Twenty-Four
Gabriel
It took all of five seconds for last night's events to come rushing back after I woke up.
I'd been drunk enough to spill my guts to Xin, but apparently not enough to forget it all.
Fuck. I told them about my fears. About thinking I was cursed.
I told them I loved them.
And they didn't say it back.
I blinked my eyes open, squinting against the bright morning light. The bed beside me was warm, but only because Gray was curled up where Xin should've been.
Had they left? Had my drunken ramblings been too much for them?
I sat up with a sigh, covering my face with my palm. I wished I hadn't gotten so drunk. I wished I'd kept my mouth shut.
A sound reached my ear, footsteps coming closer, and I perked up, listening as they reached the bedroom door. It slid open slowly, and Xin smiled when they saw me sitting up.
"Good morning, Gabriel," they said, voice warm and soft as always.
I squinted against their brightness as they came in, a tray holding a bunch of dishes and a mug in their hand.
"Morning," I mumbled, reeling as their appearance pushed away the dark thoughts that had crowded my mind moments ago.
I grabbed the mug of coffee as soon as they placed the tray on the mattress, and they chuckled as they sat beside me, legs crossed and their eyes twinkling. Had they always looked at me like that?
I took a sip of coffee and sighed as the warm liquid slid down my throat and woke me up a little more.
Xin kept watching me and, just when the silence started to feel a little overwhelming, spoke.
"I love you too, Gabriel," they said, and I choked on a mouthful of coffee, making their eyes widen.
A warm tickle in my throat made the coffee disappear, and I sucked in a breath as the coughing fit fizzled out before it could begin.
We stared at each other, wide-eyed, and then I chuckled. Xin's lips curved, and then we were both laughing at ourselves.
Which was worse? Saying I love you while you were drunk, or almost killing your partner with your love confession?
"I'm sorry," Xin said when the laughter petered out, and I shook my head.
Placing the coffee on the tray, I shuffled closer to them, then took their hands in mine, playing with their long, slim fingers. They would look so beautiful against the strings of my guitar. Would Xin be interested in learning to play?
"I'm sorry too. I should've said it properly." I took a deep breath, then met their gaze. "I love you, Xin. Even though the thought of losing you terrifies me, I can't stop myself from loving you. I don't feel our bond the way you do, but I still know you're it for me. So don't leave me, okay?"
I sounded like a child, asking them to keep a promise we both knew they couldn't keep. They had a job to do, and it was a risky one. Anything could happen.
"I will never, ever leave you willingly, Gabriel," they said, eyes determined and fierce. "And even if something tries to keep me from you, I will fight against it until I make it back to you."
Their words filled me with warmth, removing some of the chill around my heart. I nodded, and they pressed a soft kiss on my forehead, as if sealing the promise they'd made.
"You asked me about the demon realm last night. Would you like to visit it?"
"Really? I can see your home?"
"Of course," they said, eyes bright and lips curved, and I grinned.
"I would love to."
"Let's finish breakfast first," they said, and I nodded quickly, turning my attention to the stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and strips of bacon they'd brought.
I took my time with the food as I asked them questions about the demon realm, wanting to know as much as I could before we went. I didn't think I'd be freaked out by the place, but I wanted to be prepared just in case. I didn't want to react badly to Xin's home.
After breakfast, I grabbed a quick shower while Xin cleaned up in the kitchen, and I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to decide what to wear.
In the end, I settled on a soft brown t-shirt, black jeans, and a jacket that used to belong to Kevin.
Messing with my hair for a bit, I decided I was ready, and left the bedroom with Gray at my heels.
Xin smiled wide when they saw me, their eyes dragging over me in a slow, deliberate perusal that made my skin hot.
Xin's phone buzzed before they could say anything, but they ignored it as they stepped closer. Only it buzzed again. Then again.
"You should check it," I said, and they sighed, as if looking away from me was the last thing they wanted to do.
Still, they checked their phone, their brow furrowing.
"Everything okay?" I asked as I closed the rest of the distance between us, and they glanced up at me, a conflicted look on their face.
"One of my friends, Mortimer, has decided to move on to Afterworld, so the others organized a going-away party for him in the demon realm. Would you still like to go? A lot of the others will be there too."
"Others?"
"The other human mates," Xin elaborated, and I sucked in a breath. Other demons had human mates too? People who, like me, worried about their safety? People whom I could talk to about this uneasy feeling deep in my chest?
"Yes, please," I answered quickly, and Xin smiled, then typed something on their phone.
"Okay, then. Let's go. Gray has fresh water, and we'll be back in a few hours."
Nodding, I took their offered hand, and they grinned as they tugged me closer. Their arm wrapped around my waist; their magic swirled in the air around us, blurring everything as we left my living room.
It felt different this time, maybe because we were traveling to a whole different realm, but it still took only a few moments before we were there.
The demon realm.
Xin
The familiar stone hallway surrounded us, the evenly spaced sconces lit with blue flames brightening our path.
The air still retained the faint scent of smoke and charred souls, even though these caves hadn't been torture chambers for centuries now.
"Wow," Gabriel murmured as he glanced around, his eyes sticking on the flames. "The fire is blue."
"Yes, it is," I said, biting back a smile. "This way."
Following the faint chatter I could hear, I led him down the hallway to one of the sitting rooms. We had a few communal rooms here, rooms that had once belonged to a demon. I wondered if we'd repurpose Mort's rooms too someday, and then shook my head. Better not to think about that.
"Xin! There you are," Eshim said as he hurried over, blue eyes sparkling as they met mine, then dropped to Gabriel. "And you must be Gabriel! It's so nice to meet you. I'm Eshim."
Gabriel stared at Eshim wide-eyed, then quickly shook his offered hand.
"Are you going to stick around? I know Jerry would love to meet you. He's stuck in a meeting, but he'll be free in an hour."
Gabriel glanced at me, and I shrugged, happy to stay as long as he was. It was rare for all of us to get together like this since we'd come to the human realm, and I wanted to catch up with everyone.
"We'll be here," Gabriel said finally, and Eshim grinned.
"Perfect! This is one hell of a way to meet us all, huh? I hope you have a shark of a time!"
Eshim strolled away without a word, and Gabriel stared after him, a puzzled look on his face.
"He meant whale," I explained, and he blinked, then turned to look at me, blue flames flickering in his dark eyes.
"Huh?"
"Eshim isn't the best with idioms. I think he meant to say 'have a whale of a time,'" I said, and his eyes widened in realization as his lips curved in a smile.
"That makes more sense."
The babbling of a baby jerked Gabriel's attention away, and I realized Lux must've brought his son too. This wasn't Gunner's first time in the demon realm, though, and I smiled as I led Gabriel through the crowd.
"Oh wow," Gabriel murmured as we came upon the sight of Gunner walking across the floor with Hella following in his footsteps, her flaming ears fully visible now. "Wait, that's Hella."
"Yeah. She's a demonhound," I explained as Kenji, who'd been standing on Gabriel's other side, turned toward us.
"Hey, you must be Gabriel! Laz told me about you. I'm Kenji."
Gabriel shook the hand thrust in front of him, then asked Kenji about his classes. I was pleasantly surprised he remembered that, and I watched them chat for a moment before getting pulled into a different conversation, a debate about the best human cuisine.
"Baked goods are the best," Elva declared, surprising no one. She had a sweet tooth to end all sweet tooths. If she were human, her dentist bill would bankrupt her.
"That's not a cuisine," Neriel pointed out, shaking his gold locks out of his hair.
Rei stood close behind him, her arm possessively wrapped around his waist, and I bit back a smile.
How these two hadn't figured out how well they fit together before, I had no idea.
Neriel was calm, gentle, and sweet, while Rei radiated confidence and strength.
She was the strong pillar he could lean against—as he was literally doing at the moment—and he the soft blanket she could wrap herself in.
I hoped Gabriel and I fit together that well.
"How about Japanese? I love sushi," Nyssa proclaimed, and hums of agreement joined her
I'd never been much of a foodie, so I slowly pulled out of a conversation. I took a moment to send Reece, the man who held my demon contract, a text, asking him for a favor. I didn't know if he'd do it, but I hoped like hell he would.
Then I decided to find Gabriel, only to get dragged into a conversation between Pythor, Arnick, and Jeska.
"You're being an idiot," Pythor grumbled, and I glanced around, realizing his mate wasn't here. It made sense. Codie was not a fan of crowds. He was still getting comfortable just leaving his house, so I could imagine why Pythor hadn't brought him here.
"About what?" I asked, curious what Jeska had done now. Before I moved to my current town to replace Eshim—so he could move to his mate's town and be closer to him—I'd lived with Jeska. We'd always gotten along well, since neither of us were people persons.
"Jeska found his mate, but he doesn't want to tell her because she has a kid and he doesn't want them on Mammon and the dark souls' radar," Arnick explained, and I blinked, surprised. Jeska hadn't mentioned finding his mate in the group, which meant he'd been keeping it close.
"You promised you'd let me work it out," Jeska said through gritted teeth, glaring at Arnick, who gave an unrepentant shrug.
"It's Nessa," Pythor said, turning to me. He'd gotten a little less grumpy since he met Codie, but nothing would change his inherent gruffness, and I liked him that way. "Codie's best friend."
"Oh! Then isn't she already on the radar? If anyone wanted to mess with Codie and you, she and her daughter would be perfect targets. Unlike Codie, they're unprotected," I said, glancing over at Jeska as I finished speaking. He looked stricken.
"You think so?" he asked, glancing between me and Pythor, and I nodded.
"Knowledge is power, you know? Vanessa would be better equipped to protect herself and her daughter if she knew what's out there, and only you can tell her. Unless you have some other reason for not telling her."
Jeska frowned, then looked down at his feet, his bald head gleaming in the firelight. Since the human mates were here too, we were all in our human forms.
"Okay," he murmured under his breath, then disappeared in a blink.
"Idiot. They'll freak out if he shows up alone," Pythor grumbled, then teleported off to chase after him, leaving Arnick and me to stare at each other.
"So!" he says after a stretched silence. "How's matehood treating you?"