My Dull Life

Chapter 8: I Miss 3D Calculus

 

Silence. It's completely silent in the room.

Not that there was much conversation even when my companion was in the room. Aside from the angry, guttural grunts and such, of course. Or unwilling moans. Or satisfied sighs. The carnal relief had to continue – even though there were nothing but pieces left of the relationship between Verxis and I.

I got up, ignoring all the aches that plagued my body. I realized now that the first few days I'd been here in the demon realm – he had been a total gentleman, compared to how he was now.

I went to the wardrobe, opened it, and looked for my jacket. I wondered if the lever could read my thoughts, because it took less than a fraction of a second of spinning that the jacket entered my sight. As it had every time I'd operated the wardrobe. I reached into the pocket and pulled out the device I'd been keeping there – just for safe keeping.

My cellphone. It had been in my mother's jacket all along, as I'd discovered a day after finding the jacket. There was no signal here – not that there was anyone to call in the demon realm. But the games worked fine. The ones that didn't need to use the internet anyway.

My cell's batteries never seemed to die. I wondered why. I set the fact aside – I'd ask Eric later, the sole person I'd been able to talk to for the last month. But even he didn't seem as friendly as he'd been before. I understood that he would take Verxis's side over mine, but it was still disappointing.

I sat on the windowsill – my favourite spot, despite how dangerous it had once been. I stared out the window, and the dimly lit village and the dark fields that went on forever out there, wondering what it'd be like to be exploring them.

Yeah. In my dreams.

I slowly lifted my hand then tried to move it beyond the boundaries of the window, but like I expected – I was bounced back. Verxis had erected a barrier on the window, along with the rest of the windows in the place. When I'd touched it, there was a repelling force that pushed my hand away from it. It didn't hurt as much as it was annoying.

Looking over the dark village a few moments more, I then turned back to my phone, deciding to kill a few hours with sudoku.

That's when the cell nearly slipped out of my hands, due to the shock I'd gotten when something let out a large screech as it flew past the red moon. I looked out at the winged creature, blinking dumbly as what seemed like a dragon soared across the sky and landed before the castle, transforming into something humanoid, but with its large wings still visible on its back, before striding into the palace.

“What was that about?” I wondered aloud. I'd been talking to myself a lot lately – the only person I could talk to. I stared down where the huge castle lay below me, wondering what was going on. I thought about this for about an hour.

The only reason I stopped thinking was because someone had thrown open the door abruptly, causing me to nearly drop my cellphone again. I was about to mention something about knocking before entering to Verxis when I saw his expression. He looked grim, almost serious. Eric stood beside him, looking about as morose.

“Something's wrong,” I realized.

Verxis nodded. “Come here, Belle,” I went to him without a fight, mainly because I was too curious about what was going on. I went to him and stood a foot or so away from him. He sighed, then tugged me close and hugged me. I blinked, unable to hug him back. Was this guy, who had been raping me – well, if you could count it rape. I always became too willing a participant at the end for it to be called rape – and said he'd treat me like his whore hugging me?

“Verxis, you're scaring me,” I said, his name sounding all weird and clumsy on my tongue, but I wasn't about to call him Six. He released me quickly after that.

“Sorry,” he muttered, then he pulled me towards one of the couches near the television. Eric followed us silently.

“What's up?” I asked as Verxis coaxed me into a sitting position beside him, my curiosity getting the better of me. “I saw the dragon thingy enter the castle. Was that a bad sign?”

Verxis laughed once, humorlessly. “You could say that,”

“It was a messenger, my Lady,” Eric told me. “He had been sent by the other four demon kings. Apparently they wish to meet the mate of the demon king of the north. Verxis's mate,”

“Mate?” I asked, confused.

“A mate is the term we use for the lifelong partner of a demon. Mating is dictated by more than just a ceremony and an oath of loyalty. It involves magic, and the exchange of bodily fluids. Most couples that mate end up marrying, but some who marry, for example, for political means, don't end up mating. Because mating cannot be broken. Marriage can,” Eric explained to me.

I was silent for a long time, and both men stared at me with nervous expressions. Then I turned to Verxis. “You have a mate?” I asked angrily. “And you didn't tell me about her?”

Verxis sighed.

“You didn't tell her, Verxis?” Eric asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I haven't really had the time,” Verxis muttered. He had been too busy fucking me senseless - that was his excuse for not telling me about his lifelong partner?!

The purple dress. It had to be hers. It had to be his mate's. It all made sense now. God.

“Oh my God. You really have been playing with me this whole time. What is wrong with you?” I asked Verxis, deeply hurt. He had a mate. So what was I?

I got up to stomp away to the bed when Verxis caught me and pulled me into his lap. I struggled.

“Belle, listen,” his voice was so stern and authoritative that I paused for a second. He licked his lips, then hesitantly, he said “You... are my mate,”

I blinked up at him, understandably confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”

His hand reached out to the scar on my neck. The added injury to it from Herniana's weapon could not be detected whatsoever, as if it had never happened. “The first time we slept together... I mated you,” I stared at him blankly.

“...What?” was the only thing I could think to say. “But- Magic! Exchange of body fluids!” I sputtered.

“Magic – I took care of that. Since you obviously couldn't do it. And exchange of body fluids – I drank your blood. You took my seed inside you,”

I gaped at him. I closed my mouth. Opened it again. Closed it once more. Then, finally, I exclaimed “You mated me?!” in an embarrassingly squeaky voice.

He looked away, at the floor, and nodded. I started to breathe rapidly.

“Oh, okay, you mated me,” I said, as if trying to convince myself. I turned back to Verxis suddenly, realizing something. “And you still went and got a harem?!” I snapped.

He looked up at me, annoyed. “I'm a demon, and I'm male, Belle.”

“Oh, okay, yeah, that's fine. Totally forgivable,” I babbled, my tone too stunned to be sarcastic. “I mean, why not? Wait. You said that the demon kings want to meet your mate? You meant me?!”

I was hyperventilating by this point.

“Belle, calm down. Calm down!” Verxis's ordering me to calm down wasn't working. So he clamped his hand over my nose to stop my hyperventilation. I let out a choking noise as I started to suffocate, but when finally he released me, I found that I was no longer hyperventilating. “There's no need to panic. All they want to do is meet you,”

“Then why did you guys look so nervous?!” I yelled. I wasn't hyperventilating anymore – but the panic was still there.

“Because treaties are a risky business. Sometimes a war can break out between realms over the silliest things,” Eric explained. “And sometimes the other realms are itching for a war, and they use the smallest reason to start a fight,”

“In other words, if I'm not up to the standard I could start a war,” I translated. Eric nodded at me quietly. I placed my head in my hands. Why did I ever want a more interesting life?

“But it's unlikely a war will happen anyway. As far as I know, there is no animosity between our realm and any of the others. And why try to conquer other realms with their own powerful demon kings protecting them when you can take over a weaker realm like the human one?” Verxis shrugged, causing me to bounce in his lap. I didn't lift my head from my hands.

I breathed in and out carefully, focusing on that, so I could stay calm and think.

“We'll hold a ball here in a month to present you. Eric and several others will do their best to tutor you so that you fully understand demon etiquette,” Verxis continued to say.

“Demons have etiquette?!” I asked, whipping my head up.

“Of course we do,” Verxis said impatiently.

“Oh, we're so dead, so dead...” I muttered to myself. I couldn't even sit on a chair at dinner without bringing my knees to my chest out of habit, and these people expected me to learn demon etiquette?

Why was I even thinking of doing this?

Oh right. Because I had promised to stay in his realm and let him do whatever he wanted with me.

“You'll be fine. It's very similar to human etiquette. It was taught to them by us, after all,” Verxis said.

“So dead, so dead...” I continued to chant. None of what they were telling me comforted me in any way. Verxis sighed, placing his arms around me and pulling me into his chest.

“I'm sorry you had to find out this way. But I promise you'll be fine. I'll be there with you, and I won't let anything happen to you,” he told me firmly. “Eric will also be present at all your lessons, when I can't be there, to make sure nothing happens to you,”

I looked at Eric, who nodded at me reassuringly.

“Just cooperate with us, my Lady. You'll be fine,” Eric told me.

I sighed. “I don't really have a choice, do I?” Neither man said anything. “Alright then, let's do this,”

Eric nodded. He got to his feet and started towards the door. “We'll start your lessons tomorrow. Oh, and try to let her get some sleep, your majesty. Her tutors will not be pleased if they have little more than an exhausted pile of bones to work with,”

I wanted to protest being labeled that, but what he said seemed to describe how I felt, so I left it. Eric smiled at us both, bowed, and left. And I was left alone, sitting in the lap of my mate.

“I can't believe you mated me,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

“I get that reaction a lot when I tell it to people. Those I have told think it was an act of youthful foolishness,” Verxis said, and I felt his finger against my ear as he tucked a lock of my hair behind it. I turned in his lap so I was facing him, so I could see all the emotions on his face and determine if he was telling the truth.

“Was it?” I asked.

“Maybe. But I've never once in my life regretted it,” he said.

“Really? Even when I called you an asshole?” I asked, thinking back to a month ago. “And you spanked me till my butt was raw?”

He grinned at me. “That was fun,” I sighed, knowing that would be his reaction. “And don't try to say I raped you. We both know I didn't,”

“You totally did. But that's not important right now. Herniana asked me why I had this scar. She called it a mark,” I gestured to the scar his bite had left on the base of my neck.

Verxis nodded. “Most of the time, one of the partners – mostly female, but not always – is able to accept the fluid, but unable to give anything back in return, so usually blood is drawn. This leaves behind a scar. We call it the mating mark,”

I grunted. “Subtle title,”

“It serves its purpose,” Verxis said.

“So... Is it normal for a demon to leave his mate behind two days after mating her?” I asked curiously.

“No. Definitely not. But I had no choice. Things were... difficult, back then. I had to leave you,” he said mysteriously.

“You're not going to tell me why, are you?”

He didn't say anything. I got my answer.

“Okay, so I'm your mate. Great. There's no way to get divorced, is there?” His jaw set tensely at the question – he didn't like it, but I had to ask.

“No. The mating bond cannot be broken. At all. That's why a great deal of consideration must be given before actually mating,”

I guess consent wasn't that large of a factor in forming this bond, I think, but I don't mention it, because if I think back to that first time we'd slept together, I can remember all the times I'd consented.

“Are there any perks to this bond? Obviously it can't assure absolute loyalty and fidelity,” I said dryly. He glared at me.

“You're never going to stop bringing that up, are you?”

“No,”

“Fantastic,” he muttered. “Well, as for the benefits, you should know,”

I blinked at him. “I should?”

“When was the last time you were seriously injured?” he asked. “And have you noticed you haven't aged very much over the last two years?”

I gaped at him. I thought back quickly to the time Jo, Stacy and I had gone ice-skating, and I had fallen, hard. I couldn't get up, and I was sure I had broken my ankle. But by the time I had left the rink, the pain was nearly completely gone, and I could walk perfectly fine two hours later. I thought I had imagined the pain. “Wait. So I can heal fast... and I don't age?”

“Yes to the first one. To the second - you do age, although a bit more slowly. But like me, you'll only age until maturity. Then you'll stay in that form,”

I nodded, taking it in. It was hard to accept, that mating to this demon would cause such a thing. “Anything else?” I asked.

“I know what you are feeling sometimes... and I know the general vicinity of where you are,” he said.

“You know where I am?” I asked, thinking back to when I was in the bomb shelter.

“The general vicinity,” he corrected me. “The time period we spent apart weakened the bond between us, and lately it's been very... unstable. It's only to be expected with all that has been happening between us. But with time I should be able to master it. It'll probably be more difficult for you, since you were born in a realm where magic is practically extinct,”

“Oh. That sucks,” I said, disappointed. I wanted superpowers too. “Anything more?”

“I don't know... Most couples don't like to talk about the results of the mating bond, because it's unpredictable. The strength of the bond, and the powers of each mate influences what comes from the mating,”

“Wow. Doesn't seem like a good deal for you. Since I don't have any powers,”

“I don't need any more powers,” he said cockily. But it was hard to argue with him on that. I stifled a yawn, not wanting to end the most conversation I'd had in a month, but I was tired. Not to mention with all the tension between us gone, I was feeling heaps more relaxed. And already I could see Verxis sensing my feelings, cocking his head to the side as he looked at me. “Huh,” he said. “It's easier to read your emotions now that you know about the bond. That's interesting,”

“Well, I just stifled a yawn. Not exactly a vague clue,” I said. He chuckled, then lifted me and took me to the bed. He laid me down there and curled around me.

“Go to sleep,” he said, and instantly I felt my whole body go limp, reacting to his words.

“No sex?” I managed to ask sleepily.

“No sex,” he agreed firmly as I fell completely asleep.

---

My tutors turned out to be several of the Qilels in the North Realm... Including Anderien and Herniana, and the man with green hair who'd been one of the three that tried to kill me back on my world when I'd slapped Verxis. There were two other men, and another woman. I didn't see Werave, but thinking back to the size he was, with all those bulging muscles... I figured he wouldn't exactly be good for teaching etiquette.

But he would be great at teaching self-defense, I realized.

I squirmed in my seat, trying to re-adjust my dress without it seeming too obvious. Damn Verxis and his taste. I bet he was behind this flowy, heavy, too-tight-in-the-chest dress.

I smiled tightly as the demons were introduced to me, and pretended to remember all their strange demonic names. When in truth... I didn't. None of my tutors smiled at me. They either looked at me neutrally, with distaste or with complete and total hatred.

“Now, Kerintelk will take you for table manners, Mrandile and Yularick for your looks, Krian for dancing, Anderien for history and Herniana for general manners like how to walk and conduct yourself in public,” I nodded, stunned. What did I need all those lessons for? Was it really going to help me prevent a war?

“Okay,” I said weakly. None of the demons replied. “Sure, no problem,”

---

Except, it was a huge problem.

“It's a ball,” I had reminded Kerintelk, the demon teaching me how to eat properly, who I had privately nicknamed Ker, so I could remember his name. “I won't be eating at any tables or using any of these-” I looked down at the whole collection of spoons before me. “-delightful cutlery,”

“Actually, his majesty has yet to decide if there will be a banquet or not after the ball, but we thought it best if you were to learn how to conduct yourself in those situations anyway,” Ker told me with a smile.

I smiled back, even though inwardly I was fuming. Verxis had yet to decide if there was going to be a banquet, and just in case, I had to memorize how to use twenty different spoons?! I was going to kill him as soon as I got back to our room.

If I ever got back to our room.

---

Mrandile, who I'd christened Dil tutted, walking in circles around me. “There's not much to work with here. Can you... transform to, I don't know, something a little... less ugly?”

I stared at him. Did he just call me ugly? It was true that I looked plain on a good day. And this was a personal observation in the mirror, a judgment which, according to researchers, was supposed to be five times more beautiful than I actually was. My features were nothing to shout about, I was also a little too generous in form. Even though I wouldn't call myself overweight, I had one of those heavy builds, and no height to make up for it. I wasn't even short and cute, I was average in height, with broad shoulders and dense bones, so every time I got on a scale, I surprised people with how heavy I was. “I'm human,” I said flatly. “I can't change myself,”

“Well then, I'll just have to help you,” he said in reply. Yularick, or Ric nodded in agreement.

"The cosmetic spell?" she asked in what I found to be an unnaturally deep voice.

Eric cleared his throat where he had stood in the corner watching my lessons. “His majesty wishes her to remain in her actual form for the ball. No transformations,” he said, and for that I was glad. As ugly as I was, I didn't wish for any changes to my body, to look as eerily beautiful as the demons did.

Dil and Rick exchanged a look, and sighed. I could just tell what they were thinking. I was going to doom this realm.

---

“A book?” I asked skeptically as Krian, the green-haired man from before, placed it on my head and I tried to balance it. “How cliché. Shouldn't you guys have found a new method to teach balance and dancing yet?” I asked, swaying from side to side in an attempt to keep the book on my head.

“Oh? Alright then, put this on your head instead,” then he proceeded to lift – with one hand – a huge vase half my size off a pedestal nearby.

“No thank you!” I said quickly. “I'll stick with the book.”

He smirked.

I suddenly remembered that this was one of the Qilels which had once tried to kill me. I said nothing else for the rest of the lesson.

---

“Three thousand years ago, during the reign of King Rexxin, Verxis's father, the realm was fine, albeit a bit poor. But when he discovered a way to raise the economy net gain by two percent, using his method of...” Anderien went on. And on. And on.

I lasted about an hour, before I lifted my hand high in the air, feeling the need to do so before my head exploded.

“Yes?” he asked in some annoyance at getting his lecture interrupted.

“Why do I need to know this?” I asked.

“Because it may come up in conversation,” he said. “It's very important to know the history of our realm's economy, among other things,”

“Well, strawberries may come up in the conversation too. Can't I be educated on strawberries instead?” I asked desperately.

His eyes narrowed. “No,” And then he went on. And on. And on.

I lifted my hand into the air again.

“What is it now?” he asked, infuriated at having been interrupted a second time.

“I have to go to the toilet,”

---

“Wrong!” Herniana slapped me painfully, but not hard enough to leave a permanent mark for me to show Verxis later. Not that it was really all that possible anyway. Damn my demon mating bond and the healing that came with it... Even if it was super cool. I wondered why Verxis had allowed her to tutor me. The fact that she tried to kill me wasn't enough? I glanced at Eric, at least he was there to make sure I didn't die in the middle of lessons. “I said stand up straight, not straighten and fidget!”

I obediently did as she said. She slapped me again on the the arm.

“Ow! Don't you know rewards work better than punishments?” I asked, rubbing my arm painfully.

“Well, I'll reward you when you finally do something worth rewarding, bitch. Now stop slouching!” she hit the small of my back, forcing me to straighten my spine. “And try walking,”

I took one step forward. She hit the back of my head.

“Wrong!” she said again. “I said walk, not stomp!”

---

“This is worse than three dimensional calculus,” I groaned as I collapsed onto the bed, I hurt all over from Herniana's hits, my brain ached from all the knowledge that had been stuffed into it, my self-esteem was all bruised and battered, even though it wasn't much to begin with, and my whole body was shaking from exhaustion just from getting through the day.

“I think that went pretty well,” Eric said with a chuckle.

I stared at him in shock. “What were you looking at?” I asked in disbelief.

“Things could be worse. You could be dead. I always prefer looking at the positive side of things,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

“Now I know why dogs don't like puppy school,” I said, grabbing a pillow and holding it close to my chest, inhaling Verxis's scent. Back when she was still a tiny golden ball of fluff, we had to take Mo out of puppy school because of how much she hated being told what to do and how to walk.

Thinking of Mo just made me sadder. I missed her.

“I'm going to have to go through all of that again tomorrow, aren't I?” I asked Eric, though I already knew the answer.

“Perhaps more,” was what he said. I groaned and scrunched my eyes tight. I was sleep-deprived, I wanted coffee and I had been looked down upon in so many different ways I was surprised I hadn't shrunk.

The door opened and I lifted my eyelids to glare at Verxis. He looked at me in amusement.

“How were the lessons?” he asked. I groaned, pressing the pillow over my face.

“They went well,” I could hear Eric say, his voice somewhat muffled by the pillow. I groaned again, louder this time.

“Just kill me now,” I said, taking the pillow off my face. “Since I obviously can't survive the lessons, much less the ball,”

“I'll be back tomorrow morning to take you to your lessons, my Lady,” I could hear the barely concealed amusement in Eric's voice too. I groaned as loudly as I could and nestled myself further in the blankets. Maybe if I hid deep enough among them, my demon tutors wouldn't find me.

Literally demon tutors.

“Come on, Belle. Was it really so bad?” Verxis asked as he removed his clothes and crawled into bed with me, laying by my side.

I glared at him. “Herniana hit me. Thirty-six times. I counted. And you can't even make up your mind as to whether we'll have a banquet or not after the ball? Seriously, Verxis. I'm not memorizing how to use twenty different spoons just in case you decide we should dine. And you know, Mra... Mra, Mra-whatever and Yu-something, they told me all I could have was a piece of some vegetable leaf thing and drink water everyday from now on, so I can lose weight,”

Verxis lifted an eyebrow. “But you're not fat,”

“Exactly! But they say they want me to lose muscle, since I'm so bulky. If I don't eat meat that should be fine they said. It's not. They don't know that all of this-" I gestured to myself. "-is mostly bone. And nobody would get me coffee!”

Verxis was grinning at me at this point. I frowned.

“It's not funny. Why am I going through this when I never even agreed to be you mate? Why did you even mate me, Six?” I asked grumpily.

Verxis gave me a strange look. “Don't tell me you don't know the answer to that? It's the same reason I gave up conquering Earth for you, and got rid of my whole harem to be with you,”

“...Because you're horny?” I guessed. Judging from the growl that followed, that was the wrong answer.

“Figure it out for yourself,” he said, turning away from me.

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just curled up against his back. To be truthful, I kind of knew what he was talking about. But I didn't want to think about that yet. It introduced a whole new angle that, I knew, would do nothing good for me at the moment. But I was feeling a little guilty for ranting at him. I knew he was stressed out about the ball too. Just not as much as I was.

“How was your day?” I asked finally.

“Fine,” he replied curtly. “We made contingency plans in case a war should break out. Though I told them repeatedly there was no need – They were going to like you,”

I stared at his back. He had that much faith in me? “Nobody would believe that, Verxis. Even I'm having difficulty believing that,”

He moved away from me a little, and I was hurt for a second. Then he rolled around to face me, making use of the extra space he'd gained on the bed by moving away so that he wouldn't roll onto me. “They will, when they get to know you, Belle. I'm sure by the time the ball comes, nobody will doubt that you'll be great,”

“Skeptical,” I said. “But if you say so,”

He smiled, and leaned forward to kiss me. I drew my arms around his neck. It had been a long time since he last kissed me. The feudal month we'd spent, we had very little affectionate contact. Just a lot of animalistic humping, and the occasional angry tonguing. I wonder if he missed kissing as much as I had.

I winced when I felt his arousal poke me on my midriff. “Verxis... I'm tired,”

“What happened to Six?” he complained. “And so am I. But I went a whole day without sex with you... I can't take it anymore,” he said.

“You lasted a thousand years before,” I reminded him.

“That was different,” he said dismissively. “I want you,” he mumbled against my mouth, and slowly undid my dress.

I knew I was going to have hell the next day.

---

“Wrong,”

“Wrong,”

“Wrong,”

“Completely, and totally wrong,”

That's what all my tutors seemed to be saying to me over the course of the first week. I had yet to get a single thing right. I had been prodded, poked, shoved, pushed into numerous dresses, hit and slapped in various places, and been deprived of coffee. Which I was seriously beginning to doubt this world even had.

The only good thing about the week was that among the huge pile of books Anderien had insisted I read, I had found one titled 'Population of the Kingdom of the North'. I was surprised to open it and find that the words shifted as I was reading it. It magically updated.

And under 'Humans', my name was written, as well as Stacy's, along with nine other names. It even listed the demons who had claimed us. I blinked when I found that Dil and Rick both had one each. Most surprising of all – Dil's seemed to be male, and Rick's seemed to be female.

That explained a lot, actually.

The rest belonged to demons I had never heard of. I felt my heart break a little when I thought of the amount of humans which had followed us to this place. Now only eleven were left.

I knew I had to do something.

But what?

---

“Sit up!” Herniana said sharply. She was there at all of my lessons, particularly during dinner etiquette and dancing, to make sure I acted right at all times.

I sat up straight, then reached for one of the spoons. Ker cleared his throat. My hand paused, before picking another spoon. He nodded in approval.

I couldn't even taste what I was eating. I was only allowed to eat one bite anyway, part of the strict diet Dil and Rick had put me on. I was so glad to be getting at least some things right.

---

Dil and Rick massaged and smoothed me over, sparing no thought to my discomfort, trying to get my skin to become as flawless as theirs without magic.

It had to be impossible.

I sighed in frustration. Herniana slapped the back of my head. I jumped.

Oh, right, sighing was forbidden, apparently considered rude – it showed that you were daydreaming or just plain not paying attention. I stifled my urge to sigh again.

---

“One, two, three and...” My book dropped onto the floor. Krian and I looked at it for a second. “Okay then, let's go over the whole dance all over again,”

I was about to groan, before catching Herniana giving me a warning look. I quickly hid my groan at having to repeat the endless dance steps all over again.

---

“And how much did the livestock of the kingdom rise in the past decade?” Anderien asked me, at a much-needed pause in his lecture.

“Three percent...?”

“Four point two,”

“Close enough!” I cheered. I wasn't usually so boisterous in an educational setting, but I had to keep my spirits up somehow. Herniana kicked my shin. I hissed in pain.

“Speak calmly. And straighten your back,” I glared at her. “And no glaring at demon royalty. You want to die?”

“If it means I can get away from you...” I muttered to myself under my breath, counting on the more acute demon hearing for her to get it. I could see her fuming out of the corner of my eye.

---

“Hey, Six...” I tried to sound as innocent as I could. I sat up in bed, surrounded by the fragrance of the moisturizer Dil and Rick demanded I put on. I watched Verxis undress for bed. He had been really busy lately, and only showed up to watch me struggle in lessons once in a while. I seemed to make more of a fool of myself when he was around, though my tutors seemed to treat me better when he was present. They never made any insults, however subtle, nor hit me.

“Yes?” He was instantly suspicious. I knew from the way he looked at me.

“I was thinking... I may be better at lessons if I had some... incentive,” I said carefully. He continued to stare at me, his hands pausing at the third button of his shirt.

“Incentive,” he echoed.

“Yeah. Like... If I do well in the ball, you'll let me see Stacy more often. Or better – let me see the rest of the humans,”

“No deal,” he said, turning away and finishing unbuttoning his shirt.

“Come on,” I groaned. “You have to admit, I'm pretty bad at lessons. But if I had something to work for, I might get better,”

“What, the threat of a war hanging over our heads not good enough for you?”

“No. Because technically this isn't even my realm. I haven't found myself considering it home yet. Especially when people have attempted to kill me here. Come on, Six. Please? What can we do, anyway? We're just a bunch of weak humans trapped here surrounded by lots of creatures that can kill us before we blink,”

Verxis's wardrobe closed and he joined me in bed without a word.

“I really would try so much harder if I would be allowed to see Stacy,” I said quietly.

He sighed. “Fine. I'll let you see the other humans,” he said, finally, in a weary manner. “But only after the ball. If we're not getting invaded by the other demon realms,”

I nodded calmly, but inwardly I was cheering.

Now all I needed to do was find a way to get them back to our human realm. My job was never done.

My life had become filled with oodles of fun.

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A/N: Finally, I'm free!

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