Blood Beyond Darkness by Stacey Marie Brown

see my reflection in his black eyes, my face red and strained, desperate for air. His fingers dug into my skin, crushing my vocal chords.
    “Lars ... Uncle.” My voice did not make it out of my mouth, but the words formed on my lips.
    The Demon stopped, my body sliding back to the floor. It gave a sharp huff of air from its nose, and shook its head. Its features slowly turned back to the face I had come to know so well. Lars dropped his hand and stepped away.
    I rubbed at my throat, coughing.
    Several minutes passed while neither of us spoke. If he needed “time” to control his temper, I would give it to him. Speaking might only piss him off again.
    Tension turned the small noises of the house to top volume. My hearing picked up Marguerite setting a pot on the stove. The shrillness of the metal on metal hurt my eardrums.
    “All right.” Lars turned around and strode to the French doors and looked out into the night. There would be no apologies coming my way. Demons did not work like that. “Nothing has changed.”
    I blinked, his words sinking heavy in my heart. “What? What do you mean?”
    He shifted slightly toward me, but kept his eyes looking ahead. “You can still kill the Queen.”
    Instant rage pushed me off the wall. “But it will mean Eli dies!”
    Lars finally turned and faced me. “Yes, it does.”
    “W-What?” Even after all he’d done, the mere idea of something bad happening to him, of him no longer existing, launched a terror so deep I gasped for breath.
    “You said yourself how you no longer wanted to see him again. You swore you hated him.”
    “I didn’t mean I want him to die!”
    Lars sighed. He took slow, methodical breaths. I could tell he was fighting to stay in control. Right now I didn’t care.
    “How can you even say that? And here I thought you had grown to like him.”
    “The facts have nothing to do with whether I like him or not. We are at war, Ember.”
    “How soulless are you? You can’t expect me to kill him no matter what he’s done ... I won’t do it.”
    “Now who is being selfish?” Lars moved to his desk. “Is one life worth millions? Freedom and happiness? Your friends and family? All of it will no long er exist. Is Elighan’s life worth all their loss and suffering to you?”
    My mouth fell open. Then it closed. My first response was to say yes. Even if I never wanted to see him again, and he had done horrible things, I couldn’t kill him. But was I being selfish? Was Eli’s life worth the destruction of Earth? I had already killed so many. Could I really doom all to a life of slavery and or death? Was I willing to forgo the lives of millions of innocent humans and Fae for his?
    “You are also condemning him to an even worse fate than death.”
    “What?”
    “Let us say you do not touch the sword. Yes, Elighan would live ... for a while. So would Aneira. How long do you think his life would last after that? Your way would be quick and painless. Aneira will torture him beyond recognition. I am not talking only physically, either. What she did to Torin would be child’s play compared to what she would do to Eli. She feels the connection between you. She will be cruel in dealing with him especially to hurt you. Even if she has already killed you, she will torment him out of spite.” Lars’ eyes flashed black again, hinting the Demon in him was close to the surface. “Is such a fate what you want for him?”
    My lids blinked feverishly, and I stared at my feet, my voice soft. “No.” The weight of the world was on my shoulders, crushing my bones into the earth. Both my choices were unbearable. How could one small decision of mine make or break the entire world? Aneira was conniving, and she had been quick to act that day. She saw my love for Eli was enough for her to think she had me, but could she possibly think I would choose him over an entire population? Yes, she did. She had no respect or love for humans and probably could never fathom I would