Chapter 49: A Demon Doesn’t Take Orders

"Why?"

Damon rested his hands on the table and looked directly at Alistair.

The old man showed no surprise at the question.

"Because your parents disappeared with information that belonged to the Eclipse Concord," he said. "Not merely the secrets of the Thorne family. Our secrets."

A few people around the table shifted in their seats.

Alistair continued. "The Thorne family was one of the founding pillars of this organization. Your mother held my position before me. She had access to records and inheritances that were never meant to leave our control."

"And when my parents disappeared, those records disappeared with them?"

"Some did. Others became inaccessible. We have spent four years trying to determine what happened."

Damon leaned back slightly.

"Then why do you want me to kill them?"

"Because if they are alive, they know what they took. And if they are responsible for what happened to the Concord, we cannot allow them to walk away."

"That doesn’t answer my question."

"No," Alistair admitted. "It doesn’t."

The old man studied him for a moment.

"You will understand more when you have found them. Until then, our condition remains unchanged. Find your parents and kill them."

Damon almost laughed.

He had been given another man’s name, another man’s legal history, and a house full of unanswered questions.

Now an organization he had never heard of expected him to hunt down two people he had never known and kill them on command.

They certainly had a high opinion of themselves.

"What if I refuse?"

"Then you will remain outside the Concord. The Thorne name will carry no weight here, and you will receive no assistance from us."

"Fine."

The answer drew several looks from around the table.

One of the men near Alistair frowned. "You say that as though you have something to fall back on. The Thorne family once commanded respect. Look at what remains of it now."

Another gave a quiet scoff.

"Perhaps the family name has survived longer than its worth."

Damon glanced at them.

He could have traded insults. He could have demanded explanations or tried to defend a family whose history he barely understood.

None of it would accomplish anything.

"Are we finished?"

The room fell quiet.

Alistair watched him, his expression unreadable. Then he gave a small nod.

"For today."

Damon stood.

"Then I’ll be going."

He left the committee headquarters without another word.

By the time Damon returned to Blackstone Manor, the meeting had already begun to feel like a waste of time.

Alistair had offered fragments of history, vague explanations, and an order dressed up as a condition. The others had contributed little beyond their contempt.

Damon had learned one useful thing: the disappearance of his supposed parents was connected to something much larger than the Thorne family.

It was a lead, not an answer.

He found Thomas in the study, reviewing a stack of documents.

"How’s the search going?"

The butler looked up. "We’ve located records for several former household staff members. Some left the estate before the family’s collapse. Others disappeared from public records around the same period."

"And the guards?"

"More difficult. Many were employed through private security companies. Some companies have since changed ownership or closed. I’m tracing the remaining names through their old contracts."

"Keep going. I want to find anyone who worked closely with my parents or had access to the family’s private records."

"Of course, Young Master."

"Don’t limit the search to people who stayed until the end. Someone who left beforehand might know more than those who remained."

Thomas nodded and made a note.

"I’ll widen the search."

"Good. Let me know as soon as you find anything useful."

Damon left him to his work and walked farther into the study.

Find your parents and kill them.

The demand still struck him as ridiculous.

If his parents were alive, he’d find out what had happened.

If they’d betrayed the Concord, he’d decide what to do once he knew the truth.

He wasn’t going to kill someone simply because an old man had told him to.

But that wasn’t the part of the meeting that bothered him.

It was the strength in that room.

Several members had carried themselves like trained fighters. Even the assistant who had escorted him inside had possessed a level of physical ability worth noticing.

As for Alistair, Damon still couldn’t judge how powerful the old man truly was.

His own strength had improved over the past few weeks, but it wasn’t enough to make him careless.

He needed to grow stronger.

His demonic essence grew through sex with women. The more opportunities he had, the faster he could develop.

He needed more women, but Vivian remained his priority. Her martial talent was exceptional, and Damon expected her to bring him a substantial return once she became his Bonded Partner.

Their engagement didn’t mean she owed him intimacy. Vivian had made her boundary clear, and he had accepted it.

Rushing her before she was ready would only ruin his chances.

He wanted her to desire him enough to make that choice herself.

He had seduced plenty of women in his previous life. Reading their desires and making them want more had never been difficult for him.

Vivian was different only because he couldn’t rush her. She wanted their first time to mean something, so he’d give her a reason to look forward to it.

A proper date was a good start.

Damon took out his phone and opened his calendar. His schedule was flexible enough, and Vivian’s training could wait for an afternoon.

He began considering where to take her.

A quiet restaurant would be easy, but predictable. He could take her somewhere with a better view, somewhere she could relax without feeling as though she were being tested.

He wanted to see what she was like when she wasn’t trying to land a hit on him or prove she deserved her place beside him.

The thought brought a faint smile to his face.

The meeting could wait. He had a date to plan.

He sent her a message.

Damon: Are you free tomorrow afternoon?

He set the phone down and waited.