I turned toward the ceiling for strength.
“This is why humans drink.”
From outside, somebody sighed heavily. “Can we come in before the neighbors start praying?”
Fair concern. The elderly woman downstairs had already threatened to call the police on me nine separate times, andI really didn’t want the tenth complaint to involve an actual demon standing in my apartment.
I walked carefully toward the door before my demon moved in front of me fast enough to make me stumble backward slightly.
“You should stay behind me.”
I blinked up at him. “Excuse me?”
“The situation may become unpleasant.”
“That is the least comforting thing you’ve said tonight.”
His eyes shifted toward me briefly, still glowing faintly. “I am serious.”
And I hated how quickly that scared me.
The apartment went quiet again for a second before Nina peeked around my shoulder carefully. “Okay but like… are they dangerous dangerous or weird dangerous?”
“Yes,” my demon answered calmly.
“That answer was medically unhelpful.”
Another knock interrupted us, followed by an exhausted voice from the hallway. “Please open the door. We have been standing beside apartment 4B for ten minutes and that woman keeps blessing us.”
Despite everything, weariness had settled over my demon, which confused me more than the threats had. Then, with the expression of someone questioning every decision that had led to this moment, he reached for the door handle and pulled it open.
Three people stood in the hallway, and something about them was deeply wrong. Not in the obvious supernatural way either. Worse. They had the unmistakable air of people who probably had office jobs, paid taxes on time, and still participated in illegal rituals for fun on weekends.
The woman in the front wore an expensive black coat over ceremonial robes or something suspiciously close to them. Gold rings covered almost every finger, and her eyeliner was sharp enough to file paperwork with. Beside her stood a tall guy holding two wine bottles and what I was fairly sure was a bakery box. The third person was aggressively praying under his breath while staring at my demon's hoodie.
The woman’s attention shifted from me to the candles still scattered around the apartment before finally settling on the demon standing directly in front of me. Her expression became horrified.
“…Oh,” she whispered. “The rumors were true.”
I blinked. “What rumors.”
I didn't get an answer. Instead, the tall guy's gaze drifted past me to the hoodie before returning to the demon. “He accepted the clothing offering?”
“Yes,” the praying guy muttered weakly. “We can SEE that.”
“That should not have worked that fast!”
“I am aware!”
I stared at all three of them in disbelief while now completely dressed Nina appeared beside me clutching a kitchen knife she absolutely did not know how to use.
“Why,” she whispered to me, “are all demon people like theater kids.”
“That is an incredibly offensive stereotype,” the woman replied offended deeply.
“…You heard that?”
“Yes.”
