Chapter 129

Chapter 129: Chapter 129

By nightfall, they were still in Hurwell, the carriage coming to a stop in front of an inn. Dulce got separate rooms for everyone more often than not, even if they weren’t used, he could afford it.

He went to his room first, weary from all the traveling. As soon as they got to dry land, they had immediately gotten in a carriage. But he had no intentions of slowing down, hoping to get back to Dewmire in the shortest time possible.

And by the time he arrived, his rebuilt cottage should be standing at the edge of the sleepy village of Dewmire.

Dulce walked across the inn room, glancing over his shoulder when he realized that he wasn’t alone. Asael was right behind him, the other two glaring in from the doorway.

"Is something the matter?" He stopped to pay attention to them. "Do you not like your inn rooms?"

"My room is fine," Asael said even as he walked right past to get comfortable on an armchair.

Dulce turned to Kath’tan and Ruoxi, they had been dogging his footsteps ever since Caedos left, it made the Hellhound’s absence easier to tolerate. "Are you both coming in as well?" He asked lightly.

Both Demons shouldered each other on their way in, Kath’tan heading right for his bed.

Dulce continued on to the bath, not worried like he would have been that he would return to find them gone. He took a change of clothes with him, choosing to quickly clean up rather than soak in the bath as he’d planned.

He stepped out in a comfortable dress shirt and loose pants, his hair gathered up to keep it dry. He didn’t expect to walk right into Kath’tan, looking up expectantly only to be kissed deeply.

The Demon simply walked off after that, leaving his inn room no doubt to wash the dust of the road off him.

Dulce froze, but only for a moment, while in Ashford, he had grown used to the Demon’s kisses, if anything, intimacy was scarce and far between ever since they returned.

"Do you both want to eat now?" He asked the two Demons left behind in his inn room.

Ruoxi’s mildly irritated expression darkened, his burning gaze fixed on Dulce letting his hair down. "I’ll eat later," He said cryptically, rising to his feet as well.

Dulce took his answer in stride, turning to Asael to wait for an answer.

The Shadow Demon’s piercing gray eyes trailed after Ruoxi - the Incubus hadn’t been talking about food but it had clearly gone over the guileless Vampire’s head.

"Let’s eat together," He said to Dulce, taking everything in stride.

It was hardly surprising news to him, the Vampire had always drawn them in, like the light of a lantern bug, delicate, hypnotic. If anything, he was impressed by their patience, that it took them this long.

"Do you feel like you had to give in to their advances to keep them?" He asked quietly after a brisk-mannered barmaid brought trays of food up to Dulce’s room.

Dulce was about to sit next to him on the sofa when he heard the question, his movements slowing down. "It’s not my intention to keep anyone, that would be unfair. I’m an old, lonely Vampire, Asael, and maybe a little greedy." He added with a lilt to his voice.

Asael was stunned into silence - the Vampire was completely selfless, it was easy to worry that it was forced. But then again, he just needed to look at Dulce’s treatment of his kind to remember that the Vampire’s care was very limited.

"When will you need to sleep again?" Dulce after a brief spell of silence.

Asael lifted his gaze from his plate, he couldn’t remember the taste of the meal he was eating. "Years-" He started to say then corrected himself. "About a year..." Although that wasn’t much better either.

Shadow Demons could go for a long while without sleeping but his case was rather extreme, to be able to forego sleep for so long was impressive and equally had its dangers.

Asael was used to hunting down targets even while the darkness threatened to close in on him but he couldn’t quite bring himself to say that to Dulce knowing that it would only worry the Vampire.

"Can you only sleep in Noctyrn?" Dulce went on, not finding his response strange as a Vampire unable to sleep.

The Shadow Demon thought about it, even in Noctyrn, he had been unable to sleep without Dulce’s presence, so there was a chance he could go right to sleep on Earth as long as the Vampire was with him, but he didn’t have much hope about that. "No, but I am unable to fall asleep anywhere else."

"Will you come with me to Noctyrn again?" He asked after another brief while of nothing but silverware gently clinking.

"If you want me to," Dulce agreed easily, "Although I would only be a drain on your supply of antidotes."

"I don’t mind." He said quietly, "And you would barely make a dent in it, even if you were to drink from the source."

Dulce didn’t share his thoughts, still adamant about taking as little blood as possible from the generous pool constantly offered to him.

Kath’tan returned just as they were about done eating, the Demon had foregone a shirt, his powerful physique out in the open, sleeve tattoo on display.

Dulce took one look at him and then the open curtains with a furrow in his brows - it was already fall, the air getting colder with each passing day. "Are you not cold?" He asked in concern.

Kath’tan swept his gaze over their finished meal, walking right over to Dulce to pull him up by his hand, placing the same hand right at the center of his chest. "What do you think?"

Warmth radiated from the Demon, it was soothing, and it did ease Dulce’s worry. He walked past Kath’tan without so much as a change in expression to make arrangements for the Fiend’s dinner.

Kath’tan watched him go by, realizing that the only time Dulce had been affected by anything he had done was when he gave him a mouthful of blood, the Vampire was aggravatingly difficult to fluster.