Page 51 of Demons of Eden

“It's not safe,” Ash argues, and I lift my brow.

“They’ve been here for me the whole time while I was trying to track you down. If they were a threat to me or my baby, I would already be dead. You think they’ve helped to keep me alive all this time just to turn on me now?” I can feel the heat in my cheeks rising as I stare down the incubus.

“No, I think their job is inherently dangerous and that it could put you in danger, Eden. I wasn’t insinuating that they themselves would harm you,” Ash explains, and my irritation decreases mildly.

“They would protect me,” I object, though I haven’t even agreed to stay here in the first place. I just really don't like him trying to tell me what to do.Who does he think he is?

“Even that one?” Ash nods to Rio as he and Torrin join us. Torrin sits beside Daion, while Rio takes up his usual corner, standing with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

“Rio?” I glance at him, taking in the way he’s scowling at me. “Yes,” I answer, deciding on it fairly easily. He might have tried to kill me that one time, but he’s definitely mellowed out a lot since then. He’s even tolerable now—mostly.

“Of course I would protect her. Implying I wouldn’t is offensive. I take my job seriously,” Rio snaps, going to standbeside the couch Torrin and Daion are sitting on. His arms are still crossed and his eyes still glaring, though now his irritation is entirely directed towards the incubus next to me.

Huh. Does Ash’s presence make mine suddenly more tolerable to him?

I might just keep him around for that alone. So long as he cuts the weird, controlling thing he’s currently trying to pull.

“See! Anyway, this conversation is irrelevant because I haven’t made my decision yet. A choice that is entirely up to me, and has nothing to do with you,” I inform Ash, making Torrin smirk like if I’ve already agreed to stay.

“Isn’t parenting a partnership?” the demon asks with a frown, honestly sounding quite confused by the concept. I get the feeling he hasn’t spent a lot of time considering the practicalities of raising children before now.

Not that I can really talk when it comes to being prepared for this…

“I guess,” I agree, not sure if I like where this is going.

“Yet you won’t hear my side or consider my worries for the safety ofourchild?”

“Well, when you say it like that, I really sound like an asshole.” I huff as I think about it a little. Hyper-independence may be my downfall today…is this really the hill I want to die on? I feel the mental equivalent of a shrug pass through my mind at the thought. To be honest, when the mood hits, I haven’t found a hill I’munwillingto die on.

“Tell you what, when this baby is no longer in my womb, I’ll consider your side. Until then, my body, my rules.” I scoot away from the demon, not wanting him plastered to my side right now, and glance over at the hunters.

“If she stays,” Ash starts speaking before I can ask them more questions about the offer, “I would like to ask that you allow meto stay here as well. If something happens, I can protect Eden while you three deal with whatever the problem is.”

“Over your dead body!” Rio snaps, and no one misses the word usage implying Ash’s death, rather than his own.

I wince. Ash doesn’t know that Rio is sensitive to the subject of demons. Succubi and incubi especially. I, however, can’t blame Rio for protesting, knowing what I do about his past. Now I’m wondering if I should say something, maybe offer up an alternative option?

“He has a good point,” Daion says gently before I can speak up.

Rio’s left eye twitches as he slowly turns to his brother. “New suggestion: we tie him up in the fucking basement and leave him there. Traitors can join him.”

Torrin snorts, his little brother’s biggest enabler. He clearly thinks this conversation is hilarious. Sadly, I don’t think Rio is joking. Not entirely.

“Woah, okay, everyone chill.” I hold my hands up, hoping to avoid this escalating into actual wrongful imprisonment of my incubus. He might have just annoyed me a little, but I don’t want him locked up for merely existing near Rio’s issues.

“How is Ash sleeping here all that different from him being here during the day?” Daion asks, and Rio’s jaw drops.

“How is it different!? How is it…” Rio trails off, frowning. “He’s…it’s because he’s…”

“A demon, yes. But how is the length of time or reason he’s here changing anything? If he was going to try something, he would just do it. His powers don’t require it to be nighttime.”

Damn, Daion is good at this Rio-wrangling thing. Although one could argue it’s different because the demon hunters are more vulnerable at night while sleeping, I'm hardly about to be the one to point it out. It’s not as if he has anything to be worriedover. I don’t think Ash is interested in using any ofthemfor a boost in energy.

“I’m putting extra warding on all of our rooms!” Rio snaps. “And hers! He can’t enteranyone’sspace without permission. And you two better fucking sleep with a demon-killing blade within reach. And-and…” Rio glares like he’s mentally grasping for another precaution to add to the list but is coming up frustratingly blank.

“We’ll all be fine.” Torrin stands, placing his hand on Rio’s shoulder. “If it makes you feel better, we can even set up extra alarms.”

“I would also just like to add that I have no intentions of harming any of you,” Ash says in a gentler tone, acting completely unoffended or fazed by Rio’s outburst.

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