Chapter Seven

Cari

Having a monster for a boyfriend is a kind of fun I never imagined. Mayhem dotes on me, catering to my every whim. He takes long baths with me, makes love to me for hours, we talk about everything from music and art to his newfound love of monster movies.

Mayhem comes from another time, with a whole other way of living. He does not like that I work part-time at my sister's bakery. He claims he ought to take care of me while I stay at home, tending to the house or making him babies.

"Can we...I mean, can we have babies?"

"Yes, we can have as many as you want. I might have put my child in you by now, as many times as I have filled you with my seed," he hums, rubbing his huge hand over my stomach.

Flushing, I swat his hand away, laughing when he growls at me. He does not like to break contact. He must be touching me at all times. Not that I mind him being so affectionate. I went without touch and attention, for a long time so I welcome it.

"What is this called again?" He wonders with a cute look of confusion.

It has taken a few days, but we transformed my cozy cottage into a spooky wonderland for a Halloween party. Mayhem takes in the twinkling fairy lights and eerie decorations I labored over. He strung the lights, hung faux flickering candles, and even put together the huge purple spider with its black web in the far corner.

"A party. A Halloween party. Do you do Halloween in Hades?"

"We do. It is the day of the dead. Nothing sparkling like this. It's....darker, bloodier, hostile. What will happen here?"

"Costumes, punch someone inevitably spikes, cookies, terrible games, bad music. Fun times will be had by all."

Mayhem nods but I have a sense he does not understand. He will. Bessi and Luci were totally on board with a monster party where we can show off our monster men. They can come to have a good time as they are, without needing to hide their magic. We will have a few friends over, and they will meet Mayhem.

I will tell my sisters I am in love with a Demon. It should be a good time.

"If it makes you happy, we will do it all," he says with a grin, kissing me softly before he hangs another string of lights.

Rushing to the kitchen, I take out the last batch of cute monster shaped cookies. Mayhem comes to join me because it turns out he loves baking and is skilled at decorating. Tucking me against his huge body, pinning me to the counter, he goes to work.

"You cannot keep me prisoner all the time, big guy," I tell him.

"But I can. I am good at keeping a prisoner. Azazel was fond of how good I was in fact," he teases, kissing my neck as he frosts a ghost cookie with a swift twist of his wrist.

"You had to...I mean you had to hurt people, didn't you?"

His icing hand stills before he sighs. "Yes, my love. I hurt thousands of souls. Tortured countless others. I had no choice. No that is not true. I am not a coward. I had a choice, I just...I was in such misery I wanted them to know how it felt."

"I hate that you had to hurt for so long," I sigh as I settle back against his chest.

Closing my eyes, I try to focus. To use the powers he claims I have. It takes some time, but I start to see flickers of his life. Not just the one down in Hades but before that. I see him on a large acreage, with dark skies and rain pouring down. There is a beautiful woman there shouting at him, cursing him to hell.

"Oh, baby," I whisper, turning in his arms to wrap mine around him. "You were hurting so badly. You were so alone. Just as I was before you came to me. I hate knowing you were hurting."

"We're all hurting some of the time. I caused plenty of hurt to others. That pity is better served to ones who deserve it. I do not. I do not deserve to have you now, to get even a taste of the happiness I have had since I came to you."

Cradling his face, I touch my forehead to his, sighing as his huge arms wrap around me. He lifts me off my feet and forces my legs around his hips. Backing me up against a wall, he seals his mouth to mine as my hands grab hold of his horns again.

"My sweet love," he hums against my lips, his black eyes storming as they hold mine. "You're the best thing on this earth. You deserve much more than I am, but I cannot give you up. It proves I am nothing but a monster, a Demon."

"What does it make me that I don't want you to give me up?"

"My mate," he answers with a crooked grin. "We're bonded now, nothing can tear us apart. Not man or monster."

Nodding, I bend my head and kiss him again, letting the fissures of pleasure that erupt inside me take over. We've barely left the cottage since he came that first night. I do not care about painting or even the bakery. I just want to be with him. I just want to be in his arms, tasting him, having him inside of me, driving me to depths of pleasure I never knew could exist.

If I am under a magic spell, I do not want freed from it.

"Knock knock," my sister's voice calls before I hear the front door close. "We're here Cari Bear!"

Mayhem's eyes go wide as he sets me down, seeming to panic. I almost laugh. He is a Demon for God sakes. Hundreds of years old. What would he have to be afraid of? His dark eyes turn golden as his gaze flies past me, pausing on my sister and Gareth.

"Hi! Oh, you're starting to show, how cute!" I shout, rushing past him to my sister, my hands going to her belly. I am hit with a wave of joy as always as I feel her little girl.

"Figured the costume was appropriate," she teases, rubbing a hand over her slightly swollen belly.

Behind her, Gareth looms over her, dark and a little scary with a cape and slicked back hair. He is a warlock for real, but he played up the part for the party tonight. Luci is also a cute witch as well, with a pointed hat. Her top bears a cauldron with the words "Brewing a Baby" across her tiny baby bump.

"Where's your costume little lady?"

"I have to go put it on. First, I want you to meet someone," I tell her, dragging her towards the cookie where Mayhem stands, still frosting one with pink icing. "Luci...this is Mayhem. We met a while ago and...well...we're together."

"I see that," she says dryly as Mayhem grabs me gently, pulling me close to his chest again. "Nice to meet you. This is Gareth, my husband."

"Mayhem.... Hale? Were you of the Hales?" Gareth asks.

All eyes turn to Mayhem, who frowns. He says he cannot remember much of his life before his death and time in Hades. He has spent almost two centuries down there, so it is not hard to believe he would have forgotten his life. His golden eyes spark as he stares at Gareth in shock.

"Yes. Yes, I believe so. How do you know who I am?"

"We're of the same time, Demon," Gareth says softly.

Luci's eyes go huge as she backs up closer to her husband, a look of shock on her face. "D-d-Demon? What do you mean? Cari, please tell me you did not shack up with a Demon?"

"Uh, well, first of all...yes? I suppose I did. I am with a Demon. What does it matter? You married a witch! Bessi is with a Wolf who turned her into his Luna, a wolf herself. But this is where we draw the line?"

"Calm down, my love," Mayhem whispers in my ear, kissing it gently as he stands tall. "I am a Demon. I came from Hades just to find her. I will never hurt her, and I will never let anything else hurt her, either."

"But you're a monster!"

"Remain calm, wife," Gareth moves to stand in front of her as if he has to protect her from one of us. The very idea stuns me. "They will not hurt you. It seems all of the Mills sisters have some magic, yes? Your sister has found hers. He cannot hurt her. At least, not the way a Demon can hurt most mortals."

"What does that even mean?"

"He means you're a Nymph. I cannot cause you harm, your power is...well, it is from above not below. I would be no match for your magic, my love. Not that I would try to battle it. I am a match for your magic, witch, but I would never want to battle you either. I love my Nymph, and we're bonded in a way that cannot be broken. Hurting anyone she loves would hurt her. None of you have to worry I would hurt you, because it would hurt her, and I am not capable of that."

"Can we calm down please? We're having a party. We've got goodies, we've got drinks, and I came up with some fun games for us to play. Can we please have a good time tonight?"

"Yes, of course," Gareth responds calmly. His dark eyes trail over Mayhem and I wonder if he means his words at all. "We came to have a good time on all hallows' eve, so a good time we will have."

"Go put on that pretty costume, my love," Mayhem whispers, his eyes staying on Gareth. "We will have a good night together. I promise."

Nodding, I kiss him softly then pull my sister with me from the room. Gareth whispers something to her as we go, and I yank at her, glaring at her husband. She might be his wife and the mother of his child, but she was my sister first.

"How could you act that way towards Mayhem? I never once questioned Gareth even after finding out he was a two-hundred-year-old witch! How could you be that way?"

"Cari Bear, a Demon is a lot different than a witch!"

As we bicker, she helps me pull on my costume, a cute little devil's costume that Mayhem had a good laugh over. I pull on the thigh high stockings as she fixes on devil wings.

"How different? Did he not use magic on you to make you fall for him? To hurt others for his own gain? As far as I can see it, they're not very different at all."

We discuss it a little while longer before Bessi shows up. In a cute wolf costume, she takes my side immediately. I am thankful I have someone in my corner, but it doesn't matter.

It does not matter if he is a man or a monster—he loves me, and I love him. Nothing else matters.