Eden bit her lip. “Well, no, but—”
“Eden,” I interrupted, taking pity on her obvious confusion, “I think your heart’s in the right place, but this really isn’t necessary. Neither of us needs saving.”
“But the auras…” she protested weakly. “Yours is entangled with his, and his is all… muddled. It’s not normal.”
“Maybe normal isn’t always better,” I suggested. “Maybe this ‘muddled’ state is exactly what both of us need.”
Eden looked between us, her certainty visibly wavering. “You really want to stay with him? Knowing what he is?”
“Especially knowing what he is,” I confirmed. “All of what he is—demon prince and suburban homeowner.”
She turned to Malphas. “And you really want to keep Gary’s influence? Even though it makes you less… demonic?”
Malphas considered this seriously. “Gary’s influence has shown me aspects of existence I would never have discovered otherwise. The satisfaction of growing things rather than destroying them. The pleasure of creating a home rather than harvesting souls. The joy of…” he glanced at me, his expression softening, “…connection.”
Something in his tone made my chest tight. Eden must have heard it too, because she sat heavily on our sofa, deflated.
“Oh,” she said softly. “Oh, I see.”
“What do you see?” I asked, curious.
She looked between us again, but this time with wonder rather than concern. “Love,” she said simply. “Actual love. Between a human and a demon.” She shook her head, laughing softly. “That’s not in any of the books.”
Malphas and I exchanged glances, neither confirming nor denying her observation. We hadn’t yet used that word aloud, though it hovered in the air between us during quiet moments.
“Well,” Eden said, beginning to gather her ritual items, “this is embarrassing. I came to perform a heroic dual exorcism, and instead I’m intruding on… whatever this is.”
“An unconventional but happy relationship?” I suggested.
“Something like that,” she agreed, closing her ancient tome. “I am sorry for barging in like this. It’s just… when I realized what Malphas truly was, I thought you must be in danger.”
“The only danger Sam faces is my continual rearrangement of the kitchen cabinets,” Malphas said dryly. “Which, I maintain, is more efficient.”
I rolled my eyes. “The spices should be alphabetical, not organized by frequency of use. We’ve been over this.”
Eden watched our banter with fascination. “You really are just a normal couple,” she marveled. “Except one of you is a demon prince.”
“And the other is unreasonable about spice organization,” Malphas added, earning a playful shove from me.
“Would you like some tea, Eden?” I offered, feeling we’d moved past the whole attempted-exorcism awkwardness. “Since you’re here anyway?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “That would be nice, actually. And perhaps you could tell me more about… this.” She gestured between us. “For educational purposes, of course.”
“Of course,” Malphas agreed, amusement in his voice. “I’m sure it will make an interesting addition to your supernatural research.”
As I headed to the kitchen to prepare tea, I heard Eden ask, “So, does Gary’s influence affect… everything? Even, um, intimate matters?”
I nearly dropped the kettle.
Chapter 16
After Eden left—loaded with tea, homemade cookies, and far more information about demonic-human relationships than she’d probably anticipated—Malphas and I sat in companionable silence in the living room.
“That was interesting,” I finally said, leaning against his solid warmth on the sofa. “I’ve never been mistaken for a demonic thrall before.”
Malphas chuckled, his arm around my shoulders. “You would make a terrible thrall. Far too argumentative.”
“Hey!” I protested, then conceded, “Okay, fair point.”
