Chapter 10 Intelligence
INTELLIGENCE
Lazerath
Lazerath had never really been a patient demon.
That quality, he assumed, was absorbed entirely by Severath in the womb, just as Laz had absorbed the ability to smile and hold conversations and probably something else he was forgetting.
But his mind was too busy bouncing between the new catering gig, his final cleanup for the day, and the very beautiful human sitting at the corner table of his bakery chatting with another human.
Laz had immediately taken a liking to Brioni. She was all smiles and sunshine and bounce, and it had been nice to ask her about all sorts of human things he’d always wondered about. Brioni had no hesitations about answering, which was very useful before Laz had found his own human to ask questions.
And he had a whole bunch of them he wanted to ask her tonight on their date, after he and Davarox had fought over who would get to take her first. Well, Laz had insisted Dav should have time with her first. His tail had done the thumpy-thump thing, after all, so it was only fair.
But Dav had gotten all twitchy and grumpy and finally Laz had relented just to keep his friend from getting the sads, and that would do no good in convincing Rosalind to stay with them.
But now Brioni was keeping him from their date, and it was increasingly difficult to pretend he was actually finishing his duties for the day—not trying to eavesdrop on what the bubbly human had called a “private conversation for only the humans and a very friendly green demon who definitely knows what this visit is about.”
Lazerath was very tempted to find this green demon and figure out what made Rosalind’s cheeks go pink but also soften in relief. Why did he get to know what was in that little pouch and no one else? Lazerath was a good secret keeper.
Sort of.
Not at all, but seriously, there should never be secrets ever. Unless it was a surprise party, then maybe a little secrecy was okay, but only if there was cake involved.
He was only jealous because he wanted to know how to make Rose do that little smile with the corner of her mouth.
To know why her heart rate spiked and why her hands twitched toward the papers spread over the table whenever Brioni jostled them.
To know what little whisper they shared that made Rose’s eyes widen and lips pinch.
He wanted to know so he could recreate it. Tell her the same things. Understand what made her nervous so he could not do those things.
Laz just wanted her to stay.
With him, obviously. And Dav. She was, of course, staying in Heck because of the rune bracelet and safety-of-the-demon-realm thing were she to leave.
“Fix that.”
Laz blinked, then twisted his head to see Dav looming over him. “Fix what?”
“Your face. You’re being creepy.”
His friend shifted, moving the mop from one hand to the other, and Laz immediately straightened from where he was leaning on the counter. “Shit, I was supposed to do that.”
Dav waved him off. “It’s fine. I know you’re distracted.”
Laz’s mood sank. “So are you. We’ve got the daily business, the prep work for the fundraiser, fixing those contracts I fucked up—”
“Laz,” Dav said, clapping his free hand on Laz’s shoulder. “You handled two big rushes and a rowdy group of kids this afternoon, which I never could have done on my own. And you didn’t fuck up anything. Rose gave me a second set of eyes, and we’re good to go now. Those demons were just assholes.”
True, but the words didn’t ease any of Laz’s guilt that he’d been so gullible to fall for their tricks. Or any of the embarrassment that Rosalind knew he’d been duped.
Still, he plastered on a smile and pretended the sads weren’t twisting around in his gut alongside the nerves about tonight. “Okay.”
The slight twitch around Dav’s eyes was an obvious indicator that his friend didn’t believe everything really was okay, but luckily Brioni’s cheerful goodbye cut through the silence of the shop.
“I’ll pass along any more news of the girls!” she called to Rose, then smiled brightly at Laz and Dav. “Make sure the dessert has chocolate.”
Laz frowned, glancing to Davarox who was equally confused. “What dessert?”
“Bye, Bri!” Rosalind shouted, rushing out of her seat to gently push the other human toward the door. “Lovely catching up with you. I promise I’ll be around more.”
“Wait,” Brioni pouted as she was herded out of the shop. “I didn’t even threaten them yet if they hurt you. I’ll send Kalypso after them!”
Davarox choked as Rosalind continued to talk over whatever Bri was threatening in a cheery voice that would rival Laz’s.
“Which one is Kalypso?” Laz asked quietly.
“The one under Ozirax’s supervision,” Dav whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
They both shuddered.
“Bri knows we’d never hurt Rose… right?” Laz asked.
“We should probably keep a stash of chocolate desserts on hand.”
“What kind?”
“All of them.”
“Good idea—hey, hi, good chat?” Laz quickly amended after Rosalind turned from finally pushing the other human out of the bakery.
She blew a curl out of her eyes. “Yup, great. Totally normal.” Back still pressed against the door, she gave them a strained smile. “She’s joking, by the way. She won’t actually get Kalypso.”
“But the chocolate—”
“Don’t worry about that,” Rose blurted, voice pitched higher than normal as she darted a look toward her table. “Sorry, I’ll clean that up and then I’m ready to go.”
Without waiting for their response, she hurried over and began stacking her papers.
Dav leaned closer and whispered, “You’re getting chocolate dessert, right?”
“Everything on the menu,” he whispered back.
Laz hung his apron up and grabbed his coat, happy to wait now as he watched Rosalind tuck her bag behind the counter and go out of her way to give Dav a hug.
The gray demon seemed surprised, holding the mop out of the way but wrapping his arm around her shoulders gently.
But his entire demeanor softened, and that secret smile of his seemed brighter.
Hmm, Laz should hug him more. It would be just like Davarox to not admit that he enjoyed hugs.
“Ready,” Rose said with a smile as she tugged her soft pink sweater over her head.
It was pure torture watching her flip her dark waves out from the neckline and not just pick her up and carry her back to his place, but he reminded himself of the night he’d planned and settled for holding out his hand instead.
Her fingers didn’t hesitate to find his, weaving them together as her cool palm squeezed into his larger, warmer one.
“Have a good night,” Dav shouted from the back.
“Don’t sleep here tonight!” Laz called back before the door closed. “Save some work for me.”
“Maybe,” came the muffled response.
Rose kept her eyes on the window, craning her neck to look inside the shop until she couldn’t any longer. “He won’t really stay there tonight, right?”
Lazerath shrugged. “I’ve seen him make a bed out of flour before, but he said he had some things to clean up around home. And if he says he’s going to do something, it gets done.”
“You’re really close.”
“Pretty much inseparable since we were kids,” he said happily.
“Though I didn’t exactly give him a choice.
It helped that no one wanted to mess with Sev, and then when Dav grew, no one wanted to mess with him anymore, and then it sort of became a joke that I had two bodyguards following me around all the time. ”
“Kids can be cruel,” she muttered, hand tightening in his.
Laz nodded. “So can adults. But Dav stuck around after Sev joined the guard, helping me with the bakery. I probably guilted him into it, with the whole name and all.”
“Lovable Loaf was his idea?” Rose asked, cheeks brightening as she looked up at him.
“Lovable Loaf is Dav.”
Her mouth popped open, brown eyes sparkling with excitement. “Tell me everything.”
So as they walked, Laz did. He told her about the first time Dav didn’t have a school lunch and how Laz had started to bake a second loaf of bread for him when it became a regular thing.
How every time it was offered, the gray demon still acted surprised.
How the nickname just stuck, because despite that crisp crust, his friend had the fluffiest center.
Their conversation only took a few tangents, mostly because Rosalind always asked the best leading questions that reminded Laz of more stories about growing up with a twin and having his best friend around all the time.
Then they made it to the restaurant, and Laz got to show off his favorite rooftop dining spot in all of Heck, which also happened to have a great view of the art district.
Rose had noticed and regaled him on all her brilliant ideas for revitalizing and fixing up the public spaces and a few of the empty buildings between enthusiastic bites of food.
Including the chocolate dessert, which made her eyes get all wide and sparkly, and Laz wondered if maybe he’d been wrong about her favorite treat being a spiced biscuit.
But then she was prompting him about his business again, how he thought of new recipes or managed to get two ingredients to taste good together.
She asked about life outside of the bakery and what he and Davarox liked to do besides work and go to taverns looking for someone interested in going home with two demons.
“Only you,” he teased, enjoying how her cheeks turned pink under the starlight.
“It’s worked out in the past before, but not for anything serious beyond one night.
I’ve courted a bit, but nothing really stuck.
” He poked at the last of his cake, hoping her probing questions didn’t dig too deep there. “What about you?”
“Courting?” Rose blinked like the question surprised her, then huffed a laugh.
“No, not much. There was an older girl I met at school—brilliant, and my family loved her—who… well, things didn’t work out when I started my legal studies.
Then a guy I worked and studied with, which sort of fizzled out on my end for… reasons.”