Chapter 8 Present
EIGHT
PRESENT
ARNICK
"Let's sit," I said, and Theo nodded somewhat woodenly. He fell into the couch like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and I winced. This was so not how I'd wanted to do it.
I settled on the other side of the couch, then turned to face him. I had no idea where to begin, but the look on Theo's face told me I needed to start talking now. So I did.
"Do you remember that story I told you about a few days ago? About the demon who was keeping what he was a secret from his boyfriend?"
"Yeah? What does that have to do with this?"
"Well... it's not a story."
Theo's brows furrowed, and he shook his head, then stopped. He turned a wide-eyed look at me as he raised his hand, gesturing wildly. "Wait a minute. You're not saying..."
With a deep breath that filled my lungs with the delicious scent of chocolate—so at odds with the feeling of doom curdling in my belly—I nodded. "I'm a demon."
Theo stared at me, then stared some more. He was frozen, and I had no idea what to do. Should I shift to prove I wasn't lying, or would that just terrify him? The last thing I wanted was for him to be afraid of me.
"Theo?"
He blinked, his lips moving wordlessly as his eyes stayed on mine. "Okay, so. On one hand, that explains so much. Like why you threw me into those bouquets."
"You're not letting that go, are you?"
"Never," he said, his lips curving upward. The small hint of a smile gave me hope. "But... How can you be a demon?"
"I know humans think they're the only sentient species, but that's not true," I started, ready to give him a beginner's course of all things supernatural, but he shook his head, cutting me off.
"No, I meant how can you be a demon? You're the sweetest, kindest man I've ever met. It doesn't make sense."
He thought I couldn't be a demon because I was too nice?
I beamed at him, delighted he still thought that way. That he didn't think I was evil just because I was a demon.
"Actually, that's a human misconception. Demons are the good guys. Well, almost all of us," I added as I remembered the dead bodies Mammon had left behind today—well, yesterday now.
"Oh! Really?"
I gave him the short version, explaining how demons had been sent to the human world to guard the humans against the escaped dark souls and capture them as soon as possible.
I told him a little about Otherworld and Afterworld, but just the basics since he looked like his brain was about to explode with all this new information.
"So when you had to leave yesterday, it was because of these... dark souls?" Theo questioned, and I wanted to reach up and smooth out the wrinkles on his forehead.
"Yeah. Well, actually the one evil demon who escaped with them. He killed a bunch of really bad people and stole a dangerous book," I explained, and Theo shook his head.
"It sounds like something out of a movie," he mumbled, and I winced.
"I'm sorry. I promise I'm not lying, though. I can show you."
"Show me how?"
I waved at myself, at the human form I'd taken when I first came here. "This isn't what I really look like. This is just the form I took to fit in."
"Oh," Theo murmured, his nod sharp and jerky. "Show me."
With a swallow, I stood up, and walked over to the other side of the coffee table to put some space between us. "Remember, it's still me."
I waited until Theo murmured an agreement, then shifted. Theo sucked in a breath, and I met his eyes, and wondered how he was seeing me.
I knew what he saw physically: I was a foot taller, with short, straight, slim black horns adding a few more inches; my ears were now pointed on both top and bottom; black scales covered my shoulders, upper arms, the upper half of my back and chest, and my feet; while my nails were now sharp, pointy, and retractable.
My clothes had disappeared with my shift, and in this form, all I wore was a pair of black shorts that cut off above my knees.
Theo was quiet. Too quiet.
"Theo?" I asked, my voice a touch gravelly, and he sucked in a breath, his eyes skipping from my horns to my arms to my feet without stopping in one place.
"You're... wow," he murmured, and I blinked. Wow? That was good, right? Unless he meant 'Wow, you're ugly!' though I couldn't imagine Theo saying that.
I shifted on my feet, unsure, and Theo's brows furrowed. Within moments, he was standing in front of me.
He raised his hand, his palm inches from the scales on my chest, and I took a small step forward. Theo exhaled softly, sliding his palm lower, then moving it up so my scales scraped against his skin.
"They're smooth, like leather," he murmured, his voice soft with awe.
"You're not scared of me?"
"Scared?" Theo asked with a soft laugh as he glanced up at me, his neck craned to meet my eyes. "What is there to be scared of?"
I beamed at him, and he let out a laugh as I picked him up—careful to keep my nails retracted—and pressed my lips to his, kissing him the way I'd wanted to since I found out he was my mate.
Oh right, I still had to tell him about that part.
Maybe after the kiss.
Theo slid his palms up my face, then wrapped his hand around my horns, using his grip to pull me closer.
I groaned as my cock hardened, my shorts far too tight to hide the effects.
Theo was too busy kissing me to notice, but I needed to hit pause if I wanted to tell him everything before we went further.
Sex with Theo in my true form had the potential to be life-changing, and I didn't want to do that until Theo knew the whole truth.
THEO
Just when I'd started to lose myself in it, Arnick ended the kiss. He pulled back, then lowered me to the ground, effectively ending the kiss for good.
As I sucked in a much-needed breath, my eyes latched onto the tent in his shorts. Wait a damn minute. Did his cock look... bigger? It would make sense, since he was taller in this form.
What would it feel like inside me? I wanted to find out.
Before I could invite him to the bedroom to continue this, Arnick shifted back into his human form, and I frowned. What? Why?
Arnick spoke before I could start whining like a baby, and all thoughts of sex were pushed to the back of my mind. Not forgotten, just postponed.
"There's more."
"More than you being a demon?" I asked, and he nodded, then waved to the couch. Apparently, we couldn't discuss this unless we were seated.
I didn't let Arnick sit all the way on the other side this time, not now that I knew the truth. Or part of the truth, I supposed.
"So? What is it? You have a demon family somewhere out there?' I teased, then stopped. Did he? I'd been joking, but from what he'd told me, he'd been alive for years, centuries even. It was completely possible, wasn't it?
"Not in the way you're thinking. They're more like my siblings, except we aren't related and would have sex sometimes when we were bored," he said, and I snorted.
"Siblings, right."
He shrugged, smiling ruefully. "I haven't been with any of them since before I met you, I promise," he said, and I believed him because he was Arnick. He wouldn't lie about things like that.
"Okay. So what did you want to tell me?" I prompted, and he blinked.
"Right. Okay. The thing is, every sentient being out there, humans, vampires, shifters, dragons.
.. they all have one or more fated mates.
I think humans use the term 'soulmates?' While humans can't recognize theirs, most other species can.
Until a few months ago, demons couldn't either, but after a friend helped, we can. "
"Okay..." I murmured, then sighed. "I'm not your soulmate, then? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"No! I mean, yes, I mean—" He shook his head, then grabbed my hands and squeezed them tight. "You are my mate, Theo."
"Oh," I said, the word soft and barely audible. Arnick was my soulmate? The one person in all the worlds who was made for me? But if he'd found out months ago, why hadn't he told me? "Are you disappointed?"
"Disappointed? Why would I be disappointed?" he asked, and the incredulousness in his voice pulled a smile from me.
"You found out months ago, and didn't tell me. What am I supposed to think?"
Arnick shook his head and his lips curved in a sheepish smile.
"Actually, I only found out a few days ago.
When Kym first offered to help, I said no.
We'd only been dating for a few weeks, and I was starting to really like you.
If I'd found out you weren't my mate, I would've had to break up with you sooner or later. So I put it off."
"Why now?' I asked just because I was curious. Thank fuck he had found out, because now I knew the truth, and there were no more secrets between us.
"Because I was falling in love with you, and I thought you might be mine. Well, I hoped, and I couldn't go on without knowing any longer."
Damn, he was going to make me cry. Swallowing hard, I threw my arms around him and hugged him as tightly as I could.
"I love you too," I confessed, and Arnick was still for a moment before his arms were around me. He held me to him, his face pressed against the top of my head, and I exhaled, letting go of all the nerves and stress I'd been holding onto since the shopping center. That seemed like so long ago now.
I wasn't sure how long we held each other before parting, but it gave me enough time to sort some of my thoughts and accept the enormity of what Arnick had just told me.
He wasn't human. Supernatural beings existed.
And the two of us were tied together in a way I couldn't fathom.
Our lives were irrevocably joined now, and I couldn't be happier about it.
"I have questions," I declared, and Arnick chuckled.
"I'm sure you do. But it's getting late, so how about we curl up in bed and you can ask me whatever you want?"
"That's a good idea. Thank fuck I don't have work tomorrow."
Arnick hummed, and we separated for a few minutes so I could freshen up, and then we climbed into my bed, pulling the comforter over us. I snuggled into Arnick's chest, and he winded his arm around me, holding me close.
"Ask away," he murmured, and I pulled back just enough that I could see his face while still being pressed up against him.
"What happens when I get old and you don't?"
"Well, I can make this form look any way I can, so I'll just 'age' with you, and when you die, I'll take your soul to Otherworld, and then depending on what you decide, we'll either stay there, or move on to Afterworld together."
"Afterworld? Is that like heaven?"
"Kind of. You can live however you want in Afterworld. If you want to live on the beach, you got it. If you change your mind and want a cottage in the woods, it'll just take a thought to make it happen."
"Wow," I mumbled. Could that really be possible? A place like that...
"Can you show me some magic?" I'd seen his true form, and yet a part of my brain was still struggling to accept this.
Arnick hummed, then snapped his fingers, but nothing happened.
"What..."
"I took the cake out of the oven."
Fuck. I'd forgotten all about the damn cake!
"And..." Arnick continued, and when he snapped his fingers again, the lights in the bedroom went out, leaving us in complete darkness for a moment before soft yellow floating lights filled the room.
"Are those fireflies?"
"You like them?"
Nodding quickly, I sat up as one of the flies flew closer, sucking in a breath when it landed on my nose. Arnick chuckled as I froze in place, holding my breath as the firefly hopped around for a moment before flying off again.
"I have to send them back in a bit, though. They don't belong here," Arnick murmured, and I nodded, watching them flitter about my room.
"Send them home," I said after a few minutes, and Arnick did just that.
Lying back down, I let out a yawn, and Arnick pulled me close. "Sleep now. You can ask more questions in the morning."
"Promise?"
"I promise. Sweet dreams, Theo."
"Good night, Arnick."
My boyfriend was a freaking demon. How wild was that?