Page 28 of My Demon Manny

Archer

Maybe I was the one who'd lost his mind, because I trusted Lux, even after finding out he was a demon.

While we ate, I tried to figure out if my faith in him had anything to do with the fact that I had the hots for him, but no. My faith in him had very little to do with that, and everything to do with the fact that he'd had more than enough opportunities to hurt Gunner if he'd wanted to.

Hell, judging by his size and what he'd done to Jessica's car before he'd used magic to fix it, he could just as well hurt Gunner now and there was nothing I'd be able to do to stop it.

I trusted Lux, and I thought it was the right thing to do. I didn't think I'd read him wrong. Sure, I hadn't known he could change into an eight-foot-tall demon when I hired him, but I could tell that he genuinely enjoyed working with babies, and that his warm personality wasn't just for show.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm under strict orders to never hurt a human. It's why I didn't do anything to that woman even though I really wanted to. So you don't have to worry about me hurting you or Gungun." Lux's voice was soft as he spoke, and eyes focused on his almost-empty plate.

It was strange to look at him like this and remember how much bigger and stronger he actually was. But no matter what he looked like, he was the same Lux on the inside, and right now, I could tell he was being eaten alive by his worries.

"Thank you for telling me that, but it's okay. I trust you, Lux. And I'm glad you didn't hurt Jessica," I added as an aside, and he growled. I was sure it would've been a terrifying sound in his other form, but right then he just sounded adorable.

"I would've if I could've," he reiterated, and I believed him. His protectiveness over Gunner was one of the reasons I knew he wouldn't.

After we finished breakfast, we washed up the dishes while Lux told me more about the demons. How there were twenty-two of them currently in the human realm—twenty-three if you counted the demon they were tasked with tracking down. How their mission was to keep humans safe from the dark souls who had escaped the Burning Chasm.

As he explained, the Burning Chasm was where evil souls burned until they were ready to work for their redemption, but before that, there had been the Underworld, where Lux and all the other demons had tortured the evil souls.

Despite seeing his other form, I had trouble imagining Lux as a torturer of any kind. How could someone so sweet be expected to do a job like that?

Discovering Lux had once been human—though like all demons, he remembered nothing of his human life—was probably the least surprising past of this whole revelation.

Lux was sweet, gentle, kind, and possessed all the good things humans had to offer. Of course he'd been human once. Not that demons weren't those things, from what I could tell.

I paid particular close attention when he told me about three of his demon friends who were mated to a human, and how the four lived together and were very much in love. I wanted to ask Lux if he could put me in touch with that human, but I couldn't quite find the words to ask the question. Not until I cleared up what was between the two of us.

Now that I knew what Lux was, the whole "boss and employee" power imbalance thing basically became a moot point. That, coupled with the fact that we were apparently soulmates, meant that the path between here and calling Lux mine had suddenly cleared right up.

I'd never been one to let a great opportunity pass, and I wasn't going to be one now.

Which was why when we'd returned to the living room and I'd settled on the couch with Gunner in my lap, I turned to Lux, taking a moment to admire his blond locks and the sparkle in his blue eyes as they flickered between Gunner and me.

Even without the magic and the demon form, Lux was a mesmerizing man, and I wanted to get to know him even better. I wanted to know his likes, dislikes, and all the little things about him.

"Lux" I murmured, the question dancing at the tip of my tongue as his eyes met mine.

"Yeah? Does he need a change?"

Smiling down at Gunner, I shook my head, then looked up at Lux again. "No, he's okay."

"Oh," Lux mumbled, then tilted his head, curiosity clear on his face.

"About that soulmate thing..." I started, and he blinked, surprised.

"Um. I just told you about it to explain things. I wasn't trying to pressure you or anything."

Okay, this needed to stop. I preferred Lux to be happy and smiling, not unsure and off-footed as he was now.

"Here, hold him for a minute." Lux scrambled to take Gunner from me as I held him out, and Gunner instantly grabbed onto his T-shirt, making his usual happy sounds. Gunner clearly liked Lux too, but unlike me, he had absolutely no trouble expressing himself. He gotthatfrom his lawyer mother.

"Okay, Lux. I need you to relax, okay? I'm not mad about any of it. I understand why you didn't tell me earlier, and I know that you won't hurt either of us. So you need to relax and stop panicking, okay? The books say babies can feel our anxiety."

Maybe using Gunner like that wasn't the best thing to do, but it worked. Lux's eyes widened and he glanced down at Gunner, pulling him close and murmuring to him softly.

"Sorry, Gungun. I'll try not to worry now, okay?"

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