The demon opened one cabinet, frowned, then opened the correct one. That bothered me more than it should have. He'd been in my apartment for less than ten minutes and already seemed to know where things were. Beside me, Nina still hadn't let go of my arm. Every time the demon opened another cabinet, her fingers tightened slightly.
“You invited me romantically,” he said while grabbing a mug. “Leaving immediately would be rude.”
“It was NOT romantic.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Then why were there candles?”
“Because they smelled nice!”
“That explanation continues to disturb me.”
I watched him move around the kitchen while he continued opening cabinets like he paid rent there. Beside me, Nina still hadn't let go of my arm. The fact that a demon already knew where my coffee mugs were bothered me far more than it probably should have.
“I don’t understand why you keep saying ‘vanilla candles’ like they personally offended you.”
The demon filled the kettle with water before answering.
“Because humans usually use blood for summoning rituals.”
Silence settled over the apartment. Water ran steadily into the kettle while my brain got stuck on a single word. Blood.
Nina's hand slipped from my arm.
“I'm sorry,” she said. “Did you just say blood?”
“Yes.”
“See? THIS is why I bought vanilla for self care.”
“But you accidentally performed a courtship ritual instead.”
I turned toward Nina, hoping for support. Instead, she was looking at me like several pieces of a puzzle had just fallen into place.
“Nina.”
“You bought discount candles from a shop beside a vape store.”
“...Yes?”
“You accidentally flirted with a demon.”
I closed my eyes. A few hours ago I'd been fired from a job I'd spent six years pretending to enjoy. That should have remained the worst part of my day. Instead, I was standing in my kitchen while my best friend explained that I'd accidentally flirted with a demon because I'd gone shopping during a period of distress.
The demon set the kettle on the counter.
“That continues to make it worse.”
Nina pushed away from the door and walked back toward the couch. That should have worried me. Nina only moved closer to bad decisions when she wanted a better view.
“Oh my God.”
I already hated that tone. “What?”
She dropped onto the couch and pointed between me and the demon.
“Does he think this is a date?”
“I absolutely do not,” I said. The demon was quiet for a moment. Then he took another sip of coffee. “Aggressively.”
