Page 33 of I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend

The best thing I could think to do was walk opposite the general direction I knew they carried me, but it didn't help. The longer I walked, the more lost I became as I realized the place was more a maze than anything. There was no structure to the way the market was built, no grid system to follow. Each turn led to another collection of splitting pathways.

“How the hell does anyone find their way around this place?” I muttered as I pulled the hood down around my face and hoped I still smelled as bad as I did when I first arrived. My nose had adjusted to the smell, so I could no longer tell.

Moving nervously through the twisted streets, I got that gut feeling, the one that said something was watching me. If I didn't get back to Metice soon enough, I would be in some real trouble. So, I kept stumbling forward, trying my best to remember which way I'd came. Then, I heard the growl: a deep, guttural sound that came from behind me. I turned around to find the goofiest looking beast I could have imagined.

It looked like a miniature zebra, but it had short thick legs, and a belly that hung to the ground. Sharps spikes that matched the pointed teeth in its mouth lined its back. Its face looked smushed, creating a permanent grin. Goofy looking or not, the thing could definitely kill me if given the chance. It wasn’t far from me, but it sniffed the air, and its eyes locked on me. It sneered. Whatever it was, it knew I wasn't supposed to be there. This thing knew I was human. There was no need to wait for it to attack first—I turned and ran.

I clutched the cloak, making sure it didn't fall off me. The last thing I needed was something else realizing I was human in a world full of demons. I turned two corners, looking back over my shoulder once, only to find the thing was still coming. I kept running, kept pushing forward. It was big, ugly, but apparently, it wasn't that fast. Its belly dragged across the ground, slowing it down.

Turning another sharp corner, I skid to a halt, recognizing the little blue demon dog. It ran up to me, frantically sniffed me, then bit the bottom of the cloak. At first, I shooed it away, but then I realized it was pulling me in a specific direction. Knowing I had little time before the overweight demon caught up to me, I followed it.

It led me into a nook just to the left, pushed me back against the wall, then turned and pointed its ass at the entrance. A cloud of rainbow mist shot from its ass and filled the space with the scent of apricots.

“What?” I gawked then slapped my hand over my mouth as the fat demon zebra ran by the opening. The aroma from my little friend’s ass threw it off. It turned in circles, trying to catch my scent again, then took off running in the wrong direction.

Once it was safe, the little blue demon dog bit the bottom of my cloak again and dragged me out of the opening. I didn't know what to do at first, but it looked at me and pointed his nose to the right of us with a whimper.

“Do you know where he is?” I had to give this thing credit. It was clearly smart and wanted to help me out.

It nodded and whimpered again, jutting its nose in the same direction.

“Please don’t lead me into a worse situation.” I pulled the cloak tighter around me and followed its lead.

A few minutes later, I ran right into the angry demon.

“I told you to stay put. Are you okay?” He grabbed me, pushing the hood aside so he could see my face. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“A hoard of happy demons carried me off and dropped me on my ass,” I explained. “I’m a little embarrassed, but I’m not hurt.”

“Are you sure?” He double-checked my appearance.

“Yes.” I smiled. “Look at you, genuinely concerned about me.”

“I,” he started, but my new little pal whimpered at my feet. He looked down and pointed at it. “What is that?”

“What?” I looked down.

“Why do you have that? I told you not to touch it.”

“I didn’t touch it. It helped me find my way back.” I took a step away from the little blue guy, but he scurried closer to me. “Um…”

“Great,” Metice waved his hand as he fussed and turned to walk away from me, calling back to me over his shoulder. “I’m not feeding it or cleaning up after it. You wanted it, it’s yours. Let’s go.”

8

Date with a witch

“Ishould name it.” I looked down at the blue beast resting by my feet. Metice was right: I was stuck with it. It followed us out of the market and jumped into the carriage as soon as Metice opened the door. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“Does it matter?” He looked down. “Why would you want to name it?”

“It saved my life,” I reasoned. “Come on, if it’s going to be with us, it should have a name.”

“It’s a boy,” Metice said, then looked out the window.

“Really? How can you tell?” There were no discernible markings, and the last thing I wanted to do was look between its legs, knowing it could fart mist in my face.

“You’re alive.” He huffed. “The females aren’t friendly. She wouldn’t have led you back to me. She would have killed you.”

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