Page 39 of My Demon Manny

"And how exactly would a baby boy and baby girl look different in it? It's a onesie. For. A. Baby," I said it slowly in case he was a particularly dumb human, and Archer snorted.

The man's face went red, and I wondered if he had a fever or something. Leaving us to our devices, the man turned around and stalked off, muttering something under his breath about gay freaks.

I growled, turning around to go give him a piece of my mind—clearly, he was in desperate need of more brain power—but Archer stopped me with a shake of his head. "Let it go, Lux. He's just being a dick. Don't let him ruin our day."

"I was planning to ruinhisday, but sure." I shrugged, turning my attention back to Gunner, and Archer chuckled.

We shopped for a while, but when Gunner started hankering for his afternoon nap, we decided to head home. On our drive, I informed Archer that once Gunner was down for his nap, he and I were going to curl up on the couch and watch a movie. I didn't care what movie we watched, as long as we watched one. I just wanted to cuddle with Archer on the couch for two whole hours.

Once we got home, I changed Gunner's diaper and put him in his comfiest onesie, then handed him over to Archer so he could feed him while I got freshened up.

While I could've used magic to speed everything up, sometimes it was nice to do the boring, mundane things physically.

When I returned to the living room, Archer was just getting done feeding Gunner, and I took over so he could go get changed.

By the time he came back, Gunner was in the crib, well on his way to falling asleep, his eyes heavy and drooping as he gazed up at me.

"Sleep, little one. We'll play later."

As if the assurance was exactly what he'd been waiting for, Gunner closed his eyes, and dozed off.

"You know, the way you take care of Gunner is far more impressive than any other magic you do."

Turning to Archer, I raised a brow at him. "Oh? Is that so? You didn't seem to think that last night."

Grinning, Archer grabbed me by the waist and jerked me to him. "Well, that's true. Then again, you don't really use magic when taking care of him, do you?"

Smiling, I shook my head, and Archer lowered his, pressing a kiss to my lips.

I wrapped my arms around him, pressing myself against him as he deepened the kiss.

Maybe we didn't need to watch a movie after all. Maybe we could just set up the baby monitor, and then go have some fun in the bedroom. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

Pulling away from Archer's lips, I was just about to suggest my idea when there was a knock at the door. We glanced at each other, confused.

"Were you expecting anyone?" I asked, and Archer shook his head. "Me neither."

Carefully, I pulled away from him and walked over to the front door, opening it quickly when I realized who was on the other side.

The man who stood just outside the door was tall, over six feet, and bulky. He had the body of a warrior—which he was—short black hair, and kind brown eyes. He was a soul collector, and the chief of the King of Otherworld's army. His team was responsible for capturing dark souls, and other than the king and his mates, he was our other point of contact for our mission.

Today, he was dressed in human clothes, and I wondered if his half-human mate, Kym, had picked out his outfit of dark jeans and a fitted white t-shirt.

"Maximus! What are you doing here?" And what was with the knocking? Otherworlders never knocked, and they rarely came in through the front door. Was that Kym's influence too?

"Hey, Calux. Can I come in?"

"Um, sure." One of the most powerful soul collectors, Maximus usually lived in Otherworld with his mate. I had a feeling this wasn't a social call, since he and I were acquaintances at best. "What happened?" I held the door open wider, and he stepped inside, waiting until I closed the door to answer.

"We've been tracking one of the dark souls. Some of the other demons, including Star and his mates, sensed the soul, and the trajectory of their movement suggests they'd be passing through here soon, or they might already have. We need you to figure it out for sure."

"What's going on?" Archer asked, appearing in the hallway. Glancing between the two of us, he walked over and stopped beside me, his hand a comforting presence on my shoulder.

"Archer, this is Maximus. He's from Otherworld. Maximus, this is my mate, Archer." Archer squeezed my shoulder when I called him my mate, and Maximus sized him up before giving him a firm nod and shaking the hand Archer held out.

"Um, Maximus wants my help tracking down one of the dark souls," I explained, and Archer's brows furrowed.

"Is it dangerous?"

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