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Embarrassment rapidly catches up to me, and I fumble for my top to pull it over my head.
Caelan lets out a low whistle. “Nice,” he says, and I can feel my face blushing even brighter.
Jesus. What the fuck possessed me to do that?
Sheepishly, I offer Elias his jacket back. He doesn’t comment on my little display, but there’s a new darkness in his eyes as he looks at me with desire. It makes my stomach flip to realize he’s looking atmelike that.
“A-anyway. We should go in.”
Elias opens the car door and holds out his hand to help me out of the car, almost like a proper gentleman. As he does so, I realize that all of a sudden, he’s different. Caelan, too, as I turn to look back at him. The change happens so subtly that I almost don’t notice it.
They appear human.
Not that they hadn’t before. They’ve always been significantly humanoid, at least. But they still had the lingering remnants of their demonic forms. The ashen pallor of Elias’ skin compared to the shadowy second form that lingers around him. The glow of Caelan’s eyes, his claws, the tiny brief flickers of electricity that sometimes seemed to spark across his forearms.
I’m so used to them looking like that in their music videos, and having seen them live in concert like that, it hadn’t seemed unusual or out of place at all. Until I suddenly had the contrast of their perfectly human glamours to compare it to.
It’s incredibly surreal.
It’s understandable, though. They can’t get away with interacting like demons permanently. They must have to present as humans whenever they’re out in public, whenever they go somewhere such as a restaurant like this, for meetings and business appointments, and whatever other obligations they have. No wonder it gets tiresome.
The restaurant looks moderately busy inside but not packed, which is good. Hopefully, we can get away without having a reservation because none of us thought that far ahead. Then again, Elias probably doesn’t need reservations.
It’s still hard to sift out what’s true for them and what’s simply embellishment for the sake of the lore of their band, but if the things I’ve seen of him are anything to go by, Elias has his own ways of getting whatever he wants—black magic, hypnotic, mind game sort of ways.
In any case, it certainly doesn’t seem to take long for us to be seated. We end up at a table in the corner, out of the way, toward the rear of the restaurant, which suits me just fine. Elias looks perfectly acceptable and well-presented in his suit, but I feel a little underdressed for going out anywhere nice. I know I’m being paranoid. It’s upscale but notthatfancy.
Then there’s Caelan, casual as anything in his fitted black T-shirt and ripped jeans, and I can already see his lips turning up into a sneer as he glances over at some of the other patrons.
“Please don’t stab anyone,” I murmur to him. Joking. Mostly.
He snorts a quiet laugh, some of the tension bleeding out of him. “What, you don’t wanna see that?”
“As hot as you look covered in blood…” Because I’ve seen that in videos several times. “No. I’d like to eat first.”
“I like the implication you’d be fine with itafterwe’ve eaten.” He grins.
I raise a sardonic eyebrow at him, fighting back an answering smile, but otherwise, don’t reply. I think I’d rather stay living in denial a little longer. I know they can’t exactly be good people, but casually discussing murder with Caelan, or grievous bodily harm at best, doesn’t bode well for my own moral state either.
I’m joking. He probably isn’t. And yet, that doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it should.
Organizing the seating arrangements and menus distracts me from that concern, at least. I end up in the middle, with Caelan and Elias on either side of me.
My fingers fidget with the tablecloth. If I was nervous before, the butterflies in my stomach are even worse now. Before, meeting them was purely down to chance. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or the right place at the right time. But either way, it wasn’tserious.
But now I’m on an actual, honest-to-Goddatewith them. At a restaurant nice enough to be beyond the price range I’d ever look at for myself. This is a lot more intentional than accidentally running into Caelan’s knife.
When was the last time I went on a date?I don’t remember what I’m supposed to do. It feels like there’s this weird pressure about it all of a sudden. I want to go back to sitting in the car, teasing each other, and maybe having Caelan grope me some more.
Elias must notice the way I’ve quieted and withdrawn because he takes my hand in his and leans over. “Don’t be intimidated by the location,” he murmurs, low and reassuring. “Nothing has changed.”
He’s right. Nothing has changed, really. I don’t need to act any differently. I’m worrying too much about their and other people’s perceptions now that we’re out in public.
We order our food. Elias orders wine for himself and me, while Caelan passes on that in favor of straight whiskey, which does not surprise me in the slightest. And we just talk.
I’m desperately curious to know more about them. How can I not be? They’re goddamndemons. How is that possible? What can they do? They mentioned they were stuck here, which only creates even more questions. Where do they come from, then? And how did they get trapped?
I understand it’s probably not something they want to talk about with someone they’ve just met. Groupies don’t get the emotional backstory, if that’s what it even is. Yet it’s still frustrating because they won’t answer even the simplest questions. Even things I’m certain are innocent, like what they do for fun or for hobbies outside of the band, earn me bemused glances before they turn the conversation back around.
