Page 13 of New Beginning

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I’d done it. It just happened while I was asleep. I would have gone to the bathroom.”

She jerked him out of bed, yanked down his pyjama bottoms and slapped his backside over and over. Teddy tried not to cry but he just couldn’t help it.

That wasn’t the worst of it. She made him put on his school uniform over his wet pyjamas. He pleaded with her but she wouldn’t listen. She took him to school, pushed him into the playground, then stood watching until the bell rang and he had to go in.

It didn’t take long before the kids were holding their noses and whispering about him. They never let him forget that day.

Mikkel could hardly bear to read anymore, but he did and it enraged him. Could Teddy’s mother redeem herself after the sins she’d committed? No. If she spent the rest of her life kneeling on barbed wire, it wouldn’t be punishment enough. The disappearance of Teddy’s father, who was a waste of oxygen, and had done nothing to help his son, made her treatment of Teddy even worse. Mikkel had no parents. He’d never been a child. He’d been brought into being by Belial and done his work until one day he met Azrael, fallen for Azrael, who’d offered him a chance to be different. From that point, Mikkel had moved along a different path.

He was still a demon. Nothing could change that, but he didn’t have to do bad things.

Except now, he wanted to.

Before leaving Sparlow, Mikkel warned the villagers to keep their distance from the cottage where he’d left Teddy. He had enough food to last until Mikkel came back, though he hoped Teddy would have gone exploring before then.

Finding Jane Doyle wasn’t easy. She’d changed her name to Smith, which made him wonder if she was hiding from someone. Perhaps Teddy. She was in Worthing, worked in a local supermarket and lived alone in a small flat on the edge of town. Mikkel could have ended her life, but that might have had repercussions for him. He had Teddy to think about now.

Mikkel arranged his meeting with Teddy’s bitch of a mother. Two men would hassle her and he would step in. Offer to buy her a drink.

Of course it worked.

“Thank you so much.” She tipped her double gin and tonic in his direction.

Mikkel could see Teddy in her face. He wished he couldn’t. He wished he could have found some long-lost mother for him who would have loved him and looked after him in the way he deserved. But it was too late for that. Teddy was dead.

He compelled her to tell him the truth and he read her thoughts.

“Have you lived here long?” Mikkel asked.

“Fifteen years. Do you live around here?” I hope you do. I fancy you.

“I assume you’re married.”

“No.” She chuckled. I wish I knew where that bastard went. I should have had money for his kid.

“No children then?”

“I had one.”

She looked shocked she’d said that. Complete waste of space.

“Boy or girl?”

“Boy. Teddy.” Fucking stupid name. Stupid child. Never did as he was told. Always sorry, sorry, sorry. Miserable wet creature.

“You don’t see him?”

“No. I have no idea where he is. I didn’t treat him very well.” She gaped at Mikkel and slapped a hand over her mouth.

“What did you do to him? Force food into his mouth? Send him to school wearing pyjamas he’d wet after he’d had an accident in bed? Shave off all his hair when he got lice? Not buy him clothes that fit him? Never kiss him? Never cuddle him? Never tell him you love him? Because you didn’t love him, did you?”

Mikkel spoke quietly and she stared at him in horror. He let her see the real him. No one else in the pub would. She couldn’t move or speak. He’d made sure of that.

“You know where you’re going when you’re dead, don’t you?” He smiled at her with his sharp teeth. “Hell has extra-special treats in store for a mother like you.” Mikkel pushed to his feet. “Enjoy the rest of your life looking forward to that!”

He walked out and made sure she couldn’t move until he was a long way away. Not killing her had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

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