Page 29 of Claiming a Demon

Felix continued to argue, and I wanted to believe he supported me, but Felix liked to cause trouble. This could just be him getting the attention back on him.

None of them noticed me taking a few steps back. They were too busy arguing with each other. I considered staying, voicing my opinions for once. But what was the point? They weren’t going to listen anyway. Instead, I teleported away. There was only one person who made me feel like what I had to say mattered anyway.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ZACHARIAH

It took work to keep the anxiety off my face. The entire time Mal was gone, I kept glancing over my shoulder, waiting for him to show back up again. His friend seemed a little scary, and I didn’t want him to get hurt.

“It’s gonna be okay. They’d never actually fight. They’re just growly sometimes,” Brandon tried to reassure me.

Tyler wrinkled his nose. “Especially Aziel. I thought he was a gangster when I first met him. At least around me, he’s all bark and no bite. Then again, Fe said he had a no hurting humans rule, so…” He shrugged.

“Why’s that?” I appreciated the distraction, so I figured asking questions was better than panicking.

Tyler tipped his head side to side. “Fe said it’s something about it being an unfair fight or whatever. I dunno. I take his responses with a grain of salt.”

Isla snorted. “You shouldn’t take anything Felix says seriously. He’s an attention whore. He’ll say the craziest stuff just to get attention.”

Tyler scowled at her, but Brandon interjected in disagreement. “I don’t think that’s true. I mean, yeah, he likes attention, but Felix can be serious when he wants to be. If it has anything to do with Tyler, he’s probably being serious, even if he sounds like he’s joking.”

That brought a smile to Tyler’s face. It was obvious he loved his boyfriend and probably would’ve spent half the night arguing to protect him if he thought he needed to. I felt the same way about Mal. He was quiet, and I was worried his friends just kind of shuffled him along without asking his opinions. I wanted to stand up for him when I could, but I also didn’t want to stifle him from voicing his opinions himself either.

Maya, Isla’s new fiancee, shook her head slowly. “Maybe not everything about Tyler. You guys are still fighting for prank king, right?”

Tyler snorted. “Okay, yeah, I’ll give you that. That’s not serious. Just a hell of a lot of fun. What’s the point of being in a relationship if you can’t have fun?”

They all bobbed their heads in agreement and I felt myself relax. The demons were a little intense, but their friends and significant others were fine. And I liked a good prank here and there.

“What kind of pranks do you do?”

Tyler’s face lit up, and he immediately launched into a detailed explanation of the most recent pranks he and Felix played on each other. Nothing overly crazy, but there were multiple occasions with confetti poppers and plastic wrap in doorways. And a couple of embarrassing photos, which Tyler was only too eager to show me.

We were still chatting when Mal appeared out of thin air. I barely glanced over my shoulder before he wrapped his arms around me and we disappeared again. I’d never teleported before, we flew to Mal’s apartment that night, so the experience was a little jarring. My body tingled like my limbs had fallen asleep and my stomach twisted uncomfortably from the shock. The feeling went away as soon as we appeared back in my apartment, but it took me a few seconds to shake it off.

“Mal? What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer, his face buried in my neck. I couldn’t even try to look at him, because he was behind me and his hold was too tight for me to turn around. I reached up, running my fingers through his hair, and just waited. He’d come out when he was ready.

Except, after almost ten minutes of standing there, Mal showed no signs of moving. His whole body was still tight, like he couldn’t relax an inch, and I worried he wouldn’t be able to get there on his own.

“Mal? How about we go lay down? I think it’d be more comfortable.”

It took him a few more minutes, but eventually, he let out a breath and his grip relaxed enough for me to turn around. Taking his hands, I pulled him towards the bed, kicking off my shoes along the way. Mal followed suit and when I nudged him onto the bed, he went without question. And without a word. It worried me just how quiet he was being. I knew he was quiet in general, but with me, he had been opening up. Something happened with his friends that made him shut down on me.

Climbing into bed with him, I cuddled against his side, one arm hugging his waist. His arms came around me, keeping me close, but he still didn’t relax. And I was only so patient.

“What happened with your friends?”

He didn’t reply, so I lifted my head to read his face. It was hard, since I didn’t turn on the lights beforehand, but my eyes adjusted eventually and I saw the deep frown pulling at his lips.

“Did you argue more?”

Still nothing. A muscle twitched in his jaw, but I didn’t know why yet. I kept asking, because I felt partially responsible. His friend wouldn’t have started anything if I hadn’t been there.

“Was it about me?” I murmured, my heart stuttering in my chest when his face darkened. That was a yes. Guilt settled in my stomach and I dropped my chin automatically.

“I’m sorry, Mal. I didn’t mean to cause trouble. You shouldn’t fight with your friends because of me. I–”

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