Chapter 6

6

ROMAN

D on't think about anything.

Don't make wishes.

My foot tapped on the elevator floor, my hands clasped tightly together. Sweat dripped off the tip of my nose, every inch of me flushed with heat. I needed more distraction, the hum of the elevator was monotonous and irritating. But I didn't want to talk right now. My limbs ached for action, for some sort of physical activity to keep my brain empty.

With one wish…

Fuck off!

At least my headache started to ease off, as if someone turned down the pain dial.

Good riddance to it.

When the elevator door opened, I hoped for some action but was met with a cool breeze instead.

Shit. I ran my hand through my damp hair, following Xavier out, Darcy still on his back.

"You okay?" I asked my bestie.

"All quiet on the…" He didn't finish.

"Western front?" I suggested.

"A silly thing to say," he answered. "Ignore me."

"Never, bestie."

We walked across a gloomy, rectangular field. A cracked gray wall encircled the field, vines bursting through the stone, strangling the top edges. A series of lanterns cast their soft lights across dead grass, jagged shards of rock poking out of the ground in a frozen hello. There was a park in the middle of the grass, complete with swings, a slide, and a roundabout, all of them smothered in moss and various weeds.

The swings squeaked in the chilly breeze, the roundabout slowly turning.

No, not creepy at all.

Goosebumps rolled across my skin. This place gave off way too many bad vibes. I felt like we were being watched. That some fucked up demons were about to scale those walls and play with our insides.

But there was too much silence for that. And let them come. Getting into a fight was a good thing.

Right?

"Fascinating," Butterfly said, his voice making me jump. "This looks like Level 1 yet with many differences." He bent to touch the grass.

"Welcome to Level 88," Xavier responded. He went to a wooden door set in a dead tree. Opened it, vanished for a few seconds, then returned.

Was he making it seem like we ran that way? Smart move if he was. But if we weren't going into the tree, where were we going?

Xavier directed us to the park, stepping over the low fence.

The blue stars of the demon realm were dim in the dark sky above, a crescent moon flickering like a dying lightbulb. Butterfly's dust continued to fall, twinkling on the dead grass.

"Xavier?" I said.

He put Darcy down, crouching beside the slide. "Yes?"

"Where are we going?" I picked at my fingernails, the ball of unease still heavy in my guts.

"Just follow me." He glanced left and right before reaching under the slide.

Darcy looked at me, shrugging.

"Still counting, Shadow," Margarite said beside me.

Why did Butterfly respond with a gentle chuckle? Prick.

Xavier plunged a hand into the dead earth, rummaging around for a few seconds before a click sounded. The ground beneath the slide opened up, revealing a set of stone stairs leading into darkness.

Xavier clapped dirt off his hands. "Follow me. Roman? Come up front with me. The light down here is usually powered by magic. Your sparkling will help light the way. Margarite, too."

"I must stay out of any helping," she responded.

"Fine."

I did as he asked, shivering as I brushed against his body.

Think nothing. Think nothing. Think nothing.

I crouched, shuffling onto the stairs, dead grass crunching beneath me. My sparkles cast enough light to illuminate the dark, cramped space. Walls of packed earth surrounded me, dead roots sticking out of it. The air was warmer in here, on the stifling side of comfortable. I moved down the stairs a bit to allow the others inside, each step cautious.

Once everyone was in place, Xavier did something to the edge of the opening and the ground closed up, killing the last traces of the weak moonlight.

"After you," he said, hidden in shadow.

I obeyed, leading the way down the straight staircase until we reached a long corridor.

Xavier joined me in point. "There are four gates at the end."

"What is this place?" I kept up with him, the corridor wide enough for three people.

"I used to come here as a child with my best friend," he answered, his heat licking at my face.

Hold me. Please just hold me.

"Our secret place," Xavier continued. "We never did find out who it belonged to. No demon ever came to reclaim it."

We reached the first gate. Xavier fiddled with some buttons in a recess near the lock. The gate opened half a minute later. We filtered into the space between the first and second gate, Butterfly pulling the first one closed behind us.

"Finding it was an accident." Xavier carried on with his story, working through the next gates. "We used to come to Level 88 all the time to get away from our families."

His parents had been a particularly nasty pair of demons who ate humans. They were killed by the lost magic of Arcana way back in the day.

"This is an irrelevant level to every other demon, but a haven for us. One day, Rae, my friend, decided to start digging for treasure. She was convinced we would find beautiful jewels under all the dead ugliness. Instead, she found the entrance into this place." He opened the final gate. "Magically, it attuned to us, our essences seeping into every part of it. It only opens for either Rae or me, which I've never been able to explain. I wasn't sure if it would open without magic, but here we are." He glanced at me.

"Thank God it did open," I said.

I watched him nod under my glittery light.

He took us down a curved corridor.

"What happened to Rae?" I asked.

"Killed by a witch," he answered.

"I'm… I'm sorry."

He didn't answer. Arcana had been a serious risk to life for demons. Then it vanished, leaving them immortal. Now they faced death square in the face once again.

I'd do everything to keep Xavier from meeting his friend or his parents again. He had to live so I could live. I needed him, and I didn't care how selfish that sounded. We'd only just found each other. Losing him to this chaos was unthinkable, so it was not happening on my watch.

No fucking way. I slathered more determination on myself like a salve, ready to take on the world.

That's better!

Be much better if you make a wish…

"Rae loved to sing," Xavier said, taking me surprise.

"She did?"

"Yes. Badly."

I laughed, feeling a little guilty after. "Sorry."

"So were my ears for putting up with it."

I laughed again, his words a sugar rush. I loved his cheeky side, his smile, his strength. I loved… I loved…

"Here at last," Xavier said, snapping me out of a sweet drift into a potential…

…confession.

He opened a heavy wooden door, my light showing off its knots and scratches. Dusty air wafted in my face and I coughed, clearing my throat.

"Sorry, it's been a while since I cleaned," Xavier said.

"It smells like cheese," Darcy chimed in. "And not in the good way."

"That's always been a problem."

Unable to help myself, I let out a sharp laugh. "Do you make brie down here?"

Xavier offered me a smile, which set my pulse on fire.

Man, what was wrong with me?

"I wish that was the explanation," he answered. "But it's just another mystery to this place."

Can we hold hands? I eyed his long fingers, longing for his soft skin to meet mine again.

"Come in. I'll get us some extra light."

Xavier didn't hang around, lighting about ten candles around a large room. The walls were made of the same mud and roots, a jagged light fixture hanging from a reinforced ceiling. Probably a magical light, seeing as it never came on.

With each lit candle, more of the space was revealed. I saw four three-seater sofas of different colored leather, five bookcases, two big chests fit for a pirate, an arched doorway, and a big coffee table at the center of the room, everything covered in dust.

I was ready to roll up my sleeves and find the nearest vacuum and feather duster.

"This is the main room," Xavier said. "Through that door is a bathroom and a bedroom. Feel free to use them. And when I say bathroom, I mean a natural spring with towels."

"Will they choke us to death with their dustiness?" Darcy asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Your cage wasn't much better than this," I countered.

"Hilarious, Roman. Remind me when to laugh."

Xavier lit a few more candles. "You can drink from the spring, too. There's no food here, despite the cheese stink. We'll figure that out soon. Rest up. I've bought us some time."

"I will begin my examination of Roman shortly," Butterfly said. "Allow me to ponder some things first."

"Like what?" I questioned.

"Everything, Roman. There is so much about you to ponder."

And there's so many spots on your body to stab. "Okay."

Xavier nodded, folding his arms. "Just don't take too long."

Butterfly took a seat on the black sofa, crossing his legs. He smiled up at Darcy, whose cheeks flushed crimson.

"How are you feeling?" Butterfly asked him.

"Fine."

"Good to hear. You are a curiosity, aren't you? A rat become human."

"I was a human first, thanks."

"Yes, yes."

"A handsome one at that."

Darcy huffed. "Enough of that ."

"I am merely stating facts." Butterfly's hair gleamed as if he'd stepped out of a shampoo advert. "My apologies for any embarrassment."

My bestie moved to stand behind me, muttering, "What's his problem?"

"He's a wanker," I whispered back.

The fluttery demon didn't seem to notice, titling his head back to examine the candlelight dancing on the ceiling.

"Shall we get some water?" I asked Darcy.

"Sure."

"Take these." Xavier handed each of us a battered copper tankard.

"Thank you." My fingers brushed his, exquisite electricity sparking across my flesh. I held his stare, ready to melt into him, every urge to crush my lips to his blooming to life.

A wayward strand of platinum blond hair fell across his eyes. He pushed it back into his swept-back tresses, the action enough to make my knees weaken. I wobbled, leaning on Darcy for purchase.

"Are you okay?" Xavier stepped forward.

I held up a hand. "I'm good. Water will help."

Darcy steadied me, patting me on the back. "Have a seat if you want. I can get us some water."

"I'm fine. Really."

He nodded, giving my spine one more pat.

"End of the hall," Xavier said.

Stealing another glimpse of him, because why the fuck not, I left the room with my bestie, passing a closed wooden door and more earthy walls on our way.

"I feel like a mole," Darcy complained as we entered the bathroom at the end of the hall.

"Wait outside," I told Margarite, who'd followed us.

"Of course, My Shadow."

I shuddered at the way she said my nickname. Too light, too easy-breezy. Nothing like my ex-boss.

Another muddy room greeted me, a pile of rocks in the corner. Water bubbled from the top, trickling down into a pool. A tiny stream flowed through the room, vanishing into the eastern wall.

And what heavenly water it was. Darcy and I filled our tankards first, gulping down the liquid bliss. Once we were happily watered, we crouched by the edge of the pool and splashed our faces, wet our hair, cooled off, all that good shit. An actual bath would've been amazing, but I took what I was given with buckets of gratitude.

"I hate the way Butterfly looks at me," Darcy said.

"Want me to threaten him?" I sprinkled some water down the back of my top.

"No. I can do that myself. I just don't want to cause too much drama until we get what we need from him."

"I'm not having you feel uncomfortable all the time, though."

He stood up, stretching his limbs. "Don't worry about me too much."

"But I do. All the time."

He smiled. "Ditto."

"How does it feel being human again?" I asked, splashing my face some more.

I never wanted to leave this pool.

"Amazing. Intend to enjoy it as long as I can."

Shit. "Maybe we can figure out how?—"

"No, Roman," he cut me off. "I've resigned myself to my fate. I've enjoyed a good life with you. I'm happy to be a rat again if it means this madness ends." His brown eyes glistened.

"Darcy…"

He sniffled. "I did this to myself. I played with magic too hard." He shook his head. "I won't pretend it doesn't hurt, though."

I gave him the biggest hug. "I'm here for you, little buddy."

Big or small, he'd always be my little buddy.

"Thanks," he whispered, planting a kiss on my cheek. "It's good to hug person to person."

"It really is."

We stayed like that for a while, being besties, losing ourselves in our special friendship bubble like we used to. But encroaching heartache tempered things. Because why wouldn't it? What had this world done to make me think any sliver of happiness could last long before another round of pain kicked off?

Man, negativity sucked. Better to wade through the swamp and get to the sunny shore. Yeah. That was the key, not rotten pessimism.

Right?