“This could be real, you know,” he’d whispered, tracing the same pattern over and over. “If you wanted it to be.”
Saint had that pattern memorised. He’d never used it. Never even put it on paper, afraid that it’d summon the demon if he did. If there was any proof the demon was real, that was unequivocally it.
What if the demon thought this was a game? Or what if the “game” only counted when he was dreaming? What if when he summoned it, he couldn’t control it, and it went off on some kind of rampage, killing everyone it saw? It was ademon, after all. Weren’t they all evil and self-serving?
Then he thought of the demon huskily calling him his little rabbit, indulging in his fantasies, making sure he always consented, that they were always on the same page—
He pressed the chalk harder onto the floor and began to draw.
“We should think about moving south,” Ammon was saying. Most of the nicquiris had met up at one of their designated safe zones after a sentry attack. This one was located a little bit to the far north of Almianck forest, close to the Raging Sea. “Therearen’t that many sects there, and from what I hear, they live like us. Not entirely a nomadic lifestyle like we do, but they don’t care about feeding from or interacting with humans at all.”
“Doesn’t that mean they aren’t nicquiri?”
“And that they don’t have any nicquiris in the vicinity?”
There was a brief silence. Where nicquiris went, sentries were bound to follow.
“The only way for us to be truly safe is if we split up,” Pink said, her voice devoid of emotion.
“Splitting up is a death sentence,” Ammon said dismissively.
Demons weren’t created to be alone.
Knight was tired of this conversation. They had it every time the sentries caught up to them and sent them skittering. And even though he hated that this had become his life—he didn’t chooseto be born a fucking nicquiri—he wouldn’t trade his newfound freedom for anything.
Sometimes he cursed the Almighty for making him this way, and his Sovereign for taking one look at him and his sibling and only seeing a means to an end. Other times, though he tried not to, he couldn’t help but remember his Sovereign’s warmth and the warmth of his sibling and wanted it again so badly it was like he was missing a limb.
“Can we decide on where we’ll go tomorrow?” Mercy said. “I’m tired.”
“We’ll reconvene tomorrow,” Ammon agreed with a nod. “For now, let’s feed, and then get some rest.”
The demons began to hug and touch each other. Firm clasps to the arms, squeezes to their hands; some pressed their foreheads together, tangled their tails, while others hugged. By the time they were done feeding off each other’s emotions, Knight was full, his wings fluttering, skin buzzing slightly.
“Anyone up for some dreamscaping?” Alise said as the demons began to settle, holding up a small jar of viscous, silvery liquid. Knight’s heart leapt.
A few of the demons perked up with affirmatives. When the bottle of druntreame was passed to him, he shook his head with a wry smile and passed it to the demon next to him. He didn’t need the drug to traverse the dreamscape anymore, not that he’d ever admit it out loud, especially not in Ammon’s hearing.
He glanced around when he realised Pink had disappeared. He calmed down a little when he spotted her a bit far off from the main crowd, resting high on a thick branch on one of the trees, her riotous pink afro like a halo.
Knight snuck away from the crowd, then leapt up to meet her, his wings gently undulating so as not to disturb the atmosphere.
Her eyes had been shut, but she opened them when she felt him land on the branch in front of her on one leg, testing its strength. When he was sure it would take both their weights, he settled down in front of her. Pink glanced in the direction of the other demons, her lips quirking when she noticed them passing the druntreame around.
“Not joining in on the fun? You’ve been doing that more and more lately.”
“Could say the same about you.”
Her slight smile disappeared. The sudden seriousness of her expression had Knight raising an eyebrow, inwardly ignoring the way it made him feel queasy.
“Have you ever thought about leaving here?” she whispered.
“Here?”
“Hell.”
“Where else would we go?” Knight asked, even though he knew the answer.
He tried to control his breathing and his expression as he thought of his human. He shamefully remembered his one nightof weakness, when he’d traced apropersummoning circle onto the human’s chest, whispering that this could be truly real, if only he wanted it. Telling him about contracts and how they worked; how they could help tether Knight to the human world.
