Demon Turned Lover [BxB]

Hibiscus

"Thank you." I took a sip of the ruby red liquid, placing my feet on the grey rug. The cranberry-like flavour put down roots on my tongue as did the image of the apartment. Although it was small and had only one bedroom, the two siblings seemed to manage. A large flatscreen was mounted on the wall beside us, peering down at the walnut coffee table but level with the opposing three white windows—taking up the only lilac wall. Light adorned the wooden floors as the grey curtains blew.

I sighed, and strings of emotion knotted in my core. I had trammelled them with my broken heart. "I'm sorry if I'm a burden to you two..."

A frown tugged at the corners of both their lips.

"You're not a burden..."

"We like having you here Luka," Victor chimed in. "Ri focuses on something other than her shitty paintings."

The woman glared at him as a billow of colour hit her, like her face had turned to a canvas.

"They're not bad at all. I actually like her style of art." I swigged the red tea.

Her amber eyes sheered on mine. "You...do?"

I nodded, my compliment awarded with a grimace from Victor.

"You guys make me sick, I'm going to get a snack," he announced, rising breezily and striding to the grey kitchen, Loki deserting the bed to escort him.

I stationed the beige cup on the oval table—next to my lonely phone—before Marie's hand reached for my wrist. Immediately did our gaze snatch one another, as though a magnetism danced in the air.

"I'm sorry...um, may I feel your arm?"

Made mystified, but curious, I smiled. "Sure."

Her inquiring fingers began at the black eyes on my wrist, stroking the curved lines. "Are these...for your powers?"

"They are. I can use them for many things."

"They feel warm," the woman murmured, and rubbed it once more as farewell. They crawled down my forearm whilst my eyes polished over her mauve nails. She must really like purple. Marie gasped quietly, "Your skin is so soft..."

Her hands flew to my face, but quickly stopped as realisation glimmered in her eyes. "Can I?..."

I nodded, grinning. I found her fascination rather endearing. No one had ever touched my skin with such hunger to disentangle.

My face melded with the sheepish touch of her hands, fingers splaying over my jaw. They skimmed across, as though wary of peril. I wasn't quite surprised. Marie's aura presented her as a nervous being, but that was how I knew her core was pure—despite the knots with Azuth. Something filled her amber eyes, a potion of merry fulfilment. "Your face feels like...when the sun shines on a bitter winter's day..."

I was a bit taken aback—such a description it was. It left a jumble in my stomach as I essayed to pick at her words with a fork.

"It feels like...mercy." Her hands dropped when her gaze did, and I could feel the heart-wrenching pain her skin shed. Guilt clouded the clearness of her eyes. The type of guilt you felt after hurting someone. The guilt I never saw in Mammon's eyes.

Marie managed a smile, "Can you tell me, um, what Heaven is like?"

"Heaven?" Victor interjected as he threw a blue packet of crisps at me, his other hand busy with a slice of toast. "Can you have sex in Heaven?"

We both facepalmed ourselves mentally whilst the demi slumped on the couch, munching on his buttery breakfast.

"You'll have to find out yourself, Victor."

"Kinky."

I grimaced, and swiftly turned to Marie. "I don't think you need an angel to tell you that Heaven is a beautiful place. All the land teems with crystals, flowers and fruits of flavour a mortal's tongue could not fathom."

"Do you think...we could...go to Heaven?"

"Submit to the Lord, and anything is possible." Even Victor seemed to tamp down the crunching to harken to my words. It confused me how desirous demis were for Heaven, when demons retched at the mention. But I suppose, urges to harm and devour were a far worse fate than Hell itself.

"I never understood why Mammon didn't choose to go to Heaven," the grave demi spoke, and I could discern a note of jealousy. "We wouldn't even need to be asked."

"I could...try to have a guardian angel assigned to you two." I stared at my phone, regret rising in my stomach like hair on skin. Ezekiel still hadn't answered my calls. Was he angry at me for rejecting him?

The two siblings beamed as they glanced at each other.

"That would be great!" Marie exclaimed, taking the beige cup back in her hands.

"Yeah!"

"Besides, I plan to go back to Heaven soon, and I want to do something for you two before I go."

Their shoulders were compressed in size by the force of sadness. I almost felt bad for leaving them.

"You're leaving already?..."

Victor's brows knitted together. "How? I thought guardian angels couldn't leave til they converted the demon."

My hand fleeted to my nape, but drew to a halt as I realised. That was Mammon's thing. I could already see it in my head; all the times his hand fitted to the back of his head when he was stupefied. Was that all false too? What part of it was real?

"Well...it's a long story." As those words left, I felt an anger towards the King prowl. If it hadn't been for that damned decision, my core wouldn't be suffering this pain. "My best...friend is the head of guardian angels, and he said he'd sort it out."

All three of us stayed silent for a few beats, until the demi exhaled frustration. "You're leaving 'cause of Mammon, right?"

Marie sent another glare his way, but it was derailed by my answer, "Yeah."

The man stood up, begrudgingly tossing the round pillow on his lap back on the couch. "What the hell even happened between you guys? I knew you were distant but-"

"He lied to me." I brought my knees nearer to my chest, as though it would greet me with a drink of comfort. "He made me believe that he loved me."

"Mammon did love you! I don't know what he said, but that was the lie. He changed because of you! He tried to be better!"

"Victor-"

"No. You should have seen him...it was like a switch was flicked inside him. He told me everything was a lie. He never loved me...I-" I whimpered, and my eyes swam with tears. "I was just another one on his list."