Page 28 of Claiming a Demon

“I’m sorry, but I can’t go with you for this one. He’s suspicious of me and he won’t open up if I’m there. But he obviously cares about you. Go talk to him. I’ll be here when you’re through.”

Sometime soon I was going to have to ask him how he could read me so easily. I put my hand over his, squeezing gently, and released him when Hendrix and Callum came to join me. Felix, too, which was surprising. It’d been a while since it was just us, but Zach was right. I needed to talk to Aziel. And it looked like I wasn’t going alone.

* * *

We arrived at Aziel’s place before he did. I kind of figured we would. We teleported here, but when he was pissed off, Aziel preferred to fly. He said it helped clear his head. Since we all had permission to come and go, we waited for him in his living room, all of us quiet until he showed up. He scowled when he noticed us and stalked past, but he came back not long after with a bottle of whiskey. He took a healthy swig of it before passing it to me.

“I’m sorry. I meant no offense.”

Lifting my gaze, I locked eyes with him. “What did you mean, then?”

He looked away, glaring holes into the wall. I didn’t push. Either he’d tell me or he wouldn’t. But he’d have to get used to Zach eventually. Zach had been taking care of me since day one, and I wasn’t willing to give that up. He pulled away, taking another healthy swig from the bottle.

“You’re going to have to talk eventually, man. Might as well spare us all some time and spit it out,” Felix pointed out.

Aziel shot him a dirty look. “Shut up.”

Felix looked bored, but his tone was sharp. “I’m just saying. If you said that shit about Tyler, I wouldn’t have been so nice about it.”

“Is that a challenge?” Aziel growled.

“Enough,” Callum interrupted. “Felix, stop goading him. We didn’t come here to pick a fight. We came here to figure out why Aziel is so suspicious of Zach. Do you know something we don’t?”

My head whipped around to Aziel, a twinge of fear in my gut. I didn’t think he and Zach had ever met before, but we all had secrets. If Aziel told me Zach wasn’t a good person, I’d have a hard time dismissing that. Aziel and I had been friends since we were kids.

“No. I’ve never met him. The timing just seems off.”

“What do you mean?” Hendrix frowned.

Aziel glanced at me and sighed. “I mean, I know what your old man means to you. I know you didn’t want to hear it, which is why you kept it from us, but the likelihood of him coming out of this–”

“Don’t,” I growled, pushing to my feet. I didn’t want to hear about that. I stepped away, staring out the window instead.

“Mal, listen,” he sighed, his voice softening a little. “I just don’t want you to have more heartache than you’re already set for. You barely know this guy, and yet you’re relying on him instead of the people you know you can trust. I don’t want you putting all your faith in this guy. He’s just a human. He can walk away from this unscathed once he gets what he wants. If you lose your dad and the guy who caught your attention, I’m worried you won’t survive.”

Pain tore through my chest, making it hard to breathe. This was why I didn't want to tell them. They already saw my dad as a lost cause. Hell, I knew the chance of him surviving was slim. But I didn’t need a constant reminder from them. Zach was optimistic, even though he didn't know a lot about what was going on. I needed that. I need someone to believe with me. I didn't want to give up hope.

“I’m not asking you to give him up. I can’t control what you do. I’m asking you to be more cautious. You haven’t known him that long. You don’t know his intentions. Pull back a little.”

The room was quiet for a moment before Hendrix spoke. “Maybe he’s right, man. Zach was speaking for you a lot tonight. If you start relying on that and he leaves, I don’t want you to withdraw even more than you already have.”

My teeth ground together to keep the words inside. It wasn’t worth the argument. I could go blue in the face telling them how much Zach has helped me. None of them would agree with me. They’d only double down, and it’d make things worse. It was better to keep my opinions to myself.

“Y'all are dickwads,” Felix interjected. He said it with such venom that I swung around, surprised. He liked to rock the boat, and he loved to make jokes to ease the tension, but he never outright picked a fight. It wasn’t his way. So seeing the dark look on his face was a little surprising.

“What do you mean?” Callum asked. He hadn’t given his opinion one way or the other on what the guys were saying, but his silence spoke volumes to me. He agreed with them.

“I mean, you were all in with Brandon after what? A couple days? And no one said shit about me and Tyler and he moved in with me after less than a week. Why are you treating Mal like he’s any different? Because you’re mad that he kept this from you? Or maybe Az just has a problem with another human in the group.”

Aziel snarled, baring his teeth at Felix. Felix shoved to his feet off the couch, meeting our friend toe-to-toe without flinching. Hendrix pushed between them, separating them.

“Enough. Felix, it’s not like that. Mal isn’t Callum, and he isn’t you. He’s–”

“He’s what?” I demanded.

Hendrix grimaced, but didn’t answer. This wasn’t about Zach. It was about me. They didn’t think I could protect myself. Somehow, over the years, I began to come off as weak to them. Disappointment settled heavily over my shoulders.

Maybe they weren’t wrong. I never spoke up for myself. I thought by staying out of the conflict, I was keeping the peace. But maybe everyone knew my opinions were wrong, so they never bothered to ask me. Because when I finally made the choice to trust someone new, everyone in my life told me I was making the wrong choice.

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