Neon Blue E Frost (speld decodable readers .TXT) 📖

At the curb, we wait in the rain while the valet retrieves the car. I huddle into myself, rubbing my hands up and down my bare arms. I didn’t wear a coat because I’ve been so warm around the demon. Now I wish I had.

The demon immediately puts his arm around me. His heat spreads through me like a sauna, seeping into my bones. Better?

Yes. I sigh and lean into his warmth. Sorry.

S’okay.

I look up at him. It was fun, wasn’t it? I’m sorry I dragged you away.

The valet pulls the car up and tosses the keys to Jou. Still sheltering me in the warmth of his arm, the demon guides me around to the passenger side and hands me into the leather seat. When he settles into the driver’s seat, he asks aloud, “What’s botherin’ you so much?”

I scrunch down into the leather. “It hurt to see Saul. Especially when I wasn’t expecting it.”

He puts the car in gear and pulls out onto the night-quiet streets. “Why? So he left you. He didn’t fuckin’ deserve you. He’s barely got a flicker of anythin’. Why were you wasting yourself on someone like that?”

I stare out of the window, into the dark. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“I understand better’n you do. Your family’s made you afraid of your power. Made you hide from it, and seek out gutless, no-talent motherfuckers like him to help you. Grow up an’ recognize that you’re better off without him.”

I twist around in the seat and glare at him, open-mouthed. “You know absolutely nothing about it, Jou. Saul’s a good man. Just like Peter. You act like they’re worthless just because they don’t have any magic.”

“They’re nothin’,” the demon growls. “An’ you’re wasting your time with them. They’re never gonna satisfy you.”

“You know nothing about it!” I snap again.

He turns his head to look at me, his eyes filled with that neon blue glow. No matter what happens, you’re better off with me.

“Neither of them demanded my soul.” The biting bile edge with which it comes out surprises even me. “Or wanted me to give up my humanity for them.”

“Worse. They wanted you to be normal.” He says it like a curse. “They wanted you to be Susie Suburban Homemaker, elbow-deep in dishes and rugrats.” He snorts eloquently and changes gears. “You’re not meant for that. You need fire and magic and fucking so hard you rock the foundations. You really think Mister one-orgasm-a-week back there could give that to you?”

How dare he use my memories like that? “Stay out of my head!”

“No,” he growls. “You need someone pokin’ around in there. Stop lyin’ to yourself. He wasn’t makin’ you happy. He was just fulfillin’ this suburban dream you’re clinging to.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting something better! I want a home, and a family and someone who loves me—”

“I love you,” the demon snarls. “Not the way you want it, all hearts and flowers. I love you like you should be loved. I took you there tonight to show you the difference—”

“You what?!”

“I took you there to show you exactly how little he can offer you. He was there the other night. When I picked up that kid that pissed you off so much. I recognized him from your memories. You really want him? After what we just did? You want someone who doesn’t value what you are? Who can’t give you anything but that little flicker of attention you were callin’ love? That what you want? Tell me now an’ I’ll turn the car around and you can go runnin’ back to him.”

I lean my face against the cool glass of the window, hug myself tightly and breathe deep, to keep from screaming at him, to keep from bursting into tears.

“How can you manipulate me like this?” I whisper to the window, but the answer’s obvious. He’s a demon.

“Guess that’s a no, then.” The grim satisfaction in his voice squeezes my eyes closed.

He’s a demon. Demon demon demon demon. It rings in my ears like a refrain. Like the club music’s heavy beat. Like the trip hammer of my heart.

We drive the rest of the way home in silence. A silence that continues as I follow him into the house. I stand uncertainly in the hallway while he walks into the kitchen. I hear him greet the salamanders. A tiny scratching of claws on the floorboards and Wizard streaks down the hallway to me. With a tremulous smile, I pick him up and scratch him under the chin.

I’ve never had a pet welcome me home before.

“What were you doing while we were out, hey, boy?”

He wriggles in my arms until he can present his belly for scratching. Just like his sibling. I give him a good scratch, concentrating on the folds where his short limbs meet his belly, attention that has him grunting and writhing with delight.

That’s obscene, the demon observes. I glance up and see his silhouette framed in the doorway to the kitchen. Moonlight silvers his dreadlocks, turning them into a furry halo. His face remains in darkness and I can’t see his expression.

“You taught it to me, “ I say cautiously, afraid of setting him off again. Afraid of what he’ll say if I do. I don’t think I can handle many more of his brutal truths tonight.

His wicked chuckle, deep in my mind. Lots more I can teach you.

“All of it obscene, no doubt.”

Not all of it.

I put the salamander down and stand awkwardly, not quite looking at him. “So, what now?” I’m afraid to ask, but I can’t help myself. I don’t know what to do next. I don’t want to do or say anything that will reignite the tension that’s dropped to a slow simmer between us. But I don’t know how to avoid it.

Now you find me three pieces of cord. Red, black and grey. I think you know how long they need to be.

Three times three. “Nine feet.”

Yards. Gimme some room to work.

“You’re going to tie