29. Diablos
Chapter twenty-nine
Diablos
Dagon had a confident smile on his face. Me? Oh, maniacal laughter was bubbling inside, itching closer to the surface with every passing second. What a combo we were.
Dagon explained to me where we were going, laying out the plan and backup plans, but I couldn’t stop fidgeting. He was strong, no doubt about that, but was he strong enough to face possibly ten Starborns?
“Everything will be okay. I’ll keep you safe, Di.”
The reassurance was nice, but I wasn’t worried about myself. My mind conjured grotesque images – Dagon stabbed, his insides spilled, Blue lying lifeless on the ground, Dagon staring at me with empty eyes and an unmoving chest.
It was hard to breathe, but I did my best to even out my breathing.
Six. The ring.
Six twists, and he wouldn't die.
There, it was done, but I had to do it six more times.
I did it, but it wasn’t enough. I reached for my water bottle. My brain told me to drink six sips or Dagon dies. So I drank. Then again. And again. Until it felt right.
Dagon's hand on my leg shifted slightly.
Not pulling away. Not asking. Just… present.
He'd seen the counting. I knew he had. He'd watched me twist the ring for years, and now he was watching me twist it again like it was the only thing holding us both alive.
He didn't ask me to stop. He didn't ask me to explain.
He just kept his hand where it was, warm and steady, and let me finish.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. No. I’m worried.”
My ring. I started twisting it again as I shook my leg. Please let it be okay. Please. What if I should've said no? What if agreeing to this was the thing that killed Dagon?
Dagon's hand tightened on my leg, and I breathed in deep. Now was not the time to have a panic attack in addition to my compulsions, or maybe it was the perfect time.
My anxiety skyrocketed as the trees cleared and we saw a two-story house came into view. Two guys stepped out, glaring at us. I sank lower in my seat. Shit, they were built like a brick wall.
Dagon looked at me silently, telling me to stay put. I nodded without saying anything since I knew they could hear us. When Dagon stepped out, my heart started hammering.
“I’m not searching for trouble.” Dagon said.
“I find that hard to believe,” one of the guys said.
“Does the name Adam mean anything?” Dagon asked.
Before they could answer, another man stormed out. He was taller than Dagon with raven hair and eyes that could kill with a look. I shivered.
“Dagon?”
“Adam?” he exclaimed.
Well, I guess this was good. Adam ran to Dagon and pulled him into a hug. Figuring it was safe to come out, I stepped out of the car. It had nothing to do with a hot man hugging my demon. Nothing.
Dagon growled low and pulled away from Adam, striding straight to me. Immediately, his arms wrapped around my waist, and just like that, my jealousy dissolved.
“Adam, this is Diablos,” Dagon introduced me.
Adam turned to me with those unnerving eyes, and I had to force myself not to fidget. I met his gaze and gave him a polite, strained smile.
“Nice to meet you.” My voice didn’t tremble. I counted that as a win.
“Nice to meet you, too,” he said, then looked at Dagon, “I thought you were dead. You never came back.”
“I meant to," Dagon replied, "but after Darius died… it didn’t feel right to come alone.”
Adam's face didn't change. Not in any way the others would have caught. But I saw it, the half-second where his eyes did not blink. Where the muscle along his jaw locked. Where the air around him went still in a way that wasn't stillness.
Then it passed.
Demons in their world didn't grieve in public. I understood that now. The flicker was all he was going to give. I wondered, watching him, if he had been waiting for fifteen years to know what happened to the two boys he'd sent toward safety.
He'd just gotten his answer.
“Let’s go inside," Adam said. "I imagine you’re here for a reason.”
“We are.”
Was I the only one who found this whole vibe strange? First, they hugged, then they acted like stone creatures with no emotions. We followed Adam inside. Dagon stayed glued to my side and threw threatening glances at the two demons still hovering at the door.
Inside the living room, we were greeted by eight more demons with intense glares and intimidating builds. Were we in some sort of glaring contest?
My body inched closer to Dagon on instinct.
“Everyone," Adam began, "this is Dagon. He is an old friend of mine.” Adam emphasized the word friend.
I was grateful since most of the demons relaxed, but there was one that caught my attention. He had a creepy smile and narrowed, almost black eyes. There was something too wild about the guy.
Yeah, I'm calling him Wild Cat. With those feral eyes and that creepy grin, he earned it.
“Do friends usually stroll in waving their power like it's a welcoming gift? I must have missed the memo when I was taught about demon friends,” the Wild Cat said.
“I haven’t even shown you a hint of my power yet,” Dagon said. “All would be good as long as you stay away from us.”
Adam crossed his arms and glared at the Wild Cat.
“Everyone in this room can sense how powerful Dagon is.” Then he pointed to me.
“And his power screams, don’t touch Diablos or you’ll die.
We can all agree that a little power in the air is the smallest warning we can receive regarding Diablos. Can’t we?”
Everyone nodded, but I was confused. I looked at Dagon for an explanation, but he focused entirely on the other demons.
The eyes of every demon in the room were on me.
Not on Dagon. On me. It was like they were reading something written on my skin in a language I couldn't see.
Something they all recognized at a glance.
Something that made one of them – the polite one with the dark beard – actually take half a step back, like proximity to me was information he didn't want.
What did they see?
I would ask Dagon later. But right now, right now I needed to not be the one who broke the tension in a room full of upper-tier Starborns staring at me like I was made of something dangerous.
My eyes swept over the group again, and a laugh escaped before I could stop it. They all turned to me again. Ops.
“Sorry, it’s just not every day you meet a bunch of demons looking like Daa-” I shut my mouth. Holy fuck. I did not almost say daddies out loud to their faces. “Looking like humans.”
Don’t ask me anything. Don’t ask. Don’t ask.
Luckily, no one did.
“Let’s head to my office,” Adam suggested.
I sighed with relief when we stepped into a separate room.
Dagon and I had already discussed what we'd say.
We needed help. There was a powerful object out there we had to find.
Fireborns and Soulborns were probably behind it.
That was all we intended to share, though even that depended on how the conversation went.
While Dagon spoke with Adam, my mind drifted.
We couldn’t mention King. We couldn’t say it was an angelic object either.
Still, Adam figured it out. He pressed Dagon, claiming demons wouldn’t just be chasing some random artifact.
Thankfully, he didn’t ask why we were after it, or why Dagon was with a human.
I'd expected those questions, but they never came.
Adam agreed to make a few calls. Apparently, he had a lot of connections. He gave us a choice to stay inside the house or take a small cabin out back. I didn't hesitate. I chose the cabin. I wanted us to relax, not be on edge in a house full of demons.
So waiting made its way to the top of our to-do list. I was exhausted, and so was Dagon. A little pause didn't sound so bad.
“Are you okay?” he asked me when we entered the spacious bedroom.
“I think so?”
He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. I melted into his embrace and soaked in his strength, his steadiness.
Dagon beside me was all I needed.
“We’ll figure this out, Di. I promise you.”
I buried my face in his chest. I didn’t trust my brain, but I trusted Dagon.
“Do you want to take a shower and call it a night? It has been a long day.”
“A long few days, if we’re being honest,” I muttered.
“True. I wouldn’t mind a month with you in my apartment without going out.”
My heart skipped a beat when he casually mentioned me staying in his apartment.
“Are you a homebody? I didn’t know.” I teased, already grinning.
Before he could answer, I dashed for the bathroom. He chased after me. Of course, I didn't get far, not that I wanted to. Back in his arms, smiling, I kissed him and started undressing him. I’d never stop drooling over this man.
How could someone be so perfect?
I'd intended to take it slow, savor every inch. My plan went out the window almost as fast as he took off my clothes. Standing naked with Dagon had become my favorite thing in the world. It wasn’t only about sexual attraction either.
It was more than that, something deeper.
I couldn’t explain it with simple words, but it felt natural, tender, real. And so much more than that.
“Let’s get into the shower.”
“Uhu,” was all I managed to mumble.
My eyes trailed down his neck, his arms, his chest, and then his cock. When I didn’t move, Dagon chuckled. With a hand on my waist and a kiss to my neck that sent a shiver down my spine, he guided me to the shower.
The water was hot, but the man beside me was hotter.
“Stop looking at me like that," he rasped, "or we’ll get dirty before we can even clean.”
God, his voice. I wanted to push him until that demonic edge bled through. I wanted to hear it.
“I can’t stop myself.” I really couldn’t. “Have you seen yourself?”
With another chuckle and a shake of his head, Dagon reached for the shower gel. He poured a generous amount and began washing my body with slow, deliberate strokes. My cock was rock hard, but he ignored it completely. This was torture.
“This is torture! Okay, yes, you’re a demon, but it doesn’t mean you should torture me.” I whined, a bit too dramatically.