Page 25 of My Demon Manny

"I thought I saw you get hit with the car," he said, then laughed. "Crazy, huh?"

I eyed the amused grin on his face and suddenly had the best thought. I could tell him now! He was all mellowed out, and he already suspected something was off about the accident. It was the perfect segue!

"Not really. What if it actually happened?"

Archer laughed, then sat upright, raising a brow at me. "What? That you stopped a car with your body and didn't even get a scratch?"

"Yeah!" I nodded rapidly in excitement, leaning forward to bring our faces together. "That's exactly what I did. I couldn't let it hit you or Gunner."

"Okay. So you're what, Luke Cage?"

"I don't know who that is. I'm Lux," I reminded, in case the alcohol got to him. "I used magic."

"Magic, huh?" Archer's voice was thick with disbelief, and I smiled. Just wait till I told him everything. He'd believe me.

"Yep, magic. I'm actually a demon." Then I remembered how demons were portrayed in human media, and hurried to explain. "Not like the ones in your stories, though. The real demons are actually the good guys. Well, almost all of us."

"Demons. Right." Archer squinted at me, and I had a feeling if he wasn't drunk, he'd be firing me right now. Or dragging me to a psych hospital.

I also had a feeling that if I was a little less drunk, I never would've opened my bloody mouth. But since I was, I kept going.

"Yes! Demons. We used to live in a place called the demon realm, but then one of our kind escaped with a bunch of dark souls, so we were sent here to protect the humans from them," I whispered, not wanting the other patrons to hear. When we'd first come in, I'd scanned the place and confirmed that I was the only supernatural being here, which was good. The supes who lived in the human realm didn't know about the existence of the other realms, and they weren't supposed to find out until they died. Which was why I couldn't let myself be overheard by a humanora supe.

"Right. Maybe we should stop drinking."

I scowled. If there weren't so many people around, I would've done some magic to convince him, but as such, I couldn't risk it. These days, humans were always recording something or the other on their phones. The last thing I needed was to get recorded using magic in the background of some video.

I tried insisting a few more times that I was a demon, but Archer wouldn't listen, leading me to conclude the mission was a failure. I'd need to figure out some other way to tell him.

Maybe I'd just show him my true form when we were at home and be done with it. Yeah, I could imagine howthatwould go.

We drank for a while longer, and then one of the servers came over to tell us that the bartender had called us a cab. I supposed it was a perk of Archer being a regular here. Our bill was also added to 'the tab' which I concluded was some kind of ledger that Archer paid once a month.

On our ride back, Archer fell asleep with his head on my shoulder, and I smiled down at him, wishing I could wrap my arm around him and pull him even closer. I couldn't, though, so instead I just pressed a soft kiss into his hair, so soft he probably didn't even feel it.

When we arrived home—I had to get out and enter the gate code, which I put in wrong three times before I got it right—I helped Archer out of the cab and led him up the stairs. I could've simply picked him up and carried him, but the cab driver was still there, and it would've looked strange if someone as small as me had easily picked up someone as tall and bulky as Archer.

Once he drove away though, I unlocked the door and carried Archer in, shutting the door behind us and taking him to his bedroom. I removed his jacket and shoes, unbuttoned his pants, and then covered him up with the blanket. Remembering the TV shows, I magicked him a glass of water and some pills for his impending hangover, then made my way to my own bedroom.

Locking the door behind me, I removed my clothes, shifted into my true form, and lay down on the floor, since the queen bed was too small for me in this form. Sleepily, I thought I'd fit just right on Archer's big bed.

Archer

"Fuuuuuck."

Yep, I got drunk last night, drunker than I'd gotten in the last decade. Fuck, what had I been thinking?

Sitting upright in bed, I rubbed my face, then glanced down at myself. I was still in the clothes I'd been wearing last night, though my jeans were unbuttoned, and my jacket lay folded over the back of the armchair, my shoes sitting beside it. Had Lux put me to bed last night? While he himself was drunk?

I almost groaned in relief when I spotted the water and pills on the nightstand, quickly downing them both before struggling to my feet.

Stretching my arms above my head, I went into the bathroom, still half asleep as I freshened up and grabbed a quick shower.

Once I was dressed in clothes that didn't stink like vodka and sweat, I followed the scent of coffee to the living room, texting Jerry that I was up and he could bring Gunner over and that he should do it as soon as he could.

Jerry texted back almost instantly, telling me they were out for breakfast and would drop Gunner off in thirty. He also sent over a picture of Gunner hugging a shark stuffie to his chest as he slept, which made me smile.

"Good morning!" Lux greeted me, cheerful as ever, and I squinted, almost blinded by his brightness. How was he so peppy after all the shots he'd drank? I was pretty sure he drank more than me, and yet there wasn't a hair out of place on him.

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