Page 1 of My Demon Assistant

One

Eshim

"Don'tworry,Lux.You'lldo fine. It'll be like a walk in the cake!" I said as I puttered around the house, my phone pressed to my ear as I waited for my friend to speak. He and his mate were going to a work event, and Lux was worried about taking their baby.

He was one of the kindest, sweetest demons I knew, and his human form of baby blue eyes, blond hair, and tiny stature just emphasized that. He was a wonderful demon, and really flourishing as a dad.

"It's a park, Esh," he replied with an amused sigh, and I stopped short, squinting at the wall in confusion.

"The event is at a...park? I thought you said it was in some fancy hotel."

"What? No, it is. The phrase, Eshim. It's 'a walk in the park,' not 'a walk in the cake.' Why would anyone walk in a cake?"

I blinked, then went, "Oooh," even though I felt like walking in a giant cake might be kind of fun. Like delicious quicksand you could eat your way out of.

Lux snickered, but I knew from experience he wasn't laughingatme. Sometimes, I could be a bit much to handle, and some of my demon friends were better at it than others. Lux and another demon named Ryk were my closest friends, and they always found my little mistakes funny. They never got annoyed at me for them either. Star and Kor did, but they were grumpy old assholes so they got a pass. I loved them anyway.

Lux started to speak, but a loud, booming laugh came from the background of his call, and grabbed my complete attention. I stumbled, then grabbed the kitchen counter before I could fall.

No way.No fucking way.

"Who was that?"

"Who was who?" Lux asked, puzzled, and I sighed, then started pacing across my tiny kitchen.

"The man laughing in the background. Who is he?"

"Uh...you mean Jerry?"

Jerry.

"If Jerry is the guy with the loud, beautiful laugh, then yes. Who is he?" I pressed, and Lux must've realized something was up because his voice turned serious.

"Jerry is Archer's best friend. And business partner. What's going on, Eshim? Wait. Wait. Please tell me he's..." He trailed off, his voice full of hope and just a touch questioning.

There was no one way for a demon to recognize their mate. Some did it with sight, others with touch, and I, apparently, recognized mine by his voice.

"He's my mate," I confessed, excitement fizzing through me as I all but skipped around the kitchen. This was so unexpected but so, so good!

Lux shrieked. He actually shrieked. A smaller, cuter voice copied him, and I grinned. Gunner was going to grow up to be such a poop-stirrer. I just knew it.

"What's wrong?" a voice, probably Lux's mate, Archer, called, and Lux said something to assure him everything was okay before speaking to me again.

"Are you sure?"

"Bitch, this is not the kind of thing to joke about," I assured him, and he made another excited sound, though this one was a bit toned down.

"This is awesome! I was so sad I couldn't tell Jerry everything, especially since Archer's other best friend—and Jerry's ex-wife—is mated to Fressia."

"What? Fressia is my ex-wife-in-law?" I demanded, and he snickered.

"I don't think there's such a thing, but yeah, Fressia and Kat are mates. Actually, Kat just moved out, so I was worried about Jerry being lonely. This is perfect timing. What are you going to do now?"

I'd been thinking about that as we talked, so I already had an answer ready. "First, I'll talk to King Damien and explain the situation. Hopefully, he'll allow me to move closer to you. If not, I can just go back and forth. Though, judging by the dark souls' trajectory, it doesn't look like they'll be heading this way anyway."

Lux, I, and twenty other demons were stationed in the human realm after a bunch of dark souls escaped with the help of a gone-bad demon named Mammon. So far, the group had slaughtered a coven of vampires and some other supes, but they were still in the water. It seemed like they were headed west, and if they kept going the way they'd been so far, they wouldn't be crossing through the town—or even the state—I was in.

"Sounds good. I still have the contact details of my old landlord, and I think my old place is still empty, so if you want you could stay there," Lux offered, and I grinned.

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