Page 37 of Higher Demon

“You know who it was?” Ian sounds impressed. That will change shortly.

“Beau Brummell. He was the connection of a friend of mine.”

Sure enough, Ian’s expression swiftly changes to barely concealed revulsion. “Is that why he was popular?”

“No. That’s how he met and ingratiated himself with the then Prince of Wales. His popularity was due to the fact that humans are idiots who like being insulted.” I distinctly remember that particular friend talking about it at the time. Neither of us could understand it.

“It’s a good thing humanity hasn’t changed that much, then,” Dylan says cheerfully. “Because you’re not gonna win any congeniality awards.”

“I’m perfectly congenial, thank you. Just not when I’m forced to slum it on Earth.”

“Aw, look at you, using slang.” Ian clasps his hands together. “I’m so proud.”

“I need more, though. Something to humanize him that appeals to a wider audience,” Dylan demands.

I hold back a shudder. “No humanizing, if you please.”

Matt snaps his fingers. “He likes gory TV shows! We watchedHouse of the Dragonwhen he first came to Earth, and he was way into all the killing.”

“And the wholeSawfranchise,” Ian offers. “I recced that to him, and he actually thanked me the next day.”

I nod. “Some of those humans are worthy of respect.”

“Yeah, not sure it’s a good idea to remind people of the link between a higher demon and gory death,” Dylan muses. “We could maybe post about one of the characters being hot, though? What’s your thing, Marc?”

My… thing?

Ian sees the distaste on my face, and his lips twitch. “Yeah, Marc, what’s your thing?”

“Not humans,” I say firmly, telling myself it’s not a lie. I’m not truly attracted to any human. My human body merely has… urges.

“That’s a shame,” Dylan mourns. “If we could have hooked you up with a human girlfriend or something, that would have made people soften toward you.”

“Whatdid he say?” Norval bellows, coming out of his television-induced coma. Matt looks rather ill, and even Ian seems unsettled.

“It’s not happening,” he tells his uncle. “Relax. Go back to… whatever this is.” He glances at the screen, which is full of semi-naked humans on a beach.

Norval glowers at me for a moment, but then someone on the screen squeals and his attention is redirected.

“Well, if I can’t use romance to make him personable, you need to pick something else.” Dylan’s getting impatient now.

“Stick with movies.” The lip twitch has returned, and there’s a gleam in Ian’s eyes that I don’t like. “We’re about to watchLegally Blonde. Marc’s never seen it before.”

“I can make that work. Send me a pic with the screen in the background,” Dylan demands.

“No. If photographs must be taken, we’ll hire an expert,” I declare.

“Aaaaaand we’re back to pretentious twat.” Dylan sighs.

“He’s right. Hiring someone to take pics for Insta is kinda bougie.” Matt pulls a face.

I narrow my eyes, even though I don’t exactly know what that means.

“Guys, you’re not helping. Marc, what’s the problem? Why can’t we be the ones to take the photos?” Ian levels me with a beseeching look.

“I’m supposed to trust either of you with an artistic endeavor? Look at you!”

“Okay, first, ouch. Fuck you. But also, it’s not art, dude. It’s a quick selfie for Instagram.” He squints. “You know what Instagram is, right?”

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