Page 34 of I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend

“Oh, well, I’m glad this little guy found me instead. I think I’ll name him Piko.”

“Piko?” Metice’s nose twitched, like the name had a stench to it.

“Yeah, it’s cute, don’t you think?” I leaned down to look into those large blue eyes. “What do you think? Do you like that name?”

Piko made a yipping sound and then curled up to sit on top of my feet.

“Piko it is,” Metice muttered.

“How big will he get?” I reached down to scratch behind Piko’s floppy blue ear.

“Not much bigger than this. I mean, there could be instances where he might expand, but the females are typically larger than the males.”

“Expand?” I shrugged. I hoped he didn’t grow too much. He was cute the way he was. “Thinking of expanding, what was that back there?”

“What do you mean?” He lifted the curtain with his finger to look out the window.

“Don’t play coy. How did you do that in the market? You looked different and you were larger than normal.” Metice continued avoiding eye contact.

“I told you I can grow.” He turned and winked at me. “That doesn’t only apply to your favorite part of me.”

“So you can change any part of your body? Is that as big as you get? Can you do other things?” The thoughts spilled from my mouth as fast as my brain could produce them.

“You have too many questions, woman.” He shook his head. “Besides, none of that matters if we get this done. My body and it’s modifications won’t be a concern for you.”

“Fine, keep your secrets.” I rolled my eyes and settled into my seat.

With the heat from the newly-named Piko on my feet accompanied by his soft purring, my own exhaustion surfaced. I barely slept the night before and was wide awake for our first trip. Partner that with running from the fat demon zebra, and I could barely keep my eyes open.

I watched Metice, who was lost in his own thoughts, staring out of the window again. There were things I wanted to say, questions I wanted to ask, but my brain wouldn’t allow it. That was the thing about pushing yourself beyond your limits. Once you were there, it was nothing else you could do but rest.

My eyes fluttered against the sunlight, and I slowly drift away to a dreamworld filled with fat demon zebras trying to take a bite out of my ass. I would have given anything for it to be another unsettling sex dream.

I woke up to the smell of apricots. My head rested on Metice’s shoulder and the wild succession of heartbeats coming from his chest drummed in my ear. My first conscious thought was that I was happy to be with him, despite knowing it meant I was in hell. Thoughts of us together invaded my mind and produced butterflies in my stomach—butterflies that died the moment I looked up and saw the disgusted look on Metice’s face.

“Your Piko just shitted in my carriage.” He pointed to the floor across from us beneath the opposite bench seating.

“What?” I looked down and sure enough, there was a fresh pile of rainbow-colored poop on the floor. It swirled like the sweet dessert atop a perfectly formed ice cream cone. “Oh no.”

“You’re cleaning that up, not me,” Metice fussed. “Anyway, we’re here.”

“Oh.” I straightened and looked out the window to see we were sitting in the middle of nothing, just a vast expansion of valley.

“You were making a lot of noise in your sleep. Have an interesting dream?” Metice asked.

“Yeah, I dreamed that there was a monster chasing me through that market,” I answered him as I turned my attention to Piko, who nuzzled my leg.

“A monster?” Metice stiffened, like he could defend me from my unconscious mind. “What kind of monster?”

“Yeah. An ugly thing. Fat. Zebra-like with spikes all over its body. It was disgusting,” I explained. “Nearly got me, but I woke up.”

“You dreamt about a Cabaraga?”

“You know what that thing is?” I turned to face him.

“A Cabaraga—at least that’s what it sounds like you’re describing.” He thought about the creature for a moment before continuing. “They’re like guard dogs for shop owners.”

“Oh.” My face warmed as his eyes narrowed.

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