Chapter Seven: In Which A Demon Finds His Way Home

1899 Words
Bethany.. She came to, achy and sore. Especially her Mark. Her Mark felt like someone had tried to give her the world’s worst impression of a hickey. But as consciousness crept in, she felt the stiff fur of Ginger’s hide against her face, and gladly buried her nose in it, to take in its distinctive wild-animal scent combined with some peculiarity in his body chemistry that made Bethany think he smelled like the sharp sap of certain pine trees. Bethany thought it smelled like Christmas. While Bethany was still young, and when her family was still around, they tried futility for a number of years to keep the holiday traditions alive. Even if the calendars got all skewed and people disagreed on the exact date after a while. She liked to think her parents were trying to keep something beautiful alive. Even if her family spent more time arguing than celebrating. “What was that?” Barbatos’ voice was entirely too close to her, or at least, much closer than she’d expected, and Bethany jerked, discovering all at once why some of her muscles were sore. It was apparently because they were wrenched over Barbatos’ shoulder as he carried her carelessly like a bag of garbage. “Let me down, you big, careless ass. Even Ginger has more manners!” Bethany groaned. Ginger barked at hearing his name, but Barbatos shrugged his shoulder, jolting an uncomfortable grunt from her. “Oh good, you’re awake. I was getting tired of toting around your dead weight.” Barbatos sniped, practically dumping her to the ground without a glance. “Hey!” she yelped, barely catching herself on her hands and knees. “You don’t have to be so rude!” She raged, coming up on her knees and tossing her hair back to get it out of her face. “You’re a complete jerk!” “And I’m also a Demon, girl. You sure you want to be testing me?” Barbatos growled. Fur had popped out along his arms and back, and to Bethany, it was almost as if his leather clothes had been turned inside out. The thought was impossible to get out of her head once she noticed it. She felt like he’d been hiding his fur inside the leather all along. Then his sharp claws split his fingers and sharp teeth peeked over his lip when he turned to snarl at her and panic momentarily raced down her spine in an icy rush, erasing her musings. Ginger planted himself between them, and bared his own teeth. “Ginger, no.” Bethany commanded softly at the same time that Barbatos snarled “Move mutt!” The dogs’ ears swiveled back and forth quickly, and he whined quietly, but refused to move. His head dipped, and he laid down with his head on his paws, facing Barbatos. Bethany watched as Barbatos stumbled a step back, like the power of what he was seeing before him was too much to process. He turned on his heel. “Let’s go if we’re going.” He grumped, and Bethany was left scrambling back to her feet to chase after him as if nothing had ever happened. “What was that all about?” She muttered to Ginger. But he just trotted after Barbotos, which meant Bethany had no choice but to do the same if she wanted to keep up. Barbatos.. The dog had been ready to give up his life for the girl. And the girl was prepared to do what she had to to prevent it. Barbatos was doing some quick reevaluating in his head. He knew the girl had said that she and the dog were family, but he’d never seen a pet owner actually not throw their animal under the bus when it came down to saving their own skin. The fact that Bethany was ready to prevent Ginger from sacrificing himself meant something special to Barbatos. They were so ready to sacrifice themselves for one another. Maybe they really did consider each other family. Barbatos chanced a glance over his shoulder to watch the girl, Bethany, sweating and huffing exhausted breaths through her mouth as she tried to keep up. Following after her dog, who was using long loping steps in order to keep pace with Barbatos, Bethany trailed behind them both. Barbatos gritted his teeth against the pang of sympathy within him. There was no way he was falling prey to his softer side again. But another glance back had him feeling like the Demon the humans called him when Bethany stumbled, barely catching her balance, then straightened with a firmed jaw and a nod to push herself forward even harder. Not a word or sound escaped her lips, but there was a desperate pain in her eyes that made him stop abruptly. He ground his teeth together, then stomped back towards her, swinging her up into his arms as she gasped. Part of him suddenly felt whole as she settled against him, her legs draped over one arm, her back cradled in the other. She sighed softly, and he gritted his teeth again. Her thinness could be felt this way, her ribs standing out against his arm. Barbatos wasn’t happy with the feelings welling up within him. In his mind, he continued to tell himself it was just the Mark forcing a bond between the two of them, but could he really continue to lie to himself like that? And why did his heart hurt like he was betraying Drew? “Come on.” He grumbled, trying to distract himself. “It’s not too much further.” His heart gave another pang as he once again thought of Drew’s reaction. What had he gotten himself into? Shoving those thoughts aside, he marched onwards with the girl in his arms and the beast following close on his heels. He regretted the fact he had no fresh meat to bring home to Drew. Unless you counted the girl. Not even any smoked or dried remains of his hunts came with him this time. What would Drew think of him? Waltzing back into their home with the girl and her beast in tow? As more familiar landmarks came into view, his thoughts took an even more dire view. Should he try one last time to ditch her? Something in his chest panged, and his arms tightened involuntarily. He looked down at the girl to see she had fallen asleep in his arms, her head falling back and her mouth hanging open as she breathed deeply and evenly. He really had exhausted her. And drained her. And his heart lurched at the sight of his Marked looking so worn out and helpless. Every instinct in him clamored to restore and cherish this that belonged to him, just as much as he might his bow. “Just the Mark, just the Mark.” He reminded himself grimly, and happened to catch a glimpse of the dog looking at him balefully. “What?” He spat and the animal sneezed as if making a comment and shaking his head in reproach. “No, you’re being stupid!” Barbatos argued, hardly noticing as he crossed the boundary into his own property. The subtle shift as the Dimensional space became slightly out of alignment with the other made him shudder, but he’d cross it a hundred thousand times a day if it meant Drew stayed safe. Still, he couldn’t deny that the vast acreage of forest and farmland in front of him, nestled in a little valley, wasn’t worth it. The old farmhouse didn’t look like much, but it kept them sheltered, and Barbatos built it with his own two hands, so he was quite proud of the thing. He grew much of his own food, hunted what he could, and then Drew came along, and made everything even better. He pulled in a deep breath of fresh air, and then decided it was time to face the music. “Come on, mutt, let’s go introduce you to Drew.” Barbatos sighed, not anticipating watching the happy expression fall from his face. Bethany.. A feeling, like her ears popping, woke her, and she wasn’t sure how she knew, but she knew she was no longer in the forest she and Ginger had called home. She held still as Barbatos made his way towards a sprawling wooden building in a small valley. A couple of other buildings dotted the area, and what looked like carefully tended plants. Was that- food? Was he growing food? She nearly shot up straight in his arms at that sight. So few colonies had the seeds, technical know-how, or space to grow crops. At least not well. And it looked like Barbatos had a ton. And as far as Bethany was concerned, well, she was mostly left to forage on her own, finding whatever she could, wherever. Her mouth watered at the thought of fresh fruits and vegetables. Not something pickled from months before that she’d traded some colony for, or something she’d scavenged from the forest which might or might not be entirely ripe, and almost always came in small dissatisfying mouthfuls you had to fight the animals for if you didn’t have a way to collect, store and preserve you food. But real, by god, meals full of the good stuff. She could have leapt from Barbatos’ arms and ran the rest of the way. If she hadn't been so god-damned tired. “Where are we?” She mumbled, and felt Barbatos stiffen, like he had forgotten he carried her for a while. He cleared his throat and was that nerves she was getting from him now? It felt like a sick punch to the gut and even made her uncomfortable. “My home.” He answered gruffly, and she snorted. “Yeah, I figured that, you god-damned recalcitrant Demon. I meant where are we, as in: I don’t recognize this place, and I’m pretty sure somebody would have mentioned a cute little farm all ripe for the picking if-” Barbatos’ soft growl shut her up. “It’s my own place, ok? I had to hide Drew somewhere, so I tucked a little pocket of space away where he would be safe, and-” It was Bethany’s turn to stifle Barbatos’ words. “Drew.. Have you mentioned him already? Who’s Drew? Is he a human, an animal or a Demon? Ooh, or is he an Angel? Wait, am I like a third-wheel here? Is Drew your wifey?” Bethany yelped as Barbatos dropped her to her feet with a snarl. Ginger, who had decided to get a head start on exploring, released a vicious bark from somewhere ahead. “Ah damn, your beast is going to make me pay for that, I expect.” Barbatos groused, and pushed past Bethany to descend towards the farmhouse. Bethany followed behind, peppering him with questions, and only stopped when Ginger bolted from out of nowhere to knock into Barbatos with a snarl and catapulted himself into Bethany to lick her hands and face. It was almost as if he was ensuring she was alright. She laughed, even when the big wolf knocked her down, and that was how Drew found them, with Barbatos glaring down at Ginger and Bethany, while she tried to fend the over-exuberant dog off.
Free reading for new users
Scan code to download app
Facebookexpand_more
  • author-avatar
    Writer
  • chap_listContents
  • likeADD