Chapter 51 Chapter 51
Knowing that she was an easy kill for a demon made her fear surge, unease creeping over her.
“They can try all they want. I’ll just kill them first,” Maxwell snarled lowly.
“I knew you would say that,” Xander grinned. “But don’t underestimate them. Wouldn’t want this pretty girl to get hurt.” He sent a flirty wink in Valerie’s direction, causing her to flush.
“Can you shut up?” Shawn said and hit the back of his head. “Maxwell is about to explode.”
“Oops.”
Valerie turned her head to glance at him, seeing his eyes turn scarlet red like blood. His hands formed fists, and his posture was so tense that she wouldn’t be surprised if he ripped Xander’s head off within the next minute. She gnawed on her lower lip, not liking this. If this idiot lost his mind, he could seriously damage her flat. How should she ever pay for that?
“Maxwell, just ignore him. There are more important things to worry about right now.”
“I can’t help it, Xander is so damn annoying,” he complained.
“Hey, don’t pretend I’m not here, I can hear you.” said the demon, earning himself a sinister stare from Maxwell. Valerie grabbed a pillow from the sofa and tossed it at Xander, who evaded at the last second, the pillow flying over his head. He laughed amusedly.
“Damn, you’re a feisty one. Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night with me?” he tried again, smirking seductively.
“That’s it. You’re dead.” Maxwell snarled, getting up abruptly. Xander disappeared and reappeared in the hallway, the other demon chasing him down with a terrifying roar. Before Valerie could react, they were out the door, running off god-knows-where. She could only look after them with a raised eyebrow, unable to understand how they could rile each other up so much. Typical demons…
“Does this usually happen?” she asked Shawn and Wade, who laughed their asses off.
“Yes, all the time. They bicker pretty often, but they’re close friends, so it’s never too serious. This time, though… I think Xander overstepped a boundary,” Wade smirked widely.
“Maxwell is unexpectedly protective of you. You’re a cute couple,” Shawn grinned amusedly.
“Oh, no. You have it all wrong,” she replied nervously. “We’re not a couple.”
“You’re not? Could have fooled me,” Wade sputtered in disbelief. “But why are you bonded?”
“It was an accident, we never wanted it. As soon as we find a way to break the bond, we’re going to do it,” she admitted, lowering her head to look at the ground. They were silent for a moment, exchanging an astonished glance.
“But you seem happy with him,” Shawn replied while Wade looked conflicted. “That much is easy to see.”
“You must be imagining things,” she mumbled and looked up to see them observing her with mixed feelings.
“I don’t think so,” Wade grinned. “There is something between you, whether you want to admit it or not.”
“By the way, another one of our friends would like to meet you too… he just didn’t have time right now,” Shawn said.
“Who?”
“His name is Liam. He’s a chill guy unless you get on his bad side,” Shawn said and shuddered. “I need to remember not to make him angry again when I set something on fire.”
“You’re a fire demon,” Valerie concluded and saw him nod. “How many other elements are there?”
“Uh. There is water, wind, ice, thunder, light, darkness, earth, and plants,” Shawn listed. “Yeah, that’s everything.”
Their conversation was rudely interrupted when Xander suddenly reappeared, standing on the coffee table. “Oh, wait. That was too far to the left,” he mumbled and jumped down to sit on the sofa. He looked like he had run a mile, his hair was all messed up, and his jacket was covered with various burn marks of all sizes.
“There you are.” Maxwell yelled, running back into the living room. He was panting hard, obviously having had trouble chasing Xander down since he could teleport. Bright light gathered in his palm, and his eyes glowed ominously.
“Stop.” Valerie screamed and jumped up, right in his way. He flinched, surprise written all over his face at her sudden outburst.
“What?” he snapped. “I haven’t made him pay yet.”
“You can’t destroy the house! I will drown in debt if you do.”
He rolled his eyes. “All humans care about is money.”
“If you don’t stop right now, I won’t make strawberry cake anymore,” she threatened with dark eyes, and saw him pause.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh yes, I would.”
An inhumane growl escaped his throat, and his eyes flashed, but then he sighed, and the reddish hue in them disappeared altogether.
“I’m glad we’re finally agreeing on something,” she smiled and turned around to sit down. She remembered that they hadn’t been alone in the room and looked in the faces of three incredibly amused demons with wide grins on their lips.
—
On Monday morning, Valerie was sitting in Thorne’s office with Maxwell, and she couldn’t be happier since he had good news for her; she was about to write one of the biggest articles of her life, one that many people looked forward to.
“Judging by the way you’re looking at me, you’re okay with it?” Thorne asked.
“Yes, definitely.” she grinned. “Thanks so much for this opportunity.”
He laughed. “Well, you have earned it. Your work is always impeccable, and since you also dealt with that vampire, I thought you deserved this.”
“Hey, I dealt with the vampire! She was just the bait,” Maxwell grumbled and crossed his arms, a dark look overtaking his features.
“And for letting her play bait, I should murder you,” Thorne smiled, but his voice was ice cold and sent a shiver down Valerie’s back.
“Can we get back to the topic, please?” Valerie cut in, her curiosity overflowing. Maxwell snorted and glared at the other demon, but thankfully, he shut his mouth. “What’s the task you spoke of?”
“Of course,” Thorne said, taking a look at the folder on his desk. “You will interview the new CEO of Regal Enterprises. He recently took over after his father retired.”
“Are we talking about Jackson Regal? That Jackson Regal?” she yelled, jumping up and putting her hands on the desk excitedly. Her eyes were sparkling since this was a chance she had never gotten before. Thorne chuckled while Maxwell looked at her like she had lost her marbles.