Chapter 208

Chapter 208: Chapter 208

For the first time, all four Demons accompanied Dulce to Fairwyn. It was a fairly pleasant day for winter; the skies were clear, the sun bright but weak.

Moira was pleased to see the Hellhound that she had helped summon, aware that he hadn’t been present for a long time.

Eustace, however, was less pleased. He had been generous enough to let the Demons stay in the shop the last time, and now there were double their numbers.

But he didn’t dare say a word, only able to fume from the edge of the room, completely ignored by everyone else.

"Caedos, you have returned," Moira said happily.

Unlike the other three, the quiet Hellhound was less as intimidating. And she liked to delude herself that she had a part in summoning him.

Caedos glanced down at her, he remembered the human witch. He knew that she held a measure of importance to Dulce.

"You’re all welcome to wait in the shop," Moira offered generously, not noticing the dark look her father shot her.

She caught Dulce’s wrist to lead him away, "And you’re equally welcome to try all of the shop’s wares." She tagged on, looking knowingly at Ruoxi, and the Incubus looked right through her.

Caedos had been standing next to Dulce, his hazel eyes cutting as the Vampire was taken.

Dulce looked over his shoulder in mild concern, "Will you not all return to the cottage?"

"No," Caedos said without hesitation.

Dulce looked like he wanted to convince them otherwise, but Moira had already dragged him around the corner and away.

Eustace lingered in his corner, unwilling to leave because he was anxious about one of the dangerous creatures leaving the room.

The Demons immediately scattered as soon as Dulce left the room, each going off to do his own thing.

Ruoxi ignored the charm shelves this time, going to the far window to look out of it. Although there was little to see save for black, dry bramble and withered trees.

Kath’tan turned to Caedos, able to focus on the Hellhound for the first time without seeing the imprints he left behind on Dulce’s skin.

"Did you really kill Grand Duke Razzith?" He blurted out, his curiosity surpassing his sour mood.

Caedos glanced at the Demon, "Which city do you belong to?" He asked in turn, his eyes cold.

"Ashford," Kath’tan said after a pause, a bit of hesitant pride in his voice.

Caedos looked him over like he couldn’t believe it. After a drawn-out battle with Fiends, he had more or less been made to learn more things about them than he would like.

"What?" Kath’tan crossed his arms, anger burning low in his purple eyes. "Haven’t seen a Chaos faction Demon before?" He doubled down.

Caedos looked away at Asael, who was paying attention to the conversation, unbothered by Kath’tan’s bristling. "Razzith is dead," He acknowledged.

"I know that," Kath’tan snorted, uninterested in the dead Fiend’s well-being. "But did you kill him?" He asked with narrow eyes, his tone accusatory.

Caedos couldn’t remember how he killed the Fiend, but he had been filled in on the details. "Yes."

Kath’tan’s eyes flashed with admiration and envy, and a hint of disbelief. "How?"

Caedos shot him a look, "Why? Do you want to avenge him?"

The Fiend actually looked offended by the question, "There are far better reasons to pick a fight with you."

"I don’t remember," Caedos answered, dressed in the clothes that Dulce had prepared for him, complete with a scarf around his neck, his skin was mostly covered.

His overcoat covered the marks born of the battle with the Grand Duke, as well as the marks from last night. The spiral flames that banded up his arms and the faint red marks on his skin hidden from sight.

Kath’tan wore a look of disdain, "Are you showing off?"

"The battle left me half-dead," Caedos said casually, "I was told I eviscerated him to nothing."

Kath’tan grit his teeth, his mood only getting worse, certain that the Hellhound was showing off now.

Asael on the other hand looked thoughtful, speaking up for the first time. "Is that how you got those markings?"

Kath’tan was reminded of the intimate bruises Caedos equally sported the day before, his entire face going dark, too distracted by them to notice the Hellhound’s obvious markings.

Caedos looked the Shadow Demon over, noting his oddly accurate guess. "In a manner of speaking. Do you know anything about them?"

Dilya had spent time searching through what texts survived the war, and she hadn’t come across the strange markings that suddenly appeared on his arms.

"No." Asael looked away, "I’ll find out." He tagged on as he walked off to a bookshelf, his uninterested gaze scanning the spines

Soon they were all split apart to wait for Dulce’s return, the shop going quiet.

Still in his corner, spying, Eustace soon grew tired of standing and shuffled off, starting to realize that he might have been on guard for no reason.

-+-

"...What is that?" Moira cut herself off, her dark green eyes alight with interest.

Dulce glanced up from the piece of parchment that he had been practicing his sigils on, confused for a moment.

"On your neck," Moira leaned in closer over the table to get a better look. She didn’t dare touch it, being careless around a powerful mage’s spells was a quick way to die.

Dulce placed gentle fingers on his neck, the bite had grown less sensitive as it unwittingly healed, but the imprint of Caedos’ teeth and the veins of fire only became more prominent.

He had taken off the scarf he wore a short while ago because Moira’s study room was toasty warm, and his round-necked sweater perfectly showed his marked-up neck.

Moira didn’t care for the love bites the Vampire sported, no longer as startled as the first time she caught sight of them. Rather, she was more interested in the dazzling mark he sported. It almost looked like the bite marks crackled with fire.

"A Hellhound’s mating bite," He answered simply, returning his attention to his sigil drawing.

Moira was less as composed about his response, her eyes bulging in shock. It looked more like a spell than a possessive claim, she wanted to know more about the fire that it held.

But she didn’t press, she considered Dulce a pleasant, if rather powerful friend. Dulce treated her immensely well, but she would never overstep, even for her devoted interests.

The final lecture was brief, Dulce merely needed to write out a series of spells. Despite learning to read and write the basics, Dulce had never once tried out a spell.

Although Moira was curious, she didn’t encourage him to try. There had never been a question of whether he could cast spells or not, not to mention, for a mage so powerful, even a minor mistake could prove dangerous.

The summoning circle she had been privileged enough to see was a testament to that. Summoning a Demon in any capacity was already a feat, but he had managed to pull in a Hellhound of such an immense size which was completely beyond imagination.

"Thank you, Miss Moira, for all your help." Dulce said sincerely.

Moira simply smiled, although she felt that Dulce had done more for her than vice versa. "You were a wonderful student," She praised. "You would certainly graduate to be the top mage of the western magical institution."

Dulce winced inwardly, not quite sure how to break it to her that he intended to leave the institution as soon as he learned how to undo Kath’tan’s contract.

Moira waved them off from within her shop, forced to keep her distance from the Vampire when he was immediately surrounded by imposing Demons. "Come visit often," She beamed at him.

Dulce looked over a shoulder, he had yet to wrap his scarf around his neck again, holding it up. The Vampire was easily a head taller than her, yet in the midst of four Demons who instinctively reached for him, he looked fragile.

"I’ll do my best," Dulce promised, his eyes honest.

Moira took a step back when dark gazes immediately pinned her down, finding herself wishing that he didn’t try too hard.

"Would you like to see my attempts at drawing sigils..." Dulce was asking, his voice fading away as the shop emptied.

As soon as they left, Eustace made a big show of walking across the length of the shop. He stomped his crooked cane each time, a loud expression of disapproval on his face as he did.

Moira didn’t even notice his show, lost in thought about fantasies of Demon lovers. Opened to a whole new world, she couldn’t help but think about how intoxicating the thought of a dangerous beast being devoted to you was.

A cane smacking her head snapped her out of it, "Come visit often..." Eustace mimicked with a grumble in his voice. "Are you trying to die before me? Keep your distance from the nice Vampire that danger follows everywhere."

"Ow! You hit me again." Moira went right to protesting, not hearing any of her father’s words.

Eustace gave up then, shuffling off while grumbling the whole time. Why did he even bother? His stubborn child always did what she wanted anyway.