Chapter 6
Six
Codie
It'd been a week since Pythor gave me Hella, and he'd come over twice since then to teach me. Nessa joined us for the first class, but she hadn't been able to make it for the second one. I hadn't minded.
We still hadn't gotten to any physical training, but I now had a small pepper spray hanging off my keyring, and a taser Pythor had gifted me. They wouldn't be of any use to me until I managed to get out of this house, but just having them made me feel like I was taking steps toward that end goal.
Pythor still didn't scare me, and we'd even talked outside of class.
He'd given me his number after the class with Nessa—and I'd ignored the way she'd waggled her brows at me from behind him—and we'd been talking.
It was nice. Nice to have a friend other than Nessa, nice to know that if something happened, I had someone close by who could protect me.
I knew it was strange how quickly Pythor had gone from a 'potential danger' to a 'protector' in my mind, and I couldn't make sense of it myself. There was something about him that told me he would never hurt me, and I was inclined to trust my instincts.
I just hoped they weren't leading me wrong.
My phone buzzed, and I wiped the paint off my hands before picking it up, trying not to smile when I saw Pythor's name.
Pythor: What's your plan for the day?
Me: Painting. Playing with Hella. More painting. Exciting, I know.
Pythor: It does sound fun
I scoffed, then shook my head.
Me: Does it really? I wish I could just get out of this house, but I'm too scared to. Isn't that stupid? I'm almost thirty, and I'm scared to leave my house.
I had a whole year before I'd turn thirty, but close enough.
Pythor: What if we started small?
My brows furrowed, and I gave Hella—who was curled up in the corner far away from my paints—a raised brow. She merely huffed before closing her eyes, and I smiled as I typed my reply.
Me: What do you mean?
Pythor: You could try sitting out on your porch. I'll join you on mine, and we can play with Hella for a bit. It'll be nice. You can get some sun on your face.
Fuck, that sounded so damned good.
Me: You'd do that?
Pythor: Of course. It'll be fun!
I shook my head, wondering just why Pythor was so nice. People weren't that good, right? At least, they never were in my experience. Nessa was the only exception, but could Pythor be another?
Me: I'll try.
Pythor: You got this. I'll see you outside.
"Fuck," I mumbled, making Hella peer at me. "You wanna go outside?"
Hella shot to her feet instantly, making me grin, and I walked into the attached bathroom to wash the paint off my hands before removing the paint-stained t-shirt I wore and hanging it over the towel rack for later.
I grabbed my overcoat from the door and shrugged it on as I padded my way to my bedroom, then pulled on a full-sleeve hoodie. It wouldn't be too hot outside, so I shouldn't get sweaty.
"Come on," I said, palming my phone as I made my way to the front door, then stopped as Hella danced at my feet, clearly eager to go outside.
I eyed the locks on the door, willing myself to open them, to step outside, and yet my hands wouldn't move.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced down at the preview of the text from Pythor.
Pythor: One step at a time
"Okay, okay," I murmured as I ignored the mad racing of my heart and reached for the first lock.
By the time all three locks were unlocked, my hands were shaking, and it took me three tries to remove the chain.
Hella whined at my side, pressing her body into me, and she gave me the strength I needed to pull the door open.
Pythor was already sitting on his porch, his feet on the second step. He grinned when he spotted me, and Hella wriggled in place, like she wanted to go to him but didn't want to leave me alone.
Slowly, I walked the three steps to the edge of the porch, pulling courage from Hella's warmth at my side and the soft look on Pythor's face.
Once I was seated, I gave Hella a grateful scratch behind her ear, then patted her side. "Go on. Say hi to him."
She barked, then raced over to him, attacking his face with licks as he laughed.
I smiled as I watched them, wrapping my arms around my legs as I curled up tight.
While I didn't instantly want to rush back inside, my skin still prickled with unease, as if danger was lurking close and would be on me the moment I let my guard down.
"Codie, catch!" Pythor said, and I scrambled to catch the tennis ball he threw at me as Hella raced after it, her tail wagging hard as she stared at it in my hand.
"You want this?" I asked her with a smile, then threw it to Pythor as she raced back after it.
Pythor threw it into the air, and she leaped, catching it expertly before running over to me and placing it in my hand. I made a face at the now-wet ball, but threw it to Pythor anyway, laughing when she snatched it midway and carried it over to him.
We played like that for a while, with the sun warming my face, and their presence making me feel safe.
By the time I returned inside and hopped into the shower—the hoodie had made me sweaty, it turned out—I couldn't quite erase the smile on my face. Maybe I could actually do this. With Pythor, Hella, and Nessa's support, I might actually be able to get my life back.
Pythor
There was no sight more beautiful than that of a smiling Codie, and I wanted to make sure he never had a reason to stop.
It was so tempting to use my magic to find out what had happened to him and do whatever I could to punish the people who had harmed him, but I was afraid, which was an unfamiliar feeling for me.
It wasn't like there weren't things that scared me.
I was terrified of going dark the way Mammon had.
Once upon a time, I had reveled in my job as a torturer of the Underworld, and I was so frightened I'd go down the same dark path as Mammon.
He'd been a good demon once, a friend, and look at him now. I didn't want to end up like him.
But that was a different kind of fear.
If I looked into Codie's past without his knowledge or permission, I feared I would lose the trust we'd built so far, and nothing could be worse than that.
I didn't want to give Codie any reason to doubt me, or worse, fear me, so I couldn't investigate what had happened. I had to wait for him to tell me, no matter how much I wanted to hunt down the bastard responsible.
There was also the small matter of me not being allowed to hurt humans.
Since it was a command by the man who summoned me—all of us demons, except Azazel, had been summoned by one of the three rulers of Otherworld, and given that single command—I couldn't ignore it.
I could get past it if I was determined enough, but it would be painful, and I could risk breaking our contract.
That wasn't a risk I could take, because a broken contract would mean I wouldn't be able to exist in the human realm, not in a visible form at least.
I couldn't leave Codie, not now that I'd found him. Whatever I did, I had to make sure it wouldn't separate us.
For now, my main focus was helping Codie get his life back. If he ever felt comfortable enough to share his past with me, I'd listen and take whatever action I needed to, but until then all I was going to concern myself with was helping him.
"Pie, you're losing," a nine-year-old named Peter said, and I blinked back to the present, raising my brow at the black-haired, blue-eyed kid.
"Am I?" I asked, glancing at my arm that was almost ready to touch the desk. I straightened up quickly, making Jonah grunt. He was another of the volunteers, and the kids had pushed us into an arm-wrestling match to see who was stronger.
While I taught self-defense, Jonah was responsible for the food, snacks, and some activities the center hosted. The kids loved him—and me, if I was being honest—and this 'competition' seemed to be their way to decide who they loved more.
While Jonah was strong by human standards with a height matching mine and muscles that told me he took good care of his body, I could easily defeat him, but that wasn't the point.
The point was entertaining these kids for as long as we could while they waited for their parents to come pick them up.
Most of the younger kids here came to the center because their parents couldn't afford daycare or a babysitter, while the older ones came to escape their bad home situations.
Either way, it was our responsibility to keep them safe—and entertained—while they were here, and Jonah seemed to be in full agreement because while both of us kept 'almost' losing, neither of us was winning.
"Are you both equally strong?" a seven-year-old named Katie asked, and I grinned at her, liking the way her brown eyes shone with awe and glee.
"It looks like it. What do we do now?"
"A tie!"
"You want me to wear a tie?" I gave them a confused look, and the kids laughed.
"No! You should declare a tie!" Peter explained, and I made a slow sound of realization.
"Ooooh, that's what you meant. What do you think, Jonah? Should we declare a tie and shake on it?"
He chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling as he grinned at the kids. "Sounds fair to me."
So we called a tie and shook on it just as the parents started arriving, and within minutes, it was just the two of us in the room.
Jonah stretched his arms above his head with a groan, then shot me a grin. "They're adorable, but they have way too much energy."
I snorted. "That's true. I try to tire them out in class, but then they'll nap for fifteen and go right back to it."
Jonah laughed, then glanced at his watch. "Time for us to clock out. You wanna go grab a drink or something?"
The way his eyes roamed over me made it quite clear what 'grab a drink' was code for, and I shook my head, giving him a smile.
"Sorry, I have plans."
He shrugged, then gave me a curious look. "Seeing someone?"
I pursed my lips, then shook my head as I shrugged my jacket on. While I didn't really feel cold—or hot, depending on the weather—I had to keep up pretenses to not raise suspicion.
"There is someone, but we aren't dating yet," I said, which was the easiest way to describe it. While I wasn't in any rush to speed up our relationship, I knew that I would never look at anyone else now that I had Codie.
"Okay, then. Good luck with them," he said with a grin before walking away, and I took a few minutes to straighten up and lock up before leaving. While some parts of the center were open to the public twenty-four-seven, other areas like the kids' rooms and classes were locked up during the night.
As I teleported home, I wondered what Codie was up to.
After the first time, we'd played catch with Hella yesterday morning and today as well, and I wondered if he was ready to take another step.
Should I bring it up, or wait for him to do it?
I didn't want to seem pushy, but I also didn't want him to stop now that he'd started making progress, especially because I knew he also wanted to leave his house, to get his life back.