As soon as she could, Eden rushed out of work to go home. She had many things she'd rather be doing, and first was getting ready to see Ethan.
Luckily, Daphne was gone for the night so there was no worry of her being around.
Eden got home and showered, blow dried her hair and did some makeup, and then got dressed.
She walked around the apartment, lighting some candles, playing some quiet music, just making sure everything was all set.
It'd been about a week since the first time she'd hooked up with Ethan, and she'd only seen him once since then. It was a busy week, but now she had some free time and was looking forward to seeing him.
"Eeeeethan," she called out into the empty apartment in a sing-song voice.
A few seconds later she heard his footsteps in the kitchen. "Eden, what's up?" He hummed, looking around for her. "Did you wanna go out tonight? You called earlier than I was—oh,"
He cut himself short as she waltzed around the corner, smiling at him.
She was wearing an open silk robe and some new lingerie. Yes, she went and bought new lingerie just for today because she wanted to surprise him.
Ethan didn't even have to say anything, just drew in a breath and he ported directly to her side. His hands found her hips immediately as their lips met. Eden was undoing his belt buckle to get things moving.
"Fuck," he groaned against her lips as she began pumping her hand slowly.
He was trailing kisses down her neck, nibbling at the skin just a bit too rough and healing it over immediately. His teeth were sharp, but she didn't mind.
Tired of waiting, he pressed her up against the wall and removed her last thin layer of clothing, thrusting into her tantalizingly slow.
"Mm, Ethan," she whined, held tilted back as he picked up the pace.
His fingertips were tightly gripping her body as they moved in sync, moans drowning out the music that was playing.
Eden had one arm wrapped around him, the other tugging on his hair and encouraging him. It was rushed and rough, both of them not even considering the noise they were making or any bruises that they'd surely have afterward.
The two of them rested their heads in the crook of the others neck, catching their breath and leaving open mouthed kisses, and even some marks as they cooled down.
"That's not what I thought I was coming over here for," he chuckled breathily.
"I felt like surprising you," she winked, pulling on her bra again. "Heal these?" Eden motioned to the hickies and bruises.
He nodded, doing it in a matter of seconds as his own healed over. That was definitely a helpful trick.
Eden wandered off to the bathroom, leaving Ethan to get dressed and think about her in the meantime.
The way he felt about her was confusing. Before Eden, he didn't even really like mortals. He still didn't. But... he found himself thinking about her when he shouldn't be.
While doing work, out and about, at meetings, she'd just appear in his mind. Sometimes he'd even get a glimpse of what she was doing on accident.
If he really wanted to he could spy on her all the time that way, but knew she wouldn't appreciate it.
But he'd never done that with anyone else—not even other demons or angels.
Eden has similar experiences lately. She was thinking about Ethan way too often these. All she wanted to do was spend time with him and explore his world.
And still, neither realized how serious it was.
Two souls intertwined on accident left a powerful, invisible chain. It was even more impactful with two opposite souls.
Corrupting each other—or improving them? Well... it was still too early to tell.
Eden came back from her room to find him in sweatpants on the couch, looking pretty tired, which was unusual for him. She tied her robe around her waist and sat herself directly next to him.
"Why're you tired? You don't even need sleep."
"Just gotta relax and replenish some energy. C'mere," he hummed, arms wrapped around her tightly.
Some reality show was playing on TV, but neither were really watching. Just enjoying the other's company. She was even playing with his hair, and admiring his horns.
It was such a weird feature to adore, but she'd noticed each demon had unique ones. And she liked how they looked on him.
"So, I've been wondering is it possible for you to get someone pregnant?"
"Uh—what, Eden?" Ethan spluttered, sitting them both up so he could make eye contact. "Technically yes, but it would be bad. That's not something you want right? We haven't even known each other that long. And I thought you were—"
"Oh my god, calm down. I'm still on birth control," she snorted, watching him ease immediately. "I don't ever want kids. I was just curious. Why, what would happen?"
"It's... very illegal. Even us just hooking up. We'd probably both be slaughtered if a baby was involved."
Her eyes widened. "I didn't know we weren't even allowed to hookup."
Ethan bit his lip. He maybe should've told her sooner. But he didn't want to for selfish reasons.
"Yeah, uh, sorry. We might not be killed for it but it wouldn't be good. We can, um, stop... if that's what you want."
Eden shook her head, kissing him. "I'm not scared of a little danger."
That was probably the hottest thing Ethan could hear. Of course, her phone rang before he could say anything.
She didn't even put it on speaker but Ethan couldn't help but overhear the conversation with her mom. He had good hearing, and the volume was pretty loud on its own.
"Hi sweetie! Just calling to see what you've been up to lately. You haven't called in a while,"
"Hey, mom. I'm sorry, I've been really busy with work and school lately. Nothing all that new," Eden lied through her teeth.
But, how was she supposed to tell her mom she'd been having a fling with a demon?
"That's alright. I hope things are going good there! How's your roommate, Daphne?"
As Eden talked to her mom, Ethan just listened here and there. She was trying to get off the phone and call her later, but when moms start talking they have trouble stopping.
"Oh! I'm so excited to see you. When are you getting home?"
Shit. Eden forgot about spring break.
She'd previously made plans to drive home for spring break, but that was before her life changed. And now it was in a couple of days.
"Um... I'm not sure I'll be able to, actually."
That was a lie. Sure, she could, but she'd rather stay on campus. Not that she disliked her family, but campus would be quiet and she'd just get to see Ethan a lot.
Her mom let out a sigh on the other side of the line. "What's wrong?"
"I just... I'm pretty swamped lately. I'll see if I can make it home for some, but I'm not sure." Eden ended the call, her mom disappointed by the news. "Sorry about that, she had a lot to ask about."
"Not going home for spring break?" Ethan asked, eyebrows raised.
"Well... I can't bring you home."
Ethan was torn; on one hand, he'd love to lock the two of them in her apartment for a week while Daphne was away.
On the other, he didn't want them to burnout and have Eden get fed up with him.
But he wasn't in the mood to bother with that, it wasn't an issue yet. Instead, they sat on the couch and lazily made out for a while.
In fact, they didn't move until Eden decided she wanted dinner. Ethan, despite not even needing to eat, insisted on ordering with her so they fought over what to eat for an entire half hour first.
They were both extremely stubborn so neither wanted to budge. Eventually, after playing some mind-games, they ordered Chinese.
She had barely driven her new car honestly. Ethan was her prime form of transportation.
Today was no different—he ported them directly outside the restaurant, on a side street where no one would notice.
"I'll run in and grab it, stay here and don't move."
Before she could protest, he jogged away.
Eden was a little upset he'd even brought her just to ditch her, but stayed in place. Until a drunk man stumbled down the dark street toward her.
"Hey," he hiccuped. "What's a pretty girl like you doing out here all alone?"
"Waiting."
"Short answers, huh?" He grumbled, stumbling over to her.
She felt her heart rate quicken, looking for Ethan and not seeing him anywhere in her line of sight. It was just her and this man.
Eden tried to leave, but felt his right grip on her wrist. "Hey! Let me go!"
"Shhh," he chuckled, pushing her into the wall. "Waiting for your dealer, maybe? A nice girl like you shouldn't get messed up with that."
She attempted to push him, but with her back against the brick wall it proved difficult. The sharp scent of cheap alcohol filled her nose as he closed the space between them, laughing, one hand on her waist.
Eden struggled for a few seconds before there was no weight on her at all; the man was on the ground several feet away.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Ethan spits, placing the Chinese gently on top of someone's car. "Who said you could touch her?"
The man looked at Ethan with wide eyes, stumbling to his feet to back away.
His voice was shaky, "I-I'm sorry, man. I didn't realize she was your girl."
"That doesn't make it okay."
His voice was low, but the anger could be seen on his features. Jaw clenched tightly, horns growing out of his head, eyes red, skin flushing, and muscles tense.
Eden placed a hand on his bicep, but he shook her off. "Watch out, sweetheart."
"What the hell are you?!" The man yelled. "Help! Someone! Aah—!"
His cries were cut short as Ethan's hand tightened around his neck. Spluttering sounds came from his mouth as he tried to apologize, hands crushing his throat with irrefutable strength.
Ethan ignored it, squeezing harder until the man went limp and blood dripped.
Eden gasped, watching Ethan collect a vapor-like grey substance from the man, wipe the blood off his arm, and turn back to her.
He'd just killed the man.
Ethan had just killed someone, and then harvested their soul. Right in the middle of an empty street.
"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Ethan said, horns retracting into his skin.
Her eyes were on the mans limp and mangled body though. She'd never seen him so angry.
Yet, she wasn't scared.
In fact, Eden felt safer than ever with Ethan. She was just shocked.
"I'm alright... thank you." Eden told him softly. "Was all that necessary though?"
He shrugged his shoulders and picked up the unscathed Chinese. "Guys like him deserve to rot in hell, and I'll make sure he does." Ethan held up the small bottle with his soul in it. "If you look closely, you can see his face right before he died. Kinda cool, right?"
Cool wasn't the word most people would use.
Ethan meant every word he said. As soon as he had some free time, he was going to teach that man a lesson.
But for now... he wanted to go eat Chinese with Eden and cuddle up on her couch.
—
A couple days later, Eden was leaving her class when something strange caught her eye.
Adam had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
Now, she wasn't a stranger to this—Ethan did it all the the time. But Ethan was a demon. Adam was a mortal, as far as she knew.
Surely her eyes were playing tricks on her, right?
So she kept a close eye on him, hidden out of his sight. He just looked normal. He had blue veins, but that didn't quiet rule him out, as some demons did have them.
But then she noticed something in his bag, something she'd only seen once before.
Adam was an angel.
He had the same, special iridescent knife that Grayson had used on the low-level demons, that she was sure of.
So, what the hell was she supposed to do? Why was Adam around anyway? She had a lot of questions. And she decided she needed to tell Ethan; after she confronted Adam.
"You're an angel?"
"Shit," Adam muttered, making sure no one else was around. "Eden, I promise, I've only been around to make sure you're alright."
How did she want to play this? She could be nice and trick him, or call him out.
Being nice sounded like the best plan. "Can we—can we talk about this? Why don't we go to my apartment, Daphne isn't home." Adam nodded and grabbed her hand, teleporting them into her living room.
"Alright, I swear I didn't want to trick you or anything. It was just surveillance for your safety." He starts, smiling. "Ethan is dangerous."
"I was starting to get that feeling," Eden lied. Bullshit, she trusted him.
Adam being an angel made almost no sense to her. How did neither her or Ethan notice? And she'd known him all year, before she met Ethan. So were they monitoring her longer than that? Was she important somehow?
Adam seemed sincere, but she knew better. "We can help you, if you need to get away from him."
Eden nodded, formulating a plan.
"Yeah I... that sounds good. I need an Advil though, I'll be right back."
He believed her without a second guess. It was a lot to take in, so a headache was a perfect excuse.
She locked herself in the bathroom, then called out for Ethan. He appeared with a grin.
"God, I was hoping for this," he whispered, immediately leaning in for a kiss.
"No, not right now. I need you to be quiet and listen to me—Adam is an angel and he's in my apartment." She said quickly, trying not to take too long and worry Adam.
"He's what?"
"I'll explain more later. He doesn't know you're here, get some of those fancy handcuffs and surprise him. I'll stall."
Ethan, half-believing her, nodded as she left the bathroom.
The only reason he didn't jump to believe Eden was that he could kind of sense when someone wasn't mortal, and he hadn't noticed anything off about Adam. He was even able to control him. Or... thought he was.
But, he listened and conjured a pair of black, wispy handcuffs made for holding anything that wasn't mortal.
Eden was talking to Adam, but he saw her eyes dart to Ethan as he snuck up.
Adam's eyes turned white, halo appearing, but outnumbered. Eden grabbed onto his stupid glowing halo to hold him still as Ethan secured the cuffs.
"Why the hell couldn't I sense you?"
"I was cloaked, genius." Adam spits, struggling against his restraints.
It was no use, they prevented him from freeing his hands, teleporting, or using any kind of powers.
"Cloaking spells are notoriously hard and take a lot of energy to maintain. How was this being supported, and how long have you been spying?"
Adam snarled but kept his mouth shut, refusing the give them any information.
Ethan, shaking his head, grabbed Eden and ported the three of them to the gateway. They had to get out of their before Daphne came home and stumbled upon this mess.
Ethan opened up a black door to a dimly lit room and tossed Adam on a chair in the middle of it. Eden watched as he pulled out the small knife that she'd seen earlier, and handed it to her.
"You—want me—?"
"Just in case I need you help," he hummed. It didn't seem likely, but he wanted to include her.
For himself, he summoned the pitchfork which still had some of Grayson's blood on it from last time. As he raised it, Adam shouted.
"Wait!" He winced. "This isn't my body. I'm just occupying the kid."
Things just kept getting more complex.
Adam wasn't really Adam, he was being possessed by an angel to get close to Eden easier. Angels could possess any true believer with permission. Adam happened to be one.
"How long have you been in this kid?" Ethan sighed, taking a seat. No answer—so he punched him.
Not Adam spit out some blood, with silver flakes instead of white. Whoever he was wasn't quite as strong as Grayson.
"Since I invited Eden to the party," the angel muttered. "Just orders. I'm Zephyr."
Ethan felt his blood boiling.
Of course, orders had probably come from Grayson. Who knew just how much he'd been told, just how much Zephyr saw.
Not to mention, Eden was worried about Adam. He shouldn't have to deal with that.
When he accepted he couldn't have known it would end up like this. Was he able to feel pain while Zephyr was in charge?
Eden hoped not.
She felt her anger bubbling up and couldn't resist—she used the knife to slice his cheek.
Ethan stood back with an almost proud smile as the angel squirmed. Using their own weapons on them burned, and was causing him immense discomfort.
"What have you done to her, Ethan? Adam has these memories of her being quiet and sweet. She's like a different person." Zephyr spits, wincing at the feeling of a pitchfork stabbing his arm.
"I didn't do shit. Maybe Adam didn't know her as well as he thought,"
That one kind of hurt Ethan, to think he may have changed her so much. But she dusted it off because even Eden didn't think that's what happened.
Zephyr laughs despite the pain, his eyes turning a bright white again.
If Eden didn't know any better, she'd think he was supposed to be the evil one. The look on his face, taunting, possessing a mortal... it was eerie.
It was a bit concerning, but she had to remind herself it wasn't really Adam. Even if it was, why should she care? He said yes, and they were never that close.
She shook her head, glancing over to Ethan and finding herself checking him out, this moment of all times.
His veins were bulging out of his skin, eyes just as red as them as he got ready to throw another punch.
And this was him being nice.
They weren't in the proper place for torture and interrogation. Plus, Eden was here and not technically cleared to help with that.
"You two are sleeping together, aren't you?"
Ethan ported directly behind him, hand on his throat. It felt familiar. "That's none of your business," he growled.
"Ethan, back off." Eden told him.
Shocked, he released his grip. Did she really just tell him what to do? And why did he listen?
The girl let out a sigh, stepping forward, knife gripped tightly. Zephyr looked honest to god more nervous all of a sudden; the vibes in the room changed.
"Listen, Zephyr," she started with a smile. "You're only making this harder on yourself. There's no way you could prove that, and all you're doing is making Ethan angry. I'd pick your next words very carefully, because your life is in his hands until further notice."
Ethan let out a low whistle, suddenly finding himself distracted. Why was watching Eden be evil such a turn on for him?
"Take me home, E? I think you should take over for now."
He nodded, made sure the angel was secure, and ported them briefly back to her bedroom.
Ethan couldn't resist—he kissed her immediately. She didn't object, but once he began biting her neck had to pull away.
"Later, calm yourself. Zephyr probably has a lot of information, go get some of that and come back. After you find out something important, we can do anything you want." It was safe to say Eden had gained some confidence recently.
Ethan couldn't tell whether or not he was mad that she teased him, but he did leave shortly after.
She was supposed to have class, but so much time had passed already.
She completely forgot that time in the gateway was different, and now she'd accidentally skipped class. But it was just one, it'd be fine.
Eden sat, getting ready for bed, wondering how things were going with Ethan. She'd seen him hurt people a few times, but never torture. Call her curious.
He had moved Zephyr to a proper interrogation room, in Hell. The angel was doing all he could to resist, but that just made it more fun for Ethan.
And he was not going easy.
A/N
felt like updating again, sue me
some shits uhhhh goin down lately huh? wonder whose idea that was idk just can't think of anyone who would make that happen
adams actually an angel, eden watched e murder someone, ethan is, well uh, Like That, and we're only in chapter 4
hope u enjoyed