Free The Demon's Game by Rain Oxford

somebody made, or even things that
weren’t chosen, but his visions weren’t very specific. If Dad decided we should
go another day to swim, Hail could actually see that.
    “I don’t get this!” Drake exclaimed, throwing his
book away from him.
    Dad took the book, glanced at the page, and saw that
Drake had to add fractions with unlike denominators. He sat down next to Drake
and took a piece of scratch paper before drawing a few circles. “At the
hospital, they ordered a few pizzas… Two of them were large, but one of them
was small.” Dad went on to patiently explain the reason he had to find the
common denominator and how to do so.
    “You should have been a teacher,” John said, handing
Dad a soda.
    Dad gave him a scowl. “No way. I’m not that brave;
far too much bloodshed. I’ll stick to being a doctor, thank you.” There was a
knock on the door and Dad grinned.
    I wasn’t surprised when John opened the door to
reveal Mom. Dad always knew when Mom or Mordon were near. After Mom was
introduced to Drake and his parents, she sat next to Dad. Stacy offered to warm
her up some dinner.
    “That would be nice if it isn’t too much trouble,”
Mom said tiredly, leaning her shoulder against Dad’s.
    “I’ll help!” Hail said, jumping up and running into
the kitchen after Stacy. I scoffed, irritated that he left my side.
    “Poor kid,” Dad said, shaking his head.
    John laughed. “Give it a couple of years. Girls will
be breaking your door down to get to him. With boys, I think if you can keep
teach them to treat women right and not get a girl pregnant before they
graduate, you’re doing a good job.”
    I was growling before I realized it annoyed me. They
both frowned at me. “Hail is mine!” I explained loudly.
    “You realize he’s going to grow up and want to get
married someday, right?” Dad asked.
    The darkness stirred in my chest, like a soft
hissing. I stood with anger. “No girl is going to take Hail away! He’s my
brother; he’ll never leave me! We still have to decide if we’re going to rule
Raktusha together.”
    Dad sighed and John looked confused. Having heard my
shouting, Hail ran back into the living room and hugged me. I could feel him
searching the room with magic for the source of my anger.
    John patted my dad’s shoulder. “Good luck,” he said
before joining Stacy.
    Feeling awkward for my outburst, I sat down and
pulled Hail down with me.
    “Are you not mad at me for fighting at school?” Hail
asked Dad.
    “I know you would only fight to protect or defend
someone, especially your brother. The principal didn’t tell me why you were
fighting, but I assumed you were protecting Drake from someone, since he was
crying when I arrived.”
    “Those boys were making fun of Drake for being sick.
Then one of them tried to attack Ron. I wouldn’t kill anyone, but if he comes
at Ron, Drake, or any of our friends, he will have more than a bruise next
time.”
    “You broke his arm and bruised his ribs.”
    “I was holding back.”
    “I know very well that you held back. So, no, I’m not
mad at you. I was thinking… they teach martial arts for kids at the
after-school care. Maybe you both should do that instead of coming straight
home.”
    “Martial arts like what Mordon taught us?” I asked.
    “No, that was combat.”
    “What Granddad taught us?” Hail asked.
    “Yes, it’s very much like what your granddad taught
you. Do you know the difference?”
    Hail shook his head, but I nodded. “What Mordon
taught us and what Granddad taught us was very different. Combat is how to
strike and how not to get hit in turn. Martial arts is how to avoid a fight and
how to end it if there is one.”
    “That’s excellent, Ron.”
    “So, I need to be a master of martial arts and Hail
needs to be a master of combat. That way, we have all our bases covered.”
    He laughed.
    “You have to be very careful, though,” Mom said to
Hail. “If people realize you’re too strong to be human,