Chapter 7 #2
Rosalind swiped the offered coins, thankful for the distraction and fresh air. She knew Mozke hadn’t really done it to give her a chore, but to give her an excuse to get out of city hall for a little bit. To forget the morning—maybe even the last three days—and just stretch her legs a little.
A personal life.
She laughed.
But it faded much faster than it had in the past. In the human world.
Her personal life had always been filled with family. Her parents and younger siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Houses always filled with food and bodies and smiles. There had barely been time to panic amid the noise and chaos.
Heck was different. There were always bouts of quietness when her heart beat out of control. Her mind scrambled to fill space. There was so much time to be… lonely.
Gods, was she lonely?
She took in the Lovable Loaf’s storefront, finding herself relaxing despite the direction of her thoughts.
This. This felt right. A calm and cozy atmosphere that didn’t make her want to fill it with worrying thoughts or dark feelings. Buttery and bright smells blanketing her in warm memories of her father’s forehead kisses and her mother’s hugs. A caring and comforting place.
The glass gave her a beautiful view of the inside—empty tables decorated with single flowers in vases.
A display case of every color frosting and treat she recognized, and some she knew nothing about.
A hand-painted sign highlighting the special of the day with a word she absolutely could not pronounce but a drawing that looked good enough to eat.
Home. It felt like the kitchen she grew up in. The hearth always full of treats. Laughter as the youngest cousins scrambled around shins and the adults dodged heads with warm baking trays. Her grandmother scolding Papa for needing to confirm a recipe when he’d made the same food for fifty years.
That joy crashed down just five seconds after stepping inside.
She first noticed the customer at the counter, who was accepting the pastry bag from the bakery owner. Then she skipped over that yellow demon in favor of the red hand releasing the treat.
And then shock rooted her body to the spot when she followed that red arm up to a beautiful face she recognized.
But Lazerath hadn’t noticed her yet. Not like the gray demon standing in the doorway between the counter and the back room.
Davarox’s mouth was already parted, black eyes wide as he stared at her. Damnit, he was just as handsome now as he’d been the other night, this time sporting a white apron that made his broad chest and arms look even stronger.
“Have a great day,” Laz said to the customer and started to turn to greet her.
There was no time to hide. No larger demon to duck behind or a way to disguise that she was very much the human woman they’d shared in one of the wildest and most wonderful hookups she’d ever experienced.
Rosalind couldn’t move her legs. Not as Laz’s bright, customer-service smile dissolved into open-mouthed shock.
Not as the coins he was sorting slipped from his palm and clattered into the lockbox.
Not even as the yellow demon momentarily blocked her view as he tried to figure out how to move around her to the door.
The door.
Laz somehow knew her plan before she did. “Wait!”
She spun, legs poised to sprint.
The fucking demon was faster.
Rose had barely made it a step before a red blur beat both her and the yellow demon to the door, slamming it shut. And then Laz spread his whole body—arms, legs, and tail—across the exit.
“Hey, what in the blazes?” the yellow demon cursed.
But Laz’s gaze was only on Rosalind, chest rising and falling like he’d sprinted a marathon, not five steps to the front of his store. “You’re here.”
She was, and she was also going to murder Mozke for the setup.
“You’re really here,” Laz repeated.
Rosalind stumbled back a step. “Did you just leap over the counter to stop me from leaving?”
His head tilted like that was a ridiculous question. “I’d leap over the fucking Scar just to see you again. A counter is nothing.”
Ah, so it was a ridiculous question.
“Laz,” came the deep voice behind her, and Rose was both soothed by it and reminded of all the filthy things he’d growled in her ear. “Our customer?”
“Fine,” the yellow demon grunted, digging into his pocket before holding his hand out. “I’ll tip better from now on. Happy?”
Lazerath accepted the coins and peeled himself off the door, never letting his eyes stray from Rose as the yellow demon left. Thankfully, Laz didn’t take up post blocking the exit again, though he hovered warily like he was watching a cornered animal.
She pressed a hand to her chest, unsure when her breathing had started to come so quickly. Why did it have to be their bakery? Why did she now see an open path to the door and freedom but had no desire to run?
“Hey, beautiful,” Laz rasped, hands fidgeting at his sides. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I got ahead of myself.”
“No, no,” she managed to squeak out. “Not, um… frightened. Just—”
“Rosalind.” Her eyes squeezed shut at Davarox’s gentle voice. “It’s okay. You are free to leave. We won’t follow.”
Laz made a pained noise, but when Rose popped an eye open, he schooled his face from whatever silent conversation he was having with Dav and stepped to the side.
Okay, it was more like a partial side shuffle, but it provided a bit more room by the door if she desired.
It was very clear that was the last thing Lazerath desired.
“It’s really good to see you, beautiful,” he murmured, smile more pained than joyful as his body remained rigid. Tense, but respecting the distance.
It had been so easy. So easy for them to find her. One of six humans, and they already knew she worked with Mozke. But she’d had nothing, asked for nothing, searched for nothing, knowing that if she found them, she’d be doing exactly this.
Standing and waiting. Giving in despite every anxious thought telling her that this was a horrible idea.
“I, um—”
“We want to court you!”
“Laz!” Davarox scolded as Rosalind’s eyes widened.
“I’m sorry,” Lazerath whined back, shaking his head before taking a tentative step toward her. “Actually, I’m not sorry. Maybe just for how I said it all aggressive-possessive and a bit shouty, which really isn’t my thing because I’m more the warm, gooey center of pastries fresh out of the—”
“Laz,” Dav scolded again, this time with much more exasperation.
“Right, focus.” He huffed out a breath, hands smoothing out the air like he was calming himself despite the frantic twitching of his tail.
“It’s just been eating my insides since that night, and I can’t stop thinking about it, okay?
I know it was only supposed to be a single night thing, but I’ve—we’ve never connected with someone like that before, and it just felt right, and maybe this is a lot for you to handle, and judging by your reaction this meeting was not intentional, but I had to say it before the sads that my sads has got the sads and then Dav caught the third sads too. ”
Somehow, Rosalind understood all of that. “Oh.”
Her eyes flicked to Davarox who had inched closer to Laz, possibly to tackle the red demon or hold him back if Rose really had decided to bolt through the door.
There was barely a flicker of emotion on the gray demon’s face, but she still felt like she could see everything he tried to mask. Not just what they had, but the connection he had with his best friend.
Their own little understanding passing within the silence of their gazes, no words needed. Everything quieted in her head, a rightness settling on her shoulders that she couldn’t deny.
Laz’s head twisted to see Dav, then her, then back again before his eyes widened. “Oh. Oh. Right.” His tail thwacked against a chair, nearly upturning the table as it got tangled. “You and Dav, obviously. Yeah, makes sense.”
“Laz,” Rose sighed.
“No! No worries,” he went on, pulling the chair off his tail and righting it as he turned away from them. “The lists thing was very hot. I mean, I don’t understand it, but you do, and I definitely want you both to be happy. So fucking happy—”
“Laz!” It wasn’t just her shout that got him to shut up, but the fact that she’d moved without thinking. When he turned back to her, she caught her palms on his chest, which was panting nearly as hard as hers had been. “That’s not what that look was.”
He swallowed, cocking his head. “It… okay, so…”
“I wanted to make sure Dav was okay with this,” she explained, flexing her fingers.
It was easier to stare at her hands as she spoke, like the words might flow better if she could focus on her bitten nails and the tiny ink stain on her knuckle instead of the demon’s handsome face. “We all agreed on one night, but now…”
The words didn’t come, but they didn’t have to. A gray hand reached out, finger hooking around her chin to pull her gaze upward.
“You felt it too?” Davarox said in his deep rumble. “That connection between us?”
Rosalind nodded against his grip. “It’s something I’ve never experienced. Usually I need… something else? More? But with you—both of you, there was this… I was just going to lie to Mozke before I met you…”
“Hey, beautiful,” Laz whispered, finger tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear. “You don’t have to explain right now. Or ever. We just… want a chance.”
She swallowed. “And… we’d do this together? All of us?”
There was a spark of excitement in Laz’s eyes, but it was Dav who said, “It’s not unheard of in our culture.”
“But I’m human.”
“And you felt something all the same,” Dav said, so quickly there was no chance to doubt his sincerity. “You weren’t expecting this today. Take all the time—”
“Okay.”
Lazerath’s face split into a wide grin, but Dav blinked, brow pinching as he studied her.
She stared back just as forcefully. “You know I don’t need more time.
Because time means overthinking, and overthinking means lists, and the list for trying this is going to be miles longer than not trying, but I’m going to panic, and the only time my head actually feels any sort of calm is when I’m thinking of us together. Sorry, I’m a lot, maybe too much—”
“Have you met me?” Laz teased, holding her face in his hands as her eyes fogged. “We’re going to drive Davarox so crazy.”
Rose sniffled around a laugh, probably because Dav also huffed out a chuckle. “So now what?”
“Come by again day after tomorrow,” Dav answered smoothly. “The bakery is closed, and we usually restock. It’s quiet, we have food, and it’s easy to have a conversation while moving around.”
Laz groaned. “You’re making her work for us on a day off?”
“It’s perfect,” Rosalind said, then gasped. “Oh my gods, work. I have to get back.”
She scrambled out of their arms, missing their touches immediately, and took two steps toward the door before freezing, remembering the errand she’d been sent on.
Rose turned, catching the tail end of Laz’s cheer—which coincidentally involved his tail—and Dav’s secret, satisfied one-sided smile.
“Mozke asked for a bronzeberry scone, but I’m going to conveniently forget their order for this stunt. They did, however, mention I should try a spiced biscuit.”
Laz let out a whistle and slapped Dav’s chest. “Oh, beautiful. You just picked the second best Davarox Delicacy on the menu.”
Rose frowned. “Second best?” she asked at the same time Davarox’s eyes widened and he blurted, “Don’t ask!”
“You already loved the first,” Laz said proudly. “His—”