Eight
Jerry
S o...demons were real.
And not just that, both my best friend's significant others were demons. Demons .
I stared at Eshim, unable to accept what he was telling me, and yet unable to deny it either.
I listened as Eshim explained how demons lived in a demon realm but had moved to the human world when a demon went darkside and escaped with a few 'dark souls.'
"Is he the one who hurt you? The bad demon?"
Eshim winced, then rubbed at his stomach. "Well, kind of. He kept me from using my magic while the dark soul who was with him did the actual hurting. Fressia showed up just in time, and I'm glad she just grabbed me and came right back, or they could've killed us both. Mammon is one of the oldest demons to still exist, so he's strong. Very strong."
I nodded, then blew out a breath. This was...all of this was a bit too much.
I pulled Tom closer, and he didn't protest, as if he could sense I needed him right now. Fuck, I was so glad I'd adopted him.
"Can we come in now?" Kat called from the hallway and I winced. Damn. Had I just made her go hide away in her own home?
"Yeah," I said, and four adults and one baby tumbled into the room. Archer and Kat made a beeline for me, while Fressia made her way to the kitchen and Lux lingered in the doorway with Gunner, a hesitant look on his face.
"I'm so fucking glad you know," Kat said as she sat down on the coffee table in front of me.
"Me too," Archer piped up as he perched on the arm of the couch Eshim and I sat on, his arm pressing against mine.
I glanced between my best friends, unable to push away the hurt, even though I knew it wasn't their fault. They'd been following someone else's rules, and that was the only reason why they hadn't told me. It wasn't their fault.
"I'm so sorry," Archer murmured, giving my arm a squeeze. "I wished so desperately I could tell you. Hell, I'd been ready to do it anyway and deal with the consequences, but then Eshim showed up."
I had to clear my throat before I could speak, and I turned so I could look at Archer. We'd known each other for years, and one look at his face told me he meant every word he'd said.
"It's okay. I understand why you had to." I turned my gaze to Lux, who still hadn't come closer. "Why are you hovering over there?"
Lux's eyes widened, and he shared a glance with Archer. "I, uh, I was worried you might be scared of me, now that you know."
I glanced from him to the perfectly content baby in his arms, and snorted. "Yeah, you're not scary, Lux."
"You wouldn't say that if you could see my true form."
"I doubt it," I said, and of course, Lux had to prove me wrong.
His form shimmered slightly, and a moment later, Gunner was cradled in the arms of a seven-foot-tall demon with grayish skin, large horns curling backwards, sharp claws and teeth, small eyes, pointy ears, and a fluff-ended tail that Gunner instantly grabbed onto.
"Holy fuck!" I jerked back, pressing closer to Eshim almost instinctively. He'd been silent since he'd explained everything to me, but now he wrapped an arm around me, holding me close.
"It's okay. He's still Lux," Eshim said in a low voice, and I swallowed hard as I nodded. I glanced over at Archer, and he looked completely at ease. Clearly, Lux's demon form was nothing new to him. Or Kat, from the looks of it. Did that mean they'd all hung out together with Lux and Fressia in their true forms?
Suddenly, I felt like I was a foster kid again, left out of the little 'clubs' the other kids made up because I was too new or not fun enough. Logically, I knew it wasn't the same thing, but I didn't have the strength to think logically right now.
"Ah, thank you for showing me, Lux," I said, because I didn't want him to think I was weirded out by him. Despite everything, I liked Lux. He made Archer happy, and he was amazing with Gunner.
Lux changed forms again, and smiled at me.
Shrugging out of Eshim's hold, I grabbed my dog as I stood up.
"I'm gonna go home now." Fressia was back, so whatever danger there had been must've passed.
"Jerry," Kat started to say, but I shook my head at her.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Before any of them could try to stop me again, I escaped the house, got into my car, and started driving.
My mind was somehow at once too full of thoughts and completely blank. I knew there were a lot of things I could think about, that I needed to think about, but for now, I wanted to enjoy the numbness for just a little longer.
Once we got home, I let Tom run around in the backyard while I changed into sleep clothes. Then I brought him inside and gave him some food before heading to bed.
I was under the blankets with the lights turned off when Tom scampered into the room, his nails scratching against the side of the bed as he tried to climb up. I needed to get some stairs or a ramp for him.
For now, I picked him up and plopped him onto the mattress, and he snuggled against my chest, lying belly-up for pets. I rubbed his belly, and as the repetitive motion started centering me a little, I remembered something else.
Eshim had told me he was my mate. Someone picked by fate to be a perfect match for me.
I'd seen how quickly Archer and Lux had grown close. Kat and Fressia had been the same. Did that mean Eshim and I were headed in the same direction? But he was my employee. I blinked. Wait. If he was a demon, and he knew all my friends…why was he working for me?
Eshim
"That went well," Fressia commented as she returned to the living room with two plates of food. She held one out to me, and I took it glumly. I was hungry as fuck after all that bleeding and healing, but I didn't feel like eating.
"That was awful. This wasn't how I wanted to tell him. Why did you bring me when you knew Jerry was here?" I asked Fressia, and she made a face.
"Well, forgive me for not thinking straight when I was worried you were seconds away from moving on. I was running on instinct."
If I'd 'died' before Reece arrived, I'd have moved on straight to Afterworld. It was where all souls ended up, sooner or later, before they decided to reincarnate. Once I was in Afterworld, I'd have returned to my original human form—not the one I had now, but the one I'd had before I was transformed into a demon—and I wouldn't have been able to come back to the human realm. I'd have had to wait until Jerry died and came to Afterworld to see him again.
"Thanks, Fressia. For saving me," I said, and she waved me off as she chewed her food.
"Was it really Mammon?" Lux asked, and I nodded, sadness filling me as I thought about Mammon. Like Korrigan, Mammon had also turned into a bit of a hermit in his last few 'normal' decades, and I couldn't help wondering if even then he'd had some darkness clinging to him and we just hadn't noticed.
The longer a demon spent torturing dark souls, the darker their own soul got. Of all the demons who hadn't moved on to Afterworld yet, Kor, Star, and Mammon were the oldest. All the other demons had spent longer in retirement than in active duty, which was why we weren't in danger of going dark.
"Yeah," I said when I remembered Lux had asked me something. "He wasn't the one who hurt me, though. That was a dark soul. Mammon kept me from using my magic."
"Fudge, I hate this," Lux grumbled, and Gunner patted his cheek consolingly, making his frown instantly turn into a smile.
"You should sleep here tonight," Kat said just as I was about to say I should leave too, and I blinked.
"Huh?"
"You're tired, and I know you're all healed up, but it doesn't hurt to be careful. You can sleep in the guest bedroom and then go home tomorrow to change and stuff. Will you go to work tomorrow?"
"Of course." Jerry needed me, and there was no way I was staying away, especially after everything we'd talked about tonight.
"All right, then. Off to bed you go," Kat said, and I huffed, wondering if she realized just how much older than her I was.
I borrowed some clothes from Kat—who'd 'borrowed' them from her best friends—before grabbing a quick shower and cleaning up all the blood clinging to my skin. The clothes I'd been wearing went straight into the trash, and I put on the ones Kat had given me before climbing into bed.
Hella popped in just as I was getting comfortable, and I invited her onto the bed. "Thanks, Hella. You saved my life today."
She licked my face, the flames on the tip of her ears burning merrily. Azazel had put a glamor spell on her so humans couldn't see the blaze, which made it easier for her to move around.
I was glad I'd taken her with me, because if I hadn't, I'd be in Afterworld now.
Fressia had told me Mammon and the dark soul were gone when she returned with some of the Otherworld soldiers, but the search of the area had revealed a few more dead supes, this time shifters. They were still playing with dark magic, and I didn't like it, especially because now they had the assistance of an old-as-fuck demon. There wasn't a lot Mammon couldn't do with his magic, and I was worried we wouldn't be able to stop them in time when they finally started putting their plan into action.
Sighing, I wrapped my arms and legs around Hella's big, warm body, and buried my face in her fur. She smelled like the demon realm, like home, and I breathed her in.
How was Jerry? He'd seemed...not-okay when he left, and I didn't know what part of everything I'd told him he was struggling with the most. Was it the demon part? Or the fated mates part?
I supposed I'd get some clues at work tomorrow. Jerry wasn't as good at hiding his feelings as he thought he was.
I didn't know how revealing everything so early would affect our budding connection, but I wasn't going to let this hurdle stop me from swimming forward. I would win his heart, sooner or later, and until then, I was going to do my best to make him happy.
Sleep was nowhere to be found as my mind whirled in a hundred different directions, which was just great when this was the one night I actually needed sleep to replenish my energy.
Exhaling loudly, I pushed all thoughts to the back of my head and focused solely on Hella's soft snores. It took some time, but I finally relaxed, and sleep started tugging at me.
With an image of a smiling Jerry etched firmly in my mind, I let myself fall asleep.