Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

DECLAN

I'd honestly been expecting a fight when that demon showed up. Would I win? Probably not. But ever since those witches showed up and tried to jump me, I spent my free time learning to protect myself. I'd have put up a fight, at the very least. But the older demon took one look at Ollie and turned his wrath onto the demon boy, shouting at him for picking on someone so much smaller than him. It was a little hypocritical, honestly, since he'd been planning to fight me. I mean, I wasn't Ollie small, but I wasn't as tall as the demon and nowhere near as wide. But I wasn't about to complain, since he took the demon boy and left without anything happening to either of us.

When my parents picked Ollie up and saw the bruise, I thought they'd be upset. They seemed more resigned than anything else, and when I asked him if this had happened before, they refused to answer me. It was Ollie who told me the truth. This was the first time he fought with the demon boy, Dante, but he'd been standing up for his friends since I taught him how to fight. This wasn't the first time he got in the middle of something he wasn't part of, and from the look on his face, it wouldn't be the last .

I spent the weekend trying to figure out where I went wrong. I thought, by teaching Ollie some self defense, he'd only have to stand up for himself once and people would leave him alone. That was my hope, anyway. I drilled it into him that fighting was only for self defense. Which meant someone else was teaching him to stick his nose where it didn't belong. The only question was who?

When the demon showed back up on Sunday, I wasn't expecting it. He stood outside my shop with Dante, frowning down at him, and nudged him when he didn't move to come inside. Dante looked decidedly uncomfortable as he pushed the door open and stuck his head in. The older demon didn't follow him, but he watched through the window as Dante edged closer with a grimace.

"Can I help you?"

He shuffled his feet, his eyes on the floor as he held out an old-fashioned vial with swirling blue liquid inside. "I got this for Oliver. It'll make the bruises go away. And… I'm supposed to say sorry."

Stunned, my eyebrows flew up and my gaze jerked to the demon in the window. He was watching with a blank expression, his arms crossed over his chest. The last thing I ever expected was for either of them to try and make amends for what happened. I was wary, our last interaction wasn't pleasant, but I didn't want to throw the kid's apology in his face. I moved around the front counter, kneeling in front of Dante. He glanced up and dropped his gaze again, wiggling the potion until I took it.

"Thank you," I murmured, tipping my head to study him. "Ollie's not here right now. He only visits my shop after school on weekdays, but I'll be sure to give this to him. Are you okay? I saw before that he hurt you, too."

His nose wrinkled and I could tell he wanted to spout off something about him being tough, but he must've felt the older demon's gaze burning in the back of his head, because he lifted his shoulders as he gritted out a reply.

"I'm fine. I, uh…" He looked around uncertainly, not sure what to do now that my brother wasn't around to apologize to. "I thought he'd be here," he muttered under his breath.

"He comes here after school because our parents work late. If you're not comfortable apologizing at school with an audience, you can come here after class? He's always here until about six. "

He frowned, glancing over his shoulder at the older demon again before swinging back to me. "I'll have to ask my cousin."

Nodding, I waited as he darted out the door. I didn't think the older demon was his dad, they looked nothing alike, but I didn't want to assume. Cousins made sense, though. The older demon didn't look old enough to have a kid Dante's age.

The older demon said something, and Dante bobbed his head before hustling back inside to talk to me.

"He said that should be okay. I can walk here after school. I usually wait for him at the park, but–"

"Would you prefer to meet us there? I don't have any appointments that early tomorrow. I can bring Ollie to meet you." Honestly, public might be better. I didn't trust Ollie not to say something brash, and I didn't want Dante messing up my shop if he got pissed.

Dante looked uncertain, and that's when the older demon came to join us. He stayed by the door like he didn't want to intimidate me. It was oddly thoughtful and confusing. The man was a conundrum.

"What is it?"

Dante spun around and jerked his thumb at me. "He said we can meet at the park. Which one is better?"

The older demon tipped his head, considering it. "The park. I have an errand tomorrow. I'm not sure when I'll be done. You can hang out there until I come get you."

His voice was low and deep and sent a shiver up my spine just listening to it. Now that he wasn't pissed off and glaring, I could study his features better. He had long black hair, some of it framing his face while the rest was tucked behind his ears. His horns were curved back slightly before pointing upwards and looked sharp enough to cause some serious damage. His skin was deep red, but there was a white scar on his chin that looked older. Strong jaw, eyelashes most women would kill for, and green eyes. Not any color I'd ever seen on a human either. They were almost neon green. Honestly, if he wasn't such an asshole, I might have been willing to admit he was gorgeous. I brushed the thought away, glancing at Dante.

"The park works for us. It will be good to get some of Ollie's energy out before my clients get here, anyway. Meet at the basketball courts? "

He still looked wary, but hey, the feeling was mutual. He dipped his chin to acknowledge me and scrambled to follow his cousin outside. I moved without thinking, calling out to him as they walked away.

"Hey!"

They both paused and looked over their shoulders at me. The older demon murmured something to Dante and faced me, his long legs eating up the distance until he was right in front of me.

"What?"

"Thank you. For this." I lifted the potion in reference. "And for not kicking my ass on Friday. I get being pissed that your cousin was hurt, but–"

"It's my job to protect him. I wasn't going to fight a little kid. I just wanted to scare him into leaving Dante alone. He's had enough struggles fitting into a human school without other kids messing with him."

There was a hint of accusation there. Dante wasn't fully to blame here. Ollie had a part in it, and I'd talk to him about that when I went to see him after Ben showed up to watch the shop. And it was nice to know he wasn't some asshole who attacked little kids. Scaring the shit out of them wasn't much better, but at least Ollie wouldn't have ended up dead or in the hospital.

"I'll talk to Ollie about minding his own business. I didn't know he was doing shit like that. My parents conveniently didn't mention it. He's not a bully or anything. He's loyal to a fault and nosy. He was just sticking up for his friend."

The demon didn't reply, though I saw the muscles flex in his jaw. He wanted to, but he kept whatever he wanted to say to himself. And I wasn't about to piss him off more by pushing.

"Well, I gotta get back. I've got clients soon. Thanks again."

He nodded once and spun around, his hand resting on Dante's shoulder before they disappeared. I heard demons could teleport, but it was still a little shocking to see it in person, both times. They were just gone. No pop, no shimmer of magic, nothing. Just poof.

Shaking my head, I jogged back into the shop right as Ben came in through the back door. He tipped his head at me, looking between me and the front door.

"Did you just get here? "

"Nah, I was just talking to someone. I need you to watch the shop for me. I'm gonna go see Ollie for a minute. I won't be long."

He waved me off, dropping his stuff off behind the front desk. I already set up for our first clients and was going over email requests for appointments when the demons showed up, so there wasn't a lot for him to do but wait for the clients to show up. I grabbed my helmet, taking my bike to my parents' place since I wanted to get back quickly. I didn't get off the bike, I wasn't welcome in that house anyway, but Ollie heard the engine and came racing out, beaming at me.

"Dec! I–"

The front door opened, and Dad stuck his head out, frowning at us. "He can't play. We got stuff to do."

I waved him off, pulling the potion out of my pocket and handing it to Ollie. "This is supposed to help with the bruises. And we're going to the park after school tomorrow. You and Dante are going to apologize to each other."

Ollie's face screwed up, and he whined at me. "But why? He hit me first!"

"You antagonized him. And got involved in a conversation that had nothing to do with you. Mom and Dad might be comfortable letting you be a bully, but I'm not. You'll apologize and keep your nose out of other people's business. It's not your job to play protector. That's what teachers are for. Are we clear?"

He looked put out, but he didn't argue, tossing back the potion without a word. He smacked his lips, his eyes lighting up like it was delicious or something. It occurred to me that maybe I shouldn't have trusted a potion from the kid who knocked around my little brother, but it did what Dante said it would. The bruises faded and disappeared completely within minutes, and when Ollie poked at it, he didn't flinch.

"Hey, that's cool!"

"You can thank Dante for that on Monday. Now, go on. I've got a client coming. I'll see you on Monday."

He groaned but did as I said, handing me back the vial and trudging inside. Dad looked at his face, frowning, and looked at me, but he didn't come over for an explanation. That would require him to be closer than six feet to hear me over the engine. And I wasn't nice enough to shut off the engine to give him the opportunity. I tucked the vial back in my pocket and mock saluted before heading back to my shop. I'd always be a pariah to them. The only family member who cared about me was Ollie, and I was determined to get him back on track.