Chapter 89 Chapter 89
Valerie walked closer to him and laid her hand on his cheek while her lips formed a pout. “Please, Maxwell?”
She glanced at him with big doe eyes, capturing his gaze with hers. He fell silent, prompting her to hide a smirk. She stood on her tiptoes, leaning her body against his and putting her hand on his chest while her other hand caressed his cheek. His eyes flitted to her mouth, and just to tease him a little more, she bit her lower lip.
Almost instantly, he locked his arms around her waist, leaning in to kiss her, but she didn’t let him go that far. Valerie put her hand on his mouth and grinned at him.
“Only nice demons get kisses,” she said, seeing his eyes narrow, “And you have been naughty.” Giggling, she left his embrace and stuck her tongue out, seeing him stare at her in pure disbelief since he wasn’t used to her acting like this.
“Valerie.” he growled.
“What is it, Maxwell?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Help me.” she persisted.
“No.”
“Yes.” she shot back, stubbornly glaring at him. “I’m not going to kiss you anymore if you don’t help me.”
A low growl left his throat, and his eyes turned ruby red, but no matter how annoyed he was, no matter how much he complained, in the end, she won. Watching the high and mighty demon scrubbing dishes was very entertaining. Valerie had to hold herself back a lot to suppress the giggles—Maxwell was hilarious, and his permanent scowl made it even funnier.
When they were done, and the kitchen was clean, he looked livid, cursing under his breath.
“This is preposterous. A powerful demon like me should not do dishes,” he growled, pulling a face.
“I know that, sunshine,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m not a sunshine.”
“That’s true, I should have said honey instead,” she smirked.
“No,” he snapped, his glare smoldering hot.
“Angel.”
“Shut up.” he hissed slowly.
“Cutie pie.”
“I swear, Valerie, if you don’t shut up right now…”
“Sweet cheeks?”
He growled dangerously, approaching her like a predator that was about to kill his prey, but she had fun and did not even think about stopping. She had an endless number of ideas for stupid nicknames.
“Muffin.”
He had it with her shenanigans, grabbed a wet cleaning rag, and threw it right in her face.
“Ewww.” she squeaked and threw it back in the sink, glaring at him. “Hey, I was just joking.”
“This is not my idea of fun, honey,” he said, smirking evilly.
“Now you’re imitating me.”
“What are you going to do about it, cupcake?”
“Maxwell, be quiet.”
“No can do, princess.”
“Will you stop?” she stuttered, getting flustered.
“I’m not done taking revenge,” he smirked devilishly, pleased that he got under her skin. “Kitten.”
She blushed, no longer able to look at him. “Stop.”
“You still owe me something, sugar,” he drawled and closed the distance between them, pulling her towards him so abruptly she collided with his chest. When she looked up at him in surprise, he claimed her lips with his, kissing her hungrily.
\---
A few days later, they received a surprise visit from Liam and Brian. The demons appeared right outside Valerie’s flat, and when she opened the front door to let them in, Brian pulled her in a hug, smiling his adorable smile while Liam simply nodded at her and followed her to the living room. He threw Mochi a look when the cat stuck its head out the bedroom door, curiously watching the intruders.
“What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Maxwell said, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice, when they sat down on the sofas.
“We wanted to check if you guys are still in one piece,” Brian said, getting right to the point.
“What do you mean?” Valerie asked, not liking the way the air grew colder around the frost demon. His eyes darkened, and he frowned.
“It’s about what we told you last time we met. It has gotten a lot worse this past week… We’ve had some trouble in hell,” Liam explained seriously. He looked exactly like the last time she saw him, except for the fact that he was wearing a red suit that matched his hair color, leaving the front open.
“What happened?” Maxwell asked sharply, his voice dropping.
“We’ve found another group of demons actively seeking out bonded humans. They were aggressive, and when we attacked them, they retaliated with determination. We managed to kill all of them, but I’m afraid there might be more around,” Liam went on to explain.
“You must keep your mark and your magic hidden, Valerie,” Brian said worriedly. “I don’t understand why they do this; it’s not like humans are a threat to us. It must be hate that fuels their actions.”
“Thank you for warning us,” Valerie replied, mirroring his serious expression.
“At this point, it would be safer for both of you if you broke the bond,” Liam added gravely. “I assume you still haven’t found a way to do it.”
Valerie realized that they had stopped searching for a way to break their bond long ago. It had been a while since Maxwell, and she had talked about it, and somehow, she had forgotten about it altogether. Besides, she was so used to having him around her that she didn’t mind his presence any longer. What had seemed like an endless nightmare at the beginning was now a rather entertaining situation.
She couldn’t imagine living on her own anymore; it would surely be lonely. How would she feel, eating dinner all by herself? Watching TV without hearing his snarky remarks now and then? Who would be there for her if she got herself in trouble again?
She began to realize just how much she depended on him, and it scared her. Hadn’t she vowed to get rid of him as soon as possible when all of this had started? Yet here she was, not doing a thing. She knew that she would miss Maxwell if they broke the bond and he would leave… she knew it, and it terrified her. How had she gotten so attached to a demon?
“You need to be more careful this time, Maxwell,” Liam said seriously and sent him a heavy glance that Valerie couldn’t read. There seemed to be some sort of unspoken conversation going on between them, stifling sorrow hanging in the air. Brian frowned, not meeting her eyes as he stared at the ground.
“I know that. I’m the last person you need to tell,” Maxwell replied reluctantly with a brief look in Valerie’s direction.
“Good, then I trust you to make the right decision when it’s time,” Liam said.
“We’ve asked around, trying to find someone who knows how to break bonds, and we did get an interesting tip. Apparently, there is a blood mage living near Incheon who can do it,” Brian said.
“Blood mages are dangerous, Brian. You know this,” Maxwell countered, curling his hands to fists. “They could end up killing Valerie in exchange for their help.”
She shuddered, not liking this at all, but judging by the determined looks on Liam’s and Brian’s faces, they wanted Maxwell to consider it regardless. “You should at least meet her and speak to her, maybe it will lead somewhere,” Liam answered firmly. Maxwell sighed and pondered over it for another minute before he made a decision.
“Fine, but you stay home, Valerie,” Maxwell grumbled and gazed at her with stern eyes. She didn’t mind staying here since encountering a blood mage wasn’t particularly high up on the list of things she wanted to experience in life, and she doubted that this meeting would lead anywhere. Still, there was a sense of foreboding growing within her. She was afraid that he and she would part ways soon, but she wasn’t ready to let him go.