Page 11 of Demons of Eden

The offer of food tempts me into allowing him to redirect me over to the coffee table at the centre of the room. He releases my shoulders so he can use his magic to flip the couch back over and into its rightful place, gesturing for me to sit. I’m still fuming as I watch him retrieve the takeout, then pull several food boxes from the bag as well as utensils. He spreads them on the table in front of me like a peace offering.

“Torrin,” Rio says tensely. He’s clearly about to say more, most likely intending to object to my staying for dinner, but Daion chooses then to snap out of whatever daze he’s been in. He moves quickly, grabbing his irritating friend by the arm and dragging him off around the back corner to another room without a word.

“You can relax and help yourself to…” Torrin trails off as if realising what he’s said and then clears his throat awkwardly. “Okay, that sounded dumb. How about I promise to return with pie if you promise not to leave? I know this was a terrible first impression for us all, but Rio’s a good man.”

“Sure,” I scoff. “He’s a good guy, and I’m a damn succubus.”

“He’s clearly also a man capable of making stupid mistakes,” he concedes. “I’m sorry if he frightened you.”

“He didn’t scare me; he pissed me off,” I reply, correcting him quite snappily, but for whatever reason, it only makes him grin.

“Fair. He can have that effect on some people, but I wouldn’t lie to you, firecracker. Heisa good man. Rio’s just…not a fan of succubi. He got confused, made a mistake, and now he doesn’t know how to handle all his feelings about it, so he’s being stubborn instead.”

I give Torrin what I hope is an unimpressed look, and he holds up both of his hands in mock surrender. Between his animated actions, the smile, and the general feeling of warmth he has about him, it’s honestly all a little bit charming.How irritating.My eyes narrow even more at the thought.

“I get it. You don’t have to believe me about him, but I swear to you that you won’t be harmed. You said you needed help, and maybe we can help you. Hunting demons and helping people with their demon-related issues is our job, after all. And again, there’s pie on offer if you stay. It’s really good pie.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me as he says the last part. It’s so damned warm and goofy it cracks right through the tension and makes me laugh despite everything.

“Fine,” I mutter. Feeling ridiculous, I swipe away the remnants of angry tears from my cheeks and find my attention drawn to the food again. It does look good. He offered, and I am really hungry. I also don’t feel insanely nauseous for once, so maybe I’ll even keep some of it down. The smell actually making me want to eat instead of vomit is encouraging in itself. “I’ll stay, but if he comes at me aggressively again, I’m removing his dick from his body and then beating him to death with it.” I smile sweetly at Torrin, in sharp contrast with the threat made, then turn back to the table.

He chuckles as he heads off to find the other two, and I waste no time digging in. I open every single box to do a sniff test and identify what it all is before grabbing a fork from the packet of cutlery.Goddess, I love Chinese takeout.The beef lo mein looks divine, so I shovel several bites into my mouth before switchingto the egg drop soup for a few mouthfuls. I don’t particularly like spicy food, so I push aside the strong-smelling Sichuan dish, leaving it for whatever fool who wants to burn their tongue off. Then I slather some fried rice with sweet and sour sauce, shovelling nearly half the box down my throat in a few huge bites.

The frankly obscene noises I’m making as I eat my feast are drowning out the whispered voices coming from the other room. I’d probably be embarrassed if I weren’t so blissed out at finally being able to eat. Honestly, I can’t hear exactly what Rio’s saying, but I can hear him snapping angrily every other word. Someone’s not happy, and for once in recent days it’s not me because I’ve found my way to food heaven.

“Fuck,” I groan like I’m getting railed from behind as I take another bite of lo mein. “So damn good.”

“Seriously!?” Rio snarls like an angry bear, sounding too close for comfort.

I snap my head around to glare his way, seeing him stalking into the room. Torrin and Daion are right behind him, and the two of them quickly slip past and join me. They sit across from me on the floor, snagging cushions out from under the coffee table to rest on. I squint as I assess them.Why wouldn’t they just sit next to me…?I shrug, brushing it off. Maybe they just like the floor.

I also notice the lack of pie. Torrin promised pie.

“Chill, Rio. She’s pregnant. Let her eat,” Daion mumbles, but I oddly get the sense he’s no more pleased to have me still here than Rio is. Though he’s obviously less hostile and apparently strongly against the attacking of innocent pregnant witches, which I decide is enough for me to work with for now.

“That's my lo mein!” Rio points at the box accusingly while shooting daggers my way. Well, if the fucker didn’t want to share his food, then he shouldn’t have tried to murder me.

What I do next is a level of petty I typically avoid, but I feel has been fairly earned in his case. I make a show of piling my fork full of the glassy brown noodles of deliciousness, then shoving them right in my mouth. I moan around the mouthful of food like a porn star trying to earn her pay cheque, closing my eyes and chewing dramatically. If the noises were obscene before, now they’re enough to make a devil blush.

“Oh, I forgot the pie!” Torrin suddenly announces, jumping up and rushing past a sour-faced Rio who’s still standing, looking absolutely furious.

I decide right then that Torrin’s definitely trustworthy. Maybe I really am delusional. All it took was pie? Then again, I have offered to sell my soul for another slice of one before, so I guess at least my weaknesses are consistent. I take my time savouring several more bites of lo mein, feeling envious eyes on me the entire time, when he returns with the entire pie and a single, lone fork.

This Torrin guy is a very smart man.

“Come sit down,” Torrin calls over to Rio as he places the pie next to my mountain of food. I think I even hear a hint of a chuckle in his voice. I turn, finding his bright hazel eyes meeting mine and shining with obvious amusement.Someone’senjoying my company at least.

Blatantly ignoring Torrin’s call, Rio folds his arms and moves further away until his back is pressed against the wall, stubbornly remaining standing. He glares at me like I killed his beloved kitten while I continue gorging myself on what were supposed to be his noodles.

Who knew petty could taste so damn good?

“We’d like to hear what you have to say, what it is you think we could help with, then we’ll make a decision,” Torrin says gently, closely watching the way I eat with some concern. Maybe he’s worried I’ll shovel down all of his dinner next?

“Then we’re taking a vote,” Rio adds with a little too much snark for my liking. Though I manage to resist sticking my tongue out at him as I place the mostly-empty container down for a moment.

“Okay. I need to find the man—the demon—who impregnated me. I’ve already tried tracking him down by myself. I went back to the hotel where we created this little problem, but they refused to give me any information, so I went to the club where we met. Weirdly, a lot of people I spoke to therehadmet someone called Ash, only apparently not the one I’m looking for. Not that they knew how to find the other Ash, anyway,” I explain, feeling all three of the guys’ attention fully on me and trying not to let it be distracting. Why is this suddenly so hard to put into sensical words?

“Basically,” I say slowly, forcing myself to continue despite my reservations. “I have no way to find or reach him; I barely know anything about the guy. Honestly, I don’t even know if he’ll want to help, but I don’t have anywhere else to turn in order to prevent this pregnancy from killing me. I can’t go to my coven for obvious reasons, and I can't exactly make too much noise searching for him myself because that’s more than a little suspicious. So, here I am risking my life to beg for your help in finding him. Please help me. I really don’t want to die at twenty-six.”

I swallow thickly after I finish speaking, finding it hard to look any of them in the eyes. I’m not even sure what it is I’m suddenly so afraid of. My possible imminent demise? Their judgement? Potential scorn? Or the three of them thinking I’m a complete fucking moron for not even knowing thespeciesof the man I got down and dirty with?

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