Chapter Forty-Eight
I practically run across the dance floor to reach the exit. A lot of angels and demons turn to stare at me as I pass, but I don’t care even slightly.
The second I’m outside, I call Zarmenus. As excited as I am, as the phone rings I still worry that he won’t answer, and I got this excited for no reason. Also, I’m completely out of breath.
The call connects.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” I say. Zarmenus is not, in any way, matching my bright tone of voice.
It confirms my fears that something bad has happened.
It makes me pause my plan to tell him how I feel.
As much as I want to do it, it’s not nerves stopping me this time.
There’s a time and a place for this conversation, and if something bad has happened, it can wait.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Bell’s sick,” he says. “Sorry, I’ve been a mess today. The vet here is trying their best, but I might need to take her back to Hell.”
I was not expecting that. At all.
“What kind of sick?” I ask.
“They don’t know. It’s like she’s slipping away. I’ve never seen her like this.”
A new worry, a much stronger one, comes on strong. If Bell is in trouble, that’s all that matters right now.
“I’m so sorry,” I say. “Is there anything I can do?”
“A vet from Hell is on their way, they should be able to help. Could you—” he asks, but then stops himself. “Could you come wait with me? It’s okay if you can’t, you’re probably having fun at the dance.”
“I’m not, I want to be where you are.”
A few seconds later, he messages me the address of the vet, which is a ten-minute drive away.
I put that address straight into my ride-sharing app.
I pace by the sidewalk as I wait for the car to arrive.
The driver cancels, and frustration tears through me.
Why is it always when you’re in a rush that these things take forever?
A new driver accepts, and they’re only a minute away.
When the car finally arrives, I climb in as quickly as I can.
“Owen?” asks the driver.
“Yup.”
“Hey, you’re the demon’s boyfriend, right?”
“That’s me.”
She pulls the car away from the curb. I watch my app screen as we get closer and closer.
I know I’ve spent all day planning on telling Zarmenus how I feel, but this changes things.
What he needs right now is a friend. I will still tell him, but at the right time, once we know more about what’s happening to Bell.
When the car pulls up at the vet, I find Zarmenus sitting on a bench outside, his head in his hands. He’s in his demon form, and the contrast between him and the very ordinary world around him is striking. It’s funny that if I saw this a year ago, I wouldn’t have believed it.
“Hey,” says the driver. “I just wanted to say thank you.”
I pause. “For what?”
“I used to be really scared of demons, but then I started following you and your boyfriend and I saw how normal they are. I was just prejudiced. So, like, thanks.”
“No problem,” I say, then I undo my seat belt.
Zarmenus looks up as I get out of the car.
As I come closer, he gets to his feet and rushes forward, crashing into me.
He’s warm, even more than normal. I wrap my arms around him and hug him as fiercely as I can.
I can almost feel the pain coming off him.
I get it, I’m right there with him. Bell might’ve been an unwelcome addition to our room at the start of the year, and she did try to steal my soul, but I love her now and hate the thought of anything happening to her.
“Have you heard anything?” I ask.
“Not yet,” he says, his voice thick. “It’s like she’s sleeping but won’t wake up.”
I squeeze him. “When does the other vet get here?”
“It should be soon.”
We’re quiet for a moment.
“I’m glad you came,” he says.
“Of course.”
The door to the vet clinic opens, startling both of us.
A woman in a pair of dark blue scrubs, I’m guessing the vet, has come outside.
At first my stomach drops, but then I notice she is holding a very awake and very squirmy Bell.
She wriggles out of the vet’s arms, then rushes up to us.
She does a circle around my legs, purring loudly, then does another circle around Zarmenus.
If we weren’t here, I’d say there’s nothing wrong with her.
“You fixed her!” says Zarmenus. He nearly gives the vet a hug, stopping himself at the last moment.
“I didn’t do anything,” she says. “Not yet. She just woke up and started meowing at a pitch that cracked our window. Then she came into my thoughts and told me she’s fine and I should take her outside. That’s one very special pet you’ve got there.”
The vet spins on her heels and goes back inside.
“Was Bell faking?” I ask. “Can she do that?”
“I don’t know,” says Zarmenus, clearly reading my confused-as-hell expression. Then it seems like he figures it out. “Bell is tied to my emotional state. And after last night—”
He stops himself.
I start to put the pieces together. If Bell is tied to his emotional state, and she got sick last night after we had our talk, what does that mean, exactly?
“Or maybe she just wanted us to talk,” suggests Zarmenus. “She’s always been a drama queen.”
Bell meows, as if confirming his theory. Then she vanishes into thin air, leaving the two of us alone.
Bell is okay. The only thing holding me back from telling Zarmenus is gone. Actually, given the way she was acting, I’m starting to think this was all a plan orchestrated by her.
I go to speak, but then shut my mouth. This didn’t go the way I’d had mapped out in my head. I was supposed to see him at the dance and tell him there. Not on the street in front of a vet. My brain tells me to wait, to wait until I’ve had time to make a new plan, to come up with a new script.
“What’s wrong?” he asks. “Bell’s fine.”
“It’s not that.”
Am I really doing this?
I think I am.
“I want to tell you something, but it scares the shit out of me.”
He takes hold of my hands. “Want me to take the lead? Scary shit is my specialty, after all.”
“It’s tempting, but no.” I stand up straighter. “I like you. And not as a friend or a fake boyfriend or even as a roommate.”
“Ow,” he says, his eyes still full of affection.
“I mean, I do like you like that, too. But I like you in the other way, as well. And I’m not saying that for the internship or for any reason other than I want you to know. I’ve started to like you for real.”
His whole face lights up. “Um, I have a confession for you, too, roomie. I’ve liked you for real pretty much this whole time.”
“Really?”
“Why the tone of surprise? You’re the funniest, smartest, hottest, just all-around best guy I’ve ever met. I can’t believe that you like me. Or maybe I can, I am kind of amazing. But you, you’re incredible.”
I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy. This is like every birthday and Christmas combined. It’s so good now I’m worried that I’m going to wake up any moment and find out it’s all a dream.
He moves closer to kiss me. But we need to figure something out first.
“You still need to go back to Hell,” I say.
“Do I?”
“Your parents?”
“I’ve been thinking it’s time I stop doing everything they tell me to,” he says. “I’m the prophesied one, not them. And if I think I should stay, then they should listen to me.”
“What are you saying?”
He draws closer. “I’m saying, I’ll figure it out. Or, we can. If you want?”
He puts his hand on the side of my face, and I really do want that. The thought of him staying makes how I’m feeling now even better. He seemed so confident, and if our fake dating taught me anything, it’s that we’re a great team. The king and queen of Hell don’t stand a chance against us.
“I’d love that,” I say.
“Me too.”
He closes the distance, and presses his lips to mine.
Even with everything going on right now, I’m blown away by the kiss. It’s like every cell of my body is charged with electricity. This kiss is gentler than our last, but it means way more. It’s real.
We pause for a moment, our foreheads pressed together.
“I’m so glad I got you as a roommate,” he says.
A part of me can’t believe what I’m about to say, or that it’s the complete truth.
“Me too.”