Page 4 of My Best Friend is a Demon

I’m the antithesis of every lovely, perfect part of her. I hope to heaven I don’t destroy her when I take her, because there’s just no stopping me. I can’t walk away from her. I can’t picture the little girl I knew for such a short period of time. She’s been abolished by this older version and I will never forget her.

I hold out my hand and she happily takes it, her pale blue eyes so lovely they rival the blue skies of the mountains around us. The tall peaks thrust up around us, reminding of the rocky bowels of hell.

Light and dark, heaven and hell. This place is the very picture of all that I’m fighting to keep.

Saar passes by us and his eyes widen, his dark brows lifting. He shakes his head and sighs.

Warlocks. Can’t fool the fuckers with a little bit of magic like you can humans.

But I ignore him and follow my destiny.

She opens the door and hesitates. “Are you sure that you want to come in? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

I choke on laugh. If she only knew.

“I want to see your place. You’re not pushing me, Angel. Show me your home, show me your world.”

She smiles and pulls me inside. Closing the door, she hangs up her things and then stands there, unsure. “Would you like the tour or…?”

“I want to tour your lovely body, Angel. Unless that is not what you want.”

She bites her soft, pale pink lips and then smirks at me. “I want you, Anders. I forgot how much I missed you and finding you like this, when I’m starting my new life here….it seems like fate.” She moves closer and her little hand touches my shoulder lightly. She shivers and her pure blue eyes close.

“You have no idea, mate.”

Her eyes open and widen. “What did you call me?”

“Mate. I cannot kiss you or touch you until you understand what you are to me, what you’ll always mean to me.”

“Mate? I’ve heard the men around here call their women mates. It seems strange. Why aren’t they calling them wives or girlfriends? Why mates?”

“You don’t understand where you’ve landed do you, little one?”

I move closer and my hand touches her soft cheek so gently that her eyes close. Pure fire burns along my fingertips, turning her skin into glowing embers. I slip my fingers down her soft curves. Her mouth opens on a gasp and she stares at her arm. “What are you doing to me and why do you drive me so crazy?”

“I’m your mate. You want me. You want me to claim you for all eternity. But I want you to understand what you’re becoming if you give yourself to me, Angel. I’m not what you think I am.”

I deliberately let the glamour shift and her eyes widen, horrified. I know exactly what she sees. Red skin, dark as hell eyes and a fiery maw. Horns so long that they curve around to the back of my head. My hands end in dark black talons and they curve around her soft, pure white skin.

“What are you, Anders?”

“I’m a demon. And you are my mate.”

Her lip curls and my heart sinks in my chest. “I’m a demon’s mate? Why? Did I do something wrong? Am I being punished?”

“No. A fated mate is a gift. No matter who or what they are. I will never hurt you, never cheat on you, never leave you alone. Shifters are loyal to their mate forever and so are demons.”

She doesn’t look convinced and I sigh and back away from her, letting my fingers drop to my side. “If you want me to leave I will. I know this is a lot. But there’s kind of a time crunch so I wanted you to know.”

“What did you mean about this town? What is…?”

“This is a shifter town. All of the people in this town are some kind of paranormal. I’ve seen some ghosts and some others here. But mostly there are shifter families here. Even the sheriff is a shifter.”

“I should go and let you think about what I’ve told you, Angel. I don’t want to pressure you. Forever is a long time and a life with a demon as a mate is not without its risks and rewards.”

She steps closer and her gentle fingers touch my bicep, my muscle twitching under her fingers. “Can’t you stay?”

I sigh and shove my fingers into my hair, tunneling through until I tug and pull at it. “I can’t promise that I won’t try and pressure you. I’m not a good guy, Angel. I’m the very worst sort and I’m damn sure that I don’t deserve such as you. But it’s because I’m a bastard that I’m going to forget about that and still try to have you. Still take whatever you freely give.”

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