The demonic realm is different than the faerie hills. You can see past your nose for one thing. And it’s flat. I’m assuming the faerie hills aren’t. But the demonic realm is. Totally and completely. It’s possible to see for miles.

And the sky is always clear, or always has been whenever I’m here. People can bitch all they want about demons and how evil they are, but their realm is the most beautiful of all. If I ever have someone I want to get all mushy with, I’m bringing them here and we're having a picnic where we look up at the stars or some such nonsense. As I am now, alone, I lay down, using my folded arms as a pillow and stare up at the sky with my legs crossed. No demons are going to bother me. I have the demonic aura and this world is pretty sparse anyway. There are so many planets in such a small space, so many places demons live... And demons are solitary creatures. There are no cities here, no overpopulated areas. Most are empty in fact.

Unlike every other world, I never have to worry about teleporting into the middle of a fight or anywhere specific. It's where I go to be "at peace." Huh. Maybe I should meditate here.

I stare up at the sky, letting my mind drift. There are no days here. Not where I am at the moment at least. The planets orbit a sun, but do not rotate. There is only ever day, night, or perpetual dusk. I'm currently in a night area and it's amazing.

No light pollution, no pollution at all in fact. The sky is flawless. I can see far away stars and planets, close enough to see the rings clearly of one and the great lakes and craggy mountain ranges of another.

I sigh, content, and close my eyes as my breath regulates. It's so peaceful here. The stone is warm against my back, heated by a volcanic core that encompasses most of the inside of the planet. But the air is cool, a gentle breeze ruffling my hair.

My mind slows and I let my consciousness flow outwards. I can astral project, but only here: only in the demonic realm. I frown slightly and my spirit returns to my body with a jolt. Why did I even bother to try and meditate back in the hills? I should know better.

I push the thoughts out of my head once more and regulate my breathing until it's even again. Soon, I'm flowing through the fields, floating on the soft breezes and exploring the landscape. It's familiar, even though I've never been in this specific spot before. All the landscape here is similar- bare stone, but beautiful bare stone, black at first glance, but colors peek through the surface, like half remembered dreams or fleeting reflections in a mirror.

All too soon, my stomach growls at me, bringing me back to me and the present.

I sigh and sit up. My back protests. My, how long have I lain here? It's only a brief thought. It doesn't matter. I smirk and concentrate on that triumph. I think I can handle my "family" now.

The world blurs around my and then shifts, turning into the green of faerie hills. I hone in on the beacon of familiar power, the rune I drew with my blood earlier.

I end up a foot away from it as the worlds slow and then stop completely.

I sigh and still with that dreamy vestige of peace hanging around me, I rise. My room's empty. I have to find Iain again. The first feeing of bitterness creeps in. Hopefully he won't be talking about me again.

I shove it away and Jalkyn bursts in for the second time today, again looking pissed. "Where the fuck have you been? It's been hours!"

I sigh softly as my shoulders tense. There goes my inner peace.

I shrug it off and fix a glare on the green-haired faerie. He looks perfect again. "I was mentally preparing myself," I inform him, voice icy.

Shock takes over his face and then he concentrates for a moment. He looks at me suspiciously. "What have you been doing? You’re all serene and shit."

God, he sounds like I usually do.

"It doesn’t matter," I tell him with a sigh. Definitely an empath. He just proved it. That’s a little scary actually. I wonder if there’s a way to shield against it?

"Whatever. You really need to get me out of that deal soon."

"Why?" I ask, instantly suspicious.

He glares at me, crossing his arms. He looks pissed. "I could just overwhelm your crappy little shields again and make you promise to so it soon."

I smile at him as charmingly as I can manage. "I’d rather just break the deal completely. I don’t particularly want to fuck you."

But instead of getting hurt or insecure as he was supposed to- off balance bloods are ones that reveal malicious plans that may or may not exist to hurt the poor half-breed- he smirks at me. "And I don’t particularly want you to fuck me. I’ve heard demon cocks are gross."

They totally are. No offense taken. Lucky me, I’m not a blooded demon.

"Unfortunately for you," he continues on. "Because you already agreed, I can release you from obligation to fulfil your half of the deal and you can do the same for me, but you are obligated to do your part unless I say otherwise. No cancelling the entire thing unless we both agree."

I wince. Damn it. "Why do you want out so soon?"

He glares at me. "You get in another fight like that and I die trying to save you."

Oh. Yeah. He might be making himself look hale and hearty, but he’s not.

I sigh. "I’ll go find him now. You can stay here," I tack on reluctantly. No point in making him go. He‘d just hunt me down again shortly to make sure I did it. "And you shouldn’t waste magic on glamour if you’re feeling so bad."

I step out and close the door, ignoring the considering weight of his gaze on me.

I sigh as I’m confronted with an empty hallway. Well, I’m not just going to wander around again.

I picture Iain’s face in my mind and… can’t. Not well enough, at least. Damn. Teleporting using that is out then. A finding spell? Nah, you also need to be able to picture the person in your mind. I suck at them anyway. Teleporting to and from the demonic realm is pretty much the only thing I can do easily.

So…. Old-fashioned searching it is then. Damn it all to hell.

  

I sigh. I wonder if Jalkyn knows where he is? Then wouldn’t you know it? Someone walks into the hall. And it’s a someone I recognize.

"Sinjin!" Midir looks surprised. And wary.

Aah, too bad. I guess I should expect everyone to look a little wary of me for… er, at least, while. But I’ve got practice looking harmless. I hunch down into myself, bending my knees a little and try to look shorter while smiling as sweetly as I can manage.

"Sorry, I need to find Iain again."

He suddenly looks a little less wary. Right. He wasn’t scared of me earlier. Weird. And I have a crappy memory.

"He’s in the main hall. He then gives me long and complicated directions which I commit to memory as well as I can.

"Thanks!"

He smiles at me and my breath catches in my throat. Damn he’s hot. Why the hell do we have to be related? If we weren’t I would so have him under me and begging by now!

Grah! Damn you, blood family!

"Oh hey," Midir calls as I begin to walk away. "Have you seen Jalkyn?"

I nod. "He’s in my room."

"Thanks!" Midir calls. It’s only a moment until he’s disappeared into there. My mind jumps instantly to the gutter, me being the person I am, but I force it back out. They’re like step cousins or something. Family, technically, I think. They wouldn’t be doing anything like that.

I shake my head and head down the hall. It’s probably harmless. Nonetheless, I can’t help images of the two twined together from filling my mind. It’s the first time I’ve thought about Jalkyn and sex together and imagined him on front.

Iain is exactly where Midir said he would be, luckily alone. He’s cross-legged and looks like he’s meditating. As soon as I take one step into the room, he’s on his feet, silver eyes open and glaring.

"What?" he snarls at me.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Oh yeah buddy. You think I’m so out-of-control and dangerous and yet you take no precautions to keep me calm. Snarling at the demonic half-breed will help matters. Yeah.

Well, he talked to me. It’s better than earlier.

I don’t bother with any preamble. As amusing as trying to talk about the weather with Iain would be, I think it would just piss him off further which is not conducive to what I’m trying to do. "You need to let Jalkyn out of the deal you made with him." Deal seems like too strong a word. Iain threatened him into it. That makes it… not a deal, right? But

Jalkyn called it a deal and I guess it’s treated the same as a deal? Who knows?

He smirks at me. "No."

Well that was simple.

"Why not?" Jackass.

"Because," Iain says, speaking slowly and clearly. Treating me like an idiot again. Yeah. Helpful. "If he heals you whenever you get hurt, I never have to worry about protecting you."

Selfish son of a bitch, ain’t he? But I totally see his point. I wouldn’t want to have to protect him either.

"So why are you family guardian or whatever? Lost a bet?"

Oops. Oh well, if he starts the fight, it’s not my fault right? Besides, that wasn’t that bad even if he does look more pissed now.

"None of your business!" he snaps. Ooh, testy dragon.

"Are you a dragon?" I ask as mildly as I can manage. Questions may not be the best thing to do right now, but really. What else am I supposed to do?

His eyes widen a tad. "How did you know that?"

Ha! I’m right. But dude, they’re, like, listed as extinct. I guess not. It’s kind of cool. I know that, at least, at my school, I’m the only one to ever meet a dragon. Badass.

I shrug instead of answering. I grew up in Border Town. He knows that and that’s all the answer I can give. They’re serious about us learning every fucking species ever there.

"Aren’t you supposed to be in, like, the human dimension?" There’s a reason dragons show up so much in human lore but nowhere else.

His silver eyes narrow again. "Aren’t you supposed to not exist?"

Ouch buddy. But I do and so does Janie. Inter-species hybrids do last sometimes, even demon-fae. Besides, I’ve got one better on him.

"Aren’t you supposed to be extinct?"

Zing! Take that shiny silver man!

But instead of getting angry, a flash of very real hurt crosses his eyes. Oh. Now I feel bad. Shit. What if he’s the last dragon? Like ever? Aw man, now I feel bad.

"Get the fuck out!"

Now he’s pissed. I’m not though. I just feel like scum.

"Hey, man," I say gently. "I’m sorry. I-"

He advances on me and I realize with a start that he is taller than me. I begin to fall back. Oh shit. I’ve only ever had to deal with a few people that were taller than me before and they’ve never been this much wider than me. And besides, aren’t dragons supposed to be epically strong, even in their human forms. Shit, shit, shit, should not have pissed this guy off!

But he doesn’t hit me. He pauses after a couple steps and it takes me a moment to remember why I don’t have a mouthful of knuckle sandwich. He’s the family guardian and I am, technically, part of the family he’s guarding. He can’t hit me. Just threaten me.

That realization makes him a lot less intimidating.

"Hey man, sorry. Didn’t- Uh, actually, still don’t know what the issue is, but I apologize anyway."

He looks a little surprised, an emotion that is quickly swallowed up by anger. "Just fuck off," he growls before turning and stalking away.

I take a deep breath. Breathing space. I really don’t like being cornered by people who are bigger than me. I’m just sooo not used to it.

"Hey!" I call at his retreating back. "Jalkyn still-"

"He’s released from our deal. His end does not need to be held up."

"Uh…" Is that all that needs to be said? But then, most deals are verbal only here too. "Thank you!"

Iain turns at the door, silver eyes burning hotly.

Woah momma. Sexy. But like in a don’t-touch-your-fingers-will-be-removed kind of way.

"Be careful not to get caught up in that slut’s games," Iain warns, voice icy.

I nod. That’s self-evident- he’s a blood ainmhein faerie. I don’t need the warning.

Iain departs without another word and I sigh and begin to retrace my steps back to my room. I get lost really, really quickly. I sigh. I have absolutely no idea where I am.

So I teleport to the demonic realm and then pop back to the faerie hills, following my rune back into my room. And, there, on my new bed, Midir and Jalkyn are both lying on my sheets naked, a thin sheen of sweat covering both of them. Oh holy fuck monkeys. Wow. They totally did have sex.

And Midir is totally hot naked.

I clear my throat and grin cheekily as they both jump. Midir turns red and begins to scramble after the sheets, trying to over himself and his cute faerie cock. Aw, that’s adorable.

Jalkyn just reclines back onto the pillows and looks generally unconcerned. His eyes catch and hold mine though for a long moment and I get the feeling he’s trying to tell me something.

I’m pretty quickly distracted by Midir when he bends half off the bed to gather his clothes. The sheet slips and most of his ass is barred for my viewing pleasure. It’s a really nice ass. Perfectly rounded and firm. I want to lean forward and just grab it…

Jalkyn snorts and I glance up at him to see him glaring at me contemptuously. I straighten up and my shoulders stiffen. Man, I feel like I just failed a test or something.

He smirks at me. I stick my tongue out at him. Dammit, he’s just a blood.

His smirk widens. Jerk off.

My tongue retreats back into my mouth as Midir straightens up and begins to yank on his clothes haphazardly. Aw, cute! I smile at him and Jalkyn snickers and I feel my eyes inexorably pulled back to him.

Well, it makes sense. He’s naked and Midir is slowly making himself un-naked. And, I notice with a slight frown, Jalkyn’s got his glamour wrapped around him. No bruises or hickeys or anything else. Oh well. If he wants to waste energy making himself look healthy, more power to him.

I can’t help the sneaking question of why he doesn’t just make himself look more attractive if he’s always wrapped in glamour anyways. Not that he’s unattractive it’s just that… well, for a faerie, he is unattractive. And that makes me feel guilty.

Jalkyn shoots me an odd look and I blink at him. Right. Empath. I should just not think with him around.

My gaze swings back to Midir as the man slides out of the bed. Ah, he’s fully covered. Pity that.

He’s bright red too. Very, very cute.

"Sorry," he squeaks.

I smile charmingly at him. "Not a problem." It’s a struggle not to add, "But invite me next time." He’s my cousin dammit! Related by blood and all. I’m pouting so hard on the inside.

He looks relieved and bolts out the door. Aw, he’s cute.

Jalkyn smirks and slides out of the bed as well. I can’t help but stare. It’s almost painful how graceful he is. I feel like a clumsy hulk next to him.

He begins to gather his clothes. "Did you speak to Iain?"

I nod. Instead of smirking, a look of intense concentration comes over his face. He’s frozen in the position he stopped in, half hunched over, reaching towards his pants.

There’s a slight stirring of magic around him and his wings flare, more than a glimmer just for a moment, and then everything’s back to normal and he’s picking up his pants.

"That’s it?"

I don’t know much about healing or bonding yourself to another, but it feels like it should take more time than that.

He shrugs.

Huh. Maybe it’s really that easy or maybe he’s just really good.

He glances up at me. "Do you still want to fuck me?"

I freeze. It’s not a shock, fucking Jalkyn’s been at that back of my mind since earlier, but… I still don’t know if I really want to. I’m curious about ainmhain faeries, I admit, and after these few months, I’ll probably never get another chance with a blooded one, but… He’s a blood. Contradictory, but true. Plus, it’s Jalkyn. He’s a manipulative ass. Iain’s words come back to me too. "Be careful not to get caught up in that slut’s games." Mean, and something I already know, but…

He smirks at me. He really does have weird reactions. Anyone else would be all hurt and stuff that I’m hesitating on such an open invitation.

"I can glamour myself to look like anyone," he purrs. He takes a step closer, letting his clothes pool to the ground again. "Whoever you most desire," he breathes, resting his hands on my shoulders and leaning in close enough to kiss. His face begins to change, lips becoming softer and fuller, cheeks rounder. His hair and eyes begin to darken and soon, it’s Midir’s face looking up at me. God, he’s even taller and the body against mine is fuller and firmer, not as delicate as Jalkyn.

"I don’t even have to know." His voice is different. Wow.

Oh god. Way too tempting. Janie mentioned this once. Powerful incubi- one’s who are good at empathy at least- can… I dunno what exactly. It’s a combination between a spell and mind trick I think. But they can make their partner believe they are with the person they most desire.

I dunno if that’s really Midir for me, but damn! At the moment it sure as hell is. "Okay," is all I can say.

And then Mi-Jalkyn’s lips are on mine, but they’re gentle, hesitant, exactly what I imagine Midir’s would feel like, so different than Jalkyn’s.

Then Midir is cupping my chin and guiding me backwards, to the bed. I groan. Damn this is hot! And I have the added benefit of not having to treat Jalkyn like I would treat Midir. Midir seems like an innocent, although he’s obviously not if he had sex with Jalkyn, but he’s definitely less experienced than the ainmhain faerie. I’m guessing he likes his love-making gentle.

Jalkyn just wants to get fucked.

I growl and pick him up by the thighs, tossing him on the bed. The weight’s a little different than it should be, I think, for Midir. So that’s one way to tell if it’s really Jalkyn or not in the future. Cool.

I’m on top of Jalkyn before he can do anything but grunt on impact. I lick and nip his lips, but I keep it gentle. I trail kisses to his jaw, one of my hands stroking down a perfectly shaped thigh. They fall apart and Midir moans softly, writhing a little.

The sex is amazing. Midir feels amazing. It's over quickly.

I collapse next to Midir, but suddenly it’s Jalkyn lying there next to me.

I blink fuzzily at him. What? Wait…

Something‘s off. What just happened? It’s going… fuzzy in my mind. And how the hell could I think I was really doing Midir for even a moment, not to mention completely forget it was really Jalkyn? Oh god, what the fuck just happened?

"What the hell just happened?"

He smirks at me, light green hair pulled into a perfect ponytail again, looking flawless. "You just got rolled, honey."

It takes me a moment to understand and when I do, I want to swear. I just got rolled. My mind was tricked, taken over by Jalkyn, totally and completely. God, there’s no telling how much of that was illusion and mind tricks and how much was real. Fuck, for all I know I used my hand while he planted that stuff in my mind.

And I can’t believe I totally forgot that was Jakyn for a moment. That’s not normal! I can’t help but glare at him. "You’re an ass."

He smirks at me and begins to roll out of the bed without answering.

He’s still aroused and he’s moving a little stiffly so that at least wasn‘t a trick. I sigh. Even if it was mostly an illusion, I’m not that bad of a partner. I did fuck him, so... I grab him. He gasps and when I yank him back against the curve of my body, he turns his head to look at me, wide-eyed.

"What- what are you doing?"

Instead of answering, I squeeze gently. He arches sharply, pressing his hips back against mine inadvertently. It’s a struggle not to just thrust forward and take him, but I manage.

"Stop!"

I ignore him so he rips himself away from, landing on the ground with a painful sounding clunk and a pained grunt.

What the fuck? I lean over and stare at him, but he’s panting desperately. As I continue to stare, wondering what the hell is going on, his pale yellow eyes rise to glare at me. A lot of effect is lost because he’s naked, flushed, and panting.

"Never," he hisses. "Do that." He pauses to gasp. "Again."

I stare at him for a moment longer. "What the fuck?" I finally ask.

He flips me off.

I roll my eyes and roll off the bed, pinning him easily to the ground. It’s incredibly easy- he doesn’t fight back, even as I trap his wrists above his head.

"Now… what?" I ask for what feels like the zillionth time today.

"Get the fuck off me, you ass," he snarls. When I don’t move, he snarls, "If you have any sense of self-preservation you will get off and stop attempting to rape me."

I snort at him. "We just had sex buddy. Willingly," I tack on pointedly. "I dunno what your problem is, but-"

"If you don’t get off me, I’ll roll your mind again," Jalkyn threatens.

I roll my eyes at him. Been there, done that, am now shielding as hard as I am. And besides, I’m curious. What kind of guy doesn’t want to be jacked off? "If you could you already would have." It’s a complete lie on my part, a guess, a shot in the dark, but Jalkyn suddenly looks defeated, slumping underneath me. Oh. He really can’t. Go my epic shields.

He suddenly looks exhausted and, for the first time around him, I feel magic slipping away as the glamour finally slides away. And holy fuck, he looks like shit. I thought he looked bad earlier, but… he was covered in illusion even then. He looks awful.

Never mind about epic shields. He’s just exhausted.

His hair’s still pulled into a semblance of a ponytail but its limp and most of its trailing down, yanked loose into complete disarray. His skin looks papery, white and thin, and there are dark hollows under his eyes. Hickeys, teeth marks, welts, scratches, and bruises march down his neck, chest, stomach, finally stopping at his inner thighs although bruises mark every inch of him.

I scramble off him, a little horrified. Dear god, he looks like he’s been beaten. Frequently. Or… been having really rough kinky sex. My eyes run over his body, the once over not sexual for once.

Yeah. I’m actually definitely going to go with lots of kinky sex. Or rape. There are bruises that are clearly from someone grabbing him on his thighs, hips, and arms. The bruise from Iain around his neck is still dark and vivid. And the welts are concentrated mostly to his inner thighs and chest. I imagine there are a lot more on his back.

"Shit," I mutter.

He rolls his eyes, one pale yellow orb framed by darkened blue-ish purple skin. His lips are scratched and bruised, one split.

"What the fuck happened to you?" I can’t help but blurt out.

He sits up, rubbing at his wrists. They‘re bruised. I don’t think I grabbed them hard enough to bruise them.

"You," he says pointedly, lifting one arched eyebrow

Right. A lot of those cuts on his lips and the bite marks on his neck probably are from me, but I didn’t do the rest of it…

He continues on before I can say anything. "And Iain, and Midir, and several people I don’t think you know…"

I snort. The next names surprise me though.

"And Cayden and Meara." He catches my stare. "Those two give me bruises during lessons. Neither would touch me with a ten foot pole and I have no interest in seducing them."

"Shit. Was any of it…" Rape? I can’t bring myself to say it, but he laughs, guessing.

"Rape? Fuck no." He smirks at me and comes over, pressing his front against mine. "I’m ainmhain. There’s no point in raping me."

It takes me a moment to realize how bitter that sounded. His tone wasn’t bitter. It was amused.

"What, you’ll let anyone that wants you have you?"

"Pretty much," he agrees cheerfully.

I grimace. "I’m suddenly wishing we used protection."

He blinks at me. "Why?"

I snort. "STD’s?" There’s a ‘duh’ in my voice but he just looks at me quizzically. "Sexually transmitted diseases?"

"Oh." He snorts. "Faeries don’t catch them. Can‘t catch them, actually." He begins to get up, off the floor, and he’s moving stiffly. I sigh and help pull him to his feet. "None of that explains your refusal to let me make you feel good."

He snorts. "None of your business."

My hand tightens around his arm, but I force myself to relax my grip. He’s already hurt enough.

"Why don’t you heal yourself?"

"No energy, no point. It’s fucking hard to do too."

Oh wow. I think that's the first time I've heard anyone curse here. Cool.

"You're kind of un-faerie-ish."

He snorts and doesn't answer.

I sigh. "Why is there no point to healing yourself?" I understand the no energy part- he looks exhausted and he had to heal me- and I've heard that it's hard for some healers to heal themselves before, but how is there no point?

He shoots me a scathing look. "Does it look like this happened all at once?" he snarls.

Oh. I guess that makes sense. "No. But the stuff from me is a one-time thing. Same with Iain. Surely you can convince everyone to be more careful."

He laughs out loud, that insanely hot, over-sexed laugh that he does so well. "You are so human."

I think that's an insult. I should be insulted. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I manage to keep myself pretty neutral.

He smirks at me. "I'll make you a deal."

Oh hell no. No more deals with faeries.

"I'll help teach you about faerie culture. How to deal with them and everything."

Them? Why them? He's a faerie too. But then he keeps going and I'm forced to abandon speculating so I can listen.

"In exchange, you keep your trap shut about me- my glamour, bruises, sex life, all of it- when talking to everyone here. And you stop asking questions about the orgasm thing."

Oh. That seems... really, really fair. Both are pretty common courtesy type things. Makes me worry about what actually is common courtesy here. "No using your powers on me when I have a question."

"Fine."

"And no getting pissed off if I offend you with a question."

He waves his hand in the air. "I won't take it out on you."

I nod. "Good enough. One last question on the orgasm thing."

He nods, looking wary.

"Is it a faerie thing?"

He smirks and shakes his head. "No. I am probably the only faerie you will run into that will not come while touching you. Others might refuse to make you come though," he adds, drawing a hand through his hair and pulling out the tie. He begins finger combing the long green strands. "Do we have a deal?"

I nod. Oh yeah. My part of the deal isn't hard to keep up and I think I'm going to need help from someone if I'm going to survive my seven months here.

"Good. First lesson. For a deal to be truly binding, both parties have to repeat the entire thing as a promise.

I blink at him. "But before..."

He shrugs. "I've been treating you mostly as I would a human. You're scared of the Wild Hunt and that kept you in line. But there is absolutely no real threat unless if it’s really binding. Which means both parties have to know the entire thing."

"Oh. ‘Kay."

He rolls his eyes and repeats the deal including my stipulations.

I do the same and he smiles brightly. It’s like some apprehension or defence has just fallen away.

He’s surprisingly… I don’t know. Bright and happy? His face is too messed up to be pretty and his coloring is still off, but… I don’t know. I suddenly think I could actually like him. Like, as a friend.

"Okay," he says as he raises his hands to start finger combing his hair again. "First lesson..."

I roll my eyes and go to the bathroom. I think I saw a comb in there. Sure enough there is one. I grab it and toss it to Jalkyn. He rolls his eyes.

"First lesson on hold. Second lesson, hair is important in faerie culture. There’s a whole courting thing involving it. Sharing hair stuff like combs is a proposition."

I blink and stare at the comb he’s currently using.

He smirks. "I’ve actually spent time with humans. I will take absolutely nothing you do personally."

I blink at him. "Why have you spent time with humans?"

"No personal questions. It’s considered offensive."

"Okay. You just said you wouldn’t take anything I say personally. Why have you spent time with humans?"

"None of your damn business."

Right. Okay. "What’s lesson number one?"

"Oh right. Asking for help or for someone to go easy on you are seen as a sign of weakness. Don’t do it unless you want that person to continually treat you as lesser. Many will do it anyway, but…" He seems to realize what he just said was contradictory. "It’s a pride and respect thing. Don’t ask for help if you want respect."

"That kind of sucks."

He rolls his eyes. "Suck it up and deal."

I sigh. "If you ever need help, don’t hesitate to ask me. I don’t think it’s a sign of weakness."

He snorts. "I do, so keep your problems to yourself."

There’s something really cute about him when he’s being a jackass. Not the attractive cute, more the "Aw, I want to pinch your chubby wubby little cheeks, yes I do!" Which is funny, because despite his size, he is not adorable. His lips scream stern and his eyes are generally narrowed, just like they are now, in fact.

"I am not cute."

I raise my eyebrows. "You can feel that with your empathy? Oh, does that count as a personal question?"

"It counts as a personal question because it involves empathy, but usually questions about power are not. They‘re looked down upon though. You should be able to figure it out yourself."

Wow, he sounds like a professor or something. And then he continues and he just sounds pissed.

"And, yes, I can. That emotion though is usually reserved for laughing babies and fuzzy puppies. Of which I am neither."

I can’t help it. It’s really cute and funny. He scowls and the scowl just continues to deepen until he finally grabs me by the ear and I’m hit with a quick slap of lust. I yank myself away, scowling, as I rub at my poor mistreated ear. "You are such a fucking weirdo!"

He smirks at me and it’s my turn to scowl at him. He’s not so cute anymore. And I now have a boner.

"Didn’t the deal say you couldn’t use your powers on me to distract me from a question?"

He snorts. "I answered first. Cover your ass better."

I scowl. "Damn."

He smirks. "That’s what I’m here for. Do you want to know some general cover your ass phrases?"

I nod. "Yes, sir. Please, sir."

He actually lets out a surprised laugh and then covers his mouth.

I smile at him, and he scowls and pokes me. "First phrase. Are you listening?"

I nod. He tells me about five, makes me repeat them back until I have everything word for word.

"Okay," he says standing. "More tomorrow."

I blink. "That’s all?"

He rolls his eyes. "I’m hurt."

"Ooh, you’re tired?"

He gives me a long disparaging stare. "No, stupid, I’m horny."

I snort. "No need to be sarcastic."

His glare is even more disparaging this time, but he just rolls his eyes and leaves.

I’m left alone in my room for the rest of the day. Food’s dropped off. I kind of hope it’s because I was just injured- I’m a social person. I can’t be alone for this long all the time with nothing really to do on a regular basis. I end up using the fork they bring me with my dinner- still no knives- to call Janie. She listens to my story with wide eyes.

"I have to say, I am not jealous of you."

I smile tiredly at her. "I’m not jealous of me either."

She giggles. "You should come visit tomorrow. There’s going to be a party."

I blink at her. Oh yeah. I can totally go visit. Easily. If she just draws a little rune of power… I know her well enough I can use that. Fuck, why didn’t I just draw one before I left? It would be sooo much easier.

And I can visit Myda now! Oh hell yeah! But… well, depending on the magic lesson… "I’ll see if I can," I promise her. I need enough energy to get to the demonic realm, then to Border Town, then back to the demonic realm and then here.

In theory, I could go straight there and back, but the one time I tried from Border Town to the human world, I messed it up, ended up in the wrong place, and it was a gigantic waste of energy.

"If Cayden doesn’t exhaust me."

Her smile turns wicked. "Hot."

I roll my eyes. "He’s the uncle, sweetie."

She blinks. "Water boy?"

I grin. "Yeah."

"Still hot but now for me not you."

I laugh. "You’re insatiable."

She grins wickedly.

"Oh hell." I sit up. "That reminds me. There’s an ainmhain faerie living here. Did I tell you about him? Well, whatevs. Want to help me out, sweetie?"

She laughs. "Is he cute?"

I raised my hand in a so-so motion and her slender silver eyebrows shoot up. "No? And he’s even a blooded ainmhain faerie?"

When I nod, she says, "Huh. Odd."

I shrug and nod.

"Well, whatevs," she says. Ha, I knew she was where I got that from. Her and Lonnie have had a horrible impact on my speech patterns. Myda speaks so well- clearly enunciates, doesn’t use slang- and that’s how I spoke when I was little but then those two came along and now I talk like a fucking valley girl crossed with a skateboarding pot head.

"There are a couple of ways and I guess I can share them with you."

I snort at her. "You couldn’t before."

She grins cheekily. "I enjoy that I have an effect on a gay man."

I stick my tongue out at her. "Bitch."

"Fag," she shoots back, unperturbed. "Now, the best way to guard against ainmhain faerie powers is…"