46. Hold on to Your Boxer Briefs!
Hold on to Your Boxer Briefs!
Turning in his arm to face him, Chuck rested her head on his chest. “I’m glad you agreed with me on reading Kassidy in on this. He might have thought he was insane or reported it to the wrong person.”
Malachi glanced over at the detective who was sitting in an armchair, a stunned expression widening his eyes and tapping his twitching mustache as he took in everyone around him. Jaxon and Luna had explained some of it before they rushed off to Hell with Chuck, but the man was still bewildered.
“Then the blond guy with wings is Nick; he’s an angel, a certifiable entire angel.
The woman in the leather tank looks like she would chop your head off for breathing on her; first, absolutely would do that, so be respectful.
Second, she’s a high-ranking Demon. Amaryllis the Defiler, First Knight of Hell. ”
Nodding regally, Amaryllis pursed her lips as she looked Kassidy up and down, her scrutiny making him squirm in his chair.
“You may refer to me as Ammy as long as we are respectful allies and you do not expose our secrets. Otherwise, you will know me as the cause of your demise. And it will be messy. Wet and messy.” She patted Nick’s knee and smiled in what was most likely meant to be reassurance but made her look more bloodthirsty than before.
Blinking rapidly, Kassidy nodded in understanding before his eyes latched onto Jaxon again, begging him silently to confirm his death wasn’t imminent.
Jaxon continued, “So obviously you know Chuck, but she’s half-angel, half-human. And Malachi you knew as the K-9, but he’s actually a demon as well. He’s Evan in public.”
Here, Malachi stepped forward and shook his hand. “That means when you were hitting on Chuck in front of the dog, you were doing it in front of me. Be grateful I’ve decided to forgive you.”
Kassidy laughed, then rubbed his forehead with a rueful smile.
“It actually explains so much. I couldn’t decide if I was crazy or seeing things or…
” He shook his head now. “Sorry about that. I uh, acknowledge the claim staked. Hoping we can be friends moving forward? I’m not interested in her that way, if it helps, but not everyone knows what I’m into. ”
Malachi sighed, “Fine. Just… be nice to my cousin, huh? He actually likes you, but he couldn’t admit what he was, which is a demon, like me.” He gestured at Flick, who was being uncharacteristically quiet in the corner.
“Is your name even Flynn?” Kassidy asked, his eyes narrowed in irritation now.
The initial shock had worn off, but he was still miffed about that part of things.
The demons that had jumped him and the others told him they had Flynn captive, and they would hurt him as well as Jaxon and Luna if he didn’t cooperate.
The depth of how hard he’d been misled was biting him with vicious embarrassment.
“Flick,” the demon said softly. “My real name is Flick, and yeah, I’m a demon. You’ve only ever seen me like this, my human form.” He waved at his face. “But just like you saw Malachi in his demon form, I have one too.”
“Can… I see it?” Kassidy asked quietly, his fingers digging into the arms of his chair.
Standing, Flick moved slowly to Kassidy’s side and bit his lip nervously.
“Yeah, I guess, I mean. Sure.” He blew out a deep breath and shook his shoulders before shifting into his demon form.
His limbs lengthened, and his hair grew down his back, horns and wings sprouting until he reached the final stage of his transformation.
He stood there, his coppery metallic skin now shimmering like a sculpture come to life, and watched Kassidy anxiously from his greater height.
“Wow,” Kassidy murmured appreciatively, then smiled tentatively as he stood.
He craned his neck back, staring up at Flick as he towered over the detective.
“You’re very impressive. So, this is what you really look like?
” His gaze raked Flick head to toe, much the way Amaryllis had done to him.
But with more appreciation than intimidation and murderous intent. “So big,” he murmured.
Nodding, Flick glanced at Malachi and frowned slightly, his expression worried.
Malachi knew exactly what he was feeling.
He’d been there the first time Chuck saw his true shape.
He shifted to his full demon form as well.
Being larger and more threatening than his cousin, he thought it would help the detective feel more at ease with Flick.
“Holy shit!” Kassidy yelped as he stepped back.
His eyes darted nervously between the two demons.
“I thought I imagined you like that before. So… are all demons as gorgeous as you two? They make you attractive on purpose, so it’s easier to corrupt us?
” He grinned slightly, his cheeks flushing as what he’d asked clicked with him.
Flick grinned now. “You think we’re gorgeous?
” He slid next to Kassidy and stroked his claws through the man’s hair, shivering when Kassidy moaned and leaned into him.
“I’m glad to hear that. And no, we are actually the exception, not the rule.
So, if you want sexy demons, your options are limited.
You know, I don’t mind sharing, but Malachi does.
He’s a one-woman demon. I doubt Chuck would want in on this either.
” He glanced at them for confirmation. Malachi shrugged, and Chuck pointed a finger gun between his eyes in a not-so-subtle reminder.
Turning back to Kassidy, he smirked. “Yeah, no sharing. I don’t want her to shoot me again. ”
Swallowing hard, Kassidy nodded quickly, watching Chuck from the corner of his eye. “She shot you? You know what, never mind. I need a drink.” He sat heavily in the chair again, shaking his head and laughing quietly.
The back door banged open, and Mordecai ran in, Reena hot on his heels.
“Malachi! Reena showed me the neighbor’s cat.
That fuzzy asshole can run fast! We had a lot of fun chasing him!
” He beamed as if he’d just had the best time of his life.
“Oh,” he mumbled, his smile falling as he turned to Chuck.
“I’m sorry, but um, your neighbor? She kinda yelled at me.
Apparently I’m not welcome, and she said I should go back to where I came from.
I don’t know how she knows I’m from Hell though. I didn’t tell her that part.”
Chuck’s choked laughter was overshadowed by Malachi’s full belly laugh. The sound was rich and full, bouncing about the room. Reena joined in, her excited yowls announcing another wave of escaped lunatic clowns was on the hunt. “That’s excellent, Cai! Keep up the fantastic work.”
Mordecai beamed under the praise and turned his attention to Kassidy. He ran over to the man and leaned in, staring in fascination at his mustache. “Hey, Malachi, he has a squirrel tail over his lips.” He glanced at Nathan and grinned as he pointed. “He does too! Can I get one? They look cool.”
Nathan chuckled as Kassidy covered his mustache defensively. The detective spoke up then, “It’s not an animal tail. It’s facial hair.”
Staring harder, Mordecai pulled a strand of his own jet-black hair over his upper lip and held it there and repeated, “I want one. How do you get one?”
Still chuckling to himself, Malachi clapped his little brother on the shoulder. “Mordecai, this is Kassidy. He’s Flick’s… boyfriend, I guess? Not sure if they’re defined things yet. Regardless, Flick is our cousin. Our mothers are sisters. So now you know more demons you’re related to.”
Mordecai ran over and hugged a surprised Flick around the waist, then went back outside with Reena. No doubt to cause more fuckery.
Kassidy grunted at the announcement, as his eyes flitted nervously. Seeing no judgment from the group, he finally relaxed and slipped his fingers in Flick’s. “Now that we’ve all accepted everything, tell me about going to Hell. Like, literal Hell?” He pointed at the ground with his free hand.
Flick gave him a thumbs up before shifting back to human form and perching on the arm of the chair.
He slipped an arm around Kassidy’s shoulder and snuggled against him, stroking his hair.
“Yeah, so the people that told you they had me—those were demons. They made us think they were after Amaryllis and Nick, but they were actually after Malachi. They used Luna to get close and throw us off, then made it look like this was revenge for Ramsilel, the demon that Amaryllis replaced for Heaven and Hell liaison. You with me so far?”
Slowly nodding, as if underwater, Kassidy’s eyes widened, and he mumbled, “I think so.”
Grinning, Flick leaned closer and kissed his temple the way Malachi had done earlier to Chuck. “Well, hold on to your boxer-briefs, because we’re gonna blow your mind!”