“Sky’s dead?” said a soft female voice from the doorway leading to the foyer.
Everyone turned their heads. It was Amelia. Miguel stood behind her.
Crap. “I thought you left.” Damien grunted. How much had she just heard?
Amelia’s eyes zeroed right in on Pet, who froze on the coffee table, perhaps pretending to be an ornament of sorts.
Amelia dug her phone from her pocket. “A friend just texted this to me.”
Damien walked over. On the screen was a news article, Journalist Sky Morales’s Body Found Dead Outside Home.
Damien swallowed hard. He did not know what to say.
“Is-is it true?” Amelia’s lower lip quivered. Her son looked like he was about to lose it, too.
“I’m sorry, but yes.” Damien nodded solemnly.
“I don’t understand…” Amelia whisked away a big juicy tear. “She was messaging me and then—”
“Why don’t you go up to my room, and I’ll try to explain.” Damien did not want to have this conversation here in front of the clown show, but it needed to be had. Amelia needed the truth. Or, at least, part of it.
Yeah, you gonna finally fuck her, tailor? I’m in.
Damien held back his repulsion and his response this time.
“It was that man, wasn’t it? Sky was investigating the governor’s brother.” Amelia seethed with teary eyes. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
“No, it wasn’t him. And he’s already dead,” Damien explained.
“Then who? Who killed her?” Amelia’s hands started shaking.
“He did.” Pet did a flyby, pointing at his face.
Amelia stepped back, nearly tripping over Miguel. “What the hell is that!”
Jesus. This was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Damien knew that telling Amelia the truth was a burden he should bear, given how Sky’s death was his fault. However, telling her the entire story seemed like a lot for one mortal to take in all at once.
Why was he looking for the fairy in Ohio? Gods. Blackmail. Save demon.
Why had he killed Sky in such a careless way? Curse.
Why was he so insistent on kicking everyone out of his house? Bad thing inside him.
Just tell the truth, tailor. Better for all of us.
Damien handed Amelia a box of tissues and sat on the coffee table in front of her. Miguel sat next to her, bawling his eyes out. Damien could tell they’d both been close to Sky. However, he could not let that get to him. He could not start feeling sorry for them. Caring was caring. His curse did not discriminate.
“If you recall,” he said to Amelia, “your sister, Sky, was attacked by a creature. Well, that creature is real.”
He pointed to Pet, who fluttered over, offering Amelia a biscuit.
“It’s an I’m-sorry biscuit.” Pet blinked her big innocent eyes at Amelia.
Looking very unsure about the creature in front of her, Amelia reached out with a hesitant hand.
“Don’t eat that.” Damien slapped the biscuit to the floor.
“Hey!” Pet protested.
Bonbon trotted over and gobbled it up. “Mmmm… This your nipple hair, babe?”
Gorgonzolina smiled coyly, showing her bright white pointy teeth.
“The clown show never ends,” Damien muttered, running his hands through his hair. “Amelia, the truth is that I was sent to look for this annoying sex fairy by the gods because they threatened to send this demon,” Damien pointed to the white furball, “back to his world if I did not. Unfortunately, his particular breed has adapted to this world and requires constant affection to survive—something not easily found in the demon realm. So, of course, I could not allow him to be returned. Especially because not too long ago, I hired a man to help me at my shop. Turned out, he was the demon king, who planned to take over my body so he could remain here unbeknownst to the gods. Bonbon was his companion at the time. So, as you see, Bonbon betrayed his master to fill me in on the plot, creating one more reason to ensure Bonbon was not banished back to his realm.”
“You did all that for me?” Bonbon pressed a paw to his chest. “I’m touched.”
“Don’t be. You saved my life, and that required payment. Which is why when Cimil offered to break my curse, I asked her to find a mate for you instead. I wanted you to live out the remainder of your years with a companion who can attend to your needs.” Damien lifted his chin. “My debt is now paid.”
Little known fact: Demons, while immortal, could not live in this realm forever. Eventually their physical forms began to deteriorate due to the toxic demon energy they housed. Damien knew Bonbon didn’t have much time.
The most tragic part was that the demon portals had been closed by the gods. So even if Bonbon wanted to return to his world after his body died on this plane of existence, he could not go back. Bonbon’s soul would be trapped in limbo forever between worlds. And no, demons were not generally allowed in the Underworld. Too nasty.
Damien scrubbed his face with his hands. “This is why I had to go to Ohio and hunt for the fairy.” He looked at Amelia reluctantly, not wanting to risk making any sort of emotional connection.
Thankfully, Amelia’s eyes were an emotionless void as she stared through him. Was she even listening?
“Sky says you need to give her scotch.” Pet zoomed away and returned with the entire bottle, dropping it in Amelia’s lap. “I only humped it a little.”
Amelia frowned, holding it in her hands, but she didn’t drink. “I don’t understand,” she muttered. “What does any of this have to do with my sister’s death? And why the hell are you all sitting around acting like you’re talking for her?”
“Your sister’s spirit is here with us now,” Damien said. “And she is dead because I am cursed. The how and why of the curse do not matter. The important part is that anyone I feel for—whether it’s a friendship, family, or otherwise—all perish.” It was how he’d lost his father. The first victim.
Strange. How long had it been since Damien had attempted to confront that fact? Centuries. All this time, he’d never been able to think about his beloved father’s death, let alone take responsibility for it.
Wrong, tailor. What that bitch did to you was unjust. So you turned your back on her? So you broke her heart? Who gives a fuck? Life is full of disappointments.
“Shut. The hell. Up. You do not get to speak about her,” Damien snarled.
“I don’t understand,” Amelia whimpered.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” Damien got up and poured himself a scotch at the bar from an unopened, un-fairy-humped bottle.
“Then who?” MF threw out.
Why was she still here? Why were any of them here?
He downed the warm amber liquid and set the glass on the bar. “Amelia, what you need to know is that I never intended to feel anything for Sky. It was simply one moment of weakness. One split second of—”
“He was jerking off!” Pet flew by again, leaving that bomb to explode on its own.
“You! Out!” He pointed at Pet, who disappeared into the kitchen.
“So let me get this straight,” Amelia said. “You’re cursed for reasons you won’t explain, and that curse kills people you like?”