8. Sydney
Sleeping with wings was interesting. I slept on my stomach, so it was kind of like a weighted blanket.
And fuck me. I’d only just met them, but I slept better snuggling with Nero and Celix.
They also refused to get in bed with me because of said wings.
And in some bizarre twist, Kujo insisted on sleeping on the couch in the sitting room, so Celix and Nero had to sleep in another room.
I wanted to ask why he was sleeping in here with me, but honestly, I was too exhausted to have any kind of verbal sparring with him. I passed out nearly immediately.
I was not a morning person and was generally perturbed any time I had to be because some morally superior morning person from hundreds of years ago who lived off beer because the water wasn’t safe dropped a self righteous quote about getting up early and everyone just went with it.
So, color me shocked when I was awake way earlier than I usually was and I didn’t want to stab someone. Kujo was sleeping across from me and I just watched him for a minute. He looked younger when he didn’t have his broody face on. Fuck, he was beautiful.
“Are you watching me sleep like a creeper?” he asked without even opening his eyes.
“Asshole. How’d you know? You never opened your eyes.”
“So, one thing I’ve figured out since being drawn into your orbit. When a celestial being is focusing pretty hard on a demon, we get this tingling in the base of our spine. It might be a cosmic thing or it might be a Lilith thing.”
“Shit, dude. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”
Kujo stood up and stretched. He was just wearing a pair of black sweats.
Now that I’d met and murdered his entire family, I knew Kujo took after his dad.
It never really made much sense to me that his mother got pregnant with a human when Furies were such purists, they wouldn’t even have babies with other demons.
I could see where a male demon wouldn’t be all that careful. They wouldn’t have to deal with pregnancy and childbirth. I was pretty sure the only reason she slummed it with a mortal was because Kujo’s dad looked like that in sweatpants.
“Enjoying the view, Killer? You hungry? You’re going to need a lot of protein and carbs while your wings are fragile. It’ll speed up the process.”
“Carbs? Do tell.”
“A big, fat cheeseburger for breakfast with loaded fries would actually be beneficial.”
“I swear to my grandfather, if you’re fucking with me right now, I’m going to maul your nuts.”
“Mammon would have an aneurism if he heard you say that. And no, I’m not fucking with you. You kind of skipped a whole bunch of steps when you saved my life. You need more calories when you have magic and you need fuel to firm those wings up. Just say the word and I’ll make it happen.”
Some of my life was starting to make sense.
My ex-husband had to change his diet as soon as he hit forty because his cholesterol was out of control and spicy food wasn’t agreeing with him anymore.
My doctor always said my labs were beautiful and I would happily destroy the spiciest bun kebab at the Pakistani food truck downtown.
It was another reason he turned into a bitter ass turd.
“You don’t have to wait on me.”
“Let me feed you. You saved my life and killed a bunch of people I loathed. The least I could do is bring you a burger and cheese fries in bed.”
Well, didn’t Kujo just do a complete one eighty after I killed his entire family?
“As long as you eat with me. If I’m going to get graphic with a burger in this bed, it’s going to be weird if you aren’t eating too.”
“I was going to grab Celix and Nero and get enough for them too. Nero has this thing about watching women eat and I don’t kink shame.”
Just another reason to love Nero. Mom never did because she was perfect, but when I was younger, you couldn’t be a girl and enjoy food without getting asked if you were sure you wanted to eat that because it was going to catch up with you.
They’d repeat some stupid diet slogan and fuck their kids up about food.
My ex-husband did the same thing. I was glad the guys I surrounded myself with since I got here weren’t like that.
“I’m going to see if they’ll make a White Chocolate Split. It’s allegedly Lilith’s favorite dessert, but it’s actually delicious.”
“Bring it on.”
I knew she came and went as she pleased and you only ever found her when she wanted to be found, but I really wanted to meet that woman.