emotions she was having at that moment, but failed. Her mind reverted to the present where Utasha pushed the glass doors open and together, they stepped into the heavenly place.

A fairytale balcony.

Warona had never seen a night so dark. The moon was nowhere in sight. Only a sheet full of nothing but a few twinkling stars stared back at her.

She felt like she was in one of those barbie movies she used to binge watch when she was younger. Except that this one seemed like a dark academia version of it.

"Scared?" she heard his voice behind her.

They said the sacred soul-bond was all about sharing your deepest, darkest secret.

Maybe this was it.

She remembered Calvin's last words. 'You need to get the information from Utasha first. Don't forget that.'

She was going to play her cards right; she promised herself.

"What's your secret, Utasha Ahmed?" she dropped the question when he stood next to her.

Utasha looked at the girl, as if not believing that she actually asked that.

"Really? Are we really gonna do this?" he let out that little chuckle again before looking at her in disbelief.

"I mean, we might as well get over it," she shrugged.

Silence boarded soon after that, both stealing glances at each other until Warona decided to take one big, bold move.

She parted up her dress and revealed the dagger to the boy beside her, clearly aware of the way Utasha's breath hitched at the sight of her skin. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

"That's my secret. What's yours?" Her voice was low when she asked that.

"Switching secrets already?" His eyes still lingered on her legs. "Okay. Let me think of something."

Aware of how wrong his statement was, yet she loved the sound of it.

"First off, thank you for accepting my invitation."

"That's your secret?" she raised a brow.

"Nope, but here it is . . . "

Before she could guess what he was about to do, the boy leaned in and pressed his lips on hers.

Warona felt her body freeze from shock. Pleasure? No. Her eyes remained wide open, surprised.

When she didn't move away, he took her face in his hands and kissed her more.

What was happening?

She did not know, and she didn't want to know.

The boy was something else.

She couldn't believe she thought she was prepared for this, only to realize how much she wasn't. Why was everything going anticlockwise?

Warona struggled between getting answers and avoiding the demi-devil's touch. Push him away or pull him closer? She wanted to do both.

She ended up doing the latter, which the boy took as a cue to carry her to the royal bed.

He didn't stop kissing her as he lay her down and climbed on top of her. And when he did stop, she felt an extreme need to tell him not to. She started worrying if he had successfully put her under his spell or something.

But that was unlikely, because out of nowhere, Utasha pulled himself off of her with an unapologetic expression she couldn't fathom.

"I-I'm sorry, I got carried away," he apologized.

Warona couldn't believe what she just heard.

Who knew devils could be sorry?

For the millionth time on the same night, she was baffled. She couldn't believe she just kissed that beautiful stranger from her bathroom who also happened to be her target to kill.

And why was she suddenly pitying him?

Utasha cleared his throat, but Warona was still speechless. She was now trying to make sense of this whole 'sacred soul-bonding' fiasco.

"I really wanna do this. I've always wanted to do this from the first time I saw you." he looked like he was struggling to keep his hands to himself. "But secrets for secrets first, right?"

She was slowly starting to think perhaps it wouldn't be that difficult to get the information out of him. He had fallen so easily, smitten with her. Or was it just his face?

She smiled, enticed at how pretty he looked when flustered. This was her pawn, and she was going to place it on the table like the champion she was. Checkmate.

"I want it all, though. With nothing left . . . I wanna be the one who knows you the most after this night, Utasha," she pulled him back towards her, entwining their fingers.

"In return, I want it all, too. With nothing left. All of you," A spade for a spade, fair play.

“I am not fond of soul-bonding already. Can we go back to the wine-sipping with classic music playing on the background part?"

Utasha laughed.

Yes. He did.

And it was the most beautiful sound Warona had ever heard. She hated herself for it.

"I'll make it worth it, trust me," he stole a kiss from her lips.

Warona wasn't sure how to take this, but she deemed herself choiceless.

This was the only way to get what she wanted.

Truth, she sought. For herself.

Freedom, she sought. For her sister and for other innocent lives who were locked up in god knew where.

She was set for her mission, even if it costed her body. Even if the price consisted of sharing an addictive kiss with the devil's son. Even if it took being bed by him for a night that was going to feel like a lifetime in heaven.

"Start slow," she breathed, trying to ignore the rush of her blood when he moved the hair out of her face. "Who are you?"

Utasha shifted, and the two sat next to each other as if they secretly weren't each other's worst foes. Their enmity had been burnt long ago with the fire of that kiss.

"Where should I start? From the biological point of view?" he tightened his grip on her hand.

"Ya, that too."

"Well . . . My mother was a local girl from Zanzibar, who had her life intact until her father married her off to Draver. She had me when she was sixteen and she waited until she conceived me before she committed suicide."

Warona had never thought it would be possible to sympathize with a demi-devil, yet here she was.

"So I really never got to know her, despite how much I wish I did. I think she was a girl in torment, and I'm glad she saved herself."

"You think death is saving?", she kept still as his fingers moved up her arm and down again, as if trying to memorize her skin.

"Yes. It is. You won't understand if you don't spend ninety-nine percent of your life with demons and a devil for a father."

"I thought there would be light in your tunnel just being who you are. I mean, you're the devil's son. After all, you can get anything you want in the world."

"It's really not as it seems."

"Nothing ever is, I guess," she whispered in response.

"I grew up in the underworld, and I've always felt caged in my body after my father forced me to be something I wasn't. I longed to free myself one day, just like my mother. I feel like there's a feeling I yearn to feel but it's not in this world," their eyes met for a second. "It's in my mother's arms."

Warona gave out a sad smile.

She liked the way he phrased it — 'In his mother's arms.'

"We all belong somewhere. We're all destined to be in somebody's arms, that's what I believe. It's up to us to figure out who it is and run to them. And to me, that's my mother. I belong in her arms and not in this godforsaken world. Where you belong is where your soul actually rests in peace. It's in those arms."

"I feel like I'm gaining insights from you that I'm not supposed to be gaining," she smiled.

Utasha chuckled a bit at Warona's statement, making the girl's stomach run with collywobbles without his knowledge.

"It's the truth about me, take it or leave it."

"So being a demi-devil isn't as fun as I thought, huh?"

"I like your sense of humour," he chuckled again.

"Compliment taken," she smiled.

Then everything froze again, creating an awkward but sweet silence.

"You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen, Warona," he whispered.

She felt her heart halt. Nobody has ever said such a thing to her. Well, at least no devil ever did.

"Compliment not taken, you don't mean that. Just because I'm dressed up for a party and –"

"No," he looked at her. "I thought you were beautiful from the second I saw you in that bathroom throwing up."

If Warona's heart stopped then, now it seriously did. And if she thought dark skinned girls couldn't blush, she was dead wrong because that's exactly what was happening to her cheeks right now.

All of this was so wrong. Yet so right.

Warona swore she didn't mean to but, she couldn't fight the urge.

So she kissed him.

"What's that for?" His eyes glowed.

"N-nothing," she sighed. "There's just something about you."

Utasha looked at her like she said the wrongest thing ever. She almost took her words back but before she could think straight, he moved away from her.

Her heart sulked at the distance but she couldn't do anything about it.

What was wrong?

"Look, I'm not what you think I am."

His voice was edgy, making the girl wonder if she said something wrong. Did she really say something wrong? Could she tell why the hell did he pull back?

Though the real question she thought of asking herself was why would she want the devil in her personal space anyway? She was here to kill him, wasn't she?

"Is there anything else you wanna tell me, Utasha?"

The boy shivered at the mention of his name before searching for the right words to say.

"I just did."

"I don't understand. Is this devil language? Explain. Please?"

Utasha sighed before standing up and pulling something out of his back pocket.

A wallet.

Opening it, he pulled a card out and handed it over to the bewildered girl.

"What's this – "

Her heart stopped again when she skimmed it through.

"It's my ID card," He marked.

Warona wanted to ask him why was he showing it to her but she looked at it first.

"Yasmin Ahmed," she read.

For the longest time, she just sat there and stared at the photo of a girl in a messy hair bun. It looked like a photo of Utasha's female version rather than Utasha himself.

Warona pondered the enigma.

Then the message registered. She was more startled of how she actually didn't care at all than the fact that he was what he was.

Whatever the demi-devil was or wasn't, it wasn't any of her worries.

She looked at him.

"That doesn't change anything, Utasha." She admitted.

"It does," he sighed. "I'm just a trans boy in distress."

"It doesn't." she stood up and embraced him. "Not to me."

He couldn't believe what she was saying.

Everyone hated him after discovering this mere fact about him. But why wasn't Warona following the script? She seemed unmoved.

"Do you even understand what that means?" He thought of clarifying. Then maybe it would finally register in her head and she could finally run away.

But she didn't. Instead, she nodded.

"You were assigned female at birth, and then transitioned. Of course I understand. Biology makes mistakes too sometimes, and it's a good thing you fixed it. It's a good thing to be you."

He did not know how to react. He was seriously unprepared for this kind of response. In fact, he never got this kind of response before.

So he just stood there, bemused.

"Yasmin. Pretty name." she finally let go and sat down again. She looked at the card and let her hand coursed through the surface of it. "You're still beautiful. When was this?"

"Four years ago," he marked, sitting next to her. "But the journey began long before that."

Warona swallowed, taking in the information.

Meeting a transgender person for the first time, her feelings remained the same even after Utasha's deepest confessions. In fact, she yearned to know more.

Her eyes grazed on the boy's flat chest with evident curiosity.

Did he get surgery?

He read her face, knowing what she was going to say next. And it made him smile.

“May I see?" she asked nervously, not believing she did.

Yet she did.

Utasha had a mixed up expression on his face.

"It's okay if you don't want to," she prompted. "You don't have to."

"No, it's okay. It's just . . . I've never let anybody see it."

Warona sat up straighter and touched the tip of his tie. He moved her hand away and pulled it off.

She wished she would've helped him with that, but she just swallowed hard and watched him take off his jacket and unbutton his shirt.

Her blood rushed at the sight of his delicate skin.

She tried to turn away, and couldn't help but glance back.

Straight lines on each side of Utasha's chest came to view and her breath hitched at the gorgeous sight.

With her eyes, she traced the fainted lines of surgery wounds.

Her eyes met Utasha's and for a second, she could swear he could read the unholy thoughts in her mind.

She moved closer and got a closer look, scrutinizing every inch of his bare skin.

"Can I . . . touch?" she looked at him.

The question took the devil boy aback, but for a reply, he just nodded his head even though nobody had ever touched his wounds before.

The second Warona's fingers grazed upon his flesh, he felt a part of him wake up.

"I considered GRS when I was sixteen. My doctor got me into hormonal therapy a while after that."

"What's GRS?"

"Gender Reassignment Surgery."

Warona moved her hands all over his bare chest before coming back to his face.

She admired the little remnants of femininity on the boy's face and felt her heart lighten.

"Did you do this just on your chest?"

Utasha gave a nod. He expected that question, too.

"I feel content with myself down there, so I really never felt the need for hysterectomy."

Warona did not know why that minor part made her smile. It could be the other half of her that wasn't content with giving her love to a man.

"You're one amazing being, you know that right?" she traced the scars.

"No."

He intensely watched the girl's movements. She seemed to be taken away by his story and, of course, his body.

"You are. Not everybody has the courage to be who they are. A lot of people seek validation from others, which is wrong. I'm moved that you managed to validate yourself at such a young age where most of us were intensely pressured by society."

Utasha just smiled before he moved his hands on Warona and pulled out the dagger off of her. It took her by surprise but she ignored it.

"Tell me more," she murmured. "Tell me everything."

"Your quest isn't just to save lives, Warona Sylvester," he stared at the blade before he drifted it, tracing the bare skin of her inner thigh. The action made her breath hitch, and his eyes met hers. "You're born to kill me."