Fifteen
Gabriel
In the past hour, Xin told me a lot of things. Things I was still sorting through in my mind. Things like:
Xin was a demon.
Real demons were nothing like the ones in Christian lore, and they were actually the good guys—with one exception.
They had their own world—the demon realm—but a lot of them were living in the human realm right now because a few evil souls and a bad demon had escaped here and were planning to wreak havoc of some kind.
The only rule Xin was expected to follow here was to never hurt a human, which was why they'd never physically harmed Patrick, even though they'd really wanted to—their words.
What I still didn't know was why Xin had told me all of this. By their own admission, all of this was supposed to be a big secret, especially from humans like me. While I had asked Xin, they weren't obliged to tell me.
They could've easily lied and made up excuses to explain everything away, but they'd chosen to tell me the truth. Hell, they could've messed with my memory like they must've done to Patrick's.
There had to be a reason they told me, and it must be something serious since they'd evaded my question about it before.
"Gabriel?" Xin asked, and I blinked, realizing I'd gotten lost in my thoughts. Xin's lips curved in a small, hesitant smile. "Would you like me to leave so you can think things over? It's a lot of information."
While I did want to think things over, there was one question I needed the answer to, or it was going to drive me crazy.
"First, can you tell me why? Why did you tell me all of this?"
Xin's expression told me they wished I hadn't asked, and I wondered how bad it could be. Was I about to die? Was that why it was okay for them to tell me? It couldn't be something simple like they trusted me, or they wouldn't be so hesitant to answer, would they?
"Okay, okay," Xin mumbled under their breath before they straightened up and faced me head on.
They answered my question, and it was one hell of an answer.
Soulmates.
After seeing them appear out of thin air, after hearing about demons, and dark souls, and a demon world, that turned out to be my limit. I could believe in everything, but soulmates? Surely that was too far-fetched?
The look on Xin's face said it wasn't, and now I wished I hadn't asked.
I couldn't deny I was interested in them.
They were kind, intelligent, and they'd been my pillar of support through every step of my plan.
They were also attractive as fuck, though they'd admitted this wasn't their real appearance, just a disguise they'd worn for the mission.
They had a different human appearance they preferred, one they hadn't shown me yet, and a demon form that was their 'true' appearance, which I also had yet to see.
I liked them for who they were, not because of some fated bond between us, right?
"I'm going to leave now," Xin said, their expression carefully neutral, and I didn't ask them to stay. I couldn't. My mind was a mess, and I needed some space to sort everything out.
I walked them to the door, and they gazed at me for a moment before saying, "Call me if you have any more questions. Please."
Nodding, I watched them leave, then went back inside.
On autopilot, I cleaned everything up, then took Gray downstairs for a short walk before returning home, my mind going back to our conversation again and again.
I wished Kevin was here. What would he have said about this?
He would've loved Xin. He'd treasured stories about magic and other worlds, and growing up, he'd read me more than a few of his favorite stories. I was confident I'd had the thought that Xin could be something other than human because of those stories, because of Kevin.
Kev would've told me to go for it, that I'd be an idiot not to. He was never one to mince his words.
He'd tell me being soulmates was a good thing.
"Aren't you already halfway in love with them? Why are you making things harder for yourself?"
I blinked away the water that suddenly filled my eyes, surprised by how easily I could still imagine his voice, the soft warmth, the hint of teasing.
If what Xin had said was true, maybe I would get to see Kevin again someday.
After death, our souls went to a place called Otherworld, where we could stay and work, or head on to Afterworld, the heaven most humans hoped to reach one day.
Knowing Kevin, he would've stuck around in Otherworld, and I would get to see him someday.
Though Xin had said demons could only move on to Afterworld, since they were already dead and had chosen between Otherworld and the demon realm as their residence when they died.
I would have to pick between Otherworld or Afterworld, Kevin or Xin, so I planned to table this thought for as long as I could.
Though I was certainly surprised by how tough that choice was, when even a month ago I would've chosen Kevin without hesitation.
When we got back to the apartment, Gray quickly splayed out onto the living room, apparently intending to sleep there tonight.
Leaving him to it, I turned off the lights, then went into my bedroom. As I flicked on the light, my gaze caught on the picture frame.
At some point, Xin had changed back the picture, and my eyes lingered on Kevin's smiling face. God, I missed him so damned much.
After getting ready for bed, I turned off the lights and climbed into bed, pulling the sheets up over my head until I was doused in the darkness.
A soulmate. A demon soulmate who was here to protect humans.
A demon who was helping me get revenge for my brother.
Who wanted to spend the rest of my life—they had once been the soul of someone who'd passed away, a life they had no recollection of, and then they'd been turned into a demon.
Technically, they were already dead—with me, and then the rest of my death too, if I allowed it.
I stared into the darkness, and as I thought about it over and over, a question formed in my mind:
Why was I trying to fight this?
What was stopping me from just accepting this?
"Nothing, you idiot," Kevin said again, his voice so clear in my mind I half-expected him to be standing at the foot of my bed.
Laughing to myself, I pulled down the sheet just to make sure, but no, I was alone.
Was I so wary of good things happening to me that I was going to reject Xin?
Xin
I didn't sleep all night. How could I, when I had no idea what Gabriel would decide?
I'd barely gotten him to agree to a date. What if the soulmate thing was too much for him? What if he pushed me away?
When morning came, I decided to check in on the investigation because I was driving myself crazy worrying about Gabriel.
Ten minutes of snooping revealed they had more than enough evidence for a solid case, but the fact that Patrick refused to admit to any of it was a hurdle.
They could try the case without it, and they had a good shot of winning, but I wasn't willing to take that risk. This case needed to be iron-clad.
When I'd first researched Patrick, I'd delved deep, and now I searched my memory for something I could use.
Hmm... What if I...
Still in my invisible form, I made my way to the holding area, finding Patrick in the same cell I'd spent the night in just a few days ago. It suited him much better.
Standing in front of him, I thought about it for a moment, then changed my appearance, taking the form of someone Patrick would surely recognize.
Then, I used an illusion to make sure only he would see me and revealed myself to him.
Patrick's eyes widened instantly, and he shot to his feet before skittering backward, fear revealing the whites of his eyes as his lips moved without sound.
"D-Dad?" he stammered out, and if he wasn't such a piece of shit, I might have felt a tad guilty about using his dead father's form to intimidate me.
"Look at you," I said as I walked through the prison bars, making him gasp and squeeze himself into the corner. "You've ruined your family name, and now you refuse to take responsibility."
"I-I-I didn't do it," he protested, and I slashed my hand through the air, making him whimper.
"Silence! It doesn't matter. They have proof, and you will not drag our name through the mud. Plead guilty and pay your dues."
I glared when he opened his mouth to speak again, and he clamped his shut.
"Do it, or next time I will teach you a lesson myself. Do you understand?"
Patrick nodded quickly, and I backed away, keeping my gaze on him.
Just before I disappeared, I said, "And don't forget about what you did nine years ago."
Turning invisible, I changed back to my original look, the one I'd used before the fake appearance of 'Ben.' Gabriel hadn't seen this form yet, and I wondered what he would think about it. I knew he'd been attracted to 'Ben,' but would he feel the same way about me?
Patrick sat in his corner for a few stunned minutes, then got up and started banging at the rails.
An hour later, he'd confessed to everything despite his lawyer's protests, including what he'd done to Kevin all those years ago. He didn't mention the apparition of his dead father or why he suddenly felt so forthcoming, and that was just as well.
Once I was sure he wouldn't be backtracking, I went home, made myself a cup of tea, and tried to calm the fuck down.
Gabriel would contact me when he was ready.
Two hours later, he did. Though the first thing he said had nothing to do with our mate bond, which I'd expected after my morning adventure.
"He confessed," Gabriel said with an explosive sigh, the relief obvious in his voice.
"He did," I agreed, and he paused.
"You did something, didn't you? Aisha told me it was unlikely he would, and then suddenly he was blurting out everything. He even told them he framed Kevin."
"I may have encouraged him a little," I admitted, trying not to smile, and Gabriel went quiet again.
He seemed to mull something over, but since he hadn't ended the call, I stayed on too and waited for him to speak.
"Would you like to get dinner tonight?" he asked, and I froze. Was he asking what I thought he was asking? "Xin?"
"Are you asking me out, Gabriel?" I asked, smiling when I heard him release a shaky exhale.
"I am," he finally said, and this time, I didn't hold back my smile.
"I would love to."
"Great. I'll make a reservation. Would you like me to pick you up?"
"I'll come to you," I said, and he hummed.
"I'm sorry about how I reacted yesterday."
"You don't have to apologize. It was overwhelming, what I told you."
Gabriel hummed, and hung in a comfortable silence for a long moment, neither of us willing to end the call.
"Would you like to know how I made Patrick confess?" I asked, wanting to keep talking to him. If we discussed this now, we could keep him out of our date tonight.
"Oh hell yes!" Gabriel exclaimed, and I chuckled as I leaned back into the couch. I could've easily teleported to Gabriel's place and told him face-to-face, but somehow this felt more intimate.
Plus, a part of me wanted to wait until tonight to show him my real human appearance. He hadn't asked to see my demon form, and I planned to wait until he was ready for it, but I could show my human form to him.
We talked for almost an hour since Gabriel had been given some paid time off by the CEO of his company until they found a replacement position for him.
I knew he wanted to quit, and now that Patrick had confessed, he could do it without raising any red flags.
After all, it was perfectly reasonable for him to want to switch jobs after his boss had tried to frame him for a crime he committed.
When the call finally came to an end, I promised to be at his place at six p.m. sharp, and he told me to come right in, knowing I didn't need the door to be open to do so.
Now that the mission was over, I had no idea how I'd spend the day until our date.
I texted Lazlo with an update since he'd asked for it, and he sent back a thumbs-up emoji, and one of confetti being popped. He was spending way too much time among the semi-adult student population, if his texts were anything to go by.
That done, I drifted around my apartment for a while before returning to my laptop. It'd been a while since I'd made some rich asshole donate to a charity. Time to change that.