If the drive home wasn’t uncomfortable enough, the silent animosity between Lance and Raum continued well after they arrived at Seth’s house. She wanted to lock herself in her room, but she worried that if she did, they’d end up tearing each other apart. She didn’t want to have to explain that to Seth, thought he might understand. Maybe.

Seth had been out of control tonight. She’d never seen him like that, and although they hadn’t know each other too terribly long, she’d seen him in more intense situations. Maybe it had something to do with Lance?

She thought on Raum’s command to Jason at the bar. One drop of Raum’s blood had Jason completely enthralled. She’d had much, much more of his blood. Like, a lot more. What did that mean for her? She needed to know, But she didn’t want to.

After her internal debate, she finally mustered enough courage. “Raum?”

He turned to her, he’d been staring into the darkness outside the bay window. Something caught her eye, silvery apparitions flickering around the tree. Ghosts. She shivered.

“Hmm?” he replied, turning his attention back to the spectral movement outside.

“Can I talk to you privately? While we wait for my brother and Seth?” she asked, trying to be quiet since she knew Lance was probably listening. She nodded out the window, “Are they always around?”

“They are attracted to me by their nature.” Raum looked over to Lance, who was messing with his cellphone. “Something in private?” he asked, glancing back to her.

“Yes, in private,” she reaffirmed.

Raum looked back outside the window, then slowly turned away. “I assume your room is sufficiently private? After you.”

Simone fled the living room, so ready to be away from the masculine tension filling the room. Lance didn’t look up, but she could still feel his attention like knives in her back.

Once Raum closed the door behind her she realized she didn’t actually want to be alone with him. He didn’t seem to mind, his body language neutral, or at least whatever constituted neutral for Raum. “Do you have anything to help suppress sound? Elves have very good hearing.”

Without getting too close to him, she walked over and turned on her white noise machine by the bed. Supernatural hearing was both a blessing and curse, especially when surrounded by neighbor, thus the white noise machine was essential for apartment living. The sounds of recorded rainfall filled the room. Raum looked at the machine curiously.

“It’s hard to sleep when you can hear everything your neighbors are doing. This helps,” she explained.

Raum nodded, watching her cautiously. “You wished to speak with me privately?” He positioned himself next to her window, his hand lifting the curtain so that he could look out into the darkness.

Stealing her courage, she sat on the edge of her bed. “What was that, Raum? You had him completely enthralled with just one drop of your blood and some words.”

He stared out the window long enough that she thought he was ignoring her. The curtain slipped through his fingers and fluttered gently back in place just as she was getting fed up with him. Turning away from the window he licked his lips, pulling those sharp teeth over the bottom one as he and avoided her stare.

“That is who I am, Simone. I am Legion. It is my calling to command spirits. I called his spirit with my blood, and bound it by oath. I know you understand the power of words.” He looked everywhere but at her.

“So, what, he’s yours forever? An automaton to do your bidding?” She feared the answer, and what it might mean for her. Her fingers tangled in her she watched him avoid looking at her.

“If I wished it so, he would be, until I released him. Even after his physical death, he would be mine, as I control his spirit. I, um, I gave him a very strong suggestion, stronger than I have done so before. The ones I control do not usually go that, ah, glassy. It will wear down to loyalty instead of, what did you call it, ‘an automaton to do my bidding’. Although,” he paused here, considering, “I have never bound one with so strong a command. He hurt you. I had no choice but to use force.” Raum bit his lip again, staring back out into the darkness through Simone’s window.

“Why do you care if he hurt me, Raum? You only care for yourself. Is it out of some type of misguided loyalty to Anri or something?” She paused here, but he didn’t even acknowledge her questions. “Fine. Whatever. Nevermind. But, what about me? What will happen to me? Could you do that to me? I’ve had so much more than a single drop. I can still feel your power humming through my veins. You’re in my head, Raum! Like high tension power lines, your power is buzzing, buzzing, buzzing in me. I feel so…good, amazing, and also scary. It makes it hard to not think about you.”

Raum went rigid. He took three breaths before he responded. “I would never do what I did to that boy to you. Never.” He spoke with an intensity she was not expecting.

“Why not, Raum? You’ve used your commands on me. Why not force me to say the words and become your puppet? Why haven’t you?” His blood in her veins, so close to its source, agitated her. She stood up, unable to sit still, her hands balled into fists.

He stood in the window, nearly a statue. “I would never,” he whispered. “I will never take your free will. You will never say the words to me. I would not allow it, and it would not be the same as that boy, even if I were to…”

“Why, Raum? I don’t understand you! You’ve used your words on me! We both know it!”

He sighed and dropped the curtain again, taking a step closer to her. “It is not the same.” He finally made eye contact with her. His eyes were all black.
“Why do your eyes go all black like that, Raum?” she asked, not actually expecting an answer. She rocked back and forth in time to the buzzing in her veins.

“Simone, you do not truly wish to know. I know that you hate me. Please, just know that I would never use my blood against you. I swear it. Daeva cannot lie.” Raum looked at her, and she could feel the weight of his eyes as a physical touch. She felt stirrings in her core and did her best to repress her misplaced desire for him.

He stood before her now, his tight black shirt and finely tailored pants framing his body to perfection. She longed to reach out and touch him, ached to feel the heat of his body against her hand even as she hated herself for being so weak. “Why not, Raum?” Her self hatred spiked as she recalled his thick, viscous blood coating her mouth so sweetly.

He sighed and took another step closer. His smell overwhelmed her and she stepped back, stumbling onto the bed. He leaned down above her, his hands on the bed on either side of her.

“I will never bind you, fox, because I treasure you for who you are. You will never be mine to command.” The intensity of his stare flared her desire, despite her efforts to suppress it. She attempted to shove it back inside and replace it with anger and frustration.

“How can I know that’s true, Raum?” She pushed at him, her hands touching his chest. It was so warm beneath her hands, and it sent a quick thrill through her veins. She shivered involuntarily. She needed to focus, and she needed him away from her. Now. “Back away, Raum.”

“Why, fox, should I back away?” he said, his voice husky.

“Why do you call me that, fox, like a pet name?” She instantly regretted the words, and shook her head, dismissing them as quickly as she’d said them. “Nevermind, I don’t care. You said you won’t bind me. Prove it.”

He smiled, his face way too close to hers. She longed to close the distance and feel his mouth around hers. She wondered if his teeth were as sharp as they looked. She didn’t have to wonder, though. Somewhere inside, she already knew. She shoved him harder and he took a step back, standing up straight. She took advantage of the distance and threw herself across the bed, putting it between them.

He’d been smiling at her flight, but it fell just as quickly, so fast she didn’t know if she’d actually seen it or not. “I cannot, fox. I cannot prove it in a way that you would find satisfactory,” he said. Why did he sound so sad when his face was so neutral

“What does that mean? You always say things like that don’t make any sense. You’re so freaking frustrating!”

Raum laughed without humor. “I know. I have been told that it is also my nature.”

She harrumphed. “What’s your nature? Being frustrating or speaking in riddles?”

“Both,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. She climbed off the other side, backing up against the dresser. Some of the chatchkes fell of over with small thumps, but she wouldn’t let herself be distracted.

“I need proof, Raum! I can’t be comfortable around you thinking that you could control me with a single word.” She was afraid, so why was she so aroused? Her desire for him began to overflow the well she’d been trying to keep it in. “Jesus, I can’t stand this. Do I feel this way because of your blood?”

“Hmm? How do you feel?” he said, his voice thick as honey. She tried hard to keep the ice in her heart from melting.

She wanted to stab him in the face, but she also wanted to make out with that face. “You know how I feel, you have to! I know you know. Don’t make me say it. Your blood drives me insane. I’m not normally like this!”

He leaned over her bed. “Like what, my fox? What are you normally like?”

“I don’t normally want someone…not like…” She stammered, trailing off, trying hard not to give away any higher ground she had.

He smiled, showing off his shark-like teeth. “No, my fox, my blood does not affect people to make them desire me in that way. In the way I can see you desire me. In the way I can smell it.” He breathed deep, his nostrils flaring. “You are not human, my blood will not affect you so strongly. Your heritage alone protects you from becoming a slave. You are yourself. Here and now, and for always. All I can do to you is suggest. I do not wish to control you, ever, and I could never fully enslave you, even if I chose to, because you are vampire.” His eyes were hooded as he crawled across her yellow and blue country comforter. It was absurd, him crawling over the bed like he was, contrasted by the colorful blanket, but it also had her knees weak with desire. Only Raum could make this sexy.

Her back pressed against the dresser, nowhere else for her to run. “No, it has to be your blood! I can’t…” she trailed off. He was already across the bed, swinging his legs off the bed. “Why, Raum? Why won’t you leave me alone?”

He reached out to touch her, but then pulled back as she flinched. His sigh sounded disappointed. “You could give me some of your blood, Simone. A single drop. That would give you some amount of control back. But,” he held up his hands between them, “you know what that would mean. You know what happens when vampires share blood with others. Blood is your life, and your soul. You know what that would mean. For you and I. For us. Is that what you want?” He met her eyes, challenging her, arrogant and haughty, but his were deep black wells. She turned away, or else she would have fallen into them.

“No, Raum. I can’t believe that these feelings aren’t from your blood. I won’t drink you again. I won’t. I swear it. And there has to be another way. Will it wear off? If I drink from others?” she asked, shaking her head, looking at everything but her.

“Not unless you drink more from another demon. Not even a Wren can save you from my blood at this point. I’m sorry, Simone. You did this, though. You started this,” he said.

“I fucking know, Raum,” she spat. “I know this is my fault! Goddamnit. Get out. Get out of my room! And, when we get Seth’s soul back, you get out of my fucking life.”

Her face was red, and she thought her eyes might be, too, unless they were still black. Her fangs itched in her gums. His face went cold, then he put on his mask, the stoic one he wore to hide what he was thinking. His hands dropped to his sides. He turned his back on her, and she refused to admit it nearly broke her heart. Three steps and he was to her door.

He looked back at her, standing in her threshold, nothing on his face, nothing at all. “As you wish, Simone. As you wish.” He bowed and left.

Simone waited for a moment, turned up the sound machine and cried on her bed. Something in her chest broke as the door clicking shut, and pain welled up until she couldn’t breath. She cried hard, gasping painfully, until her tears had worn out.

Sometime later she felt the pressure change, the tell-tale sign of Seth’s rift. She had to go back out there. She knew she did, but,  how was she supposed to face Raum after that? She should’ve waited until they’d finished this first, the stuff with Seth.

She took her time, and even then, Lance and Raum weren’t in any of the common rooms. As if her thinking about him summoned him there, Raum appeared in the living room, startling her with his stealth. He didn’t as much as glance at her, and the air around him felt practically electric. Trying to hide her surprise, and her irritation at his dismissal of her, she moved to the kitchen to find Lance watching videos on his phone. She swore he hadn’t been there a moment ago.

He looked up at her, a smug look on his face that she wanted to rip off with her fangs. “Have a nice talk?” he asked, and goddammit, how could someone be such an asshole?

“You always say the nicest things, don’t you?” No wonder you have so many friends. Oh, wait, it’s prolly just cause of all your money,” Simone said, wishing she’d thought of a better burn.

Raum laughed from the other room and Lance’s face bunched up in anger.

“I don’t need to buy my friends, thank you. Besides, anyone who can be bought can’t be trusted.” He returned to his phone.

Seth and Anri snuck up the steps a few minutes later, both with wet hair and smelling of soap, and a lot more relaxed than she’d seem either of them in the last few days, though in their defence, she’d been gone for most of that.

Anri stepped into kitchen and Simone gasped. “What happened to you?!”

Anri’s hand went to his throat reflexively. “Nothing,” he coughed, his hand covering the left side of his neck, which was mottled with purple bruises and an angry red half moon shaped scab. Seth blushed, looking down.

She stared at Anri, then at Seth, then back to Anri. Raum came into the room behind her, rolling in like a stormcloud. She was acutely aware of his presence, he’d made sure of it. “All better?” he asked.

Lance snorted. “More violence, Seth?”

Seth looked at him with venom. “Why, Lance? Why do you have to be like this? Do you know how frustrating it is? How nasty you’re being?” he demanded.

Lance’s face soured. “How do you want me to be, Seth? I don’t even know what this is!” he said, pointing to Anri’s neck. “At least this time you cleaned up. But, how am I supposed to accept this? This screams domestic violence.”

Seth shifted uncomfortably. “I’m so tired of this, Lance. I want you to be normal. Be cool. Treat Anri like he’s my boyfriend. He isn’t violent to me. I did this to him, and we both enjoyed it. That’s how it is. You have no room to judge me.”

Simone felt the blush rush to her face at Seth’s blatant admission. Anri’s face was bright red.

“Seth, you told me two days ago you were gay. And bonded to a vampire. This is a bit much to process, on top of the whole demon-snatched soul thing. I need to keep you safe! You’re out of your element here, and in way over your head. You’re living with two vamps and a freaking demon! Try to see it from my side,” Lance argued.

Seth rolled his eyes. “Should I try to see it from your side then? How about this. You’re supposedly my best friend in the whole world, who has been with me since we were children. Yet, I find out yesterday, after nearly twenty years of knowing you, that you’re an elf, and an elven prince on top of that!”

“I didn’t tell you that!” Lance said, then covered his mouth as he realized his folly.

“You’re right,” Seth agreed. “Simone told me! You still haven’t told me the truth. And now all this,” he waved his hand around the kitchen at everyone. “I can’t change what I have with Anri, and even if I could, I don’t want to. I want you to just be cool, be the Lance I’ve always known. Accept me, and I’ll accept you. Even if you are still lying to me about important stuff.”

“I, uh,” he stuttered. He looked down at his hands for a moment. “You’re…he’s…you guys just, oh fuck it. I promise, I’ll be on my best behavior.” He looked up at Seth, his face a mix of annoyance and platitude. Seth walked over to him.

“You’re being an ass, but that’s who you are. I guess that’s enough of an apology for now,” Seth said, appraising the seat at the messy kitchen table next to Lance. With a shake of his head, he stayed where he was. “You’re my best friend, Lance, for as long as I can remember, practically. I love you more than I love my real siblings, ya know? So, just stop being a ginormous, raging elf boner.” Seth punched him playfully on his shoulder.

Lance looked annoyed, then a huge smile broke out on his angular viking face. “You know how hard it is for this ginormous raging elf boner not to make a comment about your obvious romp, right?” Lance teased.

Seth slapped him playfully across the face and they both smiled. It seemed normal for the two, even though she didn’t actually know what normal looked like for them. She was at a loss about what just happened. Did they fight and make up? She had no idea.

“Next time you’re an ass, I will share details,” Seth threatened. He turned to Simone and Raum. Raum had somehow gotten close enough to her to touch while she watched Seth and Lance. She side stepped away from him as Seth said, “Let’s go into the dining room, we can get some things cleared up.”

They all moved into the dining room and Simone positioned herself on the opposite side of the table, as far away from Raum as she could get. He watched her until she looked back, meeting his gaze. He looked away when their eyes met.

“Sooooo, tonight has been exciting…” Lance began once they were all seated. Anri and Seth sat next to each other, as she expected. From their body language they seemed to be holding hands under the table. How cute was that?

The left side of Anri’s neck was a huge purple bruise. What had they done together to calm Seth down? Simone shook her head. She really didn’t want to know.

“So,” Anri asked no one in particular. “Sooo, what’s going on? Raum, care to finally fill us in?” He leaned on his elbow, propped up on the table.

“Let us begin,” Raum said, carefully looking at nobody in particular, “with Seth’s spirit and Vephar.”

“I’ve been feeling crazy and out of control today. Like I can’t control myself. Why? Is it because Vephar has my shoes? Is that why I can’t control myself?” Seth asked.

“They aren’t really shoes, Seth, but a piece of your soul, or your spirit. You just imagined them as your shoes. Normally, something that is a part of your spirit should not be severable in the spirit realm. Vephar, as a general of Legion, is powerful enough to shard your soul. There is a part of you that is missing, and it can throw the rest of you off balance.” Lance scratched his head and looked out into the darkness. “I shoulda taught you about dream-walking when I knew you had the potential. I just…I couldn’t tell you about it, cause then you’da asked questions and I wouldn’t have been able to answer them. And…well, you had to know a vampire first. I couldn’t have woken that skill in you anyway.”

“What’s that even mean?” Seth demanded.

“It means,” Anri said quietly, “that your ability to dreamwalk is a Wren thing. I’m assuming that, by ‘knowing a vampire’…ah…” he trailed off.

“I’m sure I’ve known other vampires, right? I mean, I would’ve had to have met other vampires at some point in my life, right? There are two in my class right now!” Seth insisted.

Lance coughed. “Ah…to know,” he fidgeted with his hands, looking away from everyone. “Intimately.”

Anri and Seth both blushed. It was cute, but they were quickly heading off topic. “That aside,” she said in an attempt to actually be productive, “who is Vephar and why would she want Seth’s spirit shoes?”

“Vephar is Daeva,” Raum said simply. “She is of Legion, as am I.”

She looked at him with as much annoyance as she could muster. “Care to explain a little more? Or answer the question?” she snapped.

He bit his lip. It caught her eye and that pesky lust sparked to life again as he worried the skin with his sexy sharp teeth. “You know that I am trying to do so. It is difficult for me to speak outright.”

“She is another demon, like Raum, who commands in Legion,” Lance filled in, rolling his eyes in Raum’s direction. “Legion can be complicated to explain. It is kind of a governing system that controls the Daeva realm, dividing territories between demon commanders. The Daeva realm is always at war, even when it is at peace. The commanders are Legion and are always being pitted after each other for some infraction or another. It is a land of chaos and war. And now he has brought it here.” Lance leaned across the table, taunting Raum. “Why is Vephar after you? It cannot be a coincidence that I was called home as you showed up here.”

Raum mirrored his posture, staring back at Lance with intensity. “Yes, it is no coincidence. Although I did not expect anyone to catch up with me yet. And definitely not Vephar. You know that Merihim will follow.”

Lance threw his hands up in the air. “Shit, Raum, what did you do?” Raum sat back in silence. “Oh, no, you didn’t. You didn’t! Fuck, Raum. What have you done?” Lance exclaimed animatedly.

“What?” Seth asked when no one spoke for a moment, looking around puzzled. “Care to tell us plebes here what’s going on? Why you both look like you’ve seen a ghost? Oh, well I guess Raum always sees them, but you guys are really making me nervous with all of the not-explaining you are doing,” he rambled.

Lance never looked away from Raum. He wasn’t really fidgeting, but she could see him squirm under the elf’s scrutiny. No one else seemed to notice. “Did you steal Marchosias Promise, Raum?”

“What’s Marchosias Promise?” she asked, looking over at Raum. They all looked at Raum.

For the first time since she had met him he looked uncomfortable. “I did,” he admitted quietly.

“Great, now, why do we care?” Anri prodded.

Lance stared daggers at Raum. He shifted uncomfortably, coughed, then said, “Marchosias Promise is a gem that all of Legion are required to feed power into once per annum, filling it until it is full. It holds the power to grant one wish every 1200 years. This year. It will grant one wish, sometime during the next annum. Any wish. Any desire. The most current holder of Marchosias Promise desired to realign the realms. That is a desire which should not be permitted to become reality.” Raum tensed and Simone could practically feel his unease.

“You stole it from Furcifer!”

“It was not for him to begin, I merely…liberated it,” Raum said uneasily.

“That’s why my realm is crawling with Daeva spies!” Lance exclaimed. “Looking for Marchosias Promise. Looking for you! I knew it could not be a coincidence that one of the strongest generals of Legion was in the human realm. How Raum, how did you escape? Where did you hide it?” Lance demanded, vacillating between fascination and anger.

“Carefully. I have planned this for nearly thirty years. Since I was old enough to know that combining the realms together would only bring disaster. It has been the plan for my whole life, Lancastor. I have planned for the moment when I would steal Marchosias Promise and escape to the human realm. I began training for it from my fifth birthday. I had hoped to hide it before chase was given. I was unable to properly plan for the time after I was summoned, as I have never been to this realm,” Raum explained. It was the most information that he had ever given up at once. He shivered, only a slight movement that was missed by everyone else, but Simone couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

Anri looked thoughtful. “You set Angelina up. You tricked her, somehow, into summoning you,” he said with surety.

Raum appraised Anri with a look that was almost respect, then nodded. “I did. She was an ambitious, selfish creature with a lot of potential and too much pride. She was easy to deceive. I am sorry for the ancillary damage that was done to you and yours, but this is more important than a few people.” Raum looked down at the table. The muscles in his arms bunched up under the tight sleeves of his shirt.

“What happens, Raum, if Furcifer gets Marchosias Promise?” she asked quietly. The silence in the room felt incredibly heavy.

“He plans to use it to restitch all of the realms back into a single one. Not to sound overly dramatic, but it will mean the end of all of our realms as we know them. He plans to use Legion to subjugate and rule all of the realms once they are combined. The demon realm, Simone, is not a nice place. It must remain contained.” Raum said with conviction.

“You planned all of this? You stole this thing, the so-and-so’s Promise, which I will assume was heavily protected, tricked Anri’s ex-girlfriend into summoning you here and sent her back in your stead, and planned on hiding it in our realm? How did you plan that all, Raum?” Seth asked, awed.

“Thirty years of planning and training, Seth. Daeva, like other supernaturals, live longer life spans than humans. My father, the antecedent Raum, began training me for this moment from my fifth birthday.”

They all sat in the heavy silence, digesting everything that had been said.

“One realm?” Anri asked. “They all used to be one realm?”

Lance and Raum’s eyes met over the table. Lance took a deep breath, sighed, then said, “That’s the story. It makes sense, as some of our histories overlap. But, no one knows for certain…”

“It is true. There are records. Prophecies. Why it was shattered? No one knows. I know that I do not wish for them to be reconnected,” Raum insisted.

Simone didn’t know the right questions to ask, where to even begin with that. It all seemed so much bigger than them.

“So,” she finally said, deciding to focus on the problems at hand, “What do we do next? How do we get Seth’s soul back from Vephar? And, you mentioned Merihim? Another demon we should expect?”

Lance jumped in, “Vephar and Merihim are like siblings, demons of pestilence and plague. They command together. Where one is, the other is sure to be nearby. The thing is, why did they target Seth? They couldn’t possibly know about Seth’s involvement with you.” Lance addressed the last part to Raum.

“Raum,” Anri asked, his head tilted to the side, “what happened to Angelina when she went through your summoning symbol?”

Raum frowned, understanding Anri’s question. “She returned in my stead to the realm of Daeva.”

“And…” Anri lead.

“And she was more than likely captured by Furcifer. Vephar and Merihim are loyal to him,” Raum said after a moment.

“So, he knows. He knows because Angelina knows. She is a prideful, power hungry idiot. Fuck,” Anri said, running his hands through his hair how he did when he was frustrated. “How do we get Seth’s soul shoes back?” He looked so worried, so stressed that it hurt her.

“I do not know,” Raum admitted. Anri’s face fell. She had truly expected that Raum would somehow have a plan for this. He looked beaten. The pain in her chest doubled as she watched him agonize over the predicament he had created. She could read his frustration at what he felt were his own failures. Was it because of his demon blood inside of her that she could tell? She watched him, the subtle movements of his body, the way his chest rose and fell with each breath, the guilt that ate at him as he spoke in half truths.

“We could ask my mother,” Lance offered hesitantly. Raum stiffened.

“What?” Seth asked defensively. “Lance’s mom is really nice.” He looked between the two of them, confused.

“You, ah, Seth, haven’t met my mother when she wasn’t acting the role of the perfect American housewife. It’s a game for her. My mother is truly Tytania, Queen of the Fey. She does nothing for free. Gives nothing for free.”

“But, you’re her son!” Seth exclaimed. “She would help us, she would do it for you, surely.”

“Nothing for free, not even for me,” Lance said firmly, shaking his head slowly.

“I cannot afford any price she asks of me. I know what she will ask. I cannot give it to her. No. My apologies, Lancastor, but we do not appeal to the realm of Fey for assistance,” Raum said decidedly. Lance exhaled loudly, relaxing, very obviously relieved.

“Then who?” he wondered aloud.

“Gremory,” Raum said heavily. Lance hissed.

“Who’s Gremory?” Seth asked. He and Anri looked around the table. Lance and Raum made it a point to look at nothing. They both looked at her. She shrugged. All of this was a bit much to take in.

“But…Gremory, ah, doesn’t like men…” Lance trailed off.

“She doesn’t like men?” she repeated it as a question. “Who’s Gremory?” she asked again.

“Another demon,” Seth guessed. Lance nodded. “A demon who only talks to women.”

“And, how will Gremory help us?” Simone directed the question to towards Raum.

Raum sighed. “This is not going to be pleasant. Gremory knows all that has happened and all that will happen. And…as such, she is not in fully touch with the current reality.”

Lance barked a harsh laugh. “He means she is batshit crazy. Crazy cat lady crazy. Mad hatter crazy.”

“And,” Simone said, staring at Raum, “How do we find her? Can I just call her on the phone?”

Lance and Raum looked at each other, then back to her. “We must summon her. It is, um…less traditional than other Daeva. She is not like others of Legion.” Raum bit his lip again. Not a good sign. He bit his lip when he had to say something to conceal within his half truths.

“Just spit it out, Raum. What else are you not saying?” she demanded tiredly. His shoulders twitched just a smidgen.

“We will request a summons. We cannot summon her. None of us is a witch. And…well, she generally kills those who attempt to summon her.”

“Get your new pet witch’s apprentice back here and we will summon her,” Anri demanded. “How will she help us get Seth’s soul shoes back?”

“She will tell us what to do get it back,” Simone guessed. “Since she can tell the future.”

Raum nodded at her.

“How do we keep her from killing us? You just said she would kill us if we summoned her,” Lance noted coolly.

Raum looked at her, hiding his frustration just under his calm demeanor. “What now?” She said, exasperated.

“She and I are not on…the best of terms,” he said. He bit his lip again, drawing her eye to his attractive mouth. “She will kill him, too, if we use him to summon her. She does not prefer summons the way Anri’s witch summoned me.”

He was hiding something.

“My witch!?” Anri said, offended. She ignored his outburst, focusing on Raum.

“Out with it, Raum, whatever you aren’t saying,” she demanded, unable to let it go. He looked at her in shock. She seemed to be the only one who noticed it. “You’re hiding something else.”

He cringed and she swallowed her guilt down. “She and I were…betrothed. It did not, we did not, ah, she does not like men. I did not provide much reason for her to change her mind,” Raum struggled to say.

Lance laughed out loud. “You are betrothed to Gremory? She’s like fifty years older than you, at least! This is rich.” No one else seemed to find it humorous.

“Was betrothed. She and I, ah, mutually concluded that we were not compatible,” Raum said quietly. He watched Simone through hooded eyes until he realized she was watching him. He looked back down at the table.

“What is up with everyone and their freaking ex’s? Why do all the men in my life have crazy ex-girlfriends?!” she snapped, the tension of the evening wearing down her patience. Anri blushed and Raum studied the table.

Seth leaned over and pressed his shoulder into Anri’s side. Anri smiled at him shyly, then realized Simone was looking at them. His face turned into a serious, sort of frowny face.

“Whatever. So, how do we summon Gremory without having her kill us? She sounds absolutely wonderful. Is there really no other way?” She was going to keep the group focused so they accomplished something. She had to get this night back on track.

They all looked at Raum. Even Lance. “What?” he said, shrugging his wide shoulders.

“You were engaged to her. You don’t know how to contact her?” Lance nettled him.

“I really do not know how to summon her,” Raum insisted. “I try not to keep up with my past relationships. Ex-demon fiancees are not exactly forgiving.” Raum shifted in his seat, turning away from her scrutiny.

“I think that this counts as extenuating circumstances…” Seth said. “You didn’t say that you didn’t know how to contact her, just that you don’t know how to summon her. Contact her. Maybe we don’t need to summon her. That might help with the ‘her not killing us’ part.”

Raum stiffened, then sighed. “You are a fair hand at demon politics, Seth. I will send a spirit.”

They all continued to stare at him. And stare some more as he sat there, trying to look nonchalant. Lance coughed into his hand and Raum’s eyebrows rose. “What?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “You’ll send a spirit when?”

“You wanted me to do it now?” he asked incredulously.

“Obviously,” Seth insisted. “You know, my soul and all that jazz? Not being able to control myself and acting like a fool? You know, I haven’t asked yet, but what happens to me if I never get my shoes back? Am I okay without that small piece? Or…” Seth trailed off as Lance stared daggers at Raum.

Raum sighed. “Fine. I will send it now.”

She snorted at his attitude. “Why are you being extra shifty about contacting Gremory? Did you guys have a really bad breakup or something?”

Raum looked like someone dropped ice down his back. “I am not being ‘extra shifty’! She…I do not wish to have her attentions back on me. She is very…intense. And, perhaps she might not feel particularly inclined to help me. You know…because of…”

Simone stared him down. He shifted in his seat under her glare. “You are afraid of your ex-fiancee! Admit it, Raum.” She couldn’t help herself. She knew she shouldn’t pick on him, but the way he squirmed made her want to do it even more.

“I am not afraid of Gremory. I am sending a spirit now,” he said too loudly. He threw his hand out, his fingers moving as if he were spelling something in sign language. Then he closed his hand so that only one finger was out, the rest balled into a fist. “I am not afraid of her,” he reiterated, more quietly.

The room grew colder almost instantly. Simone saw something white streak by, arrow fast. It corkscrewed around Raum’s fingers, then it landed, perched on his finger. A small white bird, the size of a sparrow flickered like staticy reception on an old tv.

Raum brought his finger close to his face and breathed out words that were not words, spoken so quiet that Simone couldn’t hear them. The intimacy of his gesture to the small spectral bird sparked jealousy within her.

The bird flew off through the window and Raum replaced his hands on the table. He sat back in his chair smugly.

“Um, so,” Seth began, “you know, that question about my spirit and if I don’t get it back, I didn’t mean that hypothetically.”

Lance shifted in his seat. Raum looked at Lance as if telling him it was his turn to do the dirty work.

Lance scowled at the demon as he began speaking. “You can live without that small a piece of your soul. You will always feel like you are missing something, and you won’t be…stable. Also, as long as she has it, she can track you. It is tied to you. Unless, of course, she eats it.”

“What the! She can eat my soul? LIke, ‘I’ll swallow your soul!’ kind of eating my soul? What happens then!?” Seth stood up, his voice too loud in the small space. Anri reached over and put his arm on Seth’s. He sat down but he did not calm down. He was coiled too tightly. Simone could feel the tension and anxiety pouring off of him and it made her ancy. She shifted, and she saw Lance do the same. Raum sat stockstill.

“She won’t eat just a small piece. She would not be able to track you if she did. She would wait until she can collect the whole meal,” Raum said neutrally. The way he said it seemed cold but Simone could tell he was trying not to react or show that he was truly concerned.

She was not going to feel bad for him. She was not.

Seth stood up again. He and Anri both started yelling at the same time. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?!” “What is wrong with you, Raum?!”

Raum’s face went emotionless. Anri and Seth practiced seething in syncopation.

Simone’s phone vibrated and she jumped. Then the music started. It was a ringtone she had never heard before. Seth’s phone followed suite, then Anri’s, and then Lance’s. Simone heard her computer chiming in from the other room. All with the same music, cacophonous as the devices were unsynced. Peppy music, up beats with sharp snares, staccato horns, piccolos and oompah-bass rising and falling in 2/4 time.

Immediately she smelled kettle corn and cotton candy. Horses, their painted and varnished wooden hair permanently thrown by the wind, looks of fury, rage, desire and fear locked on their faces dance in circles inside her head.

“Carousel music?” Seth asked, confused. His anger fizzled out as he pulled out his phone. Lance and Anri did the same.

Raum groaned loudly. Simone glanced at him as she dug her phone out of her pocket. He looked completely miserable. The urge to go over to him and comfort him welled up inside her. No, she didn’t care. Why should she comfort him? Let him be miserable. She looked down at her phone, trying to distract herself from feeling anything at all for Raum.

Her phone screen was already on without her touching it, flashing brightly in patterns of red, yellow, blue and white. Lance, Anri and Seth’s phones were all the same, brightly flashing and screaming out carousel music as loud as the speakers would go. Simone muted her phone but it did nothing to reduce the sound.

“What’s going on?” Anri tried to shout over the music.

Text scrolled across her phone. A picture of a big top tent flashed behind it. CARNIVAL! RIDE THE CAROUSEL! SEE THE PONIES! AMAZING WONDERS TO BEHOLD! FORTUNE TELLING AND PROPHECY BY THE AMAZING YROMERG! The tent disappeared and was replaced with a video of a carousel twirling around much too quickly. It was empty of riders, the horses forever chasing, but never catching one another.

SATURDAY ONLY FREE ADMISSION FOR SIMONE NICOLETTA ROUSSEAU-LADIES NIGHT! BRING YOUR FRIENDS! The words flashed across her screen and the whole message began again, the song restarting.

Simone threw her phone down on the table as if it had bitten her and covered her ears. The music was getting louder as the message played through again. Raum reached across the table and took Anri’s phone, who was seated the closest to him, from his hands. Anri shot him an angry look, then too covered his ears with his hands. The music was getting louder each time it played through.

Seth looked up from his phone, confusion painted strongly across his features.

“How do we turn this off?” Lance yelled over the ruckus. Raum watched the video start for a third time. “It won’t stop!”

Simone looked down at her phone as the last words SIMONE NICOLETTA ROUSSEAU-LADIES NIGHT! BRING YOUR FRIENDS! blinked obnoxiously across the screen. The screen turned black and the music died. The sudden silence was startling. Bile rose in her throat.

“What the fuck. My name. It said my name.” She took a deep breath. She would not freak out. There was a logical explanation for this. “Did it say your names?”

They all looked at her. Everyone looked shaken except for Raum, who looked panicked. “Did it say my name on all of your phones?” Please let them not have said her name like a personalized freak-o-gram.

Anri spoke too loudly. “Your name. It said your name.” Seth nodded, confirming.

Simone’s ears were ringing and her head felt too light. Her heart hammered in her chest, anxiety blossoming into fear. Her phone vibrated again and she tensed, ready to throw the phone across the room if it did anything else creepy. Instead the bleep-bloop noise of a new email chimed and the little notification light began to blink.

Simone picked up the phone as if it were contaminated. She flicked a finger across the top of the phone, trying her best not to touch it more than she had to to unlocked it. One new message. Simone looked up. Everyone else watched her expectantly. No one said a word. She didn’t want to open this email but she had to, she felt a strong compulsion to do it. Time seemed to stop as they all lean in, watching as she opened her email.

One unchecked message. The title read SIMONE NICOLETTA ROUSSEAU, YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE CARNIVAL. Simone threw her phone down. It slid, spinning, across the table, stopping in front of Raum.

He picked it up. The screen was still lit up. He touched the screen and the same music played more tinnily and much quieter. He read the phone for a moment.

“What!” Lance said too loudly. He continued in a loud whisper, “What’s it say?”

“It’s directions,” Raum said simply.

“For the carnival?” Anri said quizzically. “What is going on?”

“You told me to contact Gremory,” Raum said, his tone insinuating he warned them all about this. “She has accepted the request. I warned you she had a flare for the dramatic. Though,” he mused, biting his lip, “This song must mean something.”

“The carousel music?” Seth asked.

“The song is titled ‘The Lance and the Sword’. She did not choose it carelessly. I think it is her attempt at making a joke.” Raum’s shoulders were stiff. He sat ramrod straight in his chair. Simone could feel the tension in his shoulders. She flexed her fingers. They ached to massage the stress from his muscles.

“The Lance and the Sword?” Lance asked, incredulous. “Did you tell her I was involved, Sigaliansadine?” He looked at Raum with animosity.

“Of course I did not. I only requested a way to contact her, nothing more. She knows all, past and future, Lancastor, though she cannot often tell the difference. Obviously she knew to expect you as well. She did invite us all. ‘Bring your friends’,” he remarked dryly.

The screen on her phone went black. They all sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments.

“What now?” Seth finally asked.

“We follow the directions on Saturday, I’d imagine,” she said bitterly. A shiver went down her spine. “We started this. We need to finish it, and we need to get Sethy’s soul back. But now…I, for one, am done with creepy shit for the night. I’d like to go to bed.”

She stood and Lance scooted in to let her past as she edged her way to the door. Raum stood up, palming her phone in one slick move, followed her from the room. She almost protested. The words for him to sit down and leave her alone died on her lips, though, at the thought of being alone in an unfamiliar room after everything that had just happened.

Raum stopped in the doorway to her room in Seth’s house, hovering just outside the threshold. He didn’t cross over and she almost closed the door on him. As much as she had to remind herself that she didn’t want to be alone with Raum, actually being alone sounded even worse. Gremory’s personalized message on their phones had her really upset.

Raum seemed to sense it, too. “May I come in?” he asked gently.

She hesitated only for a second, sighed, then nodded. He came in and closed the door behind him quietly.

He moved around her, careful not to make contact. He seated himself in a rather uncomfortable looking antique chair nestled between the bed and the window. It was lemony-yellow with a scalloped back and carved wooden arms. The chair was dwarfed by Raum’s size and she couldn’t help but laugh. He looked up at her in mild confusion.

“You look ridiculous in that chair,” she replied to his unspoken question. He looked at the chair and smiled, running his fingers over the carved wooden arms. Simone shivered as she imagined his fingers running over her skin. Imagined how warm they would be. Imagined how nice those calloused fingers would feel against her smooth…no, she had to stop thinking about that.

“It is a nice chair. It has history,” he said softly, his fingers fondling the warm wooden arms. Simone could feel the stroking of his fingers as if they were directly on her arms. A prickle of desire bloom in her belly. He looked at her, his alien looking eyes locked on hers, and continued to sensually stroke the arms of the chair. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and he smiled with the corner of his mouth.

Of course he was amused by her discomfort. Anger replaced the bud of desire and she turned harshly from him.

She jumped into bed without even changing, leaving the overhead light on. She pulled the covers up over her head and faced away from Raum. Her anger drained quickly, replaced by fright. She could still hear Gremory’s song like an earworm in her head, playing on repeat. She shivered even though she was not cold, unsure as to why it was making her so upset, but she couldn’t shake the panicky fear that gripped her mind. When she closed her eyes, she could still see her name flashing across her phone, and then other things. Darkened circus tents and evil clowns. She cursed her overactive imagination.

Raum shifted, reminding her that he was still in the room. She thought she could feel his eyes on her back through the country-patterned comforter. She was so tired, but she was afraid to sleep. Afraid to know what her fear filled mind would torture her with as she slept. Despite how tired she was, she couldn’t sleep.

Simone began to tremble, and then the dam broke that she had been holding her emotion behind. She started to shiver and tremble. Every noise had her squirming deeper beneath the heavy blanket.

“Raum?” she asked after a few nerve wracking moments.

“Hmm?” he hummed wordlessly.

“Would you…stay here for now?” she asked, ashamed. It killed her that she needed something from him. The more she tried to relax the more ancy she got. Somehow knowing Raum was there was comforting. As much as he drove her crazy, she trusted him. Part of her was angry that she trusted him, but she could trust him, she knew it instinctively.

“Mm-hmm,” he replied, shifting in the small yellow chair. It creaked and groaned as if begging for mercy from his bulk.

She gulped another deep breath before she forced herself to ask for what she really wanted. “Could you…” she began. She couldn’t say it out loud. Shame and self hatred filled her gut.

Raum shifted again, hesitating before he responded. “Calm, Simone,” Raum said, gentle command in his voice. He said her name, though, reverently and soft. It made her heart melt, just a little. As he said the words she felt her jitters melt away, just like that. For once, she was grateful for this ability. She would never admit it to him. Not in a million years. She relaxed, sighing in relief.

She might never admit it, but she still had manners. “Thank you, Raum,” she said thickly, exhaustion replacing all of her other emotions.

Raum shifted in the chair and it creaked in protest of his bulk. Simone threw her arm out from under the comforter without turning around, patting the bed behind her.

Nothing happened, and then she heard the chair creak louder as he pushed himself out. The bedsprings groaned as he slid onto the mattress. The bed shifted under his weight as he scooted onto it, next to her above the covers.

She snuggled deeper under the covers, drifting off to sleep as Raum settled onto the bed, his back against the headboard. The closer he was, the more calm she felt. She was barely awake by the time he was comfortable. She wiggled again, barely aware of her actions, until her back touched him through the blanket.

“Goodnight, my fox,” she thought she heard him whisper as she lost consciousness.

Demonbound Chapter 11, An Itch Under The Skin

Demonbound Chapter 13: As Honest as I Dare to Be