“Why would you go out of your way to avoid supes from the human realm?”
“They tend to hold the most unflattering beliefs about my kind.” I shrugged. “Listen, Miles, I will make you a deal.”
The mage paled again, his body going still. “No, no deals.”
I couldn’t help the frustrated sigh that left me. It was obvious the male had learned some of the more unsavory beliefs about demons and our penchant for deals. Contrary to what many believed, we didn’t steal the souls of those we made deals with, nor did we eat babies, as I was once accused of doing. We simply provided our end of the bargain for them to act as a conduit that enabled us to access the innate magic of their world—magic we wouldn’t be able to access and wield otherwise.
“No deals. Not like that,” I assured him. “I simply wish for us to be friends and for you to help me plan a date with myDilectus, if you’re willing.”
Miles’ posture relaxed, and a small smile spread along his lips. “Okay. I still think Shadrie would be the better option because she knows B better, but I’ll do what I can to help.”
“Perfect. Now, tell me how these dates work in your realm.”
Chapter Seventeen
Bechora
I woke up the next morning to another package waiting on the counter. Someone had noticed I’d missed most of my classes the day before and gathered notes from them for me. Shadrie insisted it wasn’t her, that the package was left in front of the door to our dorm, and whoever delivered it seemed to have vanished into thin air the moment they knocked.
“Thank Selir, it’s Friday!” Shadrie groaned as we gathered our bags to head to class. “We should totally veg out and watch trash TV this weekend to celebrate surviving our first week.”
“That sounds great.” I smiled. “It didn’t look like I missed much yesterday, just a couple of reading assignments for Elemental Magic and an ass-kicking in combat training. I just have one class this morning and combat training this evening, so if I hit the library after my first class, I can free up my weekend.”
“Perfect. Oh, we should invite Miles. After the way your hunka-hunka demon mate interrogated him the other day about the human realm, I bet he could use a veg out too.”
“Shit, that reminds me. I need to try to find more information on demon mating stuff while I’m at the library. Zypher’s been pretty chill, but it would be nice to know what he’s expecting to happen, and the one time I managed to look into it, I didn’t find anything helpful.”
“You mean other than laying that Demon Daddy Dick on you?” Shadrie cackled.
“Shadrie!”
My roommate shot me a bemused grin and shrugged. “I’mjust saying, the guy is over seven feet tall, no way he’s not proportional. Don’t try to tell me you haven’t thought about it yet, either. That demon is hot as hell, no pun intended.”
“Would you shut up before he hears you?” I squeaked, motioning toward the doors leading outside from Magus House.
Shadrie mimed zipping her lips and then grinned. “I’ll shut it for now, but I definitely want details when you finally take him for a ride… Oh, look, there he is now.”
My eyes followed her gaze to find Zypher waiting a few yards down the sidewalk, balancing four coffee cups between both hands. We made our way to him, and he greeted me with a warm smile, handing Shadrie and me each one of the cups.
“Who’s the spare for?” Shadrie asked, tilting her head toward the fourth coffee.
“Miles. We are… bros now.” Zypher chuckled when Shadrie’s mouth fell open at the wordbros.“Ah, here he comes now. If you would be so kind as to deliver this to him and give me a moment alone with my Dilectus, I will be in your debt, ice mage.”
“Sure thing, Triple D.” Shadrie winked with a mock salute before taking the extra coffee from Zypher and turning back to meet Miles on his way out of Magus House.
Zypher snagged my free hand in his and pulled me so we were facing one another. “I have been researching the mating customs of your realm, and I would like to take you on a date this weekend.”
The gentle tone of his voice made my heart flutter, and I almost said yes before I remembered I’d already made plans with Shadrie. “I already promised my roommate we’d veg out.” I sighed. “But maybe you could join us if you’d like? We were going to invite Miles, so I doubt Shadrie would be mad if I invited you, too.”
“Ah, like a group date. I was told those are sometimes a first-date custom in your realm, to make things less awkward between the courting pair. Had I realized the mages were alsocourting, I would have suggested something similar.”
I nearly choked on the coffee I’d just taken a sip of. “Miles and Shadrie? They’re not courting, big guy.”
Zypher gave me a puzzled look before tilting his head toward where the pair stood with their heads together like they were plotting something. “Their behavior would indicate otherwise, Dilectus.”
“Trust me, whatever that little secret sesh is about, they’re not courting. Shadrie doesn’t have the right parts for Miles.”
The demon’s brows furrowed, and his eyes flitted between our friends and me. Understanding slowly bloomed on his face after a few moments. “Oh… Oh! I see. Should we find partners for our mage friends to attend the group date with?”
