Page 26 of Delivered to My Demons

“Don’t we need to go outside?”

I froze. “Does your wolf not want to shift in here? Can you not shift indoors?”

“Oh my goodness.” Her laughter pealed out. “My mother had a no-wolves-in-the-house rule. She said we were always tearing everything up, so we had to go outside to assume our beast form. You guys don’t mind if we do it indoors?”

“Not if you don’t.” Hemlock stood straight and held his arms out from his sides. “May I show you?”

“Please.”

We had never really explained our alternative forms to Poe, and demons rarely changed in front of others outside our own kind, so if Hemlock appeared nervous, he had every right. “I’ll join you, friend.”

Watching our mate the whole time, we assumed our other forms. There were no horns or tails or pitchforks involved, merely a shadow of ourselves. We were able to creep from shadow to shadow and blend in or intensify it so it stood out almost three dimensional.

A soft gasp was the only indication of how surprised Poe was at what we were. We stood very still while she moved around us, taking in something that likely was completely alien to her experience.

“You can do this without even undressing,” she marveled. “You are wonderful.” She pulled her sweatshirt off. “My turn.”

I watched as she undressed with graceful motions. We’d made love to her, of course, but there was something about her standing there in the living room with not a stitch on that was so…extra. In a really good way. But before I could fully take her in, white fur sprouted from her silky skin and she dropped to all fours. Her hands disappeared, replaced by paws, and her face lengthened into a snout. One by one, her features altered until our mate had been replaced by a white wolf. Why had I thought she might be lavender? But she was gorgeous, and as soon as she finished the shift, the wolf paced to the door and stared at it.

It was a very doglike behavior, not that I’d ever tell her that, but I knew what she wanted and opened the door, grateful my form had that ability. The wolf tipped up her nose and howled toward the sky then ran out into the yard.

We followed, gliding through the shadows in time to see her tuck her hips under and get the most adorable case of zoomies he’d ever seen. She was larger than most natural wolves but tore around the yard like a frolicking puppy.

And I was in love.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Poe

At first, I cobbled together a temporary studio in the big walk-in closet in my bedroom—which was the main bedroom those sweet guys had given me. Of course, I had never slept in it alone, so it really was ours, but they couldn’t have known that for sure. They did have their clothes in their former rooms, and I didn’t have enough with me to be a problem.

And the studio worked out pretty well. I used a backdrop, so it looked just like my regular studio leaving nobody the wiser. The one change was that I did entirely remote interviews because the closet was a little small for a group. But that didn’t matter. To be honest, I didn’t want anyone here but us, and of course the guys’ families who stopped by every so often for a game night or a meal. Board games! Certainly not the reputation demons had in any kind of urban legend or old wives’ tale. OrNetflixseries either. The legions from which my mates emerged were ferocious indeed, when the dice did not roll their way.And don’t even talk about Dungeons and Dragons.My mates had been dungeon masters since they were teens and could spin a tale. But my interviewees would have to remain in their own spaces until I managed to figure out what to do about a studio. I wasn’t going back to the old one, hours away from here. Not even temporarily.

Because I couldn’t imagine going home for longer than it took to pack the rest of my stuff. Salem and I were home, here, with our demons. She’d accepted them that first day when we arrived, settling into a basket holding a few throw pillows near enough to the fireplace where her rumbling purr showed her pleasure at the whole situation. And while I adored her, shedidn’t like just anyone, but she sure loved my mates. She spent more time on their laps than mine.

But while we were both very happy here, I had to figure out a way to do my job efficiently. I really preferred having people right in front of me or next to me when we were talking about such intimate and personal details of their lives. Paranormal folks were private in many ways, and when they agreed to come on my show, to speak with me and even show themselves, they deserved to have me right here in support and not at a distance. At least, that was how I saw it. I made so many notes, drew designs, and shopped for new equipment, but so far, I hadn’t had time to implement any of my plans or a place to make that happen.

The closet was closing in around me while I worked. Maybe I could rent an office space or something.

“Ready to go, mate? Hemlock is in the truck.”

No, I was not in the closet at this point but standing in my former studio area in my old apartment. My empty former apartment. I had packed up enough of my belongings to fill the truck bed but donated most of the furniture and larger items because the demons had everything already, and I didn’t think it was worth the trouble of hauling furniture I’d bought secondhand to start with and then try to figure out how it might fit in their home.

I kept sentimental things and all my tech stuff, and everything that was Salem’s, of course. But the rest had left the day before in a box truck headed for a charity shop.

“Ready.” I followed him out, leaving the door key on the ledge inside the door.

“You okay, mate?” He took the box of photos I carried. “Sad?”

“Nostalgic, maybe. Not really sad. I liked this apartment, but it’s a reminder that I was lonely, even if I didn’t know it. Let’s go home.”

On the drive, I tried again to figure out what I was going to do for a better studio, but I’d run the same ideas over in my mind so many times and gotten nowhere, so I decided to put it aside and just enjoy the drive and the company. We stopped along the way for lunch and sat for two hours just laughing and talking. When I thought of how I’d rushed the last drive on my own without even a bite to eat? My life sure had changed.

As we pulled into the driveway, Grendel’s phone chimed, and he pulled it out of his pocket and read it. The two of them exchanged nods over my head and then we got out of the truck and made our way into the house. It felt so good to step inside and know that I was not going to have to leave again. If anyone had asked me if I would stay forever when I went to visit the demons, I’d have laughed.

Even if we hit it off, it wasn’t that simple to step away from an established life and start over three hours away, and yet…that was just what I did.

“I suppose we’d better unload the truck before we sit down,” I said. “Otherwise, it might get rained on.”

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