I stared up at my ceiling after waking up, thinking quietly to myself. I realized that for the second night in a row, I didn't have the dream of running through the cavern. Not since Asmodeus had found me in the human realm.
He admitted that he had been searching for me previously; had my other side been searching for him as well?
This thought stuck with me as I pulled myself out of bed and into the bathroom to shower, and for the rest of the day I couldn't stop thinking about him. While it was somewhat frustrating, I found myself smiling as well; there was a comforting feeling that came with thinking about him, the same one I felt when he took me to the demon realm.
Home.
I sighed heavily and pinched my nose. "I'm well aware that it's your home."
It's your home too.
Instead of answering, I chewed on the inside of my cheek and contemplated this. What's the worst that could happen from me doing this, being with him? While my first instinct was to remember every negative thing I had heard and read about demons, my other side seemed to laugh off those ideas.
They know nothing. Asmodeus is true to his word and he will not harm us.
"How do you know that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at nothing.
There was another laugh. Demons can tell when others are lying. Why do you think you've believed him when he says something?
That caught me off guard. It was true; while I didn't initially believe him at first, everything that he has said made complete sense to me, and the part of me that was trying to deny it was quickly fading away with every interaction with the demon prince.
A sudden text coming through to my phone made me jump and I reached for it; when I saw Thalia's name though, I hesitated before opening the text.
Want to go to a club tonight? I feel really awful for how I reacted about your date and I wanted to make it up to you.
I immediately smiled and typed back my response, a wave of relief washing over me. At least with everything going on, I could still count on Thalia to be my constant.
The bass was beating through my body from the moment we stepped into the club. I smiled widely as she pulled me immediately towards the bar just outside of the dance floor and said loudly over her shoulder, "They've got a good DJ tonight!"
"They must've known we were coming," I laughed, swaying to the beat of the music.
It had certainly been a while since Thalia and I had gone out, but nothing had changed about this club. Lights flashed on and off as lasers soared across the room, matching the melody and bass in their pattern.
A drink being thrust into my hand caught my attention and I looked over at Thalia in surprise. "You didn't need to buy my drink!"
She shrugged as she took a sip of her own drink and looked around. "I told you, I felt bad and wanted to make it up to you. Come on, let's go check out the crowd!"
She pulled me further into the room and we mingled with the other dancers. I made sure not to lose Thalia in the crowd as I followed her, and thankfully she found a somewhat open spot just big enough for the two of us to fit in with the rest of the crowd.
"It's been too long since we've gone out," Thalia said over the music, leaning closer so that I could hear her.
"I know!" I laughed. "We need to do this more often!"
She grinned in agreement, taking another drink as we danced with the music. I looked around the crowd, swinging my hips back and forth as the dancing bodies around us continued to grind against each other in time to the music.
A new feeling suddenly came over me, an urge. I fought it back down with a gulp of my drink, scowling up into the ceiling.
"Don't you dare," I muttered, grateful for the loud music around me.
Come now, don't you want to have some fun?
The feeling came over me again and I wasn't as quick to push it down this time. I closed my eyes as the urge slowly crept forward again and this time I let it, embracing the warmth that spread across my body. It was odd though as with the warmth came chills across my skin that started in my chest and spread through the rest of my limbs.
I found myself smiling as the chills gave way, and it almost felt as if my body had been taken over by something else. With another slow drink, I looked around with new eyes, noticing that everything now had a slight red tinge to it.
With a quick glance over to Thalia to make sure she hadn't noticed, I glanced down at my skin and frowned.
You still look yourself, don't worry.
I sighed with relief and smiled again, finding that there was a new urge to do something mischievous. My will to fight that urge was no longer there, and I looked around the crowd again slowly.
I found myself looking at a couple not too far off in the crowd. It was obvious that they were into each other, but there was a faint pink glow around both of them. The glow around the guy was much more intense however as he watched the girl dancing in front of him, but she was intent on staring directly at his chest.
Without thinking, I stared at the aura around her and willed it to glow brighter. I watched as the girl's eyes rolled into the back of her head before she stared up at the guy. Within seconds her mouth was firmly pressed against his as he pulled her off the dance floor, and I blinked in surprise.
"Well that was relatively easy," I muttered before taking another drink.
That ability comes natural to us.
"Makes sense." I couldn't help but grin at how ridiculous I felt talking to myself but Thalia suddenly appearing by my side distracted me.
"Are you alright?" She asked, her brow furrowed slightly as she leaned in.
"Yeah!" I smiled widely at her before noticing her glass was empty. "Here, I'll get you another drink!"
She reluctantly handed her glass to me and I grinned again before stepping away, finding my way out of the crowd easily. I couldn't tell if it was the demon side of me taking over or the alcohol, but I felt like a different person walking through the crowd, more confident even. Out of the corner of my eye I could see people watching me as I walked through the room to get to the bar, and as soon as I set the glasses down the bartender was in front of me, ignoring the other person he had been attending to.
"What can I get for you?" He asked, giving me a smile.
I sweetly returned the smile as I leaned forward against the bar. "Two vodka-sprites, please!"
His eyes glanced down to the front of my shirt as he nodded and he turned away to grab two new glasses. I glanced over at the person standing next to me, noticing that he was staring down at me as well. He seemed angry at first but his expression changed shortly after we made eye contact.
I saw him start to inch closer to me before the bartender set the two drinks down, catching our attention. As I reached for my card, I asked over the music, "How much?"
He waved me off then and grinned at me. "Don't worry about it!"
Grabbing the two drinks, I gave him a wink before glancing to the other guy and turning around to walk back into the crowd. It didn't take long for me to find Thalia; she had made her way to the edge of the crowd as she waited for me.
"Thanks," She said as I offered her one of the drinks. There was still the uneasy expression on her face as she looked at me, but I tried to ignore it as I pulled her into the dancing crowd.
As we found a place to dance within the throng of bodies I leaned in and said, "You don't look like you're having fun!"
"I'm fine!" She insisted, smiling at me. "Alcohol just hasn't kicked in yet!"
I shook my head and turned my attention back to the DJ, ignoring the return of her uneasy look as we both swayed along to the music.
After a few minutes, Thalia glanced over to me before leaning in and saying, "I'll be right back! Bathroom!"
I raised an eyebrow at her but nodded, taking a drink as I went back to dancing. It was odd that she was going by herself; when we go out, we usually always insist on going with each other just in case. But I shrugged it off and closed my eyes as I swayed to the music.
A hand found its way around my waist and I jumped, turning to see the guy from the bar grinning down at me as he leaned in.
"Hey!" He said over the music. "You're too beautiful to be dancing on your own!"
I laughed and he pulled me against him, wrapping his arm tighter around my lower back. There was the deep feeling that this wasn't right and I tried to ignore it with another drink, but my other side reared up.
You shouldn't be dancing with this man! You are betrothed to Asmodeus!
I shook my head and thought back, He's not here and I'm not going to let him stop me from having fun!
A feeling of unhappiness settled into the pit of my stomach and I finally decided that this man wasn't worth it. I found his aura and focused on it, willing it to diminish in size. His interest in me was suddenly gone and I felt a triumphant wave wash over me when he walked away.
Happy? I asked somewhat angrily.
Yes.
Rolling my eyes again, I took another drink before closing my eyes and swaying to the music. I was surprised that Thalia was still gone but at the same time the women's bathrooms always took a while to get through.
"I thought he'd never leave."
I smiled to myself, recognizing his voice before I even saw him. His hands were already on my hips as I leaned back into him, smiling to myself.
"You followed me here," I said, raising an eyebrow to the ceiling.
"Well when one is worried about their betrothed, they tend to want to check in on them," He answered in a light voice. Chills ran down my spine as I felt his lips graze against my ear, and he must have noticed as I heard a chuckle from him. "I missed you."
I laughed as I said, "It's only been a day!"
"Still." He pulled me closer against him, his arms wrapping themselves around me now.
Resting my hand on top of his, I smiled to myself as we danced together, paying no attention to the rest of the crowd around us. As I laid my head back against his shoulder and closed my eyes, I couldn't help but think that this was right where I needed to be. Right where I wanted to be.
He gave a low growl as he dragged his lips across my neck, sending a delightful shiver down my spine. I decided to respond by pressing myself closer against him, grinding my hips back and forth harder as I looked up at him, catching his eye.
His expression was one of surprise before he returned the smirk. twisting me around quickly and pulling me against him again. Before I could do anything, he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against mine.
Something ignited inside of me as I returned the kiss, his hand coming up to gently rest against my cheek as my arms wrapped around his neck. Before I could deepen the kiss though, he immediately looked up, his face contorting into confusion and anger.
I followed his gaze to see him staring at Thalia, who was staring right back in shock. She looked at me then and she shouted my name as she began to run towards us.
Asmodeus's arm around my waist tightened and seconds later we were both standing in the middle of the room he had taken me to before in the demon realm.
"What the hell?" I pulled myself away and looked around before glaring at him, trying to ignore the fact that his eyes and skin were changing back to his demon form. "Why did you-"
"How long were you there?" He demanded, a worried look on his face. "Did she try to talk to you before that?"
I blinked in confusion before asking, "What are you talking about?"
"That girl!" He exclaimed.
"Thalia?"
He stared at me in shock. "You know her?"
"Well...yeah!" A nervous laugh forced its way out of me. "She's been my best friend for..."
I trailed off as he began pacing back and forth nervously, muttering to himself. "If she knows then they know...this is not good...will need to move things faster now..."
"Asmodeus, what is going on?" I asked slowly as the nerves began to twist their way through my stomach. "Why is it bad that I know Thalia?"
He didn't answer immediately, running a hand through his hair as he continued to pace. I watched him for a few moments, trying to calm myself down. He was clearly worried about something, and angry as well, and his unease was only feeding my nerves.
After watching him for a little while longer I couldn't take it anymore and exclaimed, "Please just tell me what is going on!"
This made him pause and look at me; the expression on his face made it clear that he was conflicted about telling me, but after a few moments he sighed heavily and turned to face me.
"That girl...she is not your friend," He began slowly, looking me in the eyes. "I'm not sure what she's told you or made you believe...but she is an angel, and her mission on Earth is to kill you."