It wasn't just the wings that boggled my mind. "By the way, there arehorns coming out of your head."
Daemen laughed. He bent over so they were within my reach. "Go ahead. I promise these are real, too."
Two spiralling black horns jutted out from his forehead. They were ultra-glossy and diamond-hard.
"Let me throw this one in for good measure," Daemen said before turning around and flicking his tail.
Yes. A tail.
A long, thin tail snaked out from beneath his jacket, tipped with a jagged edge.
The red bat wings, the black horns, the spiky tail—he almost looked like...
"These are props, right?" I stammered. "You're an insanely good prop maker and animatronic designer?"
"I'm none of those things. Just a doctor," he teased.
I stood there gawking at him for what felt like an eon. His wings and tail moved independently in natural, fluid motions that were too genuine to be practical effects.
"Ah, one more thing," Daemen said. He shut his eyes, then reopened them again. His piercing blue eyes were replaced by glowing red eyes. "There we go."
My jaw dropped. "Okay, now you're fucking with me."
Daemen poked out his tongue playfully. It was forked, because of course it was.
"Not at all." He spread out his arms. "This is it, Miguel. This is the real me."
Was Daemen the devil? Oh god, of course I'd fallen in love with the fucking devil. My Catholic mom was going to be pissed.
Well, she actually loved Daemen, so maybe she'd let it slide.
"Are you... the devil?" I asked hesitantly.
Daemen let out a loud laugh, as if what I said was hilarious. "Oh, no. I'm not that powerful. I'm only a demon."
"Only a demon," I echoed in disbelief. Then what he said actually hit me. "You're... a demon."
"By the way, are the horns and wings bothering you? I can put them away."
"N-no, they're fine. They're actually pretty cool. I'm just, uh. Wow. You're a demonic entity."
The situation was so ridiculous I had to laugh, and then I couldn't stop. I bust a gut until tears filled my eyes. Daemen grinned alongside me. His red eyes sparkled as if watching me laugh brought him joy. When I could finally breathe, I mumbled, "Oh, this makes what I was gonna say ten times more embarrassing."
When he tilted his head, his horns moved with it. "What's that?"
Suddenly nothing felt off-limits anymore. I didn't know if my tiny human brain accepted Daemen as a real-life demon yet, but it opened up the path to confess my feelings. If he could show off his wings and horns, I might as well put everything on the table.
"I think I'm in love with you," I blurted out.
Daemen froze. His eyes widened, turning the air around them bright crimson. Even his tail had stopped twitching.
"You don't care that I'm a demon?" he asked.
"Well, it's certainly a surprise.But that doesn't change how I feel."
Emotion filled Daemen's gaze. "Miguel, you're a human. I just admitted to being a demon. Doesn't that scare you?"
"Well, are you going to eat me or something?" I asked. "Or, I dunno, torture me for all eternity?"
