Neither demon stood, but they were both definitely on alert. Ezra's aura grew and, like an octopus, its tentacles seeped into and wrapped around my own power.
The demon on our warrant stood in front of our small, square table and eyed Carlos. "You would not have succeeded, with or without them," Taurin said.
Carlos said nothing. There was silence.
Fucking demons. They could stay like this for days, years probably, Carlos too come to think of it. Thankfully the bar would close before then. I sighed turning his attention to me. I was then on the receiving end of a stare I couldn't fathom. I stared back, taking in his human form, which I barely noticed when I attacked him. He was gorgeous.
I wondered if it was natural or if he worked that hard with deception. If all his victims were women or homosexuals I would say that he used it as a weapon, but they weren't. As far as Carlos and I knew, partly due to the rumor mill of demon hunters, he killed everyone and everything indiscriminately, lately focusing on our profession.
I looked at the tall, blond haired, blue eyed demon in front of us. His eyes were definitely in demon mode. They were a color that could be called glacier blue. I stared, watching ice form and crack across the entirety of his eyes. It was beyond beautiful.
The waitress came into our oppressive sphere at the same time I felt Ezra's tail lash tightly around my left foot. My experience told me that I wouldn't see anything if I looked down, it was the spirit manifestation of it. I put my hand to my lips to hold back a laugh, thinking I was getting as bad as the rest of the boys by just standing there saying nothing. I sat down abruptly and pulled Carlos down just as the waitress reached our table.
She was grumpy and didn't care who knew it, curt words tripping out of her mouth as she started to turn towards Taurin, "Are you leaving or staying?"
Bronti quickly distracted her with an exaggerated movement. "We'll be staying. I've changed my mind, I would like a dry red wine. Our friend here does not want anything. Don't worry about the change." He gave her money and artfully redirected her back to the bar. When she was occupied he flicked his hand and a chair seemed to form out of the shadows next to Taurin.
I stifled another laugh. 'Changed his mind.' I don't think I ever knew a demon to change their mind, much less actually say those words. Keeping the stupid grin on my face, I leaned back in my chair. My chair tipped precariously on its back legs. Honestly, I don't know what got into me, everything seemed a little funny.
Bronti's voice came hard and stern out of his mouth. "Sit down. Unless you've come to do battle right here in front of everyone. You've done it before."
Taurin continued to watch me. He slid into the chair just as the waitress placed a wine glass on the table. Bronti's expression changed completely and he gave a brilliant smile that had me blinking with surprise at him. It bedazzled my attention away from Taurin briefly, it definitely kept the waitress from noticing him. What good liars they all are. I took a swallow of my soda as Taurin turned his gaze to Ezra.
"I wanted to inform Ezra that I would be aligning myself with him before I bonded with this one," gesturing to me with his hand.
The forceful thunk of the front legs of my chair on the floor vibrated up my body. There was no grace in my movements as I stopped myself from spitting ginger ale all over everyone. I think Carlos was as astonished as I was because I saw the swift movements of him reaching for his blades. Bronti's restraining hand reached his arm a little before mine did on his other side. I turned to Ezra to cough to him that his tail was now cutting off circulation to my foot.
"These games you play," Ezra whispered darkly.
I watched black seep into his eyes like smoke from the borders. I cleared my throat and looked over at Taurin. He looked composed.
"I could just kill her," he replied.
My hand reached out in a calming gesture to Ezra. He gave off streams of heat. I cleared my throat, "Taurin, you say that we would not be able to kill you. Therefore, if you killed us, me rather, let's say, free lunch for you. The Affairs' would send out more hunters and you wouldn't have to search for them because they would be coming to you. You could just keep killing. So, my question to you is how many hunters bonded to demons would it take working together before you would be in deep shit? Also, why bond at all, there's no benefit in it for you."
"There aren't enough bonded demons out there that don't owe me something. And I want a demon hunter so I can get off the Affairs' list. Simple."
My eyes narrowed at the certainty in which he spoke. I knew there was more to it than that. "Why don't you just let Carlos and me find you a demon hunter to bound with?" I asked. I felt Carlos' glare before he even turned his head.
Taurin laughed and I got the impression that he laughed at himself, "Who would have me?" He gestured to his chest with his hand.
