31. Diablos
Chapter thirty-one
Diablos
No sleep for the demons, and no sleep for me, either.
Dagon and I spent most of the night talking. I felt lighter than ever in my life. The suffocating pressure of my intrusive thoughts didn’t go away. It was still there, and it would probably always be.
But for the first time, I felt something else blooming in the darkness: a powerful, trustworthy presence.
Dagon’s presence.
I felt the love he had for me. It was like my soul touched his, and it knew that Dagon saw and accepted all of me. He didn’t look at me with pity or like I was crazy. He simply tried to understand. To support me. And that was everything.
And I realized that every time he said my full name, he was helping me reclaim it. He was taking my curse and turning it into devotion. Plus, now that I knew my man was a literal demon, I found my name next to his quite fitting and maybe even beautiful.
I still needed time to process it all. Not just what I'd shared, but also what Dagon did. We'd knocked down our walls, bared our wounds, and let the other see. Never, not even in my wildest dreams, did I imagine I could do this.
But Dagon…
My demon was proof that anything was possible.
At some point near dawn, when the room had gone gray and Dagon's breathing had finally slowed, I had reached for the glass of water on the nightstand.
I hadn't even thought about it. My hand had found the glass, my fingers had wrapped around it, and I had, without meaning to, straightened it so the label faced exactly forward.
Then turned it half an inch to the left. Then back. Then forward again.
Right.
I'd realized halfway through the third adjustment that Dagon was watching me.
I'd frozen. The shame had risen up my throat like bile – he's seeing it, he's really seeing it now, he knows what I am – and I'd started to pull my hand back.
He'd reached out and stopped me.
Not to stop the ritual. Just to lay his palm over mine on the glass. To hold it there with me. To let me finish.
When the glass had felt right, he'd kissed my shoulder and said, "Drink. Then sleep if you can."
That was it. That was all.
No commentary. No mocking me. No "I noticed." No "are you okay." Just his hand over mine on the glass until the compulsion was finished, and then water, and then his body curled around mine in the gray dawn.
He had seen the ritual. He had not interrupted it. He had also not pretended he hadn't seen it.
Something in my chest had cracked open at that. A door I hadn't even known was locked.
He didn't ask me to hide it. He didn't ask me to perform it for him either. He just let it be what it was, with him beside me. That's how I'd fallen back asleep feeling lighter in his arms.
“We have to go, Di. I know you didn’t get much sleep.”
“I’m fine. That’s what two power cups of coffee are for.”
Speaking of, I had the second one in my hand. I wasn’t leaving the house without coffee. I would walk around with my ceramic cup and my life-potion brew, not caring how ridiculous I looked.
Dagon chuckled but didn’t say a word. Smart man.
Since our moment in the bathroom and our talk last night, I noticed we kept reaching for each other more – a gentle caress over the arm, a chaste kiss on the head, shoulders brushing, hands tangled as we walked. It was like we couldn’t bear being away from each other.
It wasn't just from what we said last night, either. It was the connection itself. I felt a part of it in the past. What I felt before as a small pulse inside me was now an inferno.
Still, I didn’t have time to dwell on it. We were already in Adam’s office. He'd called us before dawn, and I was pretty sure he heard me swearing.
Yesterday, the room felt welcoming. Today, there was an edge I couldn’t describe. Adam sat in his chair, but the Wild Cat with crazy eyes from yesterday was also in the room. One more guy was sitting next to him.
Great. Why did it have to be the Wild Cat of all demons?
“I’m sorry for waking you up so early, but there’s an emergency.”
Yeah, no shit. The furrow in Adam's brow and the tension in his shoulders said it all.
Dagon and I sat on the couch, hands still intertwined.
“What is it?” Dagon asked.
“I reached out to one of my informants. I only do this when I know shit's about to hit the fan. He confirmed that Fireborns are up to something.”
“Does he know what?”
“He does. Apparently, they know where you are, and they'll be gathering at a field twenty minutes from here. Tomorrow.”
No one spoke. The tension in the room grew.
“What does this mean?” I finally asked.
“It means they’re coming for you, and we need to hit first,” Adam said.
Dagon growled, and his grip on my hand turned painful. I rubbed his arm in hopes it would help.
I didn’t like this. Sure, Fireborns weren’t as powerful as Starborns, but something didn’t add up. Would they be that insane to attack a house full of demons way stronger than them?
“We’ll attack first, then,” Dagon said darkly.
“We will. We’ll help. That’s why I asked Talon,” Adam pointed to the guy I didn’t know, then he pointed to the Wild Cat, “and Cain to be here. We can go over everything and plan accordingly.”
I tuned them out. What did I know about demon strategy? Close to nothing. Instead, my thoughts drifted to how Dagon and I only had one more day together before everything could go to hell.
Why were these demons agreeing to fight a war that wasn’t theirs?
Why was this our battle now and not King's?
“Diablos will stay here with two Starborns,” Dagon said.
My attention snapped back to the conversation.
“Like hell. I won’t be staying here.”
“Di-”
“Do not even dare suggest it. I’m coming,” I declared.
We got caught in a battle of wills with our eyes, communicating without words. I sensed the others shifting uncomfortably, but I didn’t care. A charged tension in the air surrounded us, but I wasn’t backing off.
I wouldn’t fucking back off.
There was no way I was letting Dagon go alone, regardless of whether he was a demon or not.
“Alright,” he relented.
The conversation continued, and this time, I decided to pay attention. All Starborns would come with us. The Wild Cat and Adam would stay behind with me, protecting me. Of course, no one said anything about protecting, but it was clear. Dagon would lead the others.
The plan was no talking, just swift and quick killing of the Fireborns and the recovery of the object.
Most people would probably freak out at this kind of conversation. A couple of days ago, I might have too.
Hell, was it only a couple of days?
It felt like years.
But now… I was calm. This was their world. It worked differently. And maybe, it was our world now. And if Dagon was about to kill some demons? So be it.
Plus, it was fascinating to see this side of Dagon.
Would it freak me out if he killed innocents? Yes. I could never support that. But it also never crossed my mind because I know my Dagon.
Would it disturb me if he killed demons who were trying to hurt us? Not at all.
Besides, Dagon told me they couldn’t kill demons permanently.
When they were killed, they were sent back to Hell.
Though, of course, the process was excruciating.
As far as Dagon knew, only Lucifer and his circle of demons could kill demons permanently.
I guess this also soothed a part of my human views.
Luckily, the conversation ended sooner than I expected. Dagon and I had the whole day and night to ourselves. I couldn't wait to see how we would spend it.