Page 93 of Wreaking Havoc
And in truth, the human world was quite pleasant when one was not being ordered around by some power-hungry bargain.
Like this ocean. Kai enjoyed the rhythm of it, the soothing sounds the waves made, as steady as Sascha’s heartbeat in slumber. He came to stare at it quite often.
They hadn’t had oceans where he came from.
No oceans and no Sascha.
So why would he ever want to return to the demon realm?
A familiar form sat down next to him in the sand. Young Seth in a tank top, the tops of his shoulders reddened from the sun. “Hey, Kai. What’s up?”
It was a nonsense question, so Kai ignored it. What was he supposed to say? The sky above them? The single fluffy cloud on the horizon?
Seth knew him well at this point and was unoffended by his silence. “You and Sascha coming out on Friday?”
That was a question Kai could answer. “Yes. For the dancing.”
Kai had become very, very fond of dancing. Especially as the warmer weather meant Sascha wore smaller and smaller bits of clothing as they went out. Seth had also taught Sascha how to paint his eyes, how to mark them so the pale-blue color stood out even more.
Between that and the coffee from the bakery, Kai was very tolerant of this human. He was a suitable friend for Sascha, even if he hadn’t been procured by Kai like their Matteo.
But it was time to return home. Kai grabbed the bag next to him and nodded his goodbye to Seth, who smiled in return, and hurried back on the path.
He found Matteo curled up on the living room couch. It was where Kai often found him. Eight months later and Matteo still didn’t leave the house without one of them to accompany him. And he didn’t always leavewiththem either. He’d come dancing only the once, and the night had ended with him panicking and needing to be brought home.
Sascha thought he needed therapy.
Kai thought he needed something else.
“Hello, Kai,” Matteo greeted, smiling openly. A movie with a screaming woman was on the TV. For someone as jumpy as Matteo, he watched an awful lot of movies with screaming and monsters.
Humans were odd.
But at least there was that—the smiling. Matteo had grown more comfortable around the two of them over the months. When he wasn’t frightened, he was all smiles and quiet laughter. His soul would probably be sweet. Too sweet, most likely, without Sascha’s interesting pockets of sour and bitter to even him out. Not to Kai’s taste.
But perhaps to someone else’s.
“There’s a paper, hidden between the books on that shelf,” Kai told him, pointing across the living room.
Matteo took his eyes off the TV. “Um, okay?”
“You copy the symbol. Say the words. Spill a drop or two of blood.”
Matteo stared blankly at him, and then his eyes widened. “And then one of you comes out?”
Kai waved a hand. “Different from me but still strong. You can make your bargain for protection. Or vengeance, if that’s your preference. And then be done with it,” Kai warned him. “The owner of that mark is not someone anyone wants to keep.”
He left it at that, climbing the stairs and making his way to the spare room Sascha had turned into his office.
And there was Kai’s mate, in a pale-blue button-down and tight underwear, on a video call that showed him from the waist up only, speaking haughtily into the laptop. “And when I say I don’t want a repeat of last month’s ordering fiasco, I mean it. Run the numbers by me first if you’re unsure.”
“Yes, Sascha,” said the man on the other end.
“Good.” Sascha caught sight of Kai, a brilliant smile lighting up his face. “Lunch break!” he said into the screen. “Got to go. Ta-ta.”
He shut his laptop with a snap, twirling his chair to face Kai.
Sascha had taken to working quite well. He seemed to thrive on a chance to use his mind and natural charm for something with a bit of challenge.
