Chapter 8 #2
The blue demon nodded, his eyes falling to Rosalind then skipping past with disinterest as he craned his neck inside. “Can he come sign off on these and pay? I’ve got places to be.”
Normally, Davarox was accustomed to the dismissal. But now Rose was here, a witness to his shame.
Well, she wanted to see all of him? Why not see the exact reason he wasn’t worth her time.
“I can sign off,” came his curt response.
“Gotta be the owner,” the delivery demon said, foot now bouncing as he avoided looking at Davarox.
He almost caved. Almost turned to shout for Laz to stop fighting an inanimate object just to appease this bastard.
But then the human stepped to his side, head cocked as she looked up at the giant demon with no fear. “He is an owner.”
The blue demon frowned, the end of his tail flicking behind him. “Right, okay, well, I just usually do business with Laz.”
Rosalind’s eyes narrowed on the demon. Flashed to Dav as she looked him up and down. Saw the subtle shake of his head and snapped her gaze back to the blue demon.
“Laz is busy, so I guess you’ll just do business with us,” Rose said, then, faster than anyone expected, she swiped the clipboard off the crate of milk. Her eyes scanned the document quickly. “Salgoron, is it? Of Salgoron’s Goods?”
Uncertainty passed over the demon’s face. “Uh, yeah?”
“Of Salgoron’s Goods who hasn’t paid their business license for the year and has accrued four months of late fees?”
She said it so smoothly, so casually, Dav almost missed the underlying threat. Probably because he was too busy appreciating the shock and fear that made Salgoron stiffen.
“Oh, well, you see, times are hard, and—”
“I see a lot of hidden and duplicate fees here.” Rose’s finger tapped on several lines as she ignored him.
“You’ve backdated this contract to make it appear that the delivery came three days ago.
Not to mention, the dates here are”—she grabbed a bottle from the crate and hummed—“yup, incorrect, assuming you even stamped these appropriately. And this much coin for a late delivery, missing three bottles, and making up your own tax?”
Salgoron shifted on his feet, tail growing more agitated. “I, um, there’s…”
Rosalind slapped the clipboard against Dav’s chest, forcing him to scramble to grab it when she let go and stepped closer to the demon.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Salgoron of Salgoron’s Goods.
This crate right here? Free of charge. As will be the next…
” She pursed her lips, calculating. “Five deliveries, not including the three replacement bottles you will deliver tomorrow before midday.”
“But—”
“Which is more than generous, because I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve tried to take advantage of Lazerath’s kindness.”
The blue demon’s swallow was guilt enough.
“That’s not all,” Rosalind continued, curling a hand over the edge of the crate as she pulled the demon closer to her glare.
“You’re going to be on time. Lovable Loaf will be the first delivery you make in your rounds.
It will be the freshest milk, and there will always be the correct number of bottles and ounces.
There will be random inspections to confirm.
And that business license payment and late penalties?
Those will be on my desk when I get into the office tomorrow.
If it isn’t, I will shut you down. I will personally lead the investigation, and how embarrassing will it be when a human who has been in your city for just over a week shows up to dismantle your scam of a business? ”
Salgoron was nodding quickly now, fear widening his eyes. “Yeah, yup, I will. Promise. It’ll be on your desk in the morning.” He swallowed. “Wait, uh, where’s your desk?”
“I’m the only human at city hall. Figure it out.” The fire in Rose’s brown eyes should have melted even the demon with water magic. “And last thing? You do business with Dav from now on. If he gets even a whiff of disrespect off your breath, he’s going to tell me. And remember what happens?”
“You shut me down.”
“I shut you down,” she repeated with a smile that belied the fury burning in her words.
When she leaned away, she took the crate of milk with her, propping it on her hip with an impatient why are you still here glare.
Salgoron wobbled on his feet, now avoiding both Dav’s and Rose’s stares. “C-can I have my clipboard back?”
“No. It’s a nice clipboard and I want it,” Rosalind answered without hesitation. “Run along, Salgoron of Salgoron’s Goods. I’m an early riser.”
With one last inhale of fear, the blue demon turned and scurried off to his cart.
Dav could only stare at the human as she let the door slowly close, readjusting the crate of milk into her arms before walking it over to the counter. But there was a rapid thumping in her chest, louder in the silence now that her voice wasn’t doling out confident threats.
“He’s going to have that on your desk this afternoon,” he said, ignoring the urge to review the contract in his hands.
He wasn’t mad at anyone except for the blue bastard, sneaking in addendums and probably distracting Laz with platitudes and conversation until all those hidden fees sounded legitimate.
Rosalind huffed a laugh, keeping her back turned. “He’ll be running around for a while. I don’t even have a desk.”
Davarox glanced down. Saw the curl of her hand against the counter’s edge and the little tremor of her fingers. The quick rise and fall of her shoulders.
He didn’t think, he was just there. One hand smoothing over the tight grip she held, the other gently hovering at the small of her back.
It would have been so easy to close that distance, what with her not having a tail swishing frantically behind her, but Dav could sense that any more closeness was not what she needed right now.
“Rosalind,” he whispered.
She quickly shook her head. “I’m f-fine.”
“Find three pink things in the shop.”
Her breath stuttered. “Uh, that cupcake. The flower on the table. Umm, the cake on the shelf. The stain on your apron… I don’t know how many that was.”
“You got it,” he lied, listening to her heartbeat calm. “Two deep breaths, in through your nose.” He waited until she inhaled. “Good, and out.”
She exhaled, following his instruction for another breath until her fingers didn’t clench so tightly.
“One good curse—”
“Fuck!”
The laugh burst out of Davarox unintentionally, but then Rose was shaking, her free hand slapping over her mouth to muffle her own laughter as she turned toward him.
The hand under his palm twisted away from the counter, fingers sliding around his in a gesture somehow more profound than the vulnerability in her brown eyes.
When she finally caught her breath, she whispered, “I’m so sorry I overstepped, but—”
“Rosalind—”
“No, let me finish,” she said, squeezing his hand. “When he dismissed you…”
Dav looked away. Tried to pull his hand from hers.
She only held on tighter.
And then a cool palm was sliding against his cheek, turning his head back to her.
“I know that was just an adrenaline crash, but I get… panic attacks. Often,” she explained like a peace offering.
“They’re irrational and scary and sometimes painful.
When I was little, I would get so lightheaded I’d pass out.
Sometimes my mother was there to help, but when I was fully on my own, I had to ground myself in something. ”
“Lists,” Davarox guessed.
“Alphabetized, of course,” she teased back with a wobbly smile. “You should have seen me waking up in Heck surrounded by rainbows and horns. Not exactly what I expected from demons.”
He didn’t want to laugh, but the small huff escaped anyway, solidifying her smile in turn.
“Growing up, my peers told me it was ridiculous. That I couldn’t do something as basic as breathing.
They used to put things out of order on purpose, or switch my papers so I thought I had gotten a poor grade, or corner me when I was reading to see who could have the fastest record of making me panic. ”
A low growl filled the space, and Dav hadn’t realized it was his own until she brushed a thumb over his cheek to settle his anger.
“But I found a use for it. The memorizing, the numbers, the intense focus—I put it toward helping others. Sometimes I can’t shut it off.
” Her hand slid down to his chest. “All that to say, I learned a lot in the early days about demons and demon culture so I could help the humans stuck here. I don’t need to know how, but know I don’t give a fuck whether you have magic or not.
I will not stand for anyone—human or demon—treating others with disrespect. ”
Davarox swallowed, doing his best to let her words and kindness seep between the cracks in his defenses.
Maybe one day, those words would bloom. Would overflow from the gaps and blanket him in warmth.
Maybe one day.
He pressed his free hand against hers on his chest. “My protector.”
Rosalind’s shoulders softened. “You aren’t mad?”
“Only that he used Laz’s distractedness to scam our business. It’s a good thing we’re closed, because Lazerath is going to have a very animated, one-sided self-deprecating speech about how guilty he feels.”
“Can I help?”
“Usually I tie a mop to his tail so we get some chores done when he paces and eventually talks himself out,” Dav muttered, smirking when a laugh burst out of her.
“I know it’s private business, but I could make a projection plan with the new supply numbers. And if you want me to review the ledger, I’m very good at organizing budgets. It’s actually a lot of fun.” Her eyes widened. “But you don’t have to! I’m… sorry, getting ahead.”
Fear nestled in Dav’s gut, but he was powerless against the excited spark in Rosalind’s eyes.
He thought he’d been saved earlier not having to explain that the city worker who updated their heating rune had treated him even worse than Salgoron.
But there was no way this human wouldn’t notice his manipulations.
Yet…
“I’d appreciate a second set of eyes,” he said, nodding to the book that had been left on the counter.
And as she flipped open the book, Dav made a promise to himself.
No matter how strongly he felt about her, no matter how much he wanted her in his life, the human could not be the reason all his work went to waste in keeping Laz protected.