“You did! Now you have to kiss the nearest guy. Although Jack and Creeper are both fairly close, you might just have to kiss both of them,” she laughed, giving me a cheeky wink as she pulled back.
I rolled my eyes, but the others joined in, goading me to do it.
And to think everyone here was eighteen or older.
I turned to Jack, who was grinning, and gave him a soft peck on the cheek.
His cheeks flushed as he gave a soft laugh and averted his eyes, and I felt the blood rush to mine.
“Ugh, boring!” Hadley groaned behind me as I turned to Creeper.
He was giving me a curious look, and he stiffened as I leaned in.
I kissed his cheek as well, and then pulled back, catching the confused expression he wore, but the small smile too.
Hadley leaned in, helping me divide up the slices onto plates and hand them around for everyone.
As we all sat laughing and sharing stories while enjoying the utterly amazing cake, a sense of utter contentment washed over me.
This was my first celebrated birthday in a long time. And I felt like maybe, just maybe, I finally had somewhere I belonged.
Sixteen
“Why are birthdays such a big deal?” Creeper asked as we sat on the floor in my room.
Jack was leaning against the foot of the bed beside me, and I had my legs stretched out as I digested the awesome birthday dinner and cake.
Creeper and Bug sat across from us, and Chumley sat on the chair at my desk.
“Do you guys understand them?” I asked the other three.
“I’ve read about them, people celebrate the birth of a person, showering them with gifts and attention, and cake. Depending on where you’re from, the tradition varies,” Jack mused.
“It’s to show how they’re important to you and that you care for them, and were grateful they were born,” Bug added.
“I’m still learning, apparently. These two understand it more,” Chumley admitted.
Creeper was just listening to their thoughts and taking it all in.
“That’s pretty much it. Celebrating their life,” I nodded.
“Why gifts though? What’s the reasoning behind it?” Creeper asked, clearly confused.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s just what’s always been done,” I said with a shrug.
Creeper just pursed his lips at this.
“We’re learning how to better celebrate them. We’ve watched all the others on their birthdays over the years, getting an understanding of it all,” Jack said.
“You guys don’t have birthdays?” I frowned at him.
He just shrugged.
“Wait, how old are you all?” I asked.
“Four,” Chumley stated.
I just stared at him like he’d grown a second head.
“You can’t be four,” I snorted.
“We came into being four years ago roughly. So we’re four,” Creeper said matter-of-factly.
Right.
“And you were like this?” I asked, waving at them in general.
“Right. People are born as infants. No. We were like this from the beginning. Dezikiel thinks we age though, and when we came into being, we were younger. Sixteen he thinks,” Bug informed me.
“So, in a way, you guys are all about twenty now,” I said, frowning at the weirdness of that.
“I guess so.” Bug shrugged.
“When we came into being, we were more hellhound than human. But we were capable of shifting, something I think was programmed into us for better use to you,” Jack said, lolling his head to the side to look at me.
“Is that really your purpose? To protect me?” I asked softly.
“It’s why we were created,” Creeper said gruffly.
“Yeah, but don’t you guys have things you want to do?” I asked as I pulled my legs up to hug them.
“Like what?” Chumley asked, clearly confused.
“Well, like traveling. Goals you want to do yourself. Achievements you want to reach,” I said, not sure how to explain it.
“I guess traveling could be fun,” Chumley murmured.
“We know what we are, Lily. We have a purpose already in us. We can’t change that,” Jack said softly.
“Really?” I bit my lip as I stared into those dark eyes of his, so soulful and deep.
How could they not have any other dreams or aspirations?
“But you like to study. What would you like to do with everything that you’ve learned?” I asked, looking at it from another angle.
“I don’t know, I just like studying,” Jack said, frowning at the question.
“Bug, do you think you’d ever write your own story? You love reading,” I suggested.
He cocked his head at this, mulling over the idea.
“Do you think anyone would read it?” he asked after a moment.
“Maybe, but wouldn’t you like to do it, just for you? Share your own special story with the world?” I smiled.
Bug’s face lit up at the thought. “Maybe. I’d have to learn how to write a book. I guess that’s something I could do.”
“Great, and Chumley, you love food, have you ever done cooking?” I asked.
“No, not really. The servant things do it all,” Chumley sighed.
“Well, maybe you should try it,” I urged, before turning to Creeper. “You really enjoy the piano, you could even become a musician.”
He just frowned at this and didn’t say a word.
“And Jack, you could be a teacher yourself. You’ve been studying so much, haven’t you? Diane says you’ve studied many things and know more than any of the other students here about so many things,” I said, the words rushing out of me.
He just smiled at my suggestion, but then focused on me.
“What do you want to do?” he asked, causing me to falter and stutter.
“Um, well…” I chewed my lip. “I’m still not sure really. I honestly never thought I could have a normal future, being crazy and all. Now I know the truth, and, well, I’m still not sure,” I admitted.
“Well, if you really want us to find other things to enjoy, other things that are a kind of purpose as well, then we’ll try, as long as you do too,” Jack said reassuringly.
“We should let you shower though, Hadley said game night would start an hour after dinner, and you said you wanted to shower and get ready first,” Chumley reminded me as he stood from the chair.
“Right, you get ready. One of us will come grab you,” Jack said as he climbed up from the floor.
“Okay,” I said, nodding as Bug and Creeper both rose as well.
They headed off, and I pulled myself off the floor, eyeing the boxes and suitcase.
Might as well unpack first.
I moved everything from my suitcase into the closet, and emptied out my boxes, finishing the leftover half of my chocolate bar as I moved my few books and items to my desk and bookcase.
Once I was all unpacked, I sat on my bed for a moment, smiling as I took in the incredible room.
Today had been one hell of a day.
But strangely, it all felt right. A lot of my questions had been answered as best they could be, and I knew I’d find out everything else soon enough.
And I liked the other students. Sure, I hadn’t spent a lot of time with all of them, but the ones I did, I quite liked.
And best of all, I wasn’t crazy.
I scoffed at that reminder.
This room was more than I could have ever thought I’d have. So large and lavish. Everything I needed all in this one room. And no more cooking it seemed.
No more struggling to make ends meet, no more stealing or shitty jobs.
I smiled as I stood up and headed for the bathroom.
But as I undressed and climbed into the shower, I kept thinking about my hellhounds and their sole purpose of protecting me. That was no way to live. They deserved to have their own dreams. Why was I so special?
Right. Daughter of a Prince o
f Hell. That one was still something I was struggling to wrap my head around.
My mother had never spoken about him, so I’d never known what to think of him.
A Prince of Hell was certainly not my first thought.
I washed myself, enjoying the warm spray of water on my skin as I wondered what midnight would bring tonight.
Just what powers would I have?
I finished up quickly, sliding the frosted glass door across as I stepped out.
I let out a strangled sound as I found someone standing right before me.
Creeper just stared at me, quickly glancing over me.
“Are you okay? Why’d you make that sound?” he asked.
“Seriously?” I gaped as I fumbled for the towel on the rack and quickly pulled it up to cover my body.
I went to growl at him, but his confused look made the snappy remark die in my throat.
Right. He probably didn’t realize he couldn’t just pop up in my bathroom.
Which he’d done before, when I thought he wasn’t real. Oh God.
I sighed, closing my eyes as I calmed myself.
“You can’t just come into other people’s bathrooms,” I said slowly.
“Why?” he asked, shifting uncomfortably.
“You just can’t,” I said, gritting my teeth.
“That’s a weird rule,” he murmured, but then he frowned at me. “It upset you.”
“It startled me,” I corrected him.
“Okay. I won’t do it again,” he nodded, shifting uneasily again.
I drew in a deep breath, but then my eyes fell.
I just stared at the very obvious erection he had.
“I feel weird,” he mumbled.
“Okay, out,” I instructed quickly, my cheeks flushing wildly.
He just nodded and shuffled out, closing the door behind him.
I turned to the mirror, groaning inwardly.
Then I let out a sharp laugh. He was still learning.
But seeing him… turned on by me, that had instantly caused a reaction in me. Something I hadn’t felt a whole lot of in the past few years. Sure, I’d had the odd crushes over the years, but they were nothing. I never allowed myself close to anyone.
I heard muffled voices from my room, then Jack laughing with Chumley.
I wrapped my towel around myself, hating that I hadn’t brought clothes in with me.
I opened the door, finding Chumley and Jack standing in my room.
Creeper was gone.
“I’m sorry, I’ve tried to tell him he can’t go into the bathroom over the years, he still struggles with that,” Jack apologized.
“Not the only thing,” Chumley snickered, and Jack cracked a grin.
I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as I pictured Creeper’s… excitement again.
“Interesting,” Jack mused as he watched me carefully.
I folded my arms over the top of my towel, wishing I could hurry up and slip on my pajamas.
“He only got enlightened today. He’ll figure some things out in the next day or two. Don’t think horny is one he’s familiar-”
“All right! We’ll let you get dressed, we were just going to grab you for game night, but I’m sure you know the way,” Jack cut Chumley off quickly with a dark look.
Chumley just shrugged and headed off with Jack following after him.
I groaned, closing my eyes and lolling my head back.
I had a feeling my life was only going to get weirder from here on out.
Perfect.
I joined everyone in the games room, Diane waving me over to where she and Hadley were sitting at one of the tables with a game of Monopoly set up. Paris and Wayne were with them.
Chumley and Jack were playing a game of checkers at another table, while Creeper and Bug were playing cards. I could hear Bug explaining the rules to him.
“The rest of the guys are watching a movie, they’re very big on movies,” Diane explained.
“I’m surprised Chumley doesn’t join them,” I remarked as I sat down in the spare seat.
“He does, guess he wants to be in the same room as you right now though,” Hadley chuckled.
I glanced around at the guys, my eyes landing on Creeper, who glanced my way and quickly averted his eyes.
I felt a little bad about that, and a little stung.
I knew I shouldn’t take it to heart.
Hell, from what the other two had hinted at, he didn’t even know why he’d had that reaction to me.
“What do you want to be?” Diane asked, yanking me from my thoughts.
She’d claimed the horse and rider, Hadley had the money bag, while Wayne had the ship, and Paris had the car.
I settled on the dog, and the game began.
We ended up laughing, and there was small conversation while we played. I found Paris, once she got to know you, was quite nice, rather soft-spoken at times and didn’t talk a whole lot if she didn’t think she’d contribute to the conversation.
Diane and Hadley spoke the most, and I enjoyed their cheerful banter as we started adding houses to our lots.
Hours slipped by, and my hellhounds had wandered over, watching us play.
Apparently, they’d never played the game really, not being fans of long, drawn-out games. But they watched us play, asking the odd question about game rules before Jack just picked up the instructions and rules and began reading.
We called it quits when Paris noted it was ten o’clock, and they had training first thing in the morning.
Hadley informed me there was scheduled training, but the twins liked to do early training on their own.
I accepted this, and found myself heading back to my room with my hellhounds in tow.
“I can go to my room on my own, you know,” I said, yawning over my shoulder.
“Yeah, but Dezikiel said he wants us to go with you tonight at midnight,” Chumley stated.
“That’s in two hours, and I’m tired. Let me just close my eyes for a bit and you guys can grab me when I need to go,” I said, stifling another yawn.
“Okay, we’ll do that,” Jack said, interrupting Chumley’s disagreement.
They split off, heading in different directions as I headed down the hall to my room.
I did want to close my eyes, even if only for an hour or so.
Seventeen
I awoke to Creeper nudging me awake.
Heat rushed to my cheeks at seeing him again.
“Dezikiel said to come get you, it’s time,” Creeper said as he leaned back.
I yawned, still tired like nothing else as I sat up.
“Do I need to change or anything?” I asked softly.
“Do you mind losing those?” he asked, indicating at my pajamas.
I just blinked at him, my heart skipping a beat.
I couldn’t just do something like that. Not right now. Besides… I wanted my first to be special. And sure, I liked him, but…
“Because sometimes, depending on what powers you get, they can get wrecked,” he said, noting my odd look with a frown.
I let out a breath, chuckling uneasily.
That made more sense.
God, I’d thought… Never mind.
“Um, well,” I glanced down at my old pajama shorts and shirt. I’d had them for a few years, and they were a little tight. Guess if they got wrecked, so be it. I had a night gown and another pajama set. “This’ll work.”
“Right, oh… um… I wanted to say sorry. Since Dezikiel enlightened me, some things are becoming more clear. Not immediately. Some things are immediate, others take a short while,” he said nervously, scratching his neck as he averted his eyes.
Please don’t bring up the erection. I couldn’t handle that right now.
“I’ve come to learn that going into the bathroom isn’t right. And seeing you naked isn’t either. Well, not like that, anyway,” Creeper said, his eyes flicking around as he tried to word his thoughts right.
“Hey, it’s fine. Let’
s just pretend it didn’t happen,” I said as I grabbed his arm a little too tight to make him stop as my cheeks burned.
“Okay,” he nodded, unable to meet my gaze.
“Let’s just head down,” I said, wanting to move on from this weird talk.
I climbed out of bed, stretching and yawning as he led the way.
“Do I need anything?” I asked as we reached my bedroom door.
“No, just you,” he said absently, as if he was still mulling over things from earlier.
We headed out into the hall, my bare feet padding softly on the carpet.
He was barefoot as well, and I was suddenly thinking of how Diane had said they’d thought clothing was optional when they first arrived.
How good did they look without their shirts on anyway?
I shoved that naughty thought aside.
They were my hellhounds, not prospective boyfriends. Besides, I didn’t have a clue about dating. I’d never done it. Kinda hard when you had monsters with you all the time.
Besides, dating one of them could make things really awkward with them all.
Were they even capable of it?
At least I knew they had the parts for it, and they could get horny, thanks to Creeper here.
Oh boy. I mentally slapped myself for my naughty thoughts.
I needed to focus.
As we headed down the hall, I found my sleepiness was quickly diminishing.
When midnight struck, I’d gain powers.
I shivered at the thought as I rubbed my arms.
“Cold?” Creeper asked, noticing my uneasiness.
“Just not sure how things are going to go,” I said honestly.
“It’ll be okay, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s something all demonics go through apparently. Nothing bad ever happens, well, not to you. I’ve heard stories of past students, one exploded in a ball of flames, unharmed though. They could manipulate fire,” Creeper said, clearly impressed with the ability.
Great, cause I totally wanted to explode.
He noticed that it only unsettled me more, and pursed his lips.
“We’ll be there, it’ll be okay,” he tried to reassure me as he fell in step with me.
I just nodded, my heart pounding now that the time was finally near.
I drew in a deep breath, not wanting to slip back into a panic. I’d gotten so good at keeping calm, but today had been a whirlwind of a ride, and now everything was becoming real as we descended the stairs to the basement.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 90
