Chapter 147 Chapter 147
He made her visit sound a lot more personal than it actually was. Embarrassed by his intrusive stare, she gazed down at her notes to distract herself, picking the first question she saw.
“I’d like to ask what your thoughts were as you came up with your most recent song. The lyrics sound quite interesting and can be interpreted in different ways.”
“Indeed, they can,” he smirked. His eyes flashed red, and she sensed his magic, felt it rain down on her. She struggled to concentrate, but all she could focus on was him. Everything else seemed to blur, shapes becoming unrecognizable. She fought against it, but she was smothered by his magic. Only the burning of her mark that warned her of danger had her snap out of it. She took a deep breath, returning to reality.
“Stop that, you bastard,” Maxwell growled. “I know what you’re trying to do to her.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” Noah smiled innocently. “Valerie, is this rude person your boyfriend? Why don’t you break up with him, huh? Not to imply anything, but I’m single right now.”
Again, there was this weird power forcing her to look at him. She couldn’t help but notice once more how handsome he was—but she didn’t care about that. He made her uncomfortable with his strange, intrusive magic.
Maxwell immediately blocked Noah’s magic by using his own to shield her. He glowered at the other demon, not wanting to deal with his crap a second longer.
“I warned you,” he threatened. “Do it again, and you’re going to regret it.”
Noah’s smile slipped. “Alright, alright. Calm down,” he sighed. “I was just having some fun.”
The atmosphere was tense, and Valerie cringed. This wasn’t how she had imagined this interview to turn out. She was glad she hadn’t come here alone.
Maxwell, thankfully, was unaffected by the incubus. His light magic permeated the air in the room, invisible yet ready to strike whenever he wanted. While it gave her a sense of safety, Noah on the other hand looked nervous. The tables had turned on him now. He’d been driven into a corner, so he decided to just get the interview over with to get rid of the annoying light demon.
Valerie stayed polite when she went through her questions, even though she now had a strong dislike for Noah. She hated it when someone wanted to play around with her. If this meeting hadn’t been connected to her job, she would have yelled at him at this point, but she needed to preserve the reputation of Thorne’s company. After all, getting to interview a famous person was rare. They needed more opportunities like this one.
She did her best to do some small talk, asking Noah about his plans for Halloween and sharing hers. The thirty minutes that were planned for the interview went by painfully slowly. She constantly sensed Maxwell’s sizzling anger, and she constantly saw Noah’s scowl.
At the end of the interview, she wasted no time saying goodbye to Noah and vowed to herself never to talk to him again. Maxwell shot the incubus with another threatening glare as he accompanied her outside.
\---
As soon as the couple had left his office, Noah grabbed his smartphone and went through his contact list, his eyes getting stuck on the name Ethan.
“Why are you calling, Noah?” a rough voice said, not caring to greet him politely, but Noah was already used to this kind of attitude from him.
“I want to repay that favor I owe you,” Noah said. “You mentioned that you were looking for a light demon and a human. I just had someone like that in my office. Not sure if it was the same couple, though. Those two were bonded.”
Now Noah had his undivided attention. “What did they look like?” Ethan asked interestedly.
“Demon has white hair with braids, and the human woman has black hair.”
“It’s them,” Ethan laughed. “I can’t believe you found them! Tell me everything you know.”
“That girl mentioned a Halloween party where she wants to go,” Noah said. “Maybe you can find her there. Her name is Valerie. Perhaps that’ll help in digging up some info, finding out where she lives, and so on.”
“Good. Consider your favor repaid,” Ethan said. Noah couldn’t see him, but he didn’t need to to know that the blood mage was grinning. He was pretty much a creep whom Noah tended to avoid whenever possible, so he was glad to be rid of him from now on.
“Why are you so hellbent on finding them?” Noah sighed. “Would be too much of a hassle for me. That demon is aggressive as fuck. Can’t even take a little joke.”
“Demons and humans can’t mingle,” Ethan replied. “It’s what we believe in.”
“So you are still working for him.”
“We share one goal, and we’re working together to achieve it. We don’t tolerate weak demons who side with humans. They’re below us, and they should be treated accordingly.”
“If you say so,” Noah muttered annoyedly. “What are you planning this time, huh? Making another mess? Don’t call me next time you need someone to get rid of the dead bodies.”
“No, this time I’ll take care of it on my own,” he said sternly. “I’ve been after them for a while. This is personal.”
“Then I’d say their days are numbered,” Noah muttered, shuddering when he heard the blood mage’s deranged laughter. “Almost makes me feel sorry for them...”
\---
Valerie heaved a sigh of relief after they left the building. Finally, that disastrous interview was over—she would do her best to forget about it. Maxwell seemed to think the same, walking next to her with an irritated scowl on his face that prompted several people in their vicinity to cower away from him.
“What an asshole,” Maxwell growled.
“Calm down, we won’t see him again,” she said. She certainly wouldn’t be back for another interview. “Maxwell, you know what? Why don’t we turn this into a date now? Since we’re in the middle of town and it’s only three o’clock… there’s plenty of time left to do something.”
“Sounds good,” he nodded. “Where do you want to go?”
“How about the shopping mall over there?” she asked and pointed at a nearby building that was swarmed with humans. It was loud and colorful—everything that he hated.
“Valerie,” he sighed. “Really?”
She smiled, taking his hand and pulling him along excitedly. “Yes! It’s going to be fun, I promise! They have many amazing shops in there… and I’m sure you’d love the arcade on the top floor.”
Valerie wanted to spend the rest of the day doing something fun. She was well aware that he preferred to avoid other humans, but she also knew that his love for video games probably would make him like the arcade.