Page 48 of My Demon Assistant

"You know what I mean," she grumbled, making my grin widen.

"I don't think so."

"Shut up, ex of mine."

I laughed, and hoped Eshim would be back soon. I missed my sweet demon.

Eighteen

Eshim

It'dbeenafewmonths since all of us were in one place. Even Azazel was here, and he wasn't even directly involved in the mission, though it was clear from his presence he intended to be now.

Azazel had been summoned by a human who stumbled upon an actual demon-summoning spell. Those hadn't been used in decades, but somehow Azazel's college-going human had found one and decided to try it out. I didn't think he'd expected an actual demon to show up, but the two had been together for more than a year now.

Ryk, Star, and Nico were there too, and so was Ten. They were the only other demons—other than Fressia and Lux, of course—who had human mates. We'd all found our mates one by one, and it made me wonder if Fate had a list of all demons and was crossing names off one by one.

The only other demons who already had mates were Elva and Kali, but they were mated to each other. The rest of them were still single, though I had a feeling some of them were hooking up with each other.

Arnick had been dating a human, though I didn't know if the human was his mate or not. They'd started dating before Kym removed the spell stopping us from recognizing our mates, and I hadn't really talked to him since.

"Hello, everyone!" King Damien, the king of Otherworld, said in a loud voice that carried over the chatter, and everyone stopped talking. King Damien had been well chosen for his role, and had an air of authority you couldn't help bowing down to, though he rarely used it. "Thank you for coming. If you'd prefer to take your true form, feel free to. It's been a while since you went to the human realm, so I thought we could get together and see what everyone has learned so far. The sooner we get these dark souls back into the Chasm, the better."

"Uh, will we have to move back to the demon realm once that's done?" Ryk asked the question that was on the mind of every newly mated demon, and King Damien smiled, though it was Consort Reece, his mate, who answered.

"Not at all, Ryk. Once the dark souls and Mammon are returned to Otherworld, you'll be free to do as you please. If you'd like to end your summoning contract with us and move to Afterworld or return to the demon realm, you can do that. If you'd like to stay in the human realm, you can do that too."

"Our mates," Ten said, a frown on his face, "they'll keep getting old, right? Since we aren't 'alive,' we can't share our life spans with them the way supernatural beings can."

King Damien gave him a sad smile. "That's true. You can spend their human lives with them, and when they die, you can bring them to Otherworld. At that point, you can continue living together here, or move on to Afterworld together. Whatever you decide, you won't be apart at any point."

The ache in my chest at the thought of watching Jerry grow old lessened a little at that. At least I'd be right there with him. With my magic, I could make my human form appear to age with him, so I'd never have to leave his side.

"Now, why don't you all take a seat, and we can get started."

Chairs were scattered around the room in an organized mess, and I was glad the king didn't expect us to sit around a table like responsible adults. Ryk would climb out of his skin with boredom.

Other than the king and his two mates, Maximus was there as well. He was the chief of a team of soul collectors whose job it was to make sure supernatural beings in the human world followed the big rule: don't reveal yourself to humans.

His team was also responsible for capturing the dark souls and Mammon. While we were the shoes on the ground because it was easier for us to blend in, we were only required to gather information and keep the humans safe. The actual fighting and capturing would be Maximus and his team's job.

"Over the last few months, the dark souls and Mammon have moved around a lot," King Damien said as Consort Reece waved a hand at the wall before us, turning it into a map of North America. Shooting him a smile, the king continued, "They were spotted here first, by Star," he said, pointing toward the top left side of the map. For some reason, the map wasn't labeled, and I had shit memory when it came to human world geography. I did know that was where Ryk and his mates lived, though. I knew where every demon lived; all of us did. Except where Mammon was, of course. That would make our jobs too easy.

"We couldn't capture them then, and they disappeared for a while before reappearing here," King Damien said, his hand moving a little lower as he pointed out the town Fressia, Lux, and I lived in. "It was one of the few places we searched based on an estimation of which direction they were headed in, and while we didn't find them, we did find the victims they'd murdered, which also revealed to us that their plans once again include the use of black magic."

"They murdered a lot of supes," Lux said with a frown, and I patted his arm. None of us had been able to stop that, but I was determined to make sure we caught them as quickly as possible.

"They did, and it is why they must be caught before they fulfill whatever plan it is they're building toward. After killing those supes, they disappeared again until Fressia and Eshim tracked them down."

"More like stumbled upon them when we were far too unprepared," Fressia said, and I winced, remembering the way that dark soul had ripped into me. If it wasn't for Reece, I'd have booked a one-way ticket straight to Afterworld.

"Yes. You should've stepped back and called for backup as soon as you knew they were there," the king said, his lips turning down in a frown. "Still, you two are the only ones who got close enough to talk to them. Did they say anything noteworthy?"

"They were talking about using my blood," I recalled, then made a face. "I'm guessing for whatever dark magic they're trying to cook up. The one thing I did notice—Mammon didn't do anything to me. He kept me from using my magic, but the dark soul was the only one who hurt me."

"You think he's still in there? Our Mammon?" Ryk asked hopefully, and I sighed.

"I really don't know, but I hope so."

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