Page 71 of When I Accidentally Summoned a Demon

I swallow. “Duly noted,” I manage, gaze shifting down. “Big Guy.”

He rises to his full height, lips pressed into a line of absolute, unearned smugness. Oh, he gets the implication.

“But,” he says, and something shifts in him—the smugness settling into something quieter, something sincere—“I do have something else in common with the character I am portraying.”

I blink. “Oh?”

He cups the side of my face, and I shiver.

“If I bear a soul, my Evening Star—” his thumb moves across my cheek, “—I would give it to you with every breath in my body and every beat of my willing heart.”

Smiling, I lean up on my toes, and he bends to meet me. We kiss like there’s no particular rush, like this is somewhere we already live. “Let’s hope it never gets to that point,” I murmur against his mouth.

“Have I told you how incredibly adorable and sexy you are in your costume?” he asks, sliding a hand to my waist.

“Vale, I’m in a onesie.”

“A sexy onesie.”

I roll my eyes, but I’m grinning. Only he could view a big blue tiger onesie as sexy. The Derpy face hood is currently pushed back, and I am standing in my own family room, blushing like a teenager, and he is delighted about it.

“Need a room, you two?” Manny interjects while applying glitter to Bethie. Great. That’s going to be a pain in the ass to get out.

Valefar arches a brow. “If Vesper desires another one, I don’t believe my limited skills in home improvement would be enough.”

Manny throws him a look and snorts. Yeah. By now, he’s used to my demon’s interesting vocabulary. “OKAY.” Manny’s voice cuts across the room. “You two lovebirds. Are we ready to go?”

I turn. Bethie is at the front door. Shining with excitement, she holds her trick-or-treat bucket: orange, plastic, shaped like a jack-o-lantern. I cross to her and kiss her forehead, right above the swirling demon mark on her cheek.

“Wumi.” She practically chirps.

I nod with a big, bright grin. “You’re such a beautiful Rumi, little bug.”

Manny straightens, adjusting the top hat, which was his entire reasoning for wanting the costume. “Did you know,” he says knowingly, “that the scene where Sussie steals the hat from the tiger is actually a metaphor? For the magpie working class rising up and reclaiming what is owed to them by the elite class, as symbolized by the tiger.”

We hold each other’s gaze.

Out of the corner of my eye, Valefar is staring, ever fascinated by human social dynamics.

“You do know,” I say to Manny, “that you work for me. And you’re richer than God.”

Which is why he works for me—at such a low cost. One week out of every month is technically unpaid “community service,” thanks to an unfortunate legal incident involving a cantankerous curling iron and a salon full of extremely flammable chemicals.

“And you are ever the generous employer, trusting me with such a precious treasure.” He looks down, winking at Bethie.

She sways and points up at Valefar. “Pwecious. DaDa.”

Manny gasps, his fingers flying to his mouth as he darts his eyes between Valefar and me. I set a hand on his shoulder. “Vale is going to be a permanent thing.”

Manny claps his hands, and nothing in this world could stop me from him gripping Valefar’s face and pulling it down to kiss each of his cheeks—a customary ‘hello and goodbye’ punctuation mark for years. Bethie jumps up and down. Valefar looks shocked, but there's a hint of welcome gratitude in his expression, like he knows he's part of our family now.

Manny waves a hand in front of his face. “I’m not gonna cry, I’m not gonna cry. Woman, I’m so happy for you,” he says before pulling me in for a big hug. “All those tea parties and sprinkler days and afternoons reading to Bethie bean…I was damn-near ready to adopt him if you didn’t.”

“Mine…” I pat Vale’s abs.

“Okay, let’s do this thing! But just so you know.” He winks. “If there is a cute hat in your closet on any day I am in this house, don’t be surprised if it disappears.”

“Noted,” I say.