Page 10 of Demons of Eden

I slump from the sheer relief of releasing the magical hold, almost falling into Daion as he also retreats a step closer to me. He places a hand on my bare shoulder to push me back behind him fully, tucked safely out of Rio’s sight. The contact of his rough, calloused hands against my skin makes me shiver. I suck in a sharp breath, feeling as if I’ve been lit up from the inside by a flame.

“No,” is all Daion says in response once he’s ready, his voice having dropped low and commanding in tone. He widens his stance, truly prepared to fight his own friend to protect me if he has to.

Gratitude warms me, even as the more cautious part of my mind begins to wonderwhyhe would defend me. Witches who consort with demons aren’t exactly looked upon favourably by most of our people, and I’m nothing more than a stranger to him.

The seconds drag by slowly for an agonisingly long moment before I hear a growled huff of frustration. It’s followed by the clinking metallic sound of what I really hope is his sword being put down onto the table.

“Fine!” Rio finally responds another second later, his agreement making Daion relax ever so slightly. “But she needs to leave. Now.”

“Look, clearly your friend hates me for existing, but I really need your help,” I begin whispering to Daion, because despitehis psychotic friend, what are the chances I’ll find someone else with the skills I need who doesn’t despise me for this baby?

I’m ready to keep pleading my case when the most delicious smell hits my nose, making whatever I was about to say vanish from my brain. I breathe in deeply, ignoring the admittedly enticing scent of the man in front of me, snapping my head to the right, towards the smell that’s distracted me. My stomach growls. There’s someone new standing in the doorway. His eyes are darting between his friends, me, and the state of the room in obvious surprise. I find the source of the tasty aroma coming from the bags in his hands, eyes fixating on them.

“What the actual fuck, you guys?” he asks, clearly bewildered.

While I simultaneously blurt out, “Food?” Suddenly, I’m feeling ravenous. I’m apparently so hungry that all of my self-preservation evades me as I take a step in his direction.

CHAPTER SIX

“Food?”

As soon as the word leaves my mouth, I realise it’s hardly the right time for eating. Not for me anyway, considering my presence was apparently enough to instigate random insanity in one of them. The newest addition to our bizarre standoff obviously brought the food for himself, Daion, and sadly, probably for the walking ballsack too.

Hmm.

No, walking ballsack isn’t right. Those at least can be fun to fondle, and they serve a purpose. Rio’s more of a used-up, crusty cumsock. I smirk to myself, trying to hold in my amusement at the thought of tossing him into the trash. Goddess, I must be losing it. Obviously, I’m becoming delirious from hunger. It’s the only explanation. That and the vitav drain hitting me worse after fighting him off likely isn’t helping either. Stupid fucking Rio. I’ll have to keep working on his irritating nickname. He deserves a truly shitty moniker to go with that stellar personality of his.

“It’s his fault,” I grumble, mostly to myself. I’m still eyeing the bag of food and contemplating whether or not I can talkthem into sharing, considering their friend is to blame for my sudden increase in hunger.

“What did I miss?” the new guy asks again. This time he directs the question to me, seeing as his friends appear to still be locked in a silent argument, both staring intensely at each other.

Well, there’s no real point in trying to be mysterious or vague…

“I’m a pregnantwitch,” I begin, stressing the witch part hard as I flick my eyes over to glare at my accuser. “The father of the baby is apparently a demon, and for some reason that made the asshole over there mistake me for a succubus. He attacked me, but Daion thankfully showed up just in time to save me.” I pause to take a few deep breaths, trying to find the words to put this as simply and directly as possible without sounding like a raging bitch. It’s surprisingly challenging to do.

“Uhh…” Food Guy attempts to say something in the moment of silence but is apparently at a loss for words, not that I can really blame him. It’s a shitshow of a situation, and speechless is still a better response than the one his friend had. Less murdery, at least.

“Look, I didn’t come here to get wrongly accused and then attacked, just to leave without answers because of some moron who can’t tell the difference between a succubus and a witch.”

Perhaps the hormonesaremaking me snarkier?

Or maybe it’s the smell of food combining with my empty stomach, choosing this exact awful moment to growl loudly enough for everyone to hear. Whatever it is, I give up on my poor attempt at being calm.

“Fuck it. I am so damn hungry. My magical energy is being drained to the point where I might suddenly drop dead. I’m persona non grata to witchkind now, and I have to pee constantly!Constantly.You’re demon hunters, aren’t you? Well, I need help hunting down the demon who put me in this fuckingmess.” I prop my hand on my hip, my gaze flicking from one man to another and then back to the food.

Goddess. What I would give for some of that delicious-smelling food right now.

“Yeah…” the food carrier says, dragging the word out and looking away from me to lift a brow at the other two questioningly. He’s giving off what’s unmistakably ‘what the hell are we all doing here’ vibes. I almost feel sorry for him, but I have bigger problems to deal with.

“We’re not helping the demon fucker, Torrin,” Rio snarls adamantly, finally breaking from the silent argument he was having with the other hunter. “She and thatthinginside her stomach need to leave before I make them.”

The threat is the final straw.

I’m so angry that furious tears start filling my eyes before I can stop them. It only makes me more annoyed, given how I absolutely loathe crying in front of others. Hands clenched, I stomp out from behind Daion and stalk directly towards Rio before anyone can stop me. I ignore the way he towers above me, glaring down like I’m the problem here when he’s the one who acted like a trigger-happy assbutt. All I wanted was some freaking help.

“Listen here, buddy. I am in no mood for your shit. I didn’t know I was fucking a demon. Unlike you, I don’t have some weird, ever-present demon-detection radar, and he wasn’t exactly advertising it! I didn’t ask for this to happen. Hell, I even drank a contraceptive potion to try and prevent it!” I stab my pointer finger in the direction of his face, holding back a few inches, unwilling to actually touch the psycho. “Despite that, I woke up twelve days later feeling like ass. I had to learn not only was I pregnant, but the father is literally the only species who could put my life in danger for making me so.” I take another threatening step towards him, feeling a protective instinct riseup. “But make no mistake, I will protect this child until my dying breath. And if it comes to that, and I die? I’ll come back as a fucking poltergeist to haunt the shit out of anyone who threatens this baby. Do you understand me?”

“Woah. Settle down there, feisty,” Torrin—the dude with the food—says as he rushes up behind me, gripping my shoulders in a firm but gentle hold. I immediately notice he’s not holding the food anymore. “Why don’t you take a seat over here and help your pregnant self to something to eat?”

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