Page 17 of Hellfire & Tinsel
Thump, thump, thump!
“You should sit,” Kassel said, planting him securely. “I’m familiar with the signs of passing out.”
“Right…” he agreed groggily. The world was still spinning, and his heart was still racing. He didn’t let go of Kassel. In fact, he dug his nails in deeper. Kassel never indicated that it hurt. It was probably a feather brush to a demon. “We should check if the guy is okay. He might have gotten hurt.”
Kassel gave a cursory glance over his shoulder. The guys were still fighting, the bus driver was yelling at them and threatening to pull over and swerving around. No one was paying them an ounce of attention.
Kassel glanced back at him. “My only interest is you.”
Beau couldn’t handle it.
He wasn’t going to survive.
They made it to the grocery store eventually, after a pitstop to throw the fighting men off.
Beau’s heart had returned to an almost normal pace. He still felt wobbly when he stood, latching on to Kassel’s arm for support. He didn’t notice the strange looks he got as he cradled thin air. They made their way to Beau’s favorite grocery store like that, with Beau clinging to Kassel’s arm as he slushed through piles of snow and ice. He was generally pretty well coordinated, but there was something about allowing himself to be a fragile thing that needed support that ticked all of Beau’s boxes.
He didn’tneedKassel to hold him upright.
But it was so unbelievably nice that he could.
The display on the bus really hammered that one home. His arms were the size of small trees and at his height he’d scrape the tallest ceilings even without the horns. The bare, purple chest that was always on show—and driving Beau a little insane—had more ridges than a mountain range. He probably could have stepped in front of the bus itself and the bus would come out on the losing side.
He was starting to feel hot under his layers, a bright flush visible on the security camera display as they walked through the entrance doors. He covered a cheek shyly, peeking under his lashes at Kassel to see if he’d noticed.
Kassel wasn’t looking at him though, his eyes were flicking around the fluorescent space while cheery Christmas tunes played in the background from a playlist that would loop the same set of songs in an hour.
The demon approached a magazine stand and reviewed some of the titles, head tilted as if trying to understand anything about them. Beau wondered what Kassel thought of them, even as he marveled at the simple notion that he was standing here with someone at all.
Well… sort of.
Pushing the dissatisfaction aside, telling himself to be grateful for what he did finally have, he tugged Kassel away from the magazines and toward the carts. “Over here. I want to get a few things, so we’ll need a cart.”
Kassel followed, almost docile, his long legs eating up the distance and his weight rocking some of the displays around them. He reached for a cart before Beau could grab one, pulling the whole row of twenty carts and snapping the chain holding the last one steady without even trying.
Kassel turned to him. “Are these enough?”
Something in Beau’s stomach squirmed again at the casual display of raw strength. He bit his lip. “I just need the one,” he said coyly, just a step away from swooning.
Kassel looked back at them before shaking one loose by denting its counterparts. He lifted the thing clean off the ground before setting it in front of Beau. Beau hoped his squeal was covered by the clanging metal.
Trying to get a hold of himself, he led the way inside just as an employee came hurrying over to see what the ruckus was. They looked at the mess of carts and then at Beau’s slight frame, immediately dismissing him and glancing around elsewhere for the culprit.
Beau guessed that was one good thing about being easily ignored. He sent them a silent apology for the mess, hoping it wouldn’t ruin their shift too much as he pushed the cart toward the first few aisles.
Kassel shadowed him closely, putting himself between Beau and whatever other person they came across like he was his guard. Like the possibility of someone even breathing or brushing by him was out of the question on his watch.
For once, Beau felt safe instead of isolated.
The demon was also handy for grabbing a few of the higher things off the shelves that Beau found he—gasp!—suddenly couldn't reach.
He must have shrunk overnight.
It was a white lie, but Beau was a little addicted to the swoop of pleasure he experienced with every object passed to him. With the attentive way Kassel listened to his every word as he babbled on endlessly. He couldn’t help the chatter. Once he got going he found it hard to stop. He had a backlog of words to share, of thoughts and feelings, and suddenly a person to give them to. His excitement made them fall out of his mouth like an avalanche.
They dodged many stressed people grabbing last-minute things and debating stuffing types and presents as they went. Beau hardly noticed them for once, concentrating on Kassel at his side.
“Is there anything you’d like to try that isn’t on the list?” Beau asked as they walked into a blissfully free aisle, the realization dawning that he didn’t actually know if demons could eat human food.
