11. Explanations

There was the brunette, sitting at that moment with a handcuffed demon and a gag in his mouth in case he woke up, not sure what to say to her friend.

She stood ready armed with everything occult she had at hand, looking suspiciously at the unconscious demon.

And he was simply breathing easy, not seeming to do anything, she just snorted and soon the journalist looked at the girl.

“Well, start explaining yourself to me, Caeli. I swear to your father that I won't leave you alone with that demon.”

“I-It's okay Akane, he, well he's Thomirchotch. Or rather, Tom,” the female said with a nervous smile and turned the man around so the redheaded girl could stare at him in surprise.

“That's... that's Tom d'Olivo!?” She said pointing at the black-haired boy, who at that moment grunted with a noticeable headache and tried to sit up, but another blow from the shorter one with the tray she had brought to the brunette's room made him fall unconscious on the bed again.

“Akane!” Caeli said in surprise and the journalist only sighed as the brunette snorted and settled the demon. “He's usually very quiet and... Yes, that's the Tom I introduced you the other day,” the sky-blue-eyed one nodded a little self-consciously instead to look at the demon. “He showed up unexpectedly disguised as him and... well, the rest, it's just too long to tell”.

“I have all the time in the world, my friend”.

The brunette then sighed and gestured for her friend to sit in the desk chair, trying to explain what had happened. In that instant, if the demon had been conscious, he would have hated to stand to the side, but in that state, she was simply calm.

The fact that he had been knocked out by a human was going to make him the laughingstock. If his friends ever found out, and in his subconscious, he prayed they would not.

The redhead looked at the man in her friend's bed suspiciously, and then only shook her head. She had to focus.

“Okay, I'm going to ask the questions and you're going to answer me, understood?” After the girl's nod, the shorter, dark-eyed girl sighed. “Well, how long have you known this... guy? Tom you called him, didn't you?”

The brunette bit her lower lip, but soon sighed, she knew that sooner or later she would have to tell her friend what had happened in those months. Although she hadn't expected it to happen in such a strange way.

“Exactly since a couple of months ago.” She looked sideways at the demon and sighed and stroked his hair soothingly. “How I summoned him was your fault. It was when you gave me that stupid paper to summon demons. Now I have a mark with the contract we made, a ring I can't take off. And he wants me to tell him my wish so he can take my soul. Or he's trying to.”

“Wait, you did the summoning? But you don't believe in demons! And you have a mark? Where?!” She asked, totally surprised, not believing what her friend was saying, “Did what I gave you really work? Why does it work for you and not for me? This is unfair!”

“Akane, that's not the point, focus!” Said the girl sighing at what her friend had said and leaving the man's hair, she got up to start pacing up and down her room. “I did the summoning believing that absolutely nothing was going to happen, because demons don't exist, or so I thought until I saw that cat appear in its hybrid form in front of me. And no, I didn't believe in demons, but since Orfeo left me I had nothing to lose after all”.

She sighed and then grabbed the edge of her shirt to lift it up and the edge of her trousers to start pulling them down so that the redhead gasped in surprise at the sight of the demon mark on her waistband. She really had made a pact with him.

“Yes, I made a pact. Yes, it worked. Yes, I have the mark and the ring that I can't take off even if I want to. And yes, it's your fault that now I can't get rid of that cat,” said the girl pointing at the man who was now snoring on the bed, making her snort slightly and the journalist stood with an incredulous face looking at the female.

“My fault? Why is that?!" Said the girl completely indignant.

“Because if you hadn't given me that list and that spell to summon demons, I wouldn't have that problem,” she pointed at the demon, “Where did you get it from to make it work?”

“I don't know! When I went back to the shop there was nothing left, literally the building was gone, I came to believe I had imagined it,” she snorted and sharpened her gaze. «How is that possible? Something must be involved, but what?» “I don't know Caeli, but whoever gave it to me assured me it would work, and it really did,” the woman nodded and looking at the man she smiled. “Now I see who gives you hickeys, why you don't take off that ring at all and why you were so nervous when Tom... Thomirchotch stayed with us disguised as a human, damn! What a complicated name!”

“Yes... that's another matter,” she said, playing it down. “The problem is that he has to supply himself with me, through my body,” she said and seeing the Japanese girl's look she sharpened her gaze. “Don't be an idiot Akane!”

There the woman laughed and shook her head and went to hug the brunette, and there they both jumped in place at the sound of a guttural growl. They both slowly turned to look at the man, who was staring murderously at the russet-haired female. They watched him straighten up, saw him tilt his head, and when he put on a sharp grin he lunged at the two females, and they shrieked to run away, fleeing from the man.

“Come here midget! Now you'll see what happens when you hit a demon!” he roared in annoyance, removing the gag, and before anything could happen that they would regret, the artist had to get between her friend and the black-haired boy, who had a murderous look on his face.

After a long struggle with the two, she managed to separate them, and explain the situation to them so that they would be quiet. She gave them both a little lecture, and there, grim-faced, they simply shook hands to formally introduce themselves.

For a few moments, the brunette could breathe easier to see that at least they already knew each other, although the fact that they were getting along was what worried her the most.

After that brief introduction, both the journalist and the demon had begun to have more to talk about - the artist's nightmare was becoming a reality - and it seemed that after an hour, the two had come to like each other.

“I'm still surprised that Chiara hasn't found you or asked questions about the marks you leave on Eli, so… respect,” the shorter one smiled and soon, hers and the demon’s fists collided. “And we'll have to figure out how to solve your little problem, won't we?” She said with a soft smile, and the artist nodded a little nervously.

“I'll figure it out, don't worry about that”.

“Ah... all right, if you say so,” she said with a soft smile and looked over the girl's shoulder at the jet-haired man who was floating around the room, “And you, you better not hurt my friend, or I'll come back with objects that make you suffer, understood?” At that the man just rolled his eyes and nodded and the Japanese girl kept looking at him. “I still don't know how your mother hasn't figured him out by now”.

“Tell me about it,” she said with a nervous smile and then shook his head. “Better that, anyway, than her finding out that a demon is trying to devour my soul”.

“Good point my dear friend,” said the redhead as she nodded, and they both fell silent for a moment and then began to laugh like the idiots they considered themselves to be. The man stared at the two of them in fucking amazement at what the two humans were doing and then simply shook his head. It was best not to think about it too much. The Japanese woman then looked at her phone and smiled with a soft sigh. “Well, I must go, Curt is probably waiting for me. I was just coming for an impromptu visit for a while and I've overstayed my welcome,” she laughed to see the many messages that her partner had sent her, and she soon said goodbye to her friend with a tight hug and looked in the direction of the demon, sharpening her gaze. “And you be careful, don't even think of devouring her soul or I'll come and rip it out of your fangs. And don't be a fool and don't make any wishes.”

The brunette nodded softly and after a little help from the demon, the journalist left without further ado, causing the artist to sigh and sit down in the chair in front of her desk with her eyes closed in real exhaustion.

Although she was now relieved that her friend knew, at the same time it worried her. Even more so because of what she had told her.

«Who sold her the items to do the evocation?» She asked herself as she stroked her temples to relax. But when she felt a gaze pierce the back of her neck, she wearily opened her eyes and saw those beautiful green eyes staring at her, barely a few feet away, causing her body to shudder shallowly. “Why is it that you look at me so closely like that?”

“Actually, I always do. But you don't realise,” said the demon calmly, making the younger girl blush slightly and then he began to surround her with a serious expression. “I have a serious question, do you want to get rid of me so badly?” He asked, stopping right in front of her, making her body tense slightly. She had not expected such a question from him.

Silence filled the room at that moment. For a few seconds they both felt a chilling coldness that made them look away from each other. She shrank slightly in her place, pulling her legs up on the chair and drawing her knees to her chest as she hugged herself. Honestly, she had thought a lot about getting rid of him. Or so it had been at first, when they couldn't stand each other, but... as time went on, she could feel the lack of the demon's presence. Especially that last week, even when she was busy, she could feel that she wasn't complete. But if she said what she had in mind it would sound stupid, and he would mock her.

“Answer me,” he said still without looking at her, and she shuddered in her place only to stay silent. Seeing she had no intention of answering, and pretending not to notice, he took her chin to force her to look at him, his eyes glowing in a dangerous way, a noticeable annoyance she did not understand. “Answer me Caeli”.

He sentenced for the second time, making her unable to look away from him.

Somehow, they felt as if time had stopped around them, they both remained absorbed in each other, for long moments that could have been eternal.

Without understanding how, people who could see them in that instant would observe and feel the spark that was jumping between the two of them, in a noticeable ... and hot way.

Neither of them was sure how they were struck dumb the moment they looked at each other. All they knew was that they couldn't move, they couldn't speak, and they couldn't avert their gaze. Exactly, only their gazes, which opened their gates inside each other, making them both tremble softly.

“No... it's not that,” was the first thing that came out of the girl's lips, causing a great weight to leave the man's chest, without quite understanding why. “But what do you care what I think of you? We are only a pact, which sooner or later will be broken. And I don't understand why you turn my world upside down and then you...” continued the female, but the jet-haired man was deep in thought.

He really had no reason to feel anything for that human. It was just a contract, nothing more.

But every time he saw that gaze, that aura she possessed, or whatever stupid thing she did, it was an alluring delicacy to his eyes. Sweet, innocent blue eyes looking straight at him... it was thrilling.

And there he realised something and soon clenched his fists, for perhaps the explanation for why he hadn't been able to sleep with anyone in his world was right in front of him.

That human... she was absolutely his most desired sin. And as long as she was only a sin to him, and nothing more, it would always be nice to have a bite of that forbidden delicacy.

On the other hand, the woman had stopped talking when she had noticed the man lost in thought, but it was all the same, for she knew she had to get out of this contract that could cost her life. And at the same time, the security she felt in those arms made her feel conflicted, as he had saved her from facing Orfeo, and helped her forget him too.

And every time he kissed her, she couldn't ignore the tingling that ran through every particle of her body, demanding that she continue, and feel as if she were flying.

She knew the chemistry between them was latent, she couldn't deny it -though she wouldn't say it out loud either-, the worst thing was that she knew that, deep down, she wanted to know what it was like to be in bed with that demon, she wanted to know what it was like to feel the flames of hell burning her body with pleasure.

And that was too contradictory for her.

“So, what do you want?” The man asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

There, she blushed softly as she noticed how the man had cornered her in her chair, resting his hands on the chair's armrests. She felt his warm breath against her lips, and she tried to press herself closer to her chair, embarrassed by the thought that had just come to her mind, and which desperately wanted to leave her lips.

Silence reigned again, but this time it was only for a few seconds, where the girl had been betrayed by her own lips, and her mind.

“I want you to kiss me”.