He supposed he did recognize the expression—demons could intuitively speak all languages and adapt current speech patterns to better blend on Earth—but he was inexperienced at human interaction. For all his many millennia of hunting, he had never conversed with humans until now and had much to learn.
Finding Belial and the other rogues had been easy, but instead of returning to Paimon as instructed, Mist had broken the rules again. Eager to experience for himself the freedoms the rogues enjoyed, he had offered them a deal. In turn for sheltering him and teaching him human ways, he would not reveal their whereabouts, nor Eva’s forbidden existence.
A month and a half had passed since the commencement of his temporary vacation and, thanks to Eva’s instruction, he’d since discovered humans were not as simple as he’d always believed. For example, if he wanted a human friend—they were calledfriends, not pets—it wasn’t as easy as picking one out from a crowd, though he still thought it ought to be. He was a powerful, immortal being. Humans were small and weak, with short lifespans.
But Eva had told him he had to see them as equals and learn to appreciate the nuances of their differing personalities. He had to learn to tell them apart.
“I have an idea,” she said, smiling mischievously. “You go.”
“Go where?”
“To the dep. For ice cream.”
“What is a dep?”
“Depanneur. Corner store, Quebec style. Ice cream supplier extraordinaire.”
He sat upright. “You want me to go to the store?”
She nodded.
“But—” He looked down at himself.
His skin was ash gray, his fingers tipped with claws, every tooth in his mouth a razor-sharp point. His leathery wings draped off the end of the couch, and his tail curled in his lap, long and smooth like a coiled whip.
He looked nothing like a human, and, as a result, he would be invisible to them, thanks to the glamor that disguised the supernatural world from unsuspecting mortals.
Until he’d met Eva, he had never taken human form in all his long existence. He hadn’t needed or wanted to. His job was much better suited to a stealthy, invisible demon than a soft human with fleshy fingertips.
But something had shifted in him since the day he’d broken the rules for the first time, and try as he might, he couldn’t put it back. He was curious and restless and in search of something, though he didn’t know what. He just hoped he found it before he inevitably had to return to Hell.
“There’s a dep at the end of the block,” Eva said. “All you have to do is go there and get the chocolatiest ice cream you can find. The only person you have to talk to is the cashier.”
Mist twisted his claws together. “I would have to hold human form for the duration.”
“You’ve been practicing and you’re getting good. You’re ready for this.” When he still hesitated, she added with a smirk, “I think you’re scared.”
His spine stiffened. “I am the Hunter. I am not scared.”
“Tell that to yourself. I know you can hold onto your human form now, yet you always choose to stay behind when we go out. I thought you wanted to interact with humans.”
“I do,” he grumbled.
“Then challenge yourself. Go get me ice cream. Plus, hello, I have my period right now, and it’s your duty as a male to bring me anything I want.”
She was right, he realized. He was ready. He could do this.
He rose from the sofa and stretched his wings, stiff from sitting on them for so long. “I require a shirt.” He rarely wore them. For a winged demon, they were inconvenient, to say the least.
“You can borrow one of Ash’s if you don’t want to go upstairs.”
He was currently staying with Asmodeus’s brothers in an apartment on the floor above. He slept on a mattress instead of a cold stone floor, and in the morning, sunlight entered through his very own window. Belial often prepared him human food dishes to sample, and if he chose, he could do nothing but relax for an entire day. He had never experienced such things before, but he reminded himself constantly not to become complacent.
All of this was only a temporary reprieve.
Five minutes later, he was in human form, wingless and wearing a borrowed black t-shirt, and he and Eva had rehearsed his future transaction. She’d explained several times why he had topayfor the ice cream instead of just taking it, and he was beginning to understand. If nothing else, he would abstain from thievery to avoid attracting attention.
“You look great,” Eva said, smiling from her pillow pile. “You make a very handsome human.”
