Page 12 of My Professor is a Demon

"Be careful what you wish for, Miss Evers," I warned softly. "Demons make dangerous companions."

“Call me Charlotte,” she insisted.

And for once, I couldn’t argue. “Only if you call me Oscar.”

She smiled and reached over to squeeze my hand. “Oscar.”

“Dangerous,” I muttered, but I didn’t move. I didn’t want to admit how much I needed this, needed her.

“So are these boundary entities, apparently,” she said. "Yet here we are, right in the middle of their cosmic test. Sometimes the dangerous path is also the right one."

After she left, I stood motionless for a long time, her words echoing in my mind. The dangerous path. I had been walking it since the moment I chose to protect Charlotte rather than report on her. Every step had taken me further from Hell's redemption, closer to something I hadn't dared name or acknowledge.

Charlotte

The night air held a hint of autumn as we made our way toward the eastern quadrant, though summer officially had weeks remaining. The moon was high in the sky, lighting our path. Oscar moved silently beside me.

The knowledge that he was a demon should have terrified me. Instead, it created a strange sense of clarity, pieces falling into place to create a picture that felt right despite its inherent impossibility.

"The energy disturbance is stronger tonight," Oscar observed, his voice low. "The boundary symbols are amplifying."

I nodded, feeling the discordant patterns even without instrumentation. "It's like they're trying to get our attention. Becoming more insistent."

We reached the small clearing where we'd placed monitoring equipment during our previous visit. The devices were still there, but clearly tampered with—components rearranged in patterns that matched the boundary symbols from my research.

"Someone's been here," I whispered, crouching to examine the altered equipment.

"Not someone," Oscar corrected, his eyes scanning the darkness surrounding us. "Something. These arrangements weren't made by physical manipulation, but by direct energy interference."

A chill ran through me despite the mild night. "The boundary entities themselves?"

"Perhaps." His expression was grave, more serious than I'd ever seen it. "Charlotte, we should reconsider this. Direct interaction with dimensional entities can be dangerous, especially for someone who’s mostly human. Deadly even if the surge hits wrong."

"We need answers," I insisted, straightening to face him. "About the ley line corruption and about these symbols. Running away solves nothing."

He studied me for a long moment, conflict evident in his expression. "Your courage is admirable, if occasionally reckless."

"Part of my charm," I quipped, trying to lighten the tension.

Something softened in his eyes. "Indeed. One of many parts."

The unexpected warmth in his voice sent a flutter through me that had nothing to do with supernatural energy. Before I could respond, the air around us thickened, pressure building as if a storm approached. The monitoring equipment began emitting urgent signals, lights flashing in erratic patterns.

"Something's coming," Oscar said, moving protectively closer to me. "Be ready."

I wasn't sure what "ready" meant in the context of potential dimensional entities, but I nodded, focusing on the strange energy building around us. It felt different from the corrupted ley lines—purer somehow, more deliberate in its manifestation.

The clearing before us darkened, shadows coming together into a form that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. Nothuman-shaped, but not entirely abstract either—a presence that existed somewhere between defined and undefined reality.

"The anomaly and the contract-bound," a voice spoke, though not with sound exactly. The words resonated directly in my mind, ancient and powerful. "An unexpected pairing."

Oscar tensed beside me, his energy and his appearance shifting in a way I hadn't felt before—becoming more clearly demonic, though still distinctly his own.

"We seek understanding of the boundary symbols," he said, his voice carrying a resonance I hadn't heard before. "And the purpose behind the ley line corruption."

The shadow-entity rippled, something like amusement emanating from it. "Purpose requires context. Context requires identity. Identity remains unacknowledged."

Its attention shifted to me, an almost physical weight of awareness that made breathing difficult. "Boundary guardian blood flows dormant, and awakening requires a catalyst."

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