Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

AZIEL

I never openly flirted with someone before, and I may have overreacted to the teasing. I wanted to kick myself for it, but Declan's overjoyed laugh settled me a little. And when he said he wanted to keep me around, a tendril of hope took root in my chest. I masked it, silently admonishing myself. I couldn't get attached. I had no doubt this would go wrong eventually. Athena said I would suffer in both paths. I didn't mind so much if it was just me, but if anything even threatened Declan, I'd walk away without regrets. I couldn't make that harder on myself by getting attached.

Exhaustion from all the sex and staying up all night pulled at me, and I sank into the couch little by little. I needed to be listening to get any information I could while I was here. But I drifted off before I could catch anything useful, Declan's smooth voice over the sound of the tattoo guns lulling me into a sense of ease.

I wasn't sure how long I was out. Not long enough, given that I was still tired when I tuned back into the surrounding conversations.

"Don't wake him. If he's that tired that he'll sleep in public, he's gotta be beat. Az doesn't ever relax enough in public to actually sleep," Felix reported, his voice low, like he was trying not to wake me. He sounded serious for once, which I appreciated, but he had a point. It was stupid of me to fall asleep in public. If one of my cousins showed up, I wouldn't be able to react fast enough to protect Declan.

"He'll sleep better upstairs," Declan argued. He was closer than Felix and I felt his hand on my shoulder, nudging me gently. "Hey. Go upstairs and rest."

Blinking my eyes open, I looked around slowly. I really was wiped out. I never slept well in the first place, but since Dante showed up, that got worse. I was on alert all the time, thinking my family would show up and hurt him. I couldn't relax. But I didn't want to leave Declan unprotected. I frowned, willing myself to wake the hell up, when Felix tipped his head at me.

"Go, man. We'll be here a while. Tyler wants to pick Declan's brain for some ideas." I heard the message underneath. He wouldn't leave until I came back. He knew what I was afraid of.

Declan didn't, so he was more demanding about it. "Go get some rest. Tell the boys to head to the park for a while so they don't bug you. They shouldn't be in front of a screen all day anyway."

My instincts told me it wasn't a good idea to walk away, but I trusted Felix to watch over Declan. He was an idiot, but he was a good friend. He wouldn't dismiss my concerns for nothing.

"Alright," I gave in. "Only for a little while." I was still uncomfortable with the idea, but Declan wasn't taking no for an answer and he followed behind me until I collapsed face first into his bed.

"I'll come back up in an hour to check on you. Get some sleep. You'll need it."

I huffed out a laugh at the tease, but didn't respond. I couldn't. The bedding smelled like him and that, combined with the soft surface beneath me, pulled me under with no effort. I didn't even hear it when Declan walked away.

When I woke up a little while later, I could at least function. I didn't move right away, enjoying five seconds of peace without a kid to take care of or my uncle demanding something from me. It actually surprised me that I hadn't heard much from him since the last family meeting. Usually, he had sixteen hundred things for me to do for him during the week. It should've been a relief, but my instincts said I had something to be worried about. I sat up slowly, pulling my phone out of my pocket to check my messages.

Nothing from my uncle. I missed a call from Athena, but she left a message saying the witches who would ward Declan's place would be coming at dinner time and for me to enjoy my nap. Of course, she knew why I didn't answer. I rolled my eyes, forcing myself out of Declan's bed. Until the wards were up, I didn't like being away from Declan for long.

The boys were downstairs when I came down, sitting on the couch sipping on giant slushies. When I shot Dante a questioning look, he pointed a finger at Felix.

"He gave us the money for them. It was just down the street."

Felix had his own slushie, spinning lazily on the stool behind the front desk. He lifted his chin in greeting.

"They didn't go alone. Mal popped in and went with them. He's not looking for a tattoo, but his new mate is curious. Kinda worried about it. He's so little, you'd think the needle would go straight through him."

Declan's sigh was exasperated as he came in through the back door. "I told you, the needle isn't that big. He's got nothing to worry about as long as he can handle the pain. Honestly, I'm more worried about you than him. Frat guys don't tend to handle pain as well as they think."

Felix looked mock offended, his hand on his chest, but I ignored him, giving my attention to Declan. He had a box in his hands, and when he noticed me watching him, he shrugged.

"The mail guy handed it to me when I brought him the mail I needed sent off. I don't remember ordering anything, but Ben went home early with a family emergency and I couldn't ask him."

Something about that seemed off, and when Declan pulled out a pocket knife to open the thing, I caught his wrist to stop him.

"Don't."

He looked confused, but Felix rose slowly, staring at the box. "Why did it move?"

I hadn't seen that, too busy looking at Declan, but when I glanced at it sitting on the counter, the whole thing wiggled. Sucking in a sharp breath, I shoved Declan behind me. The box was between us and the boys and I reacted without thinking, teleporting us both and shoving Declan towards the door.

"Out! All of you! Now!"

Dante didn't wait, dropping his slushie and grabbing Ollie's wrist, yanking him towards the door. Declan was confused, but Felix didn't give him a choice, shoving him outside. That left me alone with the box, and I set my magic free, fire licking at my skin as I approached. Whatever was in the box must've felt the heat because it started writhing and wriggling faster until the box slipped off the counter and landed on the floor. The tape on top wasn't on well enough to keep it inside, and the creature darted out the second it could get free, snarling and tossing things about.

Lesser demon. Not smart enough to speak or think on its own. It was more a nuisance than anything. Unless you were human, in which case, it could do some damage with its claws and teeth. I caught the thing as it tried to dart past me, snarling at it to get it to stop. Giant eyes peered up at me, tiny claws digging into my hand like it was trying to cause damage. It wasn't strong enough for that, and it looked terrified when it realized it had been caught.

"What is that thing?"

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the group hovering just inside the door. Felix protected their backs, one move away from scooping them all up and teleporting away if he needed to. I appreciated it, and when I waved them inside and he came closer, I clapped his shoulder in thanks.

He made a face at the creature, his nose wrinkled. "Who the hell is sending lesser demons here? They don't belong in this realm. How did it even cross over?"

"It didn't. It had to be brought over. It's not strong enough to do it on its own," I growled in reply. This was sent on purpose, and there was only one person I could think that would target Declan. Maybe I was wrong about the soldier being the only one who saw me with Declan.

"It looks like a squirrel," Dante pointed out.

"Yeah, like a flying squirrel, but bigger. Can we play with it?" Ollie asked.

Declan's eyes bugged out, and he immediately protested. "No, you can't play with it! We don't even know what it is or who sent it! "

The boys looked disappointed, but I shot a knowing look at Felix. I had a clue who sent it, and it wasn't something I wanted to admit out loud to Declan. I'd have to, though. With the witches coming to ward the place and lesser demons being sent in packages, Declan needed to be more aware and more vigilant. I had to tell him the truth.

With a heavy sigh, I handed the lesser demon off to Felix. "Take this back to the other side, will you?"

Felix saw the resignation in my face and dipped his chin, accepting the demon and teleporting away without a word. Scrubbing my hand over my face, I mumbled out, "Dante, take Ollie upstairs. Declan and I need to talk."

He didn't argue either, nudging Ollie towards the back and up the stairs. I heard Ollie whispering, asking what was going on, but Dante knew better than to bring him into this. He'd keep the truth to himself.

"Aziel, what's going on?"