Page 58 of My Demon Neighbor
Twenty-One
Codie
Pythorlovedme. He loved me, and he didn't care if I said it back.
I didn't know how I felt about him.
Well, that wasn't true. I knew I cared about him a lot. I knew I didn't think I could live without him. I knew he was the best part of my day.
Did that mean I loved him?
I'd never been in love before, and after that night, I'd thought I would never feel safe enough. Yet here I was, trusting Pythor more than I'd ever trusted a man.
Before that night, I'd always thought I would have a typical love story: meet someone, fall in love, spend our lives together. Maybe he'd be an artist like me, and we'd spend ourdays creating.
I'd never thought I'd be dating a demon who could teleport and who'd promise to always keep me safe. I'd never thought I'd want or need someone like him.
Yet here I was, and I wouldn't want it any other way now.
I snuggled deeper into his chest with a happy sigh, and he tightened his wings around me. He'd wrapped them around me like a blanket when we started cuddling, and they were angled so I could see the flat screen over them. Not that I was paying much attention to the movie we were supposedly watching.
It'd been two days since he'd told me he loved me, and it was still all I could think about. He hadn't said it again, and I wondered if it was because he felt like he'd be putting pressure on me to say it back. I wouldn't because I knew him well, and I knew he'd never want me to say it unless it was true.
Was it true? Did I love Pythor?
Maybe, but I wasn't ready to say it yet. I wasn't sure what exactly I was afraid of, but I was going to keep these feelings close to my chest for now.
"Are you hungry?" Pythor asked, and I turned my head to look at him.
"I could eat."
"Any preferences?"
Thinking about it for a moment, I settled on, "How about some Indian? Maybe kofta curry and butter naan?"
"You got it," Pythor murmured, and he snapped his fingers, filling the room with scents of spices and warm butter as a bowl of curry and a dish stacked with naan appeared on the coffee table. He snapped his fingers again, and dishes from my kitchen and two glasses of water joined the food.
"That smells delicious," I said as Pythor folded his wings back and took his human form so he could eat easily.
"That it does," he said as he served the food on a plate, then handed it to me before taking one for himself. He did it so easily, like he didn't even have to think about it.
Hella stuck her head up, eyed our food, then went back to her nap.
"She really doesn't need to eat, does she?" I asked, still a little wonderstruck about that fact. Pythor had told me soon after he told me the other stuff, and I'd stopped 'feeding' Hella the food he'd given me for her, but it was still strange to see her non-reaction around food of any kind.
"Nope. She's just here for company. I think she'll move on to whatever afterlife animals have once all the demons move on from the demon realm."
I thought about that, then realized I really didn't know much about the whole afterlife thing. He'd answered my questions and told me some things, especially the dark souls he was looking for, and the dark demon, but I didn't know what afterlife would be like for him... and me.
"Is that something you can do willingly? Move on?" I asked as I scooped up some gravy with a piece of naan.
"Yep. A lot of demons moved on to Afterworld after Underworld was closed down and we 'retired.' Most of the ones still here are from the last batch of demons created, and three were from the second-last. Mammon belonged to the second-last batch."
"Are the other two bad demons as well?"
Pythor shook his head. "Kor is a bit of a hermit, but he's still good. I think. Star has three mates, and I don't think he'll be going darkside anytime soon."
I nodded, then asked the question I actually wanted to know the answer to. "So what happens to us? You won't grow old like I do, right?"
