Page 179 of Mayhem and Minnie

I assured her I’d find a way to personally make her ring. Because I’m an idiot. That’s why.

I’ve already ordered all the necessary equipment, so now it’s only a matter of learning how to craft it.

“You know, this show didn’t get demons completely wrong,” she mentions as she slurps on her Coke.

“That so?” I raise a brow.

We’re currently huddled on the floor in my spare bedroom that acts as a movie theater. There’s a huge TV with high quality speakers that ensures the perfect immersive experience—after all, how could I ever leave my house for a movie? Absurd.

We’re sharing a blanket, though that wasn’t the best idea seeing how tempting she is, even when she licks her fingers clean of the cookie crumbs—yes, I’ve officially lost it.

To my surprise, watching Supernatural was her idea. She wanted to see why it was my favorite TV show, and we’ve now binged almost an entire season in the span of three days. That’s quite a feat.

On the downside, however, that means I’ve spent the last three days in very close quarters with her for hours on end, leading me to make repeated trips to the bathroom for a cold shower.

Alas, at this point, it is what it is—as much as it pains me to say that.

“Well, there are two ways to become a demon. You’re either born one, though those are demons by designation only since they technically have divine origins too. We usually just call them the Sons of Tenebreis. But since they’re the ones who control the other type of demons, they mostly get lumped in together,” she explains matter-of-factly, popping another cookie in her mouth.

I stare at her.

“Right,” I mumble as if that’s common knowledge. “And what’s the other type of demon?”

“The second type of demons are the made demons. That usually happens when a corrupted soul refuses to move on after life. The Sons of Tenebreis swoop in and form a thrall bond with them after which the demons go on a rampage.”

“I see. And how is it similar to Supernatural?”

“Well, like in Supernatural, at first, the corrupted souls are amorphous, sort of like that smoke. But that’s only a low-level demon. The only way for them to gain strength is to possess other mortals and corrupt them before they ultimately consume their souls. The more souls a demon consumes, the higher level it becomes, until it finally manages to take shape. Of course the intermediary shapes are rather monstrous. But the highest-level demons can take a humanoid shape. It’s quite scary, really.”

“Of course.” I nod. “And where did you learn this?”

“In school. Like everyone else,” she quips blithely before she realizes her error. She slaps a hand over her mouth and turns to look at me in horror. “Oops,” she whispers.

I chuckle.

“I never learned that in school. It must have been a cool school that you went to.”

“Not…really…” She smiles awkwardly.

“So you learned about demons in school. What else?”

“I…” She gives me a sheepish look. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why?” I raise a brow. “Because it might give me insight into what you are?”

“Well…” She bites her lip. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, Marlowe. I really do. But I know that when you find out the truth about me, everything will change.”

“Why?” I probe again, turning to look at her intently. “I already know the sentinels incident was real.” She opens her mouth to speak, but I press my fingers against her lips. “Don’t try to deny it again. After what happened at Sarah’s house, I’m more certain than ever that I didn’t imagine that.”

She sighs.

“You’re right. You didn’t imagine it,” she finally admits.

“And the man in the snow?” I raise a brow, though I have an inkling of who it might have been.

“My brother,” she confirms with a sheepish smile. “He visits me every now and then to give me information.”

“What information?”

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