Demon Lover
Page 16
“So he was raised in a cult?” Liz reiterated for the hundredth time. The two of them were standing in Liz’s kitchen, waiting for coffee to brew.
“Yep.” Autumn accepted a cup of coffee from Liz, and glanced over her shoulder towards the living room, where Irdu sat with Liz’s husband, Marcus. The two men were hunched over Marcus’s cell phone, exclaiming over a video clip of a newly hatched iguana escaping dozens of hungry snakes.
“So he was just this stateless mystery man—”
“He’s not stateless. He’s American,” Autumn interrupted quickly. It was technically true. Now.
“Okay, but he didn’t have a social security number or a birth certificate—”
“He’s got a social security number now. He’s a real person!”
“I just don’t understand how he managed to live. How’d he get a job without a social security number? How’d he travel anywhere without ID?”
“The cult was self-sustaining. They had a farm.” Autumn hated lying, but how else was she supposed to explain Irdu’s past? She usually tried to move the conversation away from that topic as quickly as possible, but Liz was a journalist, and when she smelled a story, she was as tenacious as a bloodhound.
“He seems way too aware of the world for somebody raised by an isolated cult.”
“It wasn’t like one of those fundamentalist compounds. He interacted with the outside world. They even had a television.”
“This sounds like a very permissive cult,” Liz said skeptically.
Autumn shrugged and pulled up her default conversation-killer. “He really doesn’t like to talk about it, and it’s not my place to say anything.”
Liz pursed her lips, giving Autumn a narrow-eyed look.
“Don’t do your Lois Lane thing on me. This is his personal life, not breaking news.”
Liz leaned back, raising her hands in surrender. “You’re right. Sorry.”
They gathered up coffee cups and brought them into the living room. Autumn handed one to Irdu and sank down on the couch next to him. Irdu looked up, giving her a silent thanks.
“So, Irdu,” Liz said. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Irdu looked at Autumn. “Ah, yes. Apollo Tech settled their case with Autumn. Her lawyer negotiated a significant—”
Liz turned to Autumn, appalled. “You didn’t tell me!”
“It’s all kind of embarrassing.” She looked down at her coffee. “I let him take advantage of me, and I was too cowardly to do anything about it until Irdu badgered me into it.”
“You’re not a coward.” Irdu put an arm around her. “You’re overly empathetic.”
“There’s no doubt about that,” Liz said. “But I was talking about you, Irdu. Autumn said you passed your GED test?”
“He got a 790. That puts him in the ninety-ninth percentile,” Autumn boasted. Irdu gave her a bemused look.
“Yes, I did.” he said to Liz. “Thank you.”
“So, what’s next, then? Career-wise?” Liz asked, with all the intensity of a father cross-examining his daughter’s prom date.
“Liz,” Autumn objected.
Irdu wasn’t bothered. “I’ve applied to several local universities. I’d like to study history. I’m enjoying my work at the library, but I think I’d like to teach.”
“Oooh, teaching.” Liz shuddered. “So many children.”
“Irdu likes being around people,” Autumn said fondly. “I think he’d love to be in a classroom every day. And he’d make a really good teacher.”
Liz’s gaze flicked between the two of them. The tension dissolved from her posture, and she gave Irdu a warm smile.
“I’m sure he would be.”
“Speaking of jobs,” Autumn said. “I accepted an offer from the Art Institute.”
Liz’s eyes flew wide. “Autumn!” she shrieked, almost directly in Matthew’s ear. He winced. “Sorry, babe.” Liz patted the side of his head absently while she glared at Autumn. “You good-news-withholding bitch! Why didn’t you tell me right away?”
“I’m sorry about Liz. She can be kind of intense. But now that she’s decided she likes you, you have a friend for life.”
Irdu and Autumn walked hand in hand, headed home. Their new apartment was only a few blocks from Liz and Matthew’s house. It was small, but it had big, sunny windows, and best of all, the bedroom and the living room were separate rooms.
“I like her. I like that she’s protective of you.”
They lapsed into a comfortable silence. The sun continued to sink lower on the horizon.
“I have a gift for you,” Irdu said suddenly.
“Again?”
Since he’d gotten his job at the library, he’d reveled in his ability to provide things to Autumn. He could rail against the tyranny of landlords in one breath, and then exclaim in delight over his ability to split rent with her on the next. He frequently came home with little oddities that he’d bought for her on a whim—an enameled keychain that looked like a paintbrush and palette, an elaborate chocolate truffle from a high-end chocolatier, a postcard-sized watercolor painting from a street artist, a tiny guillotine meant for cutting cigars, a bouquet of sunflowers, a ceramic cat that looked like the ones her grandmother had collected… the list went on.
“It’s a gift for me, as well. Depending on your answer.” He stopped and reached into his coat pocket. Autumn’s heart thumped as he pulled a simple golden ring out. “Autumn, I love you. I waited a hundred lifetimes for you, and now that I have you, I never want to let you go. I have only myself to offer, but I offer you every last bit of me that I can give. Will you—”
“Yes!” Autumn threw her arms around him, eyes brimming with tears. “I would’ve married you the minute you became human. I would’ve married you when you were still a demon. I love you, and yes—yes—I will marry you!”
He kissed her and slid the band onto her ring finger.
“Let’s get married right away,” Autumn declared. “We’ll go to the courthouse first thing tomorrow. Liz and Marcus can be our witnesses. I want a ring on your finger, too.”
“Because I’m yours?” Irdu prompted with a smile.
“Because you’re mine.”
When they got to their building, they bypassed their apartment and went up to the roof. Irdu had gotten into the habit of watching the sun rise and set every day. In the mornings, as soon as the first sliver of sunlight appeared over the horizon, he looked down at his hands, as if expecting to see himself dematerialize.
But he was still there. Every day. And every night. Autumn stood behind him as the sun sank lower, with her arms wrapped around his waist. She laid her ear against his back and listened to the whoosh of his breath, the thump of his heart.
He was real. And he was hers. Forever.
THE END
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Also by Heather Guerre
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