Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
Codie
I felt like the universe was paying me back for the shitstorm my life had been before Pythor. Sometimes, I got a little scared about just how happy I was because I felt like something would steal it all away from me.
Pythor was good at sensing my unease and comforting me, just like he was good at everything else. Well, except cooking, but he was a whiz at magicking up food from anywhere in the world, so that couldn't stop him either.
Sleeping was easier with Pythor around too. I no longer needed to have the lights on or play music to fall asleep unless I had a really bad day as long as I had Pythor's wings around me.
We'd gone to the mall last weekend, and while I'd gotten startled by a few things, I hadn't had a single panic attack. I'd felt so proud of myself, and we'd celebrated by getting some huge ice cream sundaes.
I still trained with Pythor, though not every day.
He worked with me at least three times a week, and we went for a run on the days we didn't train.
I now not only knew how to defend myself, but also how to fight off someone bigger than me.
The day I'd put Pythor on his back on the mat was still one of the proudest moments of my life.
Today we were doing something new, going somewhere extremely special, and I was very excited about this one. For one, it was guaranteed to be free of humans, and for another, it was Pythor's home.
He was taking me to the demon realm! He'd asked a few days ago, then been surprised when I'd said "Yes!" before he could finish his question. I had no idea why he was surprised. Why wouldn't I want to visit his home?
"Ready?" Pythor asked, and I shot to my feet, hurrying over to him.
I was wearing tight jeans and a new top I'd bought at the mall last week, and I felt damn good about my clothes for the first time in months.
I wasn't hiding behind long sleeves or baggy clothes today, and my coat hung by the door where it had for a few days now.
I'd worn it to the mall, but I didn't feel the need to wear it when visiting Nessa or walking around the neighborhood.
"Ready!" I exclaimed as I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he glanced down at me with a smile.
"You look beautiful," he murmured, and I felt my cheeks heat up as I reached up to pat his cheek.
"You look pretty handsome too," I said, because I'd realized something recently. While Pythor loved dishing out compliments, he struggled to take them. While I couldn't see his blush as easily as he could mine, his flusteredness was pretty apparent from the way he ducked his head and glanced away.
Clearing his throat, he wrapped his arms around my middle, tucking me in close to his body as his magic stirred around us. It seemed to take longer than it did to go anywhere else—maybe because we were travelling to a whole different realm?—but still no more than half a minute.
I took a step back, leaving my hands on Pythor's hips as I glanced around with wide eyes and an open mouth.
It seemed like we were underground, the air filled with the scent of damp stone and smoke. It smelled like Pythor but more concentrated, and I wondered if all demons smelled similar.
We stood in what looked like a hallway, with dark stone walls on either side, above and below us. There were sconces on the walls, blue flames rising from their depths. With the amount of evenly dispersed sconces, I'd thought the hallway would be hot and humid, but it wasn't.
At various distances on either side of the hallway were openings. They were roughly the same shape, and some had curtains hiding what was behind while others lay open. Were those the other demons' living quarters?
"This way," Pythor directed, and I followed him to an entrance a few feet from where we'd appeared. I felt magic brush over me as we stepped through, and wondered if it was some kind of spell to keep people from entering without permission. It would make sense since there were no doors here.
I whistled softly as we stepped into the room, glancing around at the large, open-concept space. There was no need for a kitchen or bathroom of course, so the large room was split into a sitting room and a bedroom.
The bed was big enough Pythor could comfortably sleep in his true form, and covered in dark gray silk sheets. A million and one pillows lined the headboard, big and small and perfect for cuddling. A silk robe hung from the bedpost at the headboard, and I wondered if it felt as good as it looked.
On the far side of the bed was a bookshelf lined with all kinds of books.
There were old-looking journals, some novels, and nonfiction titles.
Pythor's tastes clearly varied, and I now also knew where the books he read came from and disappeared to.
I'd assumed he was 'borrowing' them from a library or bookstore, but maybe they'd come from here.
Another bookshelf was lined with all kinds of knickknacks, including what looked like origami animals and even some clay ones.
"Did you make those?" I asked, pointing toward the crafts and wondering why I didn't know my mate had an artistic side.
"Ah, no. The kids at the center did. They put in a lot of effort, so," he said with a shrug, and I grinned. My boyfriend had such a kind heart.
He liked to say he volunteered and helped people for selfish reasons, but I knew better. He did those things because he was kind.
"You should display them in our living room. On the shelf above the flatscreen, maybe?" I suggested, and his eyes brightened.
"Yeah?"
"Of course. It's our home now."
Pythor grinned, clearly pleased by that statement, and I smiled, reaching up to kiss his chin.
"Knock knock!" someone called from the outside, and Pythor sighed as I pulled back, taking my hand in his as he turned to his room's—cave's?—entrance.
"Come in, Kenji," he called out, and a man my height and build literally skipped into the room, his unique green-gold eyes falling on me.
His features were Japanese, and I wondered if their human form reflected their original human life, or if it was random.
Pythor had explained to me that demons didn't remember their human life, and while he had dark skin, he wasn't human, and therefore didn't belong to a human race and couldn't be called Black, the same way Kenji probably wasn't Japanese, despite his features.
"Hey, guys! I thought I sensed a human here. You must be Codie!" he said as he leaned forward and pulled me into a hug.
After meeting Xin, I wasn't quite as surprised by it and quickly hugged him back, though Pythor grumbled nonsensically under his breath.
"Tell me your secrets, Codie," Kenji said as he pulled back. "How do you handle this grump?"
Xin had asked that too, but I honestly didn't see what they were talking about.
Pythor had never been grumpy with me, except maybe that time he wrote me a note telling me to keep my music down, but even then he'd changed his mind a day later.
Probably because he'd heard my nightmare, I realized suddenly.
Pythor
I scowled at Kenji, wondering why I'd ever thought he was a friend. He was acting far too familiar with my mate, and I didn't like it.
"Pythor isn't really all that grumpy," Codie said, shooting me a wink, and Kenji gave him an exaggerated look of disbelief.
"Are we talking about the same person?"
"Don't you have class?" I growled, grabbing his arm and tugging him back until there was a few feet of distance between them.
Kenji raised a brow at Codie as if saying, "See?"
"Class?" Codie asked curiously, and Kenji grinned.
"Yes! I love learning, and since we had a lot of free time, me and Lazlo—he's another demon—decided to enroll in college. We're learning human history, and it's very interesting!"
Codie looked surprised by Kenji's explanation, but accepted it quickly. "That sounds great. From the way you talk about it, I'm guessing you're enjoying the experience."
"Very much," Kenji agreed with a grin, then turned to look at me. "And to answer your question, I'm on my lunch break, and my next class was cancelled. Lazlo decided to take a nap, so I got bored."
Lazlo and Kenji were thick as thieves, and had been for as long as I'd known them. They hadn't said anything to us, but I had a feeling they were mates. Why they were trying to keep it a secret, I didn't know.
"Be bored somewhere else," I muttered, wanting to spend some time with Codie, but my mate seemed to have other plans because he waved me off and invited Kenji to sit with us and chat.
Because I loved Codie, I tolerated Kenji for a full fifteen minutes before shooing him off, and Codie gave me an amused look once the annoying demon had left.
"I now see where they get the 'grump' from," he teased, and I snorted.
"You two can talk about college experiences all you want later, but you said we'd spend the day together."
Codie grinned, then climbed onto the couch to face me, his knees pressing against the outside of my thigh.
"Aww, are you jealous?"
I scoffed, then rolled my eyes for good measure. "No way. Why would I be jealous? You're my mate."
Codie smiled, then leaned forward to brush his lips to mine before pulling back. "That I am."
Feeling somewhat mollified, I wrapped an arm around his middle and tugged him into my lap, making him laugh. He adjusted himself so he sat on my thigh, legs spread over the other one, his side pressed against my chest as he gazed up at me.
"I really like your home. It's warm, cozy, and feels safe."
I smiled, glad to hear how he felt about the demon realm. While I planned to stay with him for the rest of his human life, I wouldn't mind spending some weekends here every now and then.
"Yeah? I'm glad to hear that. We can come over whenever you want."
Codie smiled, clearly pleased by that, and then reached up to kiss me again.
While he'd assured me I could initiate kisses and intimacy, I still preferred it when he did it.
We hadn't gone past some more clothed handjobs, though Codie had felt comfortable letting me touch him the last time we did it.
I was in no rush to do more, and while Codie had admitted he wanted to do everything with me, we had more than a few decades to do it all at our own pace.
We made out lazily for a while, just soaking each other in as I trailed my hands over Codie's back, his chest, the thin cloth of his shirt allowing me to feel all of him.
When Codie pulled back to catch his breath, I kissed his forehead because I knew it pleased him.
Then he decided to explore my room some more, and hopped over to my shelves, oohing and aahing over the knickknacks I'd collected over the last few months.
While some of them were things the kids had made for me, most were just random things I'd liked the look of, like the little crochet dog Codie wriggled at me with a grin.
It was black, and it'd reminded me of Hella.
I shrugged, and he smiled fondly before turning back to look at something else, and I leaned back into the couch, folding my arms behind my head as I watched him with a smile on my face.
Mammon and the other dark souls were still running around, and we still had no clue about Mammon's or Cynthia's plans, but at this moment, I cared about nothing except Codie.
This wonderful human had changed my life in a matter of weeks, and it sometimes overwhelmed me just how much I loved him.
He'd gone from being my annoying neighbor to the most important person in my life, and I thanked Fate for whatever strings they'd tugged to bring us together.
Codie was my everything, and I was going to spend the rest of my life making sure he had nothing to fear and everything that could fill him with joy.
I'd do anything for him, but for now, I was confident loving him with my whole heart would be enough.