Page 41 of My Demon Manny

"Wait. Are you guys demons?"

"Not me," Mr. Ponytail said, while the last man, a 5'8" redhead with paint-stained clothes, grinned, hurrying around the couch.

"Yeah, we are. I'm Ryk, this is Nico,"—he pointed at the shorter man—"this is Star,"—the pajama dude—"and that's Dakota. He's human."

I blinked, putting the names I'd heard about from Lux to these faces, and relaxed a little. Lux had talked a lot about these four, so I knew they were safe.

Before I could reply or introduce myself, Gunner woke up with a cry, and I turned around, picking him up from the crib and cradling him to my chest.

When I turned around, the two shorter demons were watching Gunner curiously, while Mr. Pajama, err,Star, seemed ready to run.

"Um, I'm Archer. This is Gunner," I finished the introductions, then said, "And Lux just left with Maximus."

"Shit! We came as soon as we heard the dark soul was headed this way," Star said, then chewed on his lip. "Dakota, Nico, why don't you guys stay here and keep Archer company, and Ryk and I will go help Lux and Max?"

Before I could open my mouth to tell them they were all free to go help Lux, that I didn't need any of them to stay, Dakota gave them a nod, and the two demons disappeared into thin air.

Gunner, apparently liking the magic show, cheered, clapping his little hands, and Nico smiled at him. I realized he had a very gentle vibe for a demon, just like Lux, and wondered just where our stories had gotten the idea that demons were bad.

"So...have you had your freakout yet?" Dakota asked, and Nico glanced over at him, worried.

"What are you talking about?"

"The man found out the guy taking care of his baby was a demon, Nico. Trust me, there was a freakout."

I chuckled, because he wasn't wrong. While I'd done my best to assure Lux that his being a demon didn't change things, no matter how much I'd grown to trust Lux, it'd been a scary revelation, and it had taken me a while to come to terms with it.

"I did, yeah. Then I realized I wasn't ever going to find anyone better than Lux, and that helped," I said, and Dakota smiled, his eyes sliding to Nico, who was busy making faces at Gunner.

"I know what you mean."

I wondered how it'd been for him, finding out that the three men he'd rented out rooms of his house to were demons. It had to have been a crazy day when they told him the truth.

Huh, maybe spending some time with these two wasn't such a bad idea after all. When was I ever going to get the chance to pick the brains of another human who was mated to a demon? Or in Dakota's case,threewildly different demons?

Eighteen

Lux

"Did we miss anything?"

I jumped at the sound of a new voice, so focused on trying to track down the dark soul that I'd forgotten my surroundings.

Blinking hard, I turned around, grinning when I spotted Star and Ryk.

As always, Star was dressed in comfortable clothes, his brown hair falling into his dark eyes, while Ryk's clothes were splattered in paint, his blue eyes bright and red curls bouncing all over as he rushed to me.

"Lux! We just met your mate. He's a hottie!"

"You met Archer?"

"Yeah. Dakota and Nico are with him now," Star said, then made a face. "And the little thing."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Watch it."

Shrugging, Star turned to Maximus. "What are we doing here?"

"We were tracking the dark soul you sensed a few months ago, and according to Lux, they passed through here, but he can't tell how long ago or if Mammon was here too," Maximus explained. While he was an inch or so shorter than Star, he was much bulkier, and in an honest no-magical-assistance fight between the two, I wasn't sure who would win. Not that they had any reason to fight each other.

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