My demon blinked once, still visibly stunned, before his gaze settled on the duffel bag beside my feet.
Immediately, his expression changed. “No.”
“You do not even know what I’m going to say.”
“You packed a bag.”
“I like being prepared physically.”
“You are not coming to Hell.”
I crossed my arms defensively. “That sounds extremely hypocritical from the man who literally wrote COME GET ME on my kitchen wall.”
He was genuinely speechless for a second, and I loved how satisfying that felt.
Then my demon stepped fully through the portal into the apartment while shadows curled briefly around his boots before fading away again. Up close he seemed exhausted in a way I hadn’t noticed before. Ash dusted faintly across the sleeves of his black coat, and there were dark marks near his hands like he’d been dealing with problems significantly more violent than reorganizing my kitchen shelves.
That realization made me even more annoyed at him.
“You left,” I informed him again.
“I was preventing war.”
“You still could’ve texted.”
My demon stared at me for a second. “You assume Hell has phone service.”
“That is not the point.”
Behind us, Nina quietly whispered, “I cannot believe I’m watching a relationship argument with a demon prince.”
Neither of us acknowledged her.
My demon’s attention shifted toward the glowing ritual circle around my feet before returning to me again. “Eva.”
His tone made me suspicious.
“No.”
“You do not even know what I was going to say.”
“You are about to tell me I can’t come.”
“You cannot come.”
“I KNEW IT.”
The portal behind him crackled softly while red light spilled across the apartment walls. Somewhere far inside it, distant voices echoed faintly through smoke and darkness.
My demon stepped closer, lowering his voice slightly. “Hell is not safe for you.”
“You literally wrote COME GET ME on my wall.”
“That was utterly reckless.”
“That sounds like a YOU problem.”
For the briefest moment, the corner of his mouth twitched before he smoothed the expression away again, and the sudden realization of how much I’d missed seeing that nearly annoyed me enough to start a fight. Judging from the look in his eyes, my demon noticed anyway.
