Page 27 of Delivered to My Demons

“We’ll do that.” Grendel shooed me toward the living room. “You relax. You’ll have to put it all away later, but we’ll get it inside where it will be safe.”

“You guys spoil me. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No.” Hemlock stood in the doorway then snapped his fingers. “Yes. Can you go down in the basement and see if you can find the handcart? It will make unloading easier.”

“You have one of those?” It sure would have been handy to have at the apartment.

“I’m not sure if we still do. We loaned it to my cousin…hopefully she returned it.” Grendel shook his head. “Sometimes she forgets.”

“Also…there’s a basement?” I’d never seen it in all the time since I arrived.

“Yep. It’s kind of dusty. You know, storage. The door is right next to the pantry.”

“Sure.” I waved them off. “I’ll go look, but if I get spiders in my hair, I won’t be happy. We really need to clean it up down there.”

“Agreed.” They were still standing there, so I headed for the kitchen wondering how I’d missed the door. But there it was, and I supposed if I’d even thought of it at all, I assumed it was just another kitchen cabinet. I should cook more and then I’d know the kitchen better.

The door opened easily, no creaking or anything to imply it was never used, and I found a light switch right on the wall inside. The fixture mounted over the stairs made it easy to go down, and I didn’t see a single spiderweb, to my relief. Basements had always intrigued me, and I wondered if I’d find anything interesting down here. At the bottom of the steps, there was another closed door, and I spotted another light switch, so I flipped it, hoping it wouldn’t turn off the fixture in the stairwell. It did not. Light spilled from under the door and I opened it to find not a dusty basement but something entirely different. I closed the door and then turned to go back upstairs. My way was blocked by two sneaky demons grinning their silly, handsome, wonderful faces off.

“What is that?” I pointed behind me. “How do you have a studio in your supposedly dusty basement? Are you two influencers, and you didn’t want me to know?” Although if so, why would they have sent me down there? But what other explanation could there be?

Hemlock reached past me and opened the door, gave me a gentle shove inside. “It’s your mating gift.”

“But how…I don’t have anything for you.”

“You are our gift,” Grendel said. “Do you like it?”

They must have gotten hold of all my plans because it was a dream studio with features I’d only included in case someday I could upgrade hugely. Tears spilled from my eyes and onto the floor in front of the seating area where I could talk with my guests if I didn’t want to be at the desk. Everything was top of the line and installed in a way that must have been professional.

“I love you both so much.” I hugged Gren then Hemlock. “And you have to be my first guests.”

Epilogue

Poe

“Welcome to my new studio. If you are new, I am Poe and I love to share chats with various paranormal folks on my show. Sometimes we go long, so if you need to make a quick pit stop or grab a snack or a drink, go ahead.

“I’ll wait.” I said this every time, but the comments indicated that people loved the couple of minutes I “waited.” Of course, I didn’t just sit and stare at the camera or leave to use the facilities myself. I used the time to thank my sponsors and greet some of the Patreon peeps, things like that. But I did not introduce or even bring my guests on camera until that time was up.

After the chat line filled with comments like,I’m backandReady to go, I stood up and gave a little tour of the studio. I was so proud of it, and the feedback indicated my followers felt the same. Which was great. And part one of this particular live.

Yes…I was introducing my mates to the world in a live. And I could not have been prouder. I knew the chat would go well, although they had been just the littlest bit nervous. But after helping me with the studio, they agreed to be the very first interview because it was important to me.

“If you are all ready? I’d like to introduce you to two people very important to me. Because thanks to a very special online dating service, not long ago, I was delivered to my demons.

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