Chapter 124 Chapter 124
“That’s right, put him in his place,” Wade cackled. Xander sulked, crossing his arms while glaring daggers at Wade.
“Serves him right,” Valerie whispered before she raised her voice, glaring at Xander. “Leave Baëk alone, he just woke up.” She would make sure that these rowdy demons learned not to mess with her.
“Yeah, yeah. I only wanted to warn you two. Keep your eyes open for possible threats from now on,” Xander grumbled.
“We will. I doubt that this person followed us here, though. Just… give us a little break, okay?”
Brian chuckled and exchanged a grin with Shawn that said more than a thousand words. “Maybe we should leave them alone for now, what do you think?” Shawn smirked.
“So they can continue where they left off?” Liam teased and caused Valerie’s cheeks to turn bright red.
“That’s what I thought,” Shawn added and watched Valerie with twinkling eyes.
—
After the demons had left, the house became quieter, and Valerie used the opportunity to take a closer look at Maxwell’s home. She had been curious about this place, thinking she would never get to see it. While he lingered on the sofa and watched her silently, she walked to the large windowpane on the other side of the room.
Lying her palm on the glass, she glanced outside, seeing the rocky landscape of hell for the first time. His house was built on the side of a mountain, so the view from up here was impressive. It overlooked a large plane that appeared deserted safe for a few low-class demons that prowled around. The ground had split open in some places, fire sprouting up towards the pitch-black night sky. It was a sight she couldn’t get used to, but at the same time, it fascinated her and ignited her curiosity. She wished to see it up close and not just from the living room of this house. Not all humans could say that they had visited hell and lived to tell the tale.
Turning back to Maxwell, she was met with an entirely different sight than outside. He used his magic to light up the room with a soft golden glow to disperse the prevalent darkness of hell. She smiled at him when she walked up to him, folding her hands.
“Maxwell?” she asked and glanced at him with big puppy eyes. He heaved a sigh since he already suspected what she was about to ask. It wasn’t that hard to guess. “Can we go outside?”
He scowled, shaking his head. “Forget it, that’s too dangerous. You shouldn’t even be here in the first place.”
“But your house is safe… and I just want to take a little walk around it,” she pleaded. “I really want to see the place you call home, please.”
She was persistent in her undertaking to change his mind; he had to give her that. Not even his infamous death stare deterred her anymore, and that usually made everyone turn tail. He curled his lips in distaste, closing the gap between them with two strides.
“It’s too risky. I can’t just let you walk through hell, especially since you’re still injured,” he said, leaning towards her until their noses were almost touching. His heavy stare still didn’t make her cave in. On the contrary.
“Please, please, please?” she chirped. “Did you know that you’re my favorite demon, Maxwell?”
Her sudden confession made him freeze. He straightened up and coughed, a suspicious red hue spreading over his cheeks. “You’re only saying that because you want to go outside,” he mumbled under his breath, avoiding her gaze.
“No, I’m saying it because it’s true. You are the best demon ever,” she continued, inwardly smirking because she could see that she was getting somewhere. He bit his lip, and the red spread all the way to his ears.
She giggled at the sight. “Are you blushing?”
“No.” he snapped and sulked.
“I think you are,” she smiled. “Please say yes, Maxwell.”
He grumbled something under his breath, but eventually, he gave up. “Fine.”
“Thank you.” she said and hugged him. “You are officially the best demon in hell,” she laughed joyfully.
“You just never shut up, do you?” he complained, surly.
“Oh come on, you were happy I said it! Just admit it, you big bad demon,” she teased, letting go of him to take another good look at his pink cheeks. There was nothing more amusing in this world than an embarrassed and flustered Maxwell. She wanted to pinch his cheeks, but then he’d probably explode, so she didn’t.
“We’re leaving now,” she decided and took his hand, glancing at him expectantly.
“Yeah, calm down,” he grumbled, gently holding her hand while he accompanied her to the front door. They left the house, and he showed her to a rocky path that wound around the mountain. It was just wide enough that they could walk next to each other. He made use of his magic to illuminate their surroundings to ensure she wouldn’t accidentally stumble over something.
While Valerie was busy looking around in awe, he, on the other hand, kept an eye on the vicinity to search for possible threats. He didn’t sense any high-class demons nearby, but that didn’t mean they were safe. After what had happened only days ago, he wasn’t too happy about her strolling through hell—the most dangerous place in existence.
Valerie stared up at the sky, taking in the endless blackness above her, wondering if it always looked like this. So far, she hadn’t seen any stars, no moon, and no sun. Sometimes, dark clouds obscured it, but they reminded her more of smoke than real clouds. The sight was dreary, and she found herself wanting to see the sun as it shone brightly on a warm summer day.
“There is no sun in hell, right?” she asked and glanced at him. “Isn’t it sad to be living like this? Drenched in darkness all the time, with only fire to illuminate the land?”
He stayed quiet for a moment and did not look at her, keeping his eyes fixed on a point far off in the distance. “It doesn’t bother most demons. We are used to this kind of environment. Only very rarely does a demon grow tired of hell,” he replied.
“Oh, I see. Then that means they must want to live on earth like Thorne,” she mused quietly, mulling it over in her head. She asked herself how many demons she had already met in her life, thinking they were human. It could have been more than she had thought, since they were good at disguising themselves, especially in front of humans who didn’t even know of their existence.