Seventeen

Lux

Shopping for an eight-month-old was exactly as fun as I'd imagined it would be. We flitted from shop to shop, and I got to dress Gunner up in a multitude of outfits.

"Oh. My. God. We need to get this!" I declared, taking a few hundred pictures of Gunner in a mermaid onesie. "He looks so cute and sparkly."

"Um, that one's usually for girl babies," the salesman said, making a face.

"And how exactly would a baby boy and baby girl look different in it? It's a onesie. For. A. Baby," I said it slowly in case he was a particularly dumb human, and Archer snorted.

The man's face went red, and I wondered if he had a fever or something. Leaving us to our devices, the man turned around and stalked off, muttering something under his breath about gay freaks.

I growled, turning around to go give him a piece of my mind—clearly, he was in desperate need of more brain power—but Archer stopped me with a shake of his head. "Let it go, Lux. He's just being a dick. Don't let him ruin our day."

"I was planning to ruin his day, but sure." I shrugged, turning my attention back to Gunner, and Archer chuckled.

We shopped for a while, but when Gunner started hankering for his afternoon nap, we decided to head home. On our drive, I informed Archer that once Gunner was down for his nap, he and I were going to curl up on the couch and watch a movie. I didn't care what movie we watched, as long as we watched one. I just wanted to cuddle with Archer on the couch for two whole hours.

Once we got home, I changed Gunner's diaper and put him in his comfiest onesie, then handed him over to Archer so he could feed him while I got freshened up.

While I could've used magic to speed everything up, sometimes it was nice to do the boring, mundane things physically.

When I returned to the living room, Archer was just getting done feeding Gunner, and I took over so he could go get changed.

By the time he came back, Gunner was in the crib, well on his way to falling asleep, his eyes heavy and drooping as he gazed up at me.

"Sleep, little one. We'll play later."

As if the assurance was exactly what he'd been waiting for, Gunner closed his eyes, and dozed off.

"You know, the way you take care of Gunner is far more impressive than any other magic you do."

Turning to Archer, I raised a brow at him. "Oh? Is that so? You didn't seem to think that last night."

Grinning, Archer grabbed me by the waist and jerked me to him. "Well, that's true. Then again, you don't really use magic when taking care of him, do you?"

Smiling, I shook my head, and Archer lowered his, pressing a kiss to my lips.

I wrapped my arms around him, pressing myself against him as he deepened the kiss.

Maybe we didn't need to watch a movie after all. Maybe we could just set up the baby monitor, and then go have some fun in the bedroom. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

Pulling away from Archer's lips, I was just about to suggest my idea when there was a knock at the door. We glanced at each other, confused.

"Were you expecting anyone?" I asked, and Archer shook his head. "Me neither."

Carefully, I pulled away from him and walked over to the front door, opening it quickly when I realized who was on the other side.

The man who stood just outside the door was tall, over six feet, and bulky. He had the body of a warrior—which he was—short black hair, and kind brown eyes. He was a soul collector, and the chief of the King of Otherworld's army. His team was responsible for capturing dark souls, and other than the king and his mates, he was our other point of contact for our mission.

Today, he was dressed in human clothes, and I wondered if his half-human mate, Kym, had picked out his outfit of dark jeans and a fitted white t-shirt.

"Maximus! What are you doing here?" And what was with the knocking? Otherworlders never knocked, and they rarely came in through the front door. Was that Kym's influence too?

"Hey, Calux. Can I come in?"

"Um, sure." One of the most powerful soul collectors, Maximus usually lived in Otherworld with his mate. I had a feeling this wasn't a social call, since he and I were acquaintances at best. "What happened?" I held the door open wider, and he stepped inside, waiting until I closed the door to answer.

"We've been tracking one of the dark souls. Some of the other demons, including Star and his mates, sensed the soul, and the trajectory of their movement suggests they'd be passing through here soon, or they might already have. We need you to figure it out for sure."

"What's going on?" Archer asked, appearing in the hallway. Glancing between the two of us, he walked over and stopped beside me, his hand a comforting presence on my shoulder.

"Archer, this is Maximus. He's from Otherworld. Maximus, this is my mate, Archer." Archer squeezed my shoulder when I called him my mate, and Maximus sized him up before giving him a firm nod and shaking the hand Archer held out.

"Um, Maximus wants my help tracking down one of the dark souls," I explained, and Archer's brows furrowed.

"Is it dangerous?"

"Not for me, no," I promised. There wasn't much a dark soul could do to a demon, since we were made to punish them. But if the dark soul found some humans to target…

Archer nodded, then cleared his throat. "Then you should go."

"Are you sure?"

Archer smiled, then leaned forward to press a soft kiss on my lips. "Of course. This is why you're here, isn't it?"

Actually, I wasn't sure if that was true anymore. While the mission was why I'd come to the human realm, if we caught all the dark souls tomorrow, I'd still want to stay here, because this was where Archer and Gunner were.

Still, I simply nodded in answer, and then turned to Maximus. "Do you need me right away?"

"As soon as possible." I was pretty sure that once upon a time, Maximus had been a knight somewhere. He had that temperament, and his loyalty to the King of Otherworld was second to none. Well, except his loyalty to his mate, I guessed.

"Okay, give me two minutes, please."

Nodding, Maximus walked out of the door, though I knew he hadn't gone far.

Archer pulled me into a hug the moment the door closed behind Maximus, and I breathed him in.

"Be safe, okay? Even if they can't hurt you, you can't be too careful. They have a demon on their side too, don't they?"

"Yeah." And Mammon was one of the oldest demons alive, which made him much stronger than me. Star could probably take him, but not me.

Pulling back, I held my palm out, creating two charms with my magic. They were simple blue crystals, with smooth edges so Gunner wouldn't get hurt even if he put it in his mouth, and I added a leather cord to them so they could be worn like necklaces, then offered them to Archer.

He took them instantly, then gave me a questioning look.

"They're protective charms, one for you and one for Gungun. Put them on, okay? It'll keep you safe from the dark souls, and alert me if you're in danger of any kind."

"You should have one too. One that alerts me if you're in danger," he grumbled, but I could tell he didn't actually mean it. He couldn't really tackle the type of things that would put me in peril.

"Okay," I said, taking a step back. I glanced toward the living room, wondering if I should go give Gunner a kiss before I left, then shook my head. If I went there, I had a feeling I wouldn't want to let him go.

Archer

Watching Lux leave, knowing he was heading toward danger and there was nothing I could do to protect him from it, was awful.

I knew it was his job, and I knew he was powerful. I'd seen him in his demon form a few more times since that first time, and I was stunned each time by the utter strength of him.

Lux's sweet personality sometimes hid just how powerful he was, and even I had a tendency to forget it. I knew he could handle himself, but that didn't mean I could stop myself from worrying.

It wasn't like I could talk to someone about this. As far as everyone else knew, Lux was simply a manny. The most dangerous thing in that job was probably a rude parent...or a kid with diarrhea.

Shaking my head at my wayward thoughts, I walked back into the living room, slid the pendant Lux had given me around Gunner's neck—I'd already put mine on—then fell onto the couch.

"Um, hello!"

I jumped to my feet at the sound, whirling around to face the intruder, then blinked, taking in the man before me.

He was barely 5'5", a little curvy, with short black hair, and black eyes, and he had a hesitant smile on his face.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in my home?"

"Oh, sorry! We didn't mean to scare you." I walked backward until my back hit Gunner's crib, my eyes narrowing as I realized there wasn't one but four intruders in my home.

"I told you we should've come through the front door!" a tall man with a ponytail said, his eyes on the other tall guy, who was dressed in pajama pants and looked for all the world like he was getting ready for a nap.

"I thought Lux would be here," the pajama dude said with a scowl, and I blinked. Suddenly, their weirdness made a lot more sense.

"Wait. Are you guys demons?"

"Not me," Mr. Ponytail said, while the last man, a 5'8" redhead with paint-stained clothes, grinned, hurrying around the couch.

"Yeah, we are. I'm Ryk, this is Nico,"—he pointed at the shorter man—"this is Star,"—the pajama dude—"and that's Dakota. He's human."

I blinked, putting the names I'd heard about from Lux to these faces, and relaxed a little. Lux had talked a lot about these four, so I knew they were safe.

Before I could reply or introduce myself, Gunner woke up with a cry, and I turned around, picking him up from the crib and cradling him to my chest.

When I turned around, the two shorter demons were watching Gunner curiously, while Mr. Pajama, err, Star , seemed ready to run.

"Um, I'm Archer. This is Gunner," I finished the introductions, then said, "And Lux just left with Maximus."

"Shit! We came as soon as we heard the dark soul was headed this way," Star said, then chewed on his lip. "Dakota, Nico, why don't you guys stay here and keep Archer company, and Ryk and I will go help Lux and Max?"

Before I could open my mouth to tell them they were all free to go help Lux, that I didn't need any of them to stay, Dakota gave them a nod, and the two demons disappeared into thin air.

Gunner, apparently liking the magic show, cheered, clapping his little hands, and Nico smiled at him. I realized he had a very gentle vibe for a demon, just like Lux, and wondered just where our stories had gotten the idea that demons were bad.

"So...have you had your freakout yet?" Dakota asked, and Nico glanced over at him, worried.

"What are you talking about?"

"The man found out the guy taking care of his baby was a demon, Nico. Trust me, there was a freakout."

I chuckled, because he wasn't wrong. While I'd done my best to assure Lux that his being a demon didn't change things, no matter how much I'd grown to trust Lux, it'd been a scary revelation, and it had taken me a while to come to terms with it.

"I did, yeah. Then I realized I wasn't ever going to find anyone better than Lux, and that helped," I said, and Dakota smiled, his eyes sliding to Nico, who was busy making faces at Gunner.

"I know what you mean."

I wondered how it'd been for him, finding out that the three men he'd rented out rooms of his house to were demons. It had to have been a crazy day when they told him the truth.

Huh, maybe spending some time with these two wasn't such a bad idea after all. When was I ever going to get the chance to pick the brains of another human who was mated to a demon? Or in Dakota's case, three wildly different demons?