Eva POV #3
“They are not my people.”
“You literally wear ritual jewelry.”
“That proves nothing.”
Another impact slammed against the apartment door hard enough to shake the walls, and this time something cracked loudly near the top hinge.
Nina pointed at it. “Okay no. That looked expensive.”
My demon still hadn’t moved. His hand remained wrapped around my wrist almost absentmindedly while his attention stayed fixed on the hallway outside.
Then very calmly, he asked, “Do you intend to break her door?”
The voice outside laughed again. “You sound territorial.”
“We are observing a ritual bond,” the woman in the coat interrupted quickly before things became worse. “No hostility is necessary.”
“Then ask him to return.”
The apartment fell still again while the woman hesitated near the doorway, and the hesitation alone was enough to make my stomach drop.
I turned to her cautiously. “…Why does that sound like something he can't do?”
An answer didn’t come quickly enough, and that alone told me something was wrong.
Nina lowered the kitchen knife a few inches. “Oh my God.”
“I am getting REALLY tired of people saying that.”
The bandaged cult guy rubbed both hands over his face tiredly. “Demonic bonds are complicated.”
“That sentence should’ve stayed in Hell.”
My demon finally loosened his grip on my wrist slightly before glancing back at me for the first time since the door started cracking apart. His expression softened almost instantly when his eyes landed on me, and that was more dangerous than the threats outside.
Then quietly, like he was trying not to alarm me further, he said, “You should stay away from the door.”
That was the exact moment my survival instincts completely betrayed me. Because instead of feeling scared, my brain immediately went: oh no that was attractive again.
Nina took one look at my face and groaned loudly. “No Eva. No. Not the right time ”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re looking at him weird.”
“I’m looking at him stressed.”
“That is not a stressed face.”
Before I could defend myself, the apartment door split wider down the middle with a horrible cracking sound before everything went completely still.
My demon’s shoulders tensed instantly beneath my hoodie.
And from the hallway outside, something scratched against the broken wood of the apartment door.
Every single person in the room froze. The sound dragged downward again, slow and deliberate, like claws testing the crack carefully just to remind us they were there.
Nina disappeared fully behind the couch at that point. “Nope,” she announced from somewhere inside the cushions. “Absolutely not. That sound belongs in horror movies and abandoned hospitals.”
The woman in the black coat's composure slipped for the first time, which was deeply unhelpful considering she was apparently the closest thing we had to a demon professional. “That should not be happening,” she whispered.
I stared at her while trying not to panic visibly. “I would LOVE if somebody explained things before the apartment becomes haunted permanently.”
The scratching stopped. Then a calm voice spoke directly through the crack splitting down the middle of the door.
“She smells human.”
My stomach dropped instantly.
My demon moved slightly farther in front of me before anybody else could react. The movement was small, almost automatic, but I noticed it anyway. His hand again found my wrist beneath the sleeve of my sweater while his attention stayed fixed on the hallway outside.
The voice laughed softly. “Protective already.”
“Leave,” my demon said flatly.
“No.”
Another scratch dragged against the wood.
Nina made a weak terrified noise behind the couch while the taller man scratched his head like his soul was trying to evacuate his body. “That,” he said carefully, “is not a lower demon.”
I stared at him. “There are higher demons?”
“That was unfortunately implied already,” Nina whispered from the floor.
The apartment lights flickered so hard that half the room disappeared into darkness for a second. Several candles went out at once, and cold air pushed through the crack in the door sharp enough to raise goosebumps along my arms. Not normal cold either but something worse.
My demon noticed. Without looking away from the door, he reached behind himself until his hand found mine again and pulled me slightly closer behind him.
That should not have affected me as much as it did. Unfortunately, my survival instincts had apparently stopped functioning hours ago. The voice outside went quiet briefly before speaking again, softer this time.
“So that is why.”
An answer never came before the voice laughed again, softer this time, almost amused.
“You formed an attachment.”
The words settled heavily across the apartment while horror spread across the three members' faces, and Nina was ready to give up on reality entirely.
My demon stayed completely still in front of me, his hand still wrapped tightly around mine.
Then very calmly, he said, “Careful.”
The single word landed softly, but the threat inside it filled the entire apartment anyway.
Chapter 8
Eva POV
The apartment stayed unnaturally still, the kind of tension that made the entire room feel wrong while cold air kept slipping through the crack in the broken door. Then the voice outside laughed softly.
“So,” it said darkly, “you are choosing a human over Hell.”
My demon didn’t move. He didn’t let go of my wrist either, and I hated how much safer that made me feel with his colleagues standing outside the apartment door.
“Careful,” he replied calmly. “You’re making it sound dramatic.”
I stared at the back of his head in disbelief. “It already IS dramatic,” I whispered toward Nina.
Nina peeked over the couch cushions. “Your demon boyfriend is threatening people.”
“HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND.”
There was a brief pause before my demon finally spoke without looking back at me.
“That title would solve several problems.”
I nearly stopped breathing.
“You cannot say things like that during a home invasion,” I hissed at him while my face burned alive.
The three members had the strained expressions of people emotionally constipated by the conversation happening in front of them. Then the hallway outside went quiet.
Nina lowered herself farther behind the couch. “…Oh no.”
I pointed at her. “You need to stop saying that.”
The voice outside finally spoke again.
“…Boyfriend?”
“Oh my God,” Nina whispered. “They heard that.”
“I hate every demon hearing,” I muttered.
The cracked apartment door pushed open wider before a tall figure stepped through the gap.
Everything about him was wrong in the deeply unsettling way demons apparently specialized in.
His black coat brushed the floor behind him, his smile was too sharp to look human, and his glowing eyes swept across the apartment before landing directly on my demon.
Even those three took a step back the moment they heard his voice, and the reaction was far too instinctive to be comforting.
The taller demon glanced between us once before raising an eyebrow slightly.
“…You stayed for her?”
My demon sounded almost annoyed now. “You interrupted dinner for this?”
“WE WERE EATING CEREAL,” I snapped back angrily.
The new demon turned his attention to me, his eyes narrowing slightly like he was trying to figure something out before an unexpected smile appeared across his face.
“I see the appeal.”
My demon answered instantly.
“No you do not.”
The entire apartment went silent again. Nina turned toward me with the expression of somebody witnessing relationship drama at supernatural levels.
“…Okay wait,” she whispered carefully. “That was jealousy.”
My demon finally met my gaze then, still standing close enough that our shoulders almost touched. His hand was still wrapped around my wrist beneath my sweater sleeve, warm and steady despite the tension filling the apartment.
Unfortunately, the second our eyes met, my brain stopped working properly again, which was deeply unhelpful considering the current situation.
The taller demon noticed first, and judging from the expressions around the apartment, everyone else noticed right after him.
Nina looked one second away from screaming into a pillow while those three members watched the situation unfold with the exhausted expressions of people realizing they were accidentally witnessing a demonic relationship drama.
Meanwhile I was still standing there trapped between panic and whatever weird nonsense my brain had apparently decided to develop tonight.
The taller demon glanced down toward my wrist where my demon’s hand still held onto me loosely beneath the sleeve of my sweater.
He froze, genuine shock written all over his face.
“…You formed a protective bond already?”
“I formed NOTHING,” I answered defensively.
“She gave him strawberries,” Nina said from behind the couch.
I turned toward her so fast I almost got whiplash. “WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT.”
The apartment fell completely still while the taller demon blinked once, his expression unreadable afterward.
“…Strawberries?”
For the first time all night, my demon sounded almost defensive. “It was accidental.”
“That makes this worse.”
“I BOUGHT THEM ON SALE.”
Apparently this wasn’t concerning to anyone except me.
The taller demon rubbed one hand across his face before looking toward the ceiling like he was asking Hell itself for patience. “You disappeared for less than a week .”
“You interrupted dinner.”
“You were eating dry cereal out of a mixing bowl.”
“We were busy.”
I pointed at him. “Do not say ‘we’ like that.”
My demon finally let go of my wrist then, but only long enough to move slightly closer toward the broken doorway. The movement placed him directly between me and the taller demon again without even seeming intentional.
Nina noticed that too. “Oh he’s DOWN bad,” she whispered.
“I need you to stop talking forever.”
The taller demon studied my demon quietly for another second before his expression shifted slightly. Less mocking now. More serious.
“You know this becomes complicated.”
“I am aware.”