Page 64 of My Demon Neighbor
Twenty-Three
Pythor
I cursed out loud,following Codie down as he sank to the floor as if someone had cut all his strings. I kept my wings around him as I kneeled in front of him, sticking close as he trembled.
"Shh, you're safe, Codie. You're safe," I murmured as Hella stuck her head over my wing to lick the side of Codie's face, sneezing as some of his hair went into her mouth and nose.
Codie shuffled closer, and I wrapped my arms around his back, pulling him close until he was sitting in my lap, his legs thrown over my right thigh as he sat on my left, his face pressed into my chest.
I tightened my wing around him, holding him just like that as he trembled. I wished I could do more for him. I wanted to go back and pummel that bastard some, but that would be forme and not for Codie. I couldn't leave his side, I couldn't do that to him.
"I've got you," I murmured, kissing his forehead as I slowly started rocking him, trying whatever I could to comfort him.
"We have to find the others," he murmured under his breath, and I squeezed him tighter.
"And we will."
"No, now," he insisted, and I frowned. He looked so shaken. Was he ready for this?
"Are you sure, Codie? There's no rush."
Codie shook his head, glancing up to meet my eyes. His looked darker than usual, and I wished I could make them sparkle again. He'd been doing so well the last couple of weeks.
"If he doesn't come back, they might think something's wrong. What if they go into hiding or something?"
That made me snort. "There's nowhere in this world a human can hide from me, Codie."
Codie smiled, just a barely there hint of a grin, but it still relieved some of the tightness in my chest.
"I know that, my biggooddemon mate. I just don't want to waste any more of my life thinking about them. I want—no, I need it to end."
I nodded, understanding his wish to not draw it out. I picked up the phone he'd dropped, and handed it to him.
"See if you can find the others through this."
I wasn't really good with the whole social media thing. All I knew how to do was use the chat section, so I figured he'd have more luck than me.
"They're all here," he mumbled, and I peered at the phone as he scrolled through what looked like the bastard's friend list. I ignored the names, but four of the faces looked very familiar. I hated how confident they'd been that they'd never be caught.They hadn't even tried to hide their faces from Codie, since I'd seen them clearly in his dream. Or had they planned to kill him? Was that why the bastard had come here today? To finish the job?
Come to think of it, how had he even found Codie? And why now?
Shaking my head, I decided it didn't matter, and focused on the screen as Codie texted the four assholes to meet us at the bastard's place.
"Good thinking," I commended, and he gave me a small smile as he shrugged.
"Why go to them when you can bring them to you?"
I chuckled, then watched as Codie backed out of the app and started scrolling through the phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Just... looking," he mumbled, sounding a touch distracted, and I watched as he opened the Photos app, then started scrolling. They were all normal pictures of the bastard, with his buddies, at parties, some club, doing rich-people shit, I presumed.
But then Codie froze, but in the second before he dropped the phone, I saw it. Codie's face.
"Don't," he said, voice almost begging, as I reached for the phone, and I kissed his temple as I picked up the phone, screen facing away from me. Without looking at it, I pushed my magic into it. Magic and tech didn't always mix, but I was determined, and since I was trying to destroy rather than adjust or create, I could make it work as I made sure every photo that contained Codie disappeared not just from his phone, but from every device connected to his in any way. That meant his buddies' phones, and anyone or anywhere else he might've shared it.
Then, I crushed the phone into tiny little pieces for good measure, and Codie slumped against me, as if he'd been afraid I'd see the pictures.
