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“I was scared of the way I felt about you. I should never have said that, I should never have—”

“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.” She shook her head. “You only think you felt something for me, and you’re wrong. You’ve suffered for so long, Ren. I’ve helped you get relief from that pain, that’s all this is. You’re misinterpreting gratitude for something else.” She shook her head. “I don’t think you should help me with this.”

I bit back a growl. If I kept pushing, she’d back away completely and get someone else to help. “Okay, maybe I am a little confused,” I said, lying. I wasn’t fucking confused. Jasmine was mine, but she wasn’t ready to hear it. “Let’s just…put all of that stuff aside for now, yeah? Zinnia getting home is the most important thing. So let me help you.”

Jasmine

* * *

I eyed him. Before my visit with Xavier, I would’ve jumped on the things he’d just said. I would’ve believed every word and not seen the truth. It was nothing more than transference; he was associating all the good things he felt during our sessions with me just like my other confused clients. It wasn’t me he wanted, it was the way my powers made him feel. He hadn’t been interested in me before we started his healing and now, suddenly, he thought he was. It seemed clear to me.

I should tell him no, but I could tell by the look on his face, no matter what I said, he was determined to help. “Fine. But if you make googly eyes at me, you’re done.”

He grinned. “No googly eyes. I can manage that.”

We strode down the street, passing demons like this was totally normal. It was hard to compare these demons with the ones who lived in the forest. On the outside at least, they seemed like an entirely different species.

Ren unlocked the hearse, and we got in. The engine rumbled to life, and the three butterflies on my head fluttered down to rest on the back of my hands. They were sending warmth and love through me, a lot of it, as if they were trying to comfort me. I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t need comforting. It was like they were seeing something I couldn’t.

“I’m okay,” I said to them as their wings rose and fell slowly. There was another rush of love. “I promise.” I looked up and Ren was watching me. “They’re comforting me for some reason.”

“Yeah?” he said as he pulled out onto the street. “Why?”

I shook my head. “No idea. I’m assuming it’s from being around all those demons.” I lifted my hand, and they crawled back onto my hair. “So where do we think a soul eater would hang out?”

“How many all-you-can-eat restaurants are there in the city?” Ren asked. “Cheap ones. If you spend all your time eating, drinking, and overheating, it can’t be easy holding down a job.”

I grinned and pulled out my phone to search for all-you-can-eat places nearby. “I’m going to go out on a limb and assume he’d hang near demon territory. It’d just be instinct, right?”

“Makes sense.”

“Joe’s All-You-Can-Eat Home Fry is just a couple blocks away.”

We walked into the restaurant a short time later. It did not smell great. It was dark and dingy and the decor didn’t look like it’d been updated since 1982. “Hungry?” I said to Ren when he screwed up his face.

His lips twitched. “Tempting, but I’ll pass.”

The wall by the entrance was covered in pictures. Joe’s Home Fry Challenge was written in block letters and tacked above pictures of customers with plates scattered across their table. All but one of them looked ready to barf.

We checked the rest of the place out, but I wasn’t sure what we were doing here. How this would help? The demon wasn’t just going to wave us over and show himself, even if he was, by some miracle, here at this precise moment. But it wasn’t like we had anything else to go on.

We walked into Jumbo Jim’s Seafood Bizarre twenty minutes later. “Joe, now Jim, who’s next?” This place wasn’t much better, but it at least looked clean and was definitely busier.

“Johnny. Has to be,” Ren said and grinned.

I wish he’d stop grinning at me all the time. I mean, I was happy he was happy. But it gave me a weird feeling. Thankfully, that feeling was not swoony and lovey-dovey, that was impossible. It was something else, and I didn’t like that either.

“Jim’s got his own wall of people trying to give themselves a heart attack,” he said, motioning to the wall above the bread and condiments table. Jim’s Gut Buster Showdown.

I scanned the pictures. “Same green-around-the-gills expressions.”

“Except this guy,” Ren said. “He looks pretty happy with himself.”

I took a closer look. “That guy was on Joe’s wall as well. Everyone else looked ready to toss their cookies, except him. He has more empty plates than any of them. The dude looks like he won the lottery and is ready to go back for more.”

Ren leaned in to take a closer look. “Definitely looks like he’s enjoying himself.”

It was probably nothing, but I snapped a picture, anyway.