Page 10 of Unleashing Mayhem
Matteo hesitated for only one more moment, then pushed his arm into the circle, fabric still clenched between his fingers.
Nightmare took hold of that small, slight hand, dislodging the fabric from its tense grip. He folded the sleeve over once, then over again, revealing bare, unblemished skin to his gaze. He ran his talons over his summoner’s fingers, delicate things with knobby knuckles.
Matteo shivered, little goose pimples rising on his wrist.
Nightmare chose the fleshy pad at the base of Matteo’s thumb for his purpose. He raised Matteo’s hand to his mouth and bit, letting warm drops of blood fill his mouth.
For all his fear of shadows and noises, Matteo didn’t flinch at the bite, nor did a whimper pass his lips. He met Nightmare’s gaze squarely, those big dark eyes deep and fathomless. Andwhen Nightmare released him, the summoning circle dissolving around him, Matteo drew his arm back slowly and let the softest, sweetest, “Thank you,” fall from his lips.
And then he dropped to the floor.
4
Matty
Matty had a demon in his living room, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with him.
He’d woken up from what he assumed was a dead faint all tucked into his blankets on the couch. And for one horrifying moment, Matty had thought maybe the entire summoning had been a dream.
Except Matty didn’t have good dreams anymore, and finally gathering the courage to summon a demon protector definitely would have counted as a good dream.
What he’dhadin recent months was a dream protector. One who had never once spoken to Matty. He would just appear in all his terrifying glory—the strange white skull and elongated limbs—and keep the other monsters at bay until Matty awoke.
Matty had thought it was something his mind had invented to protect itself. He’d been kind of proud of his brain for its efforts.
But the reality was so. Much. Better.
Because after the shock of waking up on the couch and worrying he’d imagined it all, Matty had finally seen him. The demon Sarkaron, standing stock-still among the shadows in the far corner. Watching Matty.
Had the nightmare demon carried Matty to the couch? Tucked him in with his slender, taloned fingers?
How strange it was that they already knew each other, in a vague, surreal sort of way.
What a cool coincidence.
And now they were kind of just staring at each other, each of them taking the other in.
Matty supposed Sarkaron might be considered kind of scary-looking, even without the skull. He was almost as tall as Kai in his demon form, some few inches short of seven feet, maybe. And that wasn’t including the branching black antlers he was rocking. But unlike Kai’s muscled physique, Sarkaron was slender, with dark-gray skin that blended in with the dark shadows that seemed to twist and wind around him whenever they were given the chance.
His face was severe, with sharp cheekbones and all-white eyes that shifted between flat and glowing. He had long silver-white hair and thin lips covering sharp, jagged teeth.
Matty thought he was beautiful.
A demon. A real demon. And he was Matty’s. At least for now. At least until…
But no, Matty didn’t want to think about the terms of his bargain. What Sarkaron had pushed him into saying out loud. Matty couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to be so vicious, even verbally. That wasn’t him, that kind of violence. Or he didn’t think it was.
Maybe it was what they’d made him into.
Anyway, they were still having an epic face-off, Matty on the couch and Sarkaron lurking in the corner. The demon seemed tobe the naturally quiet type; he hadn’t spoken a word since Matty had woken up. Which was fine because it meant Matty got to look his fill and feel weirdly unembarrassed by it.
Sarkaron’s clothing was black and layered and hard to distinguish as any specific style. Maybe some kind of linen? And he had really long, thin fingers, blackened at the tips and ending in sharp talons. As Matty stared at them, they clenched into fists.
Did that hurt, with the talons?
Oh. Maybe Mattywasbeing rude. Maybe he was making his demon feel unwelcome, studying him like this. He should make conversation like a normal person, instead of creeping like a…creep.
Matty cleared his throat. “Do you—do you have a human form?” he asked.
