24. Kai

W atch the mortal…fantastic.

I knew she would be a problem, but this? Even I couldn't imagine it would be like this.

No, I thought she was a problem because she was distracting. She had Bast tripping over himself and Talian…well, Talian wants everyone's attention, but even he was a bit over the top. He, going so far as to pose as a mortal to get close to her.

Disgusting.

Asta was his usual self, but the fact that he warned Talian off her multiple times didn't sit right with me. Usually he didn't give a shit who Talian was interested in, he never stopped him from pursuing anyone at Purgatory, be they mortal or otherwise. He can say it's because we need her to help throw off our scents, but I call bullshit. I literally devoured our last roommate, and Asta's only annoyance was that we had to go through the process of finding a new one.

Something about her is different.

Different enough that even Ruin had fallen for her ‘charms' and I say charms loosely because despite how much everyone else might be drawn to her, I can't see her appeal.

"If I knew you were going to try and stare a hole through my head the whole drive, I would have walked."

As if they would have let her walk. Somehow she doesn't understand that she's being babysat, or maybe she just doesn't care. Either way, it's a pain in my ass. The only bigger pain in my ass than her is Rome, so if he wants her, I honestly don't care what the reason is; I'll gladly throw every wrench in his plan that I can.

Pun fully intended.

"Do I have something on my face or something?" She's being sarcastic. I can tell by her tone and the way she rolls her eyes. It's one of the things that took me the longest to grasp with the mortals—their sense of humor. Ruin swears I'm great with it because nobody ever knows when I'm serious. He said it's thanks to my resting bitch face…

Jokes on him. I'd much rather have a bitch face and keep people away than deal with what he and Asta do. The way women swoon over them is gross.

I don't really care for mortals; it's not just Aeri, though she does annoy me more than most. But I can't deny that the topside sure beats down in the trenches. It's a nice change of scenery every few thousand years.

"Excuse me, can you just pull over right here and let me out, please?" Her voice is sugary sweet as she talks to the driver, hoping to get him to help her. Too bad for her that won't be happening.

The driver slows before his eyes flick to meet mine in the rearview, almost as if asking for permission. I don't need to read his mind to know he probably wants to please Aeri, but I also don't need to know his fear will win out.

He only holds my gaze for a moment before he quickly turns back, his focus on the road as he gets back up to speed and completely ignores Aeri.

Good.

I watch her brows pull in annoyance before she crosses her arms with a groan, slamming her back against the seat dramatically. I guess she doesn't appreciate being ignored, or maybe she just doesn't like losing. Either way, I don't care; she can be mad. The funny thing is, for once, I'm actually looking out for her. How ironic.

The drive doesn't take long, and on a normal day, it's over before I can really think about it, but not today. Aeri grumbles and whines the whole rest of the way, making faces at me when I refuse to look her way before she seems to give up on that, too.

She's amusing; I'll give her that.

Even before the car fully stops, she's out the door and all but running for the club. Anyone else might be offended, but I snort a laugh, knowing damn well she can't actually escape me. I might just have to hang around at the house a little more, to see how far I can push her.

What, no!

I shake my head, trying to dislodge the thought. I'm not sure where it came from or why, but I should be striving for distance when it's not required for me to be around her. I also shouldn't be watching her so hard. It's dangerous for my treacherous brain. I'd thought I was smart enough to see past her fake horns and fangs, but I'd been wrong. Something about them was off putting, and it wasn't just because she was pretending to be my kind the way mortals like to do for holidays. No, I wasn't upset or annoyed because it felt like she was mocking us poorly. If anything, she did it well.

Was that because of Lea's illusion magic? It has to be.

It's funny how much of this Lea can be blamed for. Of all the people Asta could befriend beyond us, it just had to be her, a pain in my ass.

As if she needed to be more appealing, I was already at war with myself with her in the house.

Yesterday, when she showered had been torture. Every one of us knew what she did in there.

Bast might be the demon of lust, but that doesn't mean we can't smell things on mortals. Lust, fear, sadness—they all have scents and auras that, for the most part, I ignore. I don't give a shit how the mortals feel, but it's almost impossible to ignore it when she's running around the house. It's as if the house has become a candle scented with Aeri and all her many emotions, including lust.

Damn it!

With a groan of annoyance with myself, I adjust my now painfully hard cock.

Like I said, I need to stay away because if I don't, well, I'm not sure how much control I actually have. I've never had to test it like this before.

At the end of the day, I'm a demon and an animal; my instincts aren't quite the same as the others.

Eating our last roommate, for example.

I had no intention to eat him. I was angry, and I intended to kill him, yes, but he didn't exactly sound appetizing, not something I wanted to put in my mouth. My snakes had other ideas, and when I snapped, let's just say snakes are a lot less picky about what they consume.

The car sits idle at the curb as I stare after her; he's been gone for a moment, but I can't bring myself to have him drive away. She's in the club; she should be safe. Even if Rome did want her, which I'm not convinced is the case, he wouldn't grab her so publicly and not with this being Asta's business.

No, Rome might be strong, but he's not that stupid. He and Asta were close in power before the fall, and despite what we were told about weakening when we lose our grace, I'm almost positive Asta's gotten stronger.

She's safe, delivered to the club, and Lea's responsibility now, so why can't I make myself leave?

"Stay here. I'll be back in less than five."

I don't wait for him to respond; I don't need to. I know he'll be here, or I'll find him and kill him. I might not be able to kill the girl, but lower-level demos are fair game. Killing them here just sends them back to hell, and while that might not sound so bad, with his meager power level, I don't think he would ever be able to crawl his ass back out of the pit.

No, I don't see him risking it, but even if he did, it might be a good way to let off some steam. I feel my skin prickle at the idea of devouring him and have to push down the thought; that's dangerous to have so close to the surface as I follow a mortal.

I might not care for mortals, but there's no denying they're fucking delicious, far better than angels or demons. The only thing that even comes close is half-breeds, but those are rare; in all my years of existence, I've met three and only got to eat one.

The club has been open for maybe an hour but is already packed. I'm not surprised though the ‘VIP' section often is, though I can't understand why. Who wants to pack themselves into a room full of so many others—wings and tails everywhere?

No, thank you.

I understand why Asta runs the place. Some might think it's for the money, but we don't need it.

We could easily rob a mortal bank or just convince them to give us whatever we want.

No, the club might give us money, but beyond that, it gives information—demon, angel, mortal—it doesn't matter; everyone talks, and this is the perfect setting for that. Not to mention, it also gives him a stage, so to say.

Everyone who's anyone knows who Asta is, and they fear him. As they should.

I stand just inside the club with my back to the wall. I didn't bother dropping my magic; I don't intend to be here long enough to bring out my wings. It would only be a disappointment.

She's so easy to spot; even in the sea of immortal beings, it's as if I can sense her.

On the other side of the bar, Aeri and Lea laugh about something as she mixes a drink, setting it down on a tray for a guy to take back to the floor.

He's shirtless, with small horns and a tail but no wings. I can't see much of him from here with his back to me, but I don't need to. Reaching for his tray that's now full of drinks from the girls, he grabs Aeri's hand, and I watch her face for her reaction.

Before she can think better of it or try and hide it, her face screws up in disgust. One second, it's there, and the next, it's gone as she schools her features into a fake smile and pulls her hand away.

Lea quickly shoos him off to deliver his drinks, and I know she saw her discomfort, too. I can see the spark of heat in her eyes that tells us just how pissed she is. Lea might be a pain in my ass, but she's damn powerful; the fact that the dumb ass even tried to make a move on Aeri in front of Lea is impressive. Stupid yes, but he's got balls.

Unfortunately for him, I don't reward people for their ability to be ballsy.

I watch him as he makes his rounds until his tray is empty. He attempts to go back to Aeri and Lea, but Lea stops him in his tracks with just a look.

It takes another five minutes before his tray is full again after going to another bartender, before he gets close enough for me to grab him. I'd had to wander deeper into the club than I wanted to, but it's worth it.

The two drinks he still has on his tray crash to the ground, but I couldn't care less. For a second, he thrashes around as if he can escape as he grumbles and complains, telling me to watch what I'm doing.

His words die when I slam him against the wall, and he sees exactly who he's talking to.

"Kai…" he squeaks out my name, sounding pathetic, and I scoff at him. He thought he could hit on Aeri. She would have chewed him up and spit him out.

A few people around us look on, clearly interested, but I ignore them, leaning in close so that he can hear me over the music.

"I'll tell you once, next time, I won't be so nice, so remember this." I pause, giving him a second to really digest my words. "Don't touch Aeri again. Don't look at her, don't think about her, she's not yours. Do you understand?"

He damn near slams his head against the wall in his haste to nod. I release him, shoving him away from me in disgust but unable to stop myself, smiling at the sight of him tripping over his feet to get away.

She's safe, at the club with Lea. I did what I was told. Hell, I did more if you ask me. Now I can leave, and if something happens well, that's not on me.

Making my way back to the door, I can't help but hear the whispers around me.

‘ I've never seen him before.'

‘So handsome.'

I know they aren't talking about me. I might not love being down here with everyone, but I'm here often enough with Asta that most know who I am.

Not that they want to.

One quick glance is all it takes for me to know exactly who they're talking about.

Ruin sits at the bar with Lea and Aeri, both of them damn near drooling at the sight of him, just like most of the damn club.

Yeah, that's my cue to leave; the last thing I need is for him to spot me. Besides, Aeri is definitely safe with him. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, even if he wasn't allowed to intervene.

I'm almost disappointed when the car is still there. Somehow scaring the hell out of the shirtless waiter didn't take the edge off the way I'd hoped.

I'd planned to stay out after seeing she got to work safely. Hoped that some time away from her and her scent would clear my mind a bit, but now I don't feel like that's a great idea.

Asta would have my ass if I lost my temper in public; the last thing we need is more attention.

The house is quiet when I get back. I can sense Bast is somewhere, but he's not so worried about coming out when it's me here instead of his little mortal mate.

Her scent hangs everywhere, from the living room to my own room. Hell, some days she smells like me! I'm not sure what her rhyme or reason is, but she's been switching between our soaps in the shower for weeks now. Bast and Talian love it, and I've been half tempted to buy her her own shampoo, but I'm pretty sure mortal's sense of smell isn't that good, so it's not something I should be noticing.

Plus, all the girl shampoos seem to be floral or fruity, which will probably only make her scent harder to ignore.

A moment before I reach my door, I pause, looking at her door.

With the exception of the night she came home drunk, I haven't been in her room since she took it over. Why would I? The idea was to avoid her; being in her space seemed counter-productive.

Before I can think too much about it, I'm standing in the middle of her room, wondering what the fuck possessed me to do this. Her smell hits me hard; it's as if she's here in the flesh.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for; I'd told myself maybe I could find out why Rome might want her, but it doesn't take me more than a minute of spinning around in the center of the room to realize she doesn't really have much. I can see clothes in her closet, but it's mostly empty. She has a few books and things like hair ties and a brush on her dresser. A pair of shoes and a charger are near the bed.

Most everything else is what was already here.

So much for helping me figure anything out.

I head back out or start to.

Right before I make it to the hall, I get a hint of a scent I know but haven't smelt in a long time.

Rome.

I have to walk around her room three times before I'm able to find the source; a crumpled-up piece of lined paper that looks like it was lost under her bed, though I'm not sure if it was done on purpose or not.

‘I've missed you.'

I turn the paper over in my hand a few times, expecting to find more than just those three words, but there's nothing. Pushing up, I leave her room. Taking the paper with me, I crumble it as I go from her room to my own, already plotting how to best kill him because Rome won't be getting off easy.

No, he deserves so much more than simply being food to my snakes.