But Argeth was still talking, so she pasted on the best smile she could afford even as panic settled in her chest.
“… I’m sure you’ll have no issues settling in to Heck.” He clapped his large hands together, the hint of a scaled tail swishing behind his back. “I know this situation is unfortunate, but?—”
A small hand on his elbow had him quieting, and then he was bending down so the human could murmur into his ear.
Aofe admired Rosalind’s bravery at touching the giant as she curled tighter into her blanket, unsure if she even had the guts to ask for something warmer to wear or a different job after they had clearly worked so hard to get this set up in such a short time.
Neither request escaped her lips when she saw—somehow—the demon’s black eyes dart to her bed—no, the crutches—then back to Rosalind. He pursed his lips at whatever she was saying, then seemed to consider something before nodding.
“Right,” he announced, standing back to his full height. “I think there’s been a…” Aofe watched him struggle for the right word, all while his gaze remained awkwardly on her face, before he finally settled on mumbling, “I’ll be just a moment.”
Almost as quickly as Goldy had left, Argeth hustled through the door and let it close behind him.
“You’ve really been busy, haven’t you?” Aofe asked when she knew they were alone.
Rosalind’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I just want to do what I can to keep us safe.”
“Are we?”
The other woman’s features shifted before she gave a resolute nod. “Yes.” She clasped her hands, then pulled them away when her fingers met the metal of her cuff. “I’ve made sure our work and living accommodations are more than acceptable. Argeth was a little overzealous about spinning this positively for his platform that he might have overlooked some things, but that’s why I’ve been following him around, reminding him we are human, with human limitations.”
Aofe kicked one of her crutches. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”
Rosalind shook her head. “You’re not. He initially assigned you to be with two other women, thinking that would help us feel safer, but it’s not a good fit for you. I met someone earlier that I think might be better suitedto help you.”
A knock on the door interrupted Aofe before she could ask how Rosalind was handling everything—besides just throwing herself into work making sure they were safe.
The woman smiled, but this time Aofe saw through the strain it took to maintain. “I’ll be checking in, but don’t hesitate to reach out, okay?”
Aofe barely managed a “Thank you” before Rosalind was slipping out of the room, her presence immediately replaced with a demon who was definitely not Argeth.
He wasn’t as massive as Goldy, or as tall as the councilor, and yet compared to the humans she knew, he put them all to shame with his size. Green horns swept back off his head, darker than his hair and pastel green skin. Black-rimmed glasses sat on his nose, falling forward as he read from a book balanced in his hand. If he was her sponsor, she assumed those were her papers resting on top, and he studied them with rapt attention, barely looking at where he was going as he entered. He wore a loose linen shirt and vest over tight pants, a leather belt twisting around his hips with several pouches attached—including one with yellow flowers sprouting out of the top.
He glanced up briefly with black eyes, offering her a quick smile before returning to the pages.
His head darted up again before he blinked—theydidblink—and shoved his glasses back up his nose. There was no warning before he tripped, the book and papers flying forward as his body and long-whipping tail crashed into the bedside table.
“Blazes, sorry,” he blurted, dropping to his knees. He frantically reached for the papers scattering everywhere. As he scrambled for the last of them, his claw-tipped hand collided with the leg of her crutch. It tumbled, smacking him in the back of the head with a loud crack.
“Oh, no,” Aofe said, trying to reach for the thing as the green demon cursed again and slipped further, losing more papers in the process. “Wait, stop?—”
The warning came too late. He knocked into her other crutch and sent it toppling into his mess. Aofe tossed her blanket to the bed and chased after the crutch, lowering herself carefully so she was kneeling on the ground, before grabbing it and sliding it behind her to safety.
But of course, that only made things worse. As she grabbed for the other crutch, so did the demon. The thick base of his horn collided with the top of her head, knocking her back on her rear.
“Fraudulent fudge,” she grunted, pressing a hand to the bump.
“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” the demon said, and then suddenly two hands were gripping either side of her head and yanking her closer to him. Aofe couldn’t even squeak—in fear or surprise—as she was jostled left and right while he inspected her. “Not bleeding, that’s good. Humans are so fragile.”
Aofe gave an indignant huff then shoved him away. “Just because I’m not colored like the rainbow with weapons protruding from my head doesn’t mean I’m fragile.”
Silence fell as the demonblinked at her.
Aofe’s first fear was that she’d done something wrong pushing him off her, then over the fact she’d touched him at all. She barely registered that his skin had beenwarmagainst hers, firm yet pliant as she’d distanced him, only that he was looking at her with an odd expression.
Then she realized where his gaze was shifting—from her blue hair to the piercings in her ears and nose—and that his pinched features weren’t from anger or an assessment of danger.
The demon’s laughter broke first, bright and booming and so shocking; Aofe couldn’t help but snort in response. And then she was laughing with him, studying his smile and the crinkling of the green skin at his eyes and feeling more at ease than she had since… well, long before she’d been taken by those slavers. Which was an odd thing to think, considering how she’d felt around the other demons she’d met.
