by G. Bailey
“As in going no further than kissing until Trex gives in,” I suggest.
“Says the asshole who has already gone a lot further than that,” Nix grumbles.
“Yeah, it caused big problems between Evie and Trex. He is barely talking to her now and stomping around the house like he is ready to kill something,” I reply.
“We should do this. I’ve known Evie for a long time, and you’re right. She won’t react well to us all fighting. We have to fight for her trust before we can think with our dicks,” Azi says and I nod. I look at Nix who throws his hands in the air.
“Fine. I know you’re right, but god we need to get her some new pyjamas as those little shorts are going to make me lose my mind,” he says, and I laugh with Azi.
“I feel that!”
“When we go to the Protectors, will they accept us all being with Evie? Will our relationships with her put her in more danger?” Azi asks.
“Quite simply, yes. Multiple relationships are highly frowned upon and never heard of in my people. Relationships with demons…well that’s not something anyone allows,” I say carefully.
“Then we should be careful with how close we are in public,” Azi offers.
“I doubt Evie is going to take our new plans well,” Nix says.
“That’s why it needs to be a secret. At the end of the day, this is for her own good, and I don’t want to scare her off,” I stress.
“None of us do. Evie excels at running away from things, let’s not give her any reason to leave us,” Azi adds.
“I like how you call yourself part of us now. I never thought I’d have an overlord demon friend,” I say, laughing as Azi scowls at me.
“I will still kill you if you piss me off.”
“Sure, sure,” I grin, and Nix shakes his head as he turns the tv up, and we go back to watching the movie. I get up to go to the fridge and Azi shouts over.
“Why don’t you get your new friend a beer?”
“Asshole,” I mutter, but I get him a beer anyways. It seems like we all want to be part of Evie’s life and are willing to fight for her. Let’s hope she wants us in the end.
Evie
I finish eating my bacon sandwich just as Nix comes into the lounge and looks at the tv. I immediately see his hair has been trimmed and the little beard he had grown is gone. He looks much better and hotter than I’ve ever seen him. He has a black shirt on, with three buttons undone to show off his tattoos. I wonder if they cover all parts of him?
“Jurassic Park?” Nix asks.
“Yeah it was on…and I used to love watching them with my friend. I haven’t had a chance to watch the new one, but it’s on my list of things to get around to,” I say, turning the film off.
“Would you ever tell me her name, love?” Nix very carefully asks. I’m not sure what he expects my reaction to be. It’s not that I don’t want to tell him, it’s just been a long time since I’ve spoken of her. Azi and Hali are the only ones who know the whole story, and it was hard to tell them. Though it was nice to have people remember her with me, and I liked telling Hali about her mother. Telling her stories how amazing her mum was, so she has happy memories.
“Would you tell me about your sister? And what happened to her?” I counter, and he shakes his head, holding out a hand.
“We have somewhere I want to take you to,” he explains. I shrug and put the plate on the couch and get up. Nix opens a portal, and we walk through, coming out in the middle of my apartment, next to the kitchen. Nix closes the portal as I look around, seeing that nothing looks touched. Everything seems frozen from the last time I was here.
“Why?” I ask.
“You need a dress for tonight, and don’t worry, Trex came here last night to make sure it was safe for you,” Nix explains.
“Why would I worry? I’m not some helpless girl and Trex knows that,” I comment, trying not to sound defensive, but it still comes out that way.
“Then why didn’t you want to come back here before now?” Nix asks as I run a finger over the dusty kitchen counter.
“Memories. I guess coming here makes me realise how I can never come back to this. Yes, I was in hiding, yes, I was a thief and killed to stay alive…but it was simple. There were no emotions involved, there was no haunting past I don’t know how to deal with,” I answer, going on a rant which I don’t even know where it came from. At the end of the day, I don’t know if my newfound life is going to be better than the one I had here with Hali, and that scares me. I’ve never been okay with change in my life, now everything is changing so fast that I can’t keep up.
“I’m here to talk about it. If you need someone. You know my past with my own parents isn’t good. Everything you learnt…well, it is part of you whether you like it or not,” he says, and I know he is right.
“Not all of it,” I say, “I know little to nothing about your sister.”
“I don’t—no can’t—talk about it much. It was all my fault,” Nix starts off and walks away from me. He goes and sits on the dusty sofa, resting his head back. I walk over to him, and I don’t know what comes over me as I climb onto his lap and wrap my arms around his neck. I don’t do hugs, or whatever this is, but some part of me knows he needs me close. I breathe in his minty scent and relax. Nix sighs, resting his head on my shoulder and wrapping his arms around me.
“Love, you send mixed signals,” Nix warns.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I reply. “I only know that you’re damn sexy and confusing all at the same time.”
“Neither do I, but I’m not going anywhere while we figure this out. Well, not until the day you ask me to leave,” Nix tells me, and gently kisses the top of my ear.
“I won’t ask,” I quietly reply.
“You might when you realise,” he says, and I give him a confused look, which he only ignores.
“Your sister?” I ask, needing to change the subject, and he stares at me for a long time, just fingers trailing up and down my back before he speaks.
“Astrid was our headstrong, beautiful sister. She was fiercely protective of Trex and me,” Nix states. “I always thought it was the brothers that should be the protective ones, but Astrid became our mother in a way after we lost our parents.”
“Gorgeous name. It sounds like we might have gotten along,” I say, making Nix chuckle.
“Yes, you would have, and caused trouble for everyone no doubt,” he replies and holds me a little tighter as he carries on the story. “The keepers sent Astrid and me on a mission while Connor and Trex were taking Erica out of the city on her monthly shopping trip.”
“Monthly shopping trip with guards to carry her shit? Damn, she is a spoilt brat,” I say and then gently shake my head. “Sorry, I went off on a rant. Carry on.”
“It’s okay, Erica was always spoilt. Astrid hated her and went off on one when Trex agreed to the engagement,” he tells me.
“I bet,” I reply. I think I would have loved their sister.
“Anyways, back to the mission. We went to find a Protector who had phoned for help on a simple demon raid. When we got there, the Protector was dead, and we were swamped by twenty demons,” he pauses. “We called for the keepers to help us, but they ignored it.”
“How did you survive that?” I ask.
“We were fighting back to back, slowly killing them, but a demon stabbed me in the leg. I blasted the five near me with holy fire, then tried to defend Astrid, but there were just too many of them. Astrid called a portal as I collapsed, and she somehow fought them to keep me alive. All I remember is her carrying me to the portal, screaming as demons attacked her back, and she was blasting holy fire everywhere. I fell into the portal just as a demon ripped out her heart in front of me,” he says, his body feeling so tense underneath me that all I can do is hold him tighter and press a kiss to his neck.
“Nix…” I drift off, not having a clue what to say to that. That’s the last time he saw his sister, and he had to watch her die saving him. No wonder
he is a little messed up at times.
“That last image of her, it’s stuck up here, you know?” he says, tapping the side of his head.
“She saved you. That’s all you need to remember. She wouldn’t want you to remember her that way, she would want the happy memories. The ones full of laughter and protectiveness,” I say and place my forehead against his. I wipe the few tears on his cheeks away as I whisper, “That’s what I make myself remember of my friend. The good times and not the end.” I just stay still as he looks at me, feeling like neither one of us knows what to say. Nix leans a little closer, and when I expect him to kiss me, he doesn’t.
“What was your friend’s name, love?” Nix asks me.
“Rita,” I gasp out her name, even when it hurts me to say it, and he slams his lips onto mine. Nix doesn’t kiss me gently, not in any kind of way. He kisses me like he never wants me to forget him, like I belong to him, and damn, I don’t want to pull away. I slide my hands into his soft hair as the kiss deepens, and I lose all track of time until he pulls away.
“I can’t take this further, even if I want to,” he admits.
“Why?” I ask. We are both adults. Both single. I don’t get it.
“It’s complicated,” he chuckles at my confused face, and then sighs. “Thank you for opening up to me,” he tells me and kisses me one more time.
“I guess I could say the same to you,” I reply. “We should get back though. This place isn’t my home anymore, and it isn’t safe.”
“Got it,” he grins and lifts me off him. We make quick work of grabbing clothes and things I might need over the next few weeks before making a portal back to the cabin.
“We need food, we literally only have Evie’s bacon left,” Connor says, coming over to us as I open the door to Hali’s room and drop my bag inside. Luckily Hali has two beds in her room, so we have been sharing.
“Trex is here and Azi went off to get important weapons or something,” Connor explains. “I need someone to come with me in case of trouble.”
“I have to get ready, and I hate shopping. Good luck, boys,” I grin, and I hear their laughs behind me as I go into the room and shut the door.
I pause outside the room I’m about to knock on, wondering whether I should knock or not, but thankfully the decision is made for me when the door flies open, and Trex’s grumpy face is scowling down at me.
“What do you want?” he huffs, crossing his arms and leaning against the door as his eyes run over my body in this stupid tight dress.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter,” I say, shaking my head and deciding I can just wait for the guys to come back or Hali to finish in the shower so she can help me.
“Evie, for fuck’s sake. Get in here,” Trex says, grabbing my hand to stop me from walking away. I pull my hand away, crossing my arms and keeping my face neutral of emotion.
“I only wanted you to do up my dress at the back. The stupid thing is impossible to do up, and the others are out getting food and more weapons,” I say, wishing I didn’t have to come to this asshole for help.
“Hali?” he asks, flashing me an expression that suggests I’m trying it on with him or something. Which I’m not.
“In the shower. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to hit on you,” I grumble, knowing this was a bad idea from the start.
“Yeah, sure you’re not,” he laughs, and twirls his finger around in the air. I scowl at him before turning around.
“Are you going to Seth’s club then? I’m assuming so with this dress on,” Trex says, and I feel him tugging the bottom layer of lace into place. It only laces up to half my back, and there is a place to tie it I think. I could tell Trex this, but part of me wants to see if he gets annoyed when he runs out of lace.
“Yep. Seth lives in the club. He has an apartment right above it,” I explain. It’s really smart of him to do it that way, because no one is going to start trouble in his club when they know a demon overlord is literally just upstairs.
“Why does he call you ‘Evie darling’? Were you and he together?” Trex asks, pulling the lace extremely tight, and I take a deep breath in before answering.
“No,” I say as I laugh a little at the thought. “Azi would murder Seth if he tried anything like that.”
“Good,” he answers, surprising me a little bit with his possessive tone. I turn my head over my shoulder to look at him, wanting to see if he looks as possessive as he sounded, but he is focused on the lace, and ties it like a pro when he is done.
“Didn’t know you had skills in doing dresses up, Trex,” I muse, shivering when he runs his hands up the lace to check it’s fine. At least I think that’s why he did it.
“Usually I’m taking them off, not doing them up,” he replies smoothly, and a wave of jealously slams into me. What the effing hell is that? This is Trex. I don’t get jealous over Trex. I quickly turn back, avoiding eye contact with him as my thoughts run around in circles over why I feel like this about him.
“Thanks. I best go and have some food while I wait for Azi and Hali,” I comment and make the mistake of meeting his green eyes. His eyes are so strange in the most stunning way. They have flakes of dark and light green, mixing together in swirls almost. I freeze when Trex steps much closer and reaches into my hair. He unclips my hair, letting it fall down over my shoulders in waves.
“I like it when your hair is down,” he explains, and I don’t have a clue what to say to that or why it makes my heart pound in my chest. He moves his hand back slowly, keeping the clip. “Have a good night, Evie.” With that, he goes back into his room and shuts the door. Did Trex just say something nice to me?
“I love that dress on you!” Hali says after she walks out the bathroom, distracting me from the problem that is Trex. I run my eyes over her black jeans, black tank top and her braided hair up in a ponytail. She has a leather jacket in her hands and what I am sure is a pair of boots on her feet. When did she get into my size shoes? I don’t bother asking and just smile at her.
“That was quick,” I comment, expecting Hali to have taken much longer getting ready. “Did you cover your mark up with the concealer?” I ask. We can’t risk anyone seeing her mark, and I don’t know if Seth knows about it. It’s likely he already knows who Hali is, the demon always seems to know everything, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“Yep, I did, and I did it quick because I’m excited to get out of this cabin! This place gets boring with doing school tests on my iPad and training with the guys. Not that they even try against me because they don’t want to hurt the kid,” she tells me. I chuckle and walk to the kitchen, passing a purring Star on the sofa, and stroke her head as I go by. I pick out a Mars bar from the nearly empty fridge and start undoing the wrapper just as Azi’s fire portal burns into existence in the middle of the living room. Another burn mark on the floor. I sure hope Trex or whoever owns this place likes burnt wooden floors as décor. Azi steps out the portal, carrying two gold swords and a rucksack on his back before the portal closes.
“Where have you been hiding these shiny things?” I gasp at the beauty of them. I put the Mars bar down on the side, ignoring Azi who is staring at me as he puts the weapons on the sofa.
“I’m glad I bought that dress for you. I thought you had thrown it out when we broke up,” Azi muses, his tone husky and sexy as hell. I grin, running my hands down the tight black dress which is laced at the sides and at the back. I pick one of the gold swords up and flip it around in my hand, getting a feel for the weight before putting it back. It’s not as good as my purple sword, and I’m really not into gold stuff. Unless you count stealing and selling it.
“I know you like me in black, and you did have this made for me,” I eventually reply to Azi who is still running his eyes over me. I’m not going to lie about the reason I chose to wear this out of the limited dresses I have. Azi steps closer, his fingers running down the lace at the side of the dress like he can’t help but touch me.
“If you two are going
to be all googly eyes and gross all night, I might change my mind about going with you,” Hali groans, and Azi chuckles as he turns to face her.
“No googly eyes here. I have a reputation to uphold,” he jokes, and she only laughs.
“Come on then, big bad demon, let’s go and see your brother,” I say and call a portal. Azi winks at me before walking in, and I hold Hali’s hand as we follow. I just pray Hali doesn’t hate me when she realises the plan.
Evie
The smell of the demon underground slams into me when I step out the portal and see we are in a very familiar alley at the side of the club. I hate this alley. I stop at the sight of a demon dead on the floor right in front of us, and Azi kneels at his side, touching his fingers to the demon’s red skin on his neck. There is a hole in his chest, and I turn Hali away, not wanting her to see the mess of his body. She still gasps in shock, not used to seeing death like this.
“He is dead, we should go,” Azi simply states, getting up off the dirty ground and wiping his hands on his trousers. I let go of Hali for a second, leaning down, and closing the demon’s eyes.
“Demons will rise,” I whisper, knowing the demon should have some respect shown and feeling like that’s the right thing to do and say. I’m sure his family or friends will find him soon and bury him. I straighten up and hook my arm through Hali’s, walking her away from the body.
“Come on, let’s get off the streets,” Azi says as he looks back to check if we are being followed and then nods his head to the street at the end of the alleyway. I tug Hali along, knowing I need to keep her close in here. I’ve never brought her here before, and I can’t help but feeling fearful of her being outside at all. Not until she is better protected.
“Did my mum live here with you?” Hali asks, figuring it out on her own. I smile at the memories flashing through my mind of this place and Hali’s mum.
“Yes. In fact, that alley was where we first met,” I tell her. “Your mum couldn’t leave me there, even when she must have known I would be trouble.”