4. 4

4

Beau

B eau stared down at the box in his hands, feeling the words echo and linger in the air around them. He didn’t say them out loud very often. If ever.

No one had ever cared that he was lonely, so there had never been a need to voice it.

Kassel let out a low rumble, making Beau chance a glance up into his eyes again. So many eyes in the brightest of jewel tones. Beau found he liked the purple ones the best, right in the center of his face, their clarity and shine like amethysts. Strangely, they weren’t cold. Something about them felt the warmest when they looked at Beau.

“I’m afraid I don’t know how to combat human loneliness in an effective way,” Kassel said eventually.

“That makes two of us.” Beau snorted, covering his mouth with his hand at the sound.

Kassel tilted his head, observing him.

Beau felt a little warm under the scrutiny, self-consciousness creeping up his neck to tickle the backs of his ears. It wasn’t exactly based in his usual discomfort. There was something else lurking at the corner of his mind Beau couldn’t rightly name, something brand new that made Beau care about how Kassel viewed him.

He watched with suspended breath as Kassel moved as if to sit down and scrambled out of the way to make room for his massive frame. As soon as the demon made contact, Beau all but rolled back into him, the mattress and frame nearly giving out.

He threw a hand out blindly to keep from braining himself on the demon’s rock-hard abs, only realizing belatedly that said hand was pressed mightily close to the leather-clad crotch of said demon. His fingers twitched, feeling heat radiating underneath his palm like a warm oven. The temptation to open it up and see what goodness was cooking inside was… He gasped, pulling away as if burned.

“Sorry, sorry!” he squeaked, cradling his hand under his chin. He glanced up at Kassel to see if he would smite him down. No, not smite. That was angels, wasn’t it? Drag him to Hell maybe? Just straight-up murder him?

Throughout his internal panic, Kassel simply stared at him, showing no indication he’d even noticed, let alone cared, which calmed Beau’s racing heart a little. He might as well have been a statue next to Beau. A gargoyle perched on the Notre Dame, gigantic and imposing, looking down on Beau, who wasn’t exactly short by human standards.

He’d noticed Kassel’s size the first time they’d met, of course—it was kind of hard to miss him taking up all the space in his tiny home. But he’d been so overcome with shock and joy he hadn’t properly taken in the details besides the eyes and height.

Like the tail, which had some sort of coarse hair only a shade darker than his skin growing along its entire surface. And the horns, which were liable to give Beau’s ceiling a free architectural makeover, poking out of long black hair that had a gorgeous curl to the ends. And all of that was wrapped in coarse, lavender skin and leather clothing with a distinct lack of shirts.

“So, loneliness,” Kassel said, interrupting his perusal and making him blush. “Clearly that is something we will have to work on in order for my summoning to be fulfilled.”

“And neither of us knows how.” Beau gave a little shrug, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his wayward hands around them. “Maybe we can just say we did it and that I’m not lonely anymore and that will be enough? Nobody has to know I’m lying.”

“The summoning needs to be fulfilled for me to be released. It can’t be cheated.” Kassel let out a small sigh.

“I don’t want to waste your time,” Beau said, the words bitter on his tongue. He knew the taste of that particular truth all too well. The fact that he just… didn’t matter.

“I prefer wasting time to Oren following me around providing monologues. So we can try to work this out between the two of us,” Kassel said.

The two of us.

It shouldn’t have made Beau’s heart sing. This was transactional. Kassel wasn’t really his friend. He was here because Beau had summoned him. But he was still here. For Beau.

No one else had ever been there just for him before.

“How do we do that?” Beau asked shyly.

“You know humanity better than I do. Why are they not lonely and you are?”

Beau frowned at the question and the lump it put into his throat.

He saw people around him on a daily basis and none of them ever looked like they were carrying the sadness on their shoulders the way he did. He knew it wasn’t strictly true. There were others who must have been just as lonely as he was, but it seemed he couldn’t find those people no matter how hard he tried. Instead, he was surrounded by the opposite: People with their phones ringing, answering calls and talking to someone. They shared lunch tables at work and seats on the bus in the mornings.

They had plans for after work.

He’d see them pushing shopping carts while someone else threw stuff in and double-checked their shopping list. He saw them buying popcorn to share at the movies and saving good spots for their friends on the grass when there were concerts in the park near Beau’s house.

Everyone always had someone next to them. For everything.

“They have someone with them,” he said finally, knowing it didn’t really answer the question. “They have people who text them just because they think of them and go grocery shopping with them because they want to share what they like. And do other fun things together just because. They just… have someone.”

He trailed off, refusing to allow himself to feel pathetic. There was nothing wrong with being alone. Didn’t mean there was anything wrong with him. He just hadn’t found his someone yet. He repeated those words in his head like a mantra.

“I do not own a phone so I can’t text you,” Kassel said. “However, I do believe I can accompany you to buy supplies.”

Beau felt his eyes widen at the words. He stared up at the demon, looking between all his eyes for a hint of a lie.

“You want to… go grocery shopping with me?”

“If that will help fulfill my summoning and make you feel less lonely.”

Beau’s lower lip trembled out as he tried to hold back tears. He hadn’t known he had any left in him. “That… makes sense,” Beau choked out, sniffling.

He was startled when Kassel reached out with two claws and grasped his wobbling chin between them to tilt his face up, holding it steady there with his palm. Beau froze in place, feeling tingles shoot all over him as his mind set off alarm bells. Someone is touching you. Someone is TOUCHING YOU.

When was the last time someone had even so much as brushed his shoulder on the bus? Let alone touched him with purpose. He was breathless with feeling . So much feeling.

“This doesn’t appear to have made you happy. Or less lonely,” Kassel said.

“No! I mean, yes, it did. These are happy tears, I promise,” Beau rushed to say so fast his voice went high and reedy. Please don’t move your hand. “I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

Kassel’s green eyes appeared dubious, while the red ones scanned him all over.

Beau could barely concentrate on it. He wanted to fall forward into Kassel’s palm like a sleepy puppy and just conk out, warm and content and petted. He hadn’t realized he was doing just that until Kassel’s voice startled his eyes open again.

“Where is the grocery shop located? We can get started.”

He stood up, and Beau moved with his chin in Kassel’s hand until he ran out of bed and risked falling straight off. Honestly, it might have been worth it for more of that feeling of warmth and contentment. He could already feel it wearing off. The chill chasing it out of his skin.

Now he really wanted to cry from sadness, but he sucked it up, not wanting to give Kassel a complex or truly send him running back to Hell.

He watched Kassel stride toward the door, steps shaking his furniture, and found some amusement in it at least. His soft giggle made Kassel turn, all his colorful eyes zeroing in on Beau.

“Yes?”

“It’s three in the morning.” Beau indicated the darkness beyond the curtained window. “No stores are open now. At least none local to me.”

Kassel seemed, well, there was no other way to phrase it except put out. Actually, Kassel’s entire demeanor seemed to comprise a series of dry sighs and internal friction. He didn’t seem outwardly expressive—maybe that was a demon thing—but he reminded Beau of the type of guy at work who always said yes, slaving away while internally cursing how he got to this point.

“Tomorrow?” Kassel asked.

“It’ll be open. I have the rest of the week up until Christmas as vacation time, so we can go whenever during the day,” Beau said hopefully, with a nod and a smile.

Kassel returned it. The nod, not the smile.

Beau didn’t know if demons smiled.

Seemingly at a loss as to what he was supposed to do now, Kassel simply stood there while Beau stared at him. He didn’t look like he was even breathing.

Beau didn’t know whether demons breathed.

“You haven’t opened your gift,” Kassel said suddenly, making Beau jump out of his skin.

He pressed a hand to his heaving chest, over his racing heart. He blinked at Kassel, then over at his gift. A gift with his name on it.

“I’ll put it under my tree and open it on Christmas,” he said, taking it with careful hands and getting off the bed. “That way I have a gift waiting for me.”

“Lonely people don’t have gifts?” Kassel asked.

Beau flinched at the blunt question, his steps faltering before he skirted past Kassel. “This is the first gift I've ever gotten.”

He ran a hand over the box as he walked. He didn’t really care what was in it. Just the idea of it made him feel warmer.

Tonight, a gift.

Tomorrow, company to the grocery store.

Beau smiled at the thought and found himself anxious for the sun to come up.

He didn’t sleep a wink, instead staying up and making conversation with Kassel, who seemed more confused with every question, but answered them militantly.

Do demons smile? Yes.

Does Kassel smile? No.

Do demons breathe? No.

Does Kassel sigh anyway? Yes.

It was all very fascinating, and Beau couldn’t get enough. He asked about Hell, demons, Heaven, his mind spinning with five hundred more questions as soon as one was answered.

It was Kassel who had to prompt Beau about the time in the end. The dawn had long since crept into the room by that point. In fact, it had taken up a seat on the couch after making itself a coffee for another job well done.

Beau had gotten showered and ready at lightning speed, coming back to find Kassel eating raw bacon from the fridge with his hands. His offer to cook was firmly rebuffed, the entire package inhaled with a blank face, as if daring him to try and take it.

Demons were serious about bacon. Another mental note to add to the rest.

It was handy that they were going grocery shopping, Beau could buy several more packages of it. He wrote it on his list, gathered up his bags and outerwear, and burst out the door.

Kassel ducked through the doorway and followed him, grit and snow crunching underfoot.

Beau was halfway to the bus station, giddily chatting about this and that, before he realized that people might have an issue with an eight-foot demon following him like a duckling. He glanced back over his shoulder and found Kassel as blank-faced as ever, then glanced around at the suburban houses surrounding them, half expecting a housewife in her robe and slippers to stumble upon them and screech in hysteria.

“Can other people see you?” he asked.

Kassel shook his head. “Not if I don’t want them to.”

“Oh.”

That was certainly handy, but also made him wonder if there were demons walking all over without Beau ever knowing. Were they here now? Had Beau ever passed by one on the street? Had he ever passed Kassel and never known it? Could they have met earlier? Would it have been different? More natural? Maybe they could have bumped into each other and laughed and then gone for coffee, ankles twining under the table…

“The grocery store?” Kassel prompted.

“Right.” Beau flushed, his meet cute evaporating in front of his eyes. “This way. We need to get on a bus to get there.”

“A bus,” Kassel repeated, following him. “Transportation?”

Beau nodded, taking the rest of the journey to explain the ins and outs of buses and their purpose. Kassel didn’t look any more bored than he had before, so Beau was satisfied that he was as close to riveted as the demon could manage.

Only when they reached the bus stop did he stop to draw breath, allowing Kassel a small gap to ask, “Where is your preferred seating?”

Beau blinked. “On the bus? Oh… I don’t mind. I just try to stay out of the way of people.”

“That’s not your own preference. That’s giving in to someone else’s. I asked what yours is,” Kassel said.

Beau bit his lip, thrown off balance. “I guess the back? I never got to sit there as a kid. Only the popular kids got to, you know.”

When Kassel’s many eyes simply stared at him, Beau figured he didn’t in fact know, and it tickled his never-ending curiosity again.

“Do you have schools in Hell? Do they teach you to, I don’t know, torture and maim or something? Subjugate the damned? Were you even a child? Can demons be children? Can demons have children? Can—”

Beau was interrupted by the chug and hiss of the bus approaching. He rushed to his feet, sliding on a patch of ice, and held his arm out to signal it. He made a choked sound when Kassel suddenly grabbed him by the back of his coat and hauled him backward.

The demon was frowning. “Why are you trying to remove your arm? I do not think that would cause you happiness. Humans like having their limbs. That’s why we remove them in Hell.”

It probably should have been more alarming, dismemberment talk and all, but he felt warmth tingle down his spine at Kassel’s attention and care for his well-being. Was he worried about him? “I wasn’t. I was just calling the bus. See?”

The bus coughed to a stop, dirty slush kicking up around its heavy wheels. Kassel observed its poorly decorated surface with every eye before approaching the opening doors. The demon’s huge form knocked into the people trying to disembark as he boarded, sending them sprawling against the doors with a look of utter confusion on their faces as they hit the invisible barrier of Kassel’s body.

Kassel didn’t seem to notice.

Them. The bus fare. The other passengers. The swinging handles attached to the rail overhead hitting him in his many eyes as he walked through them instead of ducking.

Beau scrambled on after him before the doors closed in his face, pulling his wallet out. “Two, please.”

The driver eyed him strangely, glancing behind him. “Two?”

Beau nodded, before he froze.

Right. No one could see Kassel. Because if they could, they would one, probably run screaming for their lives, and two, call the police.

He hadn’t really thought about the fact that Kassel being invisible would mean that to others, Beau was still alone.

All the excitement for the day suddenly drained from him at once.

“Hurry up, guy. I’ve got a schedule to keep here,” the bus driver said. “One or two?”

“Sorry, my mistake,” Beau whispered. “Just one.”

He handed over the money and grabbed his ticket, face downcast as he walked down the aisle. He saw passengers glance at him from the corner of their eyes and wondered if they thought he was strange. If they could read in him that of course he would only need one ticket.

He’d always only needed one.

He swallowed and ignored the way the razor blade in his throat cut on the way down, heading to Kassel, who was standing at the end of the row. Beau peeked around him just as the bus got into gear again—decidedly lower to the ground with the extra weight—and indicated to pull off.

Beau saw a younger guy sprawled out over the whole back seat, his arms behind his head and his cap pulled low over his face as he slept. Clearly, he had no care for anyone around him.

Beau sighed and slipped into a free seat on the left, whispering under his breath even though no one was paying him the least bit of attention anymore. It wasn’t a new phenomenon. “Kassel. Over here.”

Kassel didn’t budge. In fact, he reached his football-sized hand out to the sleeping guy and picked him up by the scruff of his shirt, tossing him with one move down the aisle.

He screamed, hitting the ground with a thud and rolling into another couple of guys who looked kind of scary. They shouted in shock and an argument heated up between them immediately.

Kassel paid them no attention, just turned to Beau and indicated the now empty back seat. “For you.”

Beau gaped at him, feeling a spike of something hit him in the gut.

It was inappropriate to feel so satisfied. The guy hadn’t deserved that. Yes, he was being inconsiderate and rude, but so were many people in the world and they didn’t deserve to be tossed like rag dolls.

And yet…

Kassel had done it for him without thinking, simply because he’d said he wanted to sit in the back seat. The way his heart was thumping was dangerous. Honestly, it felt a little like he was having palpitations.

He grabbed Kassel’s hand and held it to his chest. It spanned the whole width of it, and the feel of touch again, after so long without except that small taste last night, was like getting hit with a defibrillator.

Kassel stared at him, looking worried. “Beau?”

“Is this normal to you?” he asked him, weak-kneed and on the verge of whimpering.

“No. I’ve never been summoned before. Or interacted with a human that was alive.”

I’m the only one. For the first time it’s just me.

He was getting lightheaded.

“Not that,” he breathed. “My heartbeat.”

Kassel looked down at his chest like he could see through it. Maybe he could. He wondered absently if it would show the scars of neglect and sadness, or if they would be hidden by this overwhelming feeling.

“I’m not familiar with beating hearts, only dead ones.”

“Oh. Okay,” he chirped, still breathless, his heart still drumming like mad. Was the world always curled at the edges? “No worries.”

“Beau…”

Kassel removed his hand, but Beau didn’t have time for the tears that wanted to rise, because Kassel was grabbing him by the hips and swinging him over the backs of the chairs to fit him on the raised back seat before he could even send the signal to his tear ducts.

He gasped, numb hands hitting Kassel’s wide shoulders. His skin felt like something completely new under his fingertips, and hot. More heated than his hand. Molten, in the very literal sense.

Thump, thump, thump!

“You should sit,” Kassel said, planting him securely. “I’m familiar with the signs of passing out.”

“Right…” he agreed groggily. The world was still spinning, and his heart was still racing. He didn’t let go of Kassel. In fact, he dug his nails in deeper. Kassel never indicated that it hurt. It was probably a feather brush to a demon. “We should check if the guy is okay. He might have gotten hurt.”

Kassel gave a cursory glance over his shoulder. The guys were still fighting, the bus driver was yelling at them and threatening to pull over and swerving around. No one was paying them an ounce of attention.

Kassel glanced back at him. “My only interest is you.”

Beau couldn’t handle it.

He wasn’t going to survive.

They made it to the grocery store eventually, after a pitstop to throw the fighting men off.

Beau’s heart had returned to an almost normal pace. He still felt wobbly when he stood, latching on to Kassel’s arm for support. He didn’t notice the strange looks he got as he cradled thin air. They made their way to Beau’s favorite grocery store like that, with Beau clinging to Kassel’s arm as he slushed through piles of snow and ice. He was generally pretty well coordinated, but there was something about allowing himself to be a fragile thing that needed support that ticked all of Beau’s boxes.

He didn’t need Kassel to hold him upright.

But it was so unbelievably nice that he could.

The display on the bus really hammered that one home. His arms were the size of small trees and at his height he’d scrape the tallest ceilings even without the horns. The bare, purple chest that was always on show—and driving Beau a little insane—had more ridges than a mountain range. He probably could have stepped in front of the bus itself and the bus would come out on the losing side.

He was starting to feel hot under his layers, a bright flush visible on the security camera display as they walked through the entrance doors. He covered a cheek shyly, peeking under his lashes at Kassel to see if he’d noticed.

Kassel wasn’t looking at him though, his eyes were flicking around the fluorescent space while cheery Christmas tunes played in the background from a playlist that would loop the same set of songs in an hour.

The demon approached a magazine stand and reviewed some of the titles, head tilted as if trying to understand anything about them. Beau wondered what Kassel thought of them, even as he marveled at the simple notion that he was standing here with someone at all.

Well… sort of.

Pushing the dissatisfaction aside, telling himself to be grateful for what he did finally have, he tugged Kassel away from the magazines and toward the carts. “Over here. I want to get a few things, so we’ll need a cart.”

Kassel followed, almost docile, his long legs eating up the distance and his weight rocking some of the displays around them. He reached for a cart before Beau could grab one, pulling the whole row of twenty carts and snapping the chain holding the last one steady without even trying.

Kassel turned to him. “Are these enough?”

Something in Beau’s stomach squirmed again at the casual display of raw strength. He bit his lip. “I just need the one,” he said coyly, just a step away from swooning.

Kassel looked back at them before shaking one loose by denting its counterparts. He lifted the thing clean off the ground before setting it in front of Beau. Beau hoped his squeal was covered by the clanging metal.

Trying to get a hold of himself, he led the way inside just as an employee came hurrying over to see what the ruckus was. They looked at the mess of carts and then at Beau’s slight frame, immediately dismissing him and glancing around elsewhere for the culprit.

Beau guessed that was one good thing about being easily ignored. He sent them a silent apology for the mess, hoping it wouldn’t ruin their shift too much as he pushed the cart toward the first few aisles.

Kassel shadowed him closely, putting himself between Beau and whatever other person they came across like he was his guard. Like the possibility of someone even breathing or brushing by him was out of the question on his watch.

For once, Beau felt safe instead of isolated.

The demon was also handy for grabbing a few of the higher things off the shelves that Beau found he— gasp! —suddenly couldn't reach.

He must have shrunk overnight.

It was a white lie, but Beau was a little addicted to the swoop of pleasure he experienced with every object passed to him. With the attentive way Kassel listened to his every word as he babbled on endlessly. He couldn’t help the chatter. Once he got going he found it hard to stop. He had a backlog of words to share, of thoughts and feelings, and suddenly a person to give them to. His excitement made them fall out of his mouth like an avalanche.

They dodged many stressed people grabbing last-minute things and debating stuffing types and presents as they went. Beau hardly noticed them for once, concentrating on Kassel at his side.

“Is there anything you’d like to try that isn’t on the list?” Beau asked as they walked into a blissfully free aisle, the realization dawning that he didn’t actually know if demons could eat human food.

He’d tried Beau’s cookies, and the plan was to make more when they got home, but Kassel had also eaten raw bacon, so it was very confusing.

Kassel seemed surprised to be asked. He picked up a nearby package of noodles with his claws and brought it up to his face to read. “It says there are all-new flavors. Is there anything that has the taste of flesh?”

Beau’s mouth dropped open. Well, it was to be expected wasn’t it? He racked his brain desperately for a solution. “If you put in uncooked meat, maybe? Like the bacon.”

Two of Kassel’s eyes moved over to him while the rest continued to read. “Where is more of this meat?”

Beau pointed ahead to a sign.

“I need to get a small turkey anyway. We can grab some more bacon and look for something else you’d like as well?” Kassel nodded and Beau lit up. “Great!”

“Excuse me?”

Beau startled, spinning around to find an employee behind him. At the end of the aisle there was a lady who was clearly staring with pursed lips and a disapproving gaze.

“Yes?” Beau asked in confusion.

“We’ve had reports that you’re causing a disturbance,” the employee said, frowning.

Beau shifted on his feet and glanced around uncomfortably. “A disturbance?”

“Some customers reported that there was a person ‘raving’ to themselves.”

He glanced back over his shoulder briefly and it was clear who had ‘reported’ it. Beau flushed bright red, embarrassment drowning him in a sticky pool all at once, clinging with no hope of escape. He must have looked insane. Pitiful. Strange. Just like he’d thought.

Their gazes told him that.

Shame made him burn. Made it hard to reach for a logical excuse or lie to defend himself with to play it off. That he was on a call, that he’d just dropped his earbud, there was any number of possibilities, but they failed to reach his tongue.

“I… I’m sorry. I won’t do it anymore.”

The employee seemed taken aback by his quick agreement and apology, maybe expecting an argument or a fight. “Uh… if you do it again you’ll have to be escorted out.”

Beau nodded silently and the employee hesitated a moment before walking back toward the lady, who had drawn herself up to argue.

Beau blew out a breath.

“Shall I kill them for you?”

Beau spun around to look at Kassel. He seemed completely sincere, and Beau waited for the offer to warm him through like the others had. Not because he’d ever want it, but because it showed Kassel cared. But the sadness had seeped in now, frost and ice clinging to his bones that refused to be thawed.

He pushed the cart hastily out of the aisle, as far as he could get as he reprimanded himself.

Here he was with someone who was protecting him. Who cared about his wants and needs, even if it was just because of a summoning. He wasn’t alone anymore… but from the outside perspective, he still was.

Alone. Unwanted. Undesirable.

Crazy.

He didn’t want to care what others thought about him. He wanted to be content with just this. But his greedy soul was a vacuum that felt like it could never be satisfied. It had been starved for too long.

Kassel kept pace with him easily, not even breaking a sweat. “You are upset.”

“I’m not,” Beau denied, voice watery and low. “I can’t talk to you in here anymore. People think I’m weird.”

Kassel hummed, a deep rumble of a sound, before Beau was being picked up with a single arm around his waist and hoisted through a Staff Only door. It was dark back here, a type of back room with stacks of groceries on metal shelves. Beau was sure they would be found at any moment, but right now it was silent.

“Explain,” Kassel said, not letting his feet hit the floor.

Beau squirmed against his massive chest and shook his head stubbornly.

Kassel stared down at him. “Would you like me to raze this grocery store to the ground in your name?”

Beau shook his head again, his fingers straying to the leather lapels hiding Kassel’s pecs and playing with them. The mortification was lessened like this, the judgment from outside a door away. Instead, he was pressed against Kassel’s warm chest as the demon offered destruction and death to him like a canapé on a silver platter.

Bizarre yet comforting.

A meaty finger poked at Beau’s bottom lip, taking it between his finger and thumb. Shocked, Beau looked back up, his breath shuddering out over Kassel’s hand. His stomach flared hot.

“The pout means something must be fixed,” Kassel said. “You were upset that they thought you were talking to yourself?”

Beau gave up on pretending and nodded the tiniest increment, not wanting to lose Kassel’s touch on his face.

“Would you like me to appear at your side?” Kassel asked.

“But you’re a demon,” Beau mumbled around the fingers.

“I can take a human form. Though I have not tried it before,” Kassel admitted.

Beau’s eyes widened. “You can?”

“I’ll need some time to achieve that form, but yes. Would you prefer that?”

Beau nearly gave himself whiplash from how emphatically he nodded, and Kassel lost his grip on his mouth. Then Beau suddenly paused. “Would that make you uncomfortable though? I don’t want to make you do things you don’t want to do.”

“I have no preference,” Kassel said.

Beau frowned. “You told me earlier that I shouldn’t just go with what other people want.”

“That’s different.”

“Why?”

“Because I was brought here to give you everything you want.”

They were the words his dream husband whispered to him every night, curled up together under the covers, so much love blooming between them he could hardly breathe. This wasn’t that reality though. This was a reality where he had summoned a demon to be his friend. Beau didn’t want a doll to instruct, he wanted a companion to spend time with.

“Then what I want is for you to also do what you want. Like eating bacon out of the packaging.”

Kassel seemed to contemplate this for a while. “I’ll tell you if I don’t want to do something.”

“Or if you do,” Beau added hopefully.

“Or if I do.”

Beau smiled, a weight lifting from him as Kassel placed him on the floor, which Beau tried not to be too disappointed about.

“I’ll cloak both of us from now on, so we can talk freely,” Kassel said.

Beau’s eyes widened with amazement, even though he shouldn’t have been that shocked considering the circumstances. “The cart too. People will get freaked out otherwise.”

Kassel nodded.

“I can still kill those people if you would like,” Kassel said as they exited the back room.

Beau shook his head with a smile. “It’s fine. She was probably just having a hard day.”

Kassel simply hummed as a feeling of power made Beau’s hair stand on end, the scent of sulfur and brimstone hanging in the air. There was a faint scream in the background.

Beau looked over. “What’s going on?”

Kassel began to walk. “The bacon is this way, you said.”

“Kassel…”

The demon sighed and turned. “I simply visited upon her the demons that hid in her heart. They were already lurking there.”

“Remove them.”

Kassel crossed his arms, looking vaguely stubborn. “She upset you.”

“It’s fine, I told you,” Beau said.

He didn’t say he was used to it. It was easy to forgive though—it was better not to hold grudges.

Kassel clearly didn’t agree, lip curling and eyes burning. “It is not fine. She is lucky I did not do worse.”

It was a declaration and a half, and Beau tried not to read into it. He walked up to Kassel and tugged his sleeve gently instead. “Please remove it?”

Kassel looked like a grumpy cat as he stared down into his face, but the screaming stopped in the next moment.

“Thank you,” he said sweetly, a blush forming. “For removing it and… for caring.”

Kassel simply hummed.

Beau wasn’t sure if this was all because of the summoning. It was too confusing, and he wanted to live in the moment. Kassel still looked tense and ready to throw hands, so he figured he should take his mind off things.

“So… wanna go find some flesh?” he asked.

Kassel perked up a bit, though he tried to hide it. “Whose?”

Beau stared up at him for a moment. “Well… not human, I can tell you that much.”

Kassel slumped. “Pity.”

“We’ll find you some nice pork, huh?” Beau nudged his shoulder shyly. “Same source bacon comes from.”

“I did like bacon,” Kassel said grumpily.

Beau let out a small laugh.

“Pork it is.” He navigated them through the store until they picked up a mountain of pork and whatever else caught Kassel’s attention.

Which, other than the meat, turned out to be a bottle of mouthwash, a large can of cat food, dark wood stain he thought looked really delicious, and a bottle of bright blue nail polish.

Haul in the cart, they headed toward the registers, only for Beau to stop just before the queue for the self-checkout. He hadn’t really been thinking about budgeting when walking around, which was completely unlike him.

“What’s wrong?” Kassel asked.

Beau hesitated to say. He didn’t want to put back any of what Kassel had chosen for himself—it would hurt his heart too much. Maybe he could do without some of the other things in the cart. Who needed toilet paper after all? Or sugar? But he had wanted to make the cookies…

He began mentally totaling and detracting, startling when a wad of money was thrust in front of him.

He blinked at it in shock, then up at Kassel. “This is what others are using to proceed through the shrill grocery gates.”

“The grocery gates?”

“Of shrillness.” Kassel nodded, pointing to the alarm going off and a security guard checking someone’s bag, which had set off the detectors.

Beau wanted to laugh, but he was too overwhelmed.

“This is too much,” Beau said. “I can’t take this from you. Where did you even get it from?”

“The devil.”

“Excuse me?”

Kassel thrust the money back into his face. “He is my boss. Bosses give money to their minions.”

“Employees.”

“Sure.”

“I can’t take that,” Beau said.

“It won’t stay with you. You’ll just take it from me and then feed it to the machine like them.”

“That’s not…” Beau started, but Kassel was already tucking the money wherever he could on Beau and pushing their overstuffed cart to an empty register.

“Come on,” he said, lifting one of the barcode scanners and brandishing it like a gun toward Beau. “We have plans.”

And who was Beau to say no to that, he thought as he plucked money from his collar, pockets, left nostril, and the cuffs of his sleeves.

They did, in fact, have plans.