Page 44 of Hexes From Exes

“Closer,” Ynnia pressed. His eyes were boring into Rick like he could cut him in half, his large nostrils flaring. As Rick got closer, he noticed Seph take a sharp breath in, her eyes widening. Gred, who’d been silent until then, raised his hand to his mouth to cover it. The last few steps brought about a look of horror from Criton and a steely, satisfied look from Ynnia.

Beck’s expression, to his credit, did not change. He simply watched Rick slowly approach the council members, ignoring them as they gasped and guffawed around him. Rick had no idea what they were making all that noise about when he suddenly realized something very, very awful.

He’d gone straight from Stephanie’s condo to Anathamea.

It was when he was headed to his condo that he was intercepted.

He hadn’t showered, and he smelled like Stephanie. He just hoped that her vanilla scented body spray overpowered whatever other smell on him. He couldn’t promise the vanilla spray wasn’t damning enough, it meant he was close enough to her for it to transfer off, or at least in her home long enough. He couldn’t lie, he was awful at it, they would know if he tried to…

“Rickaron,” Beck said at last, pulling Rick from his spiraling thoughts. “You have done far more than interact with that human woman. You have committed the greatest travesty against your kind. You have lain with her. Do you deny this?”

The enforcers on either side of Rick stiffened, one of them gasped. Rick couldn’t bring the words to his lips. He simply shook his head. There was no use denying it, and if he did? They’d know they didn’t have his real name, and he’d be double fucked.

“Traitor,” hissed Ynnia from the end of the table, spitting on the ground just inches from Rick’s feet. The other demons at the council table did something similar, either spitting at Rick or uttering their own choice words.

Rick wanted to argue back. He wanted to point out that it was an antiquated rule and fucking stupid. What did it matter anyway? Did they really want demons to procreate and use up more of the limited magical resources Anathamea had? The current young demons were so frail it was unlikely they’d live to reproduce anyway. So what if he was fucking a human? It’s not like anything was going to come of it! They were a different species. He couldn’t forget the feeling of being with Stephanie, the way he felt alive and energized for the first time in who knows how long. It wasn’t just the sex. It was being around her.

He cared about her, he realized. Deeply.

He was about to say that – open his mouth and let them have the brunt of his angry thoughts when Ynnia smiled widely and spoke.

“Rickaron, you’ve been found guilty of unifying with a human, which is strictly forbidden. The punishment for which is death.”

Rick nearly laughed. Death? For sleeping with a human? Thankfully it was Ynnia who said it, which it made it even less believable. Sure, they weren’t going to punish him to death for sleeping with a human. Right? He couldn’t remember the last time a demon was punished to death for anything. They’d probably take away his job and his titles and he’d be stuck suffering out his days in some shitty office job where he could never talk to Stephanie again.

To his surprise, Beck only nodded.

“In one week’s time. You will be drained of your magic and await your execution in your cell,” he said, nodding to the enforcers on either side of Rick.

“What?” Rick asked, blinking. Even the enforcers didn’t move right away. As scandalized as they were by the fact that Rick had sex with a human, they clearly didn’t think the punishment fit the crime. They hesitated long enough for Ynnia to jerk his body at them like he was going to crawl over the table and extract Rick himself. This pushed the enforcers into action, each grabbing Rick’s elbow.

“Are you fucking serious?” Rick asked, as he fought against the enforcers to try to approach the table again.

Criton raised his hand and Rick felt his jaw clamp down, any attempt at speaking halted. “Do not use that language against us. Our word is law, and the law has spoken. Let this be a lesson to all other demons. If you stoop to the low of unifying with the humans, you will be punished to death.”

And with that, the enforcers dragged Rick out of the room.

Chapter Nineteen

“Cass!”

Hearing her name on Alice’s lips always made Cass a little lightheaded. There was something so sweet about the way it sounded in her mouth, like she was always excited to see Cass. It sent a thrill down her spine, a shiver that she had to work to suppress.

Alice came down the aisle toward Cass, a wide smile on her lips. She was clutching her worn brown binder against her chest, which only succeeded in pushing her breasts up and above her low cut shirt. Cass felt her eyes flicker to them, before returning to Alice’s smiling face. C’mon, she’s got a boyfriend! And she’s a fucking human.

“I’m so glad you’re here, I actually…” she trailed off, then shifted her weight. “Well, let me just show you.”

Cass followed Alice through the archives to her and Eric’s desks. Eric’s spot was empty, his trademark tattered backpack nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Eric?” Cass asked.

Alice sighed and gave a sympathetic smile. “It wasn’t a good day for him today - you know how it is sometimes.”

Cass did. Eric suffered from paralyzing anxiety that sometimes meant he couldn’t leave their shared condo. It was the reason Alice presented all their work at conferences and the reason that Alice was the face of most of their research. Eric had trouble with new people and crowds. Public speaking was off limits. He did best in controlled environments like the lab, which had become his safe place over the last few years. Some days were better than others, and it looked like today was a particularly bad one for him to not even make it into the research lab.

“Well, send him my best,” Cass said. Alice patted Cass’s arm, and she felt a rush of heat across her skin at the touch. It only succeeded in making her feel more guilty, given that Eric wasn’t even there. Why do I always fall for the wrong ones? Cass thought, following after Alice with her eyes downcast. She refused to look at Alice’s ass as she walked, which was usually hidden behind a flowing skirt. But sometimes, with the right lighting, Cass could get an outline of how rounded and plump it was.

I need to get laid, Cass lamented internally. Spending all this time in the human realm made it hard to remember that humans were strictly off limits. She was so caught up in not looking at Alice she nearly ran into her back as she opened up the room to the archives. To Cass’s surprise the latest text was already open and sprawled across the table, along with some of Alice’s and Cass’s notes.

“I hope you don’t mind. I’ve been working on it a little,” Alice said shyly. She peered at Cass with a look of her face that was pure guilt.