Page 76 of Demon's Desire
“Mia?” The voice on the phone asked.
“Yeah.” I rubbed my eyes and forced myself to stifle a yawn.
“Hi. It’s Hudson, from Hundred. Is this a bad time?”
“No!” I perked up suddenly. “No, it’s not. What’s up?”
“Well I was wondering if you’d like to start work tonight?” he asked.
I bit my lip to keep from screaming, I was so excited. I finally had a job! “Um, yes! Yes, tonight would be great!”
“Perfect.” He sounded relieved. “I was thinking we’d just start you off with half of a shift tonight just to integrate you into the team. Tomorrow I’ll sit down with the floor manager and we’ll give you a real schedule. You’ll be working at a bar in Logan Square called Velvet Club. It’s more of a nightclub than Hundred was.”
“That sounds awesome!” I looked over at Soul and smiled. “What time tonight?”
“We’ll start you out at seven. If you stay for four hours, you’ll get a feel for the night shift and all, but it should be easier since it’s the middle of the week. We’ve got karaoke tonight so it’ll mostly be regulars,” he explained.
“Perfect.” I nodded. “Seven o’clock at Velvet Club.”
“See you then.”
He hung up and I laid back in bed. “Soul! I just got a job!”
He got back onto the bed and sat beside me with a grin. “I knew you would.”
“You did not.” I rolled my eyes, but I smiled at him.
He leaned down and suddenly kissed me. “I did… You’re going to be the best employee they’ve ever had.”
“Oh… shut up.” I blushed a bit as I sat up. “It’ll just be a short shift tonight, but I’ll be fine. I worked full shifts at the bar back home on our busiest days. This should be easy.”
“You’ll do great,” he assured me. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you.” I chuckled and stood up. “I’m gonna go tell Kelly.”
“She left for work already,” he told me. “But she’ll be happy for you. I’m sure.”
My smile faded a bit, but I nodded. She would be happy, but I was suddenly reminded of how difficult everything was. Kelly probably wouldn’t want to put up with Soul for much longer, especially not if Jackson kept being a problem, and that was without the presence of a second demon. I didn’t want to lose her… but I didn’t want to lose Soul either.
“Hey.” He got up and put his hand on my shoulder. “What’s the matter?”
I sighed and shook my head. “Nothing… Just… getting used to that turning point, like you said.”
He nodded. “Big changes are hard. I understand.”
“Yeah… It must have been hard.” I looked up at him. “Losing your family the way you did.”
“Yes, it was.” He glanced away and dropped his hand. “I was lucky enough to survive, but… for a while it didn’t seem like enough. There were a lot of times I thought of returning and asking to be put to death. I struggled to cope with everything. But… I did.”
“I don’t know if I could do that…”
“You absolutely could.” He chuckled as he sat back down on the edge of my bed. “You discovered that demons were real, and that you were being stalked by one and you hardly blinked.”
“Are you kidding?” I laughed. “I had a full-blown crisis!”
“Oh no, you didn’t,” he told me. “I’ve seen people who went into such denial over the fact that they nearly died. My kind have it easy. We’re born knowing that the world is vast and that creatures like us exist. You don’t. You were told from birth that there are humans and animals and nothing else. Then one day, if you’re lucky, you wake up in a brand new world. A lot of people can’t handle that. You, on the other hand, are taking it so well, that you fucked a demon.”
I blushed and covered my face. “When you phrase it like that, it sounds weird.”