He makes a sound of agreement in the back of his throat. “I could make things different for you, if you wanted.”
I frown and ease back again. “What do you mean?”
Auri shrugs again and flips his long hair off of his shoulder. “I could give you all the things you’re craving that no one elsecan. I can give you purpose, the respect you deserve, and a way to channel your natural instincts into something productive. Would you like that?”
My dragon had relaxed over the last couple of minutes, but my skin ripples with scales again.
“I… I don’t know.”
Both of his neatly shaped eyebrows jump up. “You don’tknowif you want respect and riches and a deep, fulfilling purpose in your life?”
“Well, yeah, of course I want that,” I say without needing to think about it. Whodoesn’twant those things?
He smiles at me again, and instead of terrifying, razor-sharp teeth, he has a neat row of human teeth. The look in his aqua eyes is earnest too. He just wants to help me. No one has ever respected me before, and up to this point I’ve just been drifting through life, looking for the next pretty thing to claim as my own.
“Is that a yes, Mac?”
“A yes to what?” I’m still not sure what exactly he’s offering me, but I find myself leaning forward again, drawing closer to Auri.
He reaches out and drags his finger along the underside of my chin, the faint scrape of a sharp claw dancing along my skin. He leans closer too, his hair fluttering in unfelt wind again.
“To letting me change your life. All you have to do is say ‘yes, Auri,’ and I can give you the life of your dreams. Do we have a deal, dragon?”
A loud banging on the door reaches my ears, along with angry shouting from the men who were chasing me.
“Or do you want to take your chances with them?” Auri asks. “Just says, ‘yes, Auri’.”
I stare into the deep sea of his eyes for several long beats, trying and failing to come up with any reason not to do this,whateverthisis. With the threat of bodily harm on the other side of the door, I find myself nodding.
“Yes, Auri,” I rumble in a low voice, equal parts dragon and human.
Auri’s skin shimmers and his human glamour falls away. Instead of pale skin, it’s black and leathery, his tattoos glowing pale blue on his chest, a pair of curling horns protruding from the top of his head. His teeth are as sharp as they were the first time he smiled at me as he leans the last inch towards me and pecks my lips in a brief kiss to seal the deal.
“Good choice, pet,” he growls.
Without warning, the walls of the bar start to melt around me.
“Wha—” I don’t even manage to get the whole word out before the air in my lungs is squeezed too tight and my entire body is tugged into the space between planes. My stomach lurches at the familiar, unpleasant sensation and I stare in shock at the demon I just made a deal with.
Shit. What did I just agree to?
DRAX
CouldI be any more bored? Things have been dull lately. No humans summoning demons, no spectacular deals made with Auri. Nothing. Just endless time spent sitting at a table with Auri’s other pets, waiting for orders.
I used to have a hobby of tracking time based on human concepts, but I grew bored of that after a few millennia. I need a new hobby. An interest. A spark of excitement.
The rest of the team are around the compound doing various things to pass the time. Cassius is probably broodingsomewhere, reading ancient texts to regale us all with his discoveries later. He has a gift for dead languages.
Roman, he might be wrestling with Grim. Atlas is probably working on a sculpture from the many rock formations lining the halls of our corner of the underworld. As for me, I’m organizing Auri’s trophy room for the millionth time. He trusts me to treat his things gently, and as a bonus, I get to look upon all the beauty, some of which I was responsible for procuring.
As Auri’s pets, we go out on adventures to obtain anything from human souls to artifacts, and all the treasures are piled in this room, but I’ve made progress organizing and cataloging it all into something that’s visually pleasing.
I drag my finger across the shelf containing bottles and boxes filled with souls. They shimmer and vibrate at my touch, their desire to be released from their self-inflicted prisons palpable. My chest swells with pride. Auri likes this shelf the most. This room was such a mess before I got here.
Making a deal with Auri didn’t seem like my best idea at the time, but now this is home as much as my former one was. I bide my time, waiting for my next assignment, which is weirdly more interesting than my life before Auri was. Except when we hit these long dry spells like the one we’re in now. I would give anything for a little excitement. Maybe when Auri returns, he’ll have news.
He’s grown restless too, venturing to the human realm rather than waiting to be summoned. He’s done it before and come back with nothing, so I’m not too optimistic, but I am hopeful. There’s always room for hope.
