“You idiot,” he rumbles, his voice sending tremors through my chest. “You’ll attract skreet.”
“Attract what?” I cry.
“The roaches!”
“Jade, are you okay?” Zixin asks from somewhere near the stairs.
“Fine!” I shout back, though I’m not certain I am. If I’m not, I don’t want to get him mixed up in it, that’s for sure.
The demon growls as the sugar just keeps slipping through his fingers. I search around with my hands in the near darkness, looking for something to help pick it up. I find an old broom and start pushing the granules into a neater pile.
“That’s not helping,” he snarls.
“Well, fine, to hell with you and your roaches,” I say, throwing the broom down.
The worldripsbefore my very eyes. Shimmering blue light tears down thin air and splits open to a lava-lamp-like universe.
I stare at it, mouth agape. A hot arm grabs me around the middle and I suck down another gasp before my mouth is covered. The demon has me in his vice grip, pinned to his warm chest with his talons digging into my cheek.
I bite down on instinct and the ifrit growls. Sugar-tinged blood seeps into my mouth. It tastes like earthy cinnamon and it’s so hot it almost burns my tongue. I keep biting, harder, but he doesn’t let me go. He backs us against the wall and wraps his wings around me until I can barely see through them.
“Remain very still, and very quiet,” he rumbles, his hot lips brushing the tip of my ear. It sends trickles of warmth down my spine that pool in my lower belly and—my god, what is wrong with me?
I’m holding his arms, poised to rip them off me, but I don’t. I don’t do any of the quick fighting moves I know I have stored up in my brain somewhere. I just stand here and let the demon cradle me in silence as we watch the world tear open.
A massive, plated bug head appears at the rip. Its antennae wiggle about and I shiver, a full-body ick passing through me. The demon grumbles something and holds me tighter. His breath fans over my neck, heating the sweat chilling on my spine.
The interdimensional cockroach leans forward and steps a foot into the sugar pile. I struggle not to move and wiggle under the discomfort of watching this nasty creature invade my home.
“Be still,” the demon whispers, his hand tensing on my ribs as his thumb draws little circles. It’s almost…comforting.
I mean, if I have to choose between a cockroach and an asshole demon, I know what side I’m on, but he’s touching me like maybe he’s not an asshole.
Or maybe he’s copping a feel.
The cockroach opens its nasty mouth, and drool slops down onto the pile of sugar. It shoves its face into the heap and begins sucking the crystals up faster than a vacuum. Within seconds, the entire pile is gone—but it doesn’t leave. It starts sniffing around, its creepy antennae twisting this way and that until they land on us. Then I smell the sugar on his fingers. On my mouth.
“Fuck,” he grumbles, unfurling his wings and releasing my face.
He points his finger at the roach and a cone of flame projects from the tip. The thing hisses, its wings fluttering madly. The demon narrows the beam of fire and hits the monster with it. It skitters back into the rip, and the portal seals promptly.
I’m panting heavily, still holding on to his arm. I throw it off me and whirl around to glare at him.
“What the hell was that!”
He raises an ember-glowing eyebrow. “A cockroach.”
“I’ve seen a cockroach. That thing just plane-hopped like it was no big deal, and also, it was the size of a dog!”
“Am I going to get any gratitude?” he asks.
“What for?” I ask.
“Jade? Who are you talking to!” Zixin yells again.
“Myself!” I scream back.
I’m still not sure if this fiery ifrit is chill. So far, not so much.
